Romanian Cinematic Nationhood

In: Studies in ethnicity and nationalism: SEN, Volume 12, Issue 3, p. 483-497

Abstract

AbstractThis article analyses the way the concept of nation is reflected in film using the theory of cinematic nationhood and the method of relational constructivism. More specifically, it looks at how the nation can be legitimised when it occupies a strategic position within the national structure of fantasy and when it is closely associated with the most relevant commonplaces present within the social space. The article further investigates the situation in which the concept of nation loses legitimacy because of a change in the way it is imagined. The research addresses the case of Romania, choosing three films representing three distinct periods and characterised by different forms of political and economic organisation: communism, transition, and post‐transition.