Robert Chris Davis F'07

Dissertation Fellowships in East European Studies 2007
Doctoral Candidate
Department: Modern History
Oxford University
Narrating the Past: Constructing a National History of the Romanian Csangos

This project examines the historical narratives constructed about the Moldavian Csangos, a group of Hungarian- and Romanian-speaking Roman Catholics residing in northeast Romania. The study analyzes the relationship between the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church in Moldavian Romania and the various organs of the Romanian national state, from the interwar period through Communism. It details the efforts of these actors in the nationalization of the Csangos and their historical past, and examines how the appropriation of narrative affected state policy towards minorities. Research for this project relies on newly accessible material in Romanian state and confessional archives in Bucharest and Moldavia.