MAĎARSKÁ MENŠINA V PROCESE TRANSFORMÁCIE PO ROKU 1989: TYPOLÓGIA PRECHODU OD PARTIKULÁRNEHO K OBČIANSKEMU

The main object of analysis in the presented study is the process of self-identification of both the Slovak majority nation and the Hungarian minority nation within the newly established Slovak Republic. The issue of identity is examined in the context of the transition process after 1989 with an emphasis on its historical bearings. The author focuses on the typology of fundamental milestones which, within the self-identification process, have effected a gradual change in the behaviour and activities and moves made by its main political actors. The author has been particularly interested in their views on the nature of their coexistence – on the transition from the particular, i.e., ethnic attitudes towards the civil perception of social and political reality. The research framework is constituted by the concept of „Geschichtsbewältigung“, or dealing with the past. Following a 25-year lapse from these revolutionary events, social sciences still continue to strive for their objective interpretation. The author has attempted to capture the complex process of transformation of society and its impact on international politics and bilateral relations within the said concept of dealing with the past. In this sense, the argument seeks to reflect on the fact that, over the course of the twentieth century, the nature of the research problem had gradually evolved according to the scientific discourse spanning various scientific and political circles or points of view and, above all, in accordance with the increasing depth of knowledge and elaboration of the substance of the matter at hand.