I have been preparing for years to conjure up reconstructed memories, that would require to shoot in a number of locations in Romania and Hungary, across various seasons. In a strictly anthropological context, I’m looking for traces of memory of a fading world, those multi-layered words, strange emotions of lack and unbreakable roots guarded deeply inside the members of the micro-community of middle-aged successful intellectual women who moved once from Transylvania to Budapest – living a (maybe) full and wealthy life, for an outsider. I invoke a micro community’s situation, feelings of life, their relationship with land of birth, homeland, mother tongue and the status of expatriate, in original locations in Romania and Budapest, by using anthropological tools. Th e starting point of formulating the hypothesis and preconception was, in both cases, a terminological and disciplinary classifi cation. That is – based on my actual knowledge of literature – the youngest and most dynamic area of cultural anthropology: the study of spiritual and group psychology characteristics of a micro-community, its presentation. Grievances, sensitivities, ties to landscape, language, people, material culture, sounds, melodies, words, humor and sorrow, existence, community morale. The central theme of both productions is the “go or stay” dilemma, the stressing duality of “here and there”, the irresolvable complexity of “here-home” and “there-home”. Th e rigorous judgments (a retired person living in Kisbács) that almost quote Old Testament prophets are mitigated or confuted by the wisely smiling (university Head of Department, living in Budapest), whose words rather simple, but deeply pervaded by European culture suggest a higher spirituality.
Keywords: immigration, identity, Transylvania, Hungary

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