JRS 2:1 Journal of Romanian Studies: Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020) Journal of Romanian Studies: Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020) Editors: Peter Gross and Diane Vancea Review editor: Iuliu Ratiu Journal of Contents Alexandra Chiriac Ephemeral Modernisms, Transnational Lives: Reconstructing Avant-Garde Performance in Bucharest Petru Negură Compulsory Primary Education and State Building in Rural Bessarabia (1918–1940) Vladimir Solonari Record Weak: Romanian Judiciary in Occupied Transnistria Romanian Delia Popescu A Political Palimpsest: Nationalism and Faith in Petre Țuțea’s Thinking Cynthia M. Horne What Is too Long and When Is too Late for Transitional Justice? Observations from the Case of Romania Studies Brindusa Armanca, Peter Gross Searching for a Future: Mass Media and the Uncertain Construction of Democracy in Romania Reviews on: Ionuț Butoi, Mircea Vulcănescu. O microistorie a interbelicului românesc Henry P. Rammelt. Activistes protestataires en Hongrie et en Roumanie Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020) ISBN: 978-3-8382-1419-1 ibidem ibidem OF Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020) JRS editors Peter Gross and Diane Vancea JRS review editor Iuliu Ratiu JRS Editorial Assistant Claudia Lonkin About the Society for Romanian Studies THE SOCIETY FOR ROMANIAN STUDIES SRS is an international interdiscipli- nary academic organization founded in 1973 and dedicated to promoting research and critical studies on all aspects of Romanian and Moldovan culture and society. The SRS is recognized as the major North American professional organization for scholars concerned with Romania, Moldova, and their diasporas. SRS is affiliated with the South East European Studies Association SEESA; the Association for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies ASEEES—formerly known as the American Association for the Advance- ment of Slavic Studies or AAASS; the American Political Science Associa- tion APSA; the American Historical Association AHA; and the Roma- nian Studies Association of America RSAA. SRS offers a number of programs and activities to its members, including the peer-reviewed Journal of Romanian Studies, a biannual newsletter, the Romanian Studies book series published in collaboration with the publishing house Polirom in Iaşi, a mentoring program, prizes for excep- tional scholarship in two different categories, as well as an international conference organized every three years in Romania. More information about the SRS, including current officers, the national board, and membership information, can be found on the SRS website at https://society4romanianstudies.org. Editorial Board: PETER GROSS [email protected] and DIANE VANCEA [email protected] JRS editors IULIU RATIU [email protected] JRS review editor CLAUDIA LONKIN [email protected] JRS Editorial Assistant Advisory Board: DENNIS DELETANT Georgetown University, USA JON FOX University of Bristol, UK VALENTINA GLAJAR Texas State University, USA PETER GROSS University of Tennessee, USA BRIGID HAINES Swansea University, UK IRINA LIVEZEANU University of Pittsburgh, USA MIHAELA MIROIU National School of Political Science and Public Administration, Romania STEVE D. ROPER Florida Atlantic University, USA DOMNICA RADULESCU Washington and Lee University, USA PAUL E. SUM University of North Dakota, USA CRISTIAN TILEAGA Loughborough University, UK VLADIMIR TISMANEANU University of Maryland, College Park, USA LUCIAN TURCESCU Concordia University, Montreal, Canada Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibli- ografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. Journal of Romanian Studies Vol. 2, No. 1 (2020) Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag / ibidem Press ISBN 978-3-8382-7419-5 ISSN 2627-5325 © ibidem-Verlag / ibidem Press Stuttgart, Germany 2020 Alle Rechte vorbehalten Das Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Dies gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und elektronische Speicherformen sowie die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who performs any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. Contents Note from the Editors PETER GROSS, DIANE VANCEA, IULIU RATIU, CLAUDIA LONKIN .................... 7 Ephemeral Modernisms, Transnational Lives: Reconstructing Avant‐Garde Performance in Bucharest ALEXANDRA CHIRIAC .............................................................................................. 9 Compulsory Primary Education and State Building in Rural Bessarabia (1918–1940) PETRU NEGURĂ ....................................................................................................... 35 Record Weak: Romanian Judiciary in Occupied Transnistria VLADIMIR SOLONARI .............................................................................................. 59 A Political Palimpsest: Nationalism and Faith in Petre Țuțea’s Thinking DELIA POPESCU ....................................................................................................... 83 What Is too Long and When Is too Late for Transitional Justice? Observations from the Case of Romania CYNTHIA M. HORNE ............................................................................................... 109 Searching for a Future: Mass Media and the Uncertain Construction of Democracy in Romania BRINDUSA ARMANCA AND PETER GROSS ........................................................... 139 Ionuț Butoi, Mircea Vulcănescu. O microistorie a interbelicului românesc. Review by EMANUEL COPILAŞ ........................................................................... 163 Henry P. Rammelt. Activistes protestataires en Hongrie et en Roumanie. Review by DANA S. TRIF .................................................................................... 167 5 Note from the Editors After successfully guiding the first three inaugural issues, the founding editors of the Journal of Romanian Studies—Lavinia Stan, Jules Leger Re- search Chair and professor of comparative politics at St. Francis Xavier University, Canada; Margaret Hiebert Beissinger, Professor in the Depart- ment of Slavic Languages and Literatures at Princeton University, and Radu Cinpoeș, head of the Department of Politics and senior lecturer at Kingston University, London, England—have handed over the reins of the publication to us. Together with the Society for Romanian Studies and its members, we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Professors Stan, Beissinger and Cinpoeș for their vision, persistence, expertise and hard work in creating the JRS. By doing so, they forged a vehicle that enlarges the global scope and extent for scholarship on Romanian and Moldovan topics. A sincere thank you and “well done” to our three predecessors. We take seriously our fiduciary responsibility to complete the vision of the founding editors and make the JRS the premier publication that dis- seminates notable, multi-disciplinary scholarship on Romanian and Mol- dovan topics. In the next three years, we aim to unrelentingly enhance the quality of JRS’s content, increase the number and disciplinary variety of submis- sions, persistently pursue top established and up-and-coming intellectu- als/academics to contribute to the journal, and magnify the journal’s vis- ibility and standing in and outside the academic community. The editorial team cannot do its work without the aid of the mem- bers of the Society of Romanian Studies and its Board, as well other sub- scribers. We fervently hope that you, our readers, will help us achieve the above-stated goals by submitting articles, identifying potential contribu- tors, serving as reviewers and, when necessary, as translators. And of course, we urge you to spread the word that our journal is an exceptional reference for scholars, students, policy makers, the media, and all who have an interest in the myriad of topics related to Romania and Moldova. Thank you for your support. 7 Peter Gross, Co‐Editor Professor Emeritus & former Director School of Journalism & Electronic Media The University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN, U.S.A. Diane Vancea, Co‐Editor Professor & Vice-rector Ovidius University Constanta, Romania Iuliu Ratiu, Book Editor Associate lecturer Department of Modern Languages & Business Communication The Faculty of Economics & Business Administration Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Romania Claudia Lonkin, Editorial Assistant Graduate Student Department of History & Classics University of Alberta Edmonton, AB, Canada 8 Ephemeral Modernisms, Transnational Lives: Reconstructing Avant‐Garde Performance in Bucharest Alexandra Chiriac “Was there or wasn’t there a revolution in our town?” 12:08 East of Bucharest (2006, dir. Corneliu Porumboiu) Abstract: During the mid‐1920s Bucharest became home to the Vilna