Cristina Petrescu | University of Bucharest (original) (raw)

Books by Cristina Petrescu

Comunismul în România: O sută de ani de controverse, 2022

An analysis of Romanian national-communism (1964-89) from the perspective of the recent theories ... more An analysis of Romanian national-communism (1964-89) from the perspective of the recent theories of nationalism.

Human rights and political dissent in Central Europe: Between the Helsinki Accords and the fall of the Berlin Wall, edited by Jakub Tyszkiewicz, 2022

An analysis of Romanian anti-communist dissent from the perspective of the ideas, ideals and poli... more An analysis of Romanian anti-communist dissent from the perspective of the ideas, ideals and political action of Central European dissent.

One of the very few collaborative and comparative book projects focusing on nation-building and i... more One of the very few collaborative and comparative book projects focusing on nation-building and identity issues in Hungary and Romania, aiming at historical reconciliation and based on mutual understanding.

Papers by Cristina Petrescu

Narratives unbound: historical studies …, 2007

... A radical break with the past, in the form of a historiographical&amp... more ... A radical break with the past, in the form of a historiographical'tremor,'occurred with the publication of the works of Lucian Boia, a professor at the University of Bucharest, one of the most 'unorthodox'Romanian historians of the post-1989 period. ...

This chapter examines the role of transnational informal networks in disseminating Western music ... more This chapter examines the role of transnational informal networks in disseminating Western music in communist Romania.

Elites, Networks of Power and Citizens, 2019

Modern nation-building in Romania was a process accelerated by the 1918 unification of Transylvan... more Modern nation-building in Romania was a process accelerated by the 1918 unification of Transylvania with the Old Kingdom of Romania. This study argues that this process was continued under communist rule and entered a final stage in the early 1980s.

Cuadernos de Historia Contemporánea, 2020

This paper discusses the research performed by the Romanian COURAGE team, which highlighted a pec... more This paper discusses the research performed by the Romanian COURAGE team, which highlighted a peculiar sense of being European experienced by many ordinary individuals living under communist rule who created everyday meanings and cultural practices as if they lived in a free country. This identification with Europe is reflected in previously unknown private collections created by those who envisaged strategies of opposing the communist dictatorships that had rejected the fundamental values underpinning the European Union: rule-of-law, human rights or civil liberties,

Arhivele totalitarismului (Bucharest), nr. 104-105, 3-4 (2019), 2019

This article examines the "morally correct" narrative on the communist past which became dominant... more This article examines the "morally correct" narrative on the communist past which became dominant in early post-communist Romania, and which focused on the former secret police, the Securitate, as a key actor under the former regime. This narrative framed the epoch 1945-89 as a period of confrontation between innocent victims and the secret police, and trivialized as morally incorrect any attempt at redefining the much more complex relation between rulers and ruled under communist rule..

This study has been developed in the frame of the project COURAGE – Cultural Opposition: Understa... more This study has been developed in the frame of the project COURAGE – Cultural Opposition: Understanding the Cultural Heritage of Dissent in the Former Socialist Countries, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 692919. An earlier version of this text was published in The Handbook of COURAGE. The study represents a guide to the collections in Romania uploaded in the COURAGE Registry by the researchers associated with the University of Bucharest. The author has highlighted a new sense of being European, which was experienced by many ordinary individuals who created everyday meanings and cultural practices as if they lived in a free country, while actually living under a ruthless dictatorship. A video of the collections in Romania covered in this study is available at https://youtu.be/II0QV854xFQ

Miturile comunismului romanesc, 1998

Nicolae Ceausescu (1965-89) made use of carefully staged domestic visits to reinforce ethnic ties... more Nicolae Ceausescu (1965-89) made use of carefully staged domestic visits to reinforce ethnic ties and create foci of loyalty to the nation-state. This article focuses on this particular aspect of Ceausescu's national communism.

Arhivele Totalitarismului, 2018

This study focuses on the key concepts of nation, nationalism and nation-building in order to dem... more This study focuses on the key concepts of nation, nationalism and nation-building in order to demonstrate that the process of nation-building in Romania entered its final stage in the early 1980s. If one is to choose a year for the coming to an end of this process this would be 1981 rather than 1918. That the process of nation-building in Romania came to an end in the 1980s is also supported by the very fact that Romania did not follow the fate of the "unrealized" Czechoslovak or Yugoslav nations after 1989.

This text analyzes the nostalgia for the communist past generated after the year 2000 by the proc... more This text analyzes the nostalgia for the communist past generated after the year 2000 by the process of democratic consolidation in Romania and argues that this kind of nostalgia is perfectly compatible with democratic values.

