The changing schoolscape in a Szekler village in Romania: signs of diversity in rehungarization

Abstract

In this paper, we explore the connections between a linguistic landscape and language ideologies in an elementary school in a village within the Hungarian region of Szeklerland in Romania. This ‘schoolscape’ is analysed as a display or materialization of the ‘hidden curriculum’ regarding the construction of linguistic and cultural identities. We draw on fieldwork carried out in 2012 and 2013 and examine two dimensions of change in progress: (1) changes in the use of Hungarian and Romanian as languages of teaching and learning and as languages of written administration; and (2) changes in the display of these languages in the schoolscape. Since 1990, there has been a tendency towards rehungarization of the schoolscape and a conscious replacing of Romanian signs from the dictatorship period with Hungarian signs. Cultural symbols have a local Szekler connotation. New traditions and emblems on display show how the rehungarization process has had new momentum recently. With regard to language, the schoolscape is characterized by clear dominance of standard Hungarian over Romanian, while the local Hungarian vernacular is hidden from the schoolscape. The scope of rehungarization in the schoolscape can be explained by the fact that the hegemony of the Hungarian language use was never challenged locally.