Who gets to tell the story? Ways of construction narration in Romanian archaeology from 19th to present

Monica Bira (1)

1 CERCEC - Centre d'études des mondes russe, caucasien et centre-européen

The paper focus on a rather intriguing topic related to the way in which a particular type of "grand narrative" in archaeology manages to last in time. Although 100 years have passed since the "establishment" of the main frame for interpreting archaeological data in sites from Romania, and several political regimes followed one another, it is impossible not to observe that, when it comes to the basics of archaeology narrative the general frame is the one built up back in the mid 19th. How exactly some particular major themes of this "great narrative" of a 19th century society managed to survive for such a long time it is a question I will try to answer, without taking the side of simplifying explanation of an everlasting "nationalistic mythology" specific to the eastern European countries or an explanation reducing everything to the "communist propaganda" effect. Conclusion will led towards the search of deeper insights, and a good point for starting is to see how the main instances of producing the archaeological knowledge / information have influenced both its development as a discipline and its impact on society. Furthermore, it is equally important to keep in mind the relationship between archaeology and the need to build up and to legitimize long term projects for the future of the entire nation (or the entire country, this being a topic to debate).

Mots clés: history of archaeology; XIX century; Romania

Domaines: Histoire

Monica Bira. Who gets to tell the story? Ways of construction narration in Romanian archaeology from 19th to present. European Association of Archaeologists - annual meeting, Sep 2011, Oslo, Norway. ⟨halshs-00695617⟩