State-Apparatuses of Creative Control

By adopting an Althusserian (2008) outlook onto the highly convoluted relationship between (rock) musicians and the socialist ideology, this study delineates the ideological/ repressive state-apparatuses in the case of Romanian socialism (1965-1989). In addition to investigating such apparatuses of creative control (e.g., the Securitate, the Agitprop branch, but also ideological committees of the party), the present paper explores the role of (sub)cultural agents (such as rock musicians and the countercultural youth) and their efforts in navigating the hegemonic ideology. Drawing on archival sources that comprise nearly 13,000 pages, this delineation throws considerable light on broader sociological debates such as the role of musicians in totalitarian settings (Linz, 2000; Haraszti, 1988). A two-fold relationship ensues in the case of socialist Romania: firstly, one of compromise and duplicity, and, secondly, one of (symbolic) resistance. Ultimately, this study adds to the ongoing literature concerning the dissident configuration of countercultural youth movements in the Eastern bloc (Furlong & Guidikova, 2001; Risch, 2015). In the present case, music leads to the formation of entourages which practice anti-proletarian rituals, such as the ones constituted by csöves and punks. With the overall Romanian music scene failing to form a coherent movement of resistance, most musicians become labourers for the greater, collective good as a result of maintaining a self-sufficient, subservient position toward the state.