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The asianization of national fantasies in Hungary: a critical analysis of political discourse

Author
Affiliation

Chris Moreh

Northumbria University

10.1177/1367877915573781
Abstract
This article presents a critical analysis of the Hungarian government’s ‘Asian’ political discourse. It argues that in the wake of the economic recession, Hungary became more radical in its turn towards Asia, promoting a discourse that goes beyond economic relations and touches on sentiments of national identity and belonging. Via a discourse-historical analysis of three interrelated discursive events, the article shows how economic, cultural and racial discourses are reinforcing one another in building on the myth of cultural and racial affinity with Inner Asia and the Far East. This process is similar to the Eurasianist discourse in Russia and other ex-Soviet republics, and may have serious social and geopolitical repercussions.

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Citation

BibTeX citation:
@article{moreh2016,
  author = {Moreh, Chris},
  title = {The Asianization of National Fantasies in {Hungary:} A
    Critical Analysis of Political Discourse},
  journal = {International Journal of Cultural Studies},
  volume = {19},
  number = {3},
  pages = {341–353},
  date = {2016},
  doi = {10.1177/1367877915573781},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {This article presents a critical analysis of the Hungarian
    government’s “Asian” political discourse. It argues that in the wake
    of the economic recession, Hungary became more radical in its turn
    towards Asia, promoting a discourse that goes beyond economic
    relations and touches on sentiments of national identity and
    belonging. Via a discourse-historical analysis of three interrelated
    discursive events, the article shows how economic, cultural and
    racial discourses are reinforcing one another in building on the
    myth of cultural and racial affinity with Inner Asia and the Far
    East. This process is similar to the Eurasianist discourse in Russia
    and other ex-Soviet republics, and may have serious social and
    geopolitical repercussions.}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
Moreh, Chris. 2016. “The Asianization of National Fantasies in Hungary: A Critical Analysis of Political Discourse.” International Journal of Cultural Studies 19 (3): 341–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877915573781.