Literature and Society in Romania since 1948

Abstract

The proclamation of the Romanian People’s Republic on 30 December 1947 marked the beginning of an era in which the leadership of the Romanian Communist Party¹ would seek to, and succeed to a large degree in, exploiting literature for its own ends. The measure of that success is reflected in the form and content of published literature down to the present day, a presentation of which will constitute one aspect of this paper. The fact that political events have often dictated the direction taken by literature in Romania has obliged me to chronicle² and to analyse briefly the relationships between the Party and writers during this period.³ These relationships are largely characterised by the acquiescence of writers in the Party’s cultural policies (with a few notable exceptions). The activity of Miron Radu Paraschivescu, Dumitru Țepeneag and Paul Goma in the late 1960s and the 1970s, and the work of the novelists Augustin Buzura and Marin Preda, and of the poets Ana Blandiana, Mircea Dinescu, Ștefan Augustin Doinaș and Marin Sorescu, provide eloquent examples.