Imagining Transylvania: Positive and Negative Representations of the Province after 1918
Imagining Transylvania: Positive and Negative Representations of the Province after 1918

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to explore the images and representations of Transylvania and how they involved various ways of conceptualizing Romanian identity during the inter-war period. Transylvania, a province with strong identity elements, became part of the Romanian national state in 1918. Until then it had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The first part of the paper will focus on different types of representations: geographical, historical, psychological or those related to character, either positive or negative. The analysis of images and representations is relevant given that they constitute elements of identity. The paper argues that Transylvania, an ethnically and culturally diverse region, has strong identity elements which set this region apart even after its integration into the national state. Therefore, the study discusses the historical and identity foundations of Transylvania's current status as part of Romania, but it will also touch on the complex mechanisms which transform local identities in order to integrate them into wider constructs such as national identities.

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