Paper short abstract:

The present project is motivated by the recent phenomenon of the so-called rusticization. How did this rusticity emerge and in what forms it exhibits itself and is assimilated by the Romanian contemporary society are the main questions that the project tries to address

Paper long abstract:

The present project is motivated by the recent cultural phenomenon of the so-called rusticization, present both in the urban and rural space. How did this rusticity emerge and in what forms it exhibits itself and is assimilated by the Romanian contemporary society are the main questions that the project tries to address.The study presents the changing condition of rural life in terms of practices, place and social representation. The countryside, both materially and simbolicaly is slowly, but surely, entering the post-rural era (Murdock and Prat), in which the rural space is becoming a cultural capital (Bourdieu), an "armchair countryside" commodity packed and sold under the name of rusticity not only to the urban public, but also in the village. Taking up a bottom-up approach, the project puts forward the ethnographic study of a Romanian village, where the accent now seems to fall from the ethic (ethics of work) to esthetic (rustic décor defined as something beautiful and traditional).

The presentation will be supported by visual fragments from the ethnographic documentary "Rustik Pucheni" which presents the discourses and practices of rusticization in one Romanian village.