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EUGEN STANCU various Romanian historical mythological figures. Ihe theoretical and methodological base for these studies was, besides Boias book on the imaginary, the books on historical and political mythologies written by other scholars such as André Reszler and Raoul Girardet.! The first two volumes were published in 1995 at the Bucharest University Press. Mituri istorice romänesti was the first book." It discussed a whole range of historical figures from the Romanian historical pantheon such as Mihai Viteazul, Mircea cel Batran, loan Voda, Tudor Vlasimirescu, King Calo I, Antonescu and King Mihai. From the very beginning it was stated that the book did not aim to downgrade the role of the Romanian historical figure but rather to understand how a mythologized vision was produced within the historical discourse. These analyses were not well received especially by those who considered the national historical heroes as untouchable figures that should be unconditionally praised by historians. Moreover, the second volume, Miturile comunismului Romänesc, was considered even more problematic. It was clearly stated in the foreword that the essence of the communist mythology resided in a doublespeak, which up to a point has succeeded in hiding the crimes of the system. The elements of the mythological communist discourse such as liberty, equality, the affirmation of human personality, social justice, agreement between states and peace have succeeded in concealing the reality and moreover protecting the memory of the communist system. As Boia maintains the “intellectual dismantling of communism is even more difficult than its material annihilation.”” Although it was a scholarly work, there were many that considered it a personal attack so that when it came to publishing the second volume the book was delayed without a specified reason. Luckily the change of the Romanian internal political configuration after the elections in 1996 gave a green light to the book. It should be, nevertheless, stated that these first books of the Centre for the History of the Imaginary published by the Bucharest University Press had a low circulation. Yet, they had a great impact and fuelled the debate on the way history was written, reconstructed and the national heroes were epitomised. It was more than a debate in the sense that many times there were only attacks directed towards Boia, considered an anti-patriot and a conspirator who should not publish works that would diminish the status of Romanian historical figures and impede and stain the Romanian national identity. 77 Andre Reszler: Mythes politiques modernes, Paris, PUF, 1981; Raoul Girardet: Mythes et mythologies politiques, Paris, Editions du Seuil, 1986. Lucian Boia (ed.): Mituri istorice romänesti, Bucuresti, Editura Universitätii Bucuresti, 1995. Lucian Boia (ed.): Miturile comunismului romänesc, Bucuresti, Editura Universitätii Bucuresti, 1995, 15. - 114°
