Socialist irrealism (AP4H7621 1PP) (15914354980)

Resting Reapers by Camil Ressu 1966 Romanian stamp

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...

, like in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, was adopted by a number of new communist states in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

, including

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. This was accompanied by a series of organizational moves, such as the incarceration of numerous poets linked to the fascist paramilitary organization, the Iron Guard. Between 1948 and 1956, Romania's pre-existing system of values and corresponding cultural institutions were restructured in an attempt to create a " new socialist man". As in the political and economic spheres, cultural reforms were sometimes forcibly imposed, intellectuals' links with the

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

were severed, and the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

and long-standing professional organizations such as the Society of Romanian Writers or the Society of Romanian Composers were dissolved and replaced with new ones, from which anti-communist members were removed. The works of antisemitic authors, such as

Octavian Goga Octavian Goga (; 1 April 1881 – 7 May 1938) was a Romanian politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Life and politics Goga was born in Rășinari, near Sibiu. Goga was an active member in the Romanian nationalisti ...

Nichifor Crainic Nichifor Crainic (; pseudonym of Ion Dobre ; 22 December 1889, Bulbucata, Giurgiu County – 20 August 1972, Mogoșoaia) was a Romanian writer, editor, philosopher, poet and theologian famed for his traditionalist activities. Crainic was a ...

and Mircea Vulcănescu, were also banned.

In literature

The symbolic debut of socialist realism in literature, as an official ideology, took place in January 1948, when three articles signed by Sorin Toma were published in ''

Scînteia ''Scînteia'' (Romanian for "The Spark") was the name of two newspapers edited by Communist groups at different intervals in Romanian history. The title is a homage to the Russian language paper ''Iskra''. It was known as ''Scânteia'' until th ...

''. Titled "The Poetry of Putrefaction or the Putrefaction of Poetry", they dealt with the poetic works of

Tudor Arghezi Tudor Arghezi (; 21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer, best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest, he explained that his pen name was related to ''Argesis'', th ...

. The articles marked a complete break with interwar values: "''With a foul-smelling vocabulary .. Arghezi does in poetry only what Picasso did in painting, introducing excrement as artistic material... One finds bits of real beauty here and there in Arghezi's poetry''." In 1950, the Mihai Eminescu School of Literature was founded, with the aim of forming a new generation of writers in the

Romanian People's Republic The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian Peopl ...

. In an article published in''Viaţa Românească'' (no. 3, 1951), Mihai Beniuc, a member of the

Writers' Union of Romania The Writers' Union of Romania (), founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. The Writers' Union of Romania was created by the communist regime by taking ...

, offered a definition of the socialist-realist poet: "He must be a philosopher familiar with the most profound ideas of the age .. toward which

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

and

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

opened the way .. and an activist in service of those ideas." Newly appeared literary critics, guided by

Leonte Răutu Leonte Răutu (until 1945 Lev Nikolayevich (Nicolaievici) Oigenstein; February 28, 1910 – 1993) was a Bessarabian-born Romanian communist activist and propagandist. He was chief ideologist of the Romanian Communist Party ("Workers' Party") ...

, published studies in the spirit of the socialist realist doctrine. These included Ovid S. Crohmălniceanu—''Un roman al industrializării socialiste'' ("A Novel of Socialist Industrialization"), Silvian Iosifescu—''Pe drumul înfloririi gospodăriei agricole colective'' ("On the Road to the Flowering of the Administration of Collective Agriculture"), Mihai Gafiţa—''Romanul luptei tractoriştilor'' ("The Novel of the Tractor-Drivers' Struggle"), Nestor Ignat—''O carte despre frumuseţea vieţii noi'' ("A Book about the Beauty of the New Life"), Mihai Novicov—''Pe marginea poeziei lui Dan Deşliu'' ("On the Margin of the Poetry of Dan Deşliu"), Traian Şelmaru—''Mitrea Cocor de Mihail Sadoveanu'' ("''Mitrea Cocor'' by Mihail Sadoveanu") and Ion Vitner—''Poezia lui A. Toma'' ("The Poetry of A. Toma").

Prose works

A few representative examples: *

Mihail Sadoveanu Mihail Sadoveanu (; occasionally referred to as Mihai Sadoveanu; November 5, 1880 – October 19, 1961) was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and political figure, who twice served as acting head of state for the communis ...

