ell they
fulfilled the propaganda function. Most individuals entrusted with
passing judgment on what was or was not acceptable had no professional
qualifications. As a result of all these factors, artistic production
that was made public during this period was, with few exceptions, dull
and mediocre.

With the discrediting of Stalin and his policies in the mid-1950s,
dogmatism in artistic expression gave way to a more liberal
interpretation of what was considered appropriate. Emphasis on Socialist
Realism was replaced with emphasis on nationalistic and historical
themes, as Romania strove to gain greater political and economic
independence from the Soviet Union. In order to be acceptable to the
administrators of cultural policy, artistic expression no longer had to
confine itself to the presentation of communist ideals in traditional
styles, but it could address itself to a variety of themes and could
experiment in innovative styles. Although artists were criticized for
submitting to so-called decadent bourgeois culture if they moved too far
away from the standards of Socialist Realism, they were not punished or
enjoined from further creative activity unless their work could be
interpreted as an attack on the regime or its policies.

At the same time, expanding relations between Romania and the
noncommunist world brought artists and intellectuals into contact with
cultural developments elsewhere and stimulated Romanian creative
expression. Cultural exchanges with Western countries were often used by
the government to allow artists more freedom of expression than could be
politically justified at home. Artists were allowed to exhibit or
perform abroad works that had been highly criticized at home. The
critical praise received abroad was proudly publicized at home as an
example of Romanian genius, at the same time that these very works were
being criticized for not meeting the desired standards of artistic
expression.

The apparent inconsistency in the application of cultural policy in the
late 1960s was indicative of a widespread effort to determine what the
role of art and literature should be in a socialist society. By 1971
this had become a much debated topic. Party ideologists, communist and
noncommunist artists and critics, and other members of the intellectual
elite, including students, aired their views through roundtable
discussions, through polemics in the press, and through other means. The
debates appeared