"Dracunculus against the dragon": Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's public vaccination as simultaneous enactment of public health and foreign policy

This article examines performativity in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's February 2021 public vaccination against COVID-19 with the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV vaccine. Following a discussion of the concept of performativity as it pertains to the subject of our study, we contextualize the proce...

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Published inJournal of contemporary Central and Eastern Europe Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 409 - 428
Main Authors Marton, Péter, Matura, Tamás, Somogyvári, Csendike
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 04.05.2023
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
China
COVID-19
Diplomacy
Discourse analysis
Enactment
Foreign policy
Government
Heads of state
Hungary
Immunization
Performativity
Prime ministers
Public health
Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV
vaccination
Vaccines
Hungary
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN2573-9638
2573-9646
DOI10.1080/25739638.2023.2221923

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Abstract This article examines performativity in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's February 2021 public vaccination against COVID-19 with the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV vaccine. Following a discussion of the concept of performativity as it pertains to the subject of our study, we contextualize the process of the procurement of the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV vaccine by Hungary to situate the significance of this transaction, along with that of the performance under review, in the post-2010 evolution of broader Sino-Hungarian government ties. We then submit footage of PM Orbán's vaccination to multimodal critical discourse analysis, identifying several noteworthy features of this performance. We also examine similar performances by other heads of state and government, offering evidence that - having gone beyond the purposes of public health messaging to constitute a simultaneous enactment of foreign policy (and more) - PM Orbán deviated considerably from the consensus norms of public vaccination that have emerged in the reference group. This further indicates that his public vaccination with BBIBP-CorV was both a peculiar instance of vaccine diplomacy and a "demand-driven" manifestation of Chinese influence in Hungary.
AbstractList This article examines performativity in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s February 2021 public vaccination against COVID-19 with the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV vaccine. Following a discussion of the concept of performativity as it pertains to the subject of our study, we contextualize the process of the procurement of the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV vaccine by Hungary to situate the significance of this transaction, along with that of the performance under review, in the post-2010 evolution of broader Sino-Hungarian government ties. We then submit footage of PM Orbán’s vaccination to multimodal critical discourse analysis, identifying several noteworthy features of this performance. We also examine similar performances by other heads of state and government, offering evidence that – having gone beyond the purposes of public health messaging to constitute a simultaneous enactment of foreign policy (and more) – PM Orbán deviated considerably from the consensus norms of public vaccination that have emerged in the reference group. This further indicates that his public vaccination with BBIBP-CorV was both a peculiar instance of vaccine diplomacy and a “demand-driven” manifestation of Chinese influence in Hungary.
Author Somogyvári, Csendike
Marton, Péter
Matura, Tamás
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Copyright 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. 2023
2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution – Non-Commercial – No Derivatives License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.
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– notice: 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution – Non-Commercial – No Derivatives License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.
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Snippet This article examines performativity in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's February 2021 public vaccination against COVID-19 with the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV...
This article examines performativity in Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s February 2021 public vaccination against COVID-19 with the Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV...
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SubjectTerms China
COVID-19
Diplomacy
Discourse analysis
Enactment
Foreign policy
Government
Heads of state
Hungary
Immunization
Performativity
Prime ministers
Public health
Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV
vaccination
Vaccines
Title "Dracunculus against the dragon": Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's public vaccination as simultaneous enactment of public health and foreign policy
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