ARHIVELE OLTENIEI - Universitatea din Craiova

Protochronism and nationalism under Ceauşescu’s brand in totalitarian Romania 121people could forget about the lack of food, of freedom, or of expression; the hadbecome, together with the television sometimes, a way of delectation, even ifmost of the time, this delectation was done through listening and recitation ofcommunist poets’ lines. Full stadiums and delirium people- the artists of theFlame Cenacle managed to mobilize thousands of people, who, at the sametime, were witnessing a real PCR propaganda exercise, which could not wastethe opportunity of taking advantage of an extremely large number of people inthe same place. «Born» in September 1973, the Flame Cenacle will be bannedin the summer of 1985. Under the pretext of an unfortunate accident, when onthe stadium from the locality of Ploieşti, five young people died and over onehundred were hurt, the communist power banned a movement which hadbecome undesirable for the party. Used in the beginning as a propagandisticinstrument, this cenacle- lead by the poet Adrian Paunescu- , becomes a«weapon» which seemed to turn against the communist dictatorship. Theimmense popularity which the concerts of the Flame Cenacle enjoyed will notbe desired by the authorities who find a rapid solution: ending the concerts. But,despite this episode, it is obvious that the artistic shows played an extremelyimportant part in promoting Ceauşescu’s cult of personality.However, the events in December 1989 showed that Ceauşescu’sillusion and his camarilla to reach the impossible in Romania proved to beunattainable. Even if they were completely isolated from what was happeningoutside the Soviet borders, the Romanian people started to wish for a change.The poverty which surrounded the lives of more and more people, the cards forthe main aliments, periodical switching off of the electricity, restrictive suppliesof heat and water, as well as abusive infringe of rights, all these factors provedto be decisive in eliminating the dictatorial system.The propaganda machine lead by Nicolae Ceauşescu proved inefficientat the first difficult test to be submitted. Although he had an entire arsenal ofmass manipulation which involved from party activists to journalists andwriters, the communist leaders proved that eventually, he did not know to usethis in his own benefit.PROTOCHRONISME ET NATIONALISME DE LA MARQUE «CEAUSESCU»DANS LA ROUMANIE COMMUNISTE(Résumé)Le communisme roumain a assuré sa survie pour presque une demie siècle grâce à ladestruction de la personnalité individuelle et de la société civile. Les valeurs de base de la sociétéroumaine ont été totalement modifiées, même annulées. À leur place on a inculqué les modèlesstalinistes, c'est vrai de manière adaptée parfois aux conditions autochtones. La manœuvre dessymboles nationaux dans le sens de l'accomplissement des désirs des chefs communistes estdevenue non seulement une pratique coutumière, mais en même temps un art achevé.L'identification aux grands voïvodes du pays et la réécriture de la biographie vont contribuer à laréalisation d'un fort culte de la personnalité sans aucun soutien réel. Avec l'appui des artistes et des