BRUKENTHALIA

Romanian Cultural History Review

Supplement of Brukenthal. Acta Musei

1st year No.1 2011

BRUKENTHALIA Romanian Cultural History Review

Supplement of Brukenthal. Acta Musei Revist Romn de Istorie Cultural Supliment al revistei Brukenthal. Acta Musei

Editorial Advisory Board Francis CLAUDON, Professor, Val de Marne University of Paris, France Dennis DELETANT, Professor, Georgetown University of Washington D.C., United States of America Hans-Christian MANER, Professor, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany Pascal ORY, President of Association pour le dveloppement de l'histoire culturelle (ADHC), Professor, 1 Panthon Sorbonne University of Paris, France Zoe PETRE, Professor emeritus, University of Bucharest, Romania Alexandru-Florin PLATON, Professor, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania David D. SMITH, Professor, University of Aberdeen, Scotland Tony WALTER, Professor, University of Bath, Great Britain Editor-in-Chief Adrian Sabin LUCA, Professor Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, General Manager Brukenthal National Museum, Sibiu

Editors Mihaela GRANCEA, Professor, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Ecaterina LUNG, Professor, University of Bucharest Alexandru MAMINA, Researcher, Nicolae Iorga Institute for History, Bucharest Andi MIHALACHE, Researcher, Alexandru D. Xenopol Institute for History, Iasi Alexandru SONOC, Curator, Museum Brukenthal, Sibiu Editorial Assistants Radu Ciprian ERBAN, Teacher, Sibiu

ISSN 1842-2691

BRUKENTHAL NATIONAL MUSEUM

MUZEUL NAIONAL BRUKENTHAL

BRUKENTHALIA
Romanian Cultural History Review
Supplement of Brukenthal. Acta Musei
No.1, 1st Year 2011

Revist Romn de Istorie Cultural Supliment al revistei Brukenthal. Acta Musei

Nr.1, Anul I 2011

EDITURA ALTIP

Sibiu

Editorial Policies and Instructions to Contributors

The review Brukenthalia receives contributions under the form of unpublished research papers, review papers written in English. The field of interest is Cultural History. The Editors alone are responsible for every final decision on publication of manuscripts. The Editors may suggest changes in the manuscript. Such changes are not to be made without consultation with the author(s). Manuscripts will be accepted on the understanding that their content is original and that they have not been previously published in a different form or language. Articles will be edited to conform to Brukenthalia style in matters of punctuation, capitalization and the like. The accuracy of translation is authors responsibility. The authors should ensure that the paper is submitted in final form. Page proofs will be supplied, but only errors in typesetting may be corrected at this stage. All correspondence regarding contributions and books for review should be sent to the Editors: Brukenthalia Email: brukenthalia@yahoo.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. STUDIES
Mihaela Tivd The Image of Royalty. The English Masques (1603-1649) Lia Brad Chisacof Beyond the Borders of the City Hermannstadt Laura Stanciu About National Identity in Transylvania. The Concept of Fatherland for Transylvanian Romanians between 1700 and 1848 Laura Stanciu, Adrian Circa Petru Maior, Didahii. A Representative Book for Central European Enlightenment Anca Elisabeta Tatay Incursion into the Engravings of Byzantine Tradition from the Old Romania Books Printed in Buda (1804-1816) Camelia Crciun The Emergence of a Jewish Romanian Literature. A Socio-Cultural Approach Cristina Lung-Popescu Concepts about Death in Traditional Romanian Society Elena Andreea Trif-Boia Projections of Islam in the 19th Century Europe Valeria Sorotineanu Andrews Institute and Its Educational Elite between 1900 and 1918. General Considerations Dana Percec The Pink Ghetto. The Avatars of Romantic Fiction Marius Cpraru Authorship and Cinema, before and after May 68 Adriana Cupcea History Teaching in Greece Mihaela Grancea About Contemporary Death

B. REVIEWS, LECTURE NOTES AND SCIENTIFIC LIFE

Mihaela Grancea New History in the West and in Romania. Consideration on a Volume of Cultural History (a Reviewing) Drago Sdrobi Reality as Image of Fiction (a Reviewing) Ecaterina Lung History, Memory, Myth: Representing the Past, International Society for Cultural History Annual Conference, Oslo, August 3rd to 6th 2011

A. STUDIES

THE IMAGE OF ROYALTY. THE ENGLISH MASQUES (1603 -1649) IMAGINEA REGALITII. FEERIILE / PANTOMIMELE ENGLEZETI (1603-1649)

Ph.D. Student Tivd Mihaela University of Bucharest - University of Architecture and Urbanism Ion Mincu, Bucharest, Romania Email: mihaelativda@yahoo.com

Abstract. This paper is an interdisciplinary study, which analyses complex and allegorical theatrical productions with a powerful political substratum. It is extremely exciting for us to know that the English Masques represent a magnificent display of the English authorship and kingship in the 17th century. Therefore, the main thesis of my research tries to emphasize the important role played by art and culture in the government process. These court shows were impressive spectacles through which state showed its authorship and its illusion of power. Keywords: Masques, English Theatre, Stuart Era, the player-king, the two bodies of the monarch Rezumat. Studiul de fa este o cercetare interdisciplinar ce analizeaz producii teatrale complexe i alegorice, cu un puternic substrat politic. Este important pentru noi s descoperim faptul c mtile engleze erau, n esen, o magnific punere n scen a autoritii monarhice engleze din secolul al XVII-lea. De aceea, ipoteza de la care pornete cercetarea vrea s evidenieze rolul important pe care arta i cultura l joac n procesul de guvernare. Impresionantele spectacolele curteneti erau ocazia ideal prin care statul i etala autoritatea i iluzia puterii sale. Cuvinte cheie: mti, teatrul englez, epoca Stuarilor, regele-actor, cele dou corpuri ale monarhului Changing mentalities This study deals with an interesting part of the British culture and history: the English Masques in the Stuart Era (1603 1649) and proposes an original and interesting scientific approach regarding a less known and studied theme in the Romanian space and historiography. The subject is extremely exciting

for history, in general, because the English Masques represent an impressive display of the absolute monarchy in the 17th century. So, the motivation in choosing this topic is the high degree of novelty for our country and because by analyzing the production and the interception of these texts and images we can reconstruct the English mentalities of the 17th century. My PhD research follows three distinct directions in analyzing different issues, which include a thoroughgoing criticism of the primary resources. The first issue deals with the monarchic cult that came out during the reign of Henry VIII Tudor, and the theories of the mystical royalty. Then, the research treats the metamorphoses of the English dramatic scene in the 16th17th centuries, emphasizing the role of the new living art born in the time of James I and Charles I Stuart. The last part of the study refers to the problem concerning the decline of the monarchy and the regicide issue. Nevertheless, this paper deals only with the Masques matters. As a rule, when we refer to the first two monarchs of the Stuart dynasty, we are tempted to associate them with the destabilizing elements that led to the Civil Wars in England and we neglect the element that offers peculiarity to this period: the court culture. That is why we are going to concentrate ourselves on the fact that the artistic forms of spectacle at the Stuart court are closely linked with the government process. The English Masque, like the Tudor and Elizabethan theatre in the Middle Age and Renaissance, became a strategy of monarchical power, which provides the basis for the absolute and divine monarchy theories and for the one about the two bodies of the monarch. These court shows were impressive and magnificent spectacles through which state showed its authorship and its illusion of power (Orgel, 1975). The English Masques represent a solid argument regarding the relationship between space and images reflected in texts and the relationship between the narrative images and the public spaces. Also, the new artistic gender invented in the 17th century by the English artists Ben Jonson (1572 1637) and Inigo Jones (1573 1652) reflects different types of images: visual, audio-visual and even mental ones (because they required an imaginative process from the audience). Even the relationship between the political power and art is clearly reflected in the texts and artistic images projected with this occasions. Toward the absolute power of the king will be correctly perceived by his subjects, it

The Image of Royalty. The English Masques (1603-1649)

was necessary to display it. That is why painters, sculptors, poets, architects, playwrights and many other artists wanted to transform their English king into a divine figure a little God on Earth. First, the masque develops under the patronage of king James I and between 1603 1649 it represents the most important way of court advertising. The masques had a significant impact concerning the English society, mentality and culture, considering the profound changes generated at the ideological level by the English theatre in the first decade of the 17th century. We need to understand the vision of that era according to which the theatre displays, among the other kind of English art, a misinterpretation of the real image of monarchy. By performing the role of the king on a theatre scene, the Shakespearean actor mystifies the highest institution of the English state. The debasement of the monarch first appears in Shakespeares Richard II and represents only a rehearsal of the unfortunate event from 1649 the beheading of Charles I. The fool king metaphor from King Lear, substitutes the player king metaphor from James I political work, Basilikon Doron. (Michailov, 2002, 166-167). On the stage, through the mask of the ideal king, we stand by an overlapped between the two different images: the real king and the fictive one. By representing in an explicit way the idea of regicide on scene, in front of a significant audience, the artists accustomed the Englishmen with this type of sceneries, questioning the divine nature of the monarch. 17th century monarch is not a warrior, pious and god-like one anymore, but a judgmental, an erudite and a peacemaker. The new Stuart Era mentality emphasizes the visual element, the idea of spectacle of the world the human Universe and the monarchical powers captured and represented on a theatrical stage, like in the stoic tradition (Goldberg, 1979, 379). This is the main purpose of the masque: to underline the idea of the power visibility through which the monarchy makes its authority visible through the whole world. However, in spite of all the attempts of a fair representation of the monarchical power, artists strengthened more and more the falsehood of the political body. The abuses of the royal representations led to a continuous devalue of the divine king image under the reign of Charles I. If we propose an investigation about this kind of court spectacles, we need to emphasize

the main role played by its creators: Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones. Born in the family of a humble Protestant parson and despite of the financial difficulties, Ben Jonson tried to study at Westminster School and, later, at Cambridge University, without obtaining his final diploma (Zamfirescu, 2003, 188). Extremely anxious and restless inner spirit, Jonson converts to Catholicism, remaining, however, the favourite artist of the English Court. The appreciation of his artistic talent occurs after Shakespeares death, in 1616, when he became the Laureate Poet of the royal Court (Nicolescu, 1999, 284). Ben Jonson wants to create a new theatrical climate in England, considering that an artistic revolution is extremely necessary, but his ideas are received with hesitation and reluctance. The artist considers that poetry is the soul of the entire show of Masques so, in an effort to establish a literary form for this kind of spectacles, Jonson starts his theory from the same principles of the Elizabethan drama literature: the hierarchical unity, the sets and the ethical goal (Cunningham, 1955, 124). The other artist, Inigo Jones, is the architect who introduces new aesthetic and philosophical standards in the English culture, his work being the result of a complex interaction between imitation, borrowing, adaptation and novelty (Jordan, 1991, 280). His buildings are inspired by the architectural genius of the Italian Andrea Palladio (1518 1580), the one who adopted the Vitruvian theories according to which the architectural space is simultaneously one of the spectacle and image, it is an accessible plastic space, not like other arts in which the notions of real and imaginary overlap (Jordan, 1991, 280-281). Inigo Jones takes the creative example of the Renaissance doctrine of imitation (mimesis). In Platos Republica, the poet who imitates is declassed in the hierarchal value of the city. But, what is interesting is the fact that, the principle of imitation stays at the basis of Western theatre. But why does Ben Jonson collaborate with an architect? Because, usually, architecture implies the idea of monumentality, of heroism, having, at the same time, a memorialistic function (Kern Paster, 1974, 311). In his work, Quatro libri dell Architectura, Palladio considers that by designing public monument and buildings, the princes have the opportunity to show to the entire world the greatness of their souls (Kern Paster, 1974, 312). Inigo Jones strongly sustains the same theory according to which the house of a person

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Tivd Mihaela

is equal to his moral and material value (Jordan, 1991, 294). What is to be taken into consideration is the integration of the harmonical and organic beauty principles from architecture in the English Masques. The spectacle of masque a spectacle of state To understand this kind of spectacles, first of all we have to talk about the new dramatic gender invented in England in the 17th century, trying to understand better the functions of this device. As syncretic gender between music, choreography, speaking-part, pantomime, pompous costumes and masks, architecture and painting, the English Masques is a living art which emphasizes the visual element, the scenic interpretation and the body representation on scene (Nicolescu, 1999, 152). It proposes not a text-centric view (based on the interpreted text, like in the Shakespearean theatre) but a scenic-centric one through which the artist gives to the audience a new sense for the theatrical spectacles by offering the scene a symbolic function. Because of their ephemeral characteristics, the Masques could not be entirely preserved and they cannot be totally reconstructed in spite of the artists efforts in preserving the texts, but not music or choreography or the other way round. The texts became a sort of pretexts for the extremely spectacular performances which were accompanied by the chorographical and musical intercessions. First of all we have to ask ourselves what origins have the Masque and then we have to understand how exactly works? Is important to say that the Ancient Roman (Fig. 1) and Greek masks (Fig. 2) are different from the modern ones used in the Occidental theatre. In general, the Ancient Greek mask was used in theatrical shows not in an aesthetical purpose but in a practical one: to intensify the voice vibrations. In the same manner, the facial masks were used in the Roman theatre (Plautus theatre for example) but, in the Japanese court theatre, Noh, the shows looked more like the English court Masques but, we are talking about two different types of culture and is hard to make such kind of associations. So, more like the Commedia dell Arte (Fig. 3), the Intermezzo from the Florentine Mascherata, the Venetian carnival and English Masques (Fig. 4) are similar to each other. Commedia dell Arte borrows some elements from the Ancient Greek masks whose main

purpose is the representation of different human types which later arrive in the comic European theatre. Working with a mask is very difficult for an artist but, for the English artists we have not only the simple mask but also the idea of the mask suggested through the face expressivity, the make-up and the body-painting techniques (Fig. 5). The human face is perceived as a living sculpture / painting, a fix mask, which is expressive through its features, like an image that always changes in this game of mimics. The theatrical make-up became more and more pictorial in this case. In Commedia dell Arte, the idea of the human body in relationship with the mask, the scenic interpretation, stays in the centre of the entire spectacle. On the one hand, the English Masque borrows the corporal language, typical for the Italian spectacles (following the idea of transmitting a message to the public). On the other hand, the choreography segments of the Masque are inspired from the ballt de court Franaise (Fig. 6) and they require rigid and well-established movements, which restrict the corporal freedom and limit the improvisation. The English massively import from the two different examples (Italian and French), managing to generate, despite all the accusations of plagiarism, an original and innovative artistic genre. The tradition of the English Masques dates from the medieval era, when they where a continuation of the Elizabethan popular culture that vanishes slowly in 1600. But how does the masque works? The proper masque is an organic unit divided into two different parts: the main masque and the antimasque. On the one hand, the main masque is an allegoric and imposing show in which the gorgeous and splendid costumes of the masquers have wonderful colors and propose chromatic contrasts that used to caught the attention of the viewer and delight the audience with their simple presence (Fig. 7). In this case, the speech of the costume is definitely a visual one, producing a fascinating illusion for the audience, the illusion of the performed magnificence, the illusion of disguising and dissembling which provoke impressing scenic effects. The main masque illustrates the greatness of the monarchical power, its entire plot is concentrated around one single person: the king (Limon, 2010, 246). Without his presence, these festivities will not exist. In this type of shows, the king embodies the virtues of wisdom, knowledge and piety. In one single word, the main masque reflects the reality and it is more than a theatrical show because it does 11

The Image of Royalty. The English Masques (1603-1649)

not reduce itself at the performing acting show. Jerzy Limon considers that the main masque is not theatre because it refers to an existing reality that cannot be challenged, forget or even played: the simple presence of the king. The world of the masque spins around the person of the king as the planets spin around the Sun in the Universe. Imagining the king as a solo performer, Limon conceives a theory that says that only the antimasque is theatre and the main masque a simply reality that is inaccessible to the audience: the monarchical reality. However, this idea supports Jamess reluctance regarding to an active performance in these shows. The king found unnecessary any direct performance of his actions during the masques because he doesnt needed to demonstrate his godly brilliance as long as his simple presence was enough for audience to consider the masque as a unit belonging from the divine body of the king. On the other hand, we have the antimasque, a spectacle conceived by Ben Jonson in order to exhibit more diversity to this court spectacle (Niculescu, 1999, 153). Inspired from the Aristophanes theatre, these characters from the antimasque are fictional ones, and that is way the historians believe that Antimasque is a fake and a performed reality, it is, in other words, a mimesis (an imitation). These characters are theatre. The antimasque contains a theatrical element in its nature while the main masque goes beyond the theatrical rules and limits endeavouring to be perceived as a nonfictional spectacle, as the nowadays Performance (Limon, 2010, 242). The heliocentric politics The example of the French court spectacles maintains until late, under the reign of king Louis XIV (1638 1715), known for his taste for glitter and splendour. Le Roi Soleil (The Sun King) is a metaphor kept from his antecessors and, like the rest of the European monarchs, it represents the main role played both in real life and in masques spectacles by the sovereign (Fig. 8). But in the English case, the metaphor of the Sun King is found in Shakespearian plays. In this case, we talk about a heliocentric politics: the monarch plays a main role in his kingdom, as the Sun in the Universe. In philosophical terms, the Sun light represents the wisdom, the truth revealed by God only to kings. Being aware of his main role inside the state and the power of his own intelligence which is specific only to the ones chosen by 12

God, James I, and later his son, Charles, is often the embodiment of Sun symbol of divine and authoritative power. A relevant example is The Masque of Blackness (from 1605) which transforms the king into the solar star whose pure light brings the beauty and the skin whiteness of Nigers daughters (Fig. 9). The simple presence of the king transforms blackness into whiteness. He illuminates Nigers daughters, like a Sun: A WORLD DIVIDED FROM THE WORLD: and tried / The abstract of it, in his general pride. / For were the world, with all his wealth, a ring, / Britannia, whose new name makes all tongues sing, / Might be a diamant worthy to inchase it, / Ruled by a sun, that to this height doth grace it : / Whose beams shine day and night, and are of force / To blanch an thiop, and revive a corse. / His light sciential is, and, past mere nature, / Can salve the rude defects of every creature (Jonson, 1605). Historians like Thomas Middleton think that this masque represents an allegory of the religious situation of that time: the black people are the Catholics and the white ones are the Protestants. So, we have an illumination through the ancient concepts of beauty and harmony. The plot of this masque begin when the daughters of Niger start their journey to a land suggestive called Britannia, a land where the skin blackness vanishes indebted Albions light. The idea of an enlightened human mind (especially the one of a royal body) supports the image of the philosopher king, whose intelligence is above all. We can understand better if we take into consideration the frontispiece of the political and theological treaty from 1649, Eikon Basilike (The Royal Image / Face) attributed to Charles I (fig. 11). King Charles believes that he is the only one who possesses the wisdom, the power and the knowledge required for a great government. In the frontispiece of his book, the light is organically related to human mind, and the wisdom appears only when the individual (the king) has many elements of the divine and pure light, from the Sun (God) (Notopoulos, 1944, 170). Clarior tenebris (which means Brighter through the darkness") the beam from the clouds and the one from king Charless gaze, Coeli Specto (I look to Heaven) reinforce the theory which says that the royal crown has a divine origin. So, as a conclusion of our research, is the royal image performed on stage the real one or it remains a fictional image, like in Shakespeares plays? This study concentrated on two distinct

Tivd Mihaela

ways followed by historians. The first one tried to demonstrate that the performed royalty on stage it was just a myth, a magnificent idealization of two kings which in reality did not existed, who just performed a play, not only in their court spectacles and in Shakespearian works, but also in real life. James I and Charles I just ignored the socio-economical and political reality of their kingdom but the reality did not ignored them. Furthermore, they were brutally punished for their unconscious actions (like in Charless case, in 1649). The second theory is the one supported by Jerzy Limon who believes that the main masque is the pure reality performed on stage: the divine monarch displayed in the centre of the events, which is honoured with his family and noble courtiers. His position is not a random one at all, because the kings centrality supports the idea of his supernatural powers and his omniscience: he can see in all directions and, at the same time, he exposes himself, by displaying his absolute power before his audience. From this point of view, we may consider the masque spectacle as an ingenious device through which the performers made visible their power by displaying themselves in the public space. But, unlike their predecessors, the Stuarts limited these displays to a more intimate audience of the royal court. That is why the main role of these devices is to set in motion the mechanism of the government system. REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journals: Cunningham Cunningham Dolora, The 1955 Jonsonian Masque as a Literary Form. In: ELH, 22, 2, (1955) p. 108-124. Goldberg Goldberg Jonathan, James I 1979 and the Theatre of Conscience. In: ELH, 46, 3, (1979), p. 379-398 Jordan 1991 Jordan Elizabeth T., Inigo Jones and the Architecture of poetry. In: Renaissance Quarterly, 44, 2, (1991), p. 280-319 Kern 1974 Paster Kern Paster Gain, Ben Jonson and the Uses of Architecture. In: Renaissance Quarterly, 27, 3, (1974), p. 311. Notopoulos James A., The

1944

symbolism of the Sun and Light in the Republic of Plato, I. In: Chicago Journals, Classical Philology, 39, 3, (1944), p. 123-240.

b. Books: Niculescu Niculescu, Adrian, Istoria 1999 civilizaiei britanice [History of Britanic Civilisation], vol. I: Din Preistorie pn n secolul al XVII-lea, Institutul European (1999), Iai. Orgel 1975 Orgel, Stephen, The Illusion of Power: Political Theater in the English Renaissance, University of California Press Ltd. (1975), London. Zamfirescu, Ion, Istoria Universal a teatrului, vol. 3: Renaterea (II), Reforma, Barocul, Clasicismul [Universal History of Theatre: Renaisance, Reform, Baroc, Clasicism], 2nd Edition, Aius (2003) Craiova.

Zamfirescu 2003

c. Chapters in books: Limon 2010 Limon, Jerzy, The Monarch as the Solo Performer in Stuart Masque. In Berns Ute, Solo Performances. Staging the Early Modern Self in England, Rodopi B.V. (2010), Amsterdam New York, p. 229-248. Michailov Michailov, Mihaela, Regele 2002 i bufonul. In Grigorescu Dan, Vrnceanu Alexandra, Metamorfoze: imagine text. Studii de iconologie [Metamorphoses: image text. Studies of iconology], Editura Universitii din Bucureti (2002), Bucureti, p. 161-182. d. Internet sources: Jonson, Ben, Masque of Blackness, 1605, online http://www.luminarium.org/ed itions/maskblack.htm

Jonson 1605

Notopoulos

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The Image of Royalty. The English Masques (1603-1649)

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Fig. 1 Unknown artist. Mosaic of comic masks of a young woman and a slave, 2nd century, Capitoline Museums, Rome. Artist necunoscut. Mozaic ce reprezint dou mti comice: o tnr i un sclav; secolul al IIlea, Muzeul Capitoliu, Roma. Fig. 2 Unknown artist. Theater mask representing a youth, 1st century BC, Apulia, Louvre Museum. Artist necunoscut. Mti de teatru ce reprezint o tnr, secolul I .Hr., Apulia, Muzeul Louvre. Fig. 3 Author: Giovanni Grevembroch, "Mascare" (Masked Groom and Bride), watercolor, 18th century. Autor: Giovanni Grevembroch, "Mascare" (Cuplu mascat / Mire i mireas mascai), acuarel, secolul al XVIII-lea. Fig. 4 Designer: Inigo Jones, writter: Ben Jonson, Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion, 1623 1624. This sketch represents a masked couple dancing. Proiectantul mtii: Inigo Jones, autorul mtii: Ben Jonson, Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion, 1623 1624. Schia reprezint un cuplu mascat. Fig. 5 The differences between the bodypainting technique and the impressive make-up from the English Masque and Commedia dellArte. In the left image we have a character from Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion, 1623 1624, Queen Oceania, designed by Inigo Jones and in the right image the character who wears a mask on his face is Medico Industrioso (Plague Doctor), by Giovanni Grevembroch,18th century. Diferenele dintre tehnicile de body-painting i machiaj folosite n cadrul mtii engleze i masca mobil din cadrul Commediei dellArte. Imaginea din stnga reprezint un personaj schiat de Inigo Jones (i anume Regina Oceania) din masca Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion, de la 1623 1624, semnat de Ben Jonson iar imaginea din dreapta reprezint un personaj proiectat de Giovanni Grevembroch pentru spectacolul Medico Industrioso (Medicul Pacoste) care dateaz din secolul al XVIII-lea. Fig. 6 Ballet Comique de la Reine, 1582, published and performed by Balthazar de Beaujouyeulx. All this three pictures represent 14

distinct characters from the same spectacle, performed at the French court in 1581 and this is a solid proof that in French case, these spectacles had an erlier origin, unlike English Masques, officially introduced at court in 1605 by Queen Anne of Danemark. n cele trei imagini de mai sus avem reprezentare diverse personaje din cadrul spectacolului de curte francez din 1581. Aadar, n cazul francez, avem dovezi mai timpurii ale unor astfel de baluri curteneti, care n Anglia vor fi introduse oficial abia n 1605, de ctre Anna de Danemarca.) Fig. 7 Author: Inigo Jones. Costume of a Star, from one of the masques written by Ben Jonson, 17th century. We are impressed by the beautiful and vivid colours. Autor: Inigo Jones. Costumul unei stele dintr-o masc scris de Ben Jonson n secolul al XVIIlea. Impresioneaz culoristica vie i frumoas. Fig. 8 Unknown author. Louis XIV as the Sun in his Le Ballet de la nuit (Ballet of the night) masque, from 1653. Autor necunoscut. Lodovic al XIV-lea reprezentat n chip de Soare n Le Ballet de la nuit (Baletul nopii), de la 1653. Fig. 9 Author: Inigo Jones. Costume for the daughter of Niger, from the Masques of Blackness, written by Ben Jonson in 1605. Autor: Inigo Jones. Costum creat pentru una din fiicele lui Niger, din Masques of Blackness, scris de Ben Jonson la 1605. Fig. 10 Unknown author. The frontispiece of Eikon Basilike treaty attributed to King Charles I in 1649. We can see clearly the idea of the divine light and wisdom of the monarch. Artist necunoscut. Frontispiciul tratatului Eikon Basilike, 1649 - lumina i nelepciunea divin a monarhului.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Fig. 1 Unknown artist. Mosaic of two masks, 2nd century, Rome. (Photo source: http://www.the-romans.co.uk/new_gallery_seven.htm)

Fig. 2 Unknown artist. Theatre Greek mask of a youth, 1st century BC, Apulia. (Photo source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mask_youngster_Louvre_S3044.jpg)

The Image of Royalty. The English Masques (1603-1649)

Fig. 3 - Author: Giovanni Grevembroch. Commedia dellArte, 18th century. (Photo source: http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/sposi.html)

Fig. 4 Designer: Inigo Jones, writter: Ben Jonson, Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion, 1623 1624.

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Fig. 5 In the left image we have a character from Neptune's Triumph for the Return of Albion, 1623 1624 Queen Oceania designed by Inigo Jones and in the right image the character who wears a mask on his face is Medico Industrioso (Plague Doctor), by Giovanni Grevembroch, 18th century.

Fig. 6 Author: Balthazar de Beaujouyeulx, Ballet Comique de la Reine, 1582.

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The Image of Royalty. The English Masques (1603-1649)

Fig. 7 Author: Inigo Jones, costume of a Star, from one of the masques written by Ben Jonson, 17th century.

. Fig. 9 Author: Inigo Jones. Costume for the daughter of Niger, from the Masques of Blackness, written by Ben Jonson in 1605.

Fig. 8 Unknown author. Louis XIV as the Sun in his Le Ballet de la nuit (Ballet of the night) masque, from 1653

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Fig. 10 Unknown author. The frontispiece of Eikon Basilike treaty, attributed to King Charles I in 1649.

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BEYOND THE BORDERS OF THE CITY HERMANNSTADT/ SIBIU DINCOLO DE GRANIELE SIBIULUI

Ph.D. Lia Brad Chisacof Senior researcher Institute for South-East European Studies of the Romanian Academy Email: lia_chisacof@yahoo.co.uk

ipoteza c ar aparine bine cunoscutului - mai ales datorit preocuprilor sale legate de Grecia - revoluionar Rigas Velestinlis (mai trziu Fereos), care a petrecut dou decenii n spaiul romnesc. Cuvinte cheie: manuscris medical, traducere, tradiia lui Hippocrates, Hermannstadt/Sibiu, Rigas Fereos The only copy kept in the library of the Brukenthal Museum of a book called Pax Corporis by Francisc Pariz Papai looks quite worn and one can therefore infer that it was well-read. We are quite free to imagine who the readers were and whether the perusal was of any consequences. At least one such possible reader was doubtlessly a man paid too little attention to so far. Although his main occupation was commerce, as he was a member of the local Greek trade company the man called Ioan Adam or Ioannis Adamis (1696-1770) had a clear penchant for the natural sciences or even medicine as he translated into Greek a treaty on remedies belonging to August Teofil Madai, which was published in alle in 1772 (under the title ).(A Short interpretation on the effect and profit of some chosen and proven medicines). One more manuscript (ms. 1182) by Ioan Adam, written in 1709, seems to exist in the National Library of Greece, called Compendium of natural sciences, and it originates in Sibiu (Cndea, 2011, 365). As one can read from a manuscript kept in the Romanian collection of the Romanian Academy Library (Actually kept in two manuscripts namely nos 933 Meteugul doftoriei and 4841 Meteugul doftoricesc from now on MDI and MDII in the text) in the scarce free time Adam had at a certain point in time, most probably in 1760 the year marked in MDI, he took up translating into Greek the medical work afore mentioned for the sake of his fellow members of the trade company. The complete translation never existed though and a printed book of it even less so although a Greek author quotes it (Karathanassis). Had it existed, it would have been printed in Cluj. We have carried out special researches into the matter and in the repertoire of the books published on Habsburg territory it is absent (Petrik). Let us have a look at the introduction of the mentioned manuscript:

Abstract. The present article deals with two medical Romanian manuscripts kept in the Library of the Romanian Academy called The Art of Medicine, which originate in Sibiu and start from a translation to become a collection of remedies both local and traditional originating in the antiquity. Studied mainly from a philological and medical point of view and with little research done as to the Greek introduction of the work, the manuscripts of the mentioned medical treatise prove to be a good sample of how Sibiu functioned as an intellectual safe haven for some people coming from the principality of Walachia. Thus, the demonstration is made here that The art of medicine was written in that town as it displays beyond its other lexical characteristics some local ones. As to the authorship of this work, the hypothesis is formulated that it belongs to the so far known mainly for his political concerns linked to Greece revolutionary Rigas Velestinlis (later called Fereos) who spent two decades in the Romanian area. Keywords: medical manuscript, translation, Hippocrates tradition, Hermannstadt/Sibiu, Rigas Fereos Rezumat. Articolul de fa are n vedere dou manuscrise romneti despre medicin, pstrate n Biblioteca Academiei Romne, care se intituleaz Arta Medicinei, provin din Sibiu i pornesc de la o traducere, ca apoi s ajung o colecie de leacuri locale sau tradiionale (unele cunoscute din timpul antichitii). Studiate mai ales din punct de vedere filologic i medical i cercetnd puin introducerea scris n limba greac, manuscrisele din tratatul medical menionat se arat a fi o mrturie a modului n care Sibiul a funcionat ca un adpost intelectual sigur pentru cei venii aici din principatul valah. Astfel, se demonstreaz c Arta medicinei a fost scris n acest ora, ntruct, pe lng alte aspecte lexicale, prezint i unele locale. n privina paternitii acestei cri, s-a exprimat

Lia Brad Chisacof

Thus these thoughts and discussions have made me the insignificant and worthless to compose and interpret by my own choice with many efforts this medical work so useful and beneficial, among my everyday occupations and among the habitual work of my commerce so that I do not neglect the gift or the talent given to me by God. I have fought and made efforts in an interval of many years according to my limited knowledge given to me by the provider of the goods and of all the proven knowledge for me to be useful to my neighbour as much as I can and even more for the love of the brothers thirsty for knowledge. For we know that one cannot find these books in our spoken language so that they might become a common good for the readers. And in it my aim is not to show any experience and knowledge in the learned and practical doctors of this time who double the promise of this medicine with efforts which neither do I write for their guidance. I only intend to help the simple and ignorant and poor farmers who are unable to call when they are sick to run and call the perfect and great doctors to examine them so much so in their villages and in certain places in particular where it is easier to find medication and help for a sick horse or bull or sheep than it is to find for a sick person. From this book one may read and teach any sick person what they need and what it takes and if the sick person is unable to read it and interpret the facts liked to his illness , let someone else who can read and interpret the facts of his illness and those of the many medicines and helps which he interprets If one is unable to find one thing which can work let them try something else and they will be successful and if they are unable to find a specific plant in their very household let them look for the weed in someone elses garden, if they are unable to get it from a neighbour or friend they may ask for it from someone else. Let them pay attention to a particular thing, that the present medical work does not send everything in the pharmacy or to the and pharmacists but rather brings and shows the simpler and uncomplicated things and instruments which in the greatest part can be found in our parts and we can easily get them here in our households, as they ...... present this to the community of our nation, I mean the Greek or the Romans and most of all to those who love the muses and who are knowledgeable, from a friendly stir and out of Christian gratefulness and for my remembrance ...( MDI f. 8r) .... This segment is followed by an undated table of contents written in Greek (f. 9v-

12 v) and by still another preface (f. 13) , (Another reminding introduction for the learned readers and their literate brothers) which starts with: , , , (Every official doctor must know in practice both the healthy situation of the man and the morbid one and its decay on a smaller or larger scale, where it gets born and from where it originates). This particular introduction is preceded and followed by brief courses in medicine called (f2r-5v) (The history of doctors) , , , . (A short course on what is medicine and what are its heresies according to their authors and what are its parts, what are the varieties of medicines simple and compound according to their names and to the alphabetic order (f. 15-16), a remedy catalogue , (f. 16 r-19 v) (How many kinds of medicines are there according to their quality). This is followed by contents in Romanian (f. 20 r - 23 r) and all the rest of the text is Romanian. An examination of an autograph manuscript of Ioan Adam helped us reject the hypothesis according to which the introduction to the MD was not written by the same hand with the rest. The medical manuscript under scrutiny here was written in its Greek section in a manner specific to the end of the 18th cent., while Ioan Adam wrote in the autograph manuscript as one would expect from a person whose life span within the limits mentioned above, in a Byzantine manner. The MD, dated 1760 was noticed ever since the 1930s (Samarian, 1935) and was studied in the beginning from a medical point of view (Bologa, 1955).It is a bulky manuscript made up of two tomes which amount to 600 A4 pages and its title is in keeping with the Hippocratic tradition i.e. (The Art of Medicine, ). The main exegete of the manuscript was the prominent philologist N.A. Ursu. In one of his early books (Ursu, 1962) some initial data 21

Beyond the Borders of the City Hermannstadt/Sibiu

were provided while in a more recent contribution (Ursu, 2007) he resumed the discussion in an attempt to identify who the author was. In the histories of the Romanian language, MD is mentioned in connection to the scientific style of the 18th century and most of the authors are in agreement as to its dating back to 1760-1770s (Gheie, 1997). Looking at N.A. Ursus contributions let us just reproduce a few of his conclusions. 1. A Greek translation of Francisc Pariz Papais work Pax Corporis did exist and it did belong to Ioan Adam the learned merchant from Sibiu, whose Romanian version MD is. 2. N.A. Ursu thought he had identified the author of this translation of MD as being doctor St. V. Episcopescu, born in Bucharest in 1777. This doctor though never mentioned his achievement. The arguments brought in favour of this authorship are Episcopescus medical profession, the fact that most probably he was able to study one of the MD manuscripts and thus he shares part of his terminology with MD, some language characteristics linked to the region of Oltenia (Southern Romania) to which the presumed author was connected and finally a likeness, quite doubtful in our opinion, between the hand of an autograph manuscript of Episcopescu and one of the two manuscripts in which MD is kept. Re-examining the MD we assume that although signed at the beginning of the manuscript Ioan Adam did not write with his own hand the preface to the medical treaty but the text (the preface i.e.) is his and most probably dates back to 1760. Most probably he was unable to carry out what he had set himself as a goal (the translation into Greek of the Pax Corporis) and someone else, who did not wish to surface, did the work only that in Romanian. It pertains to evidence that the preface and rest of the Romanian text are written by the same hand in both manuscripts (Annexes 1 and 2) and judging from the Greek calligraphy datable at the end of the 18th cent. the Romanian side is equally datable then. Should we compare the MD to the presupposed original of Papai (improperly called an original, as it is a translation from English (Ionston1557) the difference in volume (600 pages as opposed to 195) is striking. A systematical confrontation of the texts that we have done reveals the existence of a translation followed by remedies originating elsewhere (Karamberopoulos, 2004) or even original. The 22

mention of the original arises a few times and one may assume that the translation was made most probably at somebodys suggestion or even by commission from Papai: These and other many kinds of simple remedies read in learned Aetie chapter. X 50 and further but as they are many we cannot write them all here. Our aim is to translate only the Hungarian book of remedies that we have in front of us MD I 30 v. The MD is conceived as a medical guide, which observed the needs of the patients of all conditions. Thus, recipes are provided for simple people: The poor and simple should swallow on an empty stomach and after the meal a small piece of frankincense like a gain of pepper but mastic would be better. Let them rub every night (MDI f.31 v) The author resorts to multilingualism in giving the names of the diseases and of their remedies. Thus beyond the scientific names in Latin and ancient Greek, the diseases and their remedies are given in Romanian, Modern Greek, Turkish, Hungarian, Italian or Serbian. Far from being unintentional, it is in our opinion deliberate and meant to assure the treaty a large use all through the central and Balkan European area and that in a drive, which is a typical Enlightenment gesture: The nightmare is a disease of the head. Called in Latin inibus and in Hungarian lidrcnyoms and in Greek the poor people call it . A doctor Theaminon by his name called it , choke originating in suffocation, as the sick man has an impression he is chocking and nowadays some people from Rumelia call it . The nightmare is called so because those who suffer of it have an impression someone is assaulting them. So much about its name and as for its translation this is nothing else than a disease which settles in ones dream. acesteas-i spunem and tlmcirea efialtul nu iaste alta fr ct o patim care i s colcete ? omului in vis oarecare (MD I) grind grains which the Italians call lupino (MDI 69r) Chapter I About worms and belly worms / These fearful beings which get born in the human bowls are called in ancient Greek and while in modern Greek and in Latin limbrici (MDI152 v) The pain in the bowls elinika (in Greek) is called as it means a flurry of the pain as it torments and envelops in pain the

Lia Brad Chisacof

bowls. Hence, in Latin it is called volvulus in Hungarian belfaia tekeres (MDI142 r) Another one: the weed called the river neighbour Latin fontalis in ancient Greek potamoghinon in Turkish ghiol otu let them put it on the wound (MDII f.260 r) A few extra-linguistic details seem to enhance our assumption, as there is reference to the Mediterranean realities: This is good for earache and boil with wine until reduced to a third and put it warm into the mouth or grind white cloud and mix it with brine from olives// MDI 83 r In danger for those who drown in water or upon shipwreck or get chocked with a bone and other MDI 92 v Should anyone fall into the river or into the sea after shipwreck or should anyone chock after strangulation one can be saved with art and get well again or let them add wild orange in ones food // MDI 123 r MDI (another one) remove from a wild orange all its pulp and fill it bay tree leaves butter Or drop soap vinegar with rose butter. Or dyers wood and put just a small quantity and the pulp from raw figs.MD I and with the juices and raw oil that is the one that is prepared from raw olives and rose butter either by itself or with vinegar and lubricate the head of the sick person Mentions are made of the author being himself a doctor: And we heal with it a kind of called lihina crushing it in vinegar and with the same kind of root of the sorrel is of great help in itching. MDII There are overt references to regions, most of which are those in Romania, especially Transylvania: Romanian in Transylvania (MDI f.59 r) On the outside let them add to the womb refreshing canella made from and from the poisoning herb the herb that the people in Transylvania call fat grass and from tall mix it with vinegar made into distillate (MDII130r) Let them wash it with wine boiled with frankincense which in Turkish is called murfasi, but it is better to boil it with wine and alloy in a little bit of vromo-Asan, Asa Foetida, called in Romanian the Devils sheet, /f. 151 v in Hungarian ordog szar. Look up in Agapios chap. Sz .Should there be a sign of carkinoma, that is an itch , squash the juice of one lemon and of the weed called Scolimos , which they call in Latin Carduus Mariae, and in

Italian cardoni, and in Turkish Mehrem dicheni, or teve dicheni, and it is motley. (MDII f. 151r) The reference is enhanced by the use of several words used solely in that region namely: tiuc piece < Germ. Stuck , zup < Germ. Suppe as well as crastavete cucumber.A nghimpa to pierce There is also reference to European Turkey: The nightmare is an illness of the head which is called in Latin inibus and in Hungarian modere cnyoms and in Greek , and the poor call it .A Un doctor Theaminon by his name called , necu adic din necare , fiindc bolnavului i s nlucete ca cum s-ar neca, and in these days some Rumeliots call it the nightmare is called that those who suffer of it have an impression that someone is assaulting them (MD If. 58 v) The manuscript no. 1840 of the Romanian Academy Library called Alegerile lui Ipocrat (Selections from Hippocrates, AI from now on in the text) belongs without any doubt to the same author/hand. There is evidence from the text: Had the woman conceived a male baby, she has a beautiful face and moves easily. And if it is a female baby her face is ugly and she can hardly work. (MDII 156 r) The pregnant woman if she has in her womb male gender has a beautiful face but if she has female gender, her face is ugly. (AI f.16) It is in this particular work that one finds references to Serbian: ...For the crayfish/ The ash of crayfish if ready after combustion take two spoonfuls Then add half of the roots of the herb which resembles the one that the Serbians call gentsia...(AI, f. 51 r) As the MD is anonymous or, rather, signed in the name of a different author, as we suppose, the dispute over authorship will doubtlessly stay open virtually forever. We assume nevertheless a hypothesis, which we support with a series of arguments. The handiest one, though not the most important is the paleographical one and is illustrated by annex no 1.The resemblance, which is as good as the identity between the two hands is conspicuous. The first manuscript is one described by Hatzipanayotis-Sangmeister (Hatzipanayotis) while the second belongs to MDI. Annex no. 2 displays a page from MDII and the autograph manuscript of an author who is going to be mentioned. A second argument pertains to the reconstitution of an extremely complicated and mysterious in actual terms biography, that of 23

Beyond the Borders of the City Hermannstadt/Sibiu

revolutionary Rigas of Velestino. The specific circumstances of his life (ended tragically) started in his native Thessaly and continued in Constantinoples, Bucharest, Jassy, Sibiu and Vienna mainly as a princely secretary but also as an influence agent the of the French. They are still incomplete with blurred periods and episodes. This is the reason why in mapping together the facts of his life we are not just tempted but even obliged to consider data gleaned from an area (i.e. literature) which to a contemporary reader is just fiction and therefore unreliable. An English novel written at the turn of the 19th century, after processing carefully the data gathered by its author during an unusually long tour in what was then European Turkey and in north Africa seems to bring a series of data we need. The main character of this novel whose name is the very title of the more or less fictional novel Anastasius, a complex and controversial man, conceived in such a way as to provide as many data as possible connected to the Ottoman way of life for the English reader, deals partly in medicine. The idea that the prototype could be Rigas (Pippidi) can be supported by many arguments. There are the resemblances in biography; it is a fact that at a certain moment Rigas assumes an identity by the same name (Camariano). With this professional association in mind, let us quote the textual arguments brought from Rigas works. The best-known one come from his well-known Collection of physics, , a handbook for the natures knowledge he wrote in Walachia and published in Vienna in 1790. Another category of writings are his poems in which references to medicine are quite frequent. Mention must be made that the authorship of his poems was determined by a very sophisticated process of comparison between the lyrics of The School of Delicate Lovers , The Consequences of Love and one manuscript kept in Athens ( Hatzipanayotis) and then in keeping with this model two more manuscripts kept in Bucharest were added to the comparison. In the theatre of life/ with the measure of my mind/ a wound comparable to that of a separation/ I cannot think exists/ among so many diseases/ which exist on earth/ A doctor does not help/ a medicine does not cure/ neither is it of any help (EA151) Or: But I ask/ I kneel in front of her as a slave/ So that she allows me to laugh/ and forget my sufferance/ so that I might be relieved/ 24

Rosemary fragrance / My small bush/ My flourished twig/ You are the doctors lantern/ and the saviour of the sick/ Pray my bird/ give me my life/ and tell me a plant/ Which can cure my wound ( 207) In the end abundant arguments and therefore convincing in our opinion come from a comedy called The Whirlpool of Madness (Brad Chisacof 2003)the author wrote on Romanian soil maybe in Sibiu like MD itself . One neutral reference to medicine is the mention of Hippocrates plane tree in the isle of Cos. The existence of the tree is brought in as an argument that God exists by prince Mavrogheni who might well think of the creation of God in Christian terms or even in Muslim ones (Hippocrates was revered by the local Muslims and his tree, located by the main mosque of the island is still to be seen). His argument is rejected in the general comments libelling him for his stupidity and superstition yesterday in front of so many boyars in the Divan in order for him to demonstrate the existence of the deity he brought as an example the plate tree of Kos because, say he, that plate tree is so big means that God exists .Such a poor state, such madness to whom does the madman think he is talking , with soldiers, with peasants or with guards, these are boyards who saw empires, decorated with experience and progress .(f.49r) The author of the play has two alteregos plus a reference to the real Rigas and one of these is susceptible to be a doctor, as the others complain that they have to swallow his... pills! [f.24r] Stop, stop all of you, Matios dont open your mouth, let me finish my word and then you start every one of you in your turn. Do you have any interesting people in Bucharest? Oh, what should progress do here while it is absent in Europe, with all this, there are a few who cannot speak, but are able to listen. That is they can listen to what one tells them and they understand, for not as many ears as listen understand and what is more the pills of the Court Victualler are a little bit hard to swallow. Should you take one you sit down and you cannot say a word The decisive argument though comes from the main character of the play, prince Mavrogheni, conceived in such a way as to match the description of madness in MD

Lia Brad Chisacof

The very title of the comedy the Whirlpool of madness evokes fragments from MD the nest of madness for instance. The above mentioned fact enhances its comical effect! MD is an important Enlightenment work with lots of original contributions. Unfortunately unpublished, with maybe more manuscripts than the ones we have examined in the present article. Its scope and aim are larger than what it may seem at a first glance .It is conceived as a useful medical tool for the Balkan and even central European area. The surprising fact that we would like to stress in this concluding section is the Sibiu link. Known as a haven or even heaven for the refugees of Walachia the city was seen so far somehow in abstraction. Imagining its fabulous pharmacies (to which a museum is dedicated now) and its somehow serene atmosphere one can imagine the extra professional endeavors of Adam the merchant and his sources of inspiration and documentation. As for the special relationship Rigas seems to have had with this beautiful town the fact that one of his posthumous works (the comedy afore mentioned) was kept there might prove quite telling. The connection with the manuscript of the MD throws new light into the depths of his personality and into the connection among the many sides of his talents. A significant sample is the comedy The Whirlpool of Madness inspired by Moliere (tellingly from the Amour medicin) where matters of state policy and the behaviour of a ruler are mingled with questions pertaining to the co-existence among civilizations (Christian European and Muslim ) the whole being informed by a medical treatise. Thus, the learned spirit of Hermannstadt/ Sibiu proved quite creative in works and fulfilments that exceeded its borders and were almost ignored so far. BIBLIOGRAPHY a. Papers in periodical journals: Brad Lia Brad Chisacof, Closed Chisacof, doors performances of dancing 2007 poetry in Wallachia at the end of the 18th century. In: Revue des tudes Sud-est europennes, vol. 45, n.1-4 (2007), p. 207219.

Camariano 1981

Cndea 2011

Pippidi 1999-2000

Ursu 2006

Camariano N., Rhigas Velestinlis. Compltements et corrections concernant sa vie et son activit. In: Revue des tudes sud-est europennes 18 no 4 (1980) 687-720. 19 no 1 (1981), pp. 41-70. Cndea V., Mrturii romneti peste hotare. Creaii romneti i izvoare despre romni n coleciile din strintate. Serie nou II Finlanda-Grecia [Romanian Testimonials Abroad. Romanian Creations and Sources about Romanians in Colections from Abroad. New series, Finland-Greece] Bucureti, (2011). A. Pippidi, Sur lagitation rvolutionnaire dans les Principauts roumaines vers 1800. In: Revue des tudes Sudest europennes, 1-2 (19992000), p. 27-38. N.A. Ursu, Meteugul Doftoriii, primul tratat de medicin n limba romn [Artifice of stuff. First Treatise in Medicine in Romanian]. In: Limba Romn, nr.5-6 (2006), Bucharest, p. 403-416.

b. Books: Bologa 1955

Brad Chisacof 2003

Gheie 1997

Hatzipanayotis Sangmeister Ilia 2001

Bologa, V., Contribuii la istoria medicinii n R.P.R. [Contributions to History of Medicine in R.P.R.] (1955), Bucharest, p. 142. Brad Chisacof, Lia, Antologie de literatur greac din Principatele romne [An Anthology of Greek Literature in Romanian Dukedoms] (2003), Bucharest, p. 213-377. Gheie, I. (coord.), Istoria limbii romne literare, Epoca veche (1532-1780) [History of Old Literary Romanian. Old Age 1532-1780] (1997), Bucharest, p.291. : 25

Beyond the Borders of the City Hermannstadt/Sibiu

Hatzipanayotis Sangmeister Ilia 2002

..

