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Claudia-Florentina Dobre

Université Laval, Sciences Historiques, Alumna

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I have founded the Center for Memory and Identity Studies (CSMI), in 2016, and MemoScapes. Romanian Journal of Memory and Identity Studies, in 2017. I am a researcher at “Nicolae Iorga” Institute of History, Bucharest. I got my Ph.D. in History from Laval University of Québec in 2007.
Most recent publications: Ni victime, ni héroïne: les anciennes détenues politiques et les mémoires du communisme en Roumanie, Electra, Bucharest, 2019; Claudia-Florentina Dobre, Bernadette Jonda, Izabela Skorzynska, Anna Wachowiak, (Re)gaining the Future by (Re)building the Past. Women`s Narratives of Life under Communism in Poland, Romania and the Former East Germany, edited by Izabela Skorzynska, Poznan University Press, 2019; Claudia-Florentina Dobre, Cristian Emilian Ghita, (ed.), Quest for a Suitable Past: Myth and Memory in Eastern and Central Europe, Budapest-New York, CEU Press, 2017.

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Papers by Claudia-Florentina Dobre

“Elisabeta Rizea de Nucşoara: un «lieu de mémoire» pour les Roumains?”, Conserveries mémorielles, 2006: http://cm.revues.org/290

... ainsi que les historiens de l'Europe centrale et orientale ont essayé d'établir des... more ... ainsi que les historiens de l'Europe centrale et orientale ont essayé d'établir des « lieux de mémoire » pour les pays de la région 1. Matei Cazacu2 a ... Si les médias ont tissé autour d'elle une aura, il convient de souligner qu'elle-même avait su capter leur attention par sa facilité à ...

Curriculum vitae

Ph.D. in History from Laval University of Quebec, Canada. I have conducted research on the memory... more Ph.D. in History from Laval University of Quebec, Canada. I have conducted research on the memory of Communism, on museums, memorials and monuments, on women’s memory, and everyday life in Romania and in Central and Eastern Europe during communism. I realized a documentary on the memory of Bărăgan deportation in communist Romania.

“Ni héros, ni victime. La mise en patrimoine de la répression et les anciens persécutés politiques roumains”

Traumatisme collectif pour patrimoine. Regards sur un mouvement transnational, 2008

En Roumanie post-décembriste, l'expérience communiste est mise en patrimoine sous le signe de la ... more En Roumanie post-décembriste, l'expérience communiste est mise en patrimoine sous le signe de la victimisation. Les acteurs de l'espace public promeuvent une identité de victime du communisme et du contexte international du peuple roumain. Cela s'inscrit dans une logique victimaire ayant fait une longue carrière en Roumanie. Sorin Alexandrescu parle même «d'un complexe de la victimisation» spécifique des élites politiques roumaines 1. Dans mon article, je questionne la manière dont les élites patrimonialisent le vécu communiste des anciens détenus politiques. J'avance l'hypothèse que l'expérience de la répression est devenue un objet patrimonial en fonction des enjeux sociaux et politiques à l'oeuvre dans la société postcommuniste. Les élites, et par la suite, l'Etat, en appropriant l'expérience carcérale des anciens persécutés politiques, circonscrivent le communisme au paradigme victimaire. Quant à ceux qui ont subi les persécutions politiques, ils patrimonialisent leur expérience sous l'angle de la dette civique et du patriotisme identifié à l'anticommunisme. 1. La mémoire du communisme Le régime communiste a été renversé le 22 décembre 1989 2. Pour les Roumains, sa mémoire reste assez contradictoire 3. Parfois, ils gardent de bons souvenirs de leur vie pendant le communisme, et cela malgré des expériences difficiles, comme celles vécues au cours des dix dernières années de l'époque Ceauşescu. Ceux qui ont été persécutés d'une manière ou d'une autre gardent des souvenirs plutôt douloureux et carrément négatifs 4. Pour leur part, les jeunes nés après 1989 ne connaissent presque rien du régime déchu 5. Ce paradoxe de la mémoire du communisme comporte plusieurs explications. L'image favorable du système vient de 44 ans de propagande égalitaire, qui s'avère bien incorporée par les Roumains. Les frustrations de la transition, avec ses nouveaux riches, le chômage et la perte de la sécurité sociale, contribuent aussi à la mémoire positive du régime renversé en décembre 1 Sorin Alexandrescu, Paradoxul român (Le paradoxe roumain), Univers, Bucarest, 1998, p. 65. 2 Les communistes roumains se sont installés au pouvoir le 6 mars 1945. 3 Eu égard à la mémoire du communisme en Roumanie, le baromètre d'opinion de la Fondation pour une Société Ouverte réalisé en octobre 2006 sur un échantillon de 1975 personnes, âgées de 18 et plus, a donné les résultats suivants: 12% des Roumains considèrent le communisme une bonne idée, bien appliquée ; 41% une idée bonne mais mal appliquée ; 34% une mauvaise idée mal appliquée. Donc, 53% des Roumains pensent que le communisme a été une bonne idée. La Fondation pour une Société Ouverte, Annonce de presse, «La perception actuelle du communisme», sur le site de la Fondation: www.osf.ro. 4 8% des répondants âgés de plus de 34 ans du sondage de la Fondation pour une Société Ouverte ont déclaré avoir souffert personnellement à cause du régime communiste. La Fondation pour une Société Ouverte, Annonce de presse, «La perception actuelle du communisme». www.osf.ro. 5 Une émission de la chaîne publique de télévision a montré que les écoliers ne savent presque rien sur le communisme. Pour eux, c'est une époque lointaine, tout comme le Moyen Age, par exemple.