: ''Fantezii răsăritene'' ("Eastern Fantasies"; 1946), ''Păuna Mică'' ("The Little Peahen", 1948), ''Mitrea Cocor'' 1950), a novel that became a symbol of socialist-realist prose, with its depiction of class struggle, of positive heroes, of the Communist ironworker Florea Costea and the boiler-maker Voicu Cernea, of the moral and ideological transformation of Mitrea during his imprisonment in the Soviet Union. *

Zaharia Stancu Zaharia Stancu (; October 7, 1902 – December 5, 1974) was a Romanian prose writer, novelist, poet, and philosopher. He was also the director of the National Theatre Bucharest, the President of the Writers' Union of Romania, and a titular memb ...

, first ''de facto'' president of the newly founded Writers' Union of Romania (1949): the novel ''Desculţ'' ("Barefoot; first edition, 1948). * Alexandru Jar: ''Sfârşitul jalbelor'' ("The End of Complaints"; 1950), ''Marea pregătire'' ("The Great Preparation"; 1952), novels about the Griviţa Strike of 1933 that followed the class-struggle pattern and gave its own historical truth. *

Petru Dumitriu Petru Dumitriu (; 8 May 1924 – 6 April 2002) was a Romanian-born novelist who wrote both in Romanian and in French. Biography Dumitriu was born in Baziaș, in the Banat region of Romania. His father was a Romanian army officer and his moth ...

: ''Drum fără pulbere'' ("Road without Dust") and ''Pasărea furtunii'' ("The Bird of the Storm"), novels that hailed the achievements realised while digging the Danube-Black Sea Canal, known even at the time as a harsh political prison. * Eusebiu Camilar: the novel ''Negura'' ("The Fog"; 1949), a book filled with barbarism, stupidity and cruelty, all ascribed to the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

during its participation in the Nazi-led invasion of the Soviet Union. * Eugen Barbu: author of the novels ''Groapa'' ("The Pit"; 1957) and ''Şoseaua Nordului'' ("The Highway of the North").

Poetry

With verses like "imperialist american/cădea-ţi-ar bomba în ocean" (" American

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

/May your bomb fall into the ocean"), Alexandru Toma was an official model for socialist realist Romanian poets until his death in 1954. Other important representatives of socialist realist poetry, who included slogans of the Romanian Communist Party into their own verses, included: * Dan Deşliu: ''Cântec pentru tovarăşul plan'' ("Song for Comrade Plan"), and ''Lazăr de la Rusca'' ("Lazăr of Rusca"), both massive poems that appeared on two pages of ''Scînteia''. * Victor Tulbure: ''Balada tovarăşului căzut împărţind Scînteia în ilegalitate'' ("Ballad of the Comrade Who Fell while Illegally Distributing ''Scînteia''"). * Marcel Breslaşu: ''Cîntec de leagăn al Doncăi'' ("Donca's Lullaby"). * Mihai Beniuc: ''În frunte comuniştii'' ("Communists at the forefront"), ''Cântec pentru tovarăşul Gheorghiu-Dej'' ("Song for Comrade Gheorghiu-Dej, ''Partidul m-a învăţat'' ("The Party Taught Me"). Other poets who practiced the style include: Eugen Frunză, Miron Radu Paraschivescu, Nina Cassian (''An viu, nouă sute şi şaptesprezece'' — "Living Year, Nine Hundred and Seventeen), Ion Brad (''Cincisutistul'' — "The Five Hundredist"),

Veronica Porumbacu Veronica Porumbacu (pen name of Veronica Schwefelberg; October 24, 1921 – March 4, 1977) was a Romanian poet, prose writer and translator. Born into a Jewish family in Bucharest, her parents were Arnold Schwefelberg and his wife Betty (''née ...

(''Tovarăşul Matei a primit Ordinul Muncii'' — "Comrade Matei Has Received the Order of Labour"), Maria Banuş (''Ţie-ţi vorbesc, Americă!'' — "I Am Speaking to You, America!"), Ştefan Iureş (''Ucenicul Partidului'' — "The Disciple of the Party"), Virgil Teodorescu and Mihu Dragomir.

Drama

A militant theatre was conceived, with an active presence in the ongoing class struggle and solidarity with the entire people around the ideals of the Communist Party. Notable examples include: *

Mihail Davidoglu Mihail Davidoglu (November 11, 1910 – August 17, 1987) was a Romanian playwright. Born into a Jewish family in Hârlău, his parents were Mihail Davidoglu, a port worker, and his wife Clara (''née'' Kochen). He attended the Israelite Commu ...