Iohnston 1557

Karamberopoulos Oeconomopoulos 2004

23, (2001) pp. 143-165. 18 . 725 , Gttinger Beitrge zur byzantinischen und neugriechischen Philologie 2 (2002) p. 23-37. EA E a, Mario Vitti (ed.), Odysseas Publishing House. Iohnston, John, The Idea of Practical Physick in Twelwe Books, (1557), London. Karamberopoulos, D., Oeconomopoulos, Alexandra, Greek medical Manuscripts of the Period of the 16th middle 19th cent in Proceedings of the 39th international Congress on the History of Medicine (2004), Bari.

Karathanasis 2003

Petrik1891

Samarian 1935

Ursu 1962

Karathanasis, V. Ath., Elenismul n Transilvania [Hellenism in Transylvania] (2003), Bucharest, p.80. Petrik, Magyarorszag Bibliographiaja 17121860 (1891), Budapest. Samarian P.Gh., Medicina i farmacia n trecutul romnesc, [Medicine and pharmacy in the Romanian past] vol.I (1382-1775), (1935), Clrai. Ursu, N.A., Formarea terminologiei tiinifice romneti (1962), Bucharest.

26

Lia Brad Chisacof

Annex 1

27

Beyond the Borders of the City Hermannstadt/Sibiu

Annex 2

MD II Autograph ms. Rigas

28

ABOUT NATIONAL IDENTITY IN TRANSYLVANIA. THE CONCEPT OF FATHERLAND FOR TRANSYLVANIAN ROMANIANS BETWEEN 1700 AND 1848 DESPRE IDENTITATE NAIONAL N TRANSILVANIA. CONCEPTUL DE PATRIE LA ROMANII ARDELENI DE LA 1700 LA 1848

Ph.D. Laura Stanciu 1st December 1918 University of Alba Iulia Faculty of History and Philology Email: laurastanciu@hotmail.com

Abstract. The author discusses the way in which the concept of Fatherland took shape for the Transylvanian Romanians, in connection with similar matured concepts of the modern culture belonging to the Hungarians or the Saxons living in Transylvania. The perception of this concept, based on the tolerant politics specific to the reformist epoch of the Habsburg Empire, reflected the evolution from the religious identity to an ethnic conscience for the Transylvanian Romanians. The present study represents an analysis of the way in which Herders nationalism (Kulturnation) influenced the enlightened members of the Transylvanian despite its ethnic origin, be it Hungarian, Romanian or Saxon. The members of the Transylvanian elite were always concerned with the aspirations of their own ethnic community, and they promoted a monocultural, conflictual and antagonistic patriotism that got the nationalism in the detriment of cosmopolitism in Transylvania, just as it happened in most of the provinces of the Habsburg Empire before. In conclusion, in Transylvania, the romantic generation carried out the transition from the enlightened cultural vision to a contradictory political projection of the state as far as the concept of Fatherland is concerned, i.e. to the Romanian fatherland vs. Hungarian fatherland. Keywords: Identity, Church, Patriotism, History, Nation Rezumat. Autoarea discut modul n care conceptul de patrie s-a conturat la romnii ardeleni, n conexiune cu diverse concepte mature similare din cultura modern a maghiarilor i a saxonilor care triau n

Transilvania. Percepia cu privire la acest concept, bazat pe politica tolerant specific epocii reformiste a Imperiului Habsburgic, reflect evoluia de la identitatea religioas la contiina etnic a romnilor ardeleni. Studiul analizeaz influena pe care naionalismul lui Herder (Kulturnation) a exercitat-o asupra membrilor elitei iluministe din Transilvania, indiferent de originea lor etnic, maghiar, romn sau saxon. Aceti membri ai elitei, mereu preocupai de aspiraiile comunitii etnice crora le aparineau, au promovat un patriotism monocultural, conflictual i antagonic, care a insuflat Transilvaniei, ca, de altfel, majoritii provinciilor din Imperiul Habsburgic, naionalismul, n detrimentul cosmopolitismului. Astfel, n Transilvania, generaia romantic a realizat trecerea de la viziunea cultural iluminist la o proiecie politic contradictorie a statului privit ca patrie, respectiv patria romn vs. patria maghiar. Cuvinte cheie: identitate, Biseric, patriotism, istorie, naiune Since the construal of identity and political conscience of Transylvanian Romanians may be analysed from different perspectives and with different instruments, I am interested in the analysis of one of the most evident elements through which this conscience is expressed. The manner in which the concept of fatherland was used during the modern epoch and the way in which Transylvanians expressed themselves at a certain moment represent, I believe, a barometer 1, to see the message about fatherland and patriotism which they wanted to convey2. Even if the use of concepts may be analysed only as a result of some long-terms processes, as they are only partially made aware in terms of absolute chronology (Koselleck,
1

I owe acknowledgements to Prof. Victor Neumannfor his generous suggestions, on presenting this text as oral presentation, titled The concept of fatherland and patriotism in 18th century Transylvania: a comparative view, as part of the conference Fundamental concepts in Romanian social-political languages, Timioara, 23-26 September 2009. 2 For the meanings of the concept of fatherland in the extra-Carpathian Romanian culture, see Klaus Bochmann, Conceptul de patriotism n cultura romn, in Victor Neumann, Armin Heinen ed., Istoria Romniei prin concepte. Perspective alternative asupra limbajelor social politice, Iasi, Polirom Publishing House, 2010, p. 104.

About National Identity in Transylvania

2009, 273), through such an analysis we may answer questions such as: What was the meaning of fatherland and the emotional relation to it, i.e. patriotism? How did Transylvanians assume it? How did they represent fatherland? Did Transylvanians have a monocultural or multicultural perspective on fatherland? What was the role played by identity and how can we read it in the key of a polychromatic province, during a century of reforms and tolerance? One cannot understand the roots of Romanian political culture without systematic and nuanced research of political concepts that contributed to the formation of public and political exercise in the Romanian society at one moment or another. For example, fatherland, patriot and patriotism may help me understand the Romanians gathered on The Plain of Liberty (during the Revolution of 1848), what they wanted when they proclaimed they wanted to get united with the Country. More precisely, it helps one decant what it meant for their parents and grandparents, around the 1800, people/nation, country, fatherland, terms that belong to the same lexical field during the European Enlightenment (Bochmann, 2010, 104-105). Did the concepts denote and signify my people home/place of birth, parents/grandparents land or did they rather refer to a feeling of belonging to some common values? Church Nation Fatherland The meanings of the term patriotism in the 18th century captured the attention of specialist research in the German and French space (Koselleck 2009, 190-208). The importance of the concept for the century of Lights was underlined through the synonymy recorded during the time between patriot and citizen, as well as between patriotism and civism (Krauss, 1970, 3-4, p. 79-83). It is noteworthy that enlightened France associated the concepts of people, nation, state, country, fatherland within the same lexical field (Bochmann 2010, 104-105)3. In this study, I am concerned with the semantic components, and representation of fatherland for Transylvanians, during an epoch decisively marked by Theresian and Josephinian reforms, characterised by economic, social and cultural emancipation. The political pragmatism of tolerance promoted by Habsburgs, which
3

imposed the coexistence of several ethnicities and confessions within a common territory4, made that Transylvania be perceived as a multicultural space par excellence, as a cosmopolitan country. From the point of view of national consciousness maturity in the provinces, the period was characterised as a transition period from confessional to ethnic identity, even at individual level, both for Romanians and for Saxons and Hungarians. The inhabitants of this space practised and thus prepared themselves, together with their Czech, German, Hungarian, Slovak or Bulgarian brothers, to enter the process of national consciousness affirmation. This phenomenon was assumed, and even to a large extent due to the choice made by the Transylvanian elite (Romanians and Hungarians) between Michelets and Herders opinion on nation and state. Like the majority of ethnic groups in the Empire, Transylvanians preferred Herders monocultural patriotism, represented by one people, i.e. a distinctive community, through its language, habits, origins and history (Neumann 2005, 60-63). Hence the impossibility to draw a line and dissociate, in the epochs context, between concepts such as people/brethren/nation/ country/fatherland - or nationalism/ patriotism -, although these concepts have benefited from a rich debate in the Romanian historiography of the last twenty years (Lemny 1986; Antohi, 1994, 136-174; Bocan 1997; Mitu 2000; Mitu 2006; Teodor et al. 2002; Pdurean 2004; Mrza, Stanciu 2005; Grancea 2007, 521-530; Ploscaru 2007, 399411; Neumann, 2005, 60-63; Bochmann 2010, 103-127). Those who engendered and popularised among Romanians (as they did in the case of Slovaks, Serbians and Bulgarians as well), the idea of Kulturnation were intellectuals recruited mostly from clergy, educated in western catholic schools and later trained in the multifaceted atmosphere of the cultural centres in Vienna and Buda at the beginning of the19th century. At the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, for the tolerated people in Ardeal, the issue of catholic Restoration was the main channel through which
4

See Sylvianne Rmi-Giraud, Pierre Rtat et alii (ds.), Les Mots et la Nation, Lyon, Presses Universitaires de Lyon, 1996, passim.

On the meanings of the policy of tolerance, in Transylvania, at the end of the 18th century, see Daniel Dumitran, Libertates vs. Tolerantia. Dezbaterile privind reglementarea politicii de toleran n Transilvania (1781-1782) i semnificaiile lor, in Annales Universitatis Apulensis. Series Historica, 2010, p. 207-226.

30

Laura Stanciu

the Aufklrung exerted its influence on society. Therefore, confessional nationality started from the premise of certain privileges of the faith community on top of which there was a hierarchic organisation wholly or mostly belonging to the ethnic, which was empowered over one territory, and this is apparent starting with the Union of the Romanian Trasylvanians Church with Rome. In the minutes of the synodical documents (February 1697), in wording the Romanian demands that conditioned the Union with the Church of Rome, in the second meeting, at number for it was stated that: 4. Lay Romanians united with the Church of Rome shall hold offices and be promoted to all positions of responsibility, as all members of other nations and religions recognised in the country, and their sons shall be admitted, without exception, to Latin catholic schools and in educational institutions.. The political meaning of the change in Transylvanian legislative system proposed to Romanians through the Union with Rome is undoubted and the advance seemed huge for Romanians. Through their participation with equal rights to the countrys administration, they overcame their condition of tolerated people and became sons of the fatherland, equal to The States of the Country (sed ut patriae filii recepti). Thus, a first result of the Union is visible in the records of Jesuit colleges (Trnava, Rome) that united Romanians started to attend. Against the names of the united alumni was indicated their place of origin, under the heading fatherland5. All these represent elements that entitle us to remark that in the Romanian environment, without minimising the contribution of the lay culture of historiography and philology essential for the crystallisation of the identity spirit remained religion and the involvement of the Church in the communitys life, considering that for Romanians in Transylvania, this was the only partially accepted framework. If through the option for Herders theory, Transylvanians did not stand out from other ethnic groups in the Empire all throughout the 18th century, what was characteristic to Transylvanian Romanians was the meaning they attached to the concept of nation and the relationship that nation had to fatherland. Nation had, first of all, the connotation of the legal category of state, which comprised within a community a category of inhabitants on
5

Magyar Orszgos Levltr, fond Magyar Kamara Archivum, Acta Jesuitica, 236d/1740-1745, f. 398497.

the basis of its social situation; a second meaning was given by the confession, which designated the members of the same Church. In an incipient phase, thirdly, was being born the nation, in a Herderian sense, as name for a community developed on the basis of brethren, defined by identity of origin, language, faith and customs. The three dimensions appear in practice simultaneously; sometimes it happens that, in the same source, the same author attaches the name either one connotation, or another. The bishop Inochentie Micu Klein and his priests, for example, used, like the States, both the first connotation, the social one, and the third one, the cultural one, of the term natio. In Transylvania, both for Saxons, Hungarians and Romanians, religion continue to be dominant in identifying national belonging, and in sustaining the administrative and political system. In Micu Kleins conscience, for example, the main source of the nation continued to be religion, therefore the three meaning overlapped (Tth 2000, 124-125). In the bishops fight to obtain equal rights for Romanians with other nations on the imperial land, he assigned an important role to Catholicism in justifying the privileges. If Saxons enjoyed privileges due to their previous catholic confession, and Romanians rights needed to be ensured and guaranteed through Union (Tth 2000, 98-99). For the Romanian intellectual elite, from the second half of the 18th century, nation was connected with the aspiration to acquire self-conscience represented by the faithful eastern, speaker of Romanian, who, through union with Rome, became catholic in a common territory, inhabited by Romanians, together with Hungarians and Saxons. In the opinion of this generation, nation had not yet acquired an ethnic connotation and did not supersede the concept of fatherland (Mitu 2006, 120). The clergy had, mid-18th century, every time, following the Hungarian model, with Romanians, Serbians or Slovaks, an importance just as decisive for religious argumentation, as for the political one, in the fight for liberty and manipulated the formation of public opinion. From this perspective, the Church and religion wee definitely subsumed to nationality, lost their autonomy, becoming, like history, tradition or culture, expression factors of the nation. Confession represented the most important element that defined identity, and ethnicity gradually became the specific means through which nation got. If initially, for Inochentie Micu, it was all about a confessional nation, for the members of the Transylvanian School was 31

About National Identity in Transylvania

delineated the image of an ethnonation defined through language, common origins, history. It was obviously all about a generic term that denominated a cultural community with political aspirations and not one that expressed the nation in a modern, state. Thus, the task of developing an ideology that defined ethnonation and based on language and historical right was incumbent on the generation of bishops Micu Klein and Petru Pavel Aron. These, formed in the atmosphere Catholic Enlightenment subjected the existing institutions to critical examination. Thus, they resorted to the natural right denying the system of the three States, considered absolutely unfair, because it excluded the largest nation the Romanians - who bore the heaviest burden of taxes and the most severe recruitment for the army, and they were prevented from enjoying the benefits that society had to offer. The first result of this new orientation, present in eighteenth-century texts end was defeating the religious gap between the united and the nonunited Romanians in Transylvania. The Romanian elite promoted the natural law, which involved antifeudal restitution claim, coupled with the historical right, through the spread of a common Dacian-Roman-Romanian history. These strategic directions contributed to the birth of a revolutionary political program. The bearers of this consciousness, until the end of the eighteenth century were the representatives of the united clergy, who stubbornly found that Romanians in Transylvania were denied Jura Patriae, while the Hungarians, Saxons and Szeklers recognized and privileged as a nation, has all the rights. Noteworthy is the reaction of a member of the Diet, a fierce defender of the countrys constitutionalism towards Inochentie Micus claim that united priests should collect tithes from their own congregation. He accused the united bishop that he infringed upon the freedoms of the fatherland and of our nobility (Tth 2000, 91). In order to give more weight to their own view, the States expressed doubts about the older rights and privileges of other nations. It was the time that paved the way for ideological controversy between the nationalities in the making in Transylvania. Following the initiative of the Saxons, it was then that the dispute between Romanian and Hungarians on continuity and their priority in the country was born. The stake was political, antagonistic, but carried on the basis of a common (conventional) language. This situation became most clearly 32

expressed by the Saxons in Transylvania. Hence the ideational conflict, and well as the subsequent controversy between Saxon and Romanian historiography, plus the position and then the contribution of Hungarians, the other privileged State. Hungarians and Saxons had, in the opinion of the epoch, all the characteristics of a nation. In the country, the Saxons were a minority but formed one social layer of "free and equal people", i.e. they were bourgeois and peasants, who, over centuries, with their government, have developed a strong political cohesion. Contrasts were even greater between the Romanian and Hungarian and Szkeler nobility, the latter having a special social position, of nobility guarding the border, organized in military terms. Without these attributes, the Romanians, more numerous, were in a position to describe their nation with the help of historical rights and claims, which the elite sought to prove as belonging, at a certain point, to Romanian as well. For the Romanian community, the awareness of historical and social rights and ethno-linguistic community was awakened by the clergy, who had been representing for more than a century, the economic, political and cultural interests of the community of faith, and - as with Serbs in southern Hungary or Slovaks - became the layer who carried the nations flag. For the founding generation of Blaj, disciples of Bishop Inochentie Micu Klein, represented by Petru Pavel Aron, Ioan Iacob Aron and Gherontie Cotore, promoters of the united confession, the Union represented a return to Latin spirituality. The concept was clear and assumed by the entire generation, so as evidenced by the letter written by Bishop Petru Pavel Aron and sent to Pope Benedict XIV (September 15, 1756): It is a numerous people, remains of Traian and Hadrian, as history tells, reason for which in their language they have called themselves Romanians or Romans until today. Their language is of Latin origin and very similar to the Italian one. We are witnessing a coherent characterisation of the Romanian Transylvanian nation, defined through faith, millenary history and Latin origin of the language (Bunea 1902, 425426)6. It is a coherent characterisation of the Transylvanian Romanian nation that distinguished itself through faith, milenary history, and Latin language.
6

Full Latin text, in Cornel Tatai, Octavian Rotar, Un document revelator asupra activitii culturale desfurate de Petru Pavel Aron, in Apulum, XII, 1974, p. 642-648.

Laura Stanciu

In Transylvania, together with the era of tolerance, starting with 1761, the United faithful bore a new name, becoming Greek-Catholics, likewise and in the same conditions, the Schismatics turned back to Orthodoxy, and therefore, both Romanian confessions of the province belonged, with legalised institutions and documents to the large Christian Catholic family, respectively, European Orthodox one. Doubtlessly, for Transylvanian Romanians, at a confessional, cultural, social, institutional, political and national level, this was the moment and epoch of European pre-construction. It the time when people were inventing and reinventing themselves from an identity, cultural and political point of view, were looking for a form of expression in order to understand each other, to be able to formulate coherent and credible messages, as part of a communication based on modern feelings, construed on common Christian cultural values. Romanians were also part of this modern identity picture, simply called fatherland and experimented themselves, like the Germans, Czechs, Polish, Slovaks or Hungarians, the new modern feelings. Similarly, they went through the phase of re-semantisation of related concepts, patriotism and nationalism, which started to be inseparable in the epoch. 7. It was only the Enlightenment generation during the 8th decade of the 18th century who, following the efforts started by Inochentie Micu, Petru Pavel Aron and Gherontie Cotore, will think according to the ideas of the Catholic Restoration, considering
7

that the religious Union may offer efficient means in support of Romanian peoples fight for emancipation. Paying heed to Maria Theresas religious politics, the ecclesiastical elite is looking for solutions in accordance with the imperial politics. In the circumstances that the Catholicism represented an essential component of the Courts politics, the religious Union became to Romanians an instrument for political and cultural affirmation, able to validate political and cultural aspirations. Thus, Grigorie Maiors generation, encouraged by the politics of Theresian reforms, established a vital relationship between the Church, history and politics (Teodor 1984, passim). Beneficiary of alterity, in the view of Bishop Grigorie Maior, ex-alumnus of Trnava and Rome, the meaning of the notion of fatherland was that of place of birth, country or estate (Maior 2001, 341). The presence of these terms, with a predominant frequency in the case of brethren, however both used with the same ethnic meaning, accompanied by concepts such as fatherland, country, land, made the transition, in Transylvanian Romanians culture, from a purely observational character of identity, to be found in Dimitrie Cantemirs historical discourse, to the advent of the combative political discourse, historically professed and based on the idea of Latin origin and continuity. Fatherland and patriotism for Transilvanian Romanians Obviously, in agreement with Pompiliu Teodor, Romanians did not live and came to being in a glass cage. They re-invented themselves from the point of view of identity, using the arguments of Humanists and preEnlightened (Jesuits), stimulated by the religious Union, even imitating the cultural, scientific and civic gestures of their Hungarian and Saxons conationals. The Hungarian, Saxon and Romanian elite, defined, individually, the identity of Hungarians, Saxons and Romanians in Transylvania. Against a background of Herderian ethnic nationalism, embraced by the Transylvanian contemporary elite, discussions turned into polemics. Aided by the instruments of history and philology, the debate on the history of fatherland gradually degenerated into the conflict over fatherland (1848). This is the main reason that prevented the establishing of a common identity of Transylvanians, even if Ardeal represented the home and was their fatherland to an equal extent, for Franz Joseph Sulzer, at a certain point, as well as for Peter Bod, Joseph Benk, Georg Kraus or Gheorghe incai, Petru Maior, Ion Budai-Deleanu. 33

In order to understand the distinct cases in Central Europe, see Jeremy King, Budweisers into Czechs and Germans: A Local History of Bohemian Politics, 1848-1948, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2002; Rogers Brubaker, Ethnicity without Groups, Los Angeles, UCLA University Press, 2004; Tara Zahra, Each nation only cares for its own. Your Child Belongs to the Nation. Nationalization, Germanization, and Democracy in the Bohemian Lands, in The American Historical Review, 2006; Pieter M. Judson, Guardians of the Nation. Activists on the Language. Frontiers of Imperial Austria, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2006; Grancea, Ubi Patria, p. 521-530. For a methodological approach to conceptual history: Hayden White, The Content of the Form. Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, Baltimore/London, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990; Reinhart Koselleck, Conceptul de istorie. Introduction by Victor Neumann. Translated from German by Victor Neumann and Patrick Lavrits, Iai, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University Press, 2005. Idem, Conceptele i istoriile lor, passim.

About National Identity in Transylvania

Obviously, one cannot speak about the polychromy of the idea of fatherland and patriotism in 18th century Transylvania unless we reconsider the local sources, first of all contextualising them and comparing the coverage of terms within the linguistic boundaries of the epoch (J. Zemmrich, Pieter M. Judson). Second of all, the analysis can only be made as part of the relation between Transylvanian Romanians and the Romanians from the Principalities beyond the Carpathians (Bochmann 2010, 103-128; Grancea 2007, 521530), as well as in connection with Hungarians and Saxons from Transylvania, in an epoch that was characterised by both cosmopolitism and national identity. Following and in agreement with Dimitrie Cantemir, the Transylvanian Saxon pre-Enlightened Georg Kraus said: [] I dared to present (in historicis) some of the things that happened to our poor country, now so barren and ignored by everybody (Mrza, Stanciu 1965, 5). An identical referencing covered the term fatherland in the opinion of the Hungarian Enlightened scholar O Joseph Benk: [] the Szeklers remembered because of the liberation of his fatherland and his people turned against Tatars fury and attack on the citadel of Turutzkon and fought commendably against the same Tatars8. Both representatives of the Transylvanian States like the Romanian Bishop, denominated fatherland as the place of birth patria, the estate. The next generation of the Transylvanian elite, influenced by the German Enlightenment, has a polysemantic referencing, characteristic to the German culture, and distinguished between the primary meaning of the concept and its cultural one. Thus, through the writings of Saxon Enlightened scholar Franz Joseph Sulzer there was a decantation between fatherland as place of origin (the land below the house, estate - Heimat) Valachians descend from Hamus, Macedonia, Thessaly or Illyiria towards North-West towards the Danube; settle on this riverbank probably in the region of Vidin, because this means their old fatherland for one riverbank, and Turnu Severin for the other Danubes riverbank9 and the country of
8

ancestors (Vaterland): The Saxons complained to the king who returned from his crusades in the Holy Land, that they would lose all their liberty and privileges in exchange for the promise due to which they had left their country under Geza II and had left for Transylvania10. For the whole 18th century, fatherland had two semantic meanings for Transylvanian Romanians. First of all, for the alumni who left to study at Jesuit colleges in Europe (Stanciu 2009, documents nos. 16, 17, 25, 30, 55, 112, 304, 452, 466, 518), it represented the nostalgia of the home / fatherland of origin (Heimat), of birthland. Ex-alumnus of Rome, Gheorghe incai illustrated this significance: And all these are given to them, out of emperor-king mercy, which will not be taken back, so that both monks and alumni may live on, whose office will serve as a good example to all young people they will take charge of, in order to teach them good manners, give them education and teach them the languages that are missing in the Country of Ardeal and in which they can talk to their fellow countrymen and inhabitants of the country, so that they may become reliable agents of the unification11. He enlarged the perspective, by explaining the associated feeling. The meaning given to patriotism by his colleague, Petru Maior follows the same line of thought: It is a natural impulse which spurs people to love their fatherland and make them happy to live in it12 [our note because] it is not easy for people to leave their fatherland, even if they have troubles to face13.
gegen die Donau; setzen uber diesen Fluss vermuthlich in der Gegend von Widdin, denn auf dieser trift ihre alte Heimat auf einer, und der Thurm Severin auf der anderen seite der Donau, in Ibidem (see Franz Joseph Sulzer, Geschichte des transalpinischen Daciens. Zweiter Band, Wien, 1781, p. 29). 10 Die Sachsen beschwerten sich bei dem, von seinem Kreuzzuge aus dem heiligen Lande zuruckgekommenen Konige, das sie um alle ihre Freiheit und Vorrechte kommen wurden, gegen deren Verheissung unter Gesa II sie ihr Vaterland verlassen, und sich nach Siebenburgen begeben hatten, in Ibidem, p. 32). 11 Mrza, Stanciu, Sens i reprezentare, sub voce (see Gheorghe incai, Hronica Romnilor. Tome III. Edited and Research on language by Florea Fugariu. Preface and Notes by Manole Neagoe, Bucureti, 1969, p. 356-357). 12 Ibidem, (see Petru Maior, Istoria pentru nceputul romnilor n Dachia. Critical edition and research on language by Florea Fugariu. Vol. I-II, Bucureti, 1970-1971, p.122). 13 Ibidem, p. 123.

Ibidem, (see Jzsef Benk, Transsilvania specialis (Erdly fldje s npe), Szab Gyrgy, BukarestKolozsvr, 1999, p. 285: "([] az emltett szkelyek hazjuk s npk megszabadtsa vgett Turutzkon vrnl vitzl az emltett tatrok dhe s rohama ellen fordultak, s ugyanazon tatrok ellen dicsretesen kzdttek [])". 9 Die Walachen kommen herunter, vom Hamus, aus Macedonien, Thessalien, oder Illirien, nordwerts

34

Laura Stanciu

Secondly, the term illustrated the spirit of mitteleuropische Aufklrung and contained, implicitly, a representation of the state and state order and structure, through the role played by the laws of fatherland (Stanciu 2009, documents nos. 286, 499). Petru Maior clarified: [] the same extended Hungarian nation must forever devoutly keep permanent peace, which will ensure happiness, and according to the fatherlands constitution and peacefully guard upon it, showing filial piety and faithful obedience to their lords and superiors14. From the perspective of a Josephine Aufklrer, such as Petru Maior, the feeling of patriotism will acquire cosmopolitan connotations, entailing the respect for the states norms, for its Constitution. This country had to assure equal rights for all inhabitants and offer the representation of modern, democratic statehood. This meaning, given to the concept of fatherland came as a follow up to Romanians aspirations towards social emancipation. It was also through Petru Maior fatherland started to be defined in our political vocabulary, also from a social perspective: [] Likewise, if they do not consider themselves citizens and sons of the fatherland, those Romanians who are not landlords, like those Hungarians, who are not landlords, do not consider themselves citizens and sons of the fatherland in 15. One of the pertinent representations on the role of Romanians in the social order of the time was obviously conditioned by individual emancipation, through education. According to the arch-priest Petru Maior (at the same time, priest, theologian, historian, philologist) the duty to educate children became thus a civic duty, and he was the first to relate civism and patriotism in Transylvanian Romanians modern culture Therefore, in order to raise your children with relentless need to be honest parents, so that you can teach your children what they need to believe and do as Christians, to which you should add admonishing or beating, when the behaviour, circumstances and wisdom that parents should have when need be. Because this is how you will save your childrens and your soul, here on earth, and so much more will the whole country rejoice for such well behaved children, together with you (Maior 2011, 85). The legal advisor Ion Budai Deleanu (historian and philologist at the same time) gave a clearer political connotation to the notion, assigning to
14

it the modern meaning, even inducing a Republican nuance to the term: [] about an illegal thing, because it is illegal, even criminal, to blame a nation publicly, to steal away its fatherland, and to deprive it of its civic existence []16. Unexpectedly, the avant-gardist Budai Deleanu identified an overlapping between fatherland and nation, concepts that he associated with democratic liberties 17. In a totally different environment, without practice or preoccupations for conceptualisations, for the resurgent peasant Horea and his men, fatherland - the Vaterland, it was the ancestors land, in which ancient law or ancient faith (Prodan 1938, 250 and following; Prodan 1998, 208) needed to be devoutly kept and passed onto the descendants (as a patrimony). The Transylvanian enlightened elite defined the term in a similar way, even at the beginning of the 19th century. Maior questioned and probed his feeling of belonging to a territory, for himself and for his folks in this way: [] and who should be so unfeeling, not to know that all people love and desire their fatherland, where they were born and where the bones of their dead fathers and grandfathers are at rest?18 for his friend and comrade, Ion-Budai Deleanu, the significance of the concept (of fatherland) overlapped with this semantic dimension: [] it urged me to write about Dacia and Dacian issues, first the need and then the use of co-citizens because nothing is more useful for the fatherland than the research of history, especially that which engulfs the deeds of our ancestors19. The meaning was similar for the ideological opponent of the two Romanian historians, J. C. Eder, who mentioned: [] because a man who cares about the honour of his fatherland cannot remain indifferent if the states are represented before the world, with the help of undoubtedly erroneous historical data, as
16

Mrza, Stanciu, Sens i reprezentare, sub voce (see Petru Maior, op. cit., p. 196). 15 Ibidem, p. 194.

Mrza, Stanciu, Sens i reprezentare, sub voce (see Ion-Budai Deleanu, De originibus populorum Transyivaniae - Despre originile popoarelor din Transilvania. Edited by Ladislau Gymnt, with an introduction by tefan Pascu and Ladislau Gymnt, notes and translation by Ladislau Gymnt, Bucureti, 1991, p. 324). 17 This is an outlook characteristic to the 20th century. See Mitu, Transilvania mea, p. 120; Bochmann, Conceptul de patriotism n cultura romn, p. 124. 18 Mrza, Stanciu, Sens i reprezentare, sub voce (see Petru Maior, op.cit., p. 121). 19 Ibidem, (see Ion-Budai Deleanu, op.cit., note CDXCIII).

35

About National Identity in Transylvania

tyrannous towards the people (Eder 1970, Note 58). The relationship between language and fatherland promoted by Herder fuelled the idea of a scholarly patriotism (H. Sundhausen) (Neumann 2005, 51). This was probably the reason why this outlook contaminated the Romanian Transylvanian elite trained in a religious environment, but refined and made famous in Vienna, at the end of the 18th century or in Buda at the beginning of the 19th century changing their attitude and reference point. The Transylvanian School (coala Ardelean) was committed to building self-consciousness for their ethnicity, to maturing a Romanian collective identity, much more than human and citizens rights. Therefore, its representatives invested and believed more than in anything else, in the idea of communication in the same language, the only one that could create a community of values and individuals. This group of people gave shape, meaning and form, in the collective mentality, to the notion of fatherland and to the content of the related feeling, patriotism, which is belonging to a land/territory and to common values. Through its cultural constructivism (I mean here the tricothomy of Roman origin, continuity, and Latin origin of the Transylvanian Romanians, promoted by them), this group made that, in the dynamics of Transylvanians political vocabulary, Romanians too went along the same path of the concept of fatherland, as it happened in the case of the German culture: from birthland Estate Property / Heimat to Ancestors country / Vaterland. Marked by the atmosphere of incomparable and unmistakable individuality of the Gtthingen University (Koselleck 2009, 250253), for which the only ideological debate was the one founded on the cultural argument, in the correspondence between Maior and Budai Deleanu, patriotism thus acquired civic connotations too: I would have here more things to mention, but I did not want to bother you, and I would have not written these things either if you hadnt invited me, writing to me in Latin alphabet and showing to me your wish that it would be good not to confuse spelling, i.e. be consistent with one or another. As I want to fulfil this patriotic duty, I havent spared my efforts to show you the theory of my spelling (Budai-Deleanu manuscript, f. 15v). Starting with the 8th decade of the 18th century, the territory to which I make reference was the pre-national Europe. It is that Europe that germinated the era of nationalities, due to the offer and identity programme of Hegel, 36

language and history. It was, most of all, the Europe of the Universities of Vienna, Buda, and above all, Gttingen with an overwhelming influence on this space. In other words, it was the period before Hegel and Goethe. The latter was also the one who used the expression erweitertes Vaterland, i.e. enlarged fatherland, trying to define, among the first ones to do this, the concept of Europe. For this reason, perhaps, for the people gathered on the Plain of Liberty, on 13-15 May, to be united with the Country, was, on the one hand, a sort of repatriation, i.e. a sort of reunification of their identity matrix, which acquired, definitely thanks to Cantemir and The Transylvanian School, a shape and a form: Ardeal is the land of gold and precious metals that will all fill the Hungarian nations pockets, like the salt and the goods of our fatherland will only add to the patrimony of the Hungarians and enhance Romanians poverty, and the Romanians sons will form legions and fight for the glory of those who wiped out their barbarian names, as our fatherland is a citadel surrounded by nature with awful walls.20. Aaron Florians work illustrated perfectly the outlook of the age and built on the ideological platform of the Transylvanian School, whose themes he obsessively developed (Latinity, continuity, origins). He remains faithful to the enlightened principle that fatherland id the country of birth: The name of fatherland, patriot and patriotism sound sweet in everybodys voice, but few are those who really penetrate their true value [because] without being aware of the true meaning of the name of fatherland, one is not a patriot, and without patriots there is no patriotism, without patriotism there is no private happiness, there is no public happiness (Aaron, 1843, apud Gherman 2004, 133). Romanticism brought about virtue with reference to the fathers birthland, because of which the patriot had to have a certain behaviour (Koselleck 2009, 192). Therefore, although the Transylvanian Aaron Florian made a hierarchy of nations according to patriotism (the ancient Greek, the British), starting from the idea that: Fatherland in the eyes of civilised nations is not only their country and its inhabitants, but the real fatherland is made up of the social institutions and establishments, the interests and issues that set up the common happiness of all
20

Mrza, Stanciu, Sens i reprezentare, sub voce (see Simion Brnuiu, Discursul de la Blaj i Scrieri de la 1848. Preface by Ion Raiu, edited by Ioan Chindri, Cluj Napoca, 1990, p. 463.).

Laura Stanciu

fellow citizens (Aaron, 1843, apud Gherman 2004, 136), he preserved a cosmopolitan, enlightened view of fatherland. The creed that Aaron Florian revered was that [] the civilised man is a citizen and he lives a life that is rather moral than physical; this is what differentiates him from a savage and a slave []. The citizen does no longer live for himself, but for the others as well (Aaron, 1843, apud Gherman 2004, 139, 153). Thus was born, in the Romanians political culture the idea that characterised the 19th century, according to which patriotism became the religion of the modern world: [] patriotism, just like religion, is a matter of consciousness []. Religion teaches self-denial, abandonment of physical life and commands a moral life, which is also the life of a real patriot (Aaron, 1843, apud Gherman 2004, 141, 151). However, at the same time, patriotism obliged to partisanship and assuming the state institutions. A citizen is defined through patriotism, and a patriot had to be a cives bonus (good citizen): any citizen will love his fatherland, when he knows that he has in it something more than the individuals own use, or of the land that he inhabits; when he knows that the institutions and the establishments of his fatherland are the surest guarantees for his best moral and material advancement; for his family, who is his dearest in his life (Aaron, 1843, apud Gherman 2004, 140, 141). The natural continuation of the idea is that the evaluation of the political system had to be made according to patriotism, obviously to the enlightened principle: each citizens happiness is strongly connected with the happiness of the state [because] each citizens happiness depends on collective happiness (Aaron, 1843, apud Gherman 2004, 146, 148). This vision is based on the sound principles of Enlightenment, which paved the way for the liberal ideology, grounded on individual liberty and responsibility. It remains decisive in our modern culture, the fact that, using the two types of discourse, historical and philological, exported and mediatised the topics of Transylvanians in the extra Carpathians territory21. Aarons role was so much more important in the shaping of the extra-Carpathians Romanian Romantic discourse, as we remember the decisive influence that he had on Nicolae Blcescus education. For Aaron, at a first level, the feeling
21

of patriotism is connected with his place of birth, his childhoods comrades, his youths friends, the national language, the habits, opinions and traditions of his fellow countrymen, and in a word, with all that belonged to his fatherland (Aaron, 1843, apud Gherman 2004, 134). At a second level, the patriot wants all well to the fellow citizens one lives with as part of the society [in order to] enhance their happiness []. This noble patriotism [which obliges that] according to position, state, wealth and strength [of each man, he] must work for its happiness; because only then will he be happy, each and every one, when all society is happy (Ibidem). Through Aarons voice was disseminated in Muntenia as well the enlightened cosmopolitan view of statehood based on law and social order, as an essential contribution to individual happiness. Under the conditions that the nation was becoming the main subject of history, demoralisation and corruption have always been fierce enemies of patriotism. They destroyed large nations and ruined strong states []. In the states where there are only two strata of people, some rich and the others poor, it is a dangerous thing to found the state on the whole peoples patriotism (Ibidem, 153, 155). It is important for us to see the partnership relationship that Florian Aaron was trying to establish, especially through hi history manuals22, between fatherland and people, from a civic perspective. Within this context, following the relationship between civism and patriotism inaugurated by Petru Maior, it is interesting to note the answer given by Aaron to the question: what does patriotic education mean? Parents have to make sure that children, together with their mothers milk, they also drink love for their fatherland [] in order to make out of them honest people, useful bones of the society and true patriots! (Aaron, 1843, apud Gherman 2004, 149) The perception of the cosmopolitan enlightened fatherland generated by the French revolution (1789), based on civic responsibility, on the legality indispensable to individual happiness apparently was evacuated from Transylvania together with Florian Aaron. The events in the country that culminated with the Romanian-Hungarian conflict during the revolution of 1848 placed the fatherland (a Hungarian Transylvanian fatherland or a Romanian Transylvanian fatherland?) in the centre of the interethnic dispute.
22

Idee repede de istoria Prinipatului rii Rumneti. Patria, patriotul i patriotismul. Mihaiu II Bravului, biografia i caracteristica lui.

Such as Manual de istoria Prinipatului Romniei etc.

37

About National Identity in Transylvania

Conclusions In Transylvania, Habsburgs the integrationist policy sparked the exclusivist reaction of the Transylvanian States towards the tolerated people of the country (Romanians, Jewish, Gypsies). Therefore, the lack of the relations and interferences between Romanians and Saxons, for example23, the lack of common values for the Transylvanian Romanians, Saxons and Hungarians led to three separate identifications of each ethnicity with fatherland Heimat / Vaterland. Educated in Vienna or Buda, under the decisive influence of Herderian nationalism the enlightened Transylvanian elite, regardless of ethnicity, - Hungarian, Saxon or Romanian mindful of its own communitys aspirations, promoted a monocultural, conflicting and antagonistic patriotism, which fuelled nationalism in Transylvania, as well as in most provinces of the Habsburg Empire. The confirmation came at the moment of the Revolution of 1848. Like their fellow countrymen, Saxons and Hungarians, for Romanians too, country was the land under their houses, the birthplace for which they confronted with their Hungarian fellow countrymen: [] Hungarian newspapers in both Hungarian fatherlands this is how they call the Hungarian country and Ardeal, declared Simion Brnuiu have been spreading the Hungarians plan everywhere, they teach all nations that there is no other language than the Hungarian one [] we all know that Hungarians want to make the Hungarian country out of the land of Ardeal, they want no longer two Hungarian fatherlands, but to make an enlarged Hungarian fatherland out of the two.24. The Saxons, through the voice of their leader, Stephan Ludwig Roth, were vehemently rejecting the idea of joining Transylvania to Hungary. Providence and common fate have been bringing us together so many nations and confessions in this beautiful fatherland for so many centuries. Why should
23

In order to describe the impact of Josephinian reform policy on Saxons living in Sibiu during the 18th century, see Angelika Schaser, Reformele iosefine n Transilvania i urmrile lor n viaa social. Importana edictului de concivilitate pentru oraul Sibiu. Translated by Monica Vlaicu, Sibiu, Hora Publishing House, 2000, p. 77- 87. For an analysis of the phenomenon, its contextualisation and identification of similarities in the central-European space, Victor Neumann, Neam i popor: noiunile etnocentrismului romnesc, in Neumann, Heinen ed., Istoria Romniei prin concepte, p. 379-387. 24 Mrza, Stanciu, Sens i reprezentare, sub voce (see Simion Brnuiu, Discursul de la Blaj, p. 460 461).

we upset each other? Why should we pursue our happiness only in separate actions, shunning the slightest proximity? Why should we unearth from their graves the shadows of our dead ancestors, frightening each other? Why should we not look for our future with joint manhood in our eyes? (Giura 1999, 87) Romanians and Saxons were allies together against Vienna for a common cause, that of not allowing the annexation of Transylvania to Hungary, although for different reasons. While Romanians were starting to dream of a Romanian country within the Habsburg Empire, the Saxons regarded Transylvania as a multinational fatherland. The danger of merging Transylvania with Hungary overlapped with the counterrevolutionary pressure from Russia, so that Romanians and Saxons defended together their interest, that of preserving Transylvanias multinational values. [] Indeed they were illadvised, these politicians, ignoring that the Moscovite will not be scared away by anyones words, but by valiant arms and chest, in which theres a heart devoted to ones fatherland, where anyone has, or can always earn a piece of land, on which they can live, work and declare: This is mine, for this, therefore, for my parents, my wife, my children, my law, my language, my nationality, a.s.o. I will strive till I die25. Gradually, this his how, against the lack of cooperation and cohabitation between Romanians, Saxons, Hungarians facing a huge stake, that of losing Transylvanias identity, the elite of the Romantic generation came to take a step from the enlightened cultural vision to a contradictory political projection of the state on fatherland, Romanian fatherland vs. Hungarian fatherland. Florian Aarons close collaborator, another continuer and multiplier of Transylvanian Schools creed, George Bari is an excellent barometer of the epochs ideology, in that, when referring to the nineteenth century, he positions himself as historical witness: [... ] that measure taken by the elderly, that their youth should learn the two languages of the country was useful, along the century, for a large number of young people in their day-to-day

25

Mrza, Stanciu, Sens i reprezentare, sub voce (see Simion Brnuiu, O tomeal de ruine i o lege nedreapt, in Cornelia Bodea, 1848 la romni. O istorie n date i mrturii, I, Bucureti, Enciclopedic Publishing House, 1982, p. 191).

38

Laura Stanciu

life26. Timotei Cipariu, like George Bari, had the perception of a common, multicultural, liberal fatherland (Transylvania), which offered them the possibility of plural affirmation of patriotism (Mitu 2006, 122-123). At the same time, Bari proved that he remained subservient to the paradoxical period that he lived, to the unhappy experience due to the conflict between Romanians and Hungarians during the revolution. Therefore, for the whole generation of Transylvanian forty-eighters, he construes a retrospective on the perception of patriotism in 1848, with a contradictory, conflicting meaning, for Hungarians and Romanians: [] for Vesselenyi has a great weight his traditional and is familys hatred, and not only pure patriotism27. As it is known, the political system of Transylvania was represented by three Transylvanian States and four accepted religions. In Romanians opinion, through their Union with Rome they became part of an accepted religion. In the eyes of its States, they eroded in this way the stable system of fatherland. In 1848, to answer the original question, Transylvanians concluded that they were living with their co-nationals (Hungarians and Saxons) and not together in the same country, in the same country /Land /Heimat, in a mutual antipathy. In this situation, the Transylvanian Romanians proclaimed that they want to get united with the Country. I can say that the association between country and fatherland remained a constant of the nineteenth century for both Romanians and Saxons in Transylvania. While for the latter Vaterland or Heimat continue to designate the home, the ancestors country, for Romanians, due to the activity of the Transylvanian School, the concept of fatherland assimilated the cultural connotation of ethnonation defined by common language and history. The concept will be applied through the national discourse that imposed an ideological perspective. When the country gradually began to receive a national meaning, of state, in Transylvania took place the revolution of 1848, as it happened and the other two extra-Carpathian Romanian Principalities. Among Transylvanian Romanians claims in 1848, it was reiterated their demand for
26

Ibidem, (see George Bariiu, Pri alese din Istoria Transilvaniei pe 200 de ani n urm, 2nd edition, edited by t. Pascu and Florin Salvan; introduction by Acad. t. Pascu, vol. I, Braov, 1993, p. 564). 27 Mrza, Stanciu, Sens i reprezentare, sub voce (see George Bariiu, Pri alese, p. 537).

recognition as sons of the fatherland, i.e. equal in rights with the Hungarians and Saxons. With Simion Brnuius speech from Blaj (May 15, 1848), what started to separate Transylvanian Romanians from their fellow citizens, Hungarians and Saxons, was the desire reunite all Romanians within a national state. It was the time to establish the unbreakable link between nation and fatherland. The panRomanian perception on the state started to gain ground, i.e. the ethnic perspective on the country (Bochmann 2010, 112). Immediately, the MPs representing the three Romanian provinces in Vienna submitted to the King The Memorandum of the Romanian nation from the Great Principality of Transylvania, Banat, from neighbouring territories to Hungary and Bukovina (February 25, 1849), which supported [...] the union of Bukovina, Transylvania and Banat under a government [...] the union of all Romanians in the Austrian state into one single independent nation under the rule of Austria as completing part of the Monarchy (Apud Maior 1998, 344-345). As part of the debate provoked by the adoption of the new constitution of the empire, the document laid down Romanians clear political options, based on the principles of ethnic federalism and unmasked the understanding of stage reached by the political organization process of the Romanian nation in the Habsburg Empire. It was, in fact, the image of the reorganization of the empire on the basis of ethnic nationalities autonomy, compliant with the projects of Czechs, Serbs, and Slovaks, also imposed through the Petition of the United Nations (April 26, 1849). It was a claim that decisively entered the public consciousness, thanks to the revolution, continued to be multiplied and dominated the Transylvanian political documents throughout the nineteenth century, culminating with A.C. Popovici and Al. Vaidas federalist project, from the beginning of the twentieth century. The semantic construction of the notion of fatherland is essential in setting up a modern national discourse and it is both a cultural phenomenon and a product of the interaction between images and representations of identityalterity. In Transylvania, too, at the end of the eighteenth century, this image was already well established and configured. Romanticism brings along with and explosion of patriotic poetry, emphasising the martyr image as part of the public discourse, who will sacrifice himself for the country and fatherland and builds the national gallery of heroes, founding fathers of the country. 39

About National Identity in Transylvania

Following the journey of the concept of fatherland, I was obliged to refer to concepts that are sometimes and in a determining and competitive relationship: country, nation, and fatherland. For the Transylvanian Romanians during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, remained worthwhile and positive, the constant effort to adapt both their historic language as well as the political or literary one to the ideological movement. All these concepts are found, for Transylvanians, Hungarians, Romanian and Saxons alike, during the modern era, in a plural discussion bordering polemic separate, even conflicting - around patriotism. For them all, the fatherland and patriotism were related to Transylvania, but the domination of the ethno-national consciousness imposed by Herder (the romantic Kulturnation) made that each of these Transylvanian ethnicities developed contradictory political aspirations, around 1848, by developing different state projects (Romanian fatherland vs. Hungarian fatherland) (Neumann 2005, 51-53). I tried to understand why and how patriotism fuelled nationalism in modern age Transylvania and how to explain the distortion of the original meaning, the Enlightenment one, of the concept of cosmopolitan fatherland. In the case of Transylvanians, as well in that of the Czechs, Hungarians, Serbs and Slovaks, the image of enlightened cosmopolitan fatherland, encouraged by reformist-integrationist Habsburg policy was distorted by Herder's national ideology. We thus see how, for Transylvanian Romanians, fatherland and nation became synonymous. In the polemic and legitimising discourse of the Transylvanian School, the two concepts supported each other in constructing a specific regional identity (Grancea 2007, 522528). Although the Transylvanian elite, either Hungarian, Saxon or Romanian understood during this period, that they were part of the same political and cultural, multicultural and multi-confessional, heritage, paying heed to the aspirations of their own communities, preferred and embraced the concept of Herders ethnic, monocultural nationalism. Therefore, in the cosmopolitan Transylvania, was born Panromanianism as a reaction to Hungarian PanMagyarism. It happened in Transylvania in 1848, like in other provinces of the Habsburg Empire, that patriotism exacerbated nationalism, sometimes with exclusive tendencies at the expense of cosmopolitanism. There are realities of the past history that we Transylvanians cannot ignore and that we should assume, so that 40

we can understand and accept our becoming within the same country. In a period in which none of the history textbooks in Romanian secondary education does not refer to fatherland, when the term and the feeling born, and derived from and by the subject, patriot and patriotism, seem outdated and no longer give birth to born emotions, when they only (given, of course, the lack of interest for the place) some obscure cinemas in small towns of the fatherland bear that name, the approach from a historical perspective of this concept seemed useful and important. And especially since the concept of fatherland has become false in the eyes of our contemporaries, due to its being abused during Ceauescus regime, especially during the eighties of the twentieth century. That was the time, of sad memory, when the totalitarian Communist Party was confused with fatherland. Even cooperating with the security was considered a duty towards the party and the fatherland. Many of the agreements of security collaborators justified the informative reports through formulas such as "[...] we believe that the defence of fatherland, state security is a patriotic duty of the whole people, laid down by the Constitution [...]" (Albu 2008, 71-72). The overlapping between the unique party and the concept of fatherland, together with the nationalist connotation given to the use of the term fatherland have led to its avoidance over the last twenty years. REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journals: Dumitran Daniel Dumitran, Libertates 2010 vs. Tolerantia. Dezbaterile privind reglementarea politicii de toleran n Transilvania (1781- 1782) i semnificaiile lor [Libertates vs. Tolerantia. Debates on Tolerance Politic Regulation in Transylvania]. In: Annales Universitatis Apulensis. Series Historica, 2010, p. 207-226. Prodan David Prodan, Supplex Libellus 1998 Valachorum. Din istoria formrii naiunii romne [Supplex Libellus Valachorum. From the History of Romanian Nation Birth], edited by Mihai Alin Gherman, Enciclopedic Publishing House (1998), Bucureti, p. 208.

