National Values and Civic Engagement among Young People in Hungary

Culture, according to Geertz, means the historically transmitted patterns of meaning embodied in symbols. It is a system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life (Geertz 1994). Human culture can only exist in community. It is in contact, communication and feedback with others that cultural phenomena unfold and survive. The predominant medium for the spread of culture today is by the creation of symbols, colours, shapes and visual meanings that directly affect the individual's subconscious. Especially when a group of individuals shape the quality of their memory through secondary experiences (social campaign or the mass media), they will establish a value order. There is a collective memory and memory, but memory has a social framework, our individual thinking can only remember if it is within the frame of reference of the collective memory and becomes part of it. Most of our memories emerge when we are reminded of them by our parents, friends, teachers or others (Halbwachs 2018). Jan Assmann extended the concept of collective memory by defining communicative and cultural memory within collective memory. By communicative memory, Assmann means memories that an individual shares with peers. An example is generational memory. When the bearers of this memory die out, the next generation takes their place as the bearers of the knowledge passed on to them. But this living memory fades over time. Communicative memory based on oral history can be maintained for about three generations, after which it is replaced by tradition, i.e. it merges into cultural memory (Assmann 2018). Family or community history is rarely passed on today therefore it is replaced by the reality conveyed by culture. This reality is accepted as authentic if people can relate it to their situations and if they can override their community memory without consequences. The development of traditions and rituals, as well as the identification and regulation of places, elements and symbols of memory, is an increasingly urgent and strategic issue for nation states. The government surveillance, cultural and commemorative content and the tasks of institutions are closely interdependent. Therefore, they must be examined together. Knowledge of national culture and traditions is an essential condition for the survival of a nation state. In the last decade, Hungarian governments have set up a number of institutions and programmes to perpetuate national themes and explore all the details of history. However, it is only in the last few years that these institutions have begun to open up to young people. They offer content based on scientific research, but this often appears in an overly professional framework and through communication channels not used by young people. Furthermore, government communication often places the form and ritual of remembrance in a political narrative. It may provide concepts that prevent the active involvement of the younger generation in the process of acting and valuing national memory. It is true that, alongside the memory policies of national governments, global media players have opened up new channels of communication, especially in recent years. In those years historical events were presented in a professional way accessible to young people. However, the identities conveyed are sometimes conceptual, detached from historical reality, but at the same time embedded in youthful, human and enjoyable stories. Their impact is growing and their popularity is increasingly significantly, especially among young people who are receptive to visual cognition. I am now describing my own research findings through which I would like to demonstrate how young people's current knowledge about and attitudes to national values can be presented: how they think about school commemorations, civic duties, historical places and holidays? I used both qualitative and quantitative methodologies in my research. The research was based on interviews of secondary school children (18 in-depth interviews and 6 focus group interviews) and a questionnaire survey of students (N=203). The development of traditions and rituals, the presentation of places and elements of memory, heroes and symbols that have a strong impact on national identity, is one of the functions exercised by states. (Balatoni, 2022) To what extent is this knowledge alive in the collective memory of the young generation? The data published specifically represent the responses given by young people in secondary and higher education in 2021/22. A modified questionnaire will target a larger sample in the second half of 2023.