The Appearance of Saints: Photographic Evidence and Religious Minorities in the Secret Police Archives in Eastern Europe

Kapaló, James A.

doi:10.1080/17432200.2019.1570445

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…There is little knowledge of the practices that developed within the framework of everyday or vernacular religiosity. Ethnographically in-depth secret police files 5 or secret police photography on lived religion have only recently come to researchers' attention (Verdery 2014;Povedák 2019;Kapaló 2019;Hesz, forthcoming). While we have many descriptions, ethnographic analyses, parish sources, popular literature, and newspaper articles from the period before the 1948 communist takeover of Hungary, informing us of folk religious practices of that time, and the processes of contemporary religiosity after 1989 are also under research by sociologists of religion, there is a gray area in the 20th century history of religions concerning the everyday, vernacular, lived religiosity of post-Vatican II laity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Popular Hymnody and Lived Catholicism in Hungary in the 1970s–1980s

Povedák¹

2021

Religions

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In this article, I look at how popular hymnody and the surrounding devotional and liturgical practices changed after the Second Vatican Council in Hungary. The songs amongst authoritarian, atheistic circumstances sounded astonishingly similar to the emerging “folk mass movement”. The discourse analysis of Hungarian popular hymnody contributes to a new perspective of Eastern European Catholicism and helps us understand how “lived Catholicism” reflects the post-Vatican spirit. Post-Vatican popular hymnody, a catalyst for a new style of devotional practices, is understood as “performed theology” behind the Iron Curtain expressing relationality, as it actualizes and manifests spiritual, eschatological, and ecclesial relationships.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Popular Hymnody and Lived Catholicism in Hungary in the 1970s–1980s

Povedák¹

2021

Religions

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“…The methodological and ethical concerns associated with the problematic legacy of totalitarianism and its secret police have been much discussed. However, only recently has attention turned towards the significance of the material and visual dimensions of communist-era files (see Luhrmann 2015;Kapaló 2019). As Kapaló suggests, the secret police archives contain a rich repository of confiscated items that can be viewed as a "hidden gallery" (2019: 88).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Untitled

2021

Martor

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The article tells the story of the use and perception of images of violence from an unusual trial against a group of believers, arrested in 1952 in Ukraine. Visitors to an exhibition held in 2019 at the Museum of Art in Cluj-Napoca were invited to look at two sets of photographs: originals and spruced-up copies coming from a recently opened criminal file retrieved from the SBU (former KGB) archive in Kiev. Through the reconstruction of the story of the people who suffered the arrest, we attempt to question the use of research ethics and of heritage in relation to retrieving from archives and displaying violent images of the past. What are the attributes and limits of showing? And what can we learn from the hand at work, the process of actively manipulating the image?

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“…The methodological and ethical concerns associated with the problematic legacy of totalitarianism and its secret police have been much discussed. However, only recently has attention turned towards the significance of the material and visual dimensions of communist-era files (see Vatulescu 2010;Luhrmann 2015;Kapaló 2019). As Kapaló suggests, the secret police archives contain a rich repository of confiscated items that can be viewed as a "hidden gallery " (2019: 88).…”

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confidence: 99%

Methodological Notes on Visual Ethics: “Choosing Not to Reveal”

Povedák¹

2021

Martor

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In this paper, I present my ethical dilemma concerning a secret police case rich in surveillance images that I encountered during the course of my research in the Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (ÁBTL). After reading the operative file of a religious community under surveillance during the 1980s, I decided to approach the group, discuss the images and texts I had found about them, and involve them in the research process. However, the group expressed their explicit intention not to engage in the research process. Even though the guidelines and legal framework regarding the publishing of secret police archival materials would allow me to publish the images and the content of the ÁBTL dossier, I decided to respect the religious community’s intention and their refusal to collaborate. I therefore discuss issues of different ethical standards and accountability in the light of my “failed” ethnographic attempt and reflect on the ethical responsibility of the researcher. I present how the visual images of this particular case file were eventually included in an exhibition in what I see as an ethically appropriate solution to articulate issues of distrust in researchers as a legacy of surveillance and past secret police atrocities.

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The Appearance of Saints: Photographic Evidence and Religious Minorities in the Secret Police Archives in Eastern Europe

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Popular Hymnody and Lived Catholicism in Hungary in the 1970s–1980s

Popular Hymnody and Lived Catholicism in Hungary in the 1970s–1980s

Untitled

Methodological Notes on Visual Ethics: “Choosing Not to Reveal”

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