: ''Omul din Ceatal'' ("The Man from Ceatal"), ''Minerii'' ("The Miners"), ''Cetatea de foc'' ("The Citadel of Fire"). * Aurel Baranga: ''Bal la Făgădău'' ("Ball at the Inn"; 1946) and, together with Nicolae Moraru, ''Anii negri'' ("The Black Years"). * Maria Banuş: ''Ziua cea Mare'' ("The Great Day"), the first play about the newly collectivised Romanian village. * Lucia Demetrius: ''Cumpăna'' ("The Shadoof", 1949), ''Vadul nou'' ("The New Crossing", 1951), ''Oameni de azi'' ("People of Today", 1952). * Alexandru Mirodan: ''Ziariştii'' ("The Newspapermen", 1956), ''Şeful sectorului suflete'' ("The Chief of the Souls' Sector", 1963). Another characteristic of socialist realism was the necessity of a positive hero. Apparently,

Ion Luca Caragiale Ion Luca Caragiale (; commonly referred to as I. L. Caragiale; According to his birth certificate, published and discussed by Constantin Popescu-Cadem in ''Manuscriptum'', Vol. VIII, Nr. 2, 1977, pp. 179-184 – 9 June 1912) was a Romanian playw ...

's '' O scrisoare pierdută'' could not be staged due to the absence of such a hero.

Architecture

Bucharest's Casa Scînteii is a signature example of a socialist-realist building in Romania.

Plastic arts

Beginning in 1948, avant-garde currents of the first half of the 20th century, considered decadent and detached from reality, were rejected for their "bourgeois formalism". In 1949, the Plastic Artists' Cooperative was founded in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. There, promising young artists such as Ion Biţan, Traian Trestioreanu, Paul Gherasim, Virgil Almăşan and Ştefan Sevastre began to execute works of "visual agitation" and decoration, painting onto huge posters the portraits of the "four teachers" of Marxism-Leninism and of the heads of party and state in the Romanian People's Republic. As the state was the artists' sole patron, through the Plastic Fund, established artists began to adopt socialist realist themes in their work. Among them were

Camil Ressu Camil Ressu (; 28 January 1880 – 1 April 1962) was a Romanian painter and academic, one of the most significant art figures of Romania. Biography Early life and career Born in Galați, Ressu originated from an Aromanian family that migrated ...

(''Semnarea apelului pentru pace'' — "The Signing of the Peace Appeal"),

Alexandru Ciucurencu Alexandru Ciucurencu (; 27 September 1903 – 27 December 1977) was a Romanian Post-Impressionist painter, and a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy. Born in Tulcea, he studied from 1921 to 1926 at the National School of Fine Arts in Bu ...

(''1 Mai'' — "

May 1 Events Pre-1600 * 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor. * 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. *1169 – N ...

", ''Ana Ipătescu'') and

Corneliu Baba Corneliu Baba (; 18 November 1906, Craiova – 28 December 1997) was a Romanian painter, primarily a portraitist, but also known as a genre painter and an illustrator of books. Early life Having first studied under his father, the academic pain ...

(''Oţelari'' — "Steel-workers"). Other socialist-realist painters, with representative works, included: Theodor Harşia (''Şantierul de la Bicaz'' — "The

Bicaz Bicaz ( hu, Békás) is a town in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania situated in the eastern Carpathian Mountains near the confluence of the Bicaz and Bistrița Rivers and near Lake Bicaz, an artificial lake formed by the Bicaz Dam on th ...

Construction Site"), Gavril Miklossy ('' Griviţa, 1933''; '' Lupeni, 1929''), Spiru Chintilă (''Femei înarmate în gărzile patriotice'' — Women Armed in the Patriotic Guards"), Brăduţ Covaliu (''Greva de la Lupeni'' — "The Lupeni Strike"), ''Insurecţia armată din 23 August 1944'' — "The Armed Insurrection of 23 August 1944"), Constantin Piliuţă (''Revoluţonari încarceraţi'' — "Incarcerated Revolutionaries"), Gheorghe Iacob (''Propagandist de partid la sat'' — "Party Propagandist in the Village"), Coriolan Hora (''Sudorii'' — "The Welders", ''Recoltarea porumbului'' — "The Corn Harvest"), Ion Biţan (''Recolta'' — "The Harvest", ''Victoria'' — "The Victory"), Gheorghe Şaru (''Sudoriţă'' — "The Female Welder"), Ştefan Szöny (''Tipografie clandestină'' — "Clandestine Typography", ''Moartea partizanului'' — "The Death of the Partisan"), Iulia Hălăucescu (''Centrala hidroelectrică V.I. Lenin'' — " The V.I. Lenin Hydroelectric Plant"). Emil Mereanu executed two notable sculptures in the style: a bust of