Laura Stanciu

Tatai, Rotar 1974

Teodor 1984

Cornel Tatai, Octavian Rotar, Un document revelator asupra activitii culturale desfurate de Petru Pavel Aron [A Revealing Document about Petru Pavel Arons Cultural Activity]. In: Apulum, XII, 1974, p. 642-648. Pompiliu Teodor, Iluminism i naiune [Enlightenment and Nation]. In: Naiunea romn. Genez. Afirmare. Orizont contemporan [Romanian Nation. Genesis. Affirmation. Contemporary Horizon], Editura Enciclopedic (1984), Bucureti, passim.

Bunea 1902

Gherman 2004

b. Books: *** Magyar Orszgos Levltr, Magyar fond Magyar Kamara Archivum, Acta Jesuitica, 236d/1740-1745, f. 398-497. Aaron Aaron Florian, Patria, patriotul 1843 i patriotismul de F. Aaron profesor de istorie general n Colegiul Naional Sf. Sava din Bucureti [Homeland, patriot and patriotism by F. Aaron, a Teacher of History in National College St.Sava from Bucharest], Tipografia Curii a lui Fr. Valbaum (1843), Bucureti. Albu 2008 Albu, Mihai, Informatorul. Studiu asupra colaborrii cu Securitatea [Informer. A Study on Cooperation with Security], Polirom (2008), Iai, p. 71-72. Bocan Bocan, Nicolae, Ideea de 1997 naiune la romnii din Transilvania i Banat. Secolul al XIX-lea [The Concept of Nation at Romanian from Transylvania and Banat. The 19th Century], Presa Universitar Clujean (1997), Cluj Napoca. Brubaker Brubaker, Rogers, Ethnicity 2004 without Groups, Los Angeles, UCLA University Press, 2004 BudaiBudai-Deleanu, Ion, Deleanu, Fundamenta grammatices manuscript linquae romaenicae seu ita dictae valachicae usui tam domesticorum quam extraneorum accomodata,

Giura 1999

Judson 2006

King 2002

Koselleck 2009

Kraus 1965

Manuscript by Academian Library, Cluj Napoca, f. 15v. Bunea, Augustin, Episcopii Petru Pavel Aron i Dionisie Novacovici sau istoria romnilor transilvneni de la 1751 pn la 1764 [Bishops Petru Pavel Aron and Dionisie Novacovici or the History of Transylvanian Romanians from 1751 to 1764] (1902), Blaj, p. 425-426. Gherma, Alin Mihai, Literatura romn din Transilvania ntre preiluminism i preromantism [Romanian Literature in Transylvania between preEnlightenment and preRomanticism], Casa Crii de tiin (2004), Cluj-Napoca, p. 133. Giura, Lucian, Pe urmele lui Stephan Ludwig Roth [In the Footsteps of Stephan Ludwig Roth], Editura Universitii Lucian Blaga (1999), Sibiu, p. 87. Judson, Pieter M., Guardians of the Nation. Activists on the Language. Frontiers of Imperial Austria, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2006 King, Jeremy, Budweisers into Czechs and Germans: A Local History of Bohemian Politics, 1848-1948, Princeton University Press (2002), Princeton. Koselleck, Reinhart, Conceptele i istoriile lor. Semantica i pragmatica limbajului social-politic. [Concepts and Their History. Semantics and Pragmatic of Socio-Politic Language]. With two contributions by Spree Ulrike, Steinmetz Willibald. Translated from German by Decuble Gabriel H. and Oruz Mari. Coordination and harmonisation of translation: Decube Gabriel H., Art (2009), Bucureti, p. 273. Kraus, Georg, Cronica Transilvaniei 1608-1665 [Chronicle of Transylvania 1608-1665]. Translation and 41

About National Identity in Transylvania

Lemny 1986

Maior 1998

Maior 2001

Maior 2011

Mrza, Stanciu 2005

Mitu 2000

Mitu 2006

introduction by G. Duzinchevici (1965), Bucureti, p. 5. Lemny, tefan, Originea i cristalizarea ideii de patrie n cultura romn [The Origin and Crystallization of the Fatherland Concept in Romanian Culture], Minerva (1986), Bucureti. Maior, Liviu, 1848-1849. Romni i unguri n revoluie [1848-1849. Romanians and Hungarians in Revolution], Editura Enciclopedic (1998), Bucureti, p. 344-345. Maior, Grigorie, Institutiones Linguae Valachicae. Lexicon Compendiarium LatinoValachicae. Edited, introduction, notes and index by Alin-Mihai Gherman. Foreword and summary by Iacob Mrza, vol. II, Alba Iulia, Editura Aeternitas (2001), p. 341. Maior, Petru, Didahii, adec nvturi pentru creterea fiilor la ngropciunea oamenilor mori [Sermons, namely Learning for Education of Children at Burials of Death Men]. Critical edition by Laura Stanciu and Ioan Adrian Circa, Editura Mega (2011), Cluj Napoca, p. 85. Mrza, Iacob, Stanciu, Laura, Sens i reprezentare n dinamica gndirii politice din Transilvania (sec. XVII-XIX). Dicionar terminologic explicativ. Baz de date [Meaning and Representation in the Dynamic of Politic Thought in Transylvania.], Editura Argonaut (2005), Cluj Napoca. Mitu, Sorin, Imagini europene i mentaliti romneti din Transilvania [European Images and Romanian Mentalities in Transylvania], Editura Universitar Clujean (2000), Cluj-Napoca. Mitu, Sorin, Transilvania mea. Istorii, mentaliti, identiti [My Transylvania. Histories,

Neumann 2005

Pdurean 2004

Prodan 1938

RmiGiraud 1996

Schaser 2000

Stanciu 2009

Sulzer 1781

Mentalities, Identities], Polirom (2006), Iai. Neumann, Victor, Neam, popor sau naiune? Despre identitile politice europene [Kin, People or Nation? About European Politic Identities] Second Edition, Curtea Veche (2005), Bucureti, p. 60-63. Pdurean, Corneliu, Lexicul politic romnesc din Transilvania la sfritul secolului XIX i nceputul secolului XX [The Romanian Politic Lexic in Transylvania at the End of 19th Century and the Beginning of the 20th Century], , Editura Universitii Aurel Vlaicu (2004), Arad. Prodan David, Rscoala lui Horea n comitatele Cluj i Turda [Horeas Uprising in Cluj and Turda Comitats], (1938), Bucureti, p. 250 and following. Rmi-Giraud, Sylvianne, Rtat, Pierre et alii (ds.), Les Mots et la Nation, Presses Universitaires de Lyon (1996), Lyon, passim. Schaser, Angelika, Reformele iosefine n Transilvania i urmrile lor n viaa social. Importana edictului de concivilitate pentru oraul Sibiu [Josephs Reforms in Transylvania and Their Consequences in Social Life. The Importance of the concivilityEdict for Sibiu]. Translated by Monica Vlaicu, Editura Hora (2000), Sibiu, p. 77-87. Stanciu, Laura, Hitchins, Keith, Dumitran, Daniel (eds.), Despre Biserica Romnilor din Transilvania. Documente externe (1744-1754) [About Romanians Church in Transylvania. Outer Documents (1744-1754)], Editura Mega (2009), Cluj Napoca. Documents nos. 16, 17, 25, 30, 55, 112, 304, 452, 466, 518. Sulzer, Franz Joseph, Geschichte des

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transalpinischen Daciens. Zweiter Band, Wien, 1781, p. 29. Teodor Teodor, Pompiliu, Mrza, 2002 Iacob, Stanciu, Laura, Semantic politic iluminist n Transilvania (sec. XVII-XIX): Glosar de termeni [Enlightenment Politic Semantics in Transylvania (17th -19th Centuries)], Editura Aeternitas (2002), Alba Iulia. Tth 2000 Tth, I. Zoltn, Primul secol al naionalismului romnesc ardelean 1697 1792 [First Century of Romanian Transylvanian Nationalism, 1697-1792]. Translation from Hungarian by Maria Somean, Editura Pythagora (2000), Bucureti, p. 124-125. White 1990 White, Hayden, The Content of the Form. Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation, Baltimore/London, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990 Zahra 2006 Zahra, Tara, Each nation only cares for its own. Your Child Belongs to the Nation. Nationalization, Germanization, and Democracy in the Bohemian Lands. In: The American Historical Review (2006). c. Chapters in books: Antohi Antohi, Sorin, Cuvintele i 1994 lumea. Constituirea limbajului social-politic n cultura romn. In Antohi Sorin, Civitas imaginalis. Istorie i utopie n cultura romn [Words and World. The Constitution of Socio-Politic Language in Romanian Culture], Editura Litera (1994), Bucureti, p. 136-174. Bochmann Bochmann, Klaus, Conceptul 2010 de patriotism n cultura romn [The Concept of Fatherland in Romanian Culture]. In: Neumann Victor, Heinen Armin ed., Istoria Romniei prin concepte. Perspective alternative asupra limbajelor social politice, Polirom (2010), Iai, p. 104. Eder 1970 Eder, J.C., Wiederlegung der zu

Grancea 2007

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Klausenburg 1791 ber die Vorstellung der Walachichen Nation herausgekommen Noten. Note 58. In: Ion-Budai Deleanu, Scrieri inedite. Edited, introduction, notes and comments by Iosif Pervain, Editura Dacia (1970), Cluj Napoca. Grancea, Mihaela, Ubi Patria. Cltorii romni din prima parte a secolului al XIX-lea, ntre patria originar i cea virtual [Ubi Patria. Romanian Travelers in the First Part of 19th Century, between Originar ad Virtual Homeland]. In: Biseric, Societate, Identitate. In Honorem Nicolae Bocan [Church, Society, Idetity], Editura Universitar Clujean, (2007), Cluj Napoca, p. 521530. Krauss, Werner, Patriote, patriotique, patriotisme la fin de lAncien Rgime. In: Struktur und Funktion des sozialen Wortschatzes in der franzsischen Literatur. Wissenschaftliche Zeitschrift der Martin-Luther-Universitt Halle-Wittenberg, GSR, XIX/1970, 3-4, p. 79-83. Neumann, Victor, Neam i popor: noiunile etnocentrismului romnesc [Kin and Nation: Concepts of Romanian Ethnocentrism]. In Neumann, Heinen ed., Istoria Romniei prin concepte, p. 379-387. Ploscaru, Cristian, Semnificaii ale noiunilor patriot/patriotism n limbajul politic al boierimii pmntene din primele trei decenii ale secolului XIX [Meanings of Concepts of Patriot/Fatherland in Politic Language of Autohton Landowners in First 3 Decades of the 19th Century ]. In Andy Mihalache and Adrian Cioflnc eds., In medias res. Studii de istorie cultural [In medias res. Studies of Cultural History], Editura Universitii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (2007), Iai, p. 399-411. 43

PETRU MAIOR, DIDAHII A REPRESENTATIVE BOOK FOR CENTRAL EUROPEAN ENLIGHTENMENT PETRU MAIOR, DIDAHII CARTE REPREZENTATIV PENTRU ILUMINISMUL CENTRAL EUROPEAN

Ph. D. Laura Stanciu Universitatea 1 Decembrie 1918 din Alba Iulia, Facultatea de Istorie i Filologie 1st December 1918 University of Alba Iulia Faculty of History and Philology Email: laurastanciu@hotmail.com Adrian Circa preot ortodox n Media Orthodox Priest in Media circaioanadrian@yahoo.com

Abstract. The article proposes an analysis of the homiletic work, Didahii, a representative but insufficiently studied book for the Central European and Transylvanian Catholic Enlightenment. In order to understand and establish the significations of the work, the author used in her research the comparative method, joining Petru Maiors text to other similar previous and contemporary works. The study underlines the peculiarities of Maiors conception in relation to the Transylvanian homiletic literature. On the one side, there is an analysis of the approached topics and the influences of the previous manuscript or cultic literature from Transylvania (17th 18th centuries). On the other side, there is an investigation on the impact of the ideas of Catholic Reformation and Central European enlightenment on Petru Maior. The work is unique for the Romanian enlightenment in Transylvania. It puts into value the experience of the Viennese rationalist pedagogy of the time, based on the previous existence of a rich and extremely efficient formative Transylvanian homiletic literature. Keywords: Church, Homiletic, CentralEuropean Enlightenment, Catholic Reformation, Josephinism, Transylvanian School, Sermon

Rezumat. Articolul propune analiza lucrrii omiletice, Didahii, o carte reprezentativ pentru iluminismul catolic central-european, respectiv transilvnean, puin cercetat pn acum. Pentru nelegerea i stabilirea semnificaiilor lucrrii, autoarea a folosit n cercetarea sa metoda comparatist, alturnd textul lui Petru Maior lucrrilor anterioare i contemporane autorului n domeniu. Studiul evideniaz particularitile concepiei maioriene n relaie cu literatura omiletic transilvnean. Pe de o parte, sunt analizate temele abordate i influenele depistate dinspre literatura manuscris sau cult anterioar din Transilvania (sec. XVII-XVIII). Pe de alt parte, este cercetat impactul ideilor Reformei catolice i ale iluminismului central european asupra lui Petru Maior. Lucrarea este un unicat pentru iluminismul romnesc din Transilvania. Ea valorific experiena pedagogiei raionaliste vieneze a vremii, pe fondul existenei anterioare a unei bogate literaturi omiletice transilvnene extrem de eficiente formativ. Cuvinte cheie: Biseric, omiletic, iluminism central-european, Reform catolic, Iosefinism, coala Ardelean, predic The well known work of Petru Maior (1760-1821), the most visible and effective writer of the Transylvanian School, has drawn the attention of the modern exegesis due to its successive reediting (Maior, 1809a; Maior, 1809b; Maior, 1810-1811; Maior, 1894; Maior, 1906a; Maior, 1906b; Maior, 1948; Maior, 1970-1971; Maior, 1990; Maior, 1995; Maior, 1998). With only one exception: Didahii, adec nvturi pentru creterea fiilor la ngropciunea pruncilor mori (Maior, 2011). A work of a unique subject matter, form and content, it was unjustly forgotten and only partially printed in Latin letters. It was insufficiently researched and only mentioned in the various manuals of homiletics, history or literature. We have no knowledge of any study dedicated to the paper. The work represents Petru Maiors efficient attempt to popularize the ideas of enlightened pedagogy through the means of funeral homiletics. Although Petru Maior wrote and published Propovedanii, Didahii and Predici, the book Didahii is one of his most

Laura Stanciu, Adrian Circa

rationalist works. It reflects the Aufklrer features of its author, who was convinced by the power of catechesis and the role played by education in peoples life. The book valorises the impact of Viennese pedagogy, marked by the ideas of Johann Ignaz Felbiger, on the acting priest (Stanciu, 2003, 139-144). In a time when the interest for the education of children is very visible also among the Romanian enlightened scholars of Transylvania through the large number of manuals published, Maior proved his singular interest for children in the homiletics of the Transylvanian School (Munteanu, 1985, 94118; Mrza, 1989, 319-327). The mention is necessary under the circumstances of Samuil Micus Propovedanii, published only shortly before, containing a single prayer dedicated to children (Micu, 1784). Short after his arrival in Buda in 1809, Petru Maior made his editorial debut with two books of prayer: Propovedanii (Maior, 1809a) and Didahii (Maior, 1809b). For a better understanding of the Propovedanii, Maior claimed that through the Didahii he intended to continue and complete the first book. The work was the result of a lucid and efficient decision to use funeral homiletics as a contribution to the education of the Transylvanian family, the core of Romanian society (Grancea, 2005, 10-12). The mention in the title of the book [] for the education of the children at the funeral of infants indicates that this was a book for the use of the priests, although the main beneficiaries of the work remained the parents. However, as very few could read in Transylvania at that time, the priests and teachers remained its main addressees. The main idea of the work is the belief that the education of children represents an apostolic mission, assumed by Maior, and from this position, he was trying to indicate the attitude of adults confronted with the death of children. This position indicates that infant mortality represented a real and frequent problem in the Romanian society (at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century), which required a rationalization of a family life that was still developing according to the exigencies of the church (Nicoar, 1997, 149). Maior was supporting o pedagogy based on the authority and tradition of the church, unteaching

the parents of their bad habits, transformed by ignorance into customs. When the Didahii was published, there was still in use a large funeral anonymous and cultivated homiletic literature in Transylvania. Among the cultivated funeral homiletic literature the following works are worth mentioning: Sicriul de Aur by Ioan Zoba of Vin (Zoba, 1984), Cazanii la oameni mori (Dumitran, 2003, 282, 290-292), Propovedanii by Samuil Micu (Micu, 1784) and Propovedanii by Maior (Maior, 1809a). We want to underline that funeral homiletic literature was extensively developed in Transylvania (Szegedi, 2005, 7085; Dumitran, 2005, 114-115), unlike the situation in the other Romanian countries, where until the moment we refer to there was not even a single volume of prayers destined for burials. Following the line of anonymous or cultivated homiletic literature that existed in the Romanian milieu in Transylvania and responded to the current formative needs of the people, Maiors discourse can also be integrated into the trinomial catechesis, instruction, education (Dumitran, 2007, 270-273, 398, 405). It was actually a literature complementary to Sunday liturgy, having an obvious double purpose to instruct and catechesis. These were the fundamental objectives of enlightenment and of catholic Reformation, which in the Hapsburg Empire took the form of catholic enlightenment. The main topics of Didahii are the birth of children and their education in school and church. The salvation of children, intermediated by the good education they received during childhood, will also bring salvation to their parents. This was an innovative theological and civic concept in a time when parents were mobilized and taught how important and determining their influence in the education of their children was, as future grown-ups devoted to their country and good Christians. The idea, that a good education determines the happiness and the salvation of the children and that it brings not only happiness and joy to the parents, but especially their salvation, seems like an original idea in the Romanian Enlightenment in Transylvania, but represented actually the

45

Petru Maior. Didahii. A Representative Book for Central European Elightenment

typical thought of an Aufklrer28. Maior was able to structure the Didahii in such a way, as to highlight the efficient way the enlightened priest should have used the unfortunate moment of the death of infants or children as an opportunity to educate and catechize the adults from his community. Therefore, it was important to read the sacramental themes in order to prepare the discourse. Among the seven sacraments, four of them are being explained in Didahii: the Baptism, the Confession, the Marriage and the Ordination. Didahii faithfully reflects the mentality of that time, the morality of the era, and in the same time, the perception about the woman, her role and place in the economy of family life. Just like in his other works, Protopopadichia, Predici and Propovedanii, Maiors concern with the morality of the youth is proven by the generous space allocated to the role of women. Under the influence of the Jansenist and Gallican lectures on moral theology, the rationalist Maior, as well as Samuil Micu in his Homilies, regarded love as a danger to morality, although they placed love in the centre of the Christian life (Hersche 1977, 189). Maior perceived love between the young as an irrational feeling in bivalent relation to wisdom. But the enlightened missionarism that grew stronger in the detriment of moral theology was important especially due to the rationalist vision of understanding the sentiment of love that dominated these homilies. Perceived as a real frondeur of his time, Petru Maior used his Didahii also to fight for emancipation through education and for the raise of the Romanian community out of its apathy and ignorance. Maiors concentration upon educating the family, his insisting upon the role and responsibilities of parents in the education of their children might be considered by posterity as an important indicator of the effort done by the intellectuals of the Transylvanian School to link the Romanian society to the European enlightened society (Barbu, 1996, 119-139; Grancea, 1998, 75-84). The act was obviously based on the stability, security and
28

The German word describing a person (e.g.: writer, philosopher), promoter of the Enlightenment during the Age of Enlightenment.

also a certain prosperity in the Transylvanian society of that time. In the same time, such a homiletics which used the death of infants to focus on the good rising up of the children is a proof that infant mortality rate was still high in the Principality (Nicoar 2005, 403-418). Maior brought the argument of the parents authority in the education of their children. We notice with the archpriest of Gurghiu a preoccupation for the practical and current aspects, typical to the Enlightenment, as well as for the modern view on couples relationship, the family as an affective core built upon a complementary relationship, the responsibility of both spouses, and the contribution of both of them to the practical education of their children (Bolovan, 2008, 109-110). The modernity of Maiors enlightened conception about the role of the individual inside the family (Lemny, 1990, 116145; Nicoar, 1997, 189-224), the accent lying with the attributions of the two actors, woman and man, as a model to be or not to be followed by their children, and with the relationship of the partners in front of their children. The archpriest preached that both parents should be interested in the education of their children, high lightening the implicit obligation of both priest and parent, each with his distinct role, in the practical, moral and religious education of children and the youth. It is difficult to say how much of the baroque homiletics can be found in Didahii and to what extend the earlier Transylvanian homiletics is continued, developed and enlarged with new ideas, as it was very sensitive to the pain caused by the death of a child. But we know that both directions were congruent, both staking on the power and efficiency of funeral pedagogics in a moment when, by means of the provincial Enlightenment and the gap from Central European ideas, the child entered also our history. Maior synthesized the Catholic Reformation and the ideas of the Habsburg reformism in the field of priesthood (Teodor 1998, 101). He continued the ideas of the earlier Transylvanian funeral homiletics, but was influenced in the same time by the Catholic Jansenist Reformation, that was widely spread within Central Europe Enlightenment. He also revalued and reinterpreted the local erudition in the presence of the rationalist Enlightenment, which strongly believed in the moralizing role of

46

Laura Stanciu, Adrian Circa

the sermon, a feeling that was typical to the Viennese atmosphere at the end of the 18th century (Schneider 1992, 104). Leaving his sources of inspiration aside, Maior achieved a premiere in our homiletic literature by bringing such a collection of sermons. He compiled an original work, where he pleaded for the indestructible power of the education. Maior started, just like his forerunners, from the scriptural verse, but he developed and created a text with fifteen sermons dedicated to the education of parents at the burial of their children. As a priest and archpriest in the heart of Transylvania, he did not preach a doctrine of resignation. On the contrary, he was the supporter and promoter of a doctrine of the incurable optimism that is born and can live forever, due exclusively to a healthy education, based upon the solid values of morality, responsibility and balance in the life of the family and community. In his book Didahii, Maiors perspective was towards the future, far away from the perspective of resignation that we find for example in Samuil Micus homilies for children. Maiors had an absolute constructive perspective, quite different from the one of his more fatalist and anonymous forerunners of the 17th century. In Maiors Didahii we find no forgivings29, nothing from the popular tradition of the wailers (Circa, 2007, 173-184). Education and sense are primordial for him. The book of Didahii contains parts which might be seen as belonging to the moral literature (Brc, 2002, 57-58, 77-84), though they constitute a good opportunity to promote the moral values for the emancipation of the community, by raising the level of life, the attitude toward the child, the couple and the family. Maior emphasized the distinct roles inside the family and the responsibility of parents and godparents in the education and harmonious development of the teenagers and the young. The work is a real guide of moral practice that presented the much needed change of mentality in the Transylvanian society, anticipated through this book. Maior left a system of pedagogical thinking for the coming generations, as he pleaded for a very severe
29

education, achieved by a careful adult monitoring of the children and under the impact of positive examples given by the parents (Ghie, Teodor, 1972, 226-229; Mrza, 1989, 319-327). Moreover, we find Maiors influence upon his cooperators also in the field of pedagogy, for instance in the work ndreptariu al nvturilor ntru a formariei pe tinerii colari sau carte trebuincioas pentru dascli30 translated from German by Ion Budai-Deleanu (Albulescu 2006, 116-117). Just one generation after Maiors Didahii, Samuil Vulcan (1806 1839) continued the rural pedagogy exercised by his forerunner, and wrote in a more accessible language nvtur despre nravuri pentru pruncii tranilor31 (Chindri, Iacob 2010, 483518). The Didahii is addressed for the Greek Catholic and the Orthodox priests as well, as the first beneficiaries of the moral teachings of the book. The work contains none of the teachings that differentiate the Catholic Church from the Orthodox one in order to assure a wider use of it. Together with Samuil Micu, Maior helped spreading the principle of inter-confessional education specific to that era. Typical for the Enlightenment, the book pleaded for the modeling of the human nature through education. It was Petru Maior who managed to adapt this ideal to the Transylvanian realities by adapting the pragmatic principle promoted by the Viennese Catholic Enlightenment clerici sunt cives (Schneider 1992, 104). Practically, Didahii expressed the aspirations of the Romanian enlightened elite from Transylvania with the scope of guiding and emancipating the communities through spirituality and education. In the same time, Maior established this way a high cultural standard for the clergy and showed that the moral, Christian and educational values preached by the priests can have a daily use. There is no doubt that Didahii expresses the pedagogical pragmatism of the time. The work represents in the same time the probably liveliest practical page of theology in the Transylvanian School.

At the burial ceremony, the priest speaks in the name of the dead person, asking the relatives, friends and acquaintances for forgiveness, if he / she did them wrong.

30

Guide of the Teachings for the Education of Pupils or Book Needed by the Teachers. 31 Teachings about Habits for the Peasants Children.

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Petru Maior. Didahii. A Representative Book for Central European Elightenment

Translated by Mihaela Elena Circa and Petru tefan Ionescu REFERENCES

a. Papers in periodical journals:

Bolovan 2008 Ioan Bolovan, Sorina Bolovan, From Tradition to Modernization. Church and the Transylvanian Romanian Family in the Modern Era. In: Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies, vol. 7, no. 20 (2008) Cluj-Napoca. Ana Dumitran, Cazanii la oameni mori, Blgrad 1689. ncercare de reconstituire [Sermons when there are Deaths], In: Apulum, XL (2003) Alba Iulia. Mihaela Grancea, Cuvnt nainte [Foreword]. In: Mihaela Grancea (ed.), Reprezentri ale morii n Transilvania secolelor (XVI-XX) [Representations of Death in 16th-20th Century in Transylvania] (2005) Cluj Napoca. Iacob Mrza, Lide de lducation chez les reprsentants de lEcole transylvaine. In: Revue des tudes sud-est europennes, XXVII/4 (1989). Romul Munteanu, Les ides pdagogiques de lcole transylvaine. In: La culture Roumaine lpoque des Lumires, vol. II, (1985) Bucarest. Pompiliu Teodor, Enlightenment and Post - Enlightenment in the Romanian Area. In: Historick tdie, 9 (1998) Bratislava. Brc 2002

Dumitran 2003

Chindri, Iacob 2010

Circa 2007

Grancea 2005

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Dumitran 2007 Ghie, Teodor 1972 Hersche 1977 Lemny 1990

Munteanu 1985

Teodor 1998

Maior 1809a

b. Books:
Albulescu 2006 Albulescu, Ion, Histoire de la pense et de la pratique pdagogiques roumains (2006) Cluj Napoca. Barbu, Daniel, Scrisoare pe Maior 1809b

Barbu 1996 48

nisip. Timpul i privirea n civilizaia romneasc a secolului al XVIII-lea [Letters on Sand. Time and a Sight in Romanian Civilisation of the 18th Century] (1996) Bucureti. Brc, Meda Diana, Carte i societate n Transilvania sec. al XVIII-lea. Manuscrise de cri populare romneti [Book and Society in 18th Century Transylvania. Manuscripts of Romanian Popular Books], (2002) Cluj Napoca. Chindri, Ioan, Iacob, Niculina, Samuil Micu n mrturii antologice [Samuil Micu in Anthological Testimonies], (2010) Trgu Lpu. Circa, Ioan Adrian, Predica, act de cult n Transilvania la sfritul secolului al XVIII-lea i nceputul secolului al XIX-lea [Sermon, form or Worrship in Transylvania at the End of 18th Century and the Beginning of the 19th Century](2007) Sibiu. Thesis (manuscript). Dumitran, Ana, Poarta ceriului [Portal of Heaven] (2007) Alba Iulia. Ghie, Dumitru, Teodor, Pompiliu, Fragmentarium iluminist [Enlightenment Fragmentarium] (1972) Cluj. Hersche, Peter, Der Sptjansenismus in sterreich, (1977) Wien. Lemny, tefan, Sensibilitate i istorie n secolul XVIII romnesc [Sensibility and History in Romanian 18th Century] (1990) Bucureti. Maior, Petru, Propovedanii la ngropciunea oamenilor mori [Sermonts at Burial of Death Men] (1809) Buda. Maior, Petru, Didahii adec nvturi pentru creterea fiilor la ngropciunea oamenilor mori [Sermons, namely

Laura Stanciu, Adrian Circa

Maior 1810-1811

Maior 1894

Maior 1906a

Maior 1906b

Maior 1948

Maior 1970-1971

Maior 1990

Maior 1995

Learning for Education of Children at Burials of Death Men] (1809) Buda. Maior, Petru, Prediche sau nvturi la toate Duminecile i Serbtorile anului [Sermons or Morals for Sundays and Holydays] (1810-1811) Buda. Maior, Petru, Procanon ce cuprinde n sine cele ce snt de lips spre nlesul cel deplin i adevrat al canoanelor i a toat tocmeala bisericeasc, spre folosul mai cu sam a romnilor [namely, a religious book with Morals and Sermons], Editura Constantin Erbiceanu (1894) Bucureti. Maior, Petru, Propovedanii la ngropciunea oamenilor mori [Sermonts at Burials]. Vol. III. Ed. Dr. Elie Dianu, (1906) Cluj. Maior, Petru, Predici sau nvturi la toate Duminecile i Serbtorile anului. [Sermons or Morals for Sundays and Holydays]Vol. I-II. Ed. Dr. Elie Dianu (1906) Cluj. Maior, Petru, Procanon ce cuprinde n sine ceale de lips spre nlesul cel deplin i desvrit al canoanelor i a toat tocmeala bisericeasc, spre folosul mai cu sam a romnilor [namely, a religious book with Morals and Sermons], Ed. Grigorie T. Marcu (1948) Sibiu. Maior, Petru, Istoria pentru nceputul romnilor n Dachia [History about Romanians Beginning in Dachia] ed. Florea Fugariu, vol I-II, (1970-1971) Bucureti. Maior, Petru, Istoria pentru nceputul romnilor n Dachia. Postfa de Gavril Istrate, (1990) Iai. Maior, Petru, Istoria Bisericii Romnilor, I [History of

Maior 1998

Maior 2011

Micu 1784

Nicoar 1997

Nicoar 2005

Schneider 1992

Stanciu 2003

Zoba 1984

Romanians Church, I] ed. Ioan Chindri, (1995) Bucureti. Maior, Petru, Protopopadichia, ed. Laura Stanciu, (1998) Alba Iulia. Maior, Petru, Didahii [Sermons], ed. Laura Stanciu, Adrian Circa, (2011) Cluj Napoca. Micu, Samuil, Propovedanii sau nvturi la ngropciunea oamenilor mori [Sermons at Burial of Death Men](1784) Blaj. Nicoar, Toader, Transilvania la nceputurile timpurilor moderne (1680-1800). Societate rural i mentaliti colective [Transylvania at the Beginning of Modern Times (1680-1800). Rural Society and Collective Mentalities] (1997) Cluj Napoca. Nicoar, Toader, Sentimentul de insecuritate n societatea romneasc la nceputurile timpurilor moderne (1600-1830) [The Feeling of Insecurity in Romanian Society at the Beginning of Modern Times (]600-1830)], II (2005) Cluj Napoca. Schneider, Christine, Der weltiche Klerus im Sistem des Josephinismus - zwischen staatlicher Funcktion und seelsorgerischer Aufgabe. Dargestelt am Beispiel Wiens (1992) Wien. Stanciu, Laura, Biografia unei atitudini: Petru Maior (17601821) [Biography of an Attitude: Petru Maior (1760-1821)], (2003) Cluj Napoca. Zoba, Ioan din Vin, Sicriul de aur, Restitutio [The Golden Coffin. Restitutio], ed. Anton Goia (1984) Bucureti Dumitran, Ana, Constante ale discursului n omiletica funebr a romnilor transilvneni din veacul al XVII-lea. In: Mihaela 49

c. Chapters in books:
Dumitran 2005

Petru Maior. Didahii. A Representative Book for Central European Elightenment

Grancea 1998

Szegedi 2005

Grancea (ed.), Reprezentri ale morii n Transilvania secolelor (XVI-XX) [Representations of Death in 16th-20th Centuries Transylvania] (2005) Cluj Napoca. Grancea, Mihaela, Cltori occidentali despre atitudinile romneti n faa morii (16831789) [Occidental Travelers about Romanian Attitudes towards Death]. In Nicolae Bocan, Toader Nicoar, Sorin Mitu (ed.) Identitate i alteritate. Studii de imagologie, II [Identity and Otherness. Studies of Imagology] (1998) Cluj-Napoca. Szegedi, Edit, Moartea, disciplina ecleziastic i social n mediile protestante din Transilvania (sec. XVI-XVIII) [Death as ecclesiastic and social subject matter in protestant society in Transylvania]. In Mihaela Grancea (ed.), Reprezentri ale morii n Transilvania secolelor XVI-XX) [see Grancea 1998] (2005) Cluj Napoca.

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INCURSION INTO THE ENGRAVINGS OF BYZANTINE TRADITION FROM THE OLD ROMANIAN BOOKS PRINTED IN BUDA (1804-1816) INCURSIUNE N GRAVURILE DE TRADIIE BIZANTIN DIN CARTEA ROMNEASC VECHE TIPRIT LA BUDA (1804-1816)

Ph. D. Anca Elisabeta Tatay Academy Library, Cluj-Napoca Email: ancatatai@yahoo.com

Abstract. The present study is meant to prove the existence of elements of Byzantine tradition in the religious engravings in the old Romanian books printed in the University Typography of Buda in the first half of the 19th century. Some themes of Byzantine manner were enumerated at first and afterwards I referred to their style and their sources of inspiration. Six edifying engravings from this point of view were then examined. The presence of the Byzantine elements in decorating the books of Buda is justified if we take into account that the majority of Romanians belong either to the Orthodox or to the Greek-Catholic rites. Keywords: University Typography from Buda, engraving, Byzantine tradition, old Romanian book, religious book Rezumat. Studiul de fa dorete s demonstreze existena elementelor de tradiiei bizantin n gravura religioas din crile romnetii vechi tiprite la Buda, n tipografia Universitii, n prima parte a secolului al XIXlea. Pentru nceput, au fost enumerate cteva teme de tradiie bizantin, apoi s-a vorbit despre stilul acestora i despre sursele de inspiraie. ase gravuri relevante din aceste puncte de vedere au fost apoi discutate. Prezena elementelor bizantine n decorarea tipriturilor de la Buda este explicabil dac avem n vedere faptul c romnii aparin n marea lor majoritate cultului ortodox i celui greco-catolic. Cuvinte Cheie: Tipografia Universitii din Buda, gravur, tradiie bizantin, carte romneasc veche, carte religioas At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the University Typography of Buda printed books in no less than 16 languages (Sziklay, 1983, 45). Within the Romanian section of that very prolific

printing house, about 240 titles came out between 1780 and 1830. The secular books were numerically preponderant as against the religious ones, a fact that singles out the typography of Buda, in comparison with the other similar institutions, which, then, functioned on the Romanian territory. The Romanian books printed in Buda were decorated with title leaves, illustrations, vignettes achieved in the techniques of woodcuts, puncheon prints and lithographs (Tatay, 2010a, 8, 13). Beside the illustrations of occidental manner, the religious books include engravings with themes that were used within the Byzantine-Balkan and Byzantine-Russian environment such as: The Three Visitors at Mamre, The 40 Martyrs, Constantine and Helen, Saint Anatol, The Dormition of the Virgin in Minei, 1804, 180532; Emmanuel in Chalice, Saint Nicholas in Acatist, 1807; Saint John of Damascus in Octoih, 1811; The Raising of Lazarus, Christs Entry into Jerusalem, The Descent of Christ into Limbo in Strastnic, 1816 all woodcuts; Jesus High Bishop puncheon print in Polustav, 1807. Stylistically, in the above-mentioned religious engravings the following elements of Byzantine tradition are to be noted: a certain concern to stylize, decorative effects and symmetry; the frontal position of the figures and their hierarchic rendering; the isocephaly (placing heads of figures on the same level); the landscape and architectures are more or less conventional; the compression of plans or the reduced perspective. While accomplishing the images, some procedures specific to the occidental art were also used. The sources of inspiration of the respective illustrations can be found in the religious books printed on the Romanian territory: Blaj, Rmnic, Sibiu, Braov, Buzu or Bucureti. In their turn, some of these images followed Ukrainean models (Kiev, Lviv). Some edifying examples will be presented in this paper in order to demonstrate the Byzantine tradition that continued in the
32

From the documents of Buda's typography, it results that the xylographs of Minei were achieved by Carolus Fridericus Hederich Frigyes, who is known to have worked in that printing house as a typographer at that time, where he also learned the trade of woodcutting as a selfmade man and who also made some woodcut vignettes. He signs Hederich sc (ulpsit) Ofen (Buda) the image of Jesus in Glory from Acatist, Buda, 1807. He died in 1807. See for details: Veress, 1982, 98; RpBuicliu, 2000, 355.

Incursion into the Engravings of Byzantine Tradition from the Old Romanian Books Printed in Buda (1804-1816)

illustrations of the Romanian writings printed in Buda since the first decades of the 19th century. I will also attempt to find the possible sources of inspiration of these engravings. The frame of The Title Leaf (32x19, 5cm; fig. 1) in the Minei33 from 1804-1805 represents an ample arcade supported by columns with composite capitals and channeled shafts. On the columns, vegetable garlands are winding up gracefully. At the top and at the bottom of the illustration there are two scenes and several saints on either side. Thus, at the top is shown the scene Abraham and the Three Visitors or The Three Visitors at Mamre enclosed in an elongated quatrefoil. In the Byzantine iconography, this episode is interpreted as representing the Trinity. The three angels or messengers are hospitably treated by Abraham and Sarah near the oak-tree of Mamre. The winged angels are seated around a table on which there are glasses, plates and food. Each of them has a cruciform halo around his head (with the inscription O. . N. which means I AM WHO I AM, words said by God to Moses on Horeb Mountain) and is holding a cross. Abraham and Sarah, standing on either side, are symmetrically placed in the scene, which bears the inscription The Holy Trinity. As it is known, in the occidental art the Holy Trinity is represented by God the Father, with triangular halo, holding the globe in one hand and the sceptre in the other one, God the Son, who is holding the cross and the Holy Spirit under the form of a dove. In the top corners of the frame, on either side of the scene, are placed with halos around their heads, Virgin Mary, her hands raised in prayer, and St. John, full length, wearing specific vestments and looking on the scene presented in front of them. At the bottom of the image, in the middle, under an arcade supported by two columns, is shown St. Nicholas, dressed as a bishop, sitting on a grandiose throne and blessing with his right hand. On either side, in oval medallions, Jesus Christ and the Virgin, represented busts, in semiprofile, riding on the clouds, are looking toward the central figure. Jesus is blessing with His right hand and in His left hand is holding the Gospel, while the Virgin has her hands wrapped up in the cloak.
33

The Title Leaf and the engravings of the Minei from 1804 and 1805 (except Saint Anatol, which was found afterwards) were presented at length. See: Tatay, 2009, 119-138; Tatay, 2010a, 14-30.

In the bottom corners of the illustration are portrayed the bishops St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory of Nazianzus (the Theologian). They have no halos and are dressed according to their rank. The former is holding the Gospel in his hands and the latter is holding the crosier in his right hand. Six medallions of saints, three at each side, are shown on the vertical sides of the title frame: Cosmas, Joseph the Monastic, Mitrofan to the left; John of Damascus, Theofan the Monastic and Theodore the Stud to the right. Each of them is holding in his hand an unfolded scroll or a closed book the Gospel. These saints, who belong to the Eastern Church, are dressed in tunics and cloaks and some of them wear a head dress. They are all nimbused and are looking toward the central axis. Within the frame of the title leaf, there are also vegetal elements, stylized flowers, the table stones and so forth. The large and impressive xylograph carefully accomplished and attentively multiplied followed the model of illustrations existent in the books printed in Rmnic, particularly in the Minei of 1776-1780 (Tatay, 2010b, 35-36). I mention that the Penticostar from 1841 and the Minei of aguna from 1854 (Tatay, 2010b, 40) contain variants of The Title Leaf of the Minei of Buda. A careful examination of the three title leaves demonstrate that the one of the Minei from Buda was made up of fragments, as Gh. Oprescu (1942, 152) ascertained, but those from Sibiu were printed each after a single plate. The two title frames, from Rmnic and from Buda, show the same scenes and the same figures, the same arrangement within the image (except the disposition of Abraham and Sarah), the difference consisting in the way of representing the arcades and the columns or in the number of saints enclosed in the medallions or of decorative elements. The Baroque and the Brncovenean features from the xylograph of Rmnic can be found no more in that of Buda, the latter one being more clearly and plainly treated under the influence of the Neoclassical art. The illustration The Forty Martyrs (13,6x18cm; fig. 2), from the same Minei, is of Byzantine tradition, too. Being celebrated on the 9th of March, their representation appears, as it is natural, in the third volume of the monumental book. They were Christian soldiers strong men and undefeated in wars in the service of the pagan Roman emperor Longinus (307-324 A.D.). Finding out about their faith Agricola,

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Anca Elisabeta Tatay

Armenias ruler obliged them to worship the idols. As they refused, they were imprisoned and stoned and finally sentenced to death through freezing in the Sebaste Lake. One of them could not endure the frost any longer and got out of the lake. So he broke away with the Christian faith. His place was taken by another soldier, their number remaining unchanged. They did not freeze as God warmed the water of the lake. Finding out about that wonder, the following day, the authorities decided to break their shinbones and to burn them up. This xylograph presents the martyrs while they were expiating their punishment in the Sebaste Lake, which is not very well suggested here as it is in other similar engravings or icons. The full-length martyrs with their arms across, with well-individualized countenances, are almost naked, wearing but a loincloth around their hips. They are grouped together in more rows in order to spare the space of the picture. Those in the first row are full-length figures, while in the second and third rows only their heads can be seen and in the last one only the halos. Rendering the figures in full frontal, placing their heads on the same level and grouping them in reverse perspective are procedures that belong to Byzantine art. On the right of the engraving, one of the martyrs can be seen entering the bathing house beside the lake, in order to save his life, thus giving up his faith. Above the martyrs heads there are 40 crowns separated by Gods hands who is blessing them. The border of illustration consists of a band in zigzag. Undoubtedly, the engraver from Buda saw the similar image from the Minei of Rmnic, March 1779 (Tatay, 2010b, 35-36). Saint Anatol (10,6 x 8,3 cm; fig. 3) is seldom found in the old Romanian writings. He was the Patriarch of Constantinople between 449 and 458 being celebrated on the 3rd of July (date of his death). In religious art, he is represented as a bishop, wearing omphorion, mitre and holding the Gospel in his hand, as he appears in volume VII of the Minei from Buda. The book (from his hand) being closed, it keeps the mystery (Chevalier, Gheerbrant, 1993, 254). This time too, the artist followed a model from Ramnic, from the Minei of July, printed in 1780, in which the illustration bears the signature of Pop(a) Costandin Tip(ograf). The engraver from Buda takes over the saint's countenance but he gives up the cluster of trees in the background, and the explanatory inscription which designates the saint is in Romanian and not in Greek.

The xylograph The Dormition of the Virgin (10,9 x 8,3 cm; fig. 4), also reproduced in Minei, iconographically belongs to the Byzantine manner, while The Assumption is specific to the Occident. The classical type of Dormition in the Orthodox iconography usually shows the Virgin lying on the deathbed among the disciples while Jesus in glory receives His Mothers soul in His hands (Uspensky, Lossky, 2003, 232). The engraving of Buda corresponds to this conception. In the middle of the scene, the Virgin is rendered with halo, dressed according to tradition, lying on the deathbed with her hands across (Dionisie, 2000, 139). On either side there are 11 apostles, of which one is censing (according to the Painters Manual, Peter), while one (Paul) is clasping the bed in his arms. The 12th one, John the Theologian, is bending and embracing the Virgin piously. Jesus Christ is dominant in the image. He is wearing a tunic and a cloak and He is holding in His arms a baby who symbolizes the Virgins soul. The heavenly powers who accompany Jesus are represented by two angels wearing long vestments and incensing. In the background, on either side of the image, there is a house, with rectangular windows and tall frontons, specific to the German environment of the 18th century. Therefore, the conventional manner of rendering buildings in the Byzantine art is given up. The countenances of the figures are rather stereotyped; all of them being long-haired even if some are bearded and others beardless. They are frightened at the Virgins dormition (Uspensky, Lossky, 2003, 233) and their gestures are varied, which, in a way, animates the image. The symmetrical composition, typical of Byzantine art has an inscription at the top The Dormition of the Virgin and it is enclosed by a zigzagged border. The Octoih of 1811 comprises the large sized illustration of St. John of Damascus (26,6 x 20cm; fig. 5). George Oprescu (1942, 152) describes admiringly the beautiful engraving: it belongs to an archaic type, but it is very impressive and magnificent. The interior, where the saint is depicted, is Eastern as well as the garment he is wearing. Beside him there are more usual objects which can be found in the learned monks cells: a sandglass, an inkpot, a pair of tongs, a knife used to erase the errors in the manuscripts. The closest model of this illustration can be found in the Octoih of Blaj from 1742, signed 53

Incursion into the Engravings of Byzantine Tradition from the Old Romanian Books Printed in Buda (1804-1816)

by Dimitrie Finta. In his turn, Finta might have followed the prototype of the unsigned xylograph printed in the Romanian Principality, for the first time in the Octoih of Ramnic from 1706. The clich reproduced in the Romanian Principality, without doubt, followed the Ukrainian model from the Octoih of Lviv from 1640, taken over, two years later, in the Penticostar printed in the same town. In the Romanian xylographs the elements of Byzantine tradition are undeniable, while the Ukrainian illustration contains aspects of occidental manner as well34. The Descent of Christ into Limbo (8 x 14,5 cm; fig. 6), also called Anastasis, namely the Resurrection, a theme specific to the Byzantine world, is depicted in a vignette in the Gospel from 1812 and in the Strastnic from 1816. The symbolic representation of salvation of humanity by the sacrifice through crucifixion of Jesus, who is depicted smashing the gates of hell, has its source in Nicodemus Apocryphal Gospel, being known since the 6th century (tefnescu, 1973, 131, 134; Drgu, 1976, 18; Sinigalia, 1995, 114). The Xylograph of Buda depicts the topic more simplified as compared with the usual representation (for example, The Descent into Limbo done by Ioanike B(acov) in 1700 and published in Penticostar, Buzu, 1701 or Apostol, Buzu, 170435). Inscribed in a circular medallion, Jesus Christ is trampling on the gates of hell. In His right hand He is holding the banner of Resurrection and He stretches His left hand to Adam, helping him to rise. Nearby we can notice David and Solomon, both of them crowned, and another figure (not St. John the Baptist who appears frequently). On the right side, one can notice Eve, dressed in robe, and other figures. The Descent into Limbo can often be found in the illustration of books as well as in frescoes in the three Romanian countries. To conclude, in my account, I intended to point out that the Byzantine tradition still persisted in decorating the old Romanian books printed in Buda in the first decades of the 19th century. The presence of the Byzantine elements in decorating the books of Buda is justified if we take into account that the majority of Romanians belong either to the Orthodox or to the GreekCatholic rites.
34

REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journals: Tatai-Balt Cornel Tatai-Balt, 1998-1999 Reprezentarea Sfntului Ioan Damaschin n Octoihurile romneti vechi [Representations of St. Johan Damaschin in Old Romanian Religious Hymn Books]. In: Ars Transsilvaniae VIII-IX (1998-1999), p. 245-259. Tatay 2009 Anca Elisabeta Tatay, Xilogravurile Mineiului de la Buda din 1804 i 1805 [Woodcuts of Minei from Buda]. In: Apulum XLVI (2009), p. 119138. Tatay Anca Elisabeta Tatay, Viena, 2010b Buda, Spaiul romnesc rut de circulaie a gravurii (1780-1830) [Viena-Buda, Romanian Space a Route of Circulation for xylographs] In: Transilvania 1112 (2010), p. 35-41. b. Books: Bianu, Bianu, Ioan, Hodo, Nerva, Hodo 1903 Bibliografia romneasc veche (1508-1830) [Old Romanian Bibliography], Tom. I, 15081716. (1903) Bucureti, Stabilimetul Grafic J. V. Socec. Chevalier, Chevalier, Jean, Gheerbrant, Gheerbrant Alain, Dicionar de simboluri. 1993 Mituri, vise, obiceiuri, gesturi, forme, figuri, culori, numere, vol. [Dictionary of Symbols. Myths, Dreams, Customs, Gestures, Shapes, Figures, Colours, Numbers] 1, Editura Artemis (1993) Bucureti. Dionisie Dionisie din Furna, Erminia 2000 picturii bizantine [Explanation of Byzantine Painting], Editura Sophia (2000) Bucureti. Drgu Drgu, Vasile, Dicionar 1976 enciclopedic de art medieval romneasc [Encyclopedic Dictionary of Romanian Medieval Art], Editura tiinific i Enciclopedic (1976) Bucureti. Oprescu Oprescu, Gh., Grafica 1942 romneasc n secolul al XIX-lea, vol. I. [Romanian Artwork in 19th Century], Fundaia Regal pentru Literatur i Art (1942)

See for details and images: Tatai-Balt, 1998-1999, 245-259; Tatai-Balt, 2003, 13-30, fig. 1-20. 35 See the image from Apostol in: Bianu, Hodo, 1903, 455.

