Entangled Images : Romanians and Hungarians from the Middle Ages to the Communist Regime

L’Image de l’Autre (The Image of the Other) explores the Romanian-Hungarian reciprocal images, a key topic in historical imagology, cultural anthropology, and social psychology. As one of Europe’s most significant imagological pairs, their symbolic interactions offer insights into transnational history. This book examines how Romanians and Hungarians perceived each other from the 10th–12th centuries until 1989. Using historical imagology and entangled history, it traces the origins of their competing images, shaped by medieval confrontations and evolving over centuries. The idea of an inevitable, millennial conflict took root, shaping national myths and historical narratives. By analyzing these perceptions, the book sheds light on identity formation, stereotypes, and cultural memory. It reveals how these images influenced political and social dynamics, extending beyond the two ethnic groups to a broader, interconnected world. This study contributes to understanding shared European histories and the construction of national identities.