Societies in transition in former communist Europe are confronted with
problems deriving from the mentality conserved from two totalitarian systems. A
thorough understanding of these societies requires knowledge of the cultural and
political values of their respective contemporary history. From this standpoint,
the case of Romania is not different from other states in East-Central Europe.
It’s situation is, however, relatively less known throughout the world; the
cultural and historical diversity of its regions create certain difficulties in
the valuation of the past and present of the country. Therefore, researchers
have come up against difficulties when they approached this country’s history.
For example, quite often whenever they speak about Romanian identity they refer
to the Romanian ethno-culture exclusively without considering the existence of,
and interaction with, other cultures in the same area. Partial access to
information as a consequence of the dictatorial regimes, the shortage of
authentic scholarly debate, the substitution of academic discourse by one that
is propagandistic over a long period of time, are only a few of the factors
which have made Romania's communication with the world more difficult.
The perpetuation of the stereotypes from one generation to another was
possible since there was a lack of concern with setting up a civil society. As
can be seen in the present book, many of the drawbacks of post-war Romania are
due to the fact that modern European values have only partly been assimilated.
Even the issues concerning the communist system can be explained through this
late modernization. I have mentioned the most widely known myths -- among them
those deriving from the issue of the ethnic nation-state and that of the
cultural minorities -- which led to the creation in East-Central Europe of a
type of identity different from that in the West. The modernization of a large
segment of the population depends, to a large extent, upon improvements in
education especially of the new curricula in the social sciences and humanities,
and upon state recognition of the multiple cultural traditions. I have presented
the politics of recognition promoted by multiculturalism as complementary to
interculturality. Therefore, I have considered the multicultural and
intercultural perspectives as new approaches to Romania’s contemporary history
and politics. By ‘multiculturalism’ I mean the end of the hegemony of one
culture over another with the aim of gaining proper respect for each of them;
whereas ‘interculturalism’ implies the interaction of different cultures and
acceptance of the fact that ideals can transcend the limits of a certain
culture.
This volume, Between Words and
Reality: Studies on the Politics of Recognition and Regime Changes in
Contemporary Romania, covers fragments of Romania's recent history and
politics in five distinct studies. They have been elaborated with the aim of
providing new information and evaluations for those interested. The author has
considered as well some fragments of the past especially those that could reveal
the country’s diversity, and therefore the richness of the regional values
within it.
It could be asked why the regions of Transylvania and the Banat have
special weight in this book. The question is the more legitimate since the title
of the book refers to Romania, rather than to its geographical areas. A few
arguments come to support the author’s option. First, Transylvania and Banat
have played an important role in the assertion of the cultural awareness of the
Romanians and in the definition of their political identity. Secondly, the same
regions were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918 and after their
union with the Old Kingdom of Romania were the most advanced in local
administration within the new Romanian nation state.
Thirdly, the existence of populations of other linguistic and/or
religious origins than the majority one (Magyars/Hungarians, German-Saxons,
German-Swabs, Jews, Ukrainians, Serbs, Gypsies/Roma, Czechs, Slovaks and
Bulgarians), made these regions multicultural and intercultural. Consequently,
the cases of Transylvania and Banat were chosen for their relevance as for the
politics of recognition of minorities. It should be noted that the minorities
had a considerable role in the country’s domestic policy and in its
international relations which can be identified in each political or regime
change in Romania.
This will be observed in the studies which approach the transition from
the empire to the nation state, the fate of the Greek-Catholics after World War
II, and Timişoara’s role in the political changes of 1989 and the
collapse of communism.
The first study of this book, namely the Jewish question in the
transition period from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to the Romanian state
presents a case of the process of integration into the new state as experienced
by a religious community. Approaching the issue from a political perspective,
this study explains the difficulties which appeared in the above community when
the multicultural administrative entity was replaced by a monoculturally-oriented
state. The issues concerning education in minority languages, the relationships
between the majority and minorities today, are developed in the study dedicated
to civic culture and human rights in an intercultural perspective. An example of
multicultural education is given by the case of the “Babeş-Bolyai”
University of Cluj. The theoretical explanations of the multiple identities of
the Banat County, the most western region of Romania, are accompanied by
concrete examples and by appended documention. This part of the country is an
example of diverse cultural values which result from coexistence and explain the
meanings of transculturality in border regions. Finally, the inter-confessional
relationships are examined in the relations between the Orthodox and the
Greek-Catholic communities in the communist years. The role of certain parts of
the civic society which survived in Transylvania and Banat, and which opposed
the totalitarian system, are highlighted in the studies dedicated to the
political changes of 1989.
The coherence of the volume derives from its themes, namely, the
organization of the contemporary Romanian political thinking on civic values;
multi- and intercultural education as a preamble to civic education;
presentation of the relationship between history and politics in the process of
modernization of the nation-state; and the stage of the promotion of democratic
values reflected in the relationship between society and state institutions.
As compared to the classical studies, those included in Between Words and Reality give new interpretative directions in
history and politics. Their fragmentary aspect is counter-balanced by the
approach of a few key topics, by revealing the threads that connect the cultural
background to politics and by the issues which derive from controversial moments
in the political thought and practice. The appended documentation has eased the
burden of factual scientific comment, while the theorization has advanced ideas
and hypotheses which could contribute to a debate on key-concepts in
East-Central Europe. A thorough approach to these issues is timely and
monographs and syntheses are necessary further steps.
Why Between Words and Reality?
The East-Central European world has quite repeatedly lived its own utopias
rather than reality itself. This area was emancipated later than Western Europe,
and not in-depth, which made possible the perpetuation of social inequalities
and demagogy.
I express gratitude to my wife, Simona Neumann, for her contribution in
preparing the English text of this volume, as well as to Professor George F.
McLean of The Catholic University of America for his generosity in editing and
publishing the manuscript. The position of Fulbright visiting scholar for
2000-2001 enabled me to put the finishing touches on this volume while
developing research on European identities and the American perspective on
multi-culturalism.
Victor
Neumann
Washington, D.C.