Women's Life Writing in Post-Communist Romania: Reclaiming Privacy and Agency

Simona Mitroiu

Published by De Gruyter 2022

Women's Life Writing in Post-Communist Romania

Reclaiming Privacy and Agency

Simona Mitroiu

Volume 35 in the series Media and Cultural Memory

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110766530

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book analyzes the impact of abusive regimes of power on women’s lives and on their self-expression through close readings of life writing by women in communist Romania. In particular, it examines the forms of agency and privacy available to women under totalitarianism and the modes of relationships in which their lives were embedded. The self-expression and self-reflexive processes that are to be found in the body of Romanian women’s autobiographical writings this study presents create complex private narratives that underpin the creative development of inclusive memories of the past through shared responsibility and shared agency. At the same time, however, the way these private, personal narratives intertwined with collective and official historical narratives exemplifies the multidimensional nature of privacy as well as the radical redefinition of agency in this period. This book argues for a broader understanding of the narratives of the communist past, one that reflects the complexity of individual and social interactions and allows a deep exploration of the interconnected relations between memory, trauma, nostalgia, agency, and privacy.

Author / Editor information

Simona Mitroiu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Romania

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
1 Introduction: Realms of Privacy and Agency Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 The Political Regime, Gender, and Paradigms of Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
3 Life Writing and Realms of Privacy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
4 Traumatic Experiences: Privacy as Communicative Agency Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
5 Knowing the Past: Ana Blandiana and Privacy as Shared Agency Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
6 Everyday Communicative Responsibility: Privacy as Endurance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	88
7 The Public Revelation of the Self: Mihaela Miroiu and Privacy as a Shared Responsibility Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
8 Re-Working the Past through Life Writing: Herta Müller and the (Im)Possibility of Privacy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	120
9 Conclusion: Realms of Privacy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	142
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars interested in Life writing, Memory, Gender, Eastern European, Communist/post-communist, and Romanian studies
Pages
- Front matter: 8
- Main content: 160
Keywords: Women's agency; private/public self; Romanian women's autobiographical writings; surveillance

eBook

Published: November 7, 2022
ISBN: 9783110766530

Hardcover

Published: November 7, 2022
ISBN: 9783110763874