This chapter discusses memories of Romanian communism posted online by a generation old enough to... more This chapter discusses memories of Romanian communism posted online by a generation old enough to remember aspects of everyday life in the 1980s, but at the same time young enough to have adapted quite successfully to the new, post-communist context.

This chapter reconstructs the "Romanian period" in Herta Muller's life, discusses its importance ... more This chapter reconstructs the "Romanian period" in Herta Muller's life, discusses its importance for her development as a writer, and analyzes the repeated intrusions of the Romanian communist secret police, the Securitate, into her life beginning in 1983.

dissent, opposition, communism in East-Central Europe, gender

This study focuses on a nonconformist literary group like no other in communist Romania, Aktionsg... more This study focuses on a nonconformist literary group like no other in communist Romania, Aktionsgruppe Banat, which was established by a group of intellectuals of German ethnic origin and existed for only three years (1972-75).

This study focuses on a nonconformist literary group like no other in communist Romania, Aktionsg... more This study focuses on a nonconformist literary group like no other in communist Romania, Aktionsgruppe Banat, which was established by a group of intellectuals of German ethnic origin and existed for only three years (1972-75).

This study focuses on institutionalization of memory in post-communist Romania with regard to the... more This study focuses on institutionalization of memory in post-communist Romania with regard to the communist epoch, i.e., 1945-89, by addressing patterns of active remembering and forgetting.

Comunismul în România: O sută de ani de controverse, 2022

An analysis of Romanian national-communism (1964-89) from the perspective of the recent theories ... more An analysis of Romanian national-communism (1964-89) from the perspective of the recent theories of nationalism.

Human rights and political dissent in Central Europe: Between the Helsinki Accords and the fall of the Berlin Wall, edited by Jakub Tyszkiewicz, 2022

An analysis of Romanian anti-communist dissent from the perspective of the ideas, ideals and poli... more An analysis of Romanian anti-communist dissent from the perspective of the ideas, ideals and political action of Central European dissent.

One of the very few collaborative and comparative book projects focusing on nation-building and i... more One of the very few collaborative and comparative book projects focusing on nation-building and identity issues in Hungary and Romania, aiming at historical reconciliation and based on mutual understanding.

Narratives unbound: historical studies …, 2007

... A radical break with the past, in the form of a historiographical&amp... more ... A radical break with the past, in the form of a historiographical'tremor,'occurred with the publication of the works of Lucian Boia, a professor at the University of Bucharest, one of the most 'unorthodox'Romanian historians of the post-1989 period. ...

This chapter examines the role of transnational informal networks in disseminating Western music ... more This chapter examines the role of transnational informal networks in disseminating Western music in communist Romania.

Elites, Networks of Power and Citizens, 2019

Modern nation-building in Romania was a process accelerated by the 1918 unification of Transylvan... more Modern nation-building in Romania was a process accelerated by the 1918 unification of Transylvania with the Old Kingdom of Romania. This study argues that this process was continued under communist rule and entered a final stage in the early 1980s.

Cuadernos de Historia Contemporánea, 2020

This paper discusses the research performed by the Romanian COURAGE team, which highlighted a pec... more This paper discusses the research performed by the Romanian COURAGE team, which highlighted a peculiar sense of being European experienced by many ordinary individuals living under communist rule who created everyday meanings and cultural practices as if they lived in a free country. This identification with Europe is reflected in previously unknown private collections created by those who envisaged strategies of opposing the communist dictatorships that had rejected the fundamental values underpinning the European Union: rule-of-law, human rights or civil liberties,

Arhivele totalitarismului (Bucharest), nr. 104-105, 3-4 (2019), 2019

This article examines the "morally correct" narrative on the communist past which became dominant... more This article examines the "morally correct" narrative on the communist past which became dominant in early post-communist Romania, and which focused on the former secret police, the Securitate, as a key actor under the former regime. This narrative framed the epoch 1945-89 as a period of confrontation between innocent victims and the secret police, and trivialized as morally incorrect any attempt at redefining the much more complex relation between rulers and ruled under communist rule..

This study has been developed in the frame of the project COURAGE – Cultural Opposition: Understa... more This study has been developed in the frame of the project COURAGE – Cultural Opposition: Understanding the Cultural Heritage of Dissent in the Former Socialist Countries, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 692919. An earlier version of this text was published in The Handbook of COURAGE. The study represents a guide to the collections in Romania uploaded in the COURAGE Registry by the researchers associated with the University of Bucharest. The author has highlighted a new sense of being European, which was experienced by many ordinary individuals who created everyday meanings and cultural practices as if they lived in a free country, while actually living under a ruthless dictatorship. A video of the collections in Romania covered in this study is available at https://youtu.be/II0QV854xFQ

Miturile comunismului romanesc, 1998

Nicolae Ceausescu (1965-89) made use of carefully staged domestic visits to reinforce ethnic ties... more Nicolae Ceausescu (1965-89) made use of carefully staged domestic visits to reinforce ethnic ties and create foci of loyalty to the nation-state. This article focuses on this particular aspect of Ceausescu's national communism.