Claudia-Florentina Dobre, “Avatars of the Social Imaginary: The Myths about Romanian Communism after 1989”

7.Claudia-Florentina Dobre, Cristian-Emilian Ghiţă, (eds.), Quest for a Suitable Past: Myth and Memory in Central and Eastern Europe, CEU Press, New York-Budapest: 101-117. , 2017

After the fall of communism in December 1989, a feverish period of political and social changes e... more After the fall of communism in December 1989, a feverish period of political and social changes ensued. A new political order took shape, instituted by and instituting a new social imaginary. In the process, old myths were brought back to life in order to give meaning and significance to the new reality, as well as to determine political and social cohesion and coherence. This chapter looks at the structures of the post-communist social imaginary in Romania through the lenses of the mythology constructed to make sense of the past and to provide significance to the present.

Claudia-Florentina Dobre Remembering World War II: Public Discourse, Monuments, and Personal Narratives in Romania 1

Justyna Budzinska, Edyta Glowacka-Sobech, Bernaette Jonda (eds.), Niepamięć wojny. Europa Środkowo-Wschodnia w XX/XXI wieku (Oblivion of War. Central and Eastern Europe in the XX / XXI century), Instytut Historii UAM, 2017: 389-401., 2017

Remembering World War II has always been controversial in Romania. It was controversial during co... more Remembering World War II has always been controversial in Romania. It was controversial during communist times, as the official propaganda discourse did not fit most people's attitudes and memories of the war. It remained controversial at the end of Ceausescu era, when important figures of the war, such as Ion Antonescu, head of State during World War II, an ally of Hitler and artisan of fascist policies in Romania, were officially rehabilitated when Ceausescu himself denounced the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact as illegitimate. It stayed controversial during the post-communist period, which has witnessed both continuity in discourse in line with the national communism of the Ceausescu epoch and a new narrative which condemns the genocidal actions of the Romanian government toward Jews and Roma. The aim of this study is twofold; on the one hand, I shall describe and interpret the public memory of World War II in Romania from the end of the war until today, and, on the other, I will try to see to what extent the public discourse has mingled with personal experience in the life stories of people who experienced World War II as either participants or witnesses.

Daily life in the second circle of suffering. Case study: the family of Pantelimon Chirilă

Histories Unspoken, 2017

Daily life in the second circle of suffering, although less violent and tragic than the life in t... more Daily life in the second circle of suffering, although less violent and tragic than the life in the first circle, i.e. prisons and labour camps, was just as tormenting, marked by uncertainty, fear and anxiety. For those who had to live through it, this life was a sort of purgatory, and the only ways out were personal exile or the fall of the regime. Our study emphasizes the means used by authorities to destroy the old, 'bourgeois' world and create a new man, whose capacity for agency was significantly curtailed through terror, lack of basic necessities and indoctrination. On the other hand, it demonstrates what Michel de Certeau stated, namely that despite all the constraints imposed by authorities, 'complete colonisation of daily life by the system' remains practically impossible.

Pasts into Present: Ideology, Memory, and Monuments in Communist and Post- communist Romania

The end of communism in Romania brought the destruction of most communist statues and symbols. Th... more The end of communism in Romania brought the destruction of most communist statues and symbols. This demolition stands for a sort of catharsis of the oppressed society. Moreover, the political/cultural struggles around these monuments played an important role in legitimising the new political order, but also in building new social identities and shared memories.
During the transition period, the monumental public space reflected the transformation of the Romanian society. Private and local initiatives joined the public, central program of monument building. The ‘memorial centralism’ was replaced by a plurality of collective memories, and the monumental program followed this trend. Therefore, crosses, busts, and other type of monuments were built to celebrate events and / or personalities of local, regional, and national importance and to honour the victims of Holocaust or / and communist persecutions.