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Bucureti. RpRp-Buicliu, Dan, Bibliografia Buicliu romneasc veche [Old 2000 Romanian Bibliography], Additamenta, I (1536-1830), Editura Alma (2000) Galai. tefnescu tefnescu, I. D., Iconografia 1973 artei bizantine i a picturii feudale romneti [Iconography of Byzantine Art and of Feudal Romanian Painting], Editura Meridiae (1973) Bucureti. Tatai-Balt Tatai-Balt, Cornel, Interferene 2003 cultural-artistice europene [Europea Cultural-Artistic Interferences], Editura Astra (2003) Blaj. Tatay 2010a Tatay, Anca Elisabeta, Tradiie i inovaie n tehnica i arta ilustraiei crii romneti tiprite la Buda (1780-1830) [Tradition and Innovation in Execution and Art of Romanian Books Illustration Printed to Buda (1780-1830)], Editura Altip (2010) Alba Iulia. Uspensky, Uspensky, Leonid, Lossky, Lossky Vladimir, Cluziri n lumea 2003 icoanei [Initiation in the World of Icons], Editura Sophia (2003) Bucureti. Veress 1982 Veress, Endre, A budai Egyetemi Nyomda romn kIadvnyainak dokumentumai (1780-1848), Akadmiai Kiad (1982) Budapest. c. Chapters in books: Sziklay, Lszl, Les courants idologiques, littraires et artistiques dans les publications de l`imprimerie universitaire de Buda. In Pter Kirly, Typographia Universitatis Hungaricae Budae 1777-1848, Acadmiai Kiad (1983) Budapest, p.45-51. Sinigalia Teresa Sinigalia, Coborrea la 1995 Iad [The Descent of Christ into Limbo]. In: Dicionar de art. Forme, tehnici, stiluri artistice, A-M. [Dictionary of Arts. Shapes, Techniques, Artistic Styles], Editura Meridiane (1995) Bucureti. Sziklay 1983

This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0314.

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Incursion into the Engravings of Byzantine Tradition from the Old Romanian Books Printed in Buda (1804-1816)

Lista ilustraiilor 1. Foaie de titlu, Minei, Buda, 1804, 1805 2. Cei 40 de mucenici, Minei, Buda, 1804, 1805 3. Sfntul Anatolie, Minei, Buda, 1804, 1805 4. Adormirea Maicii Domnului, Minei, Buda, 1804, 1805 5. Sfntul Ioan Damaschin, Octoih, Buda, 1811 6. Coborrea la Iad, Evanghelie, Buda, 1812 (i Strastnic, Buda, 1816)

List of Illustrations 1. Title Leaf, Minei, Buda, 1804, 1805 2. Forty Martyrs, Minei, Buda, 1804, 1805 3. Saint Anatol, Minei, Buda, 1804, 1805 4. The Dormition of the Virgin, Minei, Buda, 1804, 1805 5. St. John of Damascus, Octoih, Buda, 1811 6. The Descent of Christ into Limbo, Gospel, Buda, 1812 (and Strastnic, 1816)

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THE EMERGENCE OF A JEWISH ROMANIAN LITERATURE. A SOCIO-CULTURAL APPROACH APARIIA UNEI LITERATURI IUDAICE DE LIMB ROMN. O ABORDARE SOCIO-CULTURAL

literar a avut o puternic component integratoare, criticat n mod direct de sioniti. Cuvinte cheie: emancipare, literatur iudaic, canon, deteritorializare, discurs al minoritii The Interwar Debate While being interviewed by the journal Adam in 1931 on the state of Jewish literature, writer, journalist and Zionist politician A. L. Zissu bitterly stressed that in Romania Jewish writers were not using Yiddish and Hebrew as a means of authentic expression of Jewish life and culture. Abandoning language as a criterion for Jewish literature, Zissu identified Ion Clugaru and Isac Ludo as promising writers, apart from whom Jewish literature was for now nonexistent in Romanian(Zissu, 1931, 12). The same criticism was addressed by Ludo in 1932 in more critical terms in the same journal: do we have a Jewish culture? No! Do we have a Jewish literature? No! Do we have Jewish writers? No! (Ludo, 1932, 11) Reciprocally, for Ludo, the only exception was Zissu (whose works he was reviewing in the quoted article) as the only, but without any reservations, the only writer we have who is a hundred per cent Jewish asserted through his ideology, through his pure feeling and through the emotionalism of his work (...). Our literary territory is unpopulated (Ludo, 1932, 13). Apart from the mutual gratifying inclusion into the group of Jewish writers36, both intellectuals belonged to the Zionist direction, a fact that justified their radical definition of Jewishness in cultural terms. Still, Ludos conclusion to his article was a sign of ideological mutation and reevaluation of Jewish culture as a productive literary source: what a superb field of research our social and moral body offers which outside a unique cultural and spiritual tradition contains also a contemporary reality, permanently effervescent and generating surprises (Ludo, 1932, 13). Zissu returned in 1935 to this problem raised in the early 1930s, with a solution and also a program in a polemical letter addressed to one of the greatly criticized Romanian writers, Felix Aderca:
36

Ph.D. Camelia Crciun Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Bucharest / Center for the Study of the History of Romanian Jewry - Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania Email: camicr@yahoo.com

Abstract. The current article plans to investigate the conditions that favoured the appearance of a Jewish literature in Romanian language and the socio-cultural processes, which may account for its emergence. Basically, the emergence of Jewish literature in Romanian language was the direct reaction to the long belated Emancipation by asserting a minority culture within Romanian intellectual life. In interwar Romania, the legal inclusion performed the function of securing a civic space for the sociocultural manifestation of minority discourses paralleling and replicating the mainstream Romanian national one, nevertheless from the perspective of integration and rapprochement. Functioning as a bridge of rapprochement between the Jewish and Gentile societies, the literary phenomenon had a strong integrative component severely criticized by Zionists. Keywords: Emancipation; Jewish literature; canon; deterritorialization; minority discourse Rezumat. Lucrarea de fa i propune s investigheze condiiile care au favorizat apariia unei literaturi iudaice n limba romn i procesele socio-culturale care ar putea explica apariia ei. n mod esenial, apariia unei literature iudaice de limb romn a fost reacia unei mult ntrziate emancipri prin a afirma o cultur minoritar n viaa intelectual romneasc. n Romnia interbelic, includerea legal ndeplinea funcia de a asigura un spaiu civic pentru manifestrile socioculturale ale prelegerilor minoritii, care le dublau i reproduceau pe cele naionale romneti, totui din perspectiva integrrii i a bunei convieuiri. Funcionnd ca un pod de apropiere ntre iudei i ne-iudei, fenomenul

A larger discussion on concepts such as Jewish writers and Romanian writers hinting at the degree of acculturation and preservation of Jewish cultural heritage in their works, see my article..

The Emergence of a Jewish Romanian Literature. A Socio-Cultural Approach

reconnection with Judaism. This is the only sea bottom where your anchor can rest I say yours as through you, this letter addresses to all creators and ideas of Jewish birth of my generation, yours and the ones after us the only citadel where no one can chase you out under the accusation of usurpation, intrusion, subversion, dissolution; the only receiving you without CONDITIONS (Zissu, 1935, 6.) Despite the skepticism, in terms of literary phenomena the mid-1930s witnessed the emergence of a whole literature focused on Jewish life and identity in Romania. The major novels and short stories written on this topic were published at this moment: Isac Peltzs Calea Vcreti37 and Foc n Hanul cu Tei38 (Fire in the lime tree inn), Ury Benadors Ghetto Veac XX 39 and Ion Clugarus Copilria unui netrebnic40 (Childhood of a wretched one). Moving from Clugarus monographic description of the traditional life in a small shetl from Northern Moldavia to the challenges of the urban life in the Bucharest Jewish quarter of legendary Vcreti Dudeti of Peltz, the literary variety of description also benefited from the presentation of the Jewish neighborhood in Braila, Eastern Wallachia, a multiethnic city of medium size, semi-urban in its poor periphery represented in Benadors work. Providing new arguments for a positive development, these literary works fired even more the debate on the existence and vitality of the Jewish literature in Romanian. Following the long belated Emancipation, which finally secured legally a space for the assertion of Jewish identity within the Romanian society, the emergence of a Jewish literature in Romanian language expressed culturally the acknowledgment of a social reality through the emergence of a minority culture within the Romanian intellectual life. Thus, the construction of the Jewish literature represented the belated cultural reflection of a social reality neglected for a long time by a conservative culture and consisted in a spin-off replica of a nation-wide intellectual debate searching for the essence of Romanian identity while constructing a minoritys
37

culture within the Romanian language. Articulating a commonality of integrative discourses towards the Romanian milieu, the Jewish literature as a distinct corpus of texts reflected the profound desire of integration and an active search for alternatives able to overcome the shortcomings of a conservative canon through innovative cultural strategies. The current article plans to investigate the conditions which favored the appearance of a Jewish literature in Romanian language and the socio-cultural processes which may account for its emergence. A preliminary discussion on the existence of such a cultural phenomena proved to be non-necessary due to the multiplicity of articles and reactions published in various Jewish Romanian publications demonstrating the obsessive character of the concept of Jewish literature in Romanian for the intellectuals of the time, as well as its supporting evidence in terms of literary and intellectuals products stirring the discussion with new examples. As for a theoretical discussion of Jewish writer and Jewish intellectual, I have already analyzed the concepts in my article Between Jewish intellectual and Jewish Literature: Conceptual Debates in Intellectual History (Rotman et al. 2010). Socio-cultural and Political Conditions. Jewish legal Emancipation, rather than WWI, which was considered regularly as the final marker for the world of yesterday and the symbol for the end of an era, represented for the Jewish community a rupture line. By finally acquiring citizenship and equal rights, the Jewish community was included legally in the Romanian nation. Despite the persistence of anti-Semitism and against the limits of social and political inclusion, the significance of the Emancipation stipulated first in 1919 through the Minorities Treaty and later included in the 1923 Romanian Constitution marked a final official recognition of political inclusion in a multi-cultural state, which had to accept the new fact. Along with Hungarian, German, Greek, Armenian and other ethnic and religious groups, the Romanian nation became aware of its largely multi-national character ranging to almost 28% ethnic minorities, contrasting with the previous situation when in 1899, 92.1% of the population was ethnically Romanian while 91.5% Orthodox. If in the pre-WWI period, the Romanian state could press for assimilation or exclusion in terms of policies due to the largely national character of the population (the Jewish community represented 3.3% in 1912) and due

I. Peltz, Calea Vcreti (Bucureti: Cultura Naional, 1933). 38 I. Peltz, Foc in Hanul cu Tei (Bucureti: Adeverul, 1934). 39 Ury Benador, Ghetto Veac XX (Bucureti: Universala Alcalay, 1934). 40 Ion Clugaru, Copilria unui netrebnic (Bucureti: Naionala Ciornei, 1936).

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to the dominance of Christian Orthodoxy even among other ethnic groups (Greeks, Armenians, Russians, Bulgarians or Serbs), the post-WWI context could not avoid this issue. This new situation significantly changed the status of the individuals as well as their connection with the Romanian nation, society and culture from new grounds of defining the model of citizen or member of the nation, unable to be reduced to the typical Romanian peasant of Orthodox Christian denomination sharing the same language and history with the rest of his co-nationals. Romanians from the new territories bearing new heritages of cultural and historical affiliations, as well as different sizable minorities altered the former definitions. Thus, for the Jewish community, even if anti-Semitism continued to exist and to manifest violently in the early 1920s and to persist into the next decade until radicalism transformed it into a central argument in the political discourse, the formal integration in legal terms was finally achieved and allowed a different cultural and social positioning inside the nation as equal citizens. Still promoting a conservative canon which tended to reflect most of the social prejudice and limited integration, Romanian cultural life entered a new stage of the already familiar and long-lasting confrontation between modernity and traditionalism. Facing the problem of integration and identity search in the context of a multi-national state, dominated also by a strong regionalism and uneven economic and social development, Romanian intellectuals started to promote a neo-ethnic revival in the late 1920s through the national specificity and Romanian essence debate. The nationalizing and centralizing policies implemented during the interwar period were largely analyzed, together with their consequences, in works such as Irina Livezeanus Cultur i naionalism n Romnia Mare (Culture and nationalism in Greater Romania) (Livezeanu, 1998). The modernist pole, consolidated in time with new and refined variants, opened doors for Europeanization and cosmopolitanism against national parochialism and continued to gather around many talented intellectuals. Mechanisms Prompting the Articulation of a Jewish Romanian Cultural Identity In this general context, the process of constructing a Jewish identity within Romanian culture became a natural option for several reasons. Romanian culture and literature started to reflect the beginnings of the articulation of a

Jewish identity in Romanian language, encouraged by the political and legal grounds secured by Emancipation and following the social and political newly emerged realities. After the pre-Emancipation period dedicated to the articulation of scholarly discourses (historical, linguistic, ethnographical and sociological) able to support legal recognition of equal rights, Jewish Romanian intellectuals abandoned the practicality of the journalistic discourse and started to focus on literary endeavors and artistic works. It is not surprising to notice the shift in cultural interests and products between intellectual generations; if the last quarter of the 19th century produced historians, linguists, folklorists and journalists active in various periodicals and publications, the interwar period witnesses the preponderance of literary figures within the Jewish Romanian intellectual circles, prompting also the emergence of literary and cultural journals of great quality. After Emancipation, Romanian language writers of Jewish origin started to place in the middle of their creation their roots, in Judaism, Jewish community and traditions as well as in the larger perspective on life shaped by the Jewish experience in Romanian lands. In this respect, the Romanian case contrasted to the Austro-Hungarian one where Emancipation generated an influx of assimilationist ideology. In interwar Romania, the legal inclusion performed rather the function of securing a civic space for the socio-cultural manifestation of minority discourses paralleling and replicating the mainstream Romanian national one, nevertheless from the perspective of integration and rapprochement. Asserting the Jewish social and historical presence in literature and culture, this discourse practically came to complete in cultural terms the reflection of an already historical social reality. Secondly, in the middle of these debates on ethnic specificity, Jewish identity discourse could be perceived as a spinoff of the ethnic revival presented in nationalistic terms by the Romanian establishment, recreating and replicating the Romanian soul-searching process with a Jewish perspective in the new context. A final proof in favor of this endeavor was the fact that after the WWI quite a few Yiddish writers and journalists shifted languages and the working environment to Romanian and moved to the capital, abandoning the formerly vibrant Yiddish cultural center of Iai. The peak of this cultural direction was represented by the mid-1930s when the most important works were written, 59

The Emergence of a Jewish Romanian Literature. A Socio-Cultural Approach

immediately followed by the rise of right-wing radicalized politics, marginalization and exclusion. Eventually, the combination of acculturation to the Romanian space and the affirmation of Jewish identity, values and lifestyle created a new model of identity for the Jewish community in Romania, as well as for the Romanian society transmitted through the same linguistic vehicle. The literature emerging on these grounds was an open construct including a non-Romanian ethnic reality for the Romanian cultural canon, but also a version of Diaspora life for the religiously and politically conservative Jewish circles. Romanian literature with Jewish topics represented a border zone open to fluid influences coming from both cultures and transgressing on both sides in order to be largely integrated. It also became an indication of this new cultural state and of the modern conception of nation and culture on both sides, opening Jewish culture to non-Jews and integrating the Jewish life and community into the Romanian milieu in a multi-ethnic cultural project. Creating a Jewish Literature in Romanian Language In this context, the creation of a Jewish literature in Romanian, or at least the emergence of a literature in Romanian with Jewish topics, had to address constantly two fields, audiences and cultural codes at the same time. This process of deterritorialization/ reterritorialization of an artistic language and culture by a minority group struggling to find its position was best analyzed in the theoretical demonstration of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari developed in their work Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature. Coining a new concept, namely deterritorialization41, Deleuze and Guattaris theory basically analyzed the process of subverting the dominant culture or literature from within, differentiating a trend within the majoritys discourse and opening a new space for the discourse of the minority. In their reading, the emergence of a minor literature is not the result of a process of absorbing multiculturalism within the cultural canon, but rather the outcome of placing the minoritys trademark within the majoritys culture and literature in order to appropriate it. The
41

The concept is introduced in Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari, Kafka: Toward a Minor Literature, Theory and History of Literature, Volume 30, (University of Minnesota Press, 1997), 18-21.

construction of Jewish literature followed the same integrative direction, functioning as a bridge between cultures and societies combining social critique with Jewish identity representation. Deleuze and Guattaris theoretical demonstration supported my analysis, but a reverse of this theory had to be employed in the sense of reterritorialization. Unlike their Kafkian example, the Jewish Romanian intellectuals had as a larger goal the project of integrating socially and culturally the world perspective introduced by Jewish culture within the Romanian canon. Rejected often by Zionist intellectuals as corrupted products, the resulting works were successfully integrated into the larger Romanian cultural canon which failed to assimilate the ethnic element, approaching the text through their leftist largely representative social aspect. For my case study, the literature with Jewish topics in Romanian became part of the cultural canon due to its adaptation, constant negotiation and employment of specific tropes, motifs and genres from the majority culture in order to penetrate it; thus, for the current analysis, a reversed version of the concept proved useful, namely reterritorialization, as the Jewish intellectuals had as a larger goal the project of integrating the perspective on the world introduced by Jewish community within Romanian culture. Functioning as a bridge of rapprochement between the Jewish and Romanian societies, the literature written in Romanian and inspired by Jewish life was articulated on common grounds, able to facilitate access for the Romanian readership, as well as contact with the Jewish acculturated masses. In this context, this corpus of texts mixed descriptions of Jewish traditions and life with Romanian literary motifs, topics and cultural models able to include these literary works in the larger cultural debates and literary canon. Perceived by Zionist voices and by Jewish intellectuals active in the Jewish Romanian press as a compromise with Romanian culture, and thus sometimes excluded from a potential project of Romanian-language Jewish literature, this literature evolved in a successful and productive direction in the mid-1930s when the best works of Isac Peltz, Ury Benador and Ion Clugaru were published and received national literary awards. Having in mind a double readership and a double message, Peltzs novels severely criticized the capitalist society and the domination of financial interests, topics shared by (some of) the Romanian literature of the time, but also criticized the dissolution of the

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Jewish community and presented a monograph of Jewish life in Bucharest mahalas in the genre of the literature of the periphery en vogue with G. M. Zamfirescu and others. Clugarus description of shtetl life approached also the topic of deep poverty and a criticism of the economic and social backwardness of the rural communities and traditional lifestyle from an urban modernizing perspective, in the style of childhood recollections made famous by Ion Creang. Finally, Benador included the profile of the intellectual with his dilemmas in political and private life largely debated in interwar period through the works of Camil Petrescu, but focused also on Jewish spirituality and political movements from a profoundly mystical perspective. For the larger Romanian-speaking public, these works had a social mission and functioned as a weapon fighting misconceptions, biases, anti-Semitism, anti-Jewish prejudices and stereotypes. They accomplished these by presenting the Jewish life and culture from the inside, in an authentic and also accessible manner, deconstructing the collective mental structures inherited from a long, exclusionist tradition and making room for acceptance, understanding and integration in a long process of cultural and social rapprochement. By presenting the truth, the ideals and values of Jewish life to the Romanian public, the literature on Jewish topics initiated a form of communication with the Romanian audience, a mediation process entertaining a dynamic dialogue with the previously constructed negative image of the Jewish community. This prejudice had been defined by negative stereotypes and hostile prejudice constructed by the Romanian cultural discourse which lacked social contact with the Jewish community and was often supported by anti-Semitic discourse. Fundamentally, as it managed to function between two cultures and to provide for both, this type of literature became a form of cultural translation of codes operating mental transition and symbolical inclusions. Also, the employment of certain timely literary recipes (the literature of the periphery, the drama of the intellectual, childhood recollections model, etc.) and the adaptation to Romanian literary registers secured the penetration and inclusion into the national cultural canon. While analyzing the identity representation within their works, a series of strategies of cultural inclusion was employed. This fact signaled a constant integrative position adopted by all, aiming at a transformation of the cultural canon in order to

include the new reality of multi-cultural Romanian society within its borders. In a synthetic manner, Eugenia Prokop-Janiec (Prokop-Janiec, 2002) defined this function of literature with Jewish subjects as cognitive for the Gentile public and as unique socio-literary documents in a largely self-representational attempt. Addressing the Jewish acculturated public, these literary works communicated different messages on different levels. Thus, firstly, their work functioned often as a repository of Jewish culture, a form of recollecting and reminding their contemporaries of the authenticity of Jewish life in a period when the community was subjected to the challenges of modernization and altered its values. Ethnographical and social representations fulfilled this function of literature as historical document. Secondly, it deeply criticized from different perspectives the Jewish society facing modernization, the status of the community and the compromises made for integration and acculturation, compromising its identity markers, traditions and religious values and negotiating the Jewish identity in its most profound aspects. The central problem approached by the Romanian literature with Jewish topics was the general crisis of Jewish identity in modern Romania manifested in political, socio-economic and cultural terms, searching for its place in the new state structures after Emancipation. From the corpus of texts discussed, a literature facing economic advancement and compromises in exchange for social inclusion, political temptations and backwardness, secularization and urbanization on different levels varying from the individual intellectualist dilemma to the community perceived in collective, ethnographic terms emerged. Jewish community, life and the characters were approached critically, unlike the profoundly idyllic image of the shtetl and the utterly idealized portrait of the Eastern European Jew presented in the work of Weimar writers, who deplored their assimilated state and the loss of Jewish identity while looking for models in more authentic Eastern areas, or the Polish Jewish literature which perceived shtetl life as a space of purity and tranquility against modern urban space. This Romanian Jewish world was destined to fade away, as it appeared in the criticism and distance visible in Clugarus works discussing the crisis of modernization of traditional communities, attacking backwardness, poverty and inability to adapt and change in order to survive. A renunciation to 61

The Emergence of a Jewish Romanian Literature. A Socio-Cultural Approach

the observant Judaism of the economically dynamic middle generation, the socio-economic backwardness and conservatism of the shtetl life, or simply the confusion of the young intellectual confronting politics and modern society were a few aspects highlighting important questions for the community during the interwar period. The general device of childhood memories (Benador, Clugaru and Peltz all used it) linked the individual with tradition, especially when recollecting holidays through the eyes of children; it provided a contrast and a comparison with mature age which generated an implicit criticism of modern decadent life of crisis, opposing authenticity and idealized past. Another form of criticism comes from the employment of the maternal figure, highly symbolic for Judaism in connection with preservation of tradition and continuity, which appears in the progressive and pro-urbanizing discourse of Clugaru as a tough person, acting as a step-mother and forcing the child to find his own way in life and depart from the shtetl. Family and its generational chain symbolized continuity and communal structure; Peltz approached them from the perspective of noncohesive and disintegrating families. Thirdly, the manner of writing, promoting biographical elements, family histories, and community portraits continued to express, despite structural criticism, a profound symbolism of collective identity consolidated through memory, heritage, continuity in change, generational chain, history, blood links, ancestry, spiritual and cultural values and common experience. These community and family writings were records testifying to the historical destiny of the Jews, as well as chronicles of their experience in Diaspora, located here on Romanian lands. By employing such subjects in this manner of writing Diaspora sagas, the authors partially attempted to consolidate a communal feeling among the readership by coagulating a model of Jewish collective identity inside the Romanian nation and culture. Despite its alterations within the authenticity of Jewish life, the family history expressed a triumph of continuity due to the generational chain defeating even the conflict between them. The new approach of the authors of literature with Jewish topics was that of a critical insider, part of the nation as well as of the community; writing in Romanian about their own roots, these writers took the liberty to address not only the Romanian readership, but also the Jewish acculturated readers addressing specific issues for each group.

Unlike other cases where this reinvention of Jewish culture in local languages was performed under the effect of Zionism and national Jewish revival (for example in Poland), in Romania it could hardly be perceived this way. Indeed, the main promoters, I. Ludo and A. L. Zissu, journalists as well as writers, were very active in articulating these ideals in their works, but their most important realization was the shaping of these ideas in the press. The mediocre quality of their prose due to a determinist orientation following a moral thesis, as well as the reduced accessibility, high specificity and low interest for the large Romanian readership, combined with the small social following of Zionism among Romanian acculturated Jews in Regat, determined a low popularity of their works. In exchange, the well-received works of Peltz and Clugaru introduced a leftist critique justified by the strong Socialist sympathies of their authors. In their case, the approach proved to be more successful due to the fact that the integrative project was visibly supported while promoting an egalitarian society based on economic factors, eradication of poverty and class struggle; in fact, Clugaru wrote extensively about Roma, Greek and Armenian characters, from the same perspective of social inequality. Peltz envisioned his ideal Romanian society as a good country (the actual title of one of his novels) in which all ethnic groups should live peacefully. Eventually, this literary direction proved to be successful in its integrative project rather than the independent, national Zionist one. Leftist movements such as Socialism and Communism, although kept under control and surveillance of the state and persecuted and banned for most of the interwar period, managed to attract at least on the ideological level and as sympathizers, a significant number of intellectuals, Jews and non-Jews alike. This explains how, despite a weak social and public representation, leftist movements still had a strong representation in intellectual life; comparatively, the participation in leftist movements was much more visible in Eastern and Central Europe where a large proletariat existed and capitalism was more developed, playing on the more obvious condition of Jews as pariah42. Sharing a more popular situation, these writers attracted a wider sympathy and their concerns about the situation of the multinational state were largely
42

Categories defined in Hannah Arendt, The Jew as Pariah: Jewish Identity and Politics in the Modern Age (New York: Grove Press, 1978).

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recognized. Eventually, the literature with Jewish topics supported the integrative project of recreating a Jewish culture in Romanian lands and an integrated culture of the Diaspora. According to Ludo and Zissus definition of Jewish literature, probably nothing else apart from their works (and probably Benadors) would have fit into their strictly authentic representation of Jewish life and culture. In this context we must speak cautiously about the existence of a Romanian-language Jewish literature in the sense of a whole corpus of texts having a common message and coherence of representing exclusively and authentically the Jewish culture and spirituality; nevertheless, the common thread of social and cultural inclusion and integration animated their message, negotiated their discourse favoring a largely universal value, and secured their intellectual continuity with the avant-gardist and modernist moment. Dominated to a large extent by this integrative project which aimed to address a larger readership and penetrate the Romanian cultural canon on one hand, while also reinventing Jewish tradition in Romanian culture on the other, the work of Peltz and Clugaru falls short of Ludo and Zissus, as well as on Blonskis standards on being largely considered a real construct of Jewish literature of Romanian language, according to Zionist approaches. Nevertheless, they succeeded in penetrating the Romanian literary canon as a testimony of the Jewish social presence and experience on the Romanian lands. Renouncing the most specific aspects of cultural authenticity, this form of literature merged into the mainstream of Romanian literature during the interwar period and enjoyed popularity decades after WWII, even republished in massive print runs (also due to the post-war careers of Clugaru, Benador and Peltz). Finally, the significance of this literary process of the emergence of a literature with Jewish topics must be perceived as a specific response to the challenge of articulating Jewish distinctiveness in the framework of participation in a modernizing and relatively liberal society. In this new context, Jewish community had to reinterpret its tradition in order to face modern challenges, to translate its culture to make it accessible and less threatening for the stillignorant Gentile society, and finally create a minority culture within the local milieu in the sense of Deleuze and Guattaris theory developed on Kafkas work (Deleuze, Guattari, 1986). Preserving significant parts of traditional Jewish cultural, social and religious heritage,

interwar intellectuals enabled the new identity construct to be integrated into the framework of a modernizing Gentile culture and also promoted its new image as a unifying factor for a future social identity. Conclusions Part of a general cultural trend, the emergence of Jewish literature in local languages represented the response to the challenge of expressing Jewish distinctiveness through acculturation and socio-cultural integration or as a direct consequence of Zionist influences and national Jewish revival within the framework of a modernizing and relatively liberal society. If the first explanation was specific to Jewries of Central and Western Europe due to the integrative policies adopted in that region, the second one represented the outcome of the identity movements within Polish Jewry. Eugenia Prokop-Janiec discussed the case of Jewish literature in Polish in a very convincing manner, especially significant due to the affinity between the Romanian and Polish cases of Jewish culture. According to her, as a literary phenomenon, Polish-Jewish literature may be viewed from two different perspectives. On the one hand, it may be treated as an integral, though peculiar, part of Polish literary output. On the other hand, it may be treated as a part of the polysystem of Jewish culture in Poland, a polysytem consisting of the creative activity in all the languages spoken by Polish Jews. Thus, we may talk about the Jewish School in Polish literature or, alternately, the Polish School in Jewish literature. It seems rather obvious that both these approaches are equally valid and not mutually exclusive. 43 In this way, a double approach becomes compulsory when recuperating these creations as part of both, Jewish and Gentile culture, with equal rights. Placed once more between Central and Eastern European models, the emergence of Jewish literature in Romanian language was the direct reaction to Emancipation by asserting a minority culture within Romanian culture favored by the newly emerged political context. Thus, the Romanian case contrasted with the
43

Eugenia Prokopowna, The Sabbath Motif in Interwar Polish-Jewish Literature in Yisrael Gutman, Ezra Mendelsohn, Jehuda Reinharz and Chone Shmeruk, eds., The Jews of Poland Between Two World Wars (Hanover: Published for Brandeis University Press by University Press of New England, 1989), 413.

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The Emergence of a Jewish Romanian Literature. A Socio-Cultural Approach

Austro-Hungarian situation where the Emancipation generated an influx of assimilationist ideologies. In interwar Romania, the legal inclusion rather performed the function of securing a civic space for the socio-cultural manifestation of minority discourses paralleling and replicating the mainstream Romanian national one, nevertheless from the perspective of integration and rapprochement. Eventually, the most distinct characteristic of this phenomenon resides exactly within this balance between public assertion of Jewish identity connecting the process with the Polish case and a profound acculturation similar with the Central and Western European cases. Functioning as a bridge of rapprochement between the Jewish and Gentile societies, the literary phenomenon had a strong integrative component severely criticized by Zionists, connecting it again with the Western model. REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journals: Deleuze, Deleuze Gilles, Guattari Felix, Guattari Kafka: Toward a Minor 1997 Literature. In: Theory and History of Literature, Volume 30 (1997), University of Minnesota Press pp. 18-21. Ludo 1932 Ludo I., Scriitori evrei i de origine evreiasc [Jewish Writers and Writers of Hebrew Origin]. In: Adam, an III, no 47 (15 March 1932), p. 11. Zissu 1931 A. L. Zissu, Literatura evreiasc din Romnia [Jewish Literature from Romania]. In: Adam, an III, no. 38 (1 June 1931), 12. Zissu 1935 A. L. Zissu, Scrisoare deschis domnului F. Aderca [Open Letter to F. Aderca] In: Adam, VII, no 81 (15 June 1935), 6. b. Books: Arendt Arendt, Hannah, The Jew as 1978 Pariah: Jewish Identity and Politics in the Modern Age, Grove Press (1978) New York. Benador Benador, Ury, Ghetto Veac XX 1934 [Ghetto 20th Century], Universala Alcalay (1934) Bucureti. Clugru Clugaru, Ion, Copilria unui 1936 netrebnic [The Childhood of a Blackguard], Naionala Ciornei, 64

(1936) Bucureti. Livezeanu 1998 Livezeanu, Irina, Cultur i naionalism n Romnia Mare. 1918-1930 [Culture and Nationalism in Great Romania. 1918-1930], Humanitas (1998) Bucureti. Peltz, I., Calea Vcreti, Cultura Naional (1933), Bucureti. Peltz, I., Foc in Hanul cu Tei [Fire in the Hostel with Linden Tree], Adeverul (1934) Bucureti. Prokop-Janiec, Eugenia, PolishJewish Literature in the Interwar Years, Syracuse University Press (2002) Syracuse. Rotman, Liviu, Crciun, Camelia, Vasiliu, Ana-Gabriela, Noi perspective n istoriografia evreilor din Romnia [New Perspectives in Romanian Jewish Historyography], Hasefer (2010) Bucureti.

Peltz 1933

Peltz 1934

ProkopJaniec 2002

Rotman et al. 2010

c. Chapters in books: Prokopowna Prokopowna, Eugenia, The 1989 Sabbath Motif in Interwar Polish-Jewish Literature. In: Yisrael Gutman, Ezra Mendelsohn, Jehuda Reinharz and Chone Shmeruk, eds., The Jews of Poland Between Two World Wars, Published for Brandeis University Press by University Press of New England (1989) Hanover, p. 413.

CONCEPTS ABOUT DEATH IN TRADITIONAL ROMANIAN SOCIETY CONCEPII DESPRE MOARTE N SOCIETATEA ROMNEASC TRADIIONAL

Ph.D. Cristina Popescu Muzeul ranului Romn Email: cristina_poplung@yahoo.com

Abstract. The aim of this article is to present the concepts of death in Romanian space during the modern period, as reflected by the ethnographical documentation and by historical sources. Based upon pre-Christian tradition and some elements of the ecclesiastical discourse, the traditional Romanian society elaborated an image about Death and the after life which assumed that the access into Paradise is granted by Christianity, the Orthodox religion, a righteous life (even if conceived mainly as conformism to ritual prescriptions), together with the performing by the relatives of rituals regarding the burial and the periodical commemorations. Keywords: concepts of death, traditional Romanian society, burial rituals, commemorations Rezumat. Articolul prezint concepia despre moarte n spaiul romnesc n perioada modern, aa cum rezult din documentaia etnografic i din sursele istorice disponibile. Pe baza tradiiilor precretine i a unor elemente ale discursului bisericesc, societatea tradiional romneasc a conturat, n timp, o imagine despre moarte i despre viaa de apoi n care credina cretin, apartenena la religia ortodox, viaa corect (chiar dac neleas n primul rnd ca respectare a unor prescripii rituale), alturi de ndeplinirea, de ctre rude, a ritualurilor privind nmormntarea i comemorarea periodic, asigur accesul n Rai. Cuvinte cheie: concepia despre moarte, societatea tradiional romneasc, rituri de nmormntare, pomeniri From immemorial times, human societies held the intuition that death is a problem of the living, which have to endure the physical and social loss of a relative. To die means the collapse of a whole world based on relationships, roles, positions and values. To gain the quality of ancestor the dead body had to be treated according to ritual

prescriptions and the soul had to be initiated into its new ontological condition; that was one of the main functions of the burial ceremony. The discourse about the Death in Romanian society was influenced by religious concepts, by the incidence of the phenomenon in society, and it evolved in time. Christianity was, probably, the first religion that presented an image of the death tamed (Aris, 1994, chapter Moartea mblnzit, 13-44) by the promise of eternal life, which transforms the leaving of this world into a birth in another world, better and happier. The Fathers of the Church and then the churchmen tried to impose the idea that Death does not have to provoke grieving for those who go on and for those who remain, because the dead person goes to God and will be eternally happy. We can exemplify this idea with mitropolite Antim Ivireanus words, who said that there will be a third birth, which is the saving one (mntuitoare), when the soul will leave the jail of the body and will experience the everlasting happiness (Ivireanu, 1972, 223)44. But the clerical discourse wasnt able to eliminate the fear of Death, who continued to be seen as the Frightening Death, The Death with the Scythe, as represented on the walls of the churches from Olaci, Titeti from Curtea de Arge, Pueti Mglai, Vladimiru and Turcenii de Jos, Dozeti Frteti from Vlcea, Drgneti Olt, Vratic, Dragomirna etc (Istoria artelor plastice din Romnia 1970, 72-73). This kind of visual images, together with the literary sources from church preaches and funeral discourses shows this to be the traditional folk representation of Death. In Walachia, the representation of Death on the exterior walls of village churches appeared at the beginning of the 19th century, but some patterns of painting the subject could be find even in the 17th century, in the sketch books of church painters like Radu Zugravu (Voinescu, 1978, 7). The main attribute of the Death in this kind of sources is the scythe, as noted in a manuscript from 1780, which explains why painters use this representation (Lemny, 1990, 135)45.

44

la naterea cea de a treia, carea este mntuitoare, s nate sufletul omului i iase dintru ntunerecul i tina trupului, ca dintr-o pucrie ntunecat i merge s vaz lumina cea strlucitoare i slava cea fericit a vieii cei de pururea. 45 ...vedei pre moarte cum o zugrvesc zugravii i nu o fac cu arme, ca pe ali sfini, ci cu o coas trgndus dup dnsa ca s cosasc pe cei de pre pmnt

Concepts about Death in Traditional Romanian Society

In a world where the majority of population was illiterate, the pictorial image was more powerful. So, the Death was also represented with other attributes, like a bag for collecting the souls of the deceased, and with different weapons, like sword, knife, sickle, file, axe, stake, arrows, claw hammer, hatchet, drill (Chivu, 1993, 262)46. The power of image could have been enforced by words, as in an allegorical composition from Radu Zugravu sketch pad, where Death says nobody can escape from its hands (Voinescu, 1978, 47). In the Church pedagogy, the fear of Death has to give way to the fear of the eternal punishments for those who did not live a Christian life. The Christian imaginary divided the world beyond into two spaces, the Heaven and the Hell. The Heaven, placed in the sky, represents the happiness and the rest, while the Hell, under the earth, is the place of punishment. The theme of the Final Judgment which will establish the punishment for the sins was codified in church picture in order to make its symbolism easy to understand by every social category. In the 17th century, Evlia Celebi, a foreign voyager through Romanian space, was deeply influenced by the representation of the Final Judgment from Trei Ierarhi Church, in Iasi. Asking for explanations, he was told that the priests needed the pictures to help them explain to the illiterate believers how Heaven and Hell are (Cltori strini, vol. VI, 1976, 480-481)47. The popular images about Paradise are illustrated by the answers given at the questionnaire applied by Nic. Densusianu at the end of 19th century. The Paradise is in the sky, far away, at the orient, at Jerusalem, it is up, near the throne of God, the paradise can be reached through 12 customs, the Paradise is a green garden, with birds, laid out tables, burning torches, delicacies, full glasses, it has 12 gates, 3 for each cardinal point, a golden wall, emerald tables, golden trees, the birds are continually singing and there is no night (Fochi, 1976, 244245). Paradise is the house of God, in the middle
precum vedem c coasa taie rnd BAR, ms. 3110, ff. 45 46. 46 cu spat, i cu cuitu, i cu secere, i cu pil i cu scure, i cu ap i cu sgete, i cu tesl, i cu bard i cu svredel.... 47 Jur aga, c poporul nostru este netiutor cnd i inem predici de pe amvoanele noastre i-l sftuim, el nu nelege cuvintele noastre. Noi nu-l putem face s neleag vorbele noastre printr-un limbaj simbolic.... de aceea noi punem s se fac chipurile tuturor acestora i, cnd predicm, i artm raiul este aa, iadul este aa.

of which there is the golden throne, upon which God is seated (Vulcnescu, 1987, 365). We can note a certain hesitation in placing Paradise in space: either in the sky or at the East, associated with Jerusalem, as in a long medieval tradition. The same ambiguity can be seen regarding Hell: it is far away, at the edge of the Earth, in the bowels of the Earth, at the devil, under the Earth; Hell means that unhappy place where the sinful go and they are eternally tortured there; Paradise and Hell are in the sky, and they are separated by a narrow bridge, which the sinful can not pass and they fall in Hell where is an eternal darkness (Fochi, 1976, 246). So, in the traditional Romanian representation, the world beyond is a moral reflection of the earthly one, because there the soul receives reward or punishment for everything done while living. The images that can be found in Romanian tradition are based, but only to some extent, on the clerical discourse originated in the New Testament. Some of the Epistles (Hebrews, XI; John, XIV, 2;Galateans, IV, 26) and especially The Apocalypse offer scarce notes about Heaven, and Hell is equally insufficiently defined in the Scriptures (for example Luke, III, 16, 17, 24; Matthew, IX, 43, 45, XXV, 41; Mark, IX, 44, 48). The Church had to refine these ideas and to construct a more coherent image of the world beyond, especially of the punishment of sins in Hell. Traditional Romanian representation received this ecclesiastical discourse and adapted it for an illiterate and mostly peasant society. So, we can observe on the exterior painting of monastery churches from Northern Moldavia, but also on the peasant churches from Oltenia, a so called ladder of sins, inspired by medieval writings, where each step is associated with a particular sin. The sinners are represented naked, and the devils punish them according to their particular sin. Each sin is graphically represented, from using make-up and up to perjury. The entrance in Hell, where Satan (called Nefrtatul No-brother in some Romanian tales) is seated, is like a flamebreathing dragons mouth. The graphic representation of Heaven is rarer and less spectacular than that of Hell. The important thing is that Romanians had an idea of the geography and of the image of the world beyond, even if the Scriptures were not so abundant in details. They knew that the souls would reach Heaven or Hell in accordance with the life they lived here, in this world.

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In this respect, the concept of the afterlife seems clear and the after-death destiny of each person can be inferred from the good or bad things done here, on Earth. But the representation of afterlife had an historical evolution, and even if in Romanian space it didnt reach the idea of a third space, the Purgatory (Le Goff, 1994), like in Western Europe, it did get marked by Western influences. There is a difficult task to reconstitute the manner in which common people referred to the afterlife, because the sources we have speak mainly about rituals that tried to facilitate deceaseds transition into the other world. These rituals reflect certain uneasiness related to the post mortem fate of the dead person, but they do not explain the reasons for this uneasiness. Daniel Barbu, analyzing mainly the exterior painting of the 16th century Northern Moldavian churches and some texts, like the sermons of an important 17th century archbishop, Cazania lui Varlaam, stated that the Romanians havent been troubled by the fear of the Final Judgment, because they thought their simple inclusion in the true Church (that was the orthodox one) by the baptism was enough to guarantee their salvation (Barbu, 2004, 80). The believers of other religions (Jews, Muslims, pagans) or of other confessions (Catholics, Reformed) would have been those condemned to Hell. So, he affirmed that Romanians didnt experience the individual responsibility until the 18th century, when under the influence of Western ideas they begun to believe in an individual judgment prior to the Final one (Barbu, 2003, 138). The proofs would be the frescoes from the churches where Muslims and Jews are shown punished as groups. Other proofs invoked by Daniel and Violeta Barbu would have been the journals written by foreign travelers, who said that Romanians didnt want to confess, because they thought they were not sinners. As an example was quoted Franco Sivori, who, in 1588 said that Romanians were illiterate, that nobody taught them how to live according to the Christian doctrine, and that they didnt know (or pretended not to know) that many of their acts were serious sins (Cltori strini, vol. III, 1971, 19). In a similar way was quoted a Swedish officer, Schneider von Weismantel, who talked in 1714 with a Romanian peasant, who told him he has no reason to go to Church and pray, because he hasnt committed any capital sin, he hasnt killed anyone and he hasnt stolen from anybody (Cltori strini, vol. VIII, 1983, 352).

