Abstract

During the communist era in Romania, cultural activity was crippled by censorship. Any work of art, and especially literature and music (more accessible to the public) were examined and the officials decided what could be made available to the public. The fall of the communists brought cultural freedom and competition and it meant Romania's entrance in the context of globalization. This work examines the way in which the globalization of culture changes not only the relationships between different cultures and spaces but also between the nation state and cultural identities that are constructed and manifested on its territory. Also, it will be argued that globalization provides new grounds and custodians for the construction of cultural identities. One of these custodians is popular music, which is investigated here. The impact of globalization on local cultures, cultural identities and new strategies and processes of cultural identity construction will be analyzed through the case of four important trends in Romanian popular music.