Practici discursive și configurări identitare în comunitățile românești din Transcarpatia
Discursive Practices and Configurations of Identity in the Romanian Communities from Transcarpathia, Ukraine

Summary/Abstract: The study explores the identity practices in the border areas of Central Europe, in which multiculturality has unique particularities, emerging from the specific tensions between the local and the global context. Some of the discursive strategies through which the local communities adapt to the geopolitical and economic reality, in an ongoing process of identity building, are displayed. The conclusions are based on observations and documents accumulated during anthropological field research, extended to a period of eight years, between 2007 and 2015, in four of the villages inhabited by Romanian historical populations existing in the Transcarpathia region/ Zakarpats’ka oblast. The ensuing text integrates recent analyses and interpretations dedicated to the social changes in the post-socialist countries with studies focused on the Transcarpathia region/ Zakarpats’ka oblast and documents produced during my own research – autobiographical narratives, oral histories, fragments extracted from complex discursive practices. From a grassroots perspective on the tangible and intangible cultural heritages, which are the basis of the identity building process of a Romanian community, always situated outside the borders of the Romanian state, the investigation is carried out with qualitative research methods, using concepts that have been revised and adapted to the real society. The case study, which offers a local perspective provided by a group researched through direct contact and participant observation, is complementary to a larger perspective offered by the recent scientific literature dedicated to the interpretations of cultures, sociolinguistic studies, cultural identities and contemporary theories on states, nations and nationalisms.

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