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Eastern Europe: Where Hardship Intersects with Artistic Beauty

The Korea Foundation Cultural Center is presenting another edition of its regular lecture series on a theme of Eastern Europe (May 7 through July 16). The ten weekly lecture sessions will include presentations by professors and scholars who specialize in Eastern Europe, along with selected individuals with various Eastern European experiences, such as a film director, musician, and travel industry professional. In particular, the lectures will deal with the history, culture, and art of Eastern Europe, with a specific emphasis on the countries of Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland.



Eastern Europe is a region that can be difficult to describe even though people might be familiar with the term. For one thing, until more recently, not many people have visited the region. More importantly, Eastern Europe had long been associated with the socialist bloc, up through 1989, which meant that the flow of information has been significantly restricted. Accordingly, many people have developed distorted perceptions toward Eastern Europe, especially those who viewed media coverage during the 1960s and 1970s, which had left them with negative images of Soviet tanks and widespread poverty in the regional countries. Fortunately, in recent years, the brilliant culture and arts of Eastern Europe has come to the forefront, dramatically changing people’s attitudes, as a result of the rising tide of visitors to the countries of this region, especially youth and student travelers.

History of Adversity
Hungarians, Czechs, and Poles tend to frown on the use of “Eastern Europe.” From a geographical perspective, the region is actually in the center of Europe, while the term “Central Europe” has been more appropriately used in the past. Since the onset of the Cold War period, however, Western Europe became a focal point of Western powers, while the term, Eastern Europe, was used to distinguish the socialist bloc as a kind of political adversary of Western Europe. Therefore, Western Europe was associated with democratic and developed countries, while Eastern Europe was characterized by its socialist regimes and less

developed economies. Today, the regional peoples think of themselves as “Central Europeans,” as a geographical reference, rather than “Eastern Europeans” and its past political connotations. Within the region, Hungary is like an island, in linguistic and ethnic terms. Hungarian is a Finn-Ugur language, while Hungarians are known as a Magyar people, who migrated from Asia. They are the descendants of seven tribes who once lived to the east of the Ural Mountains in Asia, and eventually resettled in central Europe around 896. Although they accepted Christianity, in order to coexist among the Germanic, Slavic, and Latin peoples, they have not discarded their Asian roots, as can be seen in their culture that reflects the influences of Asian and European traditions.
Czechs share a Western Slavic language, along with Poles and Slovakians. According to a founding myth of the Slavic nations, three brothers named Czech, Rus, and Lech, were once wandering about, when Czech went to the south and settled in Prague, while Rus founded Russia, and Lech ended up in Poznan, where he developed Poland. The Czech nation was founded in 852, and reached a peak of prosperity during the 14th century, when Karel (Charles) IV became the Holy Roman Emperor. All this while, Prague, which is known as the “Paris of Eastern Europe,” has carefully preserved its cultural relics and heritage, which helps the Czech Republic to attract some 100 million tourists a year, an amount ten times greater than its resident population.
In 966, the country of Poland was founded by the Piast dynasty, a western Slavic people. It became an influential country in the 14th century, based on its lucrative salt trade. Surrounded by such powers as Russia, Prussia, and Austria, however, it suffered from endless invasion, and actually could not be found on a world map for 123 years, from the 18th century.

Struggle for Freedom
The history of Eastern Europe has been marked by a bloody struggle for freedom. It is also a process of overcoming the occupation by such powers as the Soviet Union, Germany, and Austria. During the post-World War II era, after its countries became members of a socialist bloc, they suffered from the Soviet Union’s suppression. Over time, the peoples of Eastern Europe have managed to overcome such adversity and attain their hard-earned freedom as independent states, which have since joined the European Union.
In Poland, in 1956, laborers and children took to the streets of Pozman to protest the country’s dire economic situation, while pleading “We are hungry! Give us bread.” Thereafter, in neighboring Hungary, some 300,000 protestors participated in an anti-Soviet democratization movement. The Soviet Union brutally suppressed this resistance with the deployment of 150,000 troops, along with 2,000 tanks, which resulted in some 30,000 casualties among civilians. The Korean poet Kim Choon-soo wrote a poem, “The Death of a Girl in Budapest,” as a tribute to the victims of this violence.
There were also anti-Soviet demonstrations in Prague in 1968. In response, 200,000 soldiers of the Warsaw Pact advanced into Czechoslovakia, where they arrested reformist leaders, including Dubcek, along with injuring numerous citizens. In the cities of Eastern European, it is still possible to detect the extreme hardship that its people have had to endure, not all that long ago.

Brilliant Culture
As a result of World War II, many cities in Eastern Europe exper ienced extensive devastat ion. Nevertheless, the region’s brilliant culture and arts have continued to flourish throughout Eastern Europe. Hungary had built the first underground railroad system on the European continent by the late 1800s, along with being home to 13 Nobel laureates, in such fields as physics, chemistry, and medicine. Moreover, it is the country of Kodály Zoltán and his revolutionary music instruction methods; Bartók Béla, a maestro of avant-garde music; and Liszt Ferenc, who stood at the forefront of Europe’s Romantic music. When viewing the Danube, it is easy to understand how it could be such a source of musical inspiration.
Poland is a romantic country that has produced Mickiewicz, one of the three representative poets of Romanticism; and Sienkiewicz who received the Nobel prize for his classic work “Quo Vadis.” There is also the heart-rendering story of Madame Curie, who took refuge in Paris when Poland lost its sovereignty, then dedicated herself to scientific research that resulted in the receipt of a Nobel laureate in physics and chemistry; and also that of Chopin, the piano virtuoso, who specified in his will a desire to be buried in his homeland of Poland. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic is the home of Comenius, the father of education who established a university in the 1300s, and Jan Hus, who called for religious reformation, some 100 years earlier than Luther. While being threatened by Nazi aggression, the Czech people looked meek when they chose to surrender, in order to prevent damage to Prague’s priceless cultural treasures. But today, the prudence of this decision is evident from the countless visitors and residents who can now enjoy the delightful music of romanticist composers, like Smetana, Dvorak, and Janacek, amidst the splendor of the Paris of Eastern Europe.

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