Thomas Varkonyi

Thomas Varkonyi studied History (BA) and Historical-Cultural European Research (MA) at the University of Vienna. The title of his Thesis was: „Die Geschichte der Juden von Mohács 1848-1948 und ihre Darstellung in Denkmälern”. Currently, he is a PhD student and lecturer at the Department of East European History writing his thesis on the history of „Galicia“ as a pejorative imagination in hungarian language and society under the supervision of Prof. Christoph Augustynowicz.

Research Interests: Forms of antisemitism in Central Europe; Contemporary History of CEE; historical shifts in cultural discourse

Current Research Project: „Galizien“ in der ungarischen Sprache und Gesellschaft. Kulturgeschichte einer pejorativen Imagination.

The research concerns the use of “Galicia” as a distinct Hungarian pejorative with a continuity of at least 100 years and its historico-cultural meaning. The PhD project differs from extent research in that it is not concerned with the real historic province of Galicia but its imagination by outsiders from the Hungarian language area and the discursive and metaphorical uses it still evokes.

Publications:

Kultur-historische Perspektiven auf aktuelle Entwicklungen in Ungarn. In: Juridikum, Heft 1 / 2016, S.14-25.