CULTURAL LIFE IN BANAT AND COMMUNIST CENSORSHIP ANALYZED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ORAL HISTORY
CULTURAL LIFE IN BANAT AND COMMUNIST CENSORSHIP ANALYZED FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ORAL HISTORY

Summary/Abstract: Beginning in 1948, Romanian society underwent profound transformations modelled after the Soviet system, which significantly impacted the country's political, economic, legal, cultural, and religious spheres. These changes included the abolition of private property and its replacement by state ownership, the suppression of political pluralism and freedom of association, the establishment of a one-party dictatorship, the dismantling of civil society and indigenous structures, and the decimation of the interwar elites—cultural, political, administrative, and otherwise. The reorganization of cultural life at the national level was carried out under the strict supervision of communist authorities and in alignment with their ideological objectives. Consequently, only a few cultural institutions from the interwar period were able to continue their activity post-1948, while others were dissolved for promoting "bourgeois mentalities" and replaced by institutions that endorsed communist ideology. Moreover, both nationally and regionally—in Banat—communist authorities actively targeted the Romanian intellectual elite from the interwar period, especially those opposing the Marxist-Leninist totalitarian ideology. For any community, recovering its past is essential, as national identity is built around a collective memory that must be preserved and cultivated. The interviews conducted with two prominent figures in the cultural life of Banat—Professor Deliu Petroiu and Professor Damian Vulpe-provide vital testimonies about cultural and artistic life in Banat during the communist regime. These oral accounts complement written documentary and narrative sources. Engaging with individual or collective memory is particularly important given that the historical discourse during the communist dictatorship was significantly distorted. For this reason, the recovery of memory forms a foundational aspect of oral history. Historiography in various capitalist countries shows a marked interest in oral history, recognizing it as a crucial means of recovering the past—especially in nations where totalitarian regimes have falsified history and collective memory.

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