Obsessive decade

The Obsessive decade (Romanian: obsedantul deceniu) refers to the 1950s, a decade full of widespread abuses from the Stalinist authorities. Specifically, this expression is used to refer to the Romanian literary works which, following the de-Stalinization and relative liberalization of the 1960s, began discussing the abuses of the 1950s era.

Novels

Principele ("The Prince", 1969) by Eugen Barbu is an allegory referring to the Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej regime. The novel is set in the Phanariote era, describing a prince trying to build a canal (referring to the Danube–Black Sea Canal) without any consideration for his subjects, many of whom die during its construction.[1]

F (1969) by Dumitru Radu Popescu tried to divide the guilt for the abuses of the Stalinist era; the book is focused on a judicial enquiry on the collectivization of peasant holdings, trying to equate the reluctance to talk about the crimes with complicity.[1]

Two novels, Paul Goma's Ostinato (1971) and Alexandru Ivasiuc's Păsările ("The Birds", 1973) discussed the Bucharest student movement of 1956, during which both authors were arrested. While Ivasiuc made some concessions to meet the censors' approval, Goma lost patience and published it in West Germany.[2]

Notes
  1. Deletant, p. 182
  2. Deletant, p. 183

References
  • Deletant, Dennis (1995). Ceaușescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965-1989. London: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 1-56324-633-3.
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