Many a Grave will Tell You the Truth… On Agency and Collectiva Memory on the Example of Romania

Abstract

On 21 July 2010 in Bucharest a certain event took place. Television channels broadcast the exhumation of the remains of the country’s president, Nicolae Ceauşescu, and his wife, Elena, executed after “a hasty trial on 25 December 1989.” This arranged spectacle, officially meant for collecting DNA samples in order to confirm the identity of the interred, affected many Romanians. Among them, the inhabitants of the small village of Săpânţa, located in the Marmarosh region, where at the time I was conducting field exploration. So what connects the digging up of the grave of a controversial political leader with the behaviors of this community? It is worth examining this 20 years after the fall of communism — 20 years which, for Romanians, were full of important moments, such as their country’s joining NATO in 2004 or the EU three years later. Looking for the answer, I will refer to the phenomenon of collective memory, showing its connection with the notion of agency and relating it to the theory proposed by Margaret Archer. The starting point for my discussion will be the event in Bucharest as well as three incidents from life in Săpânţa.