Speaker: Dr. Tibor Valuch, historian, Professor at the Eszterházy Károly Catholic University, Research Professor at the Institute of Political Science of the Centre for Social Science Research

In Hungary in the second half of the 20th century, social and cultural relations were decisively influenced by generations with different socialization and different social and cultural values. This in itself was a source of conflicts of varying degrees of intensity, exacerbated by the restrictions on freedom in the decades following the communist takeover. And the concomitant imposition of a socialist cultural ideal, never precisely defined by anyone. There were different degrees of separation between the successive political, social and cultural generations, but also different degrees of will to constantly extend the limited freedom, to organise themselves generationally. A key role in this was played by the various youth subcultures, the emergence and rapid spread of beat, rock and roll, heavy metal, punk and other underground music movements. The formation of generations and their lifestyles were, of course, influenced not only by music but also by socialisation, culture and social conditions. And the needs and life-feelings of each generation have also influenced musical trends.

In this generational and subcultural musical cross-section, I will try to give a brief overview of the Hungary of the past. Against whom and against what and against whom the kind of opposition, social self-organisation and attempted withdrawal that these groups tried to realise and express was formulated. What generations were present in Hungarian society in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s, and what socialisation experiences influenced them? How did rock music become a generational experience and partly a form of self-expression? What was the political and social reception of all this?

Photo by Fortepan/Tamás Urbán