Irén Rab: I never write anything that does not come from an authentic source or that I have not checked
"If we constantly hear that something is bad, sooner or later we believe it, especially if we have no way to compare it with reality," said Irén Rab to Magyar Hírlap. The cultural historian and permanent publicist of our newspaper launched his page Ungarnreal - Ungarn aus erster Hand (Hungary first hand) a year ago. His goal is to introduce the Hungarian conservative position to the Germans, who, in his opinion, have a lot of negative stereotypes about our country.
"Why did you start writing?"
- It should be known that public journalism never attracted me. My studies were published in professional journals, I taught how to write well, but I didn't really have time for my own texts intended for a wider audience. As a result of the migration crisis, I first felt the need to write in 2015. It was like living in two worlds. I listened to the German and Hungarian news and came across diametrically opposed reports. A reality was given, and it was communicated in various ways here at home and abroad. And I started looking for the truth behind it.
"And then he wrote a book."
"This is the situation!" (Migráció-szüréal), which started as a kind of internal blog, primarily for myself and my friends. It eventually became a book. At that time I was still living in Germany, I lived there for fifteen years, and finally I moved home five years ago. I noticed that here at home we are full of positive stereotypes about Germany. I, on the other hand, lived there, taught at the University of Göttingen, and saw exactly how this did not correspond to reality.
"Is that why you started Ungarnreal?"
"Partly." This included the fact that the Germans also create stereotypes about us, only negative stereotypes, which are getting worse. I thought it would do no harm to enlighten them that the image that the German media spreads about Hungary does not cover the reality. Because the Germans do not know Hungarian, what reaches them can only reach them through mediation. And so we know that's not exactly the conservative narrative. It's simple psychology: if I constantly hear about something being bad, sooner or later I'll believe it, especially if I have no way to compare it to reality. That's why I started Ungarnreal exactly one year ago, at the beginning of 2021.
– In an interview, he said that he is aware that people are mostly unwilling to change their own narrative even under the influence of the most sensible counter-arguments. Why did you take on this task?
- Because German society is not a homogeneous mass in which everyone is the same. There are many people who think differently about the world than the German mainstream media. We tend to think that Germans are united only because opposition opinions have no voice. However, many Germans do not take kindly to what has been going on in Germany lately.
"Then according to them, you don't want to convince Germans who think differently."
"I don't want to convince anyone." I don't even like that term. I used to say that everyone has their own truth, and keep calm about it. But to form an opinion, be aware of different points of view and have as much information as possible on the subject. I don't want to convince, but to address. In fact, I do the same thing in my writing as I did as a teacher.
"Do you mean scientific logic?"
"In a way, yes." I know how to appeal to Germans, I know how to present things in a way that is acceptable to them. Scientific thinking is present in these texts to the extent that I never write anything that does not come from an authentic source or that I have not checked.
"What do you mean by control?"
– If, for example, I remember a past event that I feel I should write about, I check every element of that thought. They say I write in a light style. However, behind the lightness is hard research work. Anyway, it's good that it doesn't show in my style.
– How did Ungarnreal develop in one year?
– When I came up with it, I didn't know what the exact format would be. Today, I prefer to call it a magazine, not a blog, since in addition to politics, there are also public, historical or even cultural writings and commemorations. You have published all the materials that the Germans hardly have access to from other sources, which convey positive, meaningful information about Hungary, which helps to navigate why the Hungarian mentality is different.
I also like writings that show the good sides of Hungarian-German relations. At first, I was afraid that I would hardly have anything to write about, but now a new article is published almost every day, and I inform my readers about the new published articles in a weekly newsletter. I do it alone, but I have many volunteer helpers from Germany and home, who provide me with ideas and information, translate the texts or do the language proofreading if necessary. I have "my own" authors who write specifically for Ungarnreal, and I already have "media partners".
"Do you know how many people read it?"
– At the end of December, I did a final accounting, then there were more than two hundred and eighty articles, and I had a total of two hundred and seventeen thousand readers, an average of eighteen thousand per month. Three-quarters of the visitors to the paper were from abroad, with the most readers coming from Germany, Austria and Switzerland in that order, but there are also some from Canada and the United States. By the way, most of my readers are from Berlin.
"Then we can say that he has entered the center." When can you say you are satisfied?
– Sometimes I feel that I will be satisfied if I can pass the baton to someone. It's a lot of work, but as long as it's fun and makes sense, I'll do it.
Cultural historian Irén Rab is in our opening picture. (Photo: Photo: MH/Róbert Hegedüs)
civilek.info: Irén Rab also publishes on our site. Ungarnreal is a German language site
Source: magyarhirlap.hu
Author: Bence Varga
