Overview
- Situated at the intersection of anthropology of Christianity, anthropology of ethics
- Offers a unique view of the Hungarian Catholic minority within Romania’s Orthodox majority
- Dedicates critical space to consider how and why intellectuals make an ethical nation
Part of the book series: Contemporary Anthropology of Religion (CAR)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
About this book
Set against the backdrop of the rise of right-wing Christian nationalism in Eastern Europe, this book declares that Catholic theologians ought to be understood and studied as intellectuals: socially and historically situated creators of national cultural traditions. While the Romanian government funds thriving schools for the country’s Hungarian minority, NGOs founded by Transylvanian Hungarians continue to organize volunteers to supplement this formal pedagogy. These volunteers understand themselves to be reviving a national tradition of “serving the people” by educating the region’s rural Hungarian populace.
While this book is about the challenges Catholic educators face in teaching villagers, it is just as much about their new effort to call groups of volunteers from across the border in Hungary to teach alongside them. In these encounters, Transylvanian Hungarian educators remake their intellectual tradition, especially ideas about the basis of pedagogical authority, the ethical character of the nation, and the social location of selfhood. When contemporary Catholic intellectuals urge teachers to manifest their national self-consciousness, they carry with them the assumption that selfhood emerges where humans collaborate with God. While Transylvanian Hungarian intellectuals are enmeshed in constant competition, by focusing on contemporary theologians New Magyar Apostles unmasks the struggle over the nature of divine presence that animates this revival of a Christian national tradition of intellectual service.Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
Table of contents (8 chapters)
Reviews
“The book unfolds across eight chapters, which in many respects can be read as stand-alone pieces. … the book will be of interest to scholars and advanced graduate students in adjacent disciplines, including the history of religion as well as nationalism and area studies, as the research and storylines are at the intersection of these and other fields.” (R. Chris Davis, Hungarian Studies Review, Vol. 51 (2), December, 2024)
“This book as speaking to conversations among anthropologists of Christianity, postsocialist Europe, the anthropology of ethics, and leadership studies. … Advanced undergraduates and graduate students, along with everyone who desires to be immersed in beautiful examples of ethnographic work, will find this book a pleasure.” (Brian Howell, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 29 (4), December, 2023)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Marc Roscoe Loustau is Managing Editor of the Journal of Global Catholicism and an affiliate with the Catholics & Cultures Program at College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, USA.
Accessibility Information
Accessibility information for this book is coming soon. We're working to make it available as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Hungarian Catholic Intellectuals in Contemporary Romania
Book Subtitle: Reforming Apostles
Authors: Marc Roscoe Loustau
Series Title: Contemporary Anthropology of Religion
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99221-7
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-99220-0Published: 28 June 2022
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-99223-1Published: 29 June 2023
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-99221-7Published: 27 June 2022
Series ISSN: 2946-3475
Series E-ISSN: 2946-3483
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 265
Topics: Religious Studies, general, Social Anthropology, Catholicism