Cinematic Representations of Otherness in the Era of National Communism in Romania

1. Cinematic Representations of Otherness in the Era of National Communism in Romania VISIONS OF IDENTITY: GLOBAL FILM&MEDIA Lect.univ.dr. Adriana ȘTEFĂNEL University of Bucharest

2. The Other in Romanian Culture Pogor: why do you talk about Romanian history? Don’t you see that we don’t have any history? A nation without literature, without art, without great ancestors, do not deserve to be taken into consideration by historians. When France produced Moliere and Racine, Romanians where in a absolute barbarism. Eminescu: What you call barbarism, I call the wisdom and the moderation of a nation that chose to develop according with it’s genius, avoiding the Stranger’s interference. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

3. Why the Nationalist Communist Cinema? • The emphasis of the nationalist discourse • Propaganda rich its climax • It still produce effects The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

4. The National Communism • At it’s beginning, communism was a class oriented ideology • In the confuse eastern of Europe, with new-born countries and turbid history, the nationalist feelings could not be hidden for long. In the ’60, communism tend to glide from internationalism towards nationalism, sometimes to the extremes, sometimes relatively discrete Boia, L. 2005:126 The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

5. The Romanian National Communism:Predisposing Factors Historical predisposing factors: • The interwar tradition of nationalist discourse in Romania • The desire to delineate from its neighbours Political predisposing factors: • In the ‘60, a new wave of political lieders • The rise of Ceausescu’s personal dictatorship A Latin island in a Slavic see The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

6. The Romanian National Communism:Fundamental Traits The nationalism was used by Ceausescu and his henchmen in order to concoct a new legitimacy forhisregime. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

7. The Romanian National Communism:Fundamental Traits • the emphases of unity served the communist discourse: an unite society, people that think alike, feel alike, strongly united around a providential lieder. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

8. The Romanian National Communism:Fundamental traits • Ceausescu and his propaganda “forced” the ancestors not to abdicate from national dignity and national sovereignty. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

9. The Romanian National Communism:Fundamental Traits • Romanians defeat the Ottomans and defend the Occident. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

10. The Cinema: a Social RepresentationVehicule • Reality is (re)presented by the media. The media (re)creates representations for us to use, representations of a reality that we do not know firsthand. • Media create an environment of fictions which slips between us and reality • In today's society, the cinema is perhaps the most important transmitter of values ​​and attitudes. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

11. Education versus Propaganda in Romanian Communist Cinema The importance of the Cinema in the process of people’s education in our socialist society In all our movies, there has to be a militant red thread, militant for our ideas about world and life, for the social humanism, for the politics and for the development of our country. NicolaeCeaușescu 25 June 1968 The Executive Committee of CC of PCR conference about the problem of the Romanian Cinema The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

12. The Corpus of Analysis 1. Dacii [The Dacs] 1966 2. Mihai Viteazul [Mihai the Great; The Last cruciate] 1971 3. Mircea [Mircea, the wise man] 1989 Nicolae Ceausescu orders, since 1965, the cinematic version of the most important Romanian historical moments which allowed the emphases of the proud resistance in the confrontation with the Enemy, no matter its name but its capacity to embody the URSS and the West as well. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

13. The Corpus of Analysis Dacii[The Dacs] 1966 2. Mihai Viteazul[Mihai the Grate; The Last cruciate]1971 3. Mircea [Mircea, the wise man] 1989 Maybe our gold and our riches are our curse. They ignite hatred of foreigners or their too great love for us. Some are strong, still undefeated. I know, I always received as friends. Never as masters. This is the law of our land, the law of every man. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

14. The Corpus of Analysis Dacii[The Dacs] 1966 2. Mihai Viteazul[Mihai the Grate; The Last cruciate]1971 3. Mircea [Mircea, the wise man] 1989 Today, I fulfil the ancient behest. To join together the ones with the same mother: Tara Romanesca, Ardealul and Moldova. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

15. The Corpus of Analysis Dacii[The Dacs] 1966 2. Mihai Viteazul[Mihai the Grate; The Last cruciate]1971 3. Mircea [Mircea, the wise man] 1989 What now, noblemen? After 30 years of resistance what shall we do? We shall worship the pagan or the Christian? Or both? The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

16. The Avatars of Otherness . The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

17. The Other • The depraved Roman surrounded by women dancers and poets that praises him. • The Roman solder: well trained but old and scratch in pointless battles. The Romans 2. The Ottomans 3. The West 4. The Church The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

18. The Other The Romans 2. The Ottomans 3 The West 4. The Church A good Roman is a Dac The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

19. The depraved ottoman ruler: surrounded by women dancer. He do not hesitate to kill his brother or spit his father when needed. The Other The Romans The Ottomans The West The Church • The ottoman soldier: a trusty enemy and an admirer of the Romanian lieder The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

20. The Enemy The Romans The Ottomans The West The Church Deceiving friends. unreliable and overconfident, weave intrigues and are enable to see the danger. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

21. The Other The Romans The Ottomans The West The Church The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

22. The Other Others . • Our brothers, the Bulgarians and the Serbs (Mircea) • The Secui(Hungarian ethnic, currently within Romanian borders) The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference

23. Conclusion> . • In order to construct this new Romanian identity, the film discourse in that period heavily activates The Myth of the (evil) Other. • Under different name, the Other is the same. • Caught in the middle, between URSS and West (American and western Europe as well), Ceausescu propaganda used long gone empires to inflame the Romanian pride (we survived, even if they ware stronger) as well as to induce the besieged fortress sentiment. The Fourth Annual London Film and Media Conference