Mutații ale regimurilor de relevanță în banda desenată pentru copii (1967-1989)
Rezumat
Changes in the regimes of relevance in children’s comics (1967-1989)
Abstract:Paraliterature, understood as popular, mass, consumer literature, played a significant role during the communist period in Romania, serving as a vehicle for ideological construction for social and labor themes. The circulation of children’s magazines contributed, alongside textbooks, to an early form of “psycho-political pedagogy” (Ion Manolescu) in the form of comic strips. During the Stalinist period, they were linked to Moscow, focusing on the partnership between the two states (Luminița, Cravata Roșie, Scânteia Pionierului). In contrast, the Ceaușescu era rethought comics aesthetically and ideologically. Between 1967 and 1989, two relevant regimes coexisted: a socio-political one (Cutezătorii, Luminița, Șoimii Patriei) and an entertainment-oriented one, less prominent but still present, as reflected in the supplement Racheta Cutezătorilor. The “liberal” period followed a Western model adapted to national specifics in science fiction stories – the conquest of space against the backdrop of the space race, adventures, westerns, detective stories that were inspired by characters such as James Bond, Superman, Holmes, alternating with historical reconstructions (leaders fighting for independence, mythologizing the uncertain Geto-Dacian past). In contrast, national communism dilutes Western references. Despite the presence of international figures, such as French, Russian, Swedish, and American representatives, the narrative is fundamentally driven by a persistent friction between the Communist Romanian and “the other”. This dynamic invariably leads to a formulaic validation of protocronism and the ideals of the “multilateral homeland”. The imaginary becomes hermetic, reduced to domestic, moralizing (exploration of the country, technological excellence – inventors, pioneers), instructive plots (Horea, Brâncoveanu, Mihai Viteazu, Mircea cel Bătrân, T. Vladimirescu, World War II). Ultimately, this vision converges on the construction of the future manifested through industrial labour. The paper will therefore follow the means of ideological regimentation through which comics, a form of multimodal literature for children, change their entertainment regime into a political one. The formation of the dogmatic, mythological, and behavioral linguistic model contributes to the creation of a sense of identification with the hero/man “necessary” for communitarianism.
Keywords: paraliterature, comic strips, Romanian communism, children’s magazines, socio-political regime of relevance, entertainment regime of relevance.
Citation suggestion: Bodac, Amalia. “Mutații ale regimurilor de relevanță în banda desenată pentru copii (1967- 1989)”. Transilvania, no. 3 (2026): 19-28.
https://doi.org/10.51391/trva.2026.3.03.
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