Andrei Zhdanov Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Жда́нов, p=ɐnˈdrej ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐdanəf, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician and cultural ideologist. After World War ...

for the Ştefan Gheorghiu Academy and a work called ''Bucurie'' ("Joy") in Floreasca Park, Bucharest.

In music

In 1949, the Society of Romanian Composers was dissolved and replaced with the Romanian Composers' Union. Some composers, considered reactionaries, collaborators with the previous fascist regimes, and formalists were excluded from the new organization:

Mihail Jora Mihail Jora (; 2 August 1891, Roman, Romania - 10 May 1971, Bucharest, Romania) was a Romanian composer, pianist, and conductor. Jora studied in Leipzig with Robert Teichmüller. From 1929 to 1962 he was a professor at the Bucharest Conservatoir ...

Ionel Perlea Ionel Perlea (13 December 190029 July 1970) was a Romanian conductor particularly associated with the Italian and German opera repertories. Biography Born Ionel Perlea to a Romanian father, Victor Perlea, and a German mother, Margarethe Haberl ...

, Stan Golestan,

Dinu Lipatti Constantin "Dinu" Lipatti (; 2 December 1950) was a Romanian classical pianist and composer whose career was cut short by his death from effects related to Hodgkin's disease at age 33. He was elected posthumously to the Romanian Academy. He comp ...

(dubbed "a fascist who vegetates far from his country"), Tiberiu Brediceanu, and Dimitrie Cuclin. Of

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

's works, only his two '' Romanian Rhapsodies'' were performed; certain composers like Richard Wagner were no longer played in concert or on the air; religious-themed music was no longer played; while

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

was labelled an expression of American imperialism, on the same level as chewing gum and Coca-Cola. The head of the Union was Matei Socor (later Director of Radio Transmission and permanent Director of the Symphony Radio Orchestra), who wrote the music for Communist Romania's first two national anthems, " Zdrobite cătuşe" (1948; words by Aurel Baranga) and " Te slăvim, Românie" (1953; words by Eugen Frunză and Dan Deşliu). Composers were called on to write engaged, Party-oriented, and revolutionary works. In the report of the constituent session, Socor underlined that "the tasks of the Composers' Union are clear as regards the re-education of certain artists accustomed to bourgeois aestheticizing criteria" and asked for "the imposition of the Party spirit in music". Vocal-symphonic pieces were preferred, such as the oratorio ''

Tudor Vladimirescu Tudor Vladimirescu (; c. 1780 – ) was a Romanian revolutionary hero, the leader of the Wallachian uprising of 1821 and of the Pandur militia. He is also known as Tudor din Vladimiri (''Tudor from Vladimiri'') or, occasionally, as Domnul Tudo ...

'' by Gheorghe Dumitrescu or the cantata for choir and orchestra ''Se construieşte lumea nouă'' ("The New World Is Being Built") by George Draga, as well as revolutionary hymns such as "Îi mulţumim din inimă partidului" ("We Thank the Party from the Depths of our Hearts"), "Hei rup!" ("Heave-Ho!") or "Întreceri, întreceri, ciocane şi seceri" ("Contests, Contests, Hammers and Sickles"). In the light or easy listening categories, hits included "Drag îmi e bădiţa cu tractorul" ("Sweet Little Fellow on a Tractor"), "Macarale râd în soare argintii" ("Silver Cranes Laughing in the Sun") and "Hai Leano la vot!" ("Come and Vote, Leana!").

