Ramona Dima, "Queer Culture in Romania, 1920–2018" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023)
Dec 8, 2023
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Ramona Dima, author of 'Queer Culture in Romania, 1920–2018,' discusses LGBTQ+ rights and social acceptance in Romania, censorship of queer culture during communism, a tense lesbian relationship in a Romanian film, tension and intersectionality in Romania, and the challenges and future of queer culture in Romania.
The legal and social landscape of queer culture in Romania is complex, with a mix of progress and challenges, including late decriminalization of homosexuality and ongoing battles for civil partnerships.
Queer literature and art play a crucial role in reclaiming history and representation in Romania, providing an archive for queer culture and tackling censorship and limited funding issues.
Deep dives
Queer Culture in Romania: Legal and Social Dimensions
The podcast episode explores the legal and social dimensions of queer culture in Romania. The discussion highlights the decriminalization of homosexuality in 2001, which was relatively late compared to other countries in Southeastern Europe. It also mentions ongoing legal battles and the recent European Court of Human Rights decision regarding civil partnerships. In terms of social acceptance, the conversation reveals mixed attitudes towards LGBTQ+ rights, with surveys showing both support for legal recognition of queer relationships and opposition to changing the constitution to include same-sex marriage. The episode emphasizes the complex landscape of queer culture in Romania, where there have been some positive developments, such as increased media coverage and artistic expressions, but also ongoing challenges and hostility faced by the LGBTQ+ community.
Queer Literature and Art in Romania: Historical Recovery and Representation
The podcast highlights the important role of queer literature and art in Romania in reclaiming history and representation. It mentions the efforts of authors, artists, and performers to explore and recover queer stories and experiences from different periods, such as the 1930s, state socialism, and the contemporary era. The episode specifically mentions works like novels, memoirs, plays, and films that depict same-sex relationships and explore fluidity of gender and sexuality. It discusses how these cultural products served as an archive for queer culture and established a foundation for further artistic expressions. The conversation also acknowledges the challenges faced by the creators, including censorship, limited funding, and societal resistance.
Intersectionality and Queerness in Romanian Art
The podcast episode delves into the intersectional nature of queer culture in Romania and its exploration in various artistic exhibitions and performances. It mentions exhibitions like 'Desires War' that tackled queer desire as a form of resistance against conservative forces. The conversation also highlights the connections between queerness, Roma identity, race, class, religion, and violence in contemporary Romanian art. The episode specifically mentions plays and performances that reinterpret Romanian history to include queer narratives and discuss the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals under state socialism. It emphasizes the importance of these artistic expressions in challenging stereotypes, reclaiming identities, and advancing social change.
Looking ahead: The Future of Queer Culture in Romania
The podcast episode concludes with a discussion about the future of queer culture in Romania. It acknowledges the progress made in recent years, including increased academic engagement, more queer literature, and wider cultural expressions. However, it also acknowledges political challenges and uncertainties that may impact the future. The conversation highlights the need to stay vigilant in the face of conservative forces and the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ rights. While there is some optimism, it is tempered by the understanding that political shifts can influence the trajectory of queer culture in Romania and beyond.
Ramona Dima's book Queer Culture in Romania, 1920–2018 (Palgrave MacMillan, 2023) is an in depth, extensive study of Romanian queer cultural products. It brings an essential contribution to the literature on Central and South Eastern European gender studies, post-communism studies, media, and cultural studies, as well as transnational queer studies. The book looks at Romanian queer culture ”from inside”, and from the acknowledgment that the research process is guided by the sensitivity of the approached topics, by the lack of archival footprints, and by a solid dose of media archaeology, especially when looking at the beginning of Romanian LGBT+ activism in the 90s.
The book starts from contemporary Romanian cultural products that are focusing on queer topics and/or produced by queer creators. It looks back at the memories of seminal queer and trans activists in extensive interviews conducted for this volume, and fragmented literary and media sources that cover the most part of the 20th century.
Roland Clark is a Reader in Modern European History at the University of Liverpool, a Senior Fellow with the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, and the Principal Investigator of an AHRC-funded project on European Fascist Movements.