The moral career of a suspected legionary: Psychological language in the Securitate archives

This paper explores some notable uses of psychological language in the Securitate archives. We examine Securitate files concerning Constantin Vaman, a suspected legionary subjected to surveillance work by the Securitate. This paper seeks to show how Securitate activities, particularly the writing of informer notes and operatives’ reports, are the upshot of strategic use of morally implicative psychological language. Constantin Vaman’s Securitate files are used to explore two categories of psychological language: the language of mental states, and the language of disposition and motive. We show that Securitate’s writing of informer notes and operatives’ reports were dependent on the strategic use of morally implicative psychological descriptions. We argue that close attention to the many facets of psychological language used in Securitate documents discussed in this paper may enable researchers to understand more fully the complex nature and inner workings of surveillance work.