Featured Lendület Researcher: Karolina Lendák-Kabók

“The history of the Central and Eastern European region is one of constantly shifting borders. Although the region’s ethnic groups have not been particularly mobile and have migrated very little over time, border changes have frequently transformed them into minorities,” said Lendák-Kabók. “The ethnic groups living together share a common history, but their languages, cultural backgrounds and religions differ. They have had to come to terms with these circumstances and find ways to coexist.”

Karolina Lendák-Kabók

An Examination of Mixed Marriages Since 1895 on Three Levels

The most intimate form of coexistence occurs when people from different ethnic backgrounds enter into a mixed marriage. In such cases,

differences in cultural background give rise to social situations within the family that may at times be conflict-ridden, and individual families respond to these challenges in different ways.

Sociologists and demographers have therefore been studying intermarriage since the early 20th century, but in the United States and Western Europe, the focus has been on the migration aspects of this phenomenon. Lendák-Kabók approaches the subject through a historical lens, since in Central and Eastern Europe, different ethnic groups have lived side by side not as a consequence of recent migration, but as a result of centuries of shared history.

“To understand the current situation, we need to look back at the past and examine how mixed marriages were viewed throughout history, as well as what census data reveal. What languages did people speak, and what religions did they identify with?” continued the research group leader. “In the Momentum project, we begin our investigations in 1895, when civil marriage was introduced in the Kingdom of Hungary. We investigate regions that belonged to Hungary or to the Habsburg Monarchy at the turn of the 20th century, and where subsequent border changes fundamentally reshaped ethnic relations.”

The researchers approach the dynamics of mixed marriages on three levels. At the macro level, they examine the state’s attitude toward such marriages. There were times when the state did not officially prohibit these marriages, but nevertheless regarded them with disapproval. At other times, particularly during the period when Yugoslav identity was being promoted, mixed marriages were actively encouraged. During this time, efforts were made to ease tensions between ethnic group by encouraging intermarriage. “It was believed that mixed marriages would resolve the latent conflicts simmering in Yugoslavia, which were increasingly coming to the surface. We know full well that this did not happen; mixed marriages proved incapable of resolving minority conflicts,” argued Lendák-Kabók.

At the meso level of the study, the researchers will examine the attitudes of those working in minority education, civil society organisations and religious figures, as these individuals and organisations interacted with spouses and children from mixed marriages on a daily basis. At the micro level, the research will focus on processes within the family itself. What are grandparents’ views on mixed marriages? Which languages are spoken at home? What language do the children use? How does the language of instruction a school uses influence the parents’ choice of school? In which faith are they baptised? When do they celebrate Christmas? More broadly, how is their identity shaped?

Based on the researcher’s experience, when children are born, parents strive to ensure that both partners’ identities and languages are represented within the family, and that their children learn both languages.

In most cases, however, one party eventually yields, and the other’s cultural background becomes dominant.

“The process of cultural assimilation also takes place within the family,” continued Lendák-Kabók. “From the outside, mixed marriages may appear little different from marriages between members of the same ethnic group. Internally, however, they often involve extensive negotiation and sometimes conflict. These struggles begin with the birth of a child, at the very moment a name must be chosen for them. Further milestones follow, each requiring decisions that shape the child’s ethnic identity. Children typically receive primary education in the minority language, but this becomes less common at secondary level, and over time the language is often lost altogether.”

Lendák-Kabók has interviewed numerous couples in mixed marriages. More affluent families can afford to send their children to schools that teach in the minority language, as they are confident that they will be able to offset any resulting disadvantages with their financial resources. One common challenge, for example, is that the spouse belonging to the majority group often does not speak the minority language and is therefore unable to help the child with schoolwork.

Tolerated, but Not Supported

“In Vojvodina, it is considered the norm for the majority-group spouse not to learn the minority language. They lack the motivation; they don’t feel that it would be of value to them,” said Lendák-Kabók. “This marks a significant difference between mixed marriages in Hungary and those in Vojvodina. In Hungary, many more Hungarian spouses learn Serbian, at least to some extent. Before and after the Second World War, people in Vojvodina commonly spoke three or more languages, including Hungarian, German and Serbian. During the Yugoslav era, where a settlement had a sufficiently large minority population, all pupils in local schools were required to study the minority language as a so-called ‘language of the environment’. At that time, Vojvodinian society was far more open to minority languages. Then came the turbulent 1990s, and all of this was abolished. A paradigm shift occurred: today, minority languages are tolerated but not supported. As a result, it is now very rare in Vojvodina for Serbs to learn Hungarian.”

Overall, the researcher’s findings show that

mixed marriages do not in themselves offer a universal solution to ethnic problems

“I do not wish to suggest that mixed marriages are unimportant, but their role should not be overstated. These relationships alone do not resolve tensions among the ethnic groups of Central and Eastern Europe. In Western Europe, by contrast, researchers view mixed marriages in a distinctly positive light. There, such relationships facilitate the social integration and assimilation of immigrants and noticeably improve their social status. Immigrants in mixed marriages are more readily accepted by the majority society and enjoy greater respect. The social status of children born into such marriages likewise becomes largely indistinguishable from that of children belonging to the majority population. The same cannot be said, however, of minority–majority mixed marriages in Eastern Europe.