Anecdotal Evidence of Current Cultural Politics in Romania and the Republic of Moldova

Abstract

Current political science, written in English, provides plenty of anecdotal evidence for a change in the cultural politics of both Romania and the Republic of Moldova. The paradigm shift is apparent and proposed by the avowedly Europhile establishment of both countries. In the name of alignment to the West, the reshuffle of national priorities is plain to see in the assertive language of public narratives about development, geopolitics, or security. Competing narratives of identity negotiate notions of weak-states (Moldova) and post-E.U. enlargement (Romania) by the literary means of public storytelling about the past. The (Post-Soviet) Eurasian community, patterns of national identification, and European transnationalism are the fault lines that structure the debate about 21st century Romania and Moldova. Explicitly, they translate into a grand theme of revolution, which is customary in the modern literary culture of Romania. By association, the Romance-speaking indigenous population of Moldova shares in the same tradition. Conclusively, Romanian and Moldovan readers of the ‘revolution’ motif in contemporary history come together on the meaning they assign to maintenance and forcible substitution of social order.

Keywords

• Memory studies
• cultural politics
• revolution
• Romania
• Moldova