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MASKING
4.6
Folklorisation and reenchantment
In Romanian villages, New Year’s masks once turned homes upside down – and kept doing so, even as politics tried to reshape them.
These ritual enactments of chaos were both feared and eagerly awaited by villagers. During socialism, the government rebranded them as harmless folklore, moving them from homes to festival stages. But through local figures like mask-maker Mr. Gheorghe, the original humor and sharp edge of the tradition lived on.
George-Paul Meiu interviewed Mr. Gheorghe in a village of Botosani county in the Moldavian region of Romania in 2004. In the podcast below, listen to the details of these masked performances in Romania and to Mr. Gheorghe’s statements.
Write Down Your Thoughts
- How did state efforts to reframe masked rituals as folklore during the socialist era impact the meaning and function of these traditions in village life?
- In what ways can humour, vulgarity, and “ugliness” in masked rituals be seen as forms of social commentary or resistance?
- What does the story of Mr. Gheorghe and the village rituals suggest about the resilience of cultural practices under political control?
Author: George-Paul Meiu
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