Aspirational postmodernism: the slow naturalization of the free market culture in late socialist Romania

Abstract Drawing on Fredric Jameson’s theory of postmodernism, the paper suggests that Romania’s postmodern condition necessitates a distinctive theoretical framework, one that accounts for its special position within what the Marxist critic calls the Second World. This framework underscores the unique socio-cultural dynamics of the slow encroachment in Romania of “aspirational postmodernism,” situated within a broader, global capitalist system. The study identifies three genealogies—societal, cultural, and popular—that shaped Romanian postmodernism’s development, as it can be seen in the material provided by the Arcanum archive between 1970 and 2000. Initially, the societal meaning of postmodernism, seen as a shift away from Western capitalism, gave way to a more aestheticized understanding. The cultural genealogy, driven by intellectuals and writers, was constrained by the dominance of older generations and the pervasive influence of nationalism in political discourse. By the 1990s, postmodernism emerged as an ideological tool in the public sphere, particularly in the context of liberalization and decommunization. However, in comparison with other semi-peripheral postmodernist phenomena, the postmodernist influence remained weak and underdeveloped. The paper calls for a reevaluation of both Marxist-Jamesonian and Romanian models of postmodernism to better understand the socialist bloc’s distinct experience of postmodernity.