Arhivele Totalitarismului, 2018

This study focuses on the key concepts of nation, nationalism and nation-building in order to dem... more This study focuses on the key concepts of nation, nationalism and nation-building in order to demonstrate that the process of nation-building in Romania entered its final stage in the early 1980s. If one is to choose a year for the coming to an end of this process this would be 1981 rather than 1918. That the process of nation-building in Romania came to an end in the 1980s is also supported by the very fact that Romania did not follow the fate of the "unrealized" Czechoslovak or Yugoslav nations after 1989.

This text analyzes the nostalgia for the communist past generated after the year 2000 by the proc... more This text analyzes the nostalgia for the communist past generated after the year 2000 by the process of democratic consolidation in Romania and argues that this kind of nostalgia is perfectly compatible with democratic values.

This chapter discusses memories of Romanian communism posted online by a generation old enough to... more This chapter discusses memories of Romanian communism posted online by a generation old enough to remember aspects of everyday life in the 1980s, but at the same time young enough to have adapted quite successfully to the new, post-communist context.

This chapter reconstructs the "Romanian period" in Herta Muller's life, discusses its importance ... more This chapter reconstructs the "Romanian period" in Herta Muller's life, discusses its importance for her development as a writer, and analyzes the repeated intrusions of the Romanian communist secret police, the Securitate, into her life beginning in 1983.

dissent, opposition, communism in East-Central Europe, gender

This study focuses on a nonconformist literary group like no other in communist Romania, Aktionsg... more This study focuses on a nonconformist literary group like no other in communist Romania, Aktionsgruppe Banat, which was established by a group of intellectuals of German ethnic origin and existed for only three years (1972-75).

This study focuses on a nonconformist literary group like no other in communist Romania, Aktionsg... more This study focuses on a nonconformist literary group like no other in communist Romania, Aktionsgruppe Banat, which was established by a group of intellectuals of German ethnic origin and existed for only three years (1972-75).

This study focuses on institutionalization of memory in post-communist Romania with regard to the... more This study focuses on institutionalization of memory in post-communist Romania with regard to the communist epoch, i.e., 1945-89, by addressing patterns of active remembering and forgetting.

This study focuses on patterns of remembering the Securitate, the former communist secret police,... more This study focuses on patterns of remembering the Securitate, the former communist secret police, in postcommunist Romania and addresses intricate issues such as selective memory, active remembering and forgetting, and institutionalization of memory.

This study provides an in-depth analysis of politics of memory in post-communist Romania, focusin... more This study provides an in-depth analysis of politics of memory in post-communist Romania, focusing on the institutionalization of memory, post-communist anti-communism, "battle" for opening the archives of communism, and active remembering and forgetting.

An analysis of Romanian historiography from the perspective of the nation-building project(s) dev... more An analysis of Romanian historiography from the perspective of the nation-building project(s) devised by the successive ruling elites.

A discussion on tourism and its role in stabilizing or de-stabilizing the regime during the Ceaus... more A discussion on tourism and its role in stabilizing or de-stabilizing the regime during the Ceausescu epoch, with an emphasis on the major differences between the period of relative liberalization (1965-71) and the period of crisis and autarky (1981-89).

Pia Janke / Teresa Kovacs (Hg.): SCHREIBEN ALS WIDERSTAND. Elfriede Jelinek & Herta Müller (Wien:... more Pia Janke / Teresa Kovacs (Hg.): SCHREIBEN ALS WIDERSTAND. Elfriede Jelinek & Herta Müller (Wien: Praesens Verlag 2017); (DISKURSE.KONTEXTE.IMPULSE. Publikationen des Elfriede Jelinek-Forschungszentrums 15); ISBN 978-3-7069-0925-9.

Ringen um Autonomie: Dissidentendiskurse in Mittel- und Osteuropa Reihe: Das andere Osteuropa. D... more Ringen um Autonomie:
Dissidentendiskurse in Mittel- und Osteuropa
Reihe: Das andere Osteuropa. Dissens in Politik und Gesellschaft, Alternativen in der Kultur (1960er-1980er Jahre). Beiträge zu einer vergleichenden Zeitgeschichte
Bd. 3, LIT Verlag 2017.