Dragoș Ursu. Memoria reeducării din penitenciarul Aiud

by Dragos Ursu and Claudia-Florentina Dobre

The collapse of the communist regime was followed by a wave of recovery of the imprisoned memory ... more The collapse of the communist regime was followed by a wave of recovery of the imprisoned memory of imprisonment. Prison literature and oral testimonials filled public debate after 1989 as a consequence of the process of identitary retrieval the Romanian society was going through. The „testimony-book” became the most appropriate accusatory evidence to incriminate a system which attempted upon its own identity.My article proposes to debate, in a non-exhaustive approach, a sensitive subject of prison literature: the tensions of memory concerning the late re-education phenomenon from the Aiud prison. Through tensions of memory we understand the divergent – sometimes conflicted – stances that the survivors of the re-education phenomenon adopted in their written memories. My analysis proposes to “radiograph” the memory of the re-education phenomenon, focusing on how the tensions of memory were built and especially how they influenced the discourse of witnesses. The purpose of the research is not to minimize or to deconstruct the testimonies of the survivors, but to highlight the plurality of views that complete the scenery of the re-education phenomenon in its multi-layered complexity.

Communism at the Museum: Staging Memory at the Sighet Memorial

Published in Izabela Skorzynska, Christine Lavrence (eds.), Performing the Past: Post-Communist P... more

Prezentul comunismului: memorie culturală şi abordări istoriografice

În cei 26 de ani care au trecut de la căderea comunismului în România, memoria 1 şi istoria acest... more

„Identităţi feminine alternative în comunism şi postcomunism: deţinutele politic” (Alternative Feminine Identities in Communism and Postcommunism: Women, Former Political Detainees)

Studiul nostru îşi propune să investigheze identitatea socială şi de gen a fostelor deŃinute poli... more Studiul nostru îşi propune să investigheze identitatea socială şi de gen a fostelor deŃinute politic din România comunistă. Pornind de la ipoteza că aceste doamne sunt "beneficiarele" unor identităŃi diferite de modelul oficial, încercăm să înŃelegem care au fost alternativele "oferite", dar şi "inventate" de acestea, atât în perioada comunistă cât şi în postcomunism. Analiza se bazează pe o cercetare de teren efectuată în perioada 2003-2006 privitoare la memoria şi identitatea fostelor deŃinute politic. În această perioadă am realizat o serie de interviuri, după metoda "istorii de viaŃă" (récits de vie) cu 8 foste deŃinute politic şi 6 foşti deŃinuŃi. Folosind tehnica "bulgărelui de zăpadă", pornind de la o fostă deŃinută politic care m-a recomandat prietenelor şi prietenilor domniei sale, ca mai apoi aceşti prieteni să mă recomande la rândul lor amicilor şi cunoştinŃelor de familie, am încercat să înregistrez acele povestiri de viaŃă ce urmau să dea conŃinut şi formă demersului meu ştiinŃific, acela de tematizare şi analiză a discursului memorial al fostelor deŃinute politic aparŃinând clasei mijlocii interbelice. Interviul non-directiv, urmat de o listă de întrebări punctuale au definit ancheta de teren întreprinsă în Bucureşti.

Comment j'ai créé mon archive. Récit d'une enquête d'histoire orale 1

En 2003, j'avais commencé une recherche sur la mémoire des persécutions politiques communistes en... more En 2003, j'avais commencé une recherche sur la mémoire des persécutions politiques communistes en Roumanie postcommuniste. L'absence d'un discours au féminin sur la répression m'a frappé toute de suite. J'ai décidé alors d'entamer une enquête d'histoire orale auprès des anciennes détenues politiques roumaines.

Quand rêver de la France menait à la prison: Le cas des détenues politiques du «lot français»

celat.ulaval.ca

... En 1866, c&#x27;est avec l&#x27;aide de Napoléon III que Ion C. Bratianu peut présent... more ... En 1866, c&#x27;est avec l&#x27;aide de Napoléon III que Ion C. Bratianu peut présenter aux Roumains leur futur roi, Carol de Hohenzollern Sigmaringen. ... du « lot français » : Arrivé à Paris, le professeur Fontaine a été le premier, je crois, qui a créé une section à la radio Paris, dédiée à la ...

