The article explores the ways Róbert Csaba Szabó’s novel Alakváltók (“Shapeshift ers”) represents Romania’s 20th century history, with special respect to the regime change in 1989. Accordingly, I link the motifs of “shapeshift ing” and metamorphoses to the novel’s desillusionary view on the prospects of political change and transformation in Eastern Europe. Focusing on the central character of Rajnai/Perjovschi, I conclude that the story of his life displays at the micro level what totalitarian power attempts to achieve at the macro level: the disfigurement, concealment or total eradication of personal and group identities.

The article explores the ways Róbert Csaba Szabó’s novel Alakváltók (“Shapeshift ers”) represents Romania’s 20th century history, with special respect to the regime change in 1989. Accordingly, I link the motifs of “shapeshift ing” and metamorphoses to the novel’s desillusionary view on the prospects of political change and transformation in Eastern Europe. Focusing on the central character of Rajnai/Perjovschi, I conclude that the story of his life displays at the micro level what totalitarian power attempts to achieve at the macro level: the disfigurement, concealment or total eradication of personal and group identities.