Between Europe and the East: political myths in collective identity construction in Orban’s Hungary

The aim of the paper is to examine the use of political myths in the construction of a collective image of Hungarians – in a national and international context. The paper will focus on Hungarian political discourses, more specifically, the use of Turanism as a political myth in the rhetoric of Victor Orban. The preliminary analysis of Victor Orban’s speeches reveals various references to the non-European origin and cultural distinctiveness of the Hungarian people. Despite Hungarian government’s affirmation of belonging to Europe and the EU, such references are used to create an alternative identity for Hungarians. Such a construct allows Orban to make reference to a set of values different to the European ones when it is politically convenient. For instance, such references are often made when addressing international partners. Hungary is projected as “the most westerly people of the East” (V. Orban, 6.09.2018), and a natural ally to its Turkic partners. The main question of the paper is to investigate how the cultural proximity to non-European peoples and myth of non-European origins is instrumentalised by Orban, and whether it is linked to his criticism of liberal values and search for alternative political models.