Traumatisme collectif pour patrimoine: regards sur un mouvement transnational

"Guerres exogènes ou conflits endogènes, famines, catastrophes naturelles, esclavage, exploi... more "Guerres exogènes ou conflits endogènes, famines, catastrophes naturelles, esclavage, exploitations, dominations, humiliations : ces traumatismes partagés sont érigés en un patrimoine qui, pour douloureux qu’il soit, n’en n’est pas moins présent dans la construction mémorielle d’une communauté. Les traumatismes du passé constituent un héritage que les descendants des victimes d’hier portent désormais moins comme fardeau et plus comme patrimoine identitaire qui légitime les demandes de reconnaissance et de réparations. Or, cette patrimonialisation est accompagnée par l’affirmation du témoin au dépens de l’expert et par la montée de la mémoire, qui occupe la place jadis dévolue à l’historien, producteur du récit légitime. Les acteurs se réfèrent au passé non plus seulement pour construire leurs identités et leur existence dans la durée, mais surtout pour justifier leurs revendications contemporaines. Ainsi, les frontières entre le passé, le présent et le futur semblent se brouiller, voire disparaître, et donner place au présentisme. Sous la direction conjointe de Vincent Auzas et de Bogumil Jewsiewicki, ce collectif permet d’examiner comparativement les mécanismes et les processus d’émergence et de construction des traumatismes collectifs du passé à titre de patrimoine immatériel. Il réunit les textes présentés lors du 2e colloque annuel de l’Institut du patrimoine culturel, tenu dans le cadre de l’ACFAS, à Trois-Rivières, les 7 et 8 mai 2007. Contributions de : Ana Lucia Araujo, Vincent Auzas, Michèle Baussant, Sophie Beaudoin, Jhon Picard Byron, Emmanuelle Danchin, Claudia Florentina Dobre, Constantin Dobrila, Patrick Garcia, Sarah Gensburger, Bogumil Jewsiewicki, Helène Levesque, Dimitri Nicolaïdis, Henry Rousso, Giovanna Trento et Olha Ostriïtchouk Zazulya. "

“Uses and Misuses of Memory: Dealing with Communist Past in Postcommunist Bulgaria and Romania”

Regaining the future by rebuilding the past? Women’s narratives of life during communism

This article is an introduction to our research project entitled „Regaining of the future by rebu... more This article is an introduction to our research project entitled „Regaining of the future by rebuilding the past: Women’s narratives of life during communism” in Poland, Romania and German Democratic Republic which has started in 2014. The aim of our research is to focus on Polish, Romanian and German women’s generation of mothers - predecessors ( born in the ’40 and ‘50) and daughters – succesors (born in the ‘60. and ‘70) whose life was determined by the consequences of the Second Word War in the context of a comunist state. In this preliminary phase of our investigation we are going to analyze the secondary literature on gender studies and oral history in Romania, Poland and Germany.

«Repression and Resistance. Women Remembering their Daily Life in Romanian Communist Prisons», Martor, no. 17, 2012: 39-50.

The everyday life in a communist prison was characterized by terror, repression, harsh living con... more The everyday life in a communist prison was characterized by terror, repression, harsh living conditions. Nevertheless, women, former political detainees, struggled to overcome all the difficulties in order to survive and to tell their story. This is the story of their faith in their victory over the historical unfortunate and unpredictable events.

“Women remembering communism in Romania: Former Political Detainees Perspectives”, Women and Minorities Archives : Subjects of Archiving, 2011, vol. 3, ed. Kristina Popova and Nurie Muratova, Blagoevgrad : 42-58.

Remembering communism in Romania is characterized by a lack of gender sensitivity. The public nar... more Remembering communism in Romania is characterized by a lack of gender sensitivity. The public narrative concerning the communist regime in Romania has not yet included a feminine perspective. The male-dominant discourse depicts women as victims of the former regime, regarded as a destructive system, which encouraged women to work and behave as men, and controlled the female body through its politics and policies of reproduction. Furthermore, the regime is also considered to have been criminal because it sent women in prison, regardless of their condition (old, sick, pregnant, teenager) if they manifested any kind of opposition towards the authorities.

“Les traces du communisme. Mémoire et oubli dans l’espace public à Sofia et Bucarest. Le cas exemplaire de six monuments et leur destin”, in Znepolski Ivaylo, (ed.), Да Познаем Комунизма (To Know about Communism), Institute for the Study of the Recent Past, Ciela Publishers, 2010: 117-166.

