RESHAPING IDENTITIES: ROMANIA, BORDERLINE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
RESHAPING IDENTITIES: ROMANIA, BORDERLINE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Summary/Abstract: The European construction is about to redefine and complete its structures in a globalisation era. In this world of movement, digitalisation, rapid means of transportation, European integration, to what extent do we know what is defining for a people/country/nation? The concept of European identity still remains blurred. EU, and globalization in general, have had unexpected effects when it comes to identity matters. The umbrella paradigm inevitably limits or simplifies national identities. Each Member State is undergoing a process of reshaping in order to transform its national identity into an EU “brand”, in other words, some aspects of the national substance are threatened to be lost in favor of a simplified and easily recognizable image. As several scholars already mentioned, Romania is a complex country, difficult to define using only geographic criteria. The frontier metaphor fits Romania as both historically and culturally, it was the borderline of several empires: Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Several civilisation models crossed the country leading to the formation of a diverse and complex identity. The aim of this research is to capture, by means of oral history techniques, the Europeans’ perceptions about Romania. Today, we are facing another identity challenge: Romania, borderline of the European Union.

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