2025, Volume 7
Lucian Turcu, MEMORY, IDENTITY AND LEGITIMACY:
AVRAM IANCU AND THE MARTYRS OF THE 1784 UPRISING IN THE INTERWAR NATIONAL DISCOURSE
Lecturer, Ph.D., Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca
Abstract:Our work sheds light on the avatars of the scenarios conceived by the high-ranking officials of the time to commemorate the 1784 uprising and its heroes, given that such cultural actions aimed to attract not only the elites, but also the masses, in order to offer a coherent and unitary image of Greater Romania. As part of cultural policies with an important propaganda role for the political regime of the time, such commemorative moments offered the chance to promote culture not only among the elites but could also significantly contribute to consolidating the moral image of the leaders of the time (primarily the sovereign) in front of the people. Our work has attempted to shed light on the significance of the initiatives and achievements circumscribed to the commemoration of the 1784 uprising and its leaders 150 years after the events as part of a strategy to create an idealized image of the monarch and the dynasty, encouraging a sense of loyalty to the Crown.
Keywords: festivism, National Liberal Party, Alexandru Lapedatu, heroes, King Carol II
Pages: 33 – 47