“The sacred affair”

Linguistic analysis of the propaganda disseminated in the dualistic era (1867–1918) concerning the Magyarization of names

Abstract

“The sacred affair”: Linguistic analysis of the propaganda disseminated in the dualistic era (1867–1918) concerning the Magyarization of names

Official family name changes are often induced by practical, biographical causes. The fact that the original surname may become stigmatized by language and name ideology can also be observed as contributing to the phenomenon. This last case can be exemplified by the 19th century mass movement for the Magyarization of foreign names in Hungary, especially in communities whose members bore surnames of German origin. This movement could not have happened if linguistic nationalism, the dominant language ideology of the era, had not viewed family names as national symbols serving national-political purposes. This paper offers a critical discourse analysis of the propaganda for the Magyarization of names, which in the second half of the 19th century aimed at spreading and enacting the so-called “national name ideology”. The analysis primarily explores those discourse strategies (ideological contents and their linguistic representations) by which people bearing surnames of non Hungarian origin were made to accept the idea of national name ideology and convinced to Magyarize their family names.