Women MEPs (“Les femmes qui ont fait l`Europe. Les députées de la première législature (1979-1984) du Parlement européen élues au suffrage universel direct”, Les Cahiers du CARDOC, Special edition, March 2009: 77-99).

“Elisabeta Rizea de Nucşoara: un «lieu de mémoire» pour les Roumains?”, Conserveries mémorielles, 2006: http://cm.revues.org/290

... ainsi que les historiens de l'Europe centrale et orientale ont essayé d'établir des... more ... ainsi que les historiens de l'Europe centrale et orientale ont essayé d'établir des « lieux de mémoire » pour les pays de la région 1. Matei Cazacu2 a ... Si les médias ont tissé autour d'elle une aura, il convient de souligner qu'elle-même avait su capter leur attention par sa facilité à ...

Curriculum vitae

Ph.D. in History from Laval University of Quebec, Canada. I have conducted research on the memory... more Ph.D. in History from Laval University of Quebec, Canada. I have conducted research on the memory of Communism, on museums, memorials and monuments, on women’s memory, and everyday life in Romania and in Central and Eastern Europe during communism. I realized a documentary on the memory of Bărăgan deportation in communist Romania.

“Ni héros, ni victime. La mise en patrimoine de la répression et les anciens persécutés politiques roumains”

Traumatisme collectif pour patrimoine. Regards sur un mouvement transnational, 2008

En Roumanie post-décembriste, l'expérience communiste est mise en patrimoine sous le signe de la ... more En Roumanie post-décembriste, l'expérience communiste est mise en patrimoine sous le signe de la victimisation. Les acteurs de l'espace public promeuvent une identité de victime du communisme et du contexte international du peuple roumain. Cela s'inscrit dans une logique victimaire ayant fait une longue carrière en Roumanie. Sorin Alexandrescu parle même «d'un complexe de la victimisation» spécifique des élites politiques roumaines 1. Dans mon article, je questionne la manière dont les élites patrimonialisent le vécu communiste des anciens détenus politiques. J'avance l'hypothèse que l'expérience de la répression est devenue un objet patrimonial en fonction des enjeux sociaux et politiques à l'oeuvre dans la société postcommuniste. Les élites, et par la suite, l'Etat, en appropriant l'expérience carcérale des anciens persécutés politiques, circonscrivent le communisme au paradigme victimaire. Quant à ceux qui ont subi les persécutions politiques, ils patrimonialisent leur expérience sous l'angle de la dette civique et du patriotisme identifié à l'anticommunisme. 1. La mémoire du communisme Le régime communiste a été renversé le 22 décembre 1989 2. Pour les Roumains, sa mémoire reste assez contradictoire 3. Parfois, ils gardent de bons souvenirs de leur vie pendant le communisme, et cela malgré des expériences difficiles, comme celles vécues au cours des dix dernières années de l'époque Ceauşescu. Ceux qui ont été persécutés d'une manière ou d'une autre gardent des souvenirs plutôt douloureux et carrément négatifs 4. Pour leur part, les jeunes nés après 1989 ne connaissent presque rien du régime déchu 5. Ce paradoxe de la mémoire du communisme comporte plusieurs explications. L'image favorable du système vient de 44 ans de propagande égalitaire, qui s'avère bien incorporée par les Roumains. Les frustrations de la transition, avec ses nouveaux riches, le chômage et la perte de la sécurité sociale, contribuent aussi à la mémoire positive du régime renversé en décembre 1 Sorin Alexandrescu, Paradoxul român (Le paradoxe roumain), Univers, Bucarest, 1998, p. 65. 2 Les communistes roumains se sont installés au pouvoir le 6 mars 1945. 3 Eu égard à la mémoire du communisme en Roumanie, le baromètre d'opinion de la Fondation pour une Société Ouverte réalisé en octobre 2006 sur un échantillon de 1975 personnes, âgées de 18 et plus, a donné les résultats suivants: 12% des Roumains considèrent le communisme une bonne idée, bien appliquée ; 41% une idée bonne mais mal appliquée ; 34% une mauvaise idée mal appliquée. Donc, 53% des Roumains pensent que le communisme a été une bonne idée. La Fondation pour une Société Ouverte, Annonce de presse, «La perception actuelle du communisme», sur le site de la Fondation: www.osf.ro. 4 8% des répondants âgés de plus de 34 ans du sondage de la Fondation pour une Société Ouverte ont déclaré avoir souffert personnellement à cause du régime communiste. La Fondation pour une Société Ouverte, Annonce de presse, «La perception actuelle du communisme». www.osf.ro. 5 Une émission de la chaîne publique de télévision a montré que les écoliers ne savent presque rien sur le communisme. Pour eux, c'est une époque lointaine, tout comme le Moyen Age, par exemple.

