The Development of Hungarian Political Language and the Birth of the Ancient Constitution 1790/91
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The Development of Hungarian Political Language and the Birth of the Ancient Constitution 1790/91 Philip Barker University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2019 I, Philip Barker, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Signed, _______________________________ 2 Abstract The following study of Hungarian political discourse in the late eighteenth century illuminates some of the key constitutive concepts of Hungarian national identity and their circumstances of origin in the intellectual ferment of the Enlightenment. In addition to the official ideology of Habsburg ‘enlightened monarchism’, the thesis also illuminates how other key discourses of the era (including ‘politeness’, ‘republicanism’, ‘ancient constitutionalism’, and some of their other offshoots) were used and combined in an emerging public sphere and at the 1790/91 Diet. A particular focus is given to the emergence of an early ‘national’ oppositional movement in the lead-up to the Diet, and to its ideology of ‘language’, ‘attire’ and ‘law’ as constituent features of the Hungarian nation. Focusing on this ideology, the study subsequently outlines the changing meaning of the term ‘nation’ in the period’s literature (from a class-based to an ethno-cultural concept), and the rise of ‘linguistic nationalism’ in the 1780s. The discourse of ‘linguistic nationalism’ is accompanied by a second discourse of ‘sartorial nationalism’ which lauds an oriental, military form of ‘national attire’ in opposition to the cosmopolitan fashions of the era. The final watchword, ‘law’, focuses on the rebranding of the country’s customary laws as an ‘ancient constitution’, a concept which stood in opposition to the absolutism of Joseph II, but which also distanced the Hungarian polity from the revolutionary tenets of the American and French constitutions. The understanding that ‘language’, ‘national attire’, and the ‘ancient constitution’ were central pillars of Hungarian nationhood persisted into the nineteenth, and even twentieth centuries. By examining the above discourses and the rhetorical developments of the era, this thesis will shed light upon the ways in which political actors negotiated the advent of political modernity in the late eighteenth century by re-thinking, rather than merely reaffirming, some of the key categories used to explain Hungarian political thought. 3 Impact Statement With its emphasis upon political rhetoric and conceptual change as a distinct form of historical inquiry, the following study draws upon an eclectic mix of logocentric methods in order to rethink the political ‘languages’ or discourses of politics in late eighteenth- century Hungary and their subsequent influence upon nineteenth-century Hungarian nationalism. Despite this localised focus, however, the study also seeks to remain sensitive to the transnational discursive phenomena of the era, and to the ways in which the concepts and ideologies of the European Enlightenment may be seen to have exerted an influence on the development of Hungarian political thought. This does not mean that I focus on processes of one way ‘transfer’ from an idealized ‘West’ to a country on the ‘periphery’ of Europe. Rather, what I have sought to emphasise is how thinkers used, adapted, and confronted ‘modern’ or ‘foreign’ ideas in order to formulate new ideological programs for domestic application. What follows then necessarily touches upon the resignification of key political vocabularies in the Hungarian vernacular, highlighting the central role of translation in the formation of Hungarian political modernity. It is through this focus on conceptual change and the transnational flow and mediation of ideas that the following study seeks to break free of the constraints of traditional nationalist historiography, and to contribute to the rethinking of European political history by putting Hungary back onto the ‘map’ of European political thought, while simultaneously noting the rich intricacies of domestic Hungarian conceptual history. As such, the following study will chiefly be of interest to historians of the eighteenth century and to scholars working in the fields of intellectual history, political thought and rhetoric. However, with the recent revival of the idea of a ‘historical constitution’ (and other, otherwise defunct vocabularies of political thought) by the self- styled ‘nationalist’ and ‘illiberal’ regime of the current Hungarian government, this study will also be of interest to those attempting to understand the application of past political vocabularies and the rhetorical parameters of ‘ancient constitutional’ rhetoric in the present. Some sections of the following thesis have already been published in a multi-author volume (‘A History of the Hungarian Constitution: Law, Government and Political Culture in Central Europe’ ed. by Ferenc Hörcher and Thomas Lorman, I.B. Tauris, 2018). While this dissertation also points the reader in the direction of new avenues of 4 research, the findings presented below will be further disseminated and discussed through a series of upcoming conferences and planned publications. 5 Acknowledgements There are many who have helped me with this work, but I would particularly like to thank the following. The Centre for East European Language-Based Area Studies (CEELBAS) and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) have generously funded my tuition fees and research expenses, and I have been greatly aided by a number of dedicated staff members at these institutions to whom I am deeply grateful. Above all, I am indebted to my supervisors, Daniel Abondolo and Martyn Rady. Martyn in particular has provided me with solid academic guidance and has helped me steer through unforeseen and troubled waters. I would also like to express my thanks to other staff members for their support in the writing of this thesis. I owe an especial debt of gratitude to Thomas Lorman for providing me with both a home and an extended family in London, and to Simon Dixon and Rebecca Haynes, who have also provided me with input and companionship. Special thanks are also due to former staff members. As an undergraduate I was fortunate to enjoy the tutelage of Peter Sherwood, who taught me much about Hungarian language and culture, and who selflessly offered me support, guidance, and manifold words of wisdom over the years. Trevor Vaughan Thomas, former lecturer in Czech and Slovak history, has also inspired me with his boundless intellectual energy and enthusiasm, as well as with his penetrating and often amusing insights into the history of the Habsburg Monarchy. I would also like to thank the staff and my former classmates at Goldsmiths College, London, for providing such a warm and stimulating environment when writing my MA. I am also grateful to a large group of people in Hungary for helping me to develop my ideas. In particular I would like to thank my former colleagues at Corvinus University and Péter Pázmány Catholic University, in particular Tünde Dókus. I would also like to thank Ferenc Hörcher of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for inviting me to speak at conferences and for kindly reading and commenting on my (often voluminous) contributions. Finally, I am eternally grateful to Gábor Borbély and the Philosophy Department at ELTE, which has always been a welcoming venue for discussion and debate. Although too numerous to list here, thanks to my other friends for our many adventures and fascinating discussions over the years. You know who you are. 6 Finally, I owe a special debt of gratitude to my family, and to my partner Judit. This work is dedicated to all of you. 7 Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 3 Impact Statement ........................................................................................................ 4 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 6 1.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 10 1.1 Politics and Conceptual Change in Late Eighteenth-Century Hungary .............. 13 2.0 Enlightened Monarchy ......................................................................................... 21 3.0 The Clash of Old and New ................................................................................... 41 4.0 Political Languages in Hungary ............................................................................ 48 4.1 Enlightened Government ................................................................................. 51 4.2 Republicanism ................................................................................................. 56 4.3 Ancient Constitutionalism ............................................................................... 62 4.4 Dynastic Heroism ............................................................................................ 78 4.5 Politeness and Manners ................................................................................... 81 4.6 Ceremonial Monarchism ................................................................................. 87 4.7 Patriotic Scholarship .......................................................................................