A special collection of essays by great Hungarian artists and thinkers have been published by the Publishing House of HAA in the first part of 2018. Thirteen profound and penetrating discourse selected by literary historian Béla Márkus and written by such intellectual giants as poet Mihály Babits, historian István Bibó, thinker László Németh and composer Béla Bartók give a detailed and vivid view of what Hungarian cultural identity and Hungarianness is like in a historical angle.
The book is divided into two parts, the first part consists of "Conceptual Approaches", the second contains "Approaches in Art". Béla Márkus provides a well-balanced and fine introduction to the many-folded ideas of the volume, and he points out as a kind of conclusion of his analysis: "As is well known, Renan defined the nation as a common memory of the past, common standing in the present, and a common plan for the future. The essays in this book highlight the multitude of obstacles that Hungarians as a cultural nation have come up against - especially those beyond the boundaries of the Hungarian state - while reviving and preserving common memories. They also reveal that if these are common plans, their development is attributable to courage rather than hope. Yet this volume is a collection of Hope. The essays - trials or attempts in the original, Montaignain sense of the word - contained herein are attempts at enabling the reader to navigate the past of Hungarians, and to compare Hungarian national character and national characteristics to other peoples - indeed to gain European and even universal perspectives."

What is the Hungarian?
Masters of Hungarian Essay on Identity
Selected by Béla Márkus
MMA Kiado, 2018
ISBN 9786155869044