Quelques clichés et vérités sur la Roumanie
A few clichés and facts about Romania

Summary/Abstract: This paper aims at analysing several clichés and facts about Romania, filtered through the perspective of two researchers, a Frenchman and a Romanian. It does so in order to reveal that the force of a cliché is sometimes greater than that of the factual reality. Being situated at the confluence of several cultural axes, Eastern Europe, The Balkans, or Central Europe, Romania is not a homogenous country, but Balkan, Eastern and Central European at one and the same time. This geographical position has brought about Romania’s image of a “marginal” space, exotic and unique, the Carpathians being the perfect setting for the creation of legends and myths, which have generated clichés and stereotypes. Being viewed as one of the last “terra incognita” in Europe, the Romanian space is a victim of stereotypes for those who like cultural simplifications. Out of the multitude of ideas about Romania, be they preconceived or not, we chose to discuss the myth of Dracula, and some of the positive and negative valences pertaining to it, such as the notion of “traditional Romanian hospitality”, “Romanians as thieves”, ‘Bucharest – the little Paris’ and “The beauty of Romanian women”.

• Details
• Contents