We think some methodological precautions are necessary when dealing with iconographical sources or with the testimony of foreign travelers who were observing a space so different of their own and so difficult for them to understand. The representation of a collective salvation of Orthodox Christians and of a collective damnation of the Muslims in frescoes realized in a period of conflict with the Ottoman Empire or in the immediate afterwards of this conflict, doesnt necessary mean that the Romanians were not preoccupied with the individual sins. It is a component of the religious struggle against the Muslims or a compensation for the loss of political independence in favor of a Muslim state like the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, the graphic representation of the Final Judgment in Romanian churches originated in Byzantine models, which presented taxonomy of the individual sins, and it is possible that this kind of images didnt survive from a period prior to the 18th century. And it is also possible the later representations are based on older ones, nowadays disappeared. Anyway, a fresco from Poienile Izei, Maramures, from the 18th century, and others from Valea Trotusului, Moldavia, where each sin is represented with its particular punishment, dont seem to be a huge innovation for those who commented them (Bobulescu, manuscript in Biblioteca Academiei romane, Arhiva 1610, 112-113). We can also criticize the absolute credit offered to foreign travelers from catholic or protestant lands and who are little or not al all sympathetic with the Orthodox people, considered heretics and barbarians. It is true that the Christianization of behaviors was superficial in the Romanian space for a long time, and here one can not find that obsession of sin that characterizes the West (but even there, the clerical discourse penetrated the masses only from the 17th century onwards, after the Reformation and the Synod of Trent). Anyway, one can not say that the Romanians lacked a conscience of individual sin and a personal relation with God, as claimed (Barbu, 1994, 21). Maybe the nave affirmation made in 1714 by a Romanian peasant proves, in fact, the contrary to what the Swedish officer understood: that Romanians had a personal relationship with God, and this made them not to go to Church very often. The preoccupation with personal salvation could be inferred not only from the anguished interrogation of ones own conscience, as in Western Europe, but also from the performing of some rites, apparently 67

Concepts about Death in Traditional Romanian Society

barbarian to observers from another culture, which rites held a profound religious signification for the Romanians. Even the formalism regarding the observance of Lent, an accusation directed against Romanians by some foreign travelers coming from Catholic spaces, where the Lent was attenuated, or from Protestant ones, where the Lent doesnt exist anymore, signify a preoccupation with individual salvation. The same formalism of which Romanian funerary rites are accused can also illustrate a profound preoccupation with the destiny of the soul, destiny determined by individual actions (among which the right fate is essential, but not exclusive) and by the communitys intervention. The specificity of the orthodox behavior towards deaths, and especially towards burial also resides in the beliefs relating to the period after the soul leaves the body. The Fathers of the Church, and especially Makarios from Alexandria (Printele Mitrofan, 1996, 9-10), described how the soul continues to inhabit the familiar places for two days and only ascends to Heaven on the third. It will then be carried by angels to see Heaven and on the ninth day to be presented to God, reason for which the first remembrance rite (parastas/ meaning dirge) is performed then. After this, the soul is carried to Hell to view the sinners being tortured for another 40 days. On the 40th day there takes place the individual judgment in front of God, whilst on Earth the relatives performed a special remembrance rite, as the destiny of the soul is now decided until the Last Judgment. In this way the soul can be cleansed through the prayers of the living (Printele Mitrofan, 1996, 14). This belief seems the result of Western influences relating to Purgatory, an idea that has juxtaposed on the orthodox rites of remembrance of the dead (Barbu, 2003, 145). Since these rites have an archaic or even preChristian character, being much older than the Catholic influence, they can be testimonies of the Romanians adopting the personal, individual responsibility of sin. At the first, individual judgment, the punishments are only temporary, being liable to influence by the prayers of the living, no matter how sinful the dead, the sins can be forgiven, while the righteous can be rewarded further (Plmdeal, 1968, 563). At the Last Judgment though, the punishments are eternal. The idea of an individual judgment and of a possibility of forgiveness of sins through the intervention of the living seems to be first noted 68

at the end of the 19th century. The soul travels through various check-points (vmi literally custom houses) at fixed intervals, being met by various devils and angels, who asses the merits and the sins. If the merits are overwhelming, it can pass, if not, it stays there, until the relatives make the specific remembrance ritual donations (pomeni/ meaning alms) (Fochi, 1976, 250). There may be here some parallels with the concept of Purgatory, through the idea of the custom houses in the sky (vmile vzduhului) (Barbu, 2003, 138) through the soul passes to be assessed, although these parallels are tenuous. In writing such as the apocryphal Apocalypse of Saint Paul, the story of the journey to Heaven of Saint Makarios of Rome, or even in the popular novel Alexandria, about Alexander the Great, there are detailed descriptions of the tortuous journey undertaken by the soul through these custom houses, where angels protect it against the threats by devils. Partly influenced by such writings, the idea was born that the after life destiny of the soul is determined simultaneously by the deeds of the deceased and by the communitys practices after death. The death of the other thus becomes a preoccupation of the entire community, partly through the pain felt by the near ones, partly through the desire to protect the living from the potential danger posed by the deceased. Death was accompanied even in prehistory by a series of rites and beliefs, some of which survived until today, especially in rural societies, this serving to maintain the social balance upon the death of a member of that society. In the case of Romanian funerary rites, the great importance of the cult of the dead can be partly explained by an incomplete and late Christianization. The Orthodox Church tried to repress some of these practices and to assimilate others (Barbu, 2003, 144). In traditional mentality, the world beyond is a copy of the visible world (Fochi, 1976, 250) and the soul needs the help of relatives, friends, the whole community to pass over. It is said that there are bridges to be crossed on the way to Heaven, made easier to pass by the good deeds and donations offered in life (Voronca, 1998, 578). In village life the death rituals were better preserved partly through a fear of reprisals from the part of the deceased. Avoiding the coming back of the dead as a vampire (strigoi/ meaning genie), a belief mentioned also in Antiquity, required the maintenance of graves, funeral offerings and remembrance rites, culminating in the

Cristina Lung-Popescu

enshrinement in the calendar of commemorative days of the dead (Blceanu Stolnici, 1995, 207209). As a universal archetypal structure, the belief in afterlife is common to all cultures and civilization, including modern ones. From wills studied by us at the Romanian State Archives in Bucharest it becomes apparent that the will makers tried to delegate to their heirs obligations relating to the performance of funerary rites in order to insure eternal rest. These could stretch over a period of months so to integrate the dead successfully into the afterlife. Hence life and death are dialectically linked, as stated by Philippe Aris (Aris, 1994, 13). The afterlife is presented as isomorphic to the real world, meaning that souls occupy identical places to those in life, in terms of family, age group, occupation and ethnicity (Rou, 2003, 5). Furthermore, the cemetery has a structure similar to the human settlement, with graves grouped by families, and surrounded by fences like any household. If from the 18th century in the West cemeteries were more segregated from settlements, especially urban ones, the traditional Romanian Society ignored the idea of a boundary between the two worlds (Lemny, 1990, 130). On a temporal dimension, Romanian customs referring to remembrance of the dead fall into a linear timeline, through the prescribed dates to commemorate the recent dead, and a cyclic timeline through the cult of the ancestors, such as the Days of the dead (Saturdays of the Dead or Moi) (Gean, 2005, 351-353). Even if such commemorations were not present in the Scriptures, they ended up being adopted by the Church, and became enshrined in the churchs prayer books ((Lemny, 1990, 142-143). Therefore, in Orthodoxy, the cult of the dead started to include the so called pomelnice (list of dead to be remembered and to be preyed for), originally encompassing the important church builders and donors, later to include all the dead listed by a specific family (Lemny, 1990, 162). During these Saturdays of the dead, custom prescribed donations of items considered useful to the dead in the after life, mainly food, pottery, clothes, drink, etc As far as the treatment of the body in Romanian ceremonies, this involved dressing in the best clothes, a three day wake, incense burning over the corpse, splashing of wine, adornment with flowers before closing the coffin. During the wake songs were sang called The Dawns (Zorile), while the soul was to

be accompanied on its way by travel companions represented by wolf, fox, cuckoo, rooster or flowering tree (Ghinoiu, 1999, 100). Some of the oldest documentary evidence of burial rituals in traditional Romanian society can be found in the work of the prince Dimitrie Cantemir, at the beginning of the 18th century (Cantemir, 1976, 331). These were later confirmed in the 19th century with the first ethnographic studies. First act of this ritual involved washing the body, in a highly ritualized manner, by three persons of the same sex, paying detailed attention to the water used in this ritual (Buil, Lazr, 1966, 428). Next, the toiletry items used were enclosed in the coffin, and the dead was dressed in his best clothes and a punctured coin was tided with red string on the small finger. This could be a clear survival of the classical antique myth of Caron and the river Styx (Boissier, 1981, 93), combining with the Christian idea of the custom houses in the sky, were payment will be required (Bernea, 1998, 28). In some regions, like Gorj, it is even considered that the recently deceased can shortcircuit the two worlds and therefore can pass on gifts to those deceased before him, reason for which gifts for these others can also be included in the coffin (Bernea, 1998, 39). Similar to ancient Mediterranean practices, the dead is positioned with the head to the east and feet towards the door, as a sign of its journey of no-return. During the night, a candle burns continuously by the head, and the vigil is kept to protect from bad spirits. In some regions, another candle is fashioned of the same length of the body, and then coiled up, and used in the ritual purification of the grave, to be performed daily for the next 40 days after burial (Bernea, 1998, 29). An early mention of these practices appears in the Journal of Erasmus Schneider von Weismantel, Swedish officer living in Moldavia between 1710 and 1714 (Simionescu, 1971, 294). During the three day wake, religious and pagan elements mixed together in the rituals. While the priest reads from religious texts, the participants performed pagan rituals such as lamentations, going as far as paying women as professional mourners. These kinds of practices were confirmed by Dimitrie Cantemir (Cantemir, 1976, 331) and Weismantel (Cltori strini vol. VIII, 1983:362). In the coffin there will also be placed money, textiles, often embroidered with the sign of the cross, various 69

Concepts about Death in Traditional Romanian Society

objects with apotropaic functions, as well as plants with magic powers, such as basil (Marian, 1995:184). In some regions, up to the mid 20th century, there were ritual dances performed during the three day wake (Florescu, 1967, 499; Horia, 1981, 82; Vulcnescu, 1965, 616). These survivors of pagan beliefs were performed by men wearing masks, shouting and chanting while dancing around the coffin, or around a fire (Vulcnescu, 1965, 616). The Franciscan monk Giovanni Frontali describes, in the 18th century, the funeral rituals of Catholics from Moldavia, drawing a parallel with those of the Orthodox. He accuses them of borrowing many of the Orthodox practices and rituals, such as dancing around the fire during the wake (Cltori strini, vol.IX, 1997, 353). The most widely accepted explanation sees the mask dancers as personifying the ancestors, who come to welcome the deceased among them. Striking may seem the apparent joy of the dancers, which could be explained as an attempt to convey the deceased the survivors appetite for life and hence persuaded him to go on his way and not return to take them with him. The funeral procession itself starts with the dead leaving the house feet first, carried by man wearing towels on their shoulders or arms, while a common practice was to break a pot, intended to signify a break with death. On the way to church and later to the cemetery, there are regular stops, during which the priest reads from the Scriptures, and donations of money, candles and towels are made to the public (Bernea, 1998, 62). These stops, in varying numbers for each region, normally take place at crossroads or bridges, symbolizing this way the custom houses in the sky, where the soul of the deceased will have to stop and pay for passage (Olinescu, 2001, 237). This reinforces the belief that the bodys physical journey to the grave is a blueprint for the souls journey into the afterlife. The priest performs a final reading at the grave, the coffin is closed and entered, and rituals of pagan origin are also performed, an example being the passing of a hen across the grave. A possible explanation is that the bird acts as a companion on the journey of the soul and opens a path to the world beyond (Rspunsuri la chestionarul lingvistic al lui B.P. Hasdeu, vol. X, f.36). At this moment a gift was made to a person of the same sex and age as the deceased, consisting of a branch (usually apple tree) adorned with flowers, fruits, textiles, and ritual bread. This was intended to signify the 70

abundance of the earth to be carried with him by the deceased and also the idea of the tree as shelter (Ciubotaru, 1986, LI). The cross on the grave is always present, but in certain places, like Oltenia, it could be accompanied by a funerary pole, an ancient, pre-Christian symbol, currently explained as reference to the new dwelling of the dead, which is the grave (Rdulescu, 1994, 43). When the deceased was a young, unmarried person, this was accompanied in the funeral procession by a small fir tree, the same tree that appears in traditional marriage ceremonies, and here symbolizes the partner that the deceased never had. This tree is then left at the grave, while in some regions the funeral pole was accompanied by a sculpture of o bird, symbolizing the soul. This was believed to continue living in the shape of a bird or to be carried up by a bird with a psycho pomp function (Pavelescu, 1965, 130). All the rituals described so far deal with the separation and the passage rites, as studied by Arnold van Gennep, but in the Romanian traditional society an essential role is played also by the rites of integration of the deceased in the world beyond, performed after the burial. The first of them is the funeral banquet, held immediately after the burial, with the participation of the priest, family and friends. This meal is a sign of communal solidarity after the loss of one of its members (Van Gennep, 1998, 146).but also the food being eaten is meant as an offering to the soul of the deceased, in order to quench his hunger in the after life. The relative abundance of this banquet has shocked some foreign travelers who compared it to the usual meager meals of everyday life (Cltori strini, vol. VIII, 1983, 363). An important role during the post burial rituals is occupied by water. For 40 days, a girl or an old woman was paid to carry water to a certain family, in a ritual called the freeing of the water (dezlegarea apelor). The idea being that, through this gift, of a relatively precious commodity in traditional societies, the soul of the deceased will avoid suffering from thirst (Burada, 1882, 51). After the customary 40 days, the water bearer in some regions took part in another ritual of clear pre-Christian origins: a recipient of pumpkin skin filled with candles and coins was floated on the river. For modern ethnographers, this recipient symbolizes the boat of Caron carrying the soul across the river Styx, and the

Cristina Lung-Popescu

coins are the boatmans payment (Murgoci, 1928, 90). A further funerary banquet is held on the 40th day after burial, and further ones are held at regular intervals: 3, 6, 9 months and one year, these marking steps in the separation process. With these occasions the deceased clothes are being gifted to strangers of similar age and sex. Another important aspect of the funerary rituals is the wearing of appropriate mourning attire. Cantemir mentioned the custom of the male relatives of the deceased to let their beards and hair grow and not cover their head for 6 months (Cantemir, 1976, 331). At the same time, the women of the family had to wear back clothing for up to a year. Associated with the funerary rituals was the need to insure a correct integration of the deceased into the after life, out of a fear that this can return as a vampire and haunt the living if these rituals ware not faithfully followed. Historic and ethnographic sources document the practice of exhuming the dead presumed vampire in order to drive a stake through its hard, to insure it will not bring death to other members of the family (Ioneanu, 1888, 41). In conclusion, funerary rituals serve to mediate the relationship within the living and the dead, between this world and the world beyond. The funeral ceremony consists of acts and gestures which help integrate the dead in the world beyond and to erase any sign of death from the family. At the same time the deceased become an ancestor, a guardian spirit of the family and the household. The most numerous and important rituals are those who ensure the deceased an after life similar to the earthly one, in order to placate him and not cause any upset during his visits in the world of the living. The coffin and the grave represent the new home and the cemetery, at the edge of the locality, becomes the new village of the ancestors, venerated as the sacred places. The journey into after life is full of dangers, a long and difficult road through the custom houses in the sky, guarded by spirits who demand payment for passage. The family prepares the dead accordingly with footwear, walking stick, candle, water, food, and even companions, in the form of animals. Many of these practices survived until today, some through the power of habit, such as: coins in the coffin, the funeral shroud, the breaking of the pot, the gifting of candles, handkerchiefs and towels. Some customs are practiced the same as in the past, although their original meaning has been lost, being now

motivated mostly by family traditions. In modern families, especially when elderly are missing, most of these traditions are no longer observed or they lost their original meaning. REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journals: Barbu 1994 Barbu Violeta, Sic moriemur. Discourse upon Death in Wallachie during the Ancien Rgime. In: Revue Roumaine dHistoire, 1-2 (1994). Ciubotaru Ciubotaru I. H., Folclorul 1986 obiceiurilor familiale din Moldova [Folklore of FamilyRelated Customs in Moldavia] In: Caietele arhivei de folclor, [Booklet of Folklore Archive] VII (1986). Florescu Florea Bobu Florescu, O 1967 nmormnatre n Cuhea [A Burial in Cuhea]. In: Studii de folclor i literatur [Studies of Folklore and Literature] (1967) Bucureti. Gean Gean Gheorghi, 2005 Remembering Ancestors: commemorative Rituals and the Foundation of Historicity. In: History and Anthropology, vol. 16, no. 3 (2005). Murgoci Murgoci Grigore, Slobozitul 1928 izvorului de ap [The Setting Free of (Water) Spring]. In: eztoarea [Literary Soiree], 57 (1928). Pavelescu Pavelescu Gheorghe, Despre 1965 pasrea suflet [About the Bird Named Soul]. In: Anuarul Arhivei de Folclor [The Annuar of Folklore Arhive] VII (1965) Sibiu. Rdulescu Rdulescu Lelia, Recuzita 1994 ceremonial a obiceiurilor funerare n ara Oltulu [Ceremonial Props of Funerals in Olt]. In: Revista Muzeelor [Museums Review] (1994) Bucureti. Simionescu Simionescu Paul, Mrturii 1971 etnografice puin cunoscute ale unor cltori strini n rile romne (sec. XVII XVIII.)[Less Known Ethnographical Testimonies of Certain Strange Travelers in 71

Concepts about Death in Traditional Romanian Society

Vulcnescu 1965

Romanian Principalities (17th18th Centuries) ]. In: Revista de Etnografie i Folclor [Review of Ethnography and Folklore], Ed. Academiei RSR, tom. 16, nr. 4 (1971). Vulcnescu Romulus, Gogiul un spectacol funerar. [Gogiul. A Funeral Spectacle] In: Revista de Etnografie i Folclor [Review of Ethnography and Folklore], tom 10, nr. 6 (1965).

Stolnici 1995

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b. Books: *** 1970 Istoria artelor plastice din Romnia [History of Painting in Romania], vol. II, Ed. Meridiane (1970) Bucureti. *** 1971 Cltori strini despre rile Romne [Strange Travelers about Romanian Principalities] vol. III, Ed. tiinific i Enciclopedic (1971) Bucureti. *** 1976 Cltori strini despre rile Romne [Strange Travelers about Romanian Principalities] vol. VI, Ed. tiinific i Enciclopedic (1976) Bucureti. *** 1983 Cltori strini despre rile Romne [Ibidem] vol. III, Ed. tiinific i Enciclopedic (1983) Bucureti. *** 1997 Cltori strini despre rile Romne [Ibidem], vol.IX, Ed. tiinific i Enciclopedic (1997) Bucureti. *** Rspunsuri la chestionarul Rspunsuri lingvistic al lui B.P. Hasdeu ... [Answers for the Linguistic Questionnary], vol. X, Biblioteca Academiei Romne, Seciunea manuscrise. Aris 1994 Aris, Philippe, Omul n faa morii [The Human Being Facing Death], Ed. Meridiane (1994) Bucureti. Barbu 2003 Barbu, Violeta, De bono coniugali. O istorie a familiei din ara Romneasc n secolul al XVII-lea [De bono coniugali. A History of the Family in Romanian Principality in the 18th Century], Editura Meridiane (2003) Bucureti. Blceanu, Blceanu, Stolnici, Constantin, 72

Boissier 1981 Burada 1882

Cantemir 1976 Chivu 1993

Fochi 1976

Ghinoiu 1999

Goff 1994

Horia 1981

Ioneanu 1888

Ivireanu 1972

Dialoguri despre cele vzute sau nevzute [On Regard to Seen and Unseen Things], Ed. Harisma (1995) Bucureti. Bernea, Ernest, Moartea i nmormntarea n Gorjul de Nord [Death and Burial in North Gorj], Ed. Cartea Romneasc (1998) Bucureti. Bobulescu, C., Valea Trotuului inscripii i material documentar [Valey of Trotu Inscriptions and Documentary] vol I, Manuscrisul Arhiva 1610, Biblioteca Academiei Romne. Boissier, Gaston, La religion romaine, vol. I (1981) Paris. Burada, Theodor, Datinele poporului romn la nmormntri [Burial Romanian Traditions] (1882) Iai. Cantemir, Dimitrie, Descriptio Moldavie, Ed. Academiei RSR (1976) Bucureti. Chivu, Gheorghe, Codex Sturdzanus, Ed. Academiei Romne (1993). Fochi, Adrian, Datini i eresuri populare de la sfritul sec. al XIX lea [Popular Traditions and Superstitions at the End of 19th Century ], Minerva (1976) Bucureti. Ghinoiu, Ion, Lumea de aici, lumea de dincolo [Our World, The Hereafter], Editura Fundaiei Culturale Romne (1999) Bucureti. Goff, Jacques le, La Naissance du Purgatoire, Romanian translation, Naterea Purgatoriului, Editura Meridiane, Bucureti. Horia, Olga, Zona etnografic Buzu [Buzu Ethnographic Space] Ed. Sport Turism (1981) Bucureti. Ioneanu, G., Mica coleciune de superstiiile poporului romn [A Little Collection of Romanians Superstitions], Tipografia Modern A. Davidescu (1888) Buzu. Ivireanu, Antim, Opere, Didahii [Works. Sermons], Ed. G. trempel, Editura Minerva

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Lemny 1990

Marian 1995

Niculi Voronca 1998

Olinescu 2001

Printele Mitrofan 1996 Plmdeal 1968

Van Gennep 1998 Voinescu 1978 Vulcnescu 1987

(1972) Bucureti. Lemny, tefan, Sensibilitate i istorie n secolul al XVIII-lea romnesc [Sensibility and History in Romanian 18th Century], Editura Meridiane (1990) Bucureti. Marian, Simion Florea, nmormntarea la romni [Funeral at Romanians], Ed. Grai i suflet Cultura Naional (1995) Bucureti. Niculi Voronca, Elena, Datinile i credinele poporului romn [Romanians Traditions and Beliefs ]vol. II, Ed. Polirom (1998) Iai. Olinescu, Marcel, Mitologie romneasc [Romaian Mytholoy], Editura Saeculum I. O. (2001) Bucureti. Printele Mitrofan, Viaa noastr dup moarte [Our Life after Death], Agapia (1996). Plmdeal, Antonie, nvtura ortodox despre Rai i Iad [Orthodox Taught on Regard to Heaven and Hell] (1968) Bucureti. Van Gennep, Arnold, Rituri de trecere [Passage Rites], Polirom (1998) Iai. Voinescu, Teodora, Radu Zugravu, Ed. Meridiane, Bucureti. Vulcnescu, Romulus, Mitologie romn [Romanian Mythology], Ed. Academiei R.S.R. (1987) Bucureti.

Buil 1966

Buil, Valentina, Lazr, George, Practici strvechi n obiceiurile de nmormntare de pe Valea Dunrii [Old Practices in Burials from Danubes Valey], Sesiunea de comunicri tiinifice, a muzeelor de etnografie i art popular, Bucureti (1966).

e. Unpublished thesis or reports: Rou 2003 Rou Georgeta, Viaa de dincolo n mentalitatea ranului romn [The Soul after Death in Romanian Peasants Mentality], (2003) Bucureti. Teza de doctorat, Universitatea din Bucureti, Facultatea de Istorie.

c. Chapters in books: Barbu 2004 Barbu Daniel, Etica ortodox i spiritul romnesc [Orthodox Ethics and Romanian Spirit]. In Daniel Barbu (coord.), Firea romnilor, Nemira (2004) Bucureti. d. Proceedings from symposiums and conferences:

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PROJECTIONS OF ISLAM IN THE 19th CENTURY EUROPE48 PROIECTII ALE ISLAMULUI N EUROPA SECOLULUI AL XIX-LEA

Ph. D. Trif-Boia Elena Andreea Babe Bolyai University from ClujNapoca Email: boia_andreea@yahoo.com
Abstract. Since its emergence, Islam was associated in Europe with fear, anxiety and concern if front of a threat that proved to be of dual nature: both military, due to the early expansion of Arabs, and religious, arising from similarities and differences between Islam on the one hand and Christianity on the other. Such experiences have given rise to highly polarized clichs and stereotypes. A large part of the authors place Muhammad in the position of the False Prophet, attributing the expansion of Islam to fanaticism, violence and lack of religious education of those who followed his teachings. At the opposite pole are the intellectuals who appreciated the Quran as a divinely inspired book and also recognized the great merit of the Prophet to introduce monotheism among a population who was still worshipping many gods. The present study analyses the image of Islam in Europe, with reference to the example of Romanians in the province Transylvania. Keywords: Islam, Europe, Transylvanian culture, Nineteenth Century, Social Imagery Rezumat. nc de la apariia sa, Islamul a reprezentat pentru Europa teama, o stare de nelinite i tulburare n faa unei ameninri ce se dovedea a fi de dubl natur: militar, datorat expansiunii timpurii a arabilor, i religioas, survenit din asemnrile i deosebirile existente ntre Islam, pe de o parte, i cretinism, pe de alta. Astfel de triri au dat natere unor cliee i stereotipii extrem de polarizate. O mare parte a autorilor l plaseaz pe Mahomed n postura Falsului Profet, atribuind extinderea Islamului fanatismului, violenei i lipsei de educaie n spirit religios a
48

celor ce i-au urmat nvturile. La polul opus se situeaz intelectualii ce au apreciat Coranul ca fiind o carte de inspiraie divin i, totodat, i-au recunoscut Profetului marele merit de a introduce monoteismul n rndul unei populaii ce nc se nchina la zei. Prezentul studiu analizeaz imaginea Islamului n Europa, cu referiri la exemplul romnilor din provincia Transilvania. Cuvinte cheie: Islam, Europa, cultur transilvnean, secolul a XIX-lea, imaginar social From "the Turkish threat" to the age of great oriental travels The relations of the Europeans with the Muslim world were marked by conflicts and moments of tension even since the emergence of Islam. The military threat of the Muslims, associated with religious disputes, created moments of panic that left their mark on the collective imagery. First, the Arab expansion knew in that period an amazing advance. Syria, Persia and Egypt, later also Asia Minor and Africa fell prey to them. There followed then victories in Spain, Sicily and France, until 732 when, after the Battle of Poitiers, Charles Martel defeated the armies led by Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi and managed to stop the advance of Islam in the West (Said, 2001, 70). Anxiety and concern took over the Old Continent, and those who remembered the moments did this with fear. In the 11th century, Erchembert, cleric of Monte Cassino, pointed out that the Arab armies had "the appearance of a swarm of bees, but they devastated everything ... cruelly" (Ibidem). Besides the military threat, there also loomed a religious one, based on the existent differences between the two religions, on Islam's refusal to recognize the divine nature of Jesus Christ and as such, the refusal to recognize the Holy Trinity, the nuclear dogma of European Christianity. Such differences were insurmountable and generated no less than seven crusades, all organized to free the Holy Places from the hands of "Mohammedan" unbelievers a term used in an offensive, pejorative way. Simultaneously, Western clergy speech was extremely negative, and in its essential notes, can be summarized as follows: Muhammad, an example of licentiousness and depravity (Idem, p. 74), embodied both the position of the Antichrist, and that of the False Prophet foretold by the Holy Bible, and as about the religion whose founder he was, that took the form of one of the greatest heresies of all time. Peter the Venerable (1094-1156), abbot of the Burgundian

The present study has been published with the financial support of the Romanian National Research Council (Romanian: Consiliul Naional al Cercetrii tiinifice, abbr. CNCS) via a postdoctoral grant (PD), code 448, awarded according to the Grant Contract no. 99/20.07.2010.

Elena Andreea Trif-Boia

monastery of Cluny, showed a special interest in exploring the "Muhammad's wicked heresy." He wanted to fight it with scientific arguments, and for this purpose, he needed to directly access the texts it was based on, namely, the Quran. This work was done, at his insistence and financial support, by Robert de Ketton, in 1143. Peter's side notes on the manuscript replete with terms like "stupidity", "madness" "superstition" or "lie" and the Prophet is reduced to merely an Arab schemer, whose affirmation was due to deception, murder and war (Quinn, 2008, 40). No less critical in his assessments was Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). This Dominican monk showed his conviction that Muhammad mixed his teachings with folk tales, and the result materialized in a system of guidelines which found reception only among his followers, brutal people wandering through the desert who had no contact with religious writings (Idem, 41-42). The 15th and 16th centuries witnessed new direct threats of Muslims, this time Ottoman ones. It all started in 1453 when Mehmed II, nicknamed the Conqueror, put an end to the long history of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople fell and together with it the symbol of Christianity, the Hagia Sofia, the imposing cathedral of Constantinople Patriarchate, which ended up being converted into a mosque. Subsequently, conquering Belgrade opened to the Ottomans their way to the heart of Europe. In 1526, after the battle of Mohcs (1526), the Hungarian Kingdom was transformed into a pashalik, and three years later, in 1529, it was the turn of Vienna to be attacked, and it heroically resisted nearly three weeks before the continue attacks of the janissaries. In such conditions, the Turks, and thus Islam, could not arouse but only feelings of fear and terror. Most contemporary descriptions of the events offered images of bloodthirsty barbarians, of individuals imbued with destructive feelings. Some went so far and came to see in the Turks' actions a divine punishment for the sins committed by humanity. The head of the Catholic Church was himself convinced that if God was angry because of the sins of the people at that time, sins that, he said, were extremely numerous "anger may have converted into the Turkish invaders and into the barbarian nations that it dishonour the Lord Jesus" (Idem, p. 36). Some of the considerations of Martin Luther (1483-1546) also retain the attention. Referring to the Turkish attacks on "the Christians", the Protestant reformer pointed out that the latter "should not worry that by killing a Turk there flows any innocent blood but they

should rather be sure and confident that they "kill an enemy of God who, according to the Book of Daniel, was condemned to hellfire". Further, he militated for a German translation of the Quran, believing that only in this way people will know "what a rotten and infamous book it is" (Idem, 44-46). With the end of the 17th century, and the defeat of the Turks at Vienna in 1683, the way Turks were perceived by the Europeans knew significant changes. Already in 1697, d'Herbelot in his Bibliothque oriental offers a picture of Islam free of any threats. Muhammad "does not wander through the world any more as a threatening fornicator but stands still "on his piece of Oriental stage", a researcher highlighted (Said, 2001, 77). He is given a genealogy, an explanation, even an evolution, all included in simple sentences that prevent him from wandering nonsense (Ibidem). In the 18th century it was believed that the Turkish threat was disappearing, and their fear was becoming more and more a memory. It was a time of the so-called "turquires", a time of dressing, of building and furnishing the house "in Turkish style", it was the century when the whole Europe was invaded by the fashion of drinking coffee, a Turkish drink par excellence (Cardini, 2002, 227). Music is also penetrated by Turkish influences, so the Turkish style won famous composers such as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. On 16 July 1782, the National Theatre in Vienna had the debut performance Abduction from the Seraglio (Die Entfhrung aus dem Serail), an opera in German that enjoyed a remarkable success, and its author, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, received the praising of the Viennese Court. One year later, the same master came back with something that was to become one of his most famous piano sonatas, the "Turkish March" or "Alla Turca"49. Also France appeared to be delighted with Turkish habits since the days of Louis XIV, when, following the visit of an Ottoman mission (1669), Molire includes a Turkish episode in his play Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. About a century later, in 1761, Charles Simon Favart brought the theme back to the attention of the French public. Libretto of Soliman II Les Trois Sultanes presents the story of a French woman of the harem of Suleiman the Magnificent (1494-1566), Roxelana. Due to her personal cleverness and charm, she manages to win the sultan, who sets her free in order to marry her.
49

The third section of the Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major.

75

Projections of Islam in the 19th Century Europe

The play was extremely popular, being played at most European courts. The role of Roxelana was played by Justine Favart (1727-1772) and, for the first time at that time, the outfit was especially ordered from Constantinople (Gek, 1987, 72-73; Hammerbeck, 2004, 55). However, it could not easily be forgotten that Islam had made Europe tremble for a long time. Its whole negative nature consisted in the bad connotations of its founder. In his tragedy "Mahomet ou le fanatisme", Voltaire, who had repeatedly portrayed the Muslims as being sympathetic and tolerant, and Islam as being positive even in comparison with Christianity, concentrated in the character of the Prophet all the features of fierceness, hypocrisy, falsehood, tyranny and intolerance (Cardini, 2002, 230). Moreover, in August 1745 he sent a copy of the tragedy to Benedict XIV with the words "to the head of the true religion, this work against the founder of a false and barbaric sect "(Ibidem). As we approach the end of this century and then during the next one, to the old clichs there were added new ones, resulting from a better knowledge of the East. Scientists accompanied the Napoleonic campaign in North Africa, bringing back with them detailed stuff regarding the habits and lifestyle of the inhabitants there. And, later, the interest in these areas was stimulated by the completion of the works on the Suez Canal (1869), by the improvement and increase of the travels made with steam vessels or by the organisation of trips to the Middle East (Quinn 2008, 91). On the other hand, trips in the East were in the 19th century "a rite of initiation" (Caludine, Grossir) almost mandatory for every writer, a rite performed with frenzy by Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Nerval and Flaubert or, if we refer to the Romanian space, Bolintineanu and Alecsandri (Anghelescu, 1990, 20). To the barbaric and bloodthirsty East now it was added a new East, an exotic, lively and fascinating one that was an answer to the romantic sensibility of that century. When he began his journey in 1833, Lamartine confessed that he was always dreaming of: "A trip to the East [was] as a great act of my inner life". As for Islam, he was convinced that it brought together two contradictory features: fanaticism, the main engine of conquests, and an exemplary tolerance, which would manifest increasingly more visible as it loses from its strength, its vitality (Anghelescu, 1993, 141). On his part, Nerval, on his way back to Europe, understood that he now stepped in "the country of cold and storms" and that the East was for him nothing 76

but "one of those morning dreams, soon followed by the troubles of the day" (Edward Said 2001, 194). It is, therefore, the archetype of an Islam that inherits the exotic aura of the heavenly nostalgia. Eastern charm has also left its mark in the arts, whether we think of painters or photography lovers. Eugne Delacroix, JeanLon Grme, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Flix Bonfils, Maxime Du Camp, Flix Teynard, if we refer to France, or Sir David Wilkie, John Frederick Lewis, Frederick Goodall, in the British space, all of them surprised different aspects of Muslim life. Delacroix, for example, travelled to North Africa as a member of a diplomatic mission organized by the successor of Charles the Tenth, Louis Philippe, with the purpose of reconciling with the religious leader of Muslims in the area, the Moroccan Sultan MoulayAbd-er Rahman. The journey details are known because of the journey log the artist completed, but especially because of his drawings which accurately render the highlights of his visit. The sketches have been preserved in four albums, now in the collections of some museums in France - three at the Louvre and the fourth at the Muse Cond in Chantilly (Nret, 2004, pages 51-52). There are noteworthy works as Les Famme dAlger dans leur appartement (1834), Le Sultan du Maroc entour de sa garde (1845), tude darabe assis or Turc la selle (about 1835-1840). On his part, Flix Bonfils, a French writer and photographer based in Beirut with his family in 1867, where he established the photographic studio "Maison Bonfils", took an impressive number of pictures of the Orient. In the early '70s his catalogue is mentioned to have been edited in 15,000 copies, 591 negatives on Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Greece, later also Constantinople, and 9,000 stereoscopic photographs. Most of them were to be purchased by tourists as souvenirs (Aubenas, Lacarrire, 2001, 39-40). The 19th century was, on the other hand, the century of nationalism. In defining its national identity, each people highlight its virtues and achievements, putting them in contrast with those of its neighbours. Origins, old historical past, language, ethnicity, territory, religion, etc. were all used as arguments in the attempt of the peoples to define their national character. At the European level, there was, at the same time, a consciousness of unity that placed the Old Continent as a unit in opposition to other areas of the world. This unit was characterized on the basis of factors such as belonging to the white race, to a common

Elena Andreea Trif-Boia

cultural background and to the religion commonly shared: Christianity (Boia, 2008, 172). Thus, there was born a feeling of superiority of Western nations compared with the peoples of the East, which in theory encouraged the development of studies that highlighted the "deficiencies" of the Orient peoples, and in practical terms, to the subordination of a significant part thereof. As Edward Said emphasized, in about a century, 1815-1914, direct European colonial domination grew from about 35% of the earth to 85%, the most affected continents being Asia and Africa. On the background of the above mentioned evolution, the critical speech against oriental customs also represented an attempt to justify such actions. The Europeans could not handle as mere conquerors, because the values of that century did not allow them to do so. Therefore, they presented themselves as agents of enlightenment, of implementing the Western governing principles and rules. Even since 1810, Chateaubriand said of Eastern and Muslim people that "when they go through long periods of time without meeting conquerors who share the divine justice, they have an air of soldiers without a commander, of citizens without legislators and of a family without a father" (Said, 2001, 183). The same idea was shared by Balfour or Lord Cromer. The first criticised the despotic regimes and the Orientals' inability to govern themselves, at the same time praising the British mission in Egypt. Cromer, on his part, speaking about the Arabs, described them as illogical human beings, unable of coherent reasoning (Idem, 50-51). The same scepticism on the religious character of Islam continues to be manifest, even if, on the one hand, the speech is not so radical any more, and, on the other hand, the number of intellectuals who gave credibility to the Prophet's teachings was increasing. Chateaubriand, for example, in his Itinraire de Paris Jrusalem, et de Jrusalem Paris (1810-1811) said about the Quran that it was "Muhammad's book" that did not contain "any principle of civilization, no single precept that can elevate the character" (Idem, p. 141). On the opposite side stood Charles Forster (17871871), John Frederick Denison Maurice (18051872), Reginald Bosworth Smith (1839-1908), Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) or Byron (1788-1824). Determined to eliminate prejudices that have marked the European way of thinking for so many centuries, these authors made favourable descriptions of Islam and its founder. Forster, in Mohammedanism Unveiled

(1829), considered Islam "the best and most beneficial form of religion ever present in the world ", after Christianity or Judaism, and at the same time, expressed his confidence that "someday Muhammad's moon, giving up its borrowed rays, shall melt in the unfragmented light of the eternal Gospel" (Quinn, 2008, 109). Transylvanian Projections Due to direct contact with Eastern peoples the Transylvanians' interest for these areas manifested itself very early. In the 16th and 17th centuries information was quite sketchy and generally referred to historical, geographical or political issues, yet in the following centuries information became more and more diversified. In 1789, Samuil Micu complete work on his famous Ecclesiastical History, which devoted a substantial section to Arab history, to Muhammad's biography and to the Muslim ritual practices. And, a few years later, in 1803, the same author wrote the manuscript "Hronologhiia mprailor turceti", a work consisting of two books volumes presenting the succession of Caliphs from Muhammad to Harun al-Rashid (786) and that of sultans since 1298, until the death of Mahmud I in 1754 (Cmpianu, 1957, 217). From the 18th century are also the two works attributed to Gherontie Cotore (17201774), a scholar based in Blaj where he held the position of an assistant at the Theological Seminary and later that of the episcopal vicar general (1754-1765). "Istoria despre schismticia grecilor" provided details of the development of the big gap between East and West, with reference to the time of the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmed the Conqueror, whereas Muslim beliefs and customs were subjects of study in the book "Cartea de religia i obiceiurile turcilor". On his part, Gheorghe incai, in his "Cronica Romnilor i a mai multor neamuri", provided data about the Arabs' past, while George Cobuc wrote poetry on these aspects "Fatma", "El Zorab", "La pmntul turcului" , translations "Cuvintele Coranului dup Zeditz" (Scridon 2003, 79) or documentary stuff "Obiceiuri ciudate ale popoarelor" (Gazeta de Duminic, 41/1906, 4). Even more prolific were Timotei Cipariu's orientalist approaches, who had a good command of as many as 14 modern languages, including Arabic, Syrian, Egyptian, Turkish and Persian. He is believed to be the author of the stories "Firul de argint" and "O srutare dulce", that were published in "Organul luminrii" under the pseudonym "I.O.", both having their action placed in the East (Constantinescu, 1998, 77

Projections of Islam in the 19th Century Europe

p. 112). On the other hand, the Oriental book stock in the library of Timotei Cipariu includes around 600 printed books and 159 manuscripts, mostly dictionaries, encyclopaedias, thesauri, conversation guides, poems of all genres, epics in verse and prose, literary dissertations, grammatical and stylistic works, calligraphy treatises, works of history and geography, treatises in the field of geometry, physics, astronomy and medicine, religious manuscripts etc. (Yves Goldenberg, 1962, p. 483). His passion was, however, Arabic poetry, which he liked to talk about, and he did it very "enthusiastically", as Ioan Bianu confessed (Ibidem). This is proved by his personal notebooks containing mostly poems copied from various manuscripts, as well as some leaflets containing comments, corrections or explanations of some lyrics (Idem, pages 487488). The Romanians' interest for Arabic literature is also proved by the success of the famous collection of fairy tales Halima or Thousand and One Nights. Translations of it have existed since the second half of the 18th century, made after the Greek version, Aravicon Mithologhicon - Venice, 1757 (the first book), 1762 (the next two books). These are translations made in the years 1771 - in Jassy, Moldova, 1782 - in Braov, Transylvania, - and 1783, the latter being, in fact, the first full translation of the work done by Raphael, the abbot of the Hurezu monastery. From here, the text spread rapidly by the end of the mentioned century; there are known about fifteen manuscripts (Dicionarul literaturii romne, 1979, 423). The actual printing of collection was performed only in the first half of the 19th century by Gherasim Gorjan in Sibiu, and Ioan Barac, in Braov. The first printed version consists of 4 books and was published between 1835 and 1839. The second one appeared in 8 books and was printed between 1836 and 1840 (Drmba, 1998, 23). Both were republished, the first one in 1857, the latter in 1898. In Transylvania, the work aroused contradictory reactions. While some intellectuals were greeting the contact with this strange and fascinating world, full of variety, poetry and mystery, others denounced it just because of this exoticism that transgressed the sphere of their own values. In a letter addressed to Gherasim Gorjan, dated 10 May 1836, a reader is convinced that there is no other book in the world "more useful to humanity than it, except for the Holy Gospel. At the same time, he was 78

thankful to the translator, ensuring him that through his effort, he "raised an everlasting monument in the middle of the country, which shall be seen with great pleasure and zeal by all future Romanians" (Halima sau povestiri mitologiceti arabeti, 1837). Just the opposite is the description in Enciclopedia Romn. Halima, the author pointed out, is one of the "most curious and spread monuments of Oriental literature." It reflects "the life in Orient, East with its lustful and bloody mores, with its people, dreamers and fanatics, with its slaves and women corrupted by slavery" (Diaconovici, 1900). Returning to the image of Islam in the Transylvanian culture, we can say that this was influenced by several major factors. First, the location of the province and its early contacts with the Turkish people, dating from the 15th century, the time of Ottoman expansion and devastating incursions undertaken here in the years 1421, 1432, 1438. There should be added religious and cultural disputes: the Muslims are followers of a monotheistic religion that recognises the existence of Allah, an entity that is superior to man, yet they deny the divine essence of Jesus, placing him, together with Muhammad, among the great prophets who were polygamous and with obvious sensuality tendencies. This was in contrast with the extreme view of the Transylvanians, who were most of them Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians recognising the existence of the Holy Trinity and admitting monogamy as the only form of consumption of the relations between the two sexes. Such disagreements have given rise to quite polarized clichs, which placed the Prophet Muhammad either in the position of an impostor or in that of the bearer of a genuine revelation. For example, Samuil Micu, a theologian, historian, philologist and philosopher, member of the Transylvanian School, spoke on "Mahomedanism" in his Istoria Bisericeasc. His opinion was expressed unequivocally: Muhammad "proclaimed himself a prophet and preached his own faith and law." With regard to the Quran, it represented nothing but a mere compilation of the Old and New Testament (Micu, 1993, 217). There were also other Romanian intellectuals thinking the same way as Samuil Micu, usually from the clergy or persons that received a solid religious education. Zaharia Boiu, a priest, teacher and journalist, expressed his conviction that Muhammad "thought it himself called" to found a new religion, and his success had a powerful ally in the "cowardice" and

Elena Andreea Trif-Boia

"division" of the Christians at the time (Boiu, 1872, 65-67). On its part, "Enciclopedia Romn", the Romanian encyclopaedia coordinated by Constantin Diaconovich, presented Islam as "a mixture of Christianity, Judaism and paganism", the influences of Christianity being minimal (Diaconovici, 1898, p. 884). On a more radical position stood Georgiu Traila in his study printed in the magazine "Familia". Referring to the founder of Islam, Traila pointed out that he "imagined himself to be the Comforter promised by Jesus Christ". The author wishes to state that he had a Hungarian version of the Quran (dated 1831) and then advances the same idea of its lack of originality, being characterised as a "mixture" of the Old and New Testament, "with additions and deleare arbitraria according to the Arab taste of Muhammad and his followers". And he was even more vehement in the final considerations. "Islam as a religion ...cannot last for all centuries, because he lacks the divine character" (Traila, 1876, 543). Attempts to highlight the heretical nature of Islam are also the works invoking the exacerbated sensualism that was found not only in the everyday life of the Muslims but also in the afterlife. The Christian heaven full of gardens, in which every believer finds his peace and lives in a state of spiritual contentment, in communion with Jesus Christ, and surrounded by angels and saints, is totally different from the Muslim heaven, which was imagined as a place of carnal delight. Muhammad's heaven was promising virgin women, and this was unacceptable for most of the Transylvanians. Samuil Micu, for example, pointed out that the faithful followers of the Prophet teachings will be rewarded in their afterlife with extremely beautiful women, while "Enciclopedia Romn" and "Gazeta de Duminec" regarded this vision as the expression of "the most sensual debauchery"50. The most detailed description of the Muslim Eden is found, however, in the magazine "Familia". Wishing to give explanations on the expansion of this religion, the author invokes its irresistible temptations: "the less significant of the blessed Muslims shall have 80,000 servants and young maids. His room shall be loaded with beads, hyacinth and emeralds. He shall dine served by 300 cooks"
50

See Samuil Micu, the cited work, p. 218. C. Diaconovich, the cited work, vol. II, pages 309-310. C. Mesean, Credina, in Gazeta de Duminic, no. 5, 12 February 1905, p. 2. Victor Ardeleanul, Amintiri din cltorie, Constantinopol, 31 July 1890, in "Unirea, nr. 20, 16 May 1891, p. 154.

and the wine, which was refused to him during his terrestrial experience "shall not spoil him any more" (Traila, 1876, 544). Another image coming from the medieval vision of Islam is that of fanaticism, violence and cruelty of Muhammad's followers. These features are considered to be both the effect of the teachings contained in the Quran, "Kill the unbelievers wherever they are" and one of the significant causes of the Muslim expansion (Ibidem). It is remarkable how powerful the spreading of such teaching was, and their lasting over centuries, along with the new stereotypes that were to be born. In Transylvania, they were spread not only through periodicals, ephemeral publications, which sometimes left room for interpretation, but also in the pages of schoolbooks used for years, that put into circulation the clichs available at the moment when they were elaborated. Ioan Rus, for example, a professor of history and geography in Blaj, speaking about the Arabs, was remarking both their qualities and their defects: "The freedom an Arab has been enjoying continually for thousands of years, has poured into their breasts untold courage, generosity, nobility and self-respect. His nature is ardent, his imagination vivid and easily converting into enthusiasm. The virtues also include kindness of the heart and hospitality. Opposed to them are the Arabs searching robbery, revenge, who are lustful, passionate, ruthless, unstable, largely dedicated to carnal delight, dangerous friends and adversaries" (Rus, 1842, 60). Not the same ideas are found in the work of Patriciu Dragalina, a teacher in Caransebes, son of a priest and graduate of some European educational institutions - Faculty of Philosophy in Vienna, Geographical Institute of Gotha. Geografie pentru institutele pedagogice i colele secundare (Geography for teaching institutes and secondary colele), in fact, a translation of a similar work signed by H. Guthe, contains references to the Arabs' "fanaticism", pointing out that "unmitigated hatred and unrestrained revenge are inherited from generation to generation. There is no earthly power that could appease or reconcile them, only the streams of blood and crushing the enemies of his family are able to relieve his wild desires" (Dragalina, 1892, 165-166). The critical discourse highlighted in the lines above was to be completed by moderate or even positive remarks on Islam and its founder. It is about works signed by authors such as Vasile Goldi, Sandor Marki or Ioan Slavici. Goldi, for example, in his Istoria Universal 79

Projections of Islam in the 19th Century Europe

(Universal History), talking about Muhammad, outlined the portrait of an individual with the finest human qualities "... once the archangel Gabriel showed himself to him ... he gave him an open book and told him to read from it and then counsel the humanity on the right path ..." (Goldi, 1893, 52). In general, his views are also found in the work of the other authors mentioned. Both Marki and Slavici, in Istoria Universal, mentioned the ascetic period in the Prophet's life, crowned by the moment of divine revelation. According to the Hungarian historian, Muhammad had a double merit: removing polytheism among the Arabs and their coagulation into a strong nation (Marki, 1899, 71-72; Slavici, 1891). Conclusions Despite the variations that took place from one period to another, the overall picture of Islam in Europe remains essentially a negative one, based on existing cleavages between the two cultures, but also on the developments that marked the political scene in various historical stages. We think, in particular, of the Muslim expansion, which proved to have a dual nature: military, by submission of many peoples and the direct threats on some European countries, and religious, somewhat favoured by the military expansion. In other words, battlefield victories were accompanied by religious conversions, whether imposed by force and brutality or voluntarily occurred, as a result of tax relief or providing equal rights with those of the Muslims. In both cases, imposing the new administration had as result the destruction of places or objects of worship and their replacing with mosques dedicated to Allah, which, along with rapes and other brutalities specific to such times, always paralysed any attempt to tolerance of the newcomers. On the other hand, the Holy Places, a symbol of European Christianity, were also in the hands of the "infidels", a term often used during the Middle Ages to describe the followers of the Prophet Muhammad; this made the differences between the two religions insurmountable. Paradoxically, analogies blocked even more the relations between the two religions, despite the fact that the two doctrines are not antagonistic, but similar beliefs deriving both from the Old Testament tradition. Isaac and Ishmael were both sons of Abraham, and the verses like "he will be like a wild donkey among men; his hand shall be against all people, and the hand of all people shall be against" (Genesis 16: 12) did nothing but revealing their prophetic character. 80

As we advance in time, to the old medieval projections there are added new ones, deriving from different ideological and political contexts. The Muslim military threat was becoming more and more a thing of the past and the attention of the European observers would be captured by the habits of the Muslim population, their customs and way of life. Romanticism was the one who created another look of the East, that of a picturesque place, an ideal framework for escaping from a society strongly influenced by economic and technological progress. The new sensitivity found in the exotic territories of the Eastern world a favourable framework for the manifestation of creative imagination and fantasy. On the other hand, romantic nationalism develops in cultural field by recollecting past moments of glory, customs and traditions of each nation individually. A recollection often made under the identity-otherness dialectics. In other words, speaking of those who fell in the category "others", the Muslims, in this case, the intellectuals were acting as agents of their own values, depicting the characteristics of the "foreigner" in the language of the Western culture. Clearly, Islam was the expression of a radical otherness, of a strange world and hard to find a place in the European parameters of "normality". Hence the negative view of it, not infrequently associated with the world of the Old Testament, or the numerous accusations upon the Oriental despotic regimes that were incompatible with the democratic vision that was dominating Europe after the revolutions in 1776 and 1789. REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journals: Anghelescu Nadia Anghelescu, 1990 Islamul n oglinda Europei [Islam seen in Europas Mirror]. In: "Romnia literar, no. 45 (1990), p. 20. Cmpianu 1957 C. Cmpianu, O lucrare necunoscut a lui Samuil Micu: Hronologhiia mprailor Turceti [An Unknown Work of Samuil Micu: Turkish Kings Chronology]. In Studii i cercetri de istorie [Studies and Researchs of History], VIII (1957) Cluj. Gazeta de "Gazeta de Duminec", Duminic no. 41, 21 October (1906),

Elena Andreea Trif-Boia

41/1906 Hammerbeck 2004

p. 4. David Hammerbeck, Les Trois Sultanes: French Enlightenment Comedy and the Veil. In "Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Spring (2004), pages 55-65.

Drmba 1998

b. Books: Anghelescu 1993

Aubenas; Lacarrire, 2001

Boia 2008

Boiu 1872

Cardini 2002

Constantinescu 1998

Diaconovici 1898

Diaconovici 1900

Dragalina 1892

Anghelescu, Nadia, Introducere n Islam, [An Introduction to Islam], Editura Enciclopedic (1993) Bucureti. Aubenas, Sylvie, Lacarrire, Jacques, Voyage en Orient, Bibliothque Nationale de France, Hazan (2001) Paris. Boia, Lucian, Jocul cu trecutul. Istoria ntre adevr i ficiune [Playing with Past. History between Truth and Fiction], Humanitas (2008) Bucureti. Boiu, Zaharia, Istoria patriotic i universal [Patriotic and Universal History] Archidiecesane Printing (1872) Sibiu. Cardini, Franco, Europa i Islamul. Istoria unei nenelegeri [Europe and Islam. The History of a Misunderstanding], Polirom (2002) Bucureti. Constantinescu, Viorica G., Exotismul n literatura romn din secolul XIX [Exotism in Romanian Literature of 19th Century], Editura Univ. "Al. I. Cuza (1998) Iai. Diaconovich, Constantin, Enciclopedia romn [Romanian Encylopedy], vol. I, (1898) Sibiu. Diaconovici, Constantin, Enciclopedia romn [Idem], vol. II (1900) Sibiu. Dragalina, Patriciu, Geografie pentru institutele pedagogice i

Gek 1987

Goldi 1893

Halima sau povestiri mitologiceti arabeti1837

Marki 1899

Micu 1993

Nret 2004 Rus 1842

Scridon 2003

colele secundare [Geograhpy for Pedagogical Institutes and Secondary Schools], Editura Caransebes (1892). Drmba, Ovidiu, Istoria culturii i civilizaiei [History of Culture and Civilisation], vol. IV, ed. Saeculum I. O. (1998) Bucureti. Gek, Fatma Mge, East encounters West. France and the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century, Oxford University Press (1987) New York. Goldi, Vasile, Istoria universal pentru colele secundare, [Universal History for Secondary Schools] vol. II, Ed. Librriei N. I. Ciurcu (1893). Halima sau povestiri mitologiceti arabeti pline de bgri de seam, i de ntmplri forte frumoase, i de mirare [Halima or Arabic Mythologic Stories ] a translation by Gherasim Gorjan, vol. 3 (1837) Sibiu. Marki, andor Istoria universal [Universal History], translated by Ioan Popovici, Tipografia Archidiecesan (1899) Sibiu. Micu, Samuil, Istoria bisericeasc [History of Church], Sfnta Mnstire Bistria, Eparhia Rmnicului (1993). Nret, Gilles, Delacroix, Taschen (2004) Kln. Ioan Rus, Icoana Pmntului [The Icon of Earth] (1842) Blaj. Scridon, Gavril, Viaa lui George Cobuc [George Cobucs Life] Fundaia Cultural Romn, Centrul de Studii 81

Projections of Islam in the 19th Century Europe

Slavici 1891

Quinn 2008

Transilvane (2003) ClujNapoca. Ioan Slavici, Istoria universal [Universal History], vol. II, Editura Librriei Socecu & Comp. (1891) Bucureti. Frederick Quinn, The Sum of All Heresies: The Image of Islam in Western Thought, Oxford University Press (2008).

c. Chapters in books: Traila 1876 Georgiu Traila, Islamul, in "Familiar, no. 46, 14/26 November (1876), p. 543.

