Summoning survival after the death of Hungarian art history education: A hauntological reading of the end of art history
Author
Mezei, Réka Sára
Term
4. semester
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-07-31
Pages
98
Abstract
In Hungary, a recent reform of the National Core Curriculum (NAT) removed art history from public secondary education. The change sparked a lively public debate, especially on social media, where many protested what they called the 'death of art history.' This thesis asks what ideas of progress might disappear with the subject’s removal, and what other, perhaps unlikely, histories could still endure. To explore these questions, the thesis uses concepts from Jacques Derrida (deconstruction and hauntology—the idea that traces of the past haunt the present) and from Walter Benjamin (on how history is told and remembered). It takes a post-qualitative approach that 'composes with theory,' treating theory as a partner in inquiry rather than a fixed method. Using this framework, the study reads the public discourse around the 'death' of art history education and looks for the 'ghosts'—persistent assumptions, memories, and values—that shape how people understand art history and its supposed end. After the subject’s removal, the thesis lingers with the sense of loss not to minimize it, but to expose what has been taken for granted as the essence or center of art history in schools. By doing so, it opens space for different ways of understanding and teaching art history.
I Ungarn fjernede en nylig reform af National Core Curriculum (NAT) faget kunsthistorie fra de offentlige ungdomsuddannelser. Ændringen udløste en livlig offentlig debat, især på sociale medier, hvor mange protesterede mod det, de kaldte 'kunsthistoriens død'. Specialet spørger, hvilke forståelser af fremskridt der kan forsvinde med fagets afskaffelse, og hvilke andre, måske usandsynlige, historier der kan bestå. For at undersøge dette bruger specialet begreber fra Jacques Derrida (dekonstruktion og hauntologi—ideen om, at spor fra fortiden hjemsøger nutiden) og fra Walter Benjamin (om, hvordan historie fortælles og huskes). Det anlægger en post-kvalitativ tilgang, der 'komponerer med teori' og ser teori som en medspiller frem for en fast metode. Med denne ramme læser studiet den offentlige diskurs om 'kunsthistoriens død' og leder efter 'spøgelser'—vedholdende antagelser, erindringer og værdier—der former forståelsen af kunsthistorie og dens påståede afslutning. Efter fagets afskaffelse dvæler specialet ved tabets øjeblik, ikke for at negligere det, men for at synliggøre, hvad der tages for givet som kunsthistorieundervisningens essens eller centrum. Dermed åbner det for andre måder at forstå og undervise i kunsthistorie.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
Keywords
Other projects by the authors