Creating the Myth of New Man: Propaganda, Politics and Turkish and Tatar Minorities in Communist Dobrudja
Creating the Myth of New Man: Propaganda, Politics and Turkish and Tatar Minorities in Communist Dobrudja

Summary/Abstract: My paper examines how two publications Dobrogea Nouă and Femeia constructed the myth of New Man in relation with the Turkish and Tatar minorities in Dobrudja during the 1950s, a time frame that roughly corresponds with the period in which the Romanian communist state applied a maximalist policy about granting rights to national minorities. The press analysis indicated that party propaganda created three main models of New Man (and Women), namely the collectivist peasant, the agricultural engineer and political activist. Although to some extent exceptional, their biographies were, in fact, the outcome of performing certain yet ordinary actions such as working in the collective farms or raising the level of political and professional knowledge. This suggested that anyone “armed” with determination, an appropriate level of knowledge and a desire to surpass personal limits could become a New Man.

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