Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Is there a Hungarian "diaspora"?

     I have met many Hungarian-Americans during this semester in Hungary, dear reader, who have either moved back from the U.S.A. or are visiting precisely because they want to spend more time in their ancestral homeland.  This has led me to wonder: is there a Hungarian "diaspora"?  I have always been hesitant to use this word, because I knew that it could be used too broadly at times, and is sometimes used only to refer to the Jewish diaspora.  At other times, it is applied to African Americans too.  Could it be applied to Hungarians?
     Fortunately, a professor I once studied with, Kevin Kenny, of Boston College, has provided a short definition of diaspora here.  It has led me to conclude that Hungarians sometimes could be counted as a diaspora, though not always. 

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