1960s-1989

After the

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

and the consequent process of de-Stalinization in the Soviet Union and allied states, socialist realism began to lose its popularity. Many Romanian and Western authors, their works previously banned, were "reconsidered" and published in critical editions. A new generation of writers, heralded by Nicolae Labiş but reaching fruition with

Nichita Stănescu Nichita Stănescu (; born Nichita Hristea Stănescu; 31 March 1933 – 13 December 1983) was a Romanian poet and essayist. Biography Stănescu's father was Nicolae Hristea Stănescu (1908–1982). His mother, Tatiana Cereaciuchin, was Russian ...

and

Marin Sorescu Marin Sorescu (; 29 February 1936 – 8 December 1996) was a Romanian poet, playwright, and novelist. His works were translated into more than 20 countries, and the total number of his books that were published abroad rises up to 60 books. He ha ...

, protested vehemently against ideological

dogmatism Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...

and called for full artistic liberty. Styles and genres of literature, plastic arts and music began to loosen in the early 1960s, while still maintaining the core principles of Communism and adherence to Party policy. However, this trend came to an abrupt halt with the ''

July Theses The July Theses ( ro, Tezele din iulie) is a name commonly given to a speech delivered by Romanian leader Nicolae Ceaușescu on July 6, 1971, before the Executive Committee of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR). Its full name was ("Proposed meas ...

'' of 1971, after which General Secretary Ceauşescu began not only to repress

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

s such as

Paul Goma Paul Goma (; October 2, 1935 – March 24, 2020) was a Romanian writer, known for his activities as a dissident and leading opponent of the communist regime before 1989. Forced into exile by the communist authorities, he became a political refu ...

and

Mircea Dinescu Mircea Dinescu (; born November 11, 1950) is a Romanian poet, journalist, and editor. Biography Early life and poetry He was born in Slobozia, the son of Ştefan Dinescu, a metalworker, and Aurelia (born Badea). Dinescu studied at the Faculty ...

, but also to promote his own personality cult. Manifestations of this era of reborn socialist realism could be found in painting, architecture (the Palace of the Parliament), writing (the poems of

Corneliu Vadim Tudor Corneliu Vadim Tudor (; 28 November 1949 – 14 September 2015) also colloquially known as "Tribunul" was the leader of the Greater Romania Party ( ro, Partidul România Mare), poet, writer, journalist, and a Member of the European Parliament. H ...

) music (

Adrian Păunescu Adrian Păunescu (; 20 July 1943 – 5 November 2010) was a Romanian writer, publisher, cultural promoter, translator, and politician. A profoundly charismatic personality, a controversial and complex figure, the artist and the man are almost im ...

's ''

Cenaclul Flacăra Cenaclul Flacăra (Romanian for "The Flame Literary Circle") was a cultural and artistic movement in the Socialist Republic of Romania led by poet Adrian Păunescu. Between 1973 and 1985, it organized shows and concerts which, although rebellious ...

'' events) and other areas. Socialist realism ended in Romania with the 1989 Revolution.

Bibliography

* Mircea Zaciu, Marian Papahagi, Aurel Sasu: ''Dicţionarul scriitorilor români''. Editura Fundaţiei Culturale Române,

, 1995 * Eugen Simion (coord.): ''Dicţionarul General al Literaturii Române''. Editura Univers Enciclopedic, Bucharest, 2005 * Michel Aucouturier: ''Realismul socialist''. Editura Dacia, Bucharest, 2001 * Florin Mihăilescu: ''De la proletcultism la postmodernism''. Editura Pontica, Constanţa, 2002 * Paul Cernat, Ion Manolescu, Angelo Mitchievici, Ioan Stanomir, ''Explorări în comunismul românesc'' vol.1 (Polirom, 2004) and vol.2 (Polirom, 2005) * Eugen Negrici: ''Poezia unei religii politice. Patru decenii de agitaţie şi propagandă'', an anthology of socialist-realist poetry with a preface by Eugen Negrici, Editura Pro, 1995 * Eugen Negrici: ''Literatura română sub comunism. Proza'', Editura Fundaţiei Pro, 2002 * Eugen Negrici: ''Literatura română sub comunism. Poezia'', Editura Fundaţiei Pro, 2003 * Joel Crotty, "A Preliminary Investigation of Music, Socialist Realism, and the Romanian Experience, 1948-1959: (Re)reading, (Re)listening, and (Re)writing Music History for a Different Audience", Journal of Musicological Research, Apr2007, Vol. 26, Issue 2/3, p.151–176. {{commons, Socialist realism in Romania

Socialist Republic of Romania Romanian culture