82

ANDREWS INSTITUTE AND ITS EDUCATIONAL ELITE BETWEEN 1900 AND 1918. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS INSTITUTUL TEOLOGIC ANDREIAN DIN SIBIU I ELITA SA EDUCAIONAL NTRE ANII 1900 I 1918 CONSIDERAII GENERALE

Valeria Sorotineanu Lucian Blaga University, Sibiu Email: valeria.sorostineanu@ulbsibiu.ro

Abstract. This study in intended to be presenting the school policy pursued by orthodox circles of Sibiu, not only on primary school level, but especially the support of those who attended the secondary schools and university studies in various centres of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This initiative opposed to the dualist state after 1867, although eager for material support of the schools, but does not abdicate to its political mission. Transylvanian Romanian elite would not exist without basic aid scholarships obtained here. Keywords: school, The Orthodox Church, scholarships, school funds, The Theological Institute in Sibiu Rezumat. Studiul de fa se dorete a fi prezentare a politicii colare duse de ctre cercurile clericale ortodoxe de la Sibiu, nu doar la nivelul colii primare confesionale dar mai ales al susinerii celor care au urmat studii gimnaziale i universitare n diverse centre ale Imperiului austro-ungar. Respectiva iniiativ s-a opus politicii colare a statului dualist, de dup 1867, care dei dornic de susinerea material a colii, nu a abdicat de la misiunea politic a acesteia.Elita romneasc din Transilvania nu ar fi existat fr ajutorul de baz al burselor obinute de aici. Cuvinte cheie: coal, Biserica Ortodox, burse colare, fonduri colare, Institutul Teologic din Sibiu. Following Andrei (Andrew) aguna on the metropolitan see, after Miron Romanul, Metropolitan Ioan Meianu experienced the most difficult period for the development of the overall relations between Budapest and the Romanian nation in Transylvania between 1898 and 1916, with direct reference to the

obstruction of its fundamental educational sector the religious Romanian school. In addition to the permanent efforts in this regard, scholarships for students from secondary school and especially theologians and teachers from Andrews Institute were constituted as investments for cultural or political careers, which Romanians have always needed. In this respect, the Archdiocese aimed through these stipends (scholarships) to help the most gifted theologians, teachers or secondary school students, in order to complete their training, noting that a new direction was opened for the scholars eager to obtain the Ph. D. In typological terms, scholarships were granted from the following funds: the State (4 scholarships of 1000 crown each), and a large number of local funds, left by will with educational purposes: the Moga Fund, the Franz-Joseph Fund, the Cologea Fund, the Peioviciu Fund, the Ecaterina Raiu Fund, dr. Ispas and Absalon Todea Fund, Ioan Popescu Fund, N. Putnoky Fund and The Church of Sibiu The Josephine suburbs. State scholarships were granted by the Consistory to theology graduates with the purpose of attending university, usually in Budapest, but also in Vienna and Cernui, where they would especially study: Theology, Philosophy and Law. Among those who were granted scholarships were Marcu Jantea, Lazr Triteanu, Joseph Enescu, Vasile Stan, Victor Pcal, Sextil Pucariu, Eugeniu Piso, George Tulbure, Ioan Crian, Octavian Goga, Octavian Tsluanu, Nicolae Blan, Ascaniu Crian, Onisifor Ghibu, Silviu Dragomir, Lucian Blaga, Andrei Oetea etc. Starting with 1900, a special scholarship was granted to one theologian who could study at the University of Cernui, for the preparation and be awarded the Ph. D. Among the first to benefit from it was also N. Blan (Council Protocol, 1900). In the course of time, the scholarships became increasingly divided into categories, depending on the supplying fund, thus the scholarships offered by Moga, Ioan Popescu and Cologea funds were mostly granted to teachers and the other funds were destined for theologians. (Council Protocol, 1901, 150) Between 1902 and 1904, from the total value of the scholarships, 11,560 crowns were provided by three funds: the State fund, the Moga fund and the Franz-Joseph fund. There were also 760 crowns supplied by a new fund, the Vlad fund. The scholarships in 1905 were

Andrews Institute and Its Educational Elite between 1900 and 1918. General Considerations

provided by 12 funds, with a constant value of 14986 crowns. Starting with 1907 there appeared 3 new funds: dr. Avram Mihai, Manoviciu and Cora, of 1700 and 100 crowns. In 1913, the Archdiocesan Council approved the sum of 23650 crowns, provided from 17 funds: later were added the I. Lupu and an extra sum of 5100 crowns from the Bessarabian patron Vasile Stroescu; he also returned in 1914, when he offered 3300 crowns from a total sum of 22,300 crowns, which was maintained until 1915 (Council Protocol, 1902, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1915). Normally, the majority of those who were granted the above mentioned scholarships succeeded to also apply their newly acquired knowledge within the departments of the two divisions of the Institute, so that Andrews Institute could maintain a continuous genuine teaching elite. Andrews theological-pedagogical seminarian institute had a tumultuous and complex evolution during Meianus period; in the first place, there emerged a new generation within the Seminary departments, who, assuming the previous motivations and initiatives, showed particular interest in the implementation of the new pedagogy of German origin and, at the same time, a clear desire to express themselves more openly regarding the delicate issue of Romanian religious schools and secondary schools. There was an increasing interest in editing textbooks that were necessary in religious schools, as an extension of the pedagogical work. In this respect, we mention Petru pan Ph. D., Ioan Stroia Ph. D., Nicolae Vtan, Vasile Stan Ph. D., Nicolae Blan Ph. D. and Ioan Lupa Ph. D. Although he lived only 51 years (18601911), P. pan Ph. D., along with Ioan Popescu, was the best known author of textbooks; he had studied Philosophy and History at Vienna and Pedagogy at Jena, where he had also held his doctoral paper, entitled Die Fortbildung der Padagogik Herbart durch Ziller, Hermannstadt, 1889. After meritorious teaching activities at the Girls School of the Association between 1887 and 1892, he taught subjects such as Dogma, Canon Law, Pedagogy, Psychology, Didactics, as well as Romanian and Hungarian at Andrews Seminary. Among his textbooks, we mention: Noul abecedar (The New ABC) (1906), Poveti pentru anul I colar (Stories for the First Grade) (1901). His survey regarding Treptele formale ale nvmntului (The Formal Educational 84

Steps) (Sibiu, 1902) determined Romanian teachers to accept the innovative ideas of the German pedagogy, especially those of Herbart and Ziller. He re-edited the most well-known textbooks belonging to Ioan Popescu, Abecedarul (The ABC) and Carte de Cetire pentru clasa a II-a i a III-a (Reading Textbook for the Second and the Third Grades), and the work for the appearance of the periodical Foii pedagogice (The Pedagogical Paper) (18971900) and Vetrei colare (The School Hearth) was equally meritorious. One cannot overlook the important studies he dedicated to teaching activities in the time of Metropolitan aguna (1909) or to the personality of one of the first Romanian teachers in Transylvania-Daniil Popovici-Barcianu Ph. D.- coala lui aguna(The School of aguna), Sibiu, 1909 and Viaa i activitatea profesorului dr.Daniil Popovici-Barcianu (The Life and Work of Teacher Daniil Popovici-Barcianu Ph. D.), Sibiu, 1903. Following his example, Ioan Stroia Ph. D. also studied Pedagogy, History and Geography at Jena and Budapest, and published his doctoral thesis in 1894 in Sibiu, revealing the same interest in pedagogy. He was also the author of Reading Textbooks for the I-IV Grades destined for popular schools, and, together with Dimitrie Lpdat and Iuliu Crian, both teachers from Slite, also published: The ABC and The Reading Books for Popular Schools, for the 5th and 6th grades. Being member of the School Department of the Association, he published in The Pedagogical Paper relevant studies, such as The Profane History in Popular Schools, School Exams and Their Making and Historical Glances upon the Reading and Writing Learning Procedure in School. His intention was undoubtedly to prepare the religious school modernisation also through pedagogy and didactics. He had the chance to continue his educational work, both as dean at Slite and Sibiu and as a school inspector until 1918 and further. Similarly to the ones above mentioned, V. Bologa Ph. D. held doctoral thesis The Pedagogical Interest According to Herbart (Budapest, 1888), promoting culture through public conferences or articles. Pedagogical Studies and Speeches, in 1905, were his most popular works. He was also interested in folklore, and collected a considerable number of ballads and folk songs and was the author of two monographs, of the monastery from Geoagiul de Sus and of the Civil School for Girls of the Association (Roca, 1911, 99-110).Although he

Valeria Sorotineau

is best known as the author of one textbook, Elements of Romanian Poetics, he also wrote reviews of other textbooks in The Romanian Telegraph or Transylvania magazines. Nicolae Vtan, born on December the 11th 1869, in Zoltan, Trnava Mare County, studied cultural history and geography at the University of Budapest, and then taught those subjects at Andrews Seminary. Vasile Stan Ph. D. was one of beneficiaries of the four state scholarships (valued at 1000 crowns). He studied Modern Philology and Philosophy until 1902, when he held his doctoral thesis in Philosophy and became a professor at Andrews Seminary. He drew attention to the importance of sermons (The Sermon in Church, Its Importance and Necessity) and to finding viable methods of teaching Hungarian (Hungarian for Elementary Schools through the Direct Method, Sibiu, 1907, Hungarian Grammar for Normal Schools, Sibiu, 1909). Aurel Crciunescu Ph. D. also showed interest in teaching Religion in Religious and Pedagogical Schools; in 1906, he held the permanent position at the Departments of the History of the Old and New Testament, the Universal Church History, and Homiletics and Biblical Archaeology.(Roca, 1911, 111-113). Nicolae Blan Ph. D. presented his doctoral thesis at Cernui, similarly to George Proca, consistorial secretary, one of the fervent supporters of the idea that priests should be encouraged in professional improvement, in addition to their practical preparation for parish work. In his studies regarding The Religious Issue Today an Apologetic Study, Sibiu, 1906 and Primordial Religion and the Origin of Religion, he was motivated by the need to find a religious pedagogy for the education of the young. In addition to his activity at Andrews Institute, he supported the emergence of the Theological Review, which was designed from its beginnings in 1907 as a forum for discussions on strictly religious topics, destined to the ecclesiastical circles of Sibiu; he also edited The Good Shepherds Library, for the pastoral necessities of the priesthood, starting with 1911. History and Pedagogy supported together the Romanian school cause when Ioan Lupa occupied a position in the Ecclesiastical History Department of the Seminary, although for a short period, between 1905 and 1909, as the authorities did not agree to the inherent inclusion of national history episodes in the above-mentioned course. Being archpriest of

Slite until 1918, he managed to make of that deanery a model for the religious school there. Ioan Lupa, with a Ph. D. in history in 1905, after university studies in Budapest (19001904) and Berlin (1904-1905), began his literary activity before 1900, through his articles in The Tribune (Sibiu), The Romanian Telegraph, The Tribune (Arad) and The Romanian People. His articles regarding education are found in the pages of The School Hearth from Sibiu, The General Educational Journal and the Romanian Orthodox Church in Bucharest. Like Lupa, Onisifor Ghibu Ph. D. left from Slite when he was appointed school secretary in 1910, replacing Petru pan Ph. D. at the Pedagogical Department. He attended specialty studies in Bucharest, Budapest, Strasbourg and Jena, the latter university centre was where he had held his doctoral thesis, in 1909. Most of his pedagogical studies were published in Transylvania, The Fight, The Tribune, The Romanian Telegraph, and The People Journal. Among them, we mention Limba noilor cri bisericeti (The Language of the New Church Books) (Sibiu, 1905), O cltorie prin Alsacia-Lorena. ara i colile sale (A Journey through Alsace-Lorene. The Country and Its Schools), Cteva probleme ale colii romneti din Ardeal (A Few Issues of the Romanian School in Transylvania)(Roca, 1911, 128-129). In 1899, Andrews Institute had only three permanent teachers and two instructors, two years later the teaching department had three teachers, along with other two who dealt with religious songs and vocal and instrumental music; in 1912 there were four permanent teachers, 8 in 1913 and 1914. Out of the 153 pedagogues of the Institute in 1909, only 53 graduated. Statistics from that year show that most of them came from the surrounding deaneries: Avrig, Zarand, Bran, Fgra, Ortie, Sebe, Agnita, Sibiu, Sighioara and least from: Cohalm, Trnava, Turda. (Council Protocol, 1902, 122). The situation changed in subsequent years, 15 came from the Fgrea, 13 from Avrig deanery, 10 from Ortie, 9 from Bran, 8 from Agnita, Braov and Slite. As expected, no candidate came from the troubled deaneries, i.e. with a large number of temporary teachers. At the Archdiocesan Council in 1907, through the council conclusion no. 39 from the 14th of May, it was decided that the seminar teachers were to be considered on a higher level of qualification; at that time the teachers were

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Andrews Institute and Its Educational Elite between 1900 and 1918. General Considerations

Demetriu Coma, P. pan Ph. D., N. Vtanu, V. Stan Ph. D., I. Lupa Ph. D. According to Law 38/1868, after a practice of one or two years, one could take the teaching qualification exam. In 1907, the law required that teachers be qualified, otherwise the Commission had to issue a certification every 6 months, the school remaining in the position of not having qualified teachers for up to one year. Through an intervention to the ministry, the required year of practice was eliminated. Also, theologians could now take the qualification examination if they met certain conditions (compulsory schooling and maturity exam). The qualification exam in 1907 had three stages: - In June, for those who had completed three years of studies and practice; - In September, for graduates of theology; - In December - for those who repeated the exam. The examination was conducted by Matei Voileanu , consistorial assessor, who signed 86 degrees (a less severe attitude towards candidates was practically dictated by the need for teachers in the Archdiocese), while in 1910, the number of diplomas was much lower only 24 (Council Protocol, 1907, 83-84). In 1914, the pedagogical section of Andrews Seminary was represented by 135 teachers: 52 in the first year, 27 in the second, 26 in the third and 30 in the fourth. Being a fouryear course, unlike theology, the number of students fell to 106 in 1915 (Council Protocol, 1910, 86). In addition to the facts presented so far, otherwise commonly known, the relation between Andrews Institute, led by Eusebiu Roca Ph. D. and the Archdiocesan Consistory completes in fact the image of the school life within the Archdiocese. The 9th meeting from the 23rd of March 1900 led the Consistory approving the fees charged for private examinations in Pedagogy be included in the Seminary Fund, not in the Diocesan School Fund, which indicates the seminar management policy (led by Eusebiu Roca Ph. D.) of gaining complete autonomy for the further use of this fund (Consistory Protocol, as a school senate, 1900). During the eighth meeting from the 15th of February 1901, the Consistory issued a note referring to the exact determination of the texts of church songs. The board consisted of Zaharia Boiu, Miron Cristea, M. Voileanu, professors Vasile Bologa, Ioan Stroia Ph. D., Timotei Popovici, Dimitrie Cunan and operated under 86

the presidency of the Archbishop (Consistory Protocol, as a school senate, 1900). The royal inspector Vertessy Ph. D. considered the pedagogical section, after his inspection in late April of 1904, as being composed of very bad students. The consistory asked the faculty to express their views and, on the other hand, the above cited inspector asked to be informed upon the pedagogical exams schedule, in order to attend them.(Consistory Protocol, as a school senate, 1904,15/29 04 1904).The need for improvement in Education and Teaching resulted into the management decision to request, during the 25th meeting from the 15th of July 1904, the increase of the course length from 3 to 4 years. Starting with July 1905, the ministry began to demand that the educational department increase the number of Hungarianlanguage classes, reason for which the Consistory was informed. The Consistory was also responsible for the approval of the textbooks used in the seminary, as well as in public schools; thus, it notified the seminarys management that the Arithmetic (I. Popescu) and Natural History (Barcianu) textbooks were exhausted, requesting proposals for their replacement. (Consistory Protocol, as a school senate, 1905, 43/15 12 1905). Starting with 1907, the Consistory annually required a list of textbooks used in the seminary, thus at the 34th meeting from the 20th of October 1906 the Ministers desire that all the textbooks should contain the official name of municipalities in Hungarian was communicated. In 1908, the pedagogical section was surveyed by the inspector of the county of Sibiu, Gro Viemas, ad also by Jancso Benedek. In order not to create too much trouble and distorted interpretations, during the meeting from the 13th of November 1908 the Consistory decided that the feast for Great Andrew should only be an internal celebration. The Consistory, usually seen as an implacable force for being a decisional factor, decisions that represented, in their turn, a transmission belt between the archdiocese and the faithful, demonstrated understanding for teachers, accepting, at the request of their students of Pedagogy from the terminal year, that they would be exempted from attending church during weekdays. While the teacher councils usually acknowledged protocols without any objection, during the 27th meeting from the 9th of July 1909, however, the Consistory stated that the seminary

Valeria Sorotineau

managements report was far from being objective. Therefore, as we have mentioned before, due to the necessity of thoroughly knowing church music, the Consistory accepted the conclusion of the academic teacher conference regarding the study of vocal music in the pedagogical department. Similarly, in 1912, two new subjects were included History and Pedagogy, this time, within the theological department, especially after the decision that the clergy could take the exam for becoming teachers was made. The prohibited textbooks, as well as the unwanted initiatives were also reported to the Consistory; during the 48th meeting from the 12th of June 1913, the Ministers request to take action against Onisifor Ghibu, school secretary and substitute teacher, was taken into consideration. His articles from The Pedagogical Annual were inconvenient due to their harsh attack against law 27/1907. The first measure was to give those accused the opportunity to justify themselves in front of the Minister. The necessity of uniformity regarding the motivation of some of the manuals, as well as their protection in front of the state authorities was discussed in the spring of 1914, when the report the commission responsible for creating textbooks was presented. Those who formed the committee had different views, although they asked the Consistory for monopoly on textbooks, seminary professor Stan Vasiliu, for instance, rejected this idea from the start. Onisifor Ghibu, instead, required that any potential textbook should have had its manuscript approved by the Consistory. The relation between priests and teachers was questioned many times and was the cause for endless discussions during Consistory meetings dating from that period; the latter rejected the idea that their origin laid within the Seminary. The Ministers recommendations regarding the summer courses in Budapest became a habit during the Consistory meetings, as well as the requests to teach Hungarian within the Pedagogical section of Andrews Seminar (Consistory Protocol, as a school senate, 1909,1911, 1912,1913,1914). Both seminary teachers and the Consistory acknowledged the importance of the application school for future school teachers, this was why teacher Candid Stoica was helped with all of his initiatives (Consistory Protocol, as a school senate, 1905).The Consistory members assumed their purpose, which was, in the first place, to coordinate the efforts of a clerical

army, a fact which, in their view, meant too much uniformity at times. Onisifor Ghibu, who became himself a member of that body, participated in 1904 to a protest of theologians, unique due to its requirements and purpose. The memorandum, signed by 98 theologians, was send to the Archdiocesan Council through the seminarys management. The Consistory refused to receive it, sending a letter accusing him of anarchism. However, later, some assessors admitted, in particular, the righteousness of the claim. Thus, unlike pedagogues, theologians were starting to find parishes more difficult, hence their fear of not being part of clerical proletariat (in Bukovina, there was a large number in such a situation). Essentially, the above-mentioned memorandum required the restoration of the number of clergy in the Seminar to that from the time of Metropolitan Miron Romanul of a maximum of 90 theologians in total in all sections; they, as well as the educators, were required to have eight grades and the maturity examination. Furthermore, those who had graduated exclusively pedagogical studies could not be candidates for Theology, although Theology graduates were allowed to become teachers. Here were included those who attended private clerical courses at the University of Budapest, in order to secure an income. The exemption from military service was another potential origin of a conflict between theologians and teachers; if they did not accede priesthood, they could be teachers, but then what were the pedagogical graduates supposed to do?. Of course, in this context, the consistorial assessors had different points of view, i.e. in the case that the number of teachers required for recruitment was too large, the remaining posts could have been filled by priests. However, the ministry did not encourage this policy, bringing into the Consistorys attention each individual case of this type. (Ghibu, 1940, 443). In 1904, both theologians and the Consistory were pursuing a common goal through the mentioned statement, namely to safeguard the interests of Romanian priests and religious teachers. However, one cannot overlook a certain desire for autonomy of the two divisions of the Institute. Although this was only one of the aspects encountered, it left its mark upon other religious schools activities. For example, there was a change of attitude within the Reading 87

Andrews Institute and Its Educational Elite between 1900 and 1918. General Considerations

Society Andrei aguna of Andrews Institute from Sibiu (which also comprised teachers). After a period of fruitful activity, followed a long time of stagnation; the first signs appeared in 1892-1893, but they were increased from then on; on the 28th of August 1910, the meeting record stated, during recent years there was manifested a kind of stagnation and the activity was reduced to a rather formal stage. Moreover, in 1906, teachers asked in a memorandum for separation within the mentioned society; thus, on the 21st of October 1906, only the library, the reading room and the funds were shared. Two years later the library was also divided and after that, Musa magazine was dissolved. The frequency of meetings also decreased, during school year 1914-1915, there were only three ordinary meetings and a festive one. Not even the 50 years of existence jubilee was celebrated on the 30th of November. However, nothing could erase the importance of the meetings and of the Annual, as well as of Musa, where many valuable people had exercised they talent, among them were Dimitrie Coma, V. Pcal, Virgil Oniiu, Nicolae PetraPetrescu, Sebastian Stanca, Onisifor Ghibu, Trandafir Scorobe, Lucian Blaga, George Tulbure, Zaharia Boiu, Ioan Lupa etc. (Glodariu, 1998, 108-111). Since the number of teachers was still too small, the Consistory decided to ask the Minister on the 7th of August 1913 for approval to establish a Pedagogical School for girls. Some of the arguments were: - Teachers who can not cope Law Article 27 / 1907, at a certain age, prefer to retire; - 120 schools were closed in 1913 due to lack of qualified teachers; - Students of different nationalities and confessions often attended religious schools. Even the great patron of the Romanian nation in Transylvania, the Bessarabian lord Vasile Stroescu stated that building schools was for nothing, if we do not have teachers, for they will be empty or taken by others. Between 1912 and 1913, only 27 teacher degrees were issued at all. It was thus necessary that the idea of the pedagogical school be accepted, especially since it was said that women have natural skills for this job, many priests daughters can not be fulfilled, while the state specialised institutes required very high taxes. Between 1913 and 1914, the pedagogical section of the Institute was going to accept female students who had completed at 88

least four civil grades, if a parallel course of pedagogy for girls where seminar teachers were going to teach was not possible. The first applications belonged to Ioana Hofner from Sighioara/deanery of Sighisoara and Maria Manta from Gura Rului / deanery of Slite. The minister refused to accept girl students at the pedagogical section of the Institute, in his statement from the 20th of September 1913. The Consistory wished then that the pedagogical course be held separately, as an institute for four years, each with 2 courses. V. Stan Ph. D. was proposed for principal. Initially, the committee appointed to organize this course consisted of George Proca, Vasiliu Stan Ph. D., Lazr Triteanu, Matei Voileanu, under the management of the archbischops vicar, Ilarion Pucariu Ph. D. The view of Prof. V. Stan Ph. D. was actually a deep analysis of the girls preparation school (Saxon) from Sighioara. There, the curriculum required that the language of instruction was German (of course, Hungarian had to be sufficiently known) and the textbooks were those from secondary schools, adding to the title sheet only for secondary schools and educational seminaries. After analysing the above-mentioned institution, he concluded referring to the textbooks: ... they [the Saxons] do not have the garbage we have, although not even their own are not entirely appropriate. In another memorandum addressed to the Consistory, Matei Voileanu asked that the dioceses of Arad and Caransebe be consulted; moreover, O. Ghibu Ph. D. requested an investigation with delegates from all three consistories, in order to decide whether the preparation school would concern only the diocese or the whole metropolitan. In his reply, Bishop Miron Cristea showed interest in supporting pedagogy for girls, although Pedagogy in Arad was about to recover after years of crisis. Cristea considered that the future pedagogy was necessary for the archdiocese, because within the diocese of Arad there was already a competition for occupying teaching jobs (4-5 candidates for one post). The same Miron Cristea asked for patience on the 15th of April 1914, because the state had promised that Romanian would be introduced in all public and communal schools attended by Romanian pupils. The archdiocesan council from 1915 decided during the meeting from the 4th of April 1915 that the Pedagogy for girls would not become an abandoned project; the opening was postponed for the school year 1916-1917 but

Valeria Sorotineau

with help from the state budget. After the outbreak of the War, Miron Cristea revised and suggested that pedagogy for boys be moved to Arad and Caransebes due to the lack of students and function as a Pedagogy schools for girls. Towards the end of the War, during the consistorial meeting from the 26th of February 1918 it was decided that the Pedagogy for boys from Arad would not be eliminated. During this period, Metropolitan Vasile Mangra postponed any decision in this sense. Through his address from the 11th of January 1919, Vasile Goldi, head of the Public Instruction and Cults Department, allowed Romanian female students to devote to teaching careers in any Romanian regular school, starting with the same year (A. A. of Alba-Iulia and Sibiu, vol. XIII, IV, 1913; 1914; 1919) The years of World War I represented a painful and very difficult episode for the Romanian nation as a whole, starting with the political pressure on the political and cultural elites, especially the clergy, a situation which later spread within the nation, literally divided between the horrors of the battlefield, dismemberment of an empire and the constitution of a statutory model of national existence. Starting with 1914, teachers were the first to be mobilized. In Sibiu, Metropolitan Ioan Meianu received a letter from Tisza Istvn, who promised that he would consider a reform of the school law, which would deal with the demands of our non-Magyar fellows regarding religious schools (A. A. of Alba-Iulia and Sibiu, I, 1914) Mobilizing teachers in 1914 required the development of a statistical situation for the teachers from Sibiu. The deans had to answer a questionnaire on the number of mobilized teachers, whether they were dead or wounded in battle, to make a school classification according to the funds that contributed to their teachers salaries. Explaining this in details to the new school secretary, bishop Ioan Meianu regarded the mentioned statistic as the fundamental book of our school, its pattern could have the one according to which the school statement in the county of Sibiu was writen, where the statistics was presented in the form of Annexes. Referring to the years before World War I, Nicolae Blan, the future Metropolitan of Transylvania, synthesized, in 1919, what had happened between 1914 and 1919, fully agreeing with George Ciuhandu: It's not just one page of the history of sufferings of our

people in terms of culture, Hungarians ... but the acknowledgement of the necessity of a happy divorce(A. B. M. S.-M. L. A. S.) (N. Blan Fund, 1913). However, Romania decided to join Entente into war and, of course, the official view communicated by Tisza, was all church and school organisations will be reviewed and safety measures will be taken in the future. The pedagogical schools in Sibiu, Arad and Caransebe were criticised on the pretext of salary increase; the minister asked that seven subjects be taught in Hungarian, thus, there was the threat of their schools losing its national specific. This kind of politic adopted by the Austro-Hungarian state continued and magnified the desire for the Romanian cultural annihilation, especially after 1914 (A. B. M. S.M. L. A. S.), N. Blan Fund,1913) After Romania entered the War, many teachers, along with priests, withdrew beyond the Carpathians. Romanian religious schools went through a difficult time and after the theological Institutes were evacuated to Oradea and the Pedagogy School to Arad, just as it had happened at Blaj. However, the number of students was very low due to enrolments; there were 50 persons enrolled in 1915-1916, 26 in 1916-1917, and only 8 in 1917-1918. When the Institute returned at Sibiu, only students 17 remained out of 55. At Caransebe, the situation was even more drastic, there was only one student in the fourth year, and the building was converted into a military hospital in 1916 (Pcurariu, 1986, 161-166) Through enrolments, the Romanian religious schools and gymnasiums lacked their teaching contribution, especially starting with 1916, when out of 599 teachers 362 were mobilized, so more than 70% (71, 87%). Most of them died on the battlefront in Galicia and northern Italy. Gymnasiums and the Theological Institute functioned only to a small extent as the army or the gendarmerie occupied the buildings and transformed them, along with churches, into hospitals for the wounded. There were cases, such as the Gymnasium in Braov, when the entire remaining teaching staff (after the death of many on the front in Galicia) along with Isidore Blaga Ph. D. decided to leave Romania. Those who remained in schools, along with the priests, were accused of political offences by the authorities between 1914 and 1916. Desertion became common, many cases were reported within the deaneries of Slite, Miercurea Sibiului, Fgra (deserter teachers); others, such as N. Brndu 89

Andrews Institute and Its Educational Elite between 1900 and 1918. General Considerations

from Teliu, were accused of offending the ruling house as early as 1914. While during the first years of the War there were individual cases of persons arrested and politically punished, as those already mentioned, the tendency or state policy designed the punishment of the Romanian school by its annihilation. Therefore, in 1917, Istvn Tisza initiated the cultural area, an impassable barrier between Transylvania and a part of the Old Kingdom, occupied by the Central Powers troops. He enlisted the help of the one who had earned such a reputation, former Minister of Religious Affairs and Public Instruction, Albert Apponyi. The pretext was the refuge of hundreds of priests in Romania, along with the Romanian troops withdrawal. Furthermore, it was considered that they represented the cause of damage due to instigations, therefore, Tisza continued, the Romanian Church would not be allowed to deal with its schools after the War. Thus, in 1917, every Romanian pedagogical school had to accept a series of ministerial commissioners, precisely because those educational institutions educated the future teachers of the Romanian people. It was exactly the time when Hungarian Prime Minister Sandor Wekerle declared in the Parliament that no country in the world has a freedom of language to such a large extent as ours, as opposed to the statements of Romanian deputy tefan Cicio-Pop, who emphasized the fact that these were the most drastic measures against Romanian schools ever taken. The Archdiocese of Sibiu presented to the minister a memorandum documented on the 4th of November 1917, obtaining the reopening of pedagogical schools starting with the 1st of October 1917, however only in the presence of a ministerial commissioner at Sibiu, Blaj, Gherla, Arad, Braov, Oradea, Caransebe. Furthermore, they were entitled to inspect everything from courses to student behaviour. Barabas Endre, responsible for the Institute at Sibiu, decided to prohibit any conversation between students and teachers outside school classes, however, he only supervised this measure alone. Teaching board meetings rose harsh conflicts among teachers, especially after it became known that the Commissioner asked the students to Magyarize their names for their own benefit. There was no case of this kind, on the contrary, those who already had their name registered as Magyar, asked that it would be corrected. Primary schools knew difficult times due to concentration of teachers and educators 90

and to the cultural borders. The schools became state schools on the pretext that Romanian teachers had an unpatriotic attitude; educators who were going to be appointed there knew Romanian, but the classes were held only in Hungarian. After Vasile Mangra became the new metropolitan, great efforts were made in order to completely paralyse any activity in the Romanian schools within the Archdiocese of Transylvania as well as in the rest of the Archdiocese. The protest memorandum of the Archdiocesan Consistory of Sibiu, dated on the 24th of August 1917 was rejected by Count Apponyi, and on the 17th of October 1917 Baron Petrisievich Horvath Emil, county prefect of Trnava-Mare was appointed to deal with Romanian schools in southern Transylvania. In his speech before the Consistory, he promised, on behalf of the government, that the state was going to lease the Romanian school buildings, that Romanian language was going to be taught 6 hours a week, the school foundations remained at the faithful, who would have to not contribute anything for the school, but that the teaching language would be Hungarian, although Romanian teachers who were not political compromised and who knew Hungarian were allowed to be employed by the state. During the Diocesan Council convened at Sibiu, 36 deputies refused to vote for what actually represented the nationalisation of the Romanian religious schools, although the ministerial commissioner and 12 police officers were present in the room. Among those who left the room, were N. Blan, Pavel Roca, Romulus Cndea, V. Pcal, Andrei Brseanu, Ioan Lapedatu, Petru Groza, N. Ivan, Ioan Stroia. Half of the Transylvania Archdiocese parishes replied to the Consistorys circular that they would support the religious school at any cost, even if the teacher salary was going to be suspended. The state asked through the royal inspectors that teachers who were at home declare themselves in agreement with their own transformation into state teachers in exchange for an increased salary for those from the cultural area; 231 teachers signed such a request, ceasing to pressure and threats: enrolment, removal from office, disqualification for pension. The Consistory replied with an equally harsh measure: all those who had signed were dismissed, most of the parishes would not acknowledge them and the schools remained closed. Notaries and municipal praetors then pushed Romanian villagers into demanding a

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state school through parish committees, by signing a protocol written in Hungarian. Although there was no result during that year, in July the 20th 1918 Zicky Janos summoned the Romanian hierarchs at Budapest, to remind them that he would not renounce cultural area and even more persuasive, he stressed that even the new king, Charles agreed with to the govern measure. Although he sent a new ultimatum on the 9th of August 1918 in Sibiu that stated once again that his plans would be fulfilled within a new memorandum, the Consistory challenged the legality of the document. Furthermore, the Consistory sent a circular addressed to all deaneries communicating the procedure to be followed had the schools been expropriated. These, however, were not ceased, not even under the title of a loan. (The Romanian Telegraph, 1917, 71-73, 284-285, 292). On the 25th of November 1918, the Archdiocesan Consistory composed a circular that abolished the cultural area. Of course, these are just a few examples that marked a very troubled history of Romanians in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and further. In the end, those involved in the fight behind the front could conclude that Romanians were equally victorious in saving their schools, churches and, implicitly, their nation. REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journals: The Romanian year LXV, no. 71, 72, 73 Telegraph, 1917 from November 1917, pp. 284-285 and 292 b. Books: Glodariu, 1998

Seminar of the Romanian Greek-Orthodox Archdiocese from Transylvania), Sibiu, Tiparul Tipografiei arhidiecezane, 1911, pp. 99-129 b. Chapters in books: Memories from the Time When I was Studying Theology at Andrews Seminar 1903-1905 in: Tribute to Metropolitan Nicolae Blan,, Sibiu, 1940, pp. 443-445

Ghibu, 1940

Pcurariu, 1986

Roca, 1911

The Cultural Associations of the Romanian Studious Youth within the Habsburg Monarchy, Cluj-Napoca, 1998, pp. 108-111 Mircea Pcurariu, Hungarian State Policy towards the Romanian Church in Transylvania during the Dual Monarchy, 1867-1918, Sibiu, 1986, pp. 161166 The Monographic Study of Andrews Theologian-Pedagogical

a. Unpublished thesis or reports: A. A. of AlbaThe Archive of Orthodox Iulia and Sibiu, Archdiocese of Sibiu and vol. IV, Alba-Iulia, 1447, 1913-1919 17015/1913, 1447/1914, 27/1919; I, 512/3470 from 1914 A. B. M. S. M. The Metropolitan L. A. S., N. Blan Library Archive of Sibiu Fund 1913 - N. Blan Fund, 353, 1913 Council Protocol, The Romanian Greek1900-1915 Oriental Archdiocese Council Protocol in Transylvania, 1900. Consistory The Archive of Orthodox Protocol, as a Archdiocese of Sibiu and school senate, Alba-Iulia, meeting no. 1900-1914 29 from the 9th of November 1905; meeting no. 21 from the 25th of May 1909; meeting no. 23 from the 2nd of June 1911; meeting no. 33 from the 13th of November 1912; meeting no. 48 from the 4th of November 1913; meeting no. 11 from the 6th of March 1914; during meeting no. 17.

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THE PINK GHETTO. THE AVATARS OF ROMANTIC FICTION GHETOUL ROZ. AVATARURILE FICIUNII ROMANTICE

Ph.D. Dana Percec University of Timioara Email: dpercec@litere.uvt.ro

Abstract: The paper looks at the history of one of todays most popular literary genres, romance, with its continuities and discontinuities, as well as its paradoxical reception. As an illustration, the paper focuses on a specific subgenre of romance, Regency, starting from the first and most inspirational author, who consecrated this style Jane Austen. The paper also discusses the alterations of Regency tradition in contemporary pop fiction: prequels and sequels of some novels, time-slip novels, mashups etc. Keywords: literary genre, mashup, reception, Regency romance Rezumat: Studiul se apleac asupra genului romance, cu evoluia sa inegal de-a lungul timpului, i la modul paradoxal n care este el receptat de public. Se ilustreaz istoria genului cu ajutorul unui sub-gen specific, romanul de dragoste din epoca Regenei britanice, porninduse de la autoarea-pionier a acestui stil Jane Austen. Studiul urmrete variaiunile subgenului n proza contemporan de larg consum : romane a cror aciune precede sau succede o intrig celebr, romanele despre o cltorie n timp, romanele de tip mashup etc. Cuvinte cheie : gen literar, mashup, receptare, romance din epoca Regenei Introduction Romance reading and writing is a conflicted activity. Authors and public with an interest in the genre partake of both the dissatisfaction with the heterosexual options offered by such novels and the desire to be identified with the version of femininity proposed by them. Romance portrays peace and serenity precisely because there is insecurity lurking. It holds the reader within the limits of patriarchal culture while, at the same time, it offers her satisfaction, derived from the act of reading, performed as a defying gesture, against the others cultural and aesthetic views, a satisfaction which results in increased strength

and independence. The contemporary reception of romance is shaped by the tendency to consolidate the feminist ideologies in more independent and realistically depicted heroines, as well as by the residual specificities of the genre. Publicity related to the promotion of romantic fiction vaunts the writers commitment to feminism, but also their response to the disturbance brought by feminism to traditional gender relations. Such contradictions are inventoried in books on the literary theory of romance, such as Reading the Romance, by Janice A. Radway (Radway, 1992, 14-16), who employs the phrase the pink ghetto, used in the title of the present essay, to denote the community of romance readers and writers, with all the gender and aesthetic stereotypes contained in their reception by the general public and literary criticism. These paradoxes, as well as the continuities and discontinuities of the genre of romance, are to be investigated in what follows. The Reception of Romance in Contemporary Culture Romance is as popular, as it is controversial. Statistics show that over 200 million women read the stories included in the Harlequin series each year. This readership is very diverse, despite stereotypical expectations: women of all ages, social backgrounds and levels of education, both with high and low family incomes, housewives and professionals, all enjoy romances. In the western culture, almost half of the 200 million women read a romantic story every two days. 35 to 40 percent of all mass market paperback sales are romance fiction (Krentz, 1992, 23). Today, romance industry turns almost 1.5 billion dollars, in a time when total book sales have gone down 4%, in the past couple of years. This, argues Deindre Donahue in USA Today (2010, 3), happens because readers find it easier to cope with job anxiety and economic depression when they can sink into a Regency love story. Besides, the argument continues, the standard price of a title in a paperback romance series is hardly ever higher than the bill for a fancy coffee. Harlequin books are translated in dozens of languages, gaining popularity in over a hundred international markets, from Japan to South America. The numerous sites and blogs devoted to romance demonstrate that there is a global community of readers with an interest in this genre, a group that is homogeneous in their aesthetic taste and desire for escapism, though divided when it comes to personal life and

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ambitions. One such blog, iconoclastically dubbed Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, visited by several million people monthly, is run by two avid romance readers in their thirties, with a strong feminist position, which could be summarized in one rhetorical question: Why do romance readers allow others to judge them? After all, it is true that romance is a lowbrow genre and mass cultural product (mostly), but so are many others, from science fiction and whodunits, to westerns and mysteries. However, none of the abovementioned has so much shame and prejudice attached to it. In other words, as romance writer Jayne Ann Krentz puts it (Krentz, 1992, 13), it takes a lot of courage for a woman to open a romance book on a crowded plane. Writing romance fiction is considered clich, artificial, embarrassingly predictable, and kitsch, while the readers are seen as nave, unambitious consumers, with low intelligence and an unrefined aesthetic taste, enslaved women, failures in their personal or professional lives, who search for an escape within the pages of cheap paperback editions. Despite this unflattering present perception, romantic fiction is one of the oldest and most traditional literary genres, whose evolution and diversification along the centuries is the very proof of the development of artistic taste, reader response and cultural feedback, authorship and Weltanschauung. The History of Romance Early romance has much more in common with the popular genre in the 20th century than it may seem. Firstly, it was disregarded, for several centuries, as a minor genre. Platos influence, dominating early Christian thought, triggered a thorough exclusion of this literary mode from the mainstream (Green, 2003, 16). Aristotles views, more in favour of fiction, had a belated reception in Western Europe (mainly from the 13th century onwards). Platonism, with its distinction between poetry and philosophy, adapted by the Church as a distinction between vernacular culture and theology, put the narratives of the secular world in the shade. Secondly, the very name of the genre of romance, deriving from the old French romanz, meaning a vernacular language distinct from Latin, suggested a clear separation between academic and theological discourse, as well as from the rhetoric of official institutions (Cooper, 2004, 25). Unlike Latin, available only to a limited scholarly almost exclusively male

elite, the vernacular idioms were accessible to both male and female, lay and clerical, upper and lower classes, and, because they circulated in oral form, to both the literate and the illiterate. These were the languages of communal entertainment, secular practices, and families. When vernacular is used in story telling, the dissemination of the plot and its teachings is immediate and continuous. Vernacular narratives were the stories everybody grew up with, which they did not need to learn, because they were so deep a part of their culture. (Cooper, 2004, 25) Being written in vernacular meant that stories, thus separated from academic discourse, did not tax the intellect, even if their accessibility did not make them appealing only to a public with a lower level of intelligence. Moreover, their appeal was not limited to the primitive attraction of a sensational story; besides the subject matter, every romance had to carry an inner meaning and/or to invite an engaged reception, in the form of debates or other types of active feedback. The vogue of the so-called demandes damour, love questions, dominated the centuries in which the habit of writing and reading romances was at a premium among the courtly elites of Western Europe (Cooper, 2004, 29). Such debates were ignited by an adventure story, or a tale of amour courtois, providing lay, non-intellectual communities and private individuals with a secular forum that imitated the working mechanisms of public institutions, including law courts, the Church, the kings councils, or universities. In the Middle Ages, romance was crucial in the development of a culture that headed towards secularization, as well as in securing a continuity into the early modernity of literature and philosophy. Early romance writers always made a point of giving social, national, ideological, or at least didactic relevance. Romance records the secular ideals of an age and a community, it passes on the groups need for self-representation, and encrypts civil role models. It accomplishes its mission successfully because it is accessible, due to its narrative form, and stable, due to the employment of invariables. A medieval romance is always anchored in a recognizable society, even if it is set in exotic locations and makes extensive use of supernatural elements. It is predictable in that it focuses on general themes, such as the battle between good and evil, heroic and gallant protagonists, mysteries, love, the quest for an ideal, ethic values etc. More or less dramatic departures from these guidelines cannot estrange 93

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a story completely from the genre of romance: the happy ending, very frequent, can sometimes be absent, the story may take the form of allegory or ballad and still remain a romance, while even the narrative modality can be given up, in favour of poetry or drama, without impeding on the original genre. As Helen Cooper (2004, 26) argues, this happens because the principle of selective resemblance is acknowledged in the Middle Ages: A family changes over time as its individual members change, but equally, those individuals can be recognized through their family resemblance: [] even though no one of those [features] is essential for the resemblance to register, and even though individual features may contradict the model. These characteristics make the medieval romance survive into the 16th and the 17th centuries. And because the English romance of the Middle Ages also included the national dimension, being deeply embedded in the native cultural traditions, the genre is much better preserved here than in other European countries, because of the specific history of Englishness during the early modernity, under the Tudors and the Stuarts (Cooper, 2004, 22). In an age of strong nationalism, of political and religious separation from the Continent, of economic competition with the important European powers of the day, the writing of England is achievable by means of continuing and adapting the native romance (and the romance naturalized from the continental lore), such as the Arthurian cycle or the Tristan narratives. Invested with vitality, authenticity, and national pride, old legends and narrative traditions come to be regarded as precious heritage, to be used as a model for future development and change. Consequently, even if it found its best expression in the narrative form, early modern English romance is adopted by the fashionable literary genres poetry and drama and permeates political thought when a female monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, is repeatedly represented as a typical romance heroine (Yates, 1985). In Shakespeares age, romance was the name given not only to prose fiction, but a much greater variety of texts (Lamb et al, 2009, 2). Prose romance consisted of the popular retellings of local medieval heroic tales (such as Guy of Warwick), translations of newer Italian novellas (Bandellos collection) or Spanish pasos honrosos of the Reconquista, adaptations of classical Greek tales, sophisticated or mannerist texts of the University Wits, such as 94

John Lylys Euphues (1580), pastorals of Hellenistic inspiration, like Philip Sidneys Countess of Pembrokes Arcadia (1590) etc. In poetry, the features of romance are most famously illustrated in Edmund Spensers The Faerie Queene (1590-1596), an allegory of the English State in the form of narratives of knights, ladies in distress, and supernatural creatures. Dramatic romance, not entirely distinct from prose and verse, manifests itself in nostalgic recoveries of native myths, as it happens in Shakespeares early comedies, such as A Midsummer Nights Dream (1590-1596) or As You Like It (1599), and in redemptive plots sprinkled with magic and pagan lore, like Shakespeares late romances. The rise of empirical thought and the development of natural sciences triggered the almost complete disappearance of romance throughout the 17th century and the Enlightenment. Secularization, the emergence of bourgeois thinking and realism removed romance from the literary market for almost two centuries. But the end of the 18th century coincided with the birth of a philosophy of the sublime and an inclination towards the mysterious and the strange. Pre-romantic and romantic artists and thinkers rediscovered the medieval world and revived the symbolic projections of western culture in the Middle Ages. Thus, new genres came out, tributary to the conventions of romance: the Gothic and the historical novel. The former arises in a cultural context characterized by a new interest in the exploration of emotions and imagination, which leads to the configuration of a new aesthetic mode. The emphasis, in the Gothic novel, lies on the settings and feelings, which create a unique atmosphere and ineffable mood, dominated by the paradoxes of fascination and horror. Mysterious adventures and forbidden love affairs, strewn thick with supernatural elements, take place in far flung locations and in the distant past. The latter genre, pioneered by Sir Walter Scott, proposes history as a valid improvement on contemporary laws, morality, and ideals. Escapist and nostalgic, the historical novel favours romance to realism as a dominant mode. Early 19th century romance, though, gains momentum with the sophistication and tranquillity of Jane Austens novels. Giving up the moralizing dimension of the sentimental tradition cultivated by Samuel Richardson and his followers, Jane Austen innovates the romantic fiction by adding the distinguished and entertaining repartee, which replaces earlier

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didactic dialogues and which becomes one of the distinctive landmarks of romance until today (Miller, 2005). It is by means of the witty exchanges between the heroine and the gentleman of her dreams that readers get to know the moral codes, the customs and social priorities of the age, as well as the psychological evolution of the characters, for whom love works as a form of initiation. Jane Austens romances are domestic novels, revolving around family life and the rhythms of the countryside or the London Season, priceless documents about the elegance, aristocratic excess, and glamour of the British Regency. They also highlight a feminine and a masculine ideal, which are so successfully reduplicated in the romantic plots of Victorian authors and of the popular fiction one century later: while women are virtuous, full of vitality and strength, loyal and graceful, men are dutiful, courteous, poised, and elegant. At the end of the 19th century, romance is geared to an ever wider middle-class readership, the umbrella term being employed to include subgenres such as Gothic (now called urban or imperial Gothic) and adventure. This is, in fact, the beginning of romance as a popular genre in a period when a divide can already be observed between the serious literature of modernism and the lower brow fiction, catering for the tastes of the general public. The popular late Victorian adventure romance, such as the titles signed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, R.L. Stevenson, Bram Stoker, or George Du Maurier, is already the perfect equivalent of the contemporary bestseller (Daly, 2004, 17). It is read by a broad section of the middle class, already aware of its light character, even if it is still more homogeneous than pop fiction is today. This fin de sicle romance revival coincides with the appearance of the modern culture industry: the print media is revolutionized by the appearance of new journalism, in the 1890s, which expands the market for periodicals and low-cost newspapers, publishers issue the first editions of cheap, paperback, single-volume editions, which replace the earlier three-decker novel, the number of novels published increases dramatically every year, the profession of the literary agent appears, together with the fashion of how to books for aspiring writers (Daly, 2004, 17). Since many novels appear in periodicals, authors have to learn how to suit their writings to a certain group of readers and to fit their work to the length and format of a particular magazine.

