"A medium of revolutionary propaganda”: The state and tourism policy in the Romanian People’s Republic, 1947-1965

This paper contributes to recent analysis of tourism within socialist states by examining tourism policy in the Romanian People’s Republic, 1947 1965. It considers the development of tourism policy that was intended to support the broader political project of building socialism. Romania initially adopted the Soviet model of purposeful and collective outdoor recreation. It promoted domestic tourism to enhance the health of the working population and generate pride in the achievements of socialism. Romania also followed the Soviet Union in ‘opening’ to international tourism in the mid-1950s. However, after increasing tension with the Soviet Union Romania pursued a more independent course of socialist development from the late 1950s. This was reflected in tourism policy, particularly the vigorous encouragement of international tourism following the model of neighbouring Yugoslavia. This was a means to generate the foreign currency needed for an independent industrialisation programme and also enabled Romania to project its increasingly independent stance to foreign visitors (from both socialist and non-socialist countries). However, while tourism was an important part of state policy, many of the ways that the People’s Republic used tourism mirrored existing practices in capitalist states and there was limited success in developing a distinctly socialist form of tourism

The People of Bram Stoker\u27s Transylvania

One of the defining features of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the “specific and detailed geographical context that sets this novel apart from other gothic novels” (Florescu & McNally 5). Indeed, although Stoker had not visited Transylvania, he is known to have read widely in preparing Dracula.1 While his historical research has come under particular scrutiny, little attention has been paid to his representation and understanding of the region’s geography.2 As a human geographer with research interests in Romania, I find that there is something not “quite right” about Stoker’s Transylvania. In particular, where are the Romanians? And why are there so many Slovaks? And why has a Székler Count built his castle so far from the Szekely land? My focus here is on the people of Bram Stoker’s Transylvania and their geography. Through a consideration of census reports as well as Stoker’s known sources, I examine the nature and distribution of Transylvania’s population in the late nineteenth century and I argue that while Stoker clearly appreciated the multi-ethnic nature of Transylvania, his more detailed understanding of its population geography was patchy at best. Moreover, Stoker was selective in his representation of the various nationalities in Transylvania: some were highlighted for dramatic effect, whereas others were excluded altogether

When was Dracula first translated into Romanian?

Dracula is one of the world’s best-known books. The novel has never been out of print since its publication and has been translated into about 30 languages (Melton). Yet, paradoxically, one of the countries where it is least known is Romania. The usual explanation given for this situation is Romania’s recent history, particularly the period of Communist Party rule (1947-1989). Dracula, with its emphasis on vampires and the supernatural, was apparently regarded as an unsuitable or inappropriate novel in a state founded on the materialist and “scientific” principles of Marxism. Hence, no translation of Stoker’s novel was permitted during the Communist period, a fact noted by several contemporary commentators (for example, Mackenzie 20; Florescu and McNally, Prince 220). As a result, Romania was entirely unprepared for the explosion in the West of popular interest in Dracula and vampires during the 1970s. While increasing numbers of Western tourists visited Transylvania on their own searches for the literary and supernatural roots of Bram Stoker’s novel, they frequently returned disappointed since hardly anybody in Romania understood what they were searching for. For example, Romanian guides and interpreters working for the national tourist office were often bewildered when asked by Western tourists for more details about Dracula and vampires in Romania (Nicolae Păduraru, personal interview). It was not until after the fall of Nicolae Ceauşescu’s Communist regime that the first Romanian translation of Dracula was published in 1990, much to the surprise and puzzlement of many Romanians (Boia 226). This article closely examines the issue of when Dracula was first translated into Romanian. In particular, I question the frequently repeated claim that Stoker’s novel did not appear in Romanian until after the fall of Communism. Instead, I argue that there is strong evidence (albeit circumstantial) that some form of translation existed during the interwar period and, furthermore, that a full translation was prepared (even if never published) at some stage during the Communist period

Urban space, political identity and the unwanted legacies of state socialism: Bucharest's problematic Centru Civic in the post-socialist era

This paper explores the relationship between the urban cultural landscape of Bucharest and the making of post-socialist Romanian national identity. As the capital of socialist Romania, central Bucharest was extensively remodelled by Nicolae Ceauşescu into the Centru Civic in order to materialize Romania's socialist identity. After the Romanian "Revolution" of 1989, the national and local state had to deal with a significant "left-over" socialist urban landscape which was highly discordant with the orientation of post-socialist Romania and its search for a new identity. Ceauşescu's vast socialist showpiece left a difficult legacy which challenges the material and representational reshaping of Bucharest and constructions of post-socialist Romanian national identity more broadly. The paper analyzes four attempts to deal with the Centru Civic: developments in the immediate post-1989 period; the international architectural competition Bucureşti 2000; proposals for building a Cathedral of National Salvation; and the Esplanada project. Despite over 20 years of proposals central Bucharest remains largely unchanged. The paper thus deals with a failed attempt to re-shape the built environment in support of national goals. © 2013 Copyright Association for the Study of Nationalities