2025/12/29 by Zsolt Szilagyj, Szilagyj, Zsolt
Arts and Humanities · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Linguistics and Cultural Studies #Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology #Eurasian Exchange Networks
paper · doi:10.48612/ivrran/8p4p-r3dg-dm4u
During my research in Mongolia in recent years I realized that in addition to traditional historical sources, more attention is being paid to the recorded memories of the recent past of Mongolia, primarily to photos, travelogues, and press. By the 20th century, the photo, but also the written press, became content with an independent meaning. In international historiography, the assessment of such sources changed from the second half of the 1980s, after more and more researchers claimed that the texts published in the press can be considered as sources for recording historical and social events. The interest of Mongolian historians and ethnographers in this direction can be clearly seen in the recently published books and series, but I can mention our joint projects that we are working on now. These primarily mean the processing and publication of photographs and diaries recorded by Hungarian researchers György Kara, András Róna-Tas, and Vilmos Diószegi who visited Mongolia in the middle of the 20th century. This interest prompted me to try to find out what image appeared in Hungarian magazines, scientific and educational publications about Mongolia at late 19th and the early 20th century in Hungary.I chose this era because several decisive political changes took place in Mongolia at the beginning of the 20th century, within just two decades. The collapse of the Manchu rule, the establishment of the Bogd khaant Mongol Uls, and also the 1921 revolution. At the same time, this is the period when an idea, Turanism, gained strength in Hungary, which aimed to explore the Eastern connections of Hungarian culture, and is therefore one of the foundations of Hungarian Oriental research. The research is still in its initial stages, I am mainly working with qualitative data. The first quick review also brought new tangible results. I have already found data that we did not deal with before. For example, in addition to the previously known reports and travels in Mongolia, Ágoston Zichy’s trip in 1875, or Imre Sebők’s 1913 trip and their reports have also been found. The research can therefore also provide new data on Hungarian-Mongolian relations.