The changes in the popularity of the genre can be explained by both ideological mutations and technological innovations in the bookselling industry, as well as organizational shifts in the publishing culture (Radway, 1992, 15). The romance revival is projected against this economic background, but it is also justified by a more complex aesthetic trend. Theorists of romance, such as R.L. Stevenson, welcome the new success of adventure romance, as a return to the freshness and authenticity of the native British novel, represented by Sir Walter Scott, in contrast with the foreign (especially French), degenerated aridity of contemporary realism and naturalism; they salute the desire to escape the limits of the self, in search for a more dynamic, more involved mode of writing and reading. The romance, says Stevenson, works like a daydream to satisfy the readers most secret longings (in Daly, 2004, 22), offering a healthy alternative to unoriginal imports. Romance as Todays Most Popular Genre Nowadays, romance is the modern, consumerist equivalent of the fairy tale. Despite this loose pattern, romantic fiction survives because of the strictness with which authors and publishers (and readers) follow a given set of criteria. The story must focus on the romantic relationship between a male and a female. The plot must end happily, with the conflict resolved in marriage, reunion, enduring partnership, and mutual satisfaction. Despite this predictability, the plot line must be substantial enough for the reader to maintain her interest from the first chapter to the last. Consequently, subplots and secondary characters enter the stage, more often than not determining the subgenre to which the romantic story belongs. Affairs of the heart vary from conservative, traditional, sweet stories to real-life situations, dealing with family traumas, frustrations, and the rat race of todays urban environments. While more sexually explicit romances seem to validate female desire, traditional romances are retained and new sexfree sub-genres are created in response to the havoc wrought by feminism on gender relations (Radway, 1992, 16). Period drama, with its Cinderella-like dcor competes with contemporary romance, where the ballroom has been replaced by the train station and the airport, places symbolizing the dynamism, versatility, and lack of permanence in modern life. Many themes, settings, and dialogues are designed to enrich the love story and increase the suspense within the conventions of the romantic plot. According to Jayne Ann Krentz (1992, 19), the 95

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reader may know from the beginning that the characters will live happily ever after but you should make them worry that maybe, this time, they wont get together. The course of true love certainly should not run smoothly as in predictably from beginning to end., while Valerie Parv (2004, 2) considers that at the core of each genre lie a group of ancient myths unique to that genre. The most popular writers in those genres continue to mine those ancient myths and legends for the elements that make their particular genre work. This is why romance literature almost invariably needs subgenres. Among them, chick lit and historical romance have been in the publics top preferences for quite a while lately. The former, whose pioneer was Helen Fieldings plump Bridget Jones and her diary (1996, 1999), is literature written and read by young adult women in their twenties and thirties, which diverts more or less extensively from the original pattern of battling with being single, having a career, and weight management. Readers enjoy chick literature mostly because it tends to be more realistic than other subgenres, because it deals with common, everyday problems, because it features characters with easily recognizable traits in just as easily recognizable settings, and because it is written in colloquial, informal language that reads with no difficulty. Chick lit is part of a wider subgenre, contemporary romantic fiction, with love stories set any time after World War II. The great success of chick lit caused its rapid fragmentation into further subgenres, including the so-called mummy lit and baby lit, where the love affair extends to parental care, education, family bonding, or mother-daughter relationships, or even the biz chick lit, i.e. romancing the business environment and the corporate mentality. At the opposite end of the romantic spectrum, the historical romance is the most escapist subgenre of all. Imitating (more or less successfully, more or less gracefully) the values of courtly love or the cultural background of the sentimental tradition, romances inspired from the past (with Regency England as one of the most sought after settings, probably because of the flamboyance of the age and the renewed interest in the periods best known author of romantic fiction, Jane Austen) make up a significant part of romantic literature nowadays. Despite the privileged status of the early 19th century, historical romance includes any time period before 1945, with plots taking place in any location. 96

Other subgenres of romance vary from young adult romance (a love affair involving teenagers and young adults) or paranormal romance (novels set in the future, in a fantasy world, or including paranormal events), to romantic suspense (novels which offer a mixture of love, mystery and thriller elements) or inspirational or evangelical romance (novels in which religious or spiritual beliefs play an important part in the romantic relationship of the protagonists) and even erotica (novels departing from one of the conventions of the genre, namely that the heroine is chaste and virginal, sex being confined to the restrictions of wedlock, novels challenging the language taboos of sweet romances). In the past decade, the hybridization of the genre has moved further, creating such new subcategories as the western romance, time-travel love stories, or inspirational chick lit. The romance novel today generally appears in two possible formats: series or category romances volumes issued under a series name, numbered and released at regular intervals, such as the Harlequin series, books ranging from 50,000 to 85,000 words and single-title romances longer novels, going from 90,000 to 150,000 words, exploring more complex themes and containing subplots, released individually in both paperback size and hard cover. The Regency Tradition Of all classical authors, Jane Austen is the most frequently considered in the contemporary cultural industry of romance. Labelled one of the ancestors of paperback romance, with novels being harlequinized (Kaplan, 1996, 171) by producers and consumers of romance, Austen is a contemporary phenomenon almost as much as Shakespeare is. Her popularity nowadays can be accounted for, firstly, by her belated reception. During her lifetime, with the notable exception of Pride and Prejudice (1810), few of her writings received any critical attention. In 1816, however, Sir Walter Scott signed an extensive and complimentary article on Miss Austens oeuvre, in Quarterly Review, praising it for its realism and verisimilitude, for its psychological insight and its sound anchoring in everyday life situations (in Blackwell, 2009, 42). Midtwentieth century criticism still keeps Jane Austen away from the limelight, her novels being dubbed womens fiction (therefore, third rate Ian Watt, for example, in his 1957 The Rise of the Novel, considers womens dominance in the 18th and early 19th century

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fiction purely quantitative), criticized for their conservatism, lack of action, and provincialism. But the past two or three decades have coincided with an Austen boom, measured not only in the numerous re-translations and re-editings of her novels, or in the just as numerous film and TV adaptations, but, more conspicuously, in the entire sub-genre it spawned, the Regency romance. It should, perhaps, not be surprising that a certain age stirs to such an extent the interest of writers and the enthusiasm of the public, to the detriment of other historical periods. After all, few other moments in the history of England deserve the epithet of scandalous, even outrageous, though startling and fascinating, as the Regency. Framed, roughly, by the last years of the 18th century and the first three decades of the 19th, Regency owes its name to the rule of George, Prince of Wales, as Regent, after his father, King George III, was incapacitated by his mental illness (today understood as porphyria Hibbert, 2000). Oddly, younger George spent more time as Regent than as King, which office he held only for nine years, until his death, in 1830. As Regent, the future George IV shocked Britain and Europe with his extravagance, loose morality, vestimentary innovations, which all dictated a new style that would characterize half a century of social history. George married a Catholic divorce without the Kings and the Parliaments consent, had many mistresses, and surrounded himself with libertines. The age is made even more fascinating by the political background against which it is projected, Napoleons rise and fall and the growth of the United States as a powerful nation. Britain was massively involved in both developments. It was the ancient rivalry with France and the newer competition for colonial and economic domination that determined Britains involvement in the Napoleonic Wars, which culminated in the Corsicans final defeat at Waterloo, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, who commanded the British, Dutch and Prussian troops and had Napoleon sent to exile. The importance of this victory was acknowledged throughout the 19th century, being the event that consecrated Britain as the super power of Europe: days of celebration were ordered throughout the empire, all Waterloo veterans were decorated, and commemorations would be organized in churches and schools on a regular basis for many decades to come. In the second case, the American problem remained still just as painful years after the colonies independence, in 1775-1783. The loss of the

thirteen colonies was a severe blow for Britain, both in economic terms, and in terms of its international strategic position, as a stable and powerful empire. Three decades later, the United States declared war against the British Empire because of sea trade restrictions and the latters support given to Native American tribes against United States expansion. When the British troops lost and were expelled from the American mainland, the US population regarded this defeat as a second war of independence, a final statement in the troubled history of 18th century Anglo-American relations. Regency was a glamorous and controversial time, despite its troubled foreign policy. The aristocracy was still omnipotent in an era preceding the industrial revolution and cheap agricultural imports. Most of the land was successfully held in the hands of several hundred powerful families, who could, thus, afford to dictate both in economy and in politics. They strictly imposed the observance of a class system that had shattered elsewhere, the example of France and its Revolution being the most formidable. The income obtained from agriculture secured aristocracy and the gentry a life of leisure and idleness. The Regents character imposed a lifestyle in society marked by scandal and gossip, by the shocking behaviour of Britains titled couples, by ostentatious, gaudy balls and fashions, etc. A new fashion in clothes was imposed by changes in mentality, more fluid lines, a simpler elegance and the natural look (with no powdered wigs and a more reduced number of accessories) characterizing what both men and women wore. Beau Brummel, the Regents favourite, who invented the concept of Dandy, was so influential that he succeeded in exporting mens fashion all over the world, a premiere in British vestimentary history. Men started to wear dark jackets, linen trousers, overcoats with breeches and boots, while women gave up the corset and wore high waisted dresses whose thinness and closely fit cuts offered a glimpse at their figure and lower half of the body. Arts and architecture imitated the grandeur of the aristocratic lifestyle, neo-classicism being the leading fad. The Regent reinvented pastime by investing a scandalous amount of public money in redecorating London palaces, pavilions in summers resorts (such as his Brighton pavilion) and, in 1816, he started to put in practice a plan to transform the fashionable neighbourhoods of London into parts of a modern metropolis of excess. Regent Street and Regent Park owe their existence to this project of urbanization. 97

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Todays Regency romance stems from this luring history and fashion. Unlike other subgenres, Regency romance is a distinct one, with a specific plot and dialogue, inspired from womens fiction written at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, especially in the style of Jane Austen and her epigones, who wrote what was then known as novels of manners. Georgette Heyer (1902-1974) is the author responsible for the creation of the Regency romance subgenre. Her bestsellers started a vogue in the Anglo-American world, which began in the inter-war period and is still going. Unlike the other romance writers contemporary with Heyer, she transformed the setting into a plot device. Her novels are set exclusively among members of the British upper class, offering readers in all walks of life a good glimpse at the structured social rituals, which characterized the society during the last decades of the 18th century and the first three decades of the 19th. Although she found her inspiration in Jane Austens writings, Heyer had to include much more detail that Austen would have deemed necessary in her descriptions, since the former was writing for and about her contemporaries, while the latter had to bring back to life a world which had become extinct more than a hundred years before. According to Pamela Regis (2003), the inclusion of lengthy descriptions of minor elements, to the detriment of more general considerations regarding politics, religion, the life of the poor, gave consistency and recreated the Regency atmosphere. For increased accuracy, Heyer made a significant effort for documentation, a rare pursuit in romance writers at that moment. Her first Regency novel, Regency Buck, was published in 1935 (2008). An Infamous Army, about the life and victories of the Duke of Wellington, appeared two years later, in 1937 (2007). Other novels by Georgette Heyer include Cotilion (1953, 2007), a light-hearted romance involving four couples, as the name of the dance in the title suggests. Any Regency romances would, therefore, necessarily include references to class awareness and class difference (with an insistence on the variety of terms of address used for various ranks and offices), marriages of convenience, which dominated the private lives of the upper classes, events that were specific to the famous London Season (balls, horse races, morning calls, afternoon teas, operas, dinners), athletic activities in which gentlemen were engaged, such as hunting, shooting, fencing, or riding, a Cinderella main plot enriched by 98

mystery or farce in the subplot etc. Before the rise of the historical novel (embraced by many former Regency romance authors) and the invention of the more amusing, more down-toearth chick lit, entire publishing lines were devoted exclusively to the Regency romance subgenre. In the United States, where Regencies were at the height of popularity for decades, Zebra, Signet, Avalon, Harlequin Historical were only a few of the lines devoted to the vivid repartee between young ladies and gentlemen, which is characteristic of the classical Regency. Nowadays, there are still an overwhelming number of romances set during the Regency era, with noble lords falling in love with titled or untitled beautiful girls, although the traditional requirements of the subgenre are only loosely observed. Romancing Jane Austen Jane Austens heritage is diverse and, just like everything else that has to do with romance, controversial. Small and big screen renditions of Pride and Prejudice are advertised as classical, but they feature popular culture idols, like Colin Firth, for the 1995 mini-series (Firth was also cast in the 2001 production of Helen Fieldings Bridget Jones Diary, thus reinforcing the acknowledged lineage of the first chick lit book, whose major source of inspiration was Austens best known novel and fanciest character, genteel Mr. Darcy.) The 2005 film based on Jane Austen novel does not only employ a pop star (Keira Knightley), but it also departs substantially enough from the source to offer the public a Regency romance: the plot makes much ado about the heroines sexual awakening and of the main couples constant struggle between sexual attraction and restraint/rejection, while choosing to change the novels discreet happy ending in marriage with an insight into the newly-weds bedchamber. Moreover, an impressive amount of Regency romantic fiction is set against the very background of Austens novels, many such books being actual sequels of Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility. Skylar Hamilton Burriss Conviction (2006), for instance, chooses to focus on Mr. Darcys sister and her love life. This interest is shared by Anna Elliott, in her Georgiana Darcys Diary (2011), or by Shannon Winslow, in The Darcys of Pemberley. The Continuing Story (2011), where the marital problems of the Elizabeth-Darcy couple are intertwined with the younger ladys erotic initiation. Even secondary characters are considered worthwhile by contemporary

Dana Percec

romance writers in order to make their books sell well Jennifer Bectons Charlotte Collins (2011), offering a fictional biography of Elizabeths childhood friend, Charlotte, ne Lucas, is such an example. Other contemporary authors choose to combine the well sold Regency romance with time travel and Jane Austens (imaginary) biography: Laurie Browns 2009 What Would Jane Austen Do? has Regency American fashion expert Eleanor fall in love with an English lord in 1814, when she goes back in time to meet her guru, Jane Austen. Romancing Austens quite dull biography is a fashion in itself, as proven by two popular Hollywood productions, which claim to have identified the cause for the famous writers celibacy in a secret, though ever-lasting, love for a man who had to marry another. Becoming Jane (2007), starring Anne Hathaway (known for her roles in the teen romance The Princess Diaries, 2001, 2004) proposes Tom Lefroy (a gentleman who appears only three times in Austens correspondence) as the key. Miss Austen Regrets (2008) argues that the mature Jane Austen, now trying to marry off her niece, Fanny, looks back at the love affairs and choices she has made during her youth, suggesting that Austens commitment to spinsterhood was the result of a modern womans choice of independence despite a reasonable number of suitors and love affairs. A 2007 film (The Jane Austen Book Club), adapted from the 2004 homonymous novel by Karen Joy Fowler, goes even further, suggesting not just the full identification between the female public and Austens characters, but also the universality of the Regency writers novels, their themes and the lessons they teach, despite the strong impression that they are firmly and finally anchored in a time long gone and a mentality which has grown ever more distant along the centuries. The Jane Austen Book Club features six women (one for each of Austens beloved novels) who found a reading group, meant to discuss the favourite books on a monthly basis. In time, the six women grow more and more similar to Austens heroines, embodying a wide array of femininity, from the matriarch, keen to make the younger women safe and happy, the woman torn between passion and duty, the dissatisfied, frustrated wife, the reckless adventurer, the independent woman, the young woman who falls prey to her own fancies about love. The public has little difficulty, thus, in identifying Bernadette with Mrs. Gardiner in Pride and Prejudice, Jocelyn with Emma, Sylvia with Fanny Price in

Mansfield Park, Prudie with Anne Elliott in Persuasion etc. The club reminds Jane Austen fans of real societies devoted to the study and promotion of Jane Austens works, such as JASNA, the Jane Austen Society of North America, which keeps its members informed about the latest in literary criticism, film and TV productions, and the Austen-related cultural media. Another category consists of Jane Austen spin-offs, romantic productions which project the Austenian plot against a contemporary background. A good example would be Bride and Prejudice (2004), by Indian director Gurinder Chadha, filmed in English, with insertions of Hindi and Punjabi dialogue, about the forbidden love between an Indian girl and a rich American, called Will Darcy, who runs the family hotel business, with a subplot featuring a younger Indian sister eloping with Darcys American friend, Johnny Wickham. The titled Aunt Catherine is, in this film, Wills own mother, who attempts to undermine her sons plans to marry Lalita. In the end, Darcy wins his bride by showing knowledge and appreciation of her Indian culture. There are also many non-fictional books devoted to Austens life and age, books not traditionally placed within the norms of literary history and criticism. Being rather readers digests of Regency culture, such books offer a non-specialized public (with an interest in British Regency) an ABC of life in the early 19th century. Perhaps the best example would be Joan Elizabeth Klingel Rays Jane Austen for Dummies (2006), which gives an amusing account of the novels and the age, an overview of her characters socio-economic background, and an attempt to explain her contemporary popularity. More elaborate Austen-derived cultural textbooks include Daniel Pools What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth Century England (1994), a guide to life and novels by Austen, Dickens, and Charlotte Bront, with a glossary of commonly used words or phrases that may be now unfamiliar to the modern reader and a list of customs which are totally obscure even to the most well-bred persons nowadays. In the same culinary register, Jane Austen and Food (1995), by Maggie Lane, offers an insight into the domestic economy of the British Regency middle and upper-class households, evoking mealtimes, table manners, and social status as illustrated by Austens novels. Josephine Ross and Henrietta Webbs Jane Austens Guide to 99

The Pink Ghetto. The Avatars of Romantic Fiction

Good Manners: Compliments, Charades and Horrible Blunders (2006) informs the contemporary public of correct address according to rank, wearing the most suitable clothes on each occasion, from a morning walk to deep mourning,. How and whom to dance with in society etc. in order to highlight the everyday life of middle and upper-class women in Regency Britain. Sarah-Jane Downing, in her Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen (2010) focuses on what she calls the first most naked period before the 1960s, as well as the first time when England started to compete with other European countries, especially France, for exerting fashion influence, especially in menswear. One of the most surprising uses of Jane Austens fiction is displayed by William Deresiewiczs A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me about Love (2011), a confession about a mans initial neglect of and scepticism about Jane Austens novels, who was then to have a revelation, about the hidden life lessons in these pieces of Regency fiction, about the devotion to the everyday value of ordinary things and lives, about how men could be helped to see things from a womans point of view. Just as uncanny is the way in which the sentimental tradition of the 18th -19th centuries mingles with the Gothic tradition of the preRomantic period and the fin de sicle, in the socalled mashups. While, in web design, a mashup is an application that uses and combines data from two or more sources in order to create new services, in culture, a mashup is a creative project of using famous source texts, to which new elements (of content: characters, themes, language, or form: illustrations, layouts) are added. Good examples of the hybridization of (popular) culture today, mashups the terms is also used in contemporary pop music are interventions into original texts, with additions specific to the genre which is superposed over the original, usually as is the case of the pastiche with a parody effect. In the print medium, textual elements are mixed so as to achieve a new composition. Jane Austens novels have been, so far, some of the most susceptible to such transformations (other notable examples include Jane Eyre, turned into Jane Slayre by Sherri Browning Erwin in 2010, Leo Tolstoys Anna Karenina made Android Karenina by Ben Winters in 2010, or Little Vampire Women, by Lynn Messina in 2010 etc.). Almost all Austens novels have presented sufficient interest for mashup authors and illustrators: Ben Winters 2009 Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (with illustrations 100

downloadable as wallpapers), Adam Ranns 2009 Emma and the Werewolves, Vera Nazarians 2010 Northanger Abbey and Angels and Dragons, or the same authors Mansfield Park and Mummies. Again, Pride and Prejudice scores better, with no fewer than three mashups, one which superposes a zombie plot and zombie paraphernalia over the original Austenian language (Seth Graham-Smiths 2009 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!), one which puts together the sentimental novel and the classical adventure fiction (Wayne Josephsons 2011 Pride, Prejudice, and Moby Dick), as well as others, which insert the vampire story in an Austenian prequel: Steve Hockensmiths 2010 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, which takes place five years before Mr. Bingley moves to Netherfield, and a sequel: Steve Hockensmiths 2011 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, set during Elizabeths honeymoon, capturing her attempts to rescue her husband and keep their love going. Conclusions In some theorists view (Cooper, 2004, 35), the modern form of romance has gained, and retained, such popularity, among other reasons, because of its striking similarity with the earliest versions of the genre, especially in terms of the skill of individual writers in giving new vitality to stereotypes to the point where a new archetype, a new model for imitation, can be created and in turn generate its own posterity. It is, therefore, the major purpose of this essay to discuss the versatility of the literary genre of romance, its enduring appeal, its potential for controversy despite its complete confidence in the formulaic, and its hybridization in contemporary culture. It also underscores and tries to account for the continuity, despite the apparent discontinuity, of the genre, by bringing to the readers attention the fact that the practices of romance writing and reading are fluid and interactive. REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journals: Donahue Donahue Deindre, Scholarly 2010 writers empower the romance genre. In: USA Today, 7 October (2010), p. 1-3.

Dana Percec

Kaplan 1996

Kaplan Deborah, Mass marketing Jane Austen: Men, women, and courtship in two of the recent films. In: Persuasions, 18 (1996), p. 171181.

Green 2003

b. Books: Becton 2010 Becton, Jennifer, Charlotte Collins, Amazon Digital Services, kindle edition (2010). Brown 2009 Brown, Laurie, What Would Jane Austen Do? Sourcebooks Casablanca, kindle edition (2009). Burris 2006 Burris, Hamilton Skylar, Conviction, Double Edge Press (2006) Cooper 2004 Cooper, Helen, The English Romance in Time, Oxford University Press (2004) Oxford and New York. Daly 2004 Daly, Nicholas, Modernism, Romance and the Fin de sicle. Popular Fiction and British Culture, Cambridge University Press (2004) Cambridge and New York. Deresiewicz Deresiewicz, William, A Jane 2011 Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me about Love, Penguin Press (2011) New York. Downing Downing, Sarah Jane, 2010 Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen, Colchester, Shire Library (2010). Elliott 2011 Elliott, Anna, Georgiana Darcys Diary, Amazon Digital Services, kindle edition (2011). Erwin Erwin Browning, Sherri, Jane Browning Slayre, Gallery Books, kindle 2010 edition (2010). Fielding Fielding, Helen, Bridget 1999 Joness Diary: A Novel, Penguin Books (1999) New York. Fowler 2004 Fowler, Karen Joy, The Jane Austen Book Club, Penguin (2004) New York. GrahamGraham-Smith, Seth, Pride Smith 2009 and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance Now with

Heyer 2007

Heyer 2007

Heyer 2008

Hibbert 2000

Hockensmith 2010

Hockensmith 2011

Josephson 2011

Krentz 1992

Lamb et al. 2009

Lane 1995

Messina 2010 Miller 2005

Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! Quirk Books, kindle edition (2009). Green, D.H., The Beginnings of Medieval Romance. Fact and Fiction, 1150-1220, Cambridge University Press (2003) Cambridge and New York. Heyer, Georgette, An Infamous Army, Sourcebooks Landmarks (2007). Heyer, Georgette, Cotilion. Sourcebooks Casablanca (2007). Heyer, Georgette, Regency Buck, Sourcebooks Casablanca (2008). Hibbert, Christopher, George III: A Personal History, Basic Books (2000) New York. Hockensmith, Steve, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Quirk Books, kindle edition (2010). Hockensmith, Steve, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After, Quirk Books, kindle edition (2011). Josephson, Wayne, Pride, Prejudice, and Moby Dick, Chadwick Publishing, kindle edition (2011). Krentz, Jayne A., Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women, University of Pennsylvania Press (1992) Philadelphia. Lamb, Mary Ellen, Wayne, Valerie, Staging Early Romance. Prose Fiction, Dramatic Romance, and Shakespeare, Routledge (2009) New York and London. Lane, Maggie, Jane Austen and Food, The Hambledon Press (1995) London and Rio Grande. Messina, Lynn, Little Vampire Women, Harper Teen, kindle edition (2010). Miller, D.A., Jane Austen, or the Secret of Style, Princeton University Press (2005) Princeton. 101

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Nazarian 2010

Nazarian 2010

Parv 2004

Pool 1994

Radway 1992

Rann 2009

Ray Kingel 2006 Regis 2003

Ross et al. 2006

Watt 2001

Winslow 2011

Winters 2009

Nazarian, Vera, Mansfield Park and Mummies, Curiosities, kindle edition (2010). Nazarian, Vera, Northanger Abbey and Angels and Dragons, Curiosities, kindle edition (2010). Parv, Valerie, The Art of Romance Writing, Crows Nest, Allen & Unwin (2004). Pool, Daniel, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth Century England, Touchstone (1994) New York. Radway, Janice A, Reading the Romance. Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature, the University of North Carolina Press (1992) Chapel Hill and London. Rann, Adam, Emma and the Werewolves, Coscom Entertainment, kindle edition (2009). Ray Klingel, Joan, Jane Austen for Dummies, Wiley Publishing (2006) Hoboken. Regis, Pamela, A Natural History of the Romance Novel, University of Pennsylvania Press (2003). Ross Josephine, Webb, Henrietta, Jane Austens Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades and Horrible Blunders, Bloomsbury (2006) New York. Watt, Ian, The Rise of the Novel, Berkeley, University of California Press (2001). Winslow, Shannon, The Darcys of Pemberley. The Continuing Story, Amazon Digital Services, kindle edition (2011). Winters, Ben H., Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Quirk Books, kindle edition (2009).

Winters 2010

Yates 1985

Winters, Ben H., Android Karenina, Quirk Books, kindle edition (2010). Yates, Frances A., Astraea. The Imperial Theme in the Sixteenth Century, Routledge (1985) New York and London.

c. Chapters in books: Blackwell Blackwell, B, Jane Austen: The 2009 Critical Reception. In Lynch Jack, Critical Insights. Jane Austen, Salem Press (2009) Pasadena, p. 37-52.

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AUTHORSHIP AND CINEMA BEFORE AND AFTER MAY 68 PATERNITATE LITERAR I CINEMATOGRAFIE NAINTE I DUP MAI 1968

Ph.D. Candidate Marius Cpraru CESI-University of Bucharest Email: marius.caprariu@gmail.com

Motto: Bad times, By Bertolt Brecht The tree tells why it bore no fruit The poet tells why his lines went wrong The general tells why the war was lost Abstract. The post-may 68 period brought to the cinema makers attention the conditions that determined almost 10 million workers to go on strike in the month of May. In our essay, we will try and show, in two distinct sections, the way industrial work was represented in documentary films, made by famous authors like Louis Malle, whose Humain, trop humain will constitute our case study, and also, the way industrial implication was promoted by les intellectuels militants, scholars who got hired by the owners of the factories Keywords: authorship, cinema, May 68. Rezumat. Perioada de dup Mai 68 a adus n atenia cineatilor condiiile care au determinat aproape 10 milioane de muncitori s fac grev n luna mai. n eseul nostru, vom ncerca s artm, n dou seciuni distincte, felul n care munca industrial a fost reprezentat n filmele documentare, realizate de autori faimoi precum Louis Malle, al crui Humain, trop humain va constitui studiul nostru de caz, i, de asemenea, modul n care implicarea industrial era promovat de ctre intelectualii militani, cercettori demii din funcii de ctre patronii fabricilor. Cuvinte cheie: paternitate literar, cinematografie, mai 1968. Jacques Doniol Valeroze wrote in the August 1968 issue of Cahiers du cinema the movement of May is irreversible. 43 years later, many attempts were made in France and everywhere else, the curiosity of some scholars sprung some ideas about the matter, to establish the role and place of the cinema within the events of May 68 and, especially, how the

industry has moved, if not changed, toward a passionate militant cinematography. Started with the movement of march 22, founded at the University of Nanterre in the spring of the same year, the student movement was concerned with the opposition against the Vietnam war (following the example of their colleagues across the Atlantic), the bureaucratic and authoritarian structures of the university, a critique of the alienated and isolated character of student life, and a powerful and confused equation of social sexual repression, to summarize, the critique of the university led to the critique of a whole mode of social organization which led to the affirmation of spontaneous action and self-expression (Harvey, 1979, 4). The original experiment to challenge the notion of authorship began with the attempt of the cinema militant to establish a few years before May 68 and then in the late 1970 a new kind of inquiry into the everyday life of the French people, and especially that of the workers. But this notion of author has been absolutely crucial in structuring French cinema for over half a century. Antoine de Baecque, in La cinphilie, invention dun regard, histoire dune culture, 1944-1968, showed how it was developed within circles of Parisian moviegoers in the 1950s film clubs, magazines, film library, and how, popularized by filmmakers from the New Wave, it has been used to build the image of the French "quality cinema" (Lecler, 2010, 29). When Gerard Leblanc asked in his homonymous article What avant-garde? everybody stopped and listened. The unique character of the post-May 68 film The notion of authorship has seen many fights, but the filmmakers of the May 68 generation decided to apply the last blow, teaming up as groups and promoting themselves as societies of culture instead of individual producers of film. Also by addressing the working public51, les auteurs du cinema decided to blend in, as thoroughly as they could, in order to get the closest images of the real factory life, as inspired by the Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin film of 1960, Cronique of a summer, in which the camera focuses on the life of an average worker, going by his daily routine. With the decision of undressing their authorship
51

And by that, they thought of the actual people who where working in the factories.

Authorship and Cinema, before and after May 68

coat, the French metteurs en scene have become, des travailleurs de limage. They decided to act as a group to reflect the consistency of a factory work environment, which does not reflect individuals, but the work force as a group. Film as cinematographic installation For many years, after the end of the Second World War, the automobile industry in Western Europe saw a tremendous development that became the builder of the social status and personal mobility. Cinema witnessed how the car gathered more and more attention among the public and the authors decided to cover the new and vibrant industry, either trough comedy, like the great filmmaker Jacques Tati, who placed his central character, Monsieur Hulot, a brilliant inventor, in a new and original car, and followed him in him to car show in the 1971 film Trafic, or the famous short film from 1976 of Claude Lelouch, Rendez-vous, who started a real scandal in the press, when he decided one Sunday morning (after months of careful preparations) to mount a camera on the hood of his car and drive very fast through Paris, in order to meet someone at the Sacre Coeur basilica, on top of the Montmartre district. Meanwhile, the workers condition always represented incentives for strikes and struggles between the factory owners, les patrons and the average worker or the strong French unions. The postmay 68 period brought to the cinema makers attention the conditions that determined almost 10 million workers to go on strike in the month of May. In our essay, we will try and show, in two distinct sections, the way industrial work was represented in documentary films, made by famous authors like Louis Malle, whose Humain, trop humain will constitute our case study, and also, the way industrial implication was promoted by les intellectuels militants, scholars who got hired by the owners of the factories, les patrons not knowing that all along, they were working alongside the other employees just to gather information about the way the management was treating them and how bad were the work conditions, for this section, Robert Linhart book LEtabli will serve our purpose. Our intertitle, cinematographic installation refers to the way professional filmmakers (like Malle), understood the production process and especially the way they wanted to keep the workers soul in front of his industrial role. In the film of Malle, Human, all 104

too human, several times, the camera focuses on the workers activity, as though, if it could, it would grasp the cognitive process of welding a door to the car body. Quand jai montr lessentiel, je coupe. Je prends toujours les choses en mouvement.52 Member of the SLON group, from 1967 to 1976, Chris Marker was one of the leading figures interested in addressing and helping the industrial workers to earn their rights by talking and taking the camera inside the work environment. The whole idea behind the Company for the Launching of New Wors (SLON translated in English), was to offer new ways of exercising ones desire to apply the ideas of the General States of Cinema, series of meetings about the state of the Cinema in May 1968, shortly after the Cannes film Festival was cancelled due to the Paris uprisings. The idea behind SLON was that cinema should not be viewed purely in the terms of profit and capital; instead, young militant filmmakers ought to take a stand and get involved in the current state of affairs. When one year earlier, in 1967, a strike broke out at Rhodiocenta textile plant, Chris Marker decided to pay the workers and owners a visit in order to get their approval to start filming in the compound. The unusual character of the strike consisted in the fact that the workers were not asking just for higher wages, they were troubled by the very lifestyle imposed on their city. By the end of 1967, Marker had already finished the montage and the film was prepared for promotion in March 1968 (one of the few films that had a strike as subject and was still shown at the national television, ORTF, very well known for the ruthless censure of the Information Ministry in the Pompidou administration), the name of the movie was A bientot, Jespere? - Be Seeing you. As Harvey says, it is important to realize in this respect, that one of the effects of May was to open up the sphere of cultural production to a class analysis and to encourage raising the question: which classes were served by which forms of cultural production?( Harvey, 1979, 28) In January 1969, the first issue of the new established film journal Cinethique, had on its cover the same question: Who creates and for Whom? In this debate, it was very important to set aside the two groups les patrons, the owners of capital, and, as Godard puts it les
52

Louis Malle cited by Dominique Villain, Le montage au cinema, ed. Cahiers du Cinema, Paris, 1991, p. 116.

Marius Cpraru

patrons du sens, the owners of meaning. Another well-known group, set up in the words in one of his founder, and Nouvelle Vague author cited above, Jean-Luc Godard, to make politically a political cinema, to make concrete analysis of a concrete situation, to understand the laws of the objective world in order to actively transform that world to know ones place in the process of production in order then to change it (Harvey, 1979, 30). This is the cinematographic installation of our paper, the way in which le cineaste doesnt have to guide the spectator like an actor, but to sit in the same place, to cite G. Leblanc, le situer (The spectator) sur le meme plan que lui. As the Cinethique journal stated, the working man was not supposed to be ignored, the new cinema had to grasp the real conditions in order not to lose the trough the imagination, in order to change those conditions, the filmmakers needed to tackle them directly. Le concept de reprsentation est assimile a celui dideologie qui constitue chaque individu, interpelle en sujet dans un rapport imaginaire a ses conditions relles dexistence. G. Leblanc For our case study, we are going to analyze such a cinematographic installation, Human, all too human, the film made by Louis Malle which was recently restored and presented in a DVD format. The title of the film sends ones thought immediately to Friedrich Nietzsches work, Menschliches, Allzumenschliches, subtitled A book for the free spirits, the book was originally published in 1878. One of the aphorisms, number 335 called Fear of one's neighbor, has the following statement: We fear the hostile mood of our neighbor because we are afraid that this mood will help him discover our secrets. Louis Malles film was shot in 1972, at the Citroens factory of Rennes. So, the We part in this show is played by the world-famous French automobiles maker, and the neighbor is played by the work force. When the movie was released, in 1974, very few people had the opportunity to actually see the film, but, for the most part, the public read a lot more, the reactions were very different and they will constitute the measure of change after may 68, alongside the book of Robert Linhart, published 4 years after the movie saw its first public reception. Linharts book, called Letabli, a very difficult notion to translate, contributes to our study by offering a glance at another Citroen factory, from porte de Choisy, in 1967, when a few intellectuels militants

decided to take a job at the factory in order to account for the methods used by the Citroens patrons to supervise and control the work force. To try and explain the title of the book, lEtabli, Linhart offers two explanations, the first has to do with the name given to this type of engaged intellectual who came to this decision, to infiltrate the capitalist enemy lines with the plan to expose the mistreatments and difficult conditions that the workers are enduring, and the second, letabli is the name of the working table self-made by the worker, or, a nickname given to an old worker that has the difficult job of trying to repair the broken doors that came out from the press, in the end to be able to fix it to the cars finished body. Letabli, the intellectual, describes in the first chapter of the book, the slow and continuous movement of the production line, afterwards, a few workers are being introduced, they begin to describe their activity, and their social background (one is French, and has a minor management job, and the other is Algerian, and is a welder). The narrator talks about the factory as a way of dying: Limperturbable glissment des voitures, la repetition de gestes identiques. The job is never finished, as soon as one car leaves the work place, another one replace her. Our film starts with the peaceful sight of a herd of cattle, but a few moments along, the stillness of the picture is perturbed by the noise of a highway. As the camera moves towards the factory, we can see the parking lot filled with Citroen cars and then, out of nowhere, we are following a young woman, a worker dressed in a pink sweater who has the assignment to bring the sheets of steel to the processing tables. This is where the similarities between our film and the book stop. We will return to this parallel at the end of the films study. Films about working environments are very rare nowadays as they were when humain, trop humain was made (Hatzfeld et al. 2006, 218). Already famous, the author of this film, Louis Malle, was an openly engaged intellectual who decided to make a documentary about the real working conditions of the Citroens workers. As a part of the Cinema du rel, the film is an original presentation of the factory and its workers. In an interview given in the same year the movie was presented, 1974, for Ecran magazine, Louis Malle said the the camera angle was something he was very happy about with this film, the workers were presented very close to their real day-to-day routine at work. For the author, there are three types of films 105

Authorship and Cinema, before and after May 68

about industrial work, les films techniques dentreprise, so the in-house films made by the owners of the factory, television portraits of a certain worker following his personal and working life (like the Cronique of a summer did, the 1960 film of Jean Rouch), and the engaged films les films militants. In the era of criticism toward the system, the capitalist establishment, Louis Malle assumes his position militant, and applies it zealously. It is absurd to say that direct cinema can be objective, says Louis Malle in a book about cinema du reel, we need our vision to dictate the position of the camera, what we are going to film and what not. Malle has no plan to run from the responsibility of the creation, we can find his thoughts in the way people are caught on tape, sound is played, and images are cut. This is a very different approach from the one shown by the post-68 authors, who decided to blend into an organization, instead of assuming the film as a personal undertaking. Being an authors film, the artistic illustration of the film stands aside by some well thought and caught moments. The first is the ballet of workers that are doing the same movements at the same time, very well coordinated, like a well-oiled machine in which every single component works together to make automobiles, a different kind of machines than the ones described earlier. Another technique used by Malle is the single shots with some very skilled workers that appear not at all bothered by the presence of the camera and who, with a precise mastery work their magic around the steel. The choreography seems perfect. For the 15 days of filming, in July 1972, the small crew used a small 16 mm clair camera, and a Nagra sound recorder, apparel that became popular in the 1960s. The purpose of these low quality devices was the intended discretion of the author, who wanted to capture the workers, in their natural rhythm. At the same time, the owners were pleased because their production line was not at all slowed down by the shooting. The last major technique of the film is the use of sound. Because we are talking about a working factory, to harness and connect all the sound in order to get a pleasant music is very difficult, this is why the sound engineer Jean-Claude Laureax managed to get all the metallic, strong, vibrant noises and processed them until the film acquires a certain musicality (an industrial one, of course). The way sound was recorded also made possible the discovery of a rhythm that supported the montage and layout of the film. 106

When talking about his work, Laureax said that he wanted to communicate the physical sentiment of fatigue and vexation, a very unhuman aspect of the film. The montage process and the sound were very important because they had to replace the total absence of any off commentary, a remarkable absence for a post-68 film, or the avant-garde aesthetics of an explicit and variform discourse. By choosing to let the images and sound do the talking for him and themselves, the author reflected his view of direct cinema: direct cinema is the cinema of the moment, a work of constant improvisation, the choices are made by the camera, the setting exists only if its part of a planned sequence, but most of the times, we made all the settings at the time (Hatzfeld, 2006-07, p.221). If Malle refuses to construct his film it is because he needs to respect the necessity of the moment. This fact establishes a connection between Malle and John Grierson, considered the father of the documentary. American filmmakers were talking at the same time about what he called creative treated reality, the fact that we can spot some young workers who are very close to the studio actors appearance, could be another way of constructing the film, using the same documentary enhanced choices. When it came to the moment of talking about the way the film was received, we will find our way among the critics opinions, because, as we said earlier, the public appearance had only two venues of diffusion (projection), one being owned by the author himself. Alain Remond from Telerama, thinks about the film that it is exemplary, Henry Chapier from Quotidien de Paris welcomed the absence of the demagogic discourse and praised the fact that the film is different, is not either a documentary, a cinema-verite presentation, or an engaged film, its a film that invites to a civilized debate (Hatzfeld, 2006-07, p.224). The enthusiasm is shared by Vincent Canby from New York Times, who at the New York projection of the film said that it was provocative, vivid, complex and original. All very well, but to return to our LEtabli, the book signed by Robert Linhart about the way factories were treating their employees in the years before May 1968 and after, we are stunned to find out that even though during the strikes from May-June 68, although several francs were added to the salary, soon after the strike was over, the staff was forced to work overtime to retrieve from the

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month long strike and to money was to be paid for this effort. On pense que le soi-disant dette de mai 68 (comme si les ouvriers pouvaient avoir des dettes vis--vis du patronat!) est teinte. Illusion (Linhart, 1978, 75). So were there no problems between the owners and factory workers in 1972, when Louis Malle was there? The same question is being raised by the communist journal LHumanit: Who are the workers? Where do they live?, What are their problems?. The assault is bolstered by a new newspaper on the market at that time, Libration: At what price had mister Malle convinced the owners of Citroen to let him film the workers condition? At the price of total suppression of the mise-en-place of the capitalist relation (Hatzfeld et al. 2006, 224). What the articles author wanted to say is that no boss, small boss, superintendent or any kind of factory leader was presented in the film. Can we know if the reality right after the end of the May 68 strike is still in place, merely 4 years later? No. Once the camera entered the factory, the camera looks at what is visible, the visible constructed by the owners says one of the union leader. A factory without problems, is that the reason why no chief is being filmed? A factory-museum, visited by a camera-guide. Like in a museum, everything is well organized to prevent the visitor from being shocked (Hatzfeld et al. 2006, 225). The agreement mentioned by the journalists between the filmmaker and the French carmaker owners is very plausible, because of the difficulty of getting the ok from the patrons to enter the factory and see the workers. In his interviews, Malle said that he obtained the permission to film by his strong reputation of ralisateur du cinma and a personal connection with one of the union leaders. How to reflect on Citroens acceptance then? After the conflict of 68, the company was willing to earn a good image among the viewers (although they were so few), and the public in general, without being asked to raise any wages or cut hours from the work schedule. The hostile critics of Malle, who considered that he should have presented the real condition of the worker, to gain from the inside filming proof of capitalist harshness is something that could not cure the sensibilities of the left and far-left groups from the French public spectrum. At the same time, for a cinematographic installation of an engaged author we are not sure about what subject is Louis Malle truly militant, the workers

condition or the amazement in front of a terrific example of industrial concert? Seen today, the film and the reactions provoked, lead to a rethink of the role given to the workers and their condition in the 1970s. Thereby, to a reevaluation of the aesthetic values and their connection with the political stands in the France post-Mai 68. Like the Dutch contemporary artists in the present, Louis Malle wanted to invite workers to become part of a cinematographic installation that was meant to engage and stimulate the public into a new debate about the condition of the worker in society, not just in the factory. REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journals: Hatzfeld et Nicolas Hatzfeld, Rot al. 2006 Gwenale, Michel Alain, Quand Louis Malle filmait le travail la chane: Humain, trop humain, et les dbats sur la reprsentation du travail . In: Le Temps des mdias n7, hiver 2006-07, p.218-227. Lecler 2010 Romain Lecler, La mue des gaspilleurs de pellicule . Ou comment les cinastes militants ont rhabilit la notion d'auteur (1968-1981). In: Raisons politiques, 39 (2010/3), p 2961. b. Books: Harvey Harvey, Sylvia, May 68 and 1979 Film Culture, BFI-British Film Institue (1979) London. Hediger, Hediger, Vinzenz, Vonderau, Vonderau Patrick (ed.), Films that work, 2009 industrial film and the productivity of the Media, Amsterdam university press (2009) Amsterdam. Linhart Linhart, Robert, LEtabli, 1978 Editions du Minuit (1978) Paris. Villain Villain Dominique, Le montage 1991 au cinema, ed. Cahiers du Cinema (1991) Paris.

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HISTORY TEACHING IN GREECE PREDAREA ISTORIEI N GRECIA

predrii istoriei, alturi de implicaiile istoriografiei greceti n aceast problem. Cuvinte cheie: predarea istoriei, Grecia, manuale colare, etnocentrism, mituri The Evolution of the Greek Education System Although Greece has not been a part of the Communist Block, its recent history has been influenced by the rise and fall of the other Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. After the end of WWII, Greece was passing through a civil war between the Marxist rebels and the monarchists, followed by a period of military dictatorship ending the monarchy (Gasanabo, 2006, 47) and capturing all the Greek society between 1967 and 1974. It was a time of censorship and constraint, manifested through the lack of consensus between the political authorities and through the breaking of the democratic principles, considered dangerous for the status-quo. (Dragonas, Fragoudaki, 2001, 38) Schoolbooks, especially history ones, in use at that time, served the tryptical ideology of the religious nation-family, containing false arguments, distortions and political propaganda. The fall of the military dictatorship, in 1974 and the following period, characterized by democratic initiatives for the state and society, meant a fresh start also for the history teaching. In 1976, the Ministry of Education has initiated a series of reforms in this matter. A significant part of the personnel has been removed, due to their collaboration with the military, a new national curriculum for history being adopted. New ones have replaced the textbooks in use before 1974. (Antoniou, Soysal, 2005, 108) The main objectives of the new history curriculum were the cult for the national feelings and democratic ideals, students formation in historical knowledge, the promoting of the historical continuity of the nation and its role in the world civilization. The history curriculum of 1986, still in use today, introduced new objectives, meaning a change in the ethics and structure of history teaching, without diminishing the value of the previously established ones. For example, a highlight of the peaceful periods from the historical past has been observed, similar as importance to the defensive, liberating conflicts, as well as the times of cultural excellence, especially those of international importance, and the notions of justice and freedom were coexistent to those of sacrifice for ones homeland. We have thus a patriotic history, but also stressing the collaboration and harmony between peoples.

Ph.D. Adriana Cupcea Babe Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca Email: adriana.tamasan@gmail.com

Acknowledgements This work was possible with through financial support of the Sectoral Operational Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013, co-financed by the European Social Fund, under the project number POSDRU 89/1.5/S/60189 with the title "Postdoctoral Programs for Sustainable Development in a Knowledge Based Society.

