Political Anachronism and Elite Political Culture: The Lacunae Theory

This chapter addresses the intersection of symbolic and political power in the case of the intellectual elites of post-communist politics in Romania. Public intellectual discourse helps shape a political imaginary, which elicits popular values, preferences, and beliefs. It is from this perspective that perceptions (and self-perceptions) of the public intellectual sphere capture an important political dimension of democratic development. Here, I sketch the discourses and assessments of the Romanian public sphere coming from several Romanian public intellectuals (Vintila Mihailescu, Lucian Boia, Sorin Adam Matei, Mona Momescu, H. R. Patapievici, Liviu Andreescu) and I articulate what I call the lacunae theory of the public sphere in Romania. My central contention is that, despite a plethora of political disagreements between segments of the intellectual elites, there is overwhelming agreement on a central analytical perception that the Romanian public sphere is lacking something critical that is likely irredeemably lost. The analysis sets the groundwork for a broader evaluation of a sense of political inadequacy that anchors social and political frustrations in Eastern Europe, and in Romania in particular.