Paul Goma. Conștiință istorică și conștiință literară

Flori Bălănescu traces the life of Paul Goma. He was a writer who fought for human rights. She looks at his life under communist rule in Romania. The book covers Stalinist terror in the 1950s. It also covers Ceaușescu’s rule in the 1980s. He ran a nationalist dictatorship. She asks what remains unresolved in Romania after communist rule.

This book blends history with the story of a life. It is for readers drawn to Romania’s recent past. It links Goma’s choices to pressures on those around him. It asks how debates about dissent and resistance hide compromises. These were deals and choices made by people of ideas. Some went along with those in power. Some shared in their wrongs. Some failed to show the courage to do right.

The book grew from Bălănescu’s work for her doctorate. She draws on a large body of research. She sets Goma beside both known and less-known figures. She links their lives to look at society as a whole. One man’s struggle meets the choices of his time about right and wrong.