Abstract. The present paper proposes to examine the history teaching situation in Greece and the recent revision initiatives of this educational field. We have chosen to present the issue of current textbooks by using three possible frameworks: a. the historical perspective on the development of history teaching in Greece; b. the option for a unique model applied on Greek history textbooks; c. the content characteristics of the Greek history textbooks after the fall of the communism. Using the text analysis method the study will identify the main stereotypes that are prevailing in the Greek didactical texts and will analyze the public reactions regarding the rewriting of history textbooks and history teaching and the implications of the Greek historiography in this matter. Keywords: history teaching, Greece, textbooks, ethnocentrism, myths Rezumat. Lucrarea de fa i propune s examineze situaia predrii istoriei n Grecia i iniiativele recente de revizuire a acestui domeniu. Am ales s prezentm problema actualelor manuale colare de istorie din trei posibile perspective: a. perspectiv istoric asupra dezvoltrii predrii istoriei n Grecia; b. opiunea pentru modelul manualului unic aplicat predrii istoriei n Grecia, c. caracteristicile coninutului manualelor de istorie greac, dup cderea comunismului. Folosind metoda analizei de text, studiul va identifica stereotipurile principale, predominante n textele didactice din Grecia i va analiza reaciile publicului cu privire la revizuirea manualelor de istorie i a

Adriana Cupcea

Even with all these changes, continuing until the present time, the Greek educational system has remained a centralized one, with a compulsory history curriculum, based on the principle of the single textbook. Thus, the literature considers as limited these reforms, especially due to the political character of history teaching. Koulouri considers that not only the military dictatorship has contributed to this, but all the post-war evolution of Greece. The capture of power by the Conservative Right in 1946, victorious in the civil war, meant also the control of the educational policy, that lead to the introduction in schools of history textbooks conceived with the purpose of inoculation of political messages and attitudes, a phenomenon which reached its peak during the military dictatorship. Koulouri argues that in spite of the political changes, the continuation of the education centralization process and political tradition determined changes in textbooks with no actual echo on the long term, because these changes corresponded to the alternation to power and thus reflected divergent conceptions and values. (Koulouri, Venturas, 1994) Now, the Greek educational system is the image of a school system that puts a great importance on the narration of the national history. The Hellenic continuity, from the Antiquity until the present time, is the essential principle of the Greek national identity, consolidated in schools especially through history teaching. (Avdela, 2000, 240) History Textbooks and History Teaching In the current curriculum for the teaching of history, its study begins in the 3rd or 4th grade, with the Ancient Greek history, continues with the regional history, and consequently, with the modern and world history, beginning with the 6th grade. In the primary school, two hours per week are given to history, and in the secondary school, their number rises to three. (In Greece, education is compulsory at the primary and secondary levels (between 6-15 years of age). Afterwards students may choose between technical schools and high school, for a period of three years.) In the primary cycle, the national history dominates, in the secondary a balance is sought in the sequence of national, regional and world themes, and in high school the emphasis is on the world history. (Gasanabo, 2006, 49) History teaching in Greece is influenced mostly by the organization of the Greek system. Each object is based on a single textbook, which

follows closely the official curriculum for its grade. Thus, the contents and objectives of history classes are clearly defined through a curriculum, currently developed by the Pedagogical Institute, the responsible institution for the instatement of the educational policy of each government, alternating in office in Greece. After the clearance of the Ministry of Education, the history curriculum for each grade is published in the Official Gazette, as a Presidential Decree or a law, insuring a detailed abstract of each of the history lessons. (Avdela, 2000, 240) The educational objectives are the same for all the grades on the same level. Ephie Avdela, professor at the University of Crete, analyzing in 2000 the main educational objectives of the history curricula, identifies two trends. On one hand, a part of the main objective of the history lessons is the development of the national conscience, of the ethic behavior and of the citizenship values, and on the other hand, they serve the purpose of diffusing knowledge of history, to teach the students to think historically, to increase their interest in history and to familiarize them with the techniques of historical research. The problem occurring after the analysis is that historical thinking is considered at all the educational levels exclusively the identification of the casual relations between historical events. No reference is made to the direct methods of historical research, to the importance of interpretation or to the sources complexity. In other words, historical thinking is not a sole purpose, but serves the main objectives of the national education. Avdela highlights the two contradictory trends are present also in the history curriculum, (Avdela, 2000, 242-243) through the careful selection of historical events and interpretations that promote the development of the national conscience. The Production of History Textbooks In Greece, special law defines the textbook, how it should be written and edited, by whom it should be approved and the procedure for its publication and distribution. Although the law specifies that the authority of textbook editing can be entrusted following a contest or mandatory, practically the latter is the only one used in the present time. The Ministry of Education assigns the conception and publishing of textbooks for a certain object, and certain grades, especially at the primary level, to the staff of the Pedagogical Institute. Each such assignment includes detailed instructions 109

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regarding its contents, format and illustrations, as well as instructions regarding the textbook for the teacher, corresponding to that of the students. The content of the textbook must strictly follow the curriculum of each level of teaching and each grade, as the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the Pedagogical Institute, which monitors the textbook writing and gives its final approval, has established it. Therefore, a single textbook is prepared for each grade, on each level, and distributed with no costs to the students. To each of the textbooks a teacher textbook corresponds, conceived and published in the same manner. At the time of approval, the actual textbooks are printed by the Organization for the Publication of School Textbooks and then distributed in schools. The studies dedicated to the Greek educational system find this production method of the textbooks as one of the most centralized in Europe. Avdela argues that this excessive control of the state and therefore of politics over the textbook production and content is limited regarding the position and role of the teacher, which also has his own textbook. It was introduced in 1985 with the purpose of assisting and guiding the teachers in the teaching process, especially at the primary school level. (Avdela, 200, 242-243) History textbooks basic ideas In the current history textbooks, we can notice an intention of objectivity and modern historical approach. History is no longer the simple description of wars, peace treaties or political actions, economical, social or cultural history being added. In addition, the interest for the explanation of the democratic values and peace has been observed, the negative references to other peoples being excluded. However, in spite of these important changes, the ethnocentric character of the Greek history textbooks remains noticeable. (Dragonas, Fragoudaki, 2001, 39) Its causes and sources is defined in didactical terms as Hellenism, the nucleus of the national identity. This theme, reflection of their ancient material and spiritual heritage, allows them to place the beginning of their nation and thus of their national history in the Ancient times, which is linearly continued with the era of Byzantium, and culminating with the erection of a Modern Greek national state. Despite of the territorial losses, this chronology is kept entirely in the national time frame, (Soysal, Antoniou, 2002, 55) enhancing the idea of a linear development, which attracts that one of 110

continuity and national homogeneity, the latter being empowered through the continuous resistance to the external threats, often manifested through the unique capacity of the Self to assimilate the Others, which also gives a defensive character to the national identity. Vasilia Lilian Antoniou and Yasemin Nuholu Soysal, when discussing the concept of nation in didactical texts, argue that the national community projected in the Greek history textbooks is formed by a number of cultural components, kept intact in time. It is a community passing through all the historic periods, with its origins at the beginnings of civilization. Thalia Dragonas and Anna Frangoudaki connect the perception of the nation to the Hellenism, arguing that, from this point of view, the creation of the Greek nation and of the independent national Greek state is not a historical process, but rather an aprioristic aspiration of the Greeks, not the result of a historical evolution, but an ancient feature of them. Consequently, Avdela says that the premise of the Greek history textbooks conception is the superiority of the Greek civilization, three thousand years old, and its unalteration in all this time. This emphasis on the continuous, superior and unaltered nature of Hellenism along the centuries influences the portray of the national self image in the history textbooks, but also the way in which other nations are described. It also undermines the authorities declared intention to familiarize the students with scientifically research, with the knowledge of other cultures, in the purpose of understanding diversity, of developing tolerance and critical reason. (Avdela, 2000, 245) The ethnocentrism manifested as Hellenism has multiple consequences, one of which is, as stated above the perception of the Others. In fact, the other nations, as we can see from studies dedicated to the perception of alterity, appear mentioned in relation with the national history. Dragonas and Frangoudaki both state that in spite of the intention of not relating a negative image or a hostile attitude on other nations, a negative evaluation of them occurs, indirectly, by selecting the historical events in which the neighboring states appear as aggressors of their own nation. (Dragonas, Fragoudaki, 2001, 41) Another function of the ethnocentrism is closely related to the perception of Europe and the autoperception of Greeces place in it. Specifically, its Hellenic past, considered the crib of the Western civilization and democracy, allows it to relate historically to

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Europe, (Soysal, Antoniou, 2002, 56) which legitimates its actual placement inside Europe, in spite of its geographical position and Orthodox tradition. This latter aspect brings into discussion the contradiction between the pagan nature of the Greek antiquity, its Christian Middle Ages and the idea of continuity. The contradiction between the Hellenism and Christianity is presented in the textbooks as a rupture, a conflict of two worlds, and later as a cultural symbiosis called the Hellenic-Christian tradition, which will become a defining feature of the Greek nation. This fusion actually confirms the continuity of the Greek nation in history, the Modern state being the peak of it. (Antoniou, Soysal, 2005, 111) At the same time, the resulted cultural product again offers the opportunity of placing their own nation as an heir of a universal culture, considering that the cultural heritage of the Greek nation, passed on to Europe, refers not only to the ancient tradition, but also to the Christianity, disseminated in Europe from the Byzantine Empire. The Orthodoxy and its insertion in the contents of the history textbooks is another feature of history teaching in Greece. A keyelement of Greek identity, consolidated by the lack of division between the state and the church, Orthodox religion is incorporated into the educational system and reproduced not only in the Religion curriculum but also in those of Greek language and history. (Zambetta, 2000, 149) The state-church relation reflects also at constitutional level, which offers the legal basis for it. The Greek constitution implies that the dominant faith in Greece is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ. Another article claims that education is a mission of the state to develop national and religious conscience of the Greek citizens. The combined interpretation of the two articles presented above lead, from the part of the state authorities and of the Supreme Court, to the confessional character of the Greek educational system. (Sottirelis, 1998) Evie Zambetta emphasizes, after text analysis on a history textbook published in 1998, that the speech of the Orthodox Church is adopted in the didactic text, not only through Bible quotes and references, but also through the transmission of religious interpretations for social facts, to the students. The actual example offered is that the Greek nation has repeatedly lost its freedom due to its multiple sins, and the authors explain those sins as conflicts raised from social inequity, a Christian interpretation. (Zambetta, 2000, 151)

This conception and self-image does not originate in history textbooks and teaching, but in the national Greek historiography of the 19th century, eventually diffused to the textbooks. (Avdela, 2000, 245) Reform attempts Although in the last years attempts have been made to drop this ethnocentric approach of history, corroborated with international efforts to eradicate national stereotypes in school textbooks, the last trends indicate a resistance from more than one Greek social stratum. (Hamilakis, 2003, 57) The most recent example comes from 2006-2007, when a new generation of textbooks has been introduced. It all started with a major change in the process of publication and selection. Precisely, the authors would apply with samples of the future textbook, which would then be evaluated by an independent staff, after scientific criteria previously established. The main change was the breaking of the closed circle of textbook authors, and of the monopoly of the Pedagogical Institute. Negative reactions have occurred, but the major conflict, or the textbook war was stirred by a certain textbook in modern and contemporary history, for the last primary grade, (Liakos, 2011) meaning the 6th.(Repoussi et al, 2006). Considering the constitutional argument that education has the purpose of developing the national conscience and Christian feeling, the textbook, despite of its title, Modern and Contemporary History, was concentrated on Greek national history. A relevant element, mentioned by the author herself during this conflict, is that World History is absent from the curriculum of the primary school. However, unlike previous textbooks, this one has brought o series of innovations. In contents, the narrative text refers to valid bibliographical sources for the modern and contemporary history, the superiority and victimizing myths of the Greek nation were lacking, references to traditional enemies were avoided, (Liakos, 2011)as well as the separation from political and military history, in favor of cultural and social aspects, attempting at the same time a rally of Greek history to World History. (Repoussi et al, 2006) Methodologically, various sources were introduced and critical thinking in their interpretation. (Repoussi et al, 2006) Therefore, these new textbooks stirred a series of adverse reactions, starting with the Orthodox Church and dispersed in the political circles, especially those in the extreme Right, in the media and obviously in the public view, largely involved in the 111

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debate, lasting more than one year. The main accusations for the textbook were a worldwide conspiracy against Hellenism, the undermining of the Greek national identity and of the relation between Church and nation, with the final purpose of globalization. Many have accused the authors of executing a previous arrangement between the Greek and Turkish governments, for the change of history textbooks, or that they were paid by Ankara for the de-hellenisation of the Greeks and the facilitation of Turkish plans in the area. (Repoussi et al, 2006) Requests for the recall of the textbooks came form the Greek Ministry of Education in Cyprus, (the Cypriots considered unacceptable the presentation of the Cyprus problem, and, through their Ministry of Education requested changes in the sense of the dramatization of the conditions in which the Greek Cypriots were living at the time of the Turkish invasion. In fact they wanted the textbook to ignore the division of 1974, because this is the central point of the Turkish propaganda. Eventually they argued that the textbook should follow Cyprus external policy, regarding the statute of occupied territory for Turkish Cyprus and denying the actual division) and the Athenian Academy, a well-known conservative institution, had a critical attitude towards the textbook, with the argument that it does not serve the cultivation of the national memory. (Liakos, 2011) Although after all the critics, the authors have revised the textbook, its republication for the school year 2007-2008 never took place, because it was removed immediately after the elections of 2007, following the pressures of the Right Wing Party LAOS, which was elected in premiere in Parliament with 3.5%. (Repoussi et al, 2006) The dispute for this textbook demonstrated that nationalism manifested at different levels of the society could impose to history a conservative, positivist scheme. Moreover, the incident reflects the importance of the study and the attention that historians should give to the public aspects of history, because these influence the public historical perception and its relation to the school taught history. Antonis Liakos argues that the current attractions for the historian are not similar to those of the public. The new approaches of social, cultural or gender history have broadened the gap between the national history consumed by the masses and the world of scientists, as historical conscience gravitates continuously around sublime events. (Liakos, 2011)

The ethnocentric manifestations of the Greek society in educational matters must be connected to the nationalist trend of the 90s, to the South-Eastern Europe political evolutions, the creation of the Republic of Macedonia, the instability in Albania and its effects on the Greek minority here, and of course the continuous crisis of the Greek-Turkish relations. The criticism of the backwardness of Greece in the context of its integration in the EU has concentrated on the external threat on Hellenism and the loss of the Greek identity. (Liakos, 2004, 351-352) All these fears have become a nationalist trend, which culminated with the independence of Macedonia and its taking over of the name of the kingdom of Alexander the Great, considered as exclusively belonging to Greek history. This is why, in the case of the Greek society, the transpose of the ethnocentric mentality in the educational system and in history teaching must be regarded not only from the perspective of the internal reform capacity, but also from that of Greek external politics, in which history is an active and vital factor, explaining thus the relation of the Greek society to its own history and historical conscience.

REFERENCES
a. Papers in periodical journals: Avdela Ephe Avdela, The Teaching of 2000 History in Greece. In Journal of Modern Greek Studies, 2 (2000), p.239-253. Koulouri, Christina Koulouri, Lina Venturas Venturas, Research on Greek 1994 textbooks: a survey of current trends. In: Paradigm, 14 (1994). Zambetta Evie Zambetta, Religion and 2000 National Identity in Greek education. In: Intercultural Education, 2 (2000), p.145156. b. Books: Repoussi, Repoussi , M., Andreadou, 2006 C., Poutachidis, A., Tsivas, A., Sta neotera kai sygxrona xronia [Istorie Modern i Contemporan][Modern and Contemporary History] (2006) Atena.

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c. Chapters in books: Antoniou, Antoniou, Vasilia Lilian, Soysal Soysal, Yasemin Nuholu, 2005 Nation and the Other in Greek and History Textbooks. In Hanna Schissler and Yasemin Nuholu Soysal, The Nation Europe and the World. Textbooks and Curricula in Transition (2005) Oxford, New York, p. 105-121. Dragona, Dragonas, Thalia, Frangoudaki, Fragoudaki Anna, The Persistance of 2001 Ethnocentric School History. In Christina Koulouri Teaching the History of Southeastern Europe (2001) Thessaloniki, p. 37-47. Hamilakis Hamilakis, Yannis, Learn 2003 History! Antiquity, National Narrative and History in Greek Educational Textbooks. In Brown, Keith S., Hamilakis, Yannis, The Usable Past. Greek Metahistories (2003) New York, Oxford, p. 39-67. Soysal, Soysal, Yasemin Nuholu, Antoniou Antoniou, Vasilia Lilian, The 2002 Byzantine and the Ottoman Empire.A common regional past? Portrayals of the Byzantine and Ottoman Heritages from Within and Without. In Koulouri, Christina, Clio in the Balkans. The politics of History Education, Center for Democracy and Reconciliation (2002) Salonic, p. 53-73. d. Unpublished thesis or reports: Gasanabo Gasanabo, Jean Damascne, 2006 Fostering Peaceful Co-Existence through Analysis and Revision of History Curricula and Textbooks in Southeast Europe. Preliminary Stocktaking Report (2006), p. 47, http://unesdoc.unesco.org/image s/0015/001514/151474e.pdf, accesed 23th of May 2011.

Sottirelis 1998

NS/History%20Wars%20_%20 A.%20Liakos.pdf, accesed 22th of May 2011. Sotirelis, Giorgios, Religion and Education: the constitution and the European Convetion. From catechism to pluralism, Atena (1998) http://uoa.academia.edu/Consta ntineSkordoulis/Papers/383595/ Teaching_the_Theory_of_Evol ution_Secondary_Teachers_Att itudes_Views_and_Difficulties, accesed 10th of June 2011.

d. Internet sources:
Liakos 2011 Antonis Liakos, History Wars: testing tolerance, http://users.auth.gr/marrep/PS_ REPOUSI/ENG/PUBLICATIO 113

ABOUT CONTEMPORARY DEATH DESPRE MOARTEA CONTEMPORAN

Professor Mihaela Grancea Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Email: mgrancea.ro@yahoo.com

Abstract. There are visible public attitudes pointing out in the community an alteration of traditional behaviours towards death and corps as a result of religious tackling abandonment, of scientific progress that nourish utopia of the triumph against physical death (see the scientific imaginary nowadays), of urbanism and of the evolution of common existence, which involves new ways in burial procession, a reinventing of funeral rite, a reaffirming of ethno-cultural and religious identity. These social changes imply new relations and attitudes towards survivors duties related to the deceased, and a new medical ethic that suppose a complex relationship, too (a social and emphatic relationship, both with person at the point of death, and with his family, even in the mourning period. On the other side, occurrence of incurable diseases (especially AIDS), fear of terrorist attacks or fear of viral attacks touches the process of taming death, and generate new anguish, fatalist reflections and segregating attitudes. The interest for medicalizing the discourse about death and for the problem of euthanasia is an attempt to assume / accept the end, also. In this way, from the second half of the twentieth century, the problem of death have become the subject of certain sciences (sociology, anthropology, history), and a public issue, too. Keywords: death, cemetery, euthanasia, funerals, thanatology. Rezumat. Atitudinile publice care relev alterarea, n societatea din consum, a comportamentelor tradiionale vizavi de moarte i cadavru sunt vizibile ca efect al abandonarii abordrii religioase, al progresului tiinific care nutrete utopiile triumfului asupra morii fizice (vezi imaginarul tiinific al epocii noastre), al urbanitatii i al dinamicii vieii cotidiene care impun noi formule de deplasare a cortegiilor funerare, reinventarea ritului funerar, reafirmarea identitii etno-culturale i religioase. Aceste transformri sociale presupun noi raporturi i atitudini vizavi de obligaiile pe

care supravieuitorii le au fa de defunci, dar i o nou etic medical care impune o relaionare complex (inclusiv social i empatic, att cu pacientul terminal ct i cu familia acestuia, chiar i n perioada de doliu). Pe de alt parte, apariia unor maladii incurabile (ndeosebi SIDA), frica de atacurile teroriste precum i de cele virale afecteaz procesul de domesticire a morii, genernd noi angoase, reflecii fataliste i atitudini segregaioniste. Interesul pentru medicalizarea discursului despre moarte i pentru problematica eutanasiei este, la urma urmei, tot o incercare de asumare/acceptare a sfritului. Astfel, moartea a devenit, ncepnd din a doua jumtate a secolului XX, obiectul de studiu al cercetrii multor discipline (sociologia, antropologia, istoria), dar i o tem public. Cuvinte cheie: moarte, cimitir, eutanasie, funerarii, tanatologie. Traditional behaviours regarding death and the corpse are changing in consumerist societies. This attitude is the result of several factors, amongst which: the abandoning of religion, the progress of science which nourishes the utopian goal of triumphing over death (see the scientific imagination of our epoch), the urban and dynamic life style which poses a challenge to the traditional funerary procession, the reinventing of rite, the reaffirming of religious and ethno-cultural identities. Old attitudes and conceptions regarding the duties of the living towards the dead are being revised due to social changes, and due to a new medical ethic that imposes complex attitudes (including empathy, both towards the dying patient, and towards the grieving family). On the other hand, the emergence of certain pandemics (especially AIDS), the fear of terrorist attacks and new viruses temper with the process of taming death, generating new anxieties, fatalist reflections and segregating attitudes. The tendency of using medical terminology when referring to the issues of death and, the more controversial, euthanasia is in itself an attempt of accepting/assuming the unavoidable end. Thus, starting with the second half of the 20th Century, death became the object of study in several scientific disciplines (sociology, anthropology, history) but also a public issue. Thanatologists, anthropologists and historiographers about contemporary death Phillipe Aris, referring at sensibilities related to death, considered absolutely and generalizing his observations that the modernity

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implies (also) a transition from tamed/ domesticated death to a denial of death (see Philippe Aris, Lhomme devant la mort, Paris, Seuil, 1977). Due to secularization, human being rises against the fatality of death as a physical dissolution. However, for individuals and communities, the process of continual taming counts in new tackling: as for cultural products at least, death seems to be no more a fellow traveler/companion, a harvester / reaper waiting for paths blur, a harvest of souls or hunter of game. Death does not look savage and it is no more obsessive; maybe dreads are better administrated. Nowadays, they no more follow the postponement and taming of death, but putting across the wish of departing this life with dignity. The historiographer Michel Vovelle adheres at the idea that new sensibilities and habitudes towards death are manifested. He considers that the main transfigurations occurring in the contemporary society with reference to death can be summarized in several phenomena: If in the former rural societies death was a lifelike phenomenon, consumed without drama, now lonely death is an effect of socio-economical mutations supposed by the ending of the traditional community, as urbanization. F3 (that kind of urban flat defining towns housing) killed the collective death since the beginning of XXth century. Today we witness the triumph of medicalized death. In France, between 70% and 80% of deceases occur in hospital, fact that implies additional assessment of some elements related with death [abducted from disease, an], like therapy, the institutionalized patient etc (v. Michel Vovelle, Mdecine et humanisme Chronique de lexprience ultime. Propos recueillis par Daniel Louradour, in Le Gnraliste, nr. 23, dcembre 1999). These transmutations are studied by interfacing teaching lines: Thanatology, History of death, History of collective imaginary/representations and historical Anthropology. Thus, a multidisciplinary discourse about death and dying arrived in the latter decades (see, especially, the most interesting work about recent funerary culture, a Douglas J. Davies book, Death, Ritual and Belief, London, Cassel, 1977, and some others, also: L.-V. Thomas, La mort aujourd'hui, Paris, ditions du Titre, 1988; Michael C. Kearl, Endings: A Sociology of Death and Dying, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1989; Death in England: an Illustrated History, coord. Peter C. Jupp, Clare Gittings, New York, London, New

Jersey, ed. Rutgers University Press, 2000 - an illustrated history following, from the beginnings up to the end of the 20 century, the evolution of the attitudes towards death and corpse - from first ars moriendi up to the medicalization/institutionalization of death, dying, mentalities about cemetery as a sacred socio-cultural space, assertion of funerary art, mutations inside rites structure related to secularization and traumas produced by the two Worlds Wars; the authors apply to interfacing complementary sources - official document, funerary architecture and appearance, epitaph, testament, photography, documentary, private correspondence, diary, historiographic inquiry; a semblable tackling can be found in the encyclopedia of funerary anthropology signed by Douglas J. Davies, A Brief History of Death, Blackwell Publishing, 2005). Medicine vs. thanatology Particularly, thanatology manifests some authoritarian methodological tendencies, and pretends to be a science of death (in the above-mentioned work, Louis-Vincent Thomas proposed some definitions: for thanatology as science, for imaginary of death and post mortem experience, and for thanatologys area of interest; this epistemological project dictates relations to interfacing sciences, proving her multidisciplinarity; although it is not a strict science, thanatology is still in a configuration process of its theoretical and methodological liabilities towards its object and specific epistemology.). The thanatologists assert that only applying to thanatological methods of investigation it is possible to realize reliable/efficient associations between scientific, philosophic, theological and anthropologic knowledge whose objects are Death (as a biological phenomenon, as social reconstruction or as act of culture), the medical discourse, the dying, the rites of passage and the eschatology. According to thanatological inquiries, death is a reality having causes of four kinds, according to whom it is considered natural, casual, suicide or murder. Biologically, death is included into the genetic program of every living being (which raises the question of the existence of some lethal genes) and it is characterized by the suspension in time of different systems activities, then a systemic cease, and ultimately a physical decomposition. A common definition of death, in the medical praxis, is connected to irreversible ceasing of breath, pulse and cerebral activity, 115

About Contemporary Death

and the surcease of these physiological activities represents the self-consciousness extinguishment of the body. According to thanatic analysis, death betides by and by, since physiologically it is rather a sophisticated process than a single moment, when the tissular activitys cessation follows the cessation of vital centres activity. As event, death belongs to the genetic program of the human being, as calculated wrecking due to accretion of translating errors, errors that generates essential mutations, scilicet mistuning in the process of proteins synthesis. As biochemical process, death amount to a jump from organic to inorganic. As an aspect of biology, death manifests as a method of natural selection, that what is not subservient to the race is eliminated through, so that races reproduction ability can be provided. Philosophical thought, studious of deaths nature, considers that death is a universal, necessary phenomenon. There it is even a scientific definition of death, stipulated in The Dictum from Sydney (1968). There, they assert that the determination of deaths moment is just a medics legal responsibility, based on certain classic criteria or para-clinical examination. This pronouncing was improved by Collaborative Study of the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, which stated that an individual who shows a irreversible cease of sanguine circulation, breath or a indefeasible cease of the function of the brain is registered as dead; death is certified if the individual is in irreversible dying, with no reflexes and with an aspect of electric line on EEG for at least 6 hours (for an adult, or 24-48 hours in the case of a child) since coma or apnea inceptions. Cerebral death refers at the concomitant absence of activity at the level of these three cerebral segments, and not at a run. Some medics and thanatologists throw that the definition of the whole-brain death is ambiguous, hence the fact that certain people retrospect to corpses as them would be animated. Appealing to this complexity, Mohan Das and Chon introduce, in 1971, the concept of brain-stem death as the point of complete reaction in dying. Practically, they considered that biological death implies four intervening phases: pre-agony, as a phase before agony, when psychic manifestations are conditioned by individual factors; agony, that makes the transition from biological phenomenon to thanatologyc phenomenon (loss of contact with the reality, raving, sleeping reliving, vegetative chaos, and anaesthesia); clinical defunction 116

(breathing appliance and circulation stops; reflexes disappear) - phase reversible in about 25 minutes; dying - critical coma - (abolition of EEG activity, hypothermia; life is artificially kept on), an irreversible phase; final/real decease (specific signs: bodys cooling, desiccation, cadaverous lividity, and finally, putrefaction). In terms of quality and in terms of social perception of death, there is a good death (individual death), seen as a natural predictable event, and a bad death, which is installed after a long and hard illness (universal stereotype!), after an unbearable devastating suffering, affecting the dignity, giving palpitations to the dying and to those involved emphatically in the Others death event (family, cronies, medical team). See such analysis at George Scripcaru, M. Terbancea in Patologie medico-legal (Forensic Pathology), Bucharest, Editura Didactic i Pedagogic, p. 21-75, 1978 and at Vladimir Beli, Tratat de Medicin Legal (Treaty of Forensic Medicine), Bucharest, Editura medical, p. 47-57, 1996. The Dying Process Thanatology, as a discipline that studies the behaviours, thoughts and affects connected with the phenomenon of death, appeared in the U.S. in the late 60s, as a result of the original pleading Elisabeth Kbler-Ross supported in On Death and Dying (London, Macmillan, 1963 or the same author, in: On Death and Dying. What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families, New York, Macmillan Publishing, Co., 1969). In those books, the author capitalizes studies about death and dying process, research conducted at the University of Chicago (Elisabeth Kbler-Ross legitimated studies about stages of agony having the desire to humanize the treatment and status of dying patients; their investigation involved interviews with 400 agonic and pre-agonic subjects, and have stressed that those patients have foreknowledge of their death). Based on collected data, Elisabeth Kbler-Ross postulated that incurable patients pass through five stages of awareness of their death: a denial of diagnosis and imminent prospect of death, impotent anger against hostile fate, negotiation with the divinity with reference to the possibility of a miraculous healing or even extension of life, depression and, finally, acceptance of their imminent preparing for meeting with him. See more about modern fear of death and the need of surmounting it in: Douglas C. Kimmel, Adulthood and Aging. An

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Interdisciplinary, Developmental View, John Wiley& Sons, Inc., New York- London Toronto, Sydney, 1974. After an analysis of the sociological and psychological anguish that is so present in recent history, also (Existential Anxiety and Death), the author sets out the steps (The Dying Process as a psychological process) through which terminal patient passes before accepting death as the ultimate and essential natural act. For about 30 years, at least in the U.S., Western Europe and Australia more deaths occur in hospital than at far-goners homes. The hospital becomes more and more a rail head. In the time of past ages, dying in a hospital was characteristic of poor or lonely people. Nowadays, medicalizing of death is discussed about more and more (In Religion and the Decline of Magic, New York, Charles Scribners Sons, 1971, Keith Thomas considers that the occurrence of the medical discourse is a result of a group of physicians assertion, in the 1518-1663, at The Royal College of Physicians. In Medical Care and Social Policy in Seventeenth Century England, that appeared in the work From Medical Police to Social Medicine: Essays on the History of Health Care, New York, Science History Publications, 1974, p. 159-175, George Rosen uttered the same opinion. In Public Health and the Medical Profession in the Renaissance, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1976, Carlo M. Cipolla analysis the behaviours and affections of Italian society, the attitude of elite towards problem of education and management of crisis junctures, particularly, and some others like the occurring of legal regulations - inspired from civil law -, regulations that disclose the beginning of a modern vision towards the flagellating plague. Corresponding attentions can be found at Michel Focault, The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception, New York, Vintage Books, 1994). The progress of medical explanation, the proliferation of therapies even in the case of still incurable diseases, and eradication of diseases with a high degree of mortality (e.g. tuberculosis) gave to medical disciplines more credibility in the position of inquiry and human pathologys limiting domains. Because of these developments, and as effect of increasing the confidence the doctor enjoyed as healer and assistant for pathological phenomena and anxieties, he interferes more and more frequently in the last phases of the patients agony, assisting him (professionally). In order to demonstrate better the phenomenon by the name of medicalization of

death, Carol Anne (see: Histoire de leugnisme en France, XIXe-XXe sicles, Paris, ditions du Seuil, 1999, and Les mdecins et la mort, XIXe-XXe sicles, Paris, ditions Aubier, Collection historique, 2004) seeks opportunities offered by this system in time of deaths chronology: from the announcement of the fatal diagnosis (which is also the moment of announced death) to the agony, and further up to the decease; then the way of the corpse follows, from a hospital room to the morgue, and next at the funeral parlor. In relation to the issue of medicalization of death, thanatologists study also social, cultural and religious aspects that are supposed by this medical anthropology of death, which arrives as vision in the second half of the nineteenth century. Specifically, in its analysis, Carol Anne stresses the significance of the onset of medicalization of death: fatal diagnosis announcement. Behaviour strategies/roles specific to those involved: doctor, incurable patient and his relatives are given a significant narrative space in his studies. For decades, from the perspective of a humanist charity, it was considered that the patient should be hidden the real diagnosis. The priest himself was participating at this complicity, and he was slowly meddled into the events which succeeded each other with a variable speed, with the aim of preparing the patient to accept the natural expiration, for exorcising fear of physical degradation and death (see the phenomenon of cooperation between the two institutions / discourses: church-medicine, religious discourse - medical discourse). On the other hand, the proponents of telling truth shapes their attitudes according to the social relations they have with the patient, depending on the culture and employment status of the patient and on their religiosity (real diagnosis disclosure supporters are usually the practicing Christians; it is supposed that the fargoner should know the actuality to prepare emotionally for the transition in the Hereafter; physicians who were/are Christians were/are concerned not only for the comfort of the moribund, but for his soul and salvation; such attitudes were common in the nineteenth century, and rarely in the twentieth century, when the doctor did not go beyond medical care. Regarding the agony, the tackling of the last phase is problematic. The pain of the moribund generates a new problem: the way the doctor controls the pain. In this domain, medical discourse varies by sex, race, biological age, religiosity and social status of the moribund 117

About Contemporary Death

patient. If, before the Second World War it was thought that pain is useful, having value in monitoring the disease, in the second half of the twentieth century people resort to drug therapy (if, in the nineteenth century, opium or ether was used, morphine is now used as analgesic in the terminal stage of disease). Many doctors consider that this kind of therapy and the use of antidepressants redound to a less painful death for both sick and for survivors that are exempted from a macabre spectacle of a dehumanizing pang in this manner. Only physicians with a degree of religious values the pain as heritage, as possibility of lucidity necessary for completing the balance of life and for the preparation of the soul for hereafter. From the first attitude, in the first years of the century, idea of euthanasia as a devoid of pain death descends. Another current issue in the medical anthropology refers at the nature of death. Is death only a phenomenon of physical decay or something more, that border and the portal to another dimension? In this context, especially in the second half of the 20th century, doctors were concerned about cases of clinical death. They were stimulated by the existence terrifying experiences due to premature burial in the 19th century that bore obsessive fears (see Gothic stories, The collapse of the House Usher by E.A. Poe). Therefore, doctors will take several precautions in connection with the establishment of signs that show the installation of cadaverous rigidity. The defunct becomes the substance of a new issue. If in traditional media death is difficult to be subject to new kind of inspections, the hospital, the morgue and autopsy techniques provide more certainty about hygiene, facilitate anatomy-pathologist researches, later burial (in the detriment of a traditional cultural treatment of the corpse). Being institutionalized and funded by private foundations and governmental agencies, thanatology, a science of death, became a discipline and it is studied in universities and research centres in the United States and Canada. In France, thanatology is not considered a discipline in its own right, with a well-defined object of study or with specific theories and methodologies, yet. Responsible for the ambiguity of this statute can be manifestations complexity of death: the dying, the burial itself, the corpses issues, the forms of integration and social networking imposed by the agony of the moribund, the funeral/cremation, the mourning, commemorating forms of mourning period, and reflection on death after all. In Canada, and particularly in Qubec, interdisciplinary studies 118

are marked by multidisciplinary option, by diversity of deepening (descriptive, hermeneutic and critical), by the originality of the subject: dying, death as a biological phenomenon and socio-cultural process, commemorations and the Hereafter. Euthanasia between mercy and murder There were intense debates in recent decades and they still are around a paradox: the ratio between timeless (biological) naturalness of death and numerous attempts to attribute to technology the desire to mechanically extend the life; the intervention of resuscitation technology into the process of death makes ambiguous the transition moment of existence, and thus, death itself becomes ambiguous. The concept of death with dignity brought forth controversy regarding euthanasia, the right to die, as part of Human Rights. Dignified death, that won and abolished the physical and psychological devastating torment, is more and more requested in situations where medication no longer provides the moribund comfort, and they consciously ask voluntary death. Euthanasia is the right solution, too, in case of artificially (technologically) life keeping which is a useless and costly effort that gives the survivors suffering and false hope. Biological status of the connected-to-apparatus patient is even more ambiguous. In this case, euthanasia is nonvoluntary (and it is enough if the patient is disconnected). According to the thanatical definitions, involuntary euthanasia involves the decision making without the moribunds assent. Since many of the comatose cannot be consulted about the formula by which death could be induced to them, we wonder which the real border between non-voluntary euthanasia and murder is. In the U.S., although there is no state where euthanasia was legalized, in Washington State The Natural Death Act (1981) and in Oregon the Oregons Assisted Suicide Law were voted. The law considers that aid may be granted (which consists of medical assistance) to those in-patients willing to die (either by active euthanasia, or medically assisted suicide). The study entitled On Morale Medicine. Theological perspectives in Medical Ethics (coord. by Stephen E. Lammers, Allen Verhey, MichiganCambridge, William .B. Eerdmands Publishing Company Grand Rapids, 1998), attends the topic of dignified death, concerning the possibility of the reconcilement of representations of death - as natural phenomenon - and a terrifying

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imaginary of death - as sacred power of Death. An open question is the analyze of necessary connections and interacting between medical and religious discourse (last issue is early presented in the thanatological literature, in Mary Baker Eddys work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Boston, First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1934, p. 427 sq.). In the chapter Allowing Someone to Die. Mercy Death, and Mercy Killing, pp. 227-372, the concept mercy Death is presented (assisted suicide, death as a required by the incurable patient rational solution). Contrary opinions are presented, also: those who talk about The Irrationality of Mercy Death (p. 253), about euthanasia as murder, and not as a nascent by love act of charity. They state that euthanasia would trigger a domino effect authorizing illegal acts, violation of the fundamental principle of life (p.259), not to mention the legal effects. The same problem, but wider developed, appears in a Robert M. Vaetchs work, Case Studies in Medical Ethics, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London, Harvard University Press, 1977: morality in medicine, medical ethics principles (duty to the patient and society, care, confidentiality, communicating truth about diagnosis), special issues (abortion, sterilization, contraception, birth, Biological Revolution, genetics, transplantation, experiments), the patients right to refuse treatment, Death and Dying (p. 317-350), the (medical) definition of death, stages of biological deaths installation, behavioural science to the far-gone patient, agony and euthanasia (so hard accepted by parents) as a tragic dilemma. Concerning the same subject (ethic of euthanasia in case of a incurable patient), authors of some studies evaluate and elaborate theories, pros and cons, a classification of types of euthanasia (active and passive, voluntary and non-voluntary), inventories of certain cases (real case studies) in a tractate coordinated by Ronald Munson: Intervention and Reflection, Belmont, Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., 1979. Similar issues can be found in a work coordinated by David Barton: Dying and Death. A Clinical Guide for Caregivers, Baltimore, The Williams & Wilkins Company, 1977 - in addition to taking care of the patient, it deals with giving therapy the patients family. The most dramatic problem, the childs death is reviewed in this book, in Jan van Eys article, Caring for Child Who Might Die, which involves the most intense and mutual human interaction and the highest concentration of

experiencing care (p.222-236). Richard M. Gula, in What are Saying about Euthanasia, New York, Paulist Press, 1987, debate around the concept of mercy killing, id est voluntary or active euthanasia, natural death or death with dignity. The Appendix of this work is Declaration on Euthanasia. Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of 26 June 1980, where the invoked principle (as the foundation of the Roman Catholic concept) against euthanasia was the fact that only God is the master of life and life is a gift of God (p. 155); thus, the secular doctrine of the right to die is incriminated. Chapters Caring for the Dying and especially The Moral Art of Terminal Care treat the obligation to preserve life regardless of cost, but also the steps in treating terminal ill for a comfortable passing through sickness, and then in death. Monika K. Hellwig offers a kind of postmodern ars moriendi preserving an eschatological perspective a modern Catholic manual for death: What Are They Saying about Death and Christian Hope, New York - Ramesy - Toronto, Paulis Press, 1978 (see chapters: The Death of Jesus and the Resurrection, p. 41-53, Beyond the Gates of Death, p. 54-66, and Now and Later Salvation, p. 67-79). They discuss also about the ambiguity of religious imagery, that beatific vision (p. 62) disputed by many religions that try to solve the hereafters problem. The author insists that the Christian patient should focus on Christian hope (p. 6566); see also A jo hall, coordinated by Blausszer Bla, Ed. Gondolat, Budapest, 1989 and idem, Eutanazia, Ed. Medicina, Budapest, 1997. In consumer society, there are public attitudes revealing the alteration of traditional behavior towards death and corpse, and they are visible in relation to the abandonment of religious approach, and scientific progress, which fosters triumphs utopias over physical death (see the scientific imaginary of our times), urbanity and dynamics of everyday life, that require new forms of movement of funeral procession and a funeral rites reinventation, another division of labor that affects the gender (and traditions) attributions implied by the preparation of the corpse for burial or cremation, reaffirmation of a ethno-cultural and religious identity (see Richard Meyer, Ethnicity and the American Cemetery, Bowling Green, OH., Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1993). These social changes require new relationships and attitudes regarding obligations that the survivors have towards the deceased, 119

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and a new medical ethic that imply a complex relationship, also (including a social and empathetic relationship, both with the terminal patient and his family; the last one can continue even in period of mourning). On the other hand, the emergence of new incurable diseases (especially AIDS), fear of terrorist attacks as well as the viral ones affect the domestication of death, leading to the contrary, new anguish, fatalistic reflection and segregationist attitudes. After all, interest in medicalizing the discourse about death and euthanasias issues (the latter is generated by the effort that the society makes in order to preserve human dignity hardly tried by the oscillation of the terminal sick and by the old serious illness) is also a step that aims to attenuate the well known attitudes and affects (denying perspective of personal death, anguish, hope, fighting for his own life, agony) and to help taking/accepting their own end. For the second half of the twentieth century and until now, Death has become the subject of many research disciplines (sociology, anthropology, history) and a public issue, also.

REFERENCES a. Papers in periodical journeys: Rosen George Rosen, Medical Care and 1974 Social Policy in Seventeenth Century England. In: From Medical Police to Social Medicine: Essays on the History of Health Care, Science History Publications, (1974) New York, p. 159-175. b. Books: Aris, Philippe, Lhomme devant la mort (1977) Paris, Seuil. Barton, David, Dying and Death. A Clinical Guide for Caregivers, Baltimore, The Williams & Wilkins Company (1977). Bla 1997 Blausszer, Eutanazia, Ed. Medicina (1997) Budapest. Beli 1996 Beli, Vladimir, Tratat de Medicin Legal (Treaty of Forensic Medicine), Editura medical (1996) Bucureti, p. 4757. Carol Carol, Anne, Histoire de 1995 leugnisme en France, XIXeXXe sicles, ditions du Seuil (1995) Paris. Aris 1977 Barton 1977 120

Carol, Anne, Les mdecins et la mort, XIXe-XXe sicles, Paris, ditions Aubier, Collection historique (2004). Cipolla Cipolla, Carlo M., Public Health 1976 and the Medical Profession in the Renaissance, Cambridge University Press (1976) Cambridge. Douglas Douglas, C. Kimmel, Adulthood 1974 and Aging. An Interdisciplinary, Developmental View, John Wiley& Sons, Inc. (1974) New York- London Toronto, Sydney. Douglas Douglas, James Davies, Death, 1977 Ritual and Belief, Cassel (1977) London. Douglas Douglas, J. Davies, A Brief 2005 History of Death, Blackwell Publishing (2005). Eddy 1934 Eddy, Mary Baker, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, First Church of Christ, Scientist (1934) Boston. Eys et alli. Eys, van J., Chen, T., Moore, T., 1981 Cheek, W., Sexauer, C., Starling, K., Adjuvant chemotherapy for medulloblastoma and ependymoma using iv vincristine, intrathecal methotrexate, and intrathecal hydrocortisone: a Southwest Oncology Group Study. Cancer Treat Rep 1981 Jul-Aug; 65(7-8): 681-4. Focault Focault, Michel, The Birth of the 1994 Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception, Vintage Books (1994) New York. Jupp, Jupp, Peter, Gittings, Clare Gittings (coord.), Death in England: an 2000 Illustrated History, Rutgers University Press (2000) New York, London, New Jersey. Kearl Kearl, Michael C., Endings. A 1989 Sociology of Death and Dying, Oxford University Press (1989) Oxford. Keith Keith, Thomas, Religion and the 1971 Decline of Magic, Charles Scribners Sons (1971) New York. KblerKbler-Ross, Elisabeth, On Death Ross 1963 and Dying, Macmillan (1963) London. Carol 2004

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Kbler-Ross, Elisabeth, On Death and Dying. What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families, Macmillan Publishing, Co. (1969) New York. Lammers, Lammers, Stephen, Verhey, Allen Verhey (coord.), On Morale Medicine. 1998 Theological perspectives in Medical Ethics, William B. Eerdmands Publishing Company Grand Rapids (1998). Mohandas Mohandas, A., Chon, N., Journal 1971 of Neurosurgery (1971). Monika Hellwig, Monika, What are They 1978 Saying about Death and Christian Hope? Paulist Press (1978) New York. Munson Munson, Roland, Intervention 1999 and Reflection, Wadsworth Publishing Company (1999) Belmont. Richard Richard M. Gula, What are 1987 Saying about Euthanasia, Paulist Press (1987) New York. Richard Richard Meyer, Ethnicity and the 1993 American Cemetery, Bowling Green, Bowling Green State University Popular Press (1993) OH. Scripcariu, Scripcaru, George, Terbancea, Terbancea M., Patologie medico-legal 1978 [Forensic Pathology], Editura Didactic i Pedagogic (1978) Bucureti, p. 21-75. Thomas Thomas, Louis-Vincent, La mort 1988 aujourd'hui, ditions du Titre (1988) Paris. Veatch Veatch, Robert M., Case Studies 1977 in Medical Ethics, Harvard University Press (1977) Cambridge, MA. KblerRoss 1969

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B. REVIEWS, LECTURE NOTES AND SCIENTIFIC LIFE

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NEW HISTORY IN THE WEST AND IN ROMANIA. CONSIDERATION ON A VOLUME OF CULTURAL HISTORY NOUA ISTORIE N VEST I N ROMNIA. CONSIDERAII ASUPRA UNUI VOLUM DE ISTORIE CULTURAL

Professor Mihaela Grancea Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu Email: mgrancea.ro@yahoo.com

Ecaterina Lungs (Catherine Long) study, Cultural history. Origins, developments, trends (2009), deals with a new historiographical approach - cultural history - an innovative field in researching history, an evolution of the institutionalized history of collective mentalities. First, the author carried out a coherent synthesis, referring to the disciplines evolution, the historiographic revolution caused by the Annals School in the twentieth century - a phenomenon described in concordance with Peter Burkes analysis of developments in the discipline - the confirmation of the three generations belonging to this historiographic school and the fact that this history of collective mentalities and of imaginary remains the base and the source for the progress of historiography. The new history From the Chapter School from Annales and mentalities history, Ecaterina Lung opens the proper analysis of the subject. In the late 20s, in France, Strasbourg, around Marc Bloch, Lucien Febre and the journal they established Annales dhistoire conomique et sociale cultural history is born. Things that were an issue of some more ore less isolated initiatives were becoming an organized movement. For the first time since Ranke, such a movement set on (now a real school). In order to analyze this movement, Ecaterina Lung emphasizes aspects of the historical and especially cultural-scientific framework. It is shown the arena of historiographical fighting, and that of rivalry between the socio-human sciences (related disciplines); sociology, anthropology and history have given a claim to hold the status of leader among the social sciences. History, even though it gained more popularity and readers, managed to take methodologies and perspectives of other disciplines of human. While the latter have preserved their status, history has become and interdisciplinary and, from this perspective, a

pragmatic science, too (obviously, we allude to New History). This adaptation, this phenomenon of emancipation and modernization of the subject is illustrated by the author and by presenting the structure of the percentage of articles published in the School from Annales magazine; while, between 29s-45s, 58% of the studies were of economic history, 25% of social history, 10% of cultural history, and only 3% of political history, the interest for cultural issues begins to dominate in the next decades. After the Second World War, the Annales. Economies. Socits. Civilisations starts to seduce the space of historiography by addressing new interdisciplinary themes by Fernand Braudels tutelary spirit. He will lead the magazine between 1956 and 1969, and bring history unprecedented fame among French, both through his writing efforts and by those regarding visibility in the media, investments, and the creation of satellite institutes (Maison de Sciences de lHomme). Braudels message was clear, namely that history should have the dominant role in relation to other social sciences, after centuries when had an ancillary status. Due to social problems in France of 70s, the new generation of the Annales (Jacques Le Goff, E. le Roy Ladurie and Marc Ferro) will focus attention on the study of otherness, thus multiplied, again, studies of mentalities history, someway neglected in Braudel period. This generation is the first to move its view regarding the study of history (new history/ nouvelle histoire), adopting the British model (history from below) that reassumes the interest for popular culture, popular religiosity etc. Forgotten people. Everyday life They said that from these times History would remember the look of ordinary people, the anonymous in history. The image of the historians status changes also, and his role reduces to offering plausible explanations with reference to events of collective past. Ecaterina Lung concludes this chapter with the statement that, since the last two decades, historians attention turned to the twentieth century history; a proof is the fact that the magazine changed its name again, becoming Histoire, Sciences Sociales (1994) and emblematic for the aims of the fourth generation historiographical school (so, Marc Ferro studies Bolshevik Russia, First World War and feature film), emblematic for the socio-politic problems of modernity (see equivalence of Modernity: Early and Late =

New History in the West and in Romania. Consideration on a Volume of Cultural History (a Reviewing)

present). Thus, this chapter is a summary of the entire existence of the Annals historiographical school. In the following chapters (Historical anthropology/Micro-history and The history of everyday life/Neighbourhood: Cultural Studies), in order to provide a more comprehensive image of the topic, Ecaterina Lung expatiate on parallel trends having a role in the genesis and statement of cultural history, guidelines and micro-disciplines that it assimilates (e.g. historical anthropology) from the second half of the twentieth century. In chapter Neighbourhood: Cultural Studies, Ecaterina Lung mentions the main directions and themes of cultural history: a) policies of representation, cultural tours, textual analysis of literary and cultural media forms related to production, distribution and consumption; b) a qualitative ethnographic study of these forms in everyday life, an analysis of social and communication processes that they define; c) investigation of new (teaching) practices; concern for cultural texts, the experience, the relationship between text, materiality, everyday life. Based on these thematic preferences they present cultural experiences/innovations of the 60s (historical anthropology in France), from the 70s (microhistory of Italy): the rediscovery of privacy (1), analysis of individual, specific to micro-history (2), (see Carlo Ginzburgs case, famed for Il formaggio e il vermi, 1976; J. le Goff with biographies of Saint Francis of Assissi and Louis IX), a rediscovery of family, marriage, gastronomy, nutrition, clothing, language/discourse, diseases (specific topics of historical anthropology), or rather of culture, understood in its modern sense as objectionable, variable, homogenous, (sometimes) antagonist system of axiology and human practices. Another interesting aspect presented in this paper is the section dedicated to a current so-called Alltagsgeschichte, a German version of historiographical revolution. Ecaterina Lung traces the main lines of historiography current, which she interprets (as we do) as a local variant of the new history, and on the other hand as a political version of cultural history; in the 80s of the twentieth century, benefiting from the federal state, German historiography applies itself to recent history, especially through microhistory and anthropology studies (3). In our opinion, it is a way to exculpate partially from Holocaust. Thus, there are studies on the daily lives of workers, which try to convince the media that Nazi ideology was not enjoyed full, unanimous ownership. To be more convincing, 126

the historians involved in this process have used the interview, thereby contributing at the affirmation of oral history in Europe. Ecaterina Lung believes that the most interesting aspect of German historians concern is rehabilitation of some issues - in our opinion, practiced by Marxism, history of marginal and marginality - that propose the (relative) abandonment of elites history, traditional culture history, and promote some themes up to then peripheral (see worker media, the status of women in Germany between the wars). As a representative study of the historiographical movement developed by German can be presented a Christopher Brownings work, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. This study conciliated those who saw the Alltagsgeschichte method as a subtle attempt to rehabilitate the Nazi regime; according to those who distrust it, German historians would promote a kind of practice aiming the readers empathy, so that experiencing the identify with the Other - in this case, the Other is the German blinded by the rhetoric of Nazi - the reader may become more tolerant with regard to German accountability towards war and Holocaust. This small-scale study shows ordinary people (in this case, Hamburg policemen with the background of non-anti-Semitic workers) transforming into killers and their evolution as a bound result of the context. We say that, after all, Christopher Browning challenges us to reflect at the avatar of human nature. In addition, let us not forget that the author is one of the best-known American historians of the Holocaust and that he does not belong to German culture. Another approach (supposing anthropological and micro-historical analysis and elements of oral history) seems to be more representative for this lucid manner at history, its about a study that, (especially) from penal documents and oral history interviews, reconstruct the slaughter act of Hebrew community in Jedwabne by thence Polish (civil) population (Poland, July 1941, in the context of withdrawal of Soviet authorities and the establishment of the Nazi). We believe that both description (without literary fireworks), and interviews that demonstrate the refusal of taking collective crime by criminals followers say much more about human nature. Something of substance of the book, episodes of explicit and atrocious brutality evokes the atmosphere of Primo Levis writings.

Mihaela Grancea

From as truly to how it was for him, her, and them Next chapter, A new paradigm of historiography: cultural history, is divided into two subsections (1. Cultural Anglo-Saxon History, 2. New cultural French history), which analyze cultural history of Anglo-Saxon environment and the new cultural history of France. Disbelief and relativism promoted by postmodernist philosophy (in 80s) will bring a new challenge / change in Western historiography. That change will be the cultural turn. This turn is the continuation of an older (60s-70s), the linguistic turn, which focuses on language values. If up to this moment the historians fundamental question was How was it really?, new paradigmatic question focuses on how people who lived history have seen it and bear it: How was it for him, her, or them?; so, the new historiographic and cultural paradigm shines through her interpretative character and the relativization of this interpretation. Once more, they resume an issue of cultural reflection, caused by the ambiguity of history (as discipline) and irrefutable connections that it always has had with other disciplines of human. Thus, historian has no more the task/aim to reconstruct exactly the past history (because such a construction is not possible and would not have credibility), but focuses on interpreting that history, on trying to decipher the meanings that processes, phenomena and cultural objects had for people who lived them, or near which they lived. Ecaterina Lung mentions Clifford Geertz (USA) (5), Robert Darnton (see The Great Cat Massacre published in 1984), Lynn Hunt (The new cultural history), and Pierre Bourdieu as typifiers for this methodology. Current cultural history involved faster dynamic of perspectives and methodologies, even the existence of a circuit of innovation, of creative imitation and of reinvention. Thus, Ecaterina Lung captures the manner in which game is between French, British and American historiography. Among the research directions launched by the United States historiography and reinvented now it includes gender studies (which will give rise to a new historiographic narration in French culture histoire des femmes/ womens history; see Georges Duby, Michelle Perrot). In