Thoughts on Hungarian

I was priveliged to have an article of mine translated for a Hungarian journal called Replika in a themed issue called‘Extreme Scenes.’ Music, Genres and Online Communities'.  The title of my article 'Unspectacular Subculture?: Transgression and Mundanity in the Global Extreme Metal Scene' (which first appeared in a collection I co-edited called 'After Subculture')  was translated as: 'Nem látványos szubkultúra? Határátlépés és hétköznapiság a globális extrém metal színtéren'. Here's the first paragraph:

A szubkultúrakutatás CCCS-féle modellje1 szerint a szubkultúrát „látványossága” defi niálja, ugyanakkor éppen e tulajdonsága okozza a kényszerű vesztét is, hiszen ezáltal folyamatosan ki van téve a médiaipar és az állam kitüntetett fi gyelmének. A CCCS kortárs kritikusai helyesen értelmezték újra a „normális”, „nem látványos” ifj úsági kultúra értékeit, és azt is kimutatták, hogy még maguk a látványos stílus termelői is híján lehetnek a látványos szubkultúra iránti egyértelmű elköteleződésnek. A látványos szubkultúra azonban továbbra is legalább annyira érdekli a kutatókat, mint a médiát és az államot. Bármennyire nem szeretnénk használni a „szubkultúra” szót olyan terek leírására, amelyekben látványos gyakorlatok jönnek létre, és bármennyit is változtak ezek a terek az 1970-es évek óta, a CCCS egy olyan kutatási témát határolt be, amely továbbra is nagy érdeklődést vált ki. Mindezen túl, az elhatárolás ezen gyakorlata azt jelenti, hogy a szubkultúra „kísértete” még akkor is ott marad a látványos ifj úsági kulturális termelésről szóló kutatásokban, ha azok más elemzési keretet és kifejezéseket használnak e terek leírására.

Now I'm fully aware of the dangers of exoticism, but even so isn't there something fabulously evil-looking about this paragraph? I love languages where the rules of pronounciation are so foreign to me that even written in roman letters they appear utterly alien (Gaelic is another example). I have no idea at all how to pronounce these words and it's only my knowing what the article is about that gives me a clue as to the meaning of some of them ('szubkultúrakutatás' is presumably 'subcultural'). There's a real frisson to being distanced from ones own words in this way and I feel priveliged to have been chosen for translation. 

I have always had a soft spot for Hungarian. The sound of the language and the way it reads feel totally unique and it has nothing in common with its neighbours. It has a very distant relationship to Finnish and various Siberian languages but it is effectively a language apart. Hungarian's mystery, is redolent of a Magyar heritage of horsemen and nobility that cannot help but evoke powerful (if cliched) images. It's all terribly metal and this was brought home again when I witnessed the thrilling performance of Attilla Csihar at the recent Sunn0))) gig in London. His impossibly deep voice, used as a source of sub-bass drones that compete with the guitars of O'Malley and Anderson; his use of strange costumes; his esoteric English and Hungarian lyrics - all these endow him and his music with a wieghty, almost scary charisma. How can a track entitled 'Big Church [Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért]'  (off 'Monoliths and Dimensions') fail to thrill?

If I have any Hungarian readers they may feel patronised by this post. In my defence though, I'd point out how incredibly bland it can be speaking English. It's a language I love but it's also the world's Esperanto and it has no sense of esoteric power. I do speak Hebrew though and it's letters and sounds do seem to have an aura that I find in Hungarian and other languages. Sometimes though, it is thrilling to gaze at the words of an unfamiliar foreign language.

Comments

[hampshireflyer]

It does look as if Tolkien ought to have based something nasty on it.

[k. marci]

Hey man, Im really proud you liked the translation. It was a good text to translate too. Szubkultúrakutatás means subculture research. MEGSZENTSÉGTELENÍTHETETLENSÉGESKEDÉSEITEKÉRT.

the translator

[meko]

I am Hungarian and your post made me feel proud, not patronised. Thank you. (Proud is "büszke" in Hungarian, try to pronunce it! :-) )

[Invisible Oranges]

Congrats! Hungarian black metal always does present a workout come ID3 tagging time.

I agree that English has, in usage, become the world's great linguistic leveler. However, as an amalgam of other languages, many of which are "exotic," it has much frisson potential. One just has to use it right.

[Carlos Valderrama]

Hey Metaljew,

Some extra from another Attila: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFclPVvWDt4&feature=related . Hope you'll like it.

[helga]

you should put a proper link to the magazine you're quoting

[sulfugor]

If I have any Hungarian readers they may feel patronised by this post.
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They might feel patronised if they've spent a few years as grad students in english at a north-american university. If they're just regular folks from hungary or metalheads from there : Probably not.

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In my defence though, I'd point out how incredibly bland it can be speaking English.
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As a native french speaker, I find the heavily anglo-saxon leaning register of english very exotic and interesting.
I don't find academese charming at all because it looks just like french and thus opens no real window into another language. That's unlike the english in Tolkien or the kind of english favoured by all those heathen types. English does not at all have to be bland. Up with English, down with globish !