Semiotics in Hungary
pp. 279-292
in: Thomas Sebeok, Jean Umiker-Sebeok (eds), The semiotic sphere, Berlin, Springer, 1986Abstract
In considering the development of semiotic studies in Hungary, we have to deal first of all with some facts in the history of Hungarian social sciences. In Hungary, that is, in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy until 1918, a profound differentiation and rapid development of the various sciences began in the late 19th century and, from a historical point of view, this occurred under the influence of positivism. However, in consequence of a delayed social development, the sciences remained under the predominant influence of liberalism, and thus were full of romanticism and even nationalism. As a matter of fact, the situation generally changed in the period between 1890 and the World War I, when the goals and methods of the Hungarian social sciences became the very heart of the society's interest.