Claudia-Florentina Dobre, “Avatars of the Social Imaginary: The Myths about Romanian Communism after 1989”

7.Claudia-Florentina Dobre, Cristian-Emilian Ghiţă, (eds.), Quest for a Suitable Past: Myth and Memory in Central and Eastern Europe, CEU Press, New York-Budapest: 101-117. , 2017

After the fall of communism in December 1989, a feverish period of political and social changes e... more After the fall of communism in December 1989, a feverish period of political and social changes ensued. A new political order took shape, instituted by and instituting a new social imaginary. In the process, old myths were brought back to life in order to give meaning and significance to the new reality, as well as to determine political and social cohesion and coherence. This chapter looks at the structures of the post-communist social imaginary in Romania through the lenses of the mythology constructed to make sense of the past and to provide significance to the present.

Claudia-Florentina Dobre Remembering World War II: Public Discourse, Monuments, and Personal Narratives in Romania 1

Justyna Budzinska, Edyta Glowacka-Sobech, Bernaette Jonda (eds.), Niepamięć wojny. Europa Środkowo-Wschodnia w XX/XXI wieku (Oblivion of War. Central and Eastern Europe in the XX / XXI century), Instytut Historii UAM, 2017: 389-401., 2017

Remembering World War II has always been controversial in Romania. It was controversial during co... more Remembering World War II has always been controversial in Romania. It was controversial during communist times, as the official propaganda discourse did not fit most people's attitudes and memories of the war. It remained controversial at the end of Ceausescu era, when important figures of the war, such as Ion Antonescu, head of State during World War II, an ally of Hitler and artisan of fascist policies in Romania, were officially rehabilitated when Ceausescu himself denounced the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact as illegitimate. It stayed controversial during the post-communist period, which has witnessed both continuity in discourse in line with the national communism of the Ceausescu epoch and a new narrative which condemns the genocidal actions of the Romanian government toward Jews and Roma. The aim of this study is twofold; on the one hand, I shall describe and interpret the public memory of World War II in Romania from the end of the war until today, and, on the other, I will try to see to what extent the public discourse has mingled with personal experience in the life stories of people who experienced World War II as either participants or witnesses.

Daily life in the second circle of suffering. Case study: the family of Pantelimon Chirilă

Histories Unspoken, 2017

Daily life in the second circle of suffering, although less violent and tragic than the life in t... more Daily life in the second circle of suffering, although less violent and tragic than the life in the first circle, i.e. prisons and labour camps, was just as tormenting, marked by uncertainty, fear and anxiety. For those who had to live through it, this life was a sort of purgatory, and the only ways out were personal exile or the fall of the regime. Our study emphasizes the means used by authorities to destroy the old, 'bourgeois' world and create a new man, whose capacity for agency was significantly curtailed through terror, lack of basic necessities and indoctrination. On the other hand, it demonstrates what Michel de Certeau stated, namely that despite all the constraints imposed by authorities, 'complete colonisation of daily life by the system' remains practically impossible.

Pasts into Present: Ideology, Memory, and Monuments in Communist and Post- communist Romania

The end of communism in Romania brought the destruction of most communist statues and symbols. Th... more The end of communism in Romania brought the destruction of most communist statues and symbols. This demolition stands for a sort of catharsis of the oppressed society. Moreover, the political/cultural struggles around these monuments played an important role in legitimising the new political order, but also in building new social identities and shared memories.
During the transition period, the monumental public space reflected the transformation of the Romanian society. Private and local initiatives joined the public, central program of monument building. The ‘memorial centralism’ was replaced by a plurality of collective memories, and the monumental program followed this trend. Therefore, crosses, busts, and other type of monuments were built to celebrate events and / or personalities of local, regional, and national importance and to honour the victims of Holocaust or / and communist persecutions.

Dragoș Ursu. Memoria reeducării din penitenciarul Aiud

by Dragos Ursu and Claudia-Florentina Dobre

The collapse of the communist regime was followed by a wave of recovery of the imprisoned memory ... more The collapse of the communist regime was followed by a wave of recovery of the imprisoned memory of imprisonment. Prison literature and oral testimonials filled public debate after 1989 as a consequence of the process of identitary retrieval the Romanian society was going through. The „testimony-book” became the most appropriate accusatory evidence to incriminate a system which attempted upon its own identity.My article proposes to debate, in a non-exhaustive approach, a sensitive subject of prison literature: the tensions of memory concerning the late re-education phenomenon from the Aiud prison. Through tensions of memory we understand the divergent – sometimes conflicted – stances that the survivors of the re-education phenomenon adopted in their written memories. My analysis proposes to “radiograph” the memory of the re-education phenomenon, focusing on how the tensions of memory were built and especially how they influenced the discourse of witnesses. The purpose of the research is not to minimize or to deconstruct the testimonies of the survivors, but to highlight the plurality of views that complete the scenery of the re-education phenomenon in its multi-layered complexity.

