Romania’s Saving Angels: ”New Men”, Orthodoxy and Blood Mysticism in the Legionary Movement
Issued Date: 11 Apr 2012
Abstract
In Romania, a Christian, ultranationalistic movement known as The Legionary Movement has before and after the Communist period called for a national, spritual revolution. Perceiving themselves as front fighters protected by the Archangel, Legionaries endeavour to purify the nation so that it can live in its God-given fatherland. In order to assure national resurrection, Legionaries want to create a “New Man”, understood as a new male. This ideal combines the qualities of a Christian martyr, a working hero, a monk and a militant and as such both complex and ambiguous. In practice, Legionaries have a lot in common with other European “boot boys”. Based on field studies, this article discusses the role of men in this movement: their role models, male bonding, rituals and myths, as well as their concepts of family, brotherhood and blood relations, all with reference to a particular ethnonationalistic, christocentric worldview.
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Stan, Lavinia and Lucian Turcescu. 2007. Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania. New York: Oxford.
Suru, Şerban. 1999. Interview with the author. Bucharest, 15 September.
Bustiuc, C.Z. 1999. “Modele si destin.” Permanente, 1-2.
Cãrticica de cântece Legionare (Little book of Legionary songs). Available at http://www.miscarea.net/cantecele.htm
Codreanu, Corneliu Zelea. 1933. Cărticica şefului de cuib (The nest leader’s manual). http://www.codreanu.ro/carticica.htm. Available in English at http://fascists.zxq.net/Nest.pdf.
———. (1935) 1976. Pentru legionar (For my Legionaries). Available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/16950206/Codreanu-Corneliu-Z-For-My-Legionaries.
Codrescu, Răzvan. 1999. Exerciţii de “reacţionarism.” Cluj: Dacia.
———. 2000. De la Eminescu la Petre Ţuţea. Bucharest: Anastasia.
Endresen, Cecilie. 2012. “’The Legionaries rise!’ The Neo-Legionary Movement in Post-Communist Romania.” Forthcoming.
Gazeta de Vest. 1999. April. Timişoara: Gordian.
Guleş, Ovidiu. 1993. Cum am cunoscut Legiunea arhanghelul Mihai. Timişoara: Gordian.
Hervieu-Léger, Daniele. 2000. Religion as a Chain of Memory. Malden: Polity Press.
Hervieu-Léger, Daniele. 2006. “In Search of Certainties: The Paradoxes of Religiosity in Societies of High Modernity.” The Hedgehog Review 8:1–2.
Ionescu, Tudor. 1999. Interview with the author. Bucharest, 14 September.
Marin, Vasile. 1997. Crez de generaţie. Bucharest: Majadahonda.
Moţa, Ion I. (1937) 1993. Testamentul lui Ion Moţa. Timişoara: Gordian).
Opriţa, Grigore. 1998. Cum am devenit “extremist de dreaptă.” Braşov: Transilvania expres.
Ornea, Zigu. 1996. Anii treizeci. Extrema dreaptă romanească. Bucharest: Fundatia culturala română.
Paulescu, D. 1999. “Ultimul meu cuvînt din exil.” Permanente 4 (April):9.
“Realitatea supranaturală a neamurilor: mărturii din sfânta scriptură.” 1996. Gazeta de Vest: Almanah 1996. Timişoara: Gordian.
Stoicănescu, Constantin. 1995. “Revoluţia lui Horia.” In a suppliment to Gazeta de Vest (May). Timişoara: Gordian.
Stan, Lavinia and Lucian Turcescu. 2007. Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Romania. New York: Oxford.
Suru, Şerban. 1999. Interview with the author. Bucharest, 15 September.
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