Sînge și Spaimă: The 1989 Revolution and the Politics of Violence in Socialist and Post-Socialist Romania Public

Abstract

This thesis examines how post-socialist Romanians engage with the collective trauma of the 1989 Revolution and the four decades of state violence that preceded it under socialism. Drawing on archival research and oral histories, it explores the afterlife of institutional violence through the tension between remembrance and forgetting, as collective memory is reshaped under a new democracy led by former members of the socialist nomenklatura who seized power following the rushed execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. To fully capture the scope of post-socialist trauma, this thesis provides historical context on the institutional violence characteristic of Romania’s socialist regime, a detailed account of the Revolution, and an analysis of the immediate post-socialist political atmosphere marked by disillusionment. By tracing how violence is remembered, repressed, and reconfigured in public memory, this thesis argues that personal narratives play a critical role in resisting state-imposed silence and shaping more democratic forms of historical consciousness.

Table of Contents

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….…..1

Chapter 1: Sînge și Spaimă.................................................................................7

Chapter 2: Revoluție.........................................................................................27

Chapter 3: Amnezie și Amintire.........................................................................45

Epilogue: Revoluția Continuă............................................................................66

Bibliography.....................................................................................................71

Appendix A.......................................................................................................77

Appendix B.......................................................................................................91

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	History
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	History, Modern East European Studies History, European
Mot-clé	Communism Romania Revolution Socialism Violence Memory
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Matthew Payne, Emory University
Committee Members	Christina Crawford, Emory University George Yancy, Emory University

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