Kultúramodellek és történelmi változások. A Libanon című magyar zsidó folyóirat
Models of Culture and Historical Change. An Analytical Presentation of Libanon (1936–1943), a Hungarian Jewish Periodical

Summary/Abstract: The paper describes and analyzes the periodical Libanon, which was published between 1936 and 1943 in 34 issues altogether. At the zenith of Hungarian Jewish intellectual activity, Libanon started as one of the more important forums of the interwar Jewish quest for direction. Later, with the situation getting more and more desperate, it became the official publication of the National Hungarian Jewish Museum and a document of the exploration of options at the same time. However, despite its reliably high standards, its diversity tempting for scholars, and its peculiar timing, a detailed examination of the history of Libanon and the rich content of the individual issues has not been carried out yet. Our paper attempts to fill that gap through focusing on two questions (after outlining in the introduction the general characteristics of the periodical and some reasons why it is a valuable source material): on the contents of explicitly articulated models of culture, that is, different theories about the right direction in cultural self-definition, and on the other hand, on the reception and the description of the ongoing historical changes in the periodical and the articulated options of response. More precisely, we identify and present in detail five models of culture in the two main empirical sections of our paper, this way illustrating among other things the heterogeneity of the views the main authors held. We also follow how, starting from their faith in science, followed by a period of doubt that began with the intensifying discrimination in the 1930s, they arrived at urging a renewal, in some cases at a new approach towards the inherent values of the Jewry.

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