euro|topics - Péter Nádas

Nádas, Péter

4 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Élet és Irodalom - Hungary | 20/10/2006

The legacy of the Hungarian Uprising

The Hungarian writer Peter Nadas describes the Uprising of 1956 as the final act in the history of European revolutions: "It was a shameful and brutal end to the romantic and idealistic history of revolution that spanned several centuries. The Hungarian Revolution is dead, no matter how many monuments the Hungarians build. The Revolution has lived on over the years of retribution. But not the false illusion of peaceful coexistence... To put it bluntly, by October 1956 the people and the legitimate governments of Europe and North America had decided that the days of revolution were over. They were right. This was an epoch which believed that social and political protests must be integrated into existing systems in order to avoid a third world war. With great sorrow, bleeding hearts and full awareness of their moral responsibility, they decided not to send soldiers or weapons to support this revolution of Hungarian democracy which came 150 years too late."

Népszabadság - Hungary | 21/09/2006

Peter Nadas on the protests in Hungary

The daily publishes a television interview between Sandor Friderikusz and author Peter Nadas in which the latter defends Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, whose remarks triggered a wave of protests and riots in Hungary after they were made public. Nadas argues that the goal formulated in the speech was to "dismantle the feudal, socialist system of privileges which has been used to govern the country for 16 years now. Until today, the governments have distributed what does not belong to them. This is incompatible with European practice. Hungary doesn't need an austerity package, it needs a far-reaching reform of the state budget that fights corruption and reduces privileges." Nadas points out that in the election campaign Fidesz, the main opposition party, "drafted a social welfare model despite being a conservative party. The situation in Hungary would deteriorate considerably if Gyurcsany's government collapsed."

Népszabadság - Hungary | 02/05/2006

Peter Nadas on modern press photographers

To mark the opening of the Press Photo Exhibition in Hungary, author Peter Nadas praises the press photographer's profession in a speech published by the newspaper. "Photographers have a job, and in this respect they don't differ much from a plumber. But their job is also their calling, their way of life... Photographers can't afford to take things that happen to other people lightly. They don't have to starve among the starving, and they're not forced into the front line to become victims, but they seem to be the ones who have to ask other people's final, important questions. In order to preserve their mental health, they often put their bodies at risk."

Élet és Irodalom - Hungary | 31/03/2006

Peter Nadas on writing under a dictatorship

Hungarian author Peter Nadas questions in an essay whether it's at all possible to do responsible journalistic reporting under a dictatorship, and analyses among other examples reports filed out of Nazi Germany by American journalist William L. Shirer, who used ambiguous wording to fool censors: "Every sentence with a double meaning is a triumph, a joy for the human mind which has once again succeeded in deceiving the police state. Yet it's still not clear how far a foreign correspondent should go with this dodging game, how long it makes sense to exercise oneself in inventiveness and at which point this turns into an irresponsible behaviour. Take someone in Boston sitting in his kitchen, pouring sweet maple syrup over sizzling bacon and scrambled eggs. Do they understand from such ambiguous sentences how deformed the thoughts and actions of someone can become who for years has used their mother tongue for hiding thoughts rather than for expressing them? How meaning slips around in the shadow of words, hissing through the gaps in their definitions?"

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