Introduction
In the late 1970's life was completely different since another political system, communism, ruled in Hungary, which penetrated all fields of life. At grammar school in history lessons our teacher would often said that " Hungary was the happiest barrack in the Socialist Camp." The word "camp" meant limitation for me, but together with the superlative adjective "happiness" it meant freedom too. No sooner had I believed that "limited freedom" than I examined the issue of Magyar Ifjúság from the third week of November 1978. Until then I had a strongly black-and-white, dull and everything-directed-from-the-USSR picture of the 1970's. I had interest in this subject because my parents often said "Truly, in our youth ..." and because many people who lived then weep for the return of that era and many people do not even dare to dream of the damned. I wanted to find out myself what caused such adoration or disdain. In this research paper I will present how a magazine for youth addressed its readers on the third week of November in 1978, on the week I was born.
Method
I started doing the research paper by selecting a theme. I selected the "my choice" topic from the ten possible themes. This remained from the "Writing and Research Skills" course of the fall semester 1997. The writer's birthday had to give the central point of the research paper. For writing the paper I needed material, namely one copy of Magyar Ifjúság from the November of 1978. In the Central Library I found the appropriate issue of the magazine and had a photocopy made. At home I chose articles and outlined the research paper. I turned over the pages of the magazine and read its contents carefully. I chose those articles to analyze which would not appear in a magazine for youth today. I analyzed the structure of Magyar Ifjúság, the way it addressed youth and the topics of the articles.
Results and Discussion
The structure of Magyar Ifjúság was the same as the structure of a present weekly, but not the same as a magazine for the youth of the late 1990's.
The weekly had a section called "Panoráma", which dealt with current happenings, sport news and news from the world. Its other sections contained home affairs, culture, regular columns, such as a document serial, readers' letters and crosswords, and physical education and Hungarian sports.
The style of the magazine reflected the atmosphere of the 1970's: the ideologies of communism permeated all the articles. The current happenings were in telegraphese: they reported only the most important details. For example, the article about the Hild János medal to Kõszeg. This reported that the council and the society of Kõszeg got the medal at a festive meeting in Jurisics castle. "Ünnepi tanácsülésen adták át Kõszegen a Jurisics vár lovagtermében a Magyar Urbanisztikai Társaság által a város tanácsának és társadalmának adományozott Hild János-érmet..." This short news had an objective and straightforward style and an informal register.
Among the central themes of the magazine belonged politics and economy. The article titled "Legyõzhetetlen erõ született" was part of a document serial about communism. It told of the creation of the first Hungarian communist party in Moscow. It also said that the leaders of the party had to come home to Hungary in secret, and they had to use pseudonyms. The feature exalted communism and its leaders. It cheered the class struggle, the ploretarian revolution and the International. "Éljen az osztályharc!", "Éljen a proletárforradalom!", "Éljen az új, a harmadik, a forradalomra fegyverkezõ igazi internacionálé!", "Kun Béla óriási munkát végzett." The language of this article looked like the language of a history book: legendary and well-detailed. It said that at the age of sixteen Kun Béla became member of the social democratic party. He lived in Transylvania and worked as a journalist for papers of Kolozsvár and Nagyvárad, then at the age of twenty he went to jail because of an article about the strike of building workers in Kolozsvár. "Tizenhat esztendõs korában lett a szociáldemekrata párt tagja. Erdélyben élt, kolozsvári és nagyváradi lapoknál újságíróskodott, ... Húszévesen hathónapi államfogházra ítélték a kolzsvári építõmunkások sztrájkjáról írt cikke miatt." This feature had a narrative and factual style and biassed register against communism.
In communism the youth had to be interested in more different things than today. Strong industrialization started in Hungary during communism. The country was to become the country of iron and steel. In Magyar Ifjúság industry had a great emphasis. The youth read a report about the olephin contract with a Russian factory. When I read the intreview with the head of the Hungarian factory and the production leader, I felt that the journalist and the interviewed people hid something and they wanted to mislead the readers. The article sounded far too reassuring when it claimed that everything went all right in the Hungarian and Russian factories and that they did not make any dangerous waste. "... gombnyomásra mindent megtudhat, mi újság a két gyárban, rendben van-e a vezeték.", "... a feldolgozás során alig keletkezik hulladék, mindent hasznosítanak." It was important to make everybody calm when industrial production increased, in order to fulfill the five-year plans. Quantity, not quality, counted. The interview had a descriptive communicative function because it let the youth know about the olephhin contract, that Hungary bought oil, gave ethylen and got back raw material for PVC. The interview had a neutral register and an explanatory style.
The problem of environmental protection broke through that time. The interview "Ha majd minden állampolgár spotlighted an evergreen issue. The interview stated that three basic things provided the base of environmental protection: laws, enforcement branches and wide social base. The laws had already worked in 1978, but the enforcement branches and wide social base did not. I consider this as a scantiness of communism because its ideologies would have had to bring together people for the generous issue. The register of the article sounded neutral because it lacked the passion and resolution which characterize the same issue today, and which should have brought together people. The interview had a professional register too, it had the language of law, when it claimed that according to a cooperational project national parks should be established. "Az együttmûködési tervezet kimondja tájvédelmi körzetek felállítását,...". It had an informative and impersonal style.
The weekly put great emphasis on economy, for example the article "Párbeszéd a gazdaságról", which made its tone serious and its style needed a scientific language. Just when it claimed that the production was planned in the socialist society. The article looked like a guide how to economize."... a szocialista társadalomban az árutermelés tervszerû, a fõ arányokat nem a piaci mechanizmus, nem az értéktörvény spontán hatása alakítja.", for example.
The cultural section of the magazine reflected a more serious way of entertainment than a magazine would reflect today. I recognized this on the pop and culture pages. There was only one report which came from abroad, about the Beatles. All the other reports and the top ten chart dealt with the artists of Hungary, for example with Katona Klári. The communist policy had a strong role in guiding cultural life. Everything Hungarian or Russian, films or music for example, got support and anything foreign was forbidden. The culture section had a formal register, the reports sounded very polite as for the reporter. It missed the sensational style of the culture sections of the magazines of today.
Conclusion
After the research I found that on the week I was born the youth got several limitations. They were free if they did what was permitted. The hands of communist policy reached everywhere, but the government provided with more calm and serious topics. The youth received an up-to-date picture of Hungarian industry and economy, though some parts such as the real facts of environmental pollution and problems of production remained uncovered. I just could not believe that always everything went all right in production. The magazine addressed the youth formally and used a neutral tone. The articles lacked the commonplace clichés, such as "you read the best and the one and only magazine". From the tone and the style of the articles I drew the conclusion that young people of their twenties and thirties, members of the intellectual read Magyar Ifjúság. The language had a straightforward and impersonal style and sounded official.
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