Communism at the Museum: Staging Memory at the Sighet Memorial

Published in Izabela Skorzynska, Christine Lavrence (eds.), Performing the Past: Post-Communist P... more

Prezentul comunismului: memorie culturală şi abordări istoriografice

În cei 26 de ani care au trecut de la căderea comunismului în România, memoria 1 şi istoria acest... more

„Identităţi feminine alternative în comunism şi postcomunism: deţinutele politic” (Alternative Feminine Identities in Communism and Postcommunism: Women, Former Political Detainees)

Studiul nostru îşi propune să investigheze identitatea socială şi de gen a fostelor deŃinute poli... more Studiul nostru îşi propune să investigheze identitatea socială şi de gen a fostelor deŃinute politic din România comunistă. Pornind de la ipoteza că aceste doamne sunt "beneficiarele" unor identităŃi diferite de modelul oficial, încercăm să înŃelegem care au fost alternativele "oferite", dar şi "inventate" de acestea, atât în perioada comunistă cât şi în postcomunism. Analiza se bazează pe o cercetare de teren efectuată în perioada 2003-2006 privitoare la memoria şi identitatea fostelor deŃinute politic. În această perioadă am realizat o serie de interviuri, după metoda "istorii de viaŃă" (récits de vie) cu 8 foste deŃinute politic şi 6 foşti deŃinuŃi. Folosind tehnica "bulgărelui de zăpadă", pornind de la o fostă deŃinută politic care m-a recomandat prietenelor şi prietenilor domniei sale, ca mai apoi aceşti prieteni să mă recomande la rândul lor amicilor şi cunoştinŃelor de familie, am încercat să înregistrez acele povestiri de viaŃă ce urmau să dea conŃinut şi formă demersului meu ştiinŃific, acela de tematizare şi analiză a discursului memorial al fostelor deŃinute politic aparŃinând clasei mijlocii interbelice. Interviul non-directiv, urmat de o listă de întrebări punctuale au definit ancheta de teren întreprinsă în Bucureşti.

Comment j'ai créé mon archive. Récit d'une enquête d'histoire orale 1

En 2003, j'avais commencé une recherche sur la mémoire des persécutions politiques communistes en... more En 2003, j'avais commencé une recherche sur la mémoire des persécutions politiques communistes en Roumanie postcommuniste. L'absence d'un discours au féminin sur la répression m'a frappé toute de suite. J'ai décidé alors d'entamer une enquête d'histoire orale auprès des anciennes détenues politiques roumaines.

Quand rêver de la France menait à la prison: Le cas des détenues politiques du «lot français»

celat.ulaval.ca

... En 1866, c&#x27;est avec l&#x27;aide de Napoléon III que Ion C. Bratianu peut présent... more ... En 1866, c&#x27;est avec l&#x27;aide de Napoléon III que Ion C. Bratianu peut présenter aux Roumains leur futur roi, Carol de Hohenzollern Sigmaringen. ... du « lot français » : Arrivé à Paris, le professeur Fontaine a été le premier, je crois, qui a créé une section à la radio Paris, dédiée à la ...

