Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Modern Research in Social Sciences, 2024
Year: 2024
DOI:
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A Hungarian Expedition in Africa – The Source Value of István Medgyaszay’s 1911 Travel Journal
Emese Kún
ABSTRACT:
A radical increase in the popularity and possibilities of tourism is one of the most phenomenal results of the 19th-century development. The transformation of travel customs made international and intercontinental travel available not merely for the elite, but it also opened perspectives for the more affluent middle-class customers as well. In 1911, a group of Hungarian researchers organized an expedition to the coastal area of the Blue Nile. A journalist, an ornithologist, two architects and a count, an experienced hunter joined the hunting team. The main goal was to collect bird samples for the Hungarian National Museum, the predecessor of the Hungarian Museum of Natural History. The bequest of one of the participants, István Medgyaszay provided an unpredictably immersive picture of the trip and led to a comprehensive investigation of a wider range of sources. What is the connection between architectural research and the history of ornithology? What are the rare printed and archival sources to reconstruct the event? How does the discovery contribute to the international discourse about modern research in social sciences? This study unveils the details and current state of an ongoing project in Budapest City Archives in a broader context. Simultaneously, it outlines certain specificities of travelling to the African continent in the pre-war era.
keywords: architecture; archivism; expeditions; heritage; interdisciplinarity