Abstract
In Hungary, right-wing populism has become the semi-official discourse that legitimizes the authoritarian regime of Viktor Orbán. In this sense, one may see Hungary as a successful laboratory of mature, hegemonic state populism. The country showcases, for the first time in an EU member state, what happens when right-wing populism functions as a regime ideology in a political system where democratic checks and balances have been largely dismantled. This chapter explores some key characteristics of Orbán’s populist rhetoric that contributed to the post-democratic transformation of the country since 2010. Using data from a longitudinal content analysis of 41 key speeches that Orbán gave in twenty years, it finds the roots of Orbán’s success in strategic, sustained securitization (framing issues as dramatic, existential threats to the nation) and enemy creation as consistent features of his prolific rhetoric and propaganda strategy. This deep securitization creates a resonance with Hungary’s history and a negative self-image related to victimization of the nation prevalent among Hungarians.
To be Hungarian is a collective neurosis.
Arthur Koestler, Hungarian-British writer (1905–1983)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
The longitudinal research project above was carried out and published by four Hungarian linguists. However, as Orbán’s speeches constitute a politically sensitive topic and the researchers have academic jobs in a state-controlled research environment, they had to use pseudonyms to protect their identity against reprimands, character assassination in the government-controlled propaganda media, harassment, or losing their jobs (all of these happen to independent critics, including academics, in the authoritarian environment of the Orbán regime in contemporary Hungary). On the context and main results of the linguistic research project, see Magyari, Péter (2018). Tudományosan bizonyították, hogy Orbán Viktor egyre inkább paráztat [It has been scientifically proven that Viktor Orbán increasingly creates fear] 444.hu, July 4, 2018. https://444.hu/2018/07/04/tudomanyosan-bizonyitottak-hogy-orban-viktor-egyre-inkabb-paraztat (last accessed June 24, 2021). On government-sponsored character assassination and harassment targeting independent critics, including academics, in the Orbán regime, see Sükösd, Miklós (2021). A céltáblák visszalőnek. Propagandaállam és karaktergyilkosság [The targets shoot back. Propaganda state and character assassination]. Élet és Irodalom, 65(13), April 1, 2021. https://www.es.hu/cikk/2021-04-01/sukosd-miklos/a-celtablak-visszalonek.html (last accessed June 24, 2021).
- 2.
Cf.: Hallani sem bírta az “öngyilkosdalt” Presser [Presser couldn’t stand the “suicide song”] 24.hu, November 19, 2013. https://24.hu/szorakozas/2013/11/19/hallani-sem-birta-az-ongyilkosdalt-presser/ (last accessed June 24, 2021).
- 3.
On a personal note, I also lived for a while in the same building, Dob St. 46/B in the center of Budapest. Seress had lived on the 3rd floor, Presser on the 2nd; our apartment was on the 5th. Today, there is a photo exhibition in the building’s staircase to commemorate Seress and the other notable Hungarian musicians who lived on the premises.
References
Austin, John Langshaw. 1962. How to Do Things with Words. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Bozóki, András, and Dániel Hegedűs. 2018. An Externally Constrained Hybrid Regime: Hungary in the European Union. Democratization, 25(7), 1173–1189. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2018.1455664.
Dayan, Daniel, and Elihu Katz. 1992. Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Freedom House. 2021. https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores. 2021 (Last accessed June 24, 2021).
Koestler, Arthur. 1952. Arrow in the Blue: Autobiography. New York: Macmillan.
Magyar, Bálint. 2016. Post-Communist Mafia State: The Case of Hungary. Budapest: Central European University Press.
Magyar, Hajnalka, István Gulyás, János Kovács, and Emma Világosi. 2018. Van egy magyar Magyarország [There Is a Hungarian Hungary], June 16, 2018 (38 ps.). https://ia803100.us.archive.org/35/items/161189wA180616_201807/161189w_a_180616.pdf (Last accessed June 24, 2021).
Orbán, Viktor. 1989. Speech on June 16, 1989 at Heroes Square, Budapest. Translated by Sean Lambert. The Orange Files. https://theorangefiles.hu/2013/06/20/fill-in-the-blanks/ (Last accessed June 24, 2021).
Polyák, Gábor. 2019. Media in Hungary: Three Pillars of an Illiberal Democracy. In Połońska, Eva, and Charlie Beckett, eds. Public Service Broadcasting and Media Systems in Troubled European Democracies. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 279–303. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02710-0_13.
Scheiring, Gábor. 2020. The Retreat of Liberal Democracy: Authoritarian Capitalism and the Accumulative State in Hungary. New York: Palgrave.
Senn, Martin. 2017. The Art of Constructing (In)Security: Probing Rhetorical Strategies of Securitisation. Journal of International Relations and Development, 20(3), 605–630.
Szilágyi, Anna, and András Bozóki. 2015. Playing It Again in Post-Communism: The Revolutionary Rhetoric of Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Advances in the History of Rhetoric, 18(sup1), S153–S166.
Szombati, Kristóf, and Anna Szilágyi. 2020. Enemy in the Making. The Language of “Anti-Sorosism” in the U.S. and Hungary. Political Research Associates, July 9, 2020. https://www.politicalresearch.org/2020/07/09/enemy-making (Last accessed June 24, 2021).
Wæver, Ole. 1998. Security, Insecurity and Asecurity in the West-European Non-War Community. In Adler, Emmanuel, and Michael Barnett, eds. Security Communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 69–118.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sükösd, M. (2022). Victorious Victimization: Orbán the Orator—Deep Securitization and State Populism in Hungary’s Propaganda State. In: Kock, C., Villadsen, L. (eds) Populist Rhetorics. Rhetoric, Politics and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87351-6_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87351-6_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-87350-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-87351-6
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)