“The nation lives in its language”
The Museum of Hungarian Language in Széphalom
MúzeumCafé 21.
The Museum of Hungarian Language opened two years ago in Széphalom, the location of Ferenc Kazinczy’s residence, his intellectual workshop, where he formulated his ideas about language reform. The museum is not based on the important periods of linguistic history, the subject of the exhibition is truly living and has a serious intent. The idea of the museum was raised in 1994 at the assembly of the Kazinczy Society by the eminent linguist Emil Pásztor. He argued that just as there were memorial places honouring Hungary’s greatest writers and poets, then the language they employed, which for 3000 years has been unique in Europe, similarly deserved a place. At the time there were also other, practical considerations. The results of the ‘Use of the Hungarian Language’ competition were always announced at the side of the Kazinczy mausoleum in Széphalom, which was also a frequent focus of pilgrimages. However, on rainy days there was no shelter and many expressed the belief that a museum building could solve that problem. On the basis of the simultaneously practical, scholarly and creative idea, a plan of action was quickly elaborated and architectural plans were outlined. The matter was publicised in the 2002 Yearbook of the Kazinczy Society. According to Péter Nyiri, deputy director of the Museum of Hungarian Language, before he died in 2004 Emil Pásztor was regarded as a dreamer in connection with the museum, since although the foundation stone was laid in 2001 construction only began in 2007. It’s no secret that the slowing down of the project and later its speeding up were related to the changing political colours of the responsible local authority – as if members of the same nation would not speak in one tongue. Nevertheless, now there are only two other similar institutes in the world.