Review of Tom Junes, Student Politics in Communist Poland: Generations of Consent and Dissent, La... more Review of Tom Junes, Student Politics in Communist Poland: Generations of Consent and Dissent, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2015, 328 pp.

International Labor and Working-class History, 2003

Ana Pauker was a Romanian Jewish communist who, by the early 1930s, became a well-known figure of... more Ana Pauker was a Romanian Jewish communist who, by the early 1930s, became a well-known figure of the international movement and, after World War Two, one of the leading political personalities in her country. Nevertheless, in 1952, she was purged together with ...

East European Politics and Societies, 2001

An analysis of memoirs and witness accounts by former nomenklatura members in Romania, published ... more An analysis of memoirs and witness accounts by former nomenklatura members in Romania, published during the period 1990-2002.

Lecture Series in Romanian Studies, 2022

Society for Romanian Studies (SRS) – Working Group “Postwar Politics, History & Culture;” Lecture... more Society for Romanian Studies (SRS) – Working Group “Postwar Politics, History & Culture;” Lecture by Roland Clark (U. of Liverpool & SRS) - “Religious Language in Romanian Fascism: Past & Present;” Moderator: Cristina Petrescu (FSPUB); Thursday, 10 November 2022, 13:00-14:30; Room P1, FSPUB, Calea Plevnei 59

Online Conference on Transitional Justice: "Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Transitional Justic... more Online Conference on Transitional Justice: "Interdisciplinary Perspectives in Transitional Justice," 6–7 July 2021, Loughborough University. An event supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Centre for Research in Communication and Culture (Loughborough University)

ASEEES Annual Convention, 2020

"Methodological Cross-Fertilization and Unconventional Approaches: The Global Significance of Rom... more "Methodological Cross-Fertilization and Unconventional Approaches: The Global Significance of Romanian Studies:" Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES); 2020 Virtual Annual Convention; Saturday, November 7, 10:00 to 11:30am, Virtual Convention Platform, Room 1

After the Second World War, the Central and East European region was integrated into the Soviet s... more After the Second World War, the Central and East European region was integrated into the Soviet sphere of influence. The active construction of communism across the region during the Stalinist period (1945-1950s) had a number of far-reaching consequences, which arguably transformed the East European region. In the cultural sphere it meant the spreading of Stalin's cult of propaganda, the imposition of Marxist ideology and the persecution of any perceived opposition or alternative world-views. The economic sphere was marked by the liquidation of private property, collectivization of agriculture and rapid industrialization under the Soviet-style system of central planning. In the political sphere, the shift to a one-party state meant that all non-communist parties and organizations were liquidated and the power of the communist party was secured through mass repression and police surveillance. While the post-Stalinist period led to some liberalization within certain Eastern bloc countries, the limits to reform and relaxation were periodically reinforced, for example in 1956 (Poland and Hungary); 1968 (Czechoslovakia) and 1981 (Poland). The realities of life under communism provoked a multifaceted response among individuals and groups within East European societies between 1945-1989, ranging from support for, complicity with, dissent from and resistance to communism, as people struggled to navigate and negotiate the new parameters of their existence. This conference has two broad aims: (1) to analyse the various methods and experiences of communist control over Eastern Europe and (2) to examine different coping methods and strategies of resistance employed by those who lived under communist rule.

Society for Romanian Studies (SRS), Working Group: Postwar Politics, History & Culture (PPHC); “C... more Society for Romanian Studies (SRS), Working Group: Postwar Politics, History & Culture (PPHC); “Connected or Disconnected? The Digital Lives of Romanian Migrants in the UK;” Online Lecture by Ruxandra Trandafoiu, Edge Hill University (UK); Moderator: Cristina Petrescu (FSPUB); Thursday, 15 December 2022, 11:30–13:00 EET/Bucharest, Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest.

“Dissent in Romania Revisited: From Comparative to Transnational Approaches” - Online lecture by ... more “Dissent in Romania Revisited: From Comparative to Transnational Approaches” - Online lecture by Professor Cristina PETRESCU (University of Bucharest); organized by the Faculty of Philosophy at Adam Mickiewicz University and Polish Philosophical Association, Poznań Branch, Monday, 30 November 2020, 5 p.m. (CET).

Poster, 2021

Dreaming of an international career? Come to FSPUB and enroll in the Master Program in Comparativ... more Dreaming of an international career? Come to FSPUB and enroll in the Master Program in Comparative Politics: graduate study program of 2 years (4 semesters), fully taught in English, number of credits: 120 ECTS; http://www.fspub.unibuc.ro/despre/curricula/mcp