Nation-Building and Contested Identities: Romanian & Hungarian ...

National Prejudices, Mass Media and History TextbooksThe second feature is a centralizing narrative of history. The holistic perspectiveon the nation, “closely united around the flag,” contains a strongcentralizing element of identification, making a sharp distinction betweenus and them. The third feature, and maybe the most important, is the largepotential of this type of history to be instrumentalized as a tool for a personalitycult. The long row of national heroes ending with Ceauºescu washard to explain with the classical model of class-struggle or other Marxistconcepts.As the communist regime of Ceauºescu reoriented its rhetoric alongnationalist lines, national history became a matter of the Party’s concern,a process that culminated in the party program of 1974. Outside the politicalestablishment, convergent processes occurred. There was a kind ofsocial enthusiasm in favor of the communist regime that became morenationalist and less communist in appearance. Many people, true believersor opportunists, were engaged in public projects for supporting theregime. The ideological reinterpretation that offered a new perspective onreality in which nation equaled society, state, and party. Precisely in theperiod of this transformation, Nicolaescu established his authority in historicaliconography. His case exemplified a new fashion of “doing,” andnot writing, history outside of the academic scene.In the following, I turn to two case studies illustrative of the role thenational communist canon came to play in contemporary public discourse.My first subject is Adrian Nãstase, vice-president of PDSR at the momentof the debate, Prime Minister of Romania from 2001 onwards. Among allarticles and interviews related to the public debate on education and thenew history textbooks, his opinions were particularly revealing. Nãstasehas had an impressive public career after 1989, based on his achievementsunder the communist regime. His biography is very telling in this respect.He graduated from the Faculty of Law in 1973, Sociology in 1978, andreceived his Ph.D. in 1987. His career has been related to important academicinstitutions in the country and some respectable ones abroad,including membership in many national and international boards, committees,and clubs. 20Yet, his interview shows another side of his personality: a markedlynationalistic inclination. Some of his assertions are quite radical for a persontrained in diplomacy where each word has its importance. His interviewcould be considered an accident, or an attempt to gain popularity onthe eve of the elections. However, revisiting some of his recent activities,the defense of the nation seems to be a constant preoccupation for him.He signed the preface of a book, edited by Zeno Millea, 1989-1998:A Hungarian-Hungarian History in Documents, 21 an attack against HDURand its relations with Hungary. There, Nãstase wrote:101