A jugoszláviai reformátusság reprezentációja a csehszlovákiai magyar református egyházi sajtóban 1918–1938 között

Abstract

This article examines the representation of the Reformed communities of Yugoslavia in the official hungarian reformed church periodical Református Egyház és Iskola, published in Czechoslovakia between 1921 and 1938. The study aims to analyse how the journal constructed the image of the Reformed minority living in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and which thematic, narrative, and normative patterns shaped this representation. Methodologically, the article is based on qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis of primary ecclesiastical sources, including church reports, synodical decisions, institutional accounts, and news items. The findings demonstrate that the church press functioned not merely as an informational medium but as an active agent in maintaining minority Reformed identity, legitimising institutional consolidation, and fostering transnational Reformed solidarity. The analysis shows that Református Egyház és Iskola treated legal consolidation, minority conflicts, clergy shortage, diaspora pastoral care, diaconal activity, youth movements, and normative regulation as interconnected discursive fields. By highlighting the normative and mobilising role of ecclesiastical journalism, the article contributes to the historiography of Hungarian Reformed church history and religious press studies, while also offering a comparative framework applicable to the study of minority confessional media in Central and Eastern Europe.