Marginal Spaces and Cultures of Dissent in Socialist Romania's Black Sea (Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe)

This book analyzes two Romanian villages – 2 Mai and Vama Veche – as spaces of relative freedom during the last decades of socialist rule. This microhistorical study refutes simplistic views of the communist past which focus on political figures and events, and instead explores ordinary people and everyday life. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, it considers a broad range of sources, including official Communist Party documents, secret police files, personal memoirs, oral history interviews, ethnographic films, songs, and artistic performances. This book intertwines three narrative threads: that of the visitors (mainly members of the Romanian intelligentsia, young people, and hippies); that of the local inhabitants; and that of 'authority' (local and central state agents actively engaged in surveillance and supervision). In doing so, it interrogates the spectrum of consent/dissent and resistance/collaboration hitherto neglected in scholarship. Acknowledgments Contribution to Original Knowledge Contribution of Authors Contents Abbreviations List of Figures 1 Introduction Literature Review Sources Overview of Chapters 2 Permeable Borders, Geographical Markers, and Ethnic Diversity in Dobrogea Introduction The Historical Region of Dobrogea The Socialist Period Genius Loci: The Villages of 2 Mai and Vama Veche Legacy and Change: The City of Mangalia Conclusion 3 Varieties of Socialist Tourism: Individual and Communal Holidays on the Southern Shores of the Black Sea Introduction Tourism, the Most Successful Socialist Experiment Alternative Socialist Vacation Spaces Emblematic Figures: Nina Cassian Other Tourists Camping Emblematic Figures: Dan Constantinescu Food and Drinks Parties Nudism State-Sponsored and Individual Tourism in Vama Veche Hippies Artistic Creation and Acts of Resistance Labels, Brands, and Definitions Sites of Cultural Opposition Conclusion 4 Locality and Community: Landscape, Temporality, and Transformation Introduction Kinship and Tourism Gender, Agency, and Hospitality Case Study: Tudoriţa Palelica Cooking Stories and Storytellers Radio Waves Urbanization The Physical Organization of Space, Dwellings, and Community Life: Courtyards, Porches, Gardens and Orchards Politics of Landscape—Spatiality, State Intervention, Temporality Conclusion 5 Supervision, Transgression, and Co-habitation: The Secret Lives of Liminal Spaces Introduction The Department of State Security (Securitate), the Secret Police of the Socialist Republic of Romania Individual Files The Limanu File Case Study: Dionisie Alexandru Case Study: Cadir Izet Foreign Tourists Surveillance of Tourists—Nina Cassian Case Study: Virgil Mazilescu The Permit for Small-Scale Cross-Border Commerce and Socialist Village Black Market Economy Surveillance of the Collective Farms Case Study: Naum Roman Additional Layers of Surveillance: The Revenue Agency and the National Office for Tourism (O.N.T.) Additional Layers of Surveillance: The Border Patrol Conclusion 6 Conclusions Bibliography Index