Stalinism Reloaded: Everyday Life in Stalin-City, Hungary

313 Pages·2017·3.464 MB·English

by  Sándor Horváth

STALINISM RELOADED

STALINISM R ELOADED
Everyday Life in Stalin- City, Hungary
Sándor Horváth
Translated by Thomas Cooper
Indiana University Press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress . indiana . edu
Translation funded by the László Tetmájer Fund of the Hungarian
Studies Program, Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana
University– Bloomington.
© 2017 by Sándor Horváth
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association
of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions
constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of the American National Standard for Information
Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of Amer i ca
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Horváth, Sándor, author. | Horváth, Sándor. Kapu és a határ,
mindennapi Sztálinváros.
Title: Stalinism reloaded : everyday life in Stalin- City, Hungary /
Sándor Horváth ; translated by Thomas Cooper.
Description: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, [2017] | Partially based
on 2004 dissertation entitled A kapu és a határ, mindennapi
Sztálinváros. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016053492 (print) | LCCN 2016055324 (ebook) | ISBN
9780253025746 (cloth : alkaline paper) | ISBN 9780253026811 (paperback :
alkaline paper) | ISBN 9780253026866 (eb)
Subjects: LCSH: Dunaújváros (Hungary)— Social conditions—20th century. |
Sztálinváros (Hungary)— Social conditions—20th century. | Dunaújváros
(Hungary)— Social life and customs—20th century. | Sztálinváros
(Hungary)— Social life and customs—20th century. | City and town
life— Hungary— Dunaújváros— History—20th century. | Communism— Social
aspects— Hungary— Dunaújváros— History—20th century. | Hungary— Social
policy. | Hungary— Politics and government—1945–1989.
Classification: LCC HN420.5.D85 H68 2017 (print) | LCC HN420.5.D85 (ebook) |
DDC 306.09439/7— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2016053492
1 2 3 4 5 22 21 20 19 18 17
To Gabriella

Contents
Acknowl edgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I. Identities 13
1 Myths 15
2 Downtown Amer i ca 47
3 Urban Villa gers 81
Part II. Relationships 113
4 Family 115
5 Abortion 153
6 Divorce 174
Part III. Hierarchy 193
7 Bars 195
8 Hooligans 217
9 Slums 233
10 Prostitution 247
Conclusion 259
Bibliography 273
Index 293

Acknowl edgments
T
he under lying idea of this book did not occur to me in an exotic or pleasant
place on a sunny after noon, but in an industrial city sometimes shrouded in fog
from the ironworks. The inhabitants of this city, interestingly, do not complain
about this fog, b ecause it means they still have jobs. Initially, my aim was simply
to try to understand this city, a place somehow both modern and old, a symbol of
the hopes of one generation and, perhaps, the despairs of another. This book may
have grown a bit slowly from its initial, embryonic form, but I modestly trust that
this slow pro cess of development has made it a more mature work in the end.
Over the course of my research and writing, I have enjoyed the support of
several individuals and institutions. I would like to mention first and foremost
two colleagues, Gábor Gyáni, my scholar- mentor, and László Borhi, a close col-
league without whom this book would never have reached completion. The ev-
eryday conversations I had with them and with other colleagues at the Institute
of History of the Hungarian Acad emy of Sciences helped me reassess the essen-
tial subject of my research from numerous additional perspectives and enriched
my study with new lines of inquiry. Over the course of the past fifteen years, the
Institute of History, fundamentally a workshop that provides crucial support for
scientific endeavor, has provided me with the time and in de pen dence that are
indispensable to any major research proj ect.
I would also like to express my gratitude to several p eople who provided me
with intellectual support and encouragement at vari ous dif er ent stages. Vera
Bácskai and György Kövér helped me consider innovative ways of using dif er ent
types of sources and new means of adapting the scientific tools of urban history
in con temporary history. I am indebted to my friends and colleagues György Maj-
tényi and Eszter Zsófia Tóth, who in the course of long conversations patiently
discussed with me my early findings on the topic and inspired me to pursue fur-
ther research. My research was also considerably shaped by conversations with
my friend and colleague, Mark Pittaway, a historian who died tragically young.
In the course of my research and writing, I have also benefited a great deal
from comments made by a number of people in the broader profession. I am
particularly grateful to Anne Applebaum, Mónika Baár, Ulf Brunnbauer, Pál
Fodor, Tibor Hajdu, Paul Hanebrink, Dagmara Jajeśniak- Quast, Gábor Klaniczay,
Árpád von Klimó, Katherine Lebow, Attila Pók, János M. Rainer, Heléna Tóth,
Tibor Valuch, Zsuzsanna Varga, István Vida, and Rosemary Wakeman.
ix