Folklore and Post-Socialist Struggles: Contesting Identities in the Quest for Authenticity

• Main Author: Ilie Iulian MITRAN
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Oradea, Research Centre on Identity and Migration Studies-RCIMI 2018-11-01
• Series: Journal of Identity and Migration Studies
• Subjects: folk; identity; nationalism; hybrid; new culture; urban
• Online Access: http://www.e-migration.ro/jims/Vol12_No2_2018/JIMS_Vol12_No2_2018_pp_25_39_MITRAN.pdf

Folklore used to be one of the most efficient tools that some authoritarian regimes from Eastern Europe used to naturalize themselves, to gain the trust of the people through carefully reconstructing the oral heritage that was passed on to them by their ancestors in such a way that its message will not become a threat for the ideological hegemony that the communists had to create to secure their power. The 20th century was marked by the rough transition from an agrarian economy to an industrial one, this came in hand in hand with an ambitious urbanization plan which basically fragmented the very core of several societies, we can include here the Romanians, Moldovans, Belarusians, and Ukrainians. Particularly for Romanians, the newly created state-controlled culture, which included solo performers and groups that were responsible with popularizing the new brand of proletariat-friendly folklore which was deemed as more adequate by the authorities that it's preexisting form that was exclusively owned by the peasantry. The current paper aims at mapping the way the policies grouped under the umbrella of state-controlled culture manage to influence the content of the folk songs that were broadcasted during that time via state-owned radio and TV. We are interested in highlighting the narratives that were reinforced through the work of many beloved folk singer (cântăreți de muzică populară), being an integral part of what we can generally call soft propaganda. Folk music was never intended to act as an environment that would eventually create new nationalistic narrative, but rather to reinforce and popularize the already existing ones.