Between the Memory and Post-Memory of Communism in Romania

Monica Ciobanu is Professor of Criminal Justice at Plattsburgh State University of New York, USA, and the author of Repression, Resistance and Collaboration in Stalinist Romania 1944–1964: Post-Communist Remembering.Mihaela Şerban is Professor of Law and Society at Ramapo College of New Jersey, USA, and the author of Subverting Communism in Romania: Law and Private Property: 1945–1965.

“The past goes on. So too does memory of it, though not always in circumstances of its own choosing. Between the Memory and Post-Memory of Communism in Romania not only extends our knowledge of the Romanian case but makes key contributions to our understanding of the ways memory changes over time; “Between the Memory and Post-Memory” there is indeed a complex space of negotiation. This volume should thus be essential reading for the entire field of memory studies.” - Jeffrey Olick, University of Virginia, USA, former co-president, Memory Studies Association.“This book presents a stimulating and insightful collection of chapters by an interdisciplinary team of scholars. It examines issues of trauma, justice, and nostalgia within Romania’s efforts to come to terms with its problematic communist past. A notable contribution of this volume is the attention to both the multiple sites of the memory of communism (both material and digital), and the gaps and contradictions within the way that Romania has dealt with the memory of communism. It is essential reading for anybody seeking to understand contemporary Romania.” - Duncan Light, Bournemouth University, United Kingdom“How is communism remembered by Romanians who never experienced it directly? In this edited volume, thirteen Romanian scholars respond to this question by showing how post-communist concerns and interests shape and reshape the memory of the past in that country. An impressive array of examples and case studies documents the “regimes of truths” discussed publicly, identifies continuities between communist and post-communist habits, and underscores conflicting and complementary patterns of remembrance that bring together personal positions, gamification of the past, and even fake information. A welcomed addition to the literature, this volume illuminates overlooked facets which suggest a memory turn.” - Lavinia Stan, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada“Undoubtedly, [this] volume represents an original and valuable contribution to memory studies and, more specifically, to the study of memory of communism in the context of the coming of the generation of postmemory.” - Andrea Apollonio, EUrope: cultures, memories, identities“One of the major strengths of this volume is that in spite of its diverse topics and the disciplinary variety of the authors and their chapters—rooted in history, political science, transitional justice, sociology, psychology, literature, and legal studies—thematically this remains a very coherent book […]. As we celebrate 36 years since the collapse of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s dictatorship, the legacies of the communist regime are still haunting Romanian society and keep triggering memory debates and opposing interpretations on aspects of its crimes and abuses, its modernization projects, and daily life under communism. That is why this book is particularly important—it gives readers a glimpse into the various ways in which the generations of Romanians perceived and kept changing their perception of the communist regime in its aftermath […]. This remarkable book would be relevant for the students of transitional justice, memory studies, Central-East European history, and history of minorities.”- Ştefan Cristian Ionescu, Journal of Romanian Studies

• Introduction PART I MEMORY ARCHIVES 1 Telling Difficult Stories with Fragments of Experience: Short-Term Ethnography in the Securitate Archives 2 Nested Orientalism and Memory Places: The Roma in Romanian Securitate Archives 3 Law, Property Rights, and the Construction of Memory Regimes in Romania ART II THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEMORIES AND POST-MEMORIES 4 Between Transitional Justice and Retrospective Justice: The Case of Mircea Vulcănescu 5 The Monuments of the Royal Family and the Romanian Historical Memory 6 Memory and Post-Memory: Remembering the Communist Past in Digitally Mediated Contexts 7 Generations of Memory: Narratives of Conflicts, Gaps, and Intersections in Romanian Cinema PART III SITES OF MEMORY 8 Rubbles of Memory: The Memorial Afterlives of Communist Monuments in Post-communist Romania 9 Nostalgic Reconstructions of the Communist Past: The Private Museums of Daily Life during Communism in Romania 10 Popular Culture Exhibited: New Trends in the Musealization and Memorialization of the Romanian Socialist Past 11 Justice for the Forgotten Victims of the Communist Regime in Post-Transition Romania Conclusion