the Csango country: a black hole in the guidebooks

> > I have been trying to find out something about the Csango region of
> > Romania (a small part of northern Moldavia which has been ethnically
> > Hungarian since the 18th century and still preserves some archaic
> > features of Hungarian culture, in particular some interesting music).
> > It seems to be unknown to any recent guidebook. Anybody know a source
> > that describes it properly, with features named in both Hungarian and
> > Romanian?
> Although the region fascinates me, I know nothing about it. Have you
> checked out the Romanian newsgroups?

I'm not *that* keen to start a fight.

There's a fair bit of info at http://www.tanchaz.hu (for the music and
dance camps I was thinking of going to) and http://www.csango.ro , and
stuff on YouTube (good source for Romanian nationalist raving), but not
the basic geographic data I was looking for - which villages are in the
Csango area, what their names are in both Hungarian and Romanian, and
how to travel around.

I think what I might be looking for is a detailed travel book by some
English eccentric who spent a year wandering round it with a donkey in
the 1930s describing all the peasant girls he bonked. You doubtless
know the genre.

I see National Geographic covered it in June 2005. The full article is
subscription-only so I'll look for a paper copy.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === <http://www.campin.me.uk> ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts
 >> Stay informed about: the Csango country: a black hole in the guidebooks 

"Jack Campin - bogus address" <bogus.DeleteThis@purr.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bogus-4F4EA6.22350422022008@news.news.demon.net...
>> > I have been trying to find out something about the Csango region of
>> > Romania (a small part of northern Moldavia which has been ethnically
>> > Hungarian since the 18th century and still preserves some archaic
>> > features of Hungarian culture, in particular some interesting music).
>> > It seems to be unknown to any recent guidebook. Anybody know a source
>> > that describes it properly, with features named in both Hungarian and
>> > Romanian?


> There's a fair bit of info at http://www.tanchaz.hu (for the music and
> dance camps I was thinking of going to) and http://www.csango.ro , and
> stuff on YouTube (good source for Romanian nationalist raving), but not
> the basic geographic data I was looking for - which villages are in the
> Csango area, what their names are in both Hungarian and Romanian, and
> how to travel around.
>
> I think what I might be looking for is a detailed travel book by some
> English eccentric who spent a year wandering round it with a donkey in
> the 1930s describing all the peasant girls he bonked. You doubtless
> know the genre.
>
> I see National Geographic covered it in June 2005. The full article is
> subscription-only so I'll look for a paper copy.


Here are a few more links about the Csángós / Ceangai which I've found:-

http://www.hi.is/~maurizio/csango/englishnew.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cs%C3%A1ng%C3%B3

http://horinca.blogspot.com/2007/08/northern-moldavian-csngs.html

www.hungarian-history.hu/lib/tanczos/tanczos.pdf

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/203-8035797-4986346?url=searc...lias%3D

http://www.mek.oszk.hu/02700/02790/html/index.html

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?s=a91cdebf6b4197e0e413412...f53aa8&

http://www.ceangai.ro/ (Romanian)

Gerry
 >> Stay informed about: the Csango country: a black hole in the guidebooks 

Jack Campin - bogus address <bogus RemoveThis @purr.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> I see National Geographic covered it in June 2005. The full article is
> subscription-only so I'll look for a paper copy.

I read that article recently; it was quite interesting. Check your
local library for it.

The origins of the Csángó people are controversial. Not all of them
speak Hungarian. Many speak Romanian and have Romanian names. What
unites them is their religion - all Roman Catholic, with some
traditional beliefs thrown in there as well. Some historias claim that
at least some Csángós are not Hungarians at all, but are descended from
Romanians, who were converted to Roman Catholicism by Hungarian
missionaries.

Their traditional folk music is distinct from Magyar and Romanian
folk music. Links have been made by musicologists between Csángó music
and traditional music heard today in Mongolia.

My Budapest-born wife says that no other Hungarians she has ever heard
speak like the Csángó. They apparently have a distinctive accent that
resembles medieval Hungarian.

--
K.

Lang may your lum reek.
 >> Stay informed about: the Csango country: a black hole in the guidebooks