In Search of a Usable Past: The Question of National Identity in Romanian Studies, 1990-2000

Abstract

This article offers an overview of the scholarly debates on Romanian nation building and national ideology during the first post-communist decade. It argues that the globalization of history writing and the increasing access of local intellectual discourses to the international “market of ideas” had a powerful impact on both Eastern European history writing and on the Western scholarly literature dealing with the region. In regard to Romanian historiography, the article identifies a conflict between an emerging reformist school that has gained significant terrain in the last decade and a traditionalist canon, based on the national-communist heritage of the Ceauşescu regime, preserving a considerable influence at the institutional level. In analyzing their clash, the article proposes an analytical framework that relativizes the traditional dichotomy between “Westernizers” and “autochthonists,” accounting for a multitude of ideological combinations in the post-1989 Romanian cultural space. In view of the Western history writing on Romania, the article identifies a methodological shift from social-political narratives to historical anthropology and intellectual history. On this basis, it evaluates the complex interplay of local and external historiographic discourses in setting new research agendas, experimenting with new methodologies, and reconsidering key analytical concepts of the historical research on Eastern Europe.

political science in post-communist romania

“…Economics follows law among the most popular subjects; recruitment in this area expanded eightfold between 1990 and 2003, and there were seven times more students enrolled in humanities programmes in 2003 than in 1990 (Institutul National de Statistica, 2004). Political science is officially classified as belonging to this latter area, and, although data are available only for the period after 1999, it can be convincingly demonstrated that this discipline has been growing at a similarly rapid pace, as the number of students increased threefold between and 2003(Institutul National de Statistica, 2004.…”

“…In consequence, Romanian oppositional thought largely lacked discourses advocating liberalisation and/or the transition to democracy. A vital implication of this situation was that, after 1989, with the exception of sustained debates on the issue of minority rights, Romanian political science had very few home-grown frameworks to refer to and subsequently relied on 'importing' Western concepts, methodologies and theories (Iordachi and Trencsényi, 2003).…”

Changing Patterns of Nation‐Building: Educational Reform Narratives in Post‐Socialist Romania

“…15 See Meyer and Jepperson (2000:108) for a description of the concept of 'otherhood' and its role in explaining the diffusion of world culture in world polity theory. 16 Note that such debates re-surfaced immediately after 1989, expressing anti-communist nationalizing sentiments (Iordachi and Trencsényi 2003). However, these discussions were manifest most prominently in the 1990s and did not involve a strong calling into question of the very direction in which Romanian aspirations were to be projected (i.e.…”

“…Note that such debates re‐surfaced immediately after 1989, expressing anti‐communist nationalizing sentiments (Iordachi and Trencsényi ). However, these discussions were manifest most prominently in the 1990s and did not involve a strong calling into question of the very direction in which Romanian aspirations were to be projected (i.e.…”

Re-Writing the History of Romania after the Fall of Communism

“…She highlighted the opposition autochtonist/Westernizer as organizing axis of the struggles for legitimacy in the intellectual/cultural field. 23 The autochtonists accused their opponents of the destruction of the Romanian culture through inappropriate imitations harming the national character. The Westernizers argued for the need to introduce the Romanian cultural products into world circulation, and thus the need to employ Western forms.…”