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Tulips for Another Day: Transylvania's Ethnic Hungarians
| Article
# : |
20474 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1992 |
2,877 Words |
| Author
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Kate Mahoney and Mike Maturo
Kate Mahoney is an anthropologist specializing in Latin
American cultures. She was awarded a Rotary Ambassador
Scholarship to live and study in Chile in 1994. She and Mike
Maturo, a freelance writer and urban planner, lived on
Valparaiso's Cerro Alegre and taught English at the Chilean-
North American Cultural Institute of Valparaiso. |
Woven into cloth and clothing and carved into gates and fences, the tulip represents one side of a centuries-old ethnic dispute between Hungarians and Romanians in Transylvania. It is the subtle flag of defiance that Hungarians do not dare display more openly. Transylvania's Hungarian inhabitants view Romanian rule as an injustice resulting from an unfortunate fluke of history. But the area has always been a contested region, claimed by both Hungarians and Romanians as their cultural heartland.
Romania's ethnic Hungarians look back seventy-two years to a time when Budapest, not Bucharest, ruled Transylvania. The post-World War I Treaty of Trianon transformed their status from that of ruling nationals to that of a minority. The years under the totalitarian, communist regime (1945-1989) only reinforced the already deep mistrust between Hungarians and Romanians. Recent economic hardship has furthered competition between the two groups for basic necessities.
The mistrust endures in Bolon, a village of two thousand souls tucked into the eastern Carpathian Mountains that separate Transylvania from Moldavia (now Moldova). Although it is home to Romanians and Gypsies, Szekely Hungarians constitute the bulk of the population. Bolon suffers from the economic woes that plague the whole country. Ethnic rivalry runs high.
Here especially, east of the present Hungarian border, old loyalties and hatreds run deep. Speaking Romanian sometimes draws suspicious stares. Tulips appear, carved in the wooden gates or embroidered in linens displayed for sale, but only in localities where Hungarian is spoken.
As old as the land itself, the tulip reminds Hungarians of their common background. Though the national flag over Transylvania has changed often, the nationality problem has endured, enhancing the tulip's significance as a symbol of ethnic identity.
The emblem has grown out of the history and ethnic strife of the last thousand years. Quiet sign of the Szekely heartland, it signals allegiance and centers conversations. Displayed in plain view in most rooms, not emblazoned on some secret flag, tulips unify Transylvania's Hungarian community.
History Of A Contested Land
Heavily forested and rich in resources and fertile farmland, Transylvania has attracted
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