Traumatisme collectif pour patrimoine: regards sur un mouvement transnational

"Guerres exogènes ou conflits endogènes, famines, catastrophes naturelles, esclavage, exploi... more "Guerres exogènes ou conflits endogènes, famines, catastrophes naturelles, esclavage, exploitations, dominations, humiliations : ces traumatismes partagés sont érigés en un patrimoine qui, pour douloureux qu’il soit, n’en n’est pas moins présent dans la construction mémorielle d’une communauté. Les traumatismes du passé constituent un héritage que les descendants des victimes d’hier portent désormais moins comme fardeau et plus comme patrimoine identitaire qui légitime les demandes de reconnaissance et de réparations. Or, cette patrimonialisation est accompagnée par l’affirmation du témoin au dépens de l’expert et par la montée de la mémoire, qui occupe la place jadis dévolue à l’historien, producteur du récit légitime. Les acteurs se réfèrent au passé non plus seulement pour construire leurs identités et leur existence dans la durée, mais surtout pour justifier leurs revendications contemporaines. Ainsi, les frontières entre le passé, le présent et le futur semblent se brouiller, voire disparaître, et donner place au présentisme. Sous la direction conjointe de Vincent Auzas et de Bogumil Jewsiewicki, ce collectif permet d’examiner comparativement les mécanismes et les processus d’émergence et de construction des traumatismes collectifs du passé à titre de patrimoine immatériel. Il réunit les textes présentés lors du 2e colloque annuel de l’Institut du patrimoine culturel, tenu dans le cadre de l’ACFAS, à Trois-Rivières, les 7 et 8 mai 2007. Contributions de : Ana Lucia Araujo, Vincent Auzas, Michèle Baussant, Sophie Beaudoin, Jhon Picard Byron, Emmanuelle Danchin, Claudia Florentina Dobre, Constantin Dobrila, Patrick Garcia, Sarah Gensburger, Bogumil Jewsiewicki, Helène Levesque, Dimitri Nicolaïdis, Henry Rousso, Giovanna Trento et Olha Ostriïtchouk Zazulya. "

“Uses and Misuses of Memory: Dealing with Communist Past in Postcommunist Bulgaria and Romania”

Regaining the future by rebuilding the past? Women’s narratives of life during communism

This article is an introduction to our research project entitled „Regaining of the future by rebu... more This article is an introduction to our research project entitled „Regaining of the future by rebuilding the past: Women’s narratives of life during communism” in Poland, Romania and German Democratic Republic which has started in 2014. The aim of our research is to focus on Polish, Romanian and German women’s generation of mothers - predecessors ( born in the ’40 and ‘50) and daughters – succesors (born in the ‘60. and ‘70) whose life was determined by the consequences of the Second Word War in the context of a comunist state. In this preliminary phase of our investigation we are going to analyze the secondary literature on gender studies and oral history in Romania, Poland and Germany.

«Repression and Resistance. Women Remembering their Daily Life in Romanian Communist Prisons», Martor, no. 17, 2012: 39-50.

The everyday life in a communist prison was characterized by terror, repression, harsh living con... more The everyday life in a communist prison was characterized by terror, repression, harsh living conditions. Nevertheless, women, former political detainees, struggled to overcome all the difficulties in order to survive and to tell their story. This is the story of their faith in their victory over the historical unfortunate and unpredictable events.

“Women remembering communism in Romania: Former Political Detainees Perspectives”, Women and Minorities Archives : Subjects of Archiving, 2011, vol. 3, ed. Kristina Popova and Nurie Muratova, Blagoevgrad : 42-58.

Remembering communism in Romania is characterized by a lack of gender sensitivity. The public nar... more Remembering communism in Romania is characterized by a lack of gender sensitivity. The public narrative concerning the communist regime in Romania has not yet included a feminine perspective. The male-dominant discourse depicts women as victims of the former regime, regarded as a destructive system, which encouraged women to work and behave as men, and controlled the female body through its politics and policies of reproduction. Furthermore, the regime is also considered to have been criminal because it sent women in prison, regardless of their condition (old, sick, pregnant, teenager) if they manifested any kind of opposition towards the authorities.

“Les traces du communisme. Mémoire et oubli dans l’espace public à Sofia et Bucarest. Le cas exemplaire de six monuments et leur destin”, in Znepolski Ivaylo, (ed.), Да Познаем Комунизма (To Know about Communism), Institute for the Study of the Recent Past, Ciela Publishers, 2010: 117-166.

Women MEPs (“Les femmes qui ont fait l`Europe. Les députées de la première législature (1979-1984) du Parlement européen élues au suffrage universel direct”, Les Cahiers du CARDOC, Special edition, March 2009: 77-99).

Ordinele cerşetoare în Moldova: misiune în Terre Peregrinantium 1 (secolele XIII-XV

Acest articol îşi propune să ofere o viziune de ansamblu asupra prezentei ordinelor cerşetoare în... more Acest articol îşi propune să ofere o viziune de ansamblu asupra prezentei ordinelor cerşetoare în Moldova din secolul al XIII-lea până în a doua jumătate a secolului al XV-lea. Datorită neglijării acestui subiect în istoriografia românească mai recentă, acest studiu se constituie şi într-un " état des lieux " 2.
Dominicanii şi franciscanii au fost încă de la crearea ordinelor lor agentii papalitătii atât în interiorul lumii catolice, cât şi în afara ei. Curia papală a văzut în cele două ordine cerşetoare mijlocul ideal pentru extinderea influentei ei, îndeosebi după eşecul înregistrat de cruciade.