Dreaming homogenous – power switches of history in public discourse in Hungary

How Legacies of Geopolitical Trauma Shape Popular Nationalism Today

“…The first involves the shaping of collective memories. These memories may be transmitted through communicative practices: for example, some populists draw on geopolitical conflicts from bygone eras to discursively construct common enemies and to present themselves as wartime leaders of nations besieged by threats from elites and minorities (Dessewffy and Nagy 2020; Mols and Jetten 2014; Sakki and Pettersson 2016; Wodak and Forchtner 2014). Beyond these communicative processes, Assmann (2011) argues that folk memories can be reproduced through cultural channels or via more sedimentary, diffuse modes of transmission requiring no actual discursive action.…”

“…In contrast, such mobilization was less prevalent or even nonexistent in contexts like the Philippines, Turkey, and Hungary. Unsurprisingly, these are places where populist leaders situated themselves in the political landscape and became fixtures in the sphere of institutional politics: in the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte has followed a long line of Filipino politicians who tapped into a “national subjectivity that carries a lingering anxiety about freedom and sovereignty” (Webb and Curato 2019:63); in Turkey, Recep Erdoğan drew on geopolitical conflict from the distant past to treat “national history as a battlefield” and discursively position the AKP as a bastion against Western interests and fifth columns within the country (Taş 2020:6–10); and in Hungary, Viktor Orbán instrumentalized historical repertoires—the notion that “[h]istory forces Hungarians to confront enemies greater than themselves” (Dessewffy and Nagy 2020:11)—to erode democratic institutions in the country.…”

"Sorry about our Prime Minister" - Social movement responses to governmental anti-refugee discourse in Hungary

“…The final, fifth factor is what the authors call event environment and national issue culture (Esser, Stepinska, & Hopmann, 2016). As I discussed elsewhere (Dessewffy & Nagy, 2019), Fidesz's narratives tap into culturally established mental 'checkboxes' already deeply rooted in Hungarian discourse. One of these is the 'last battalion' narrative where Hungary historically confronts enemies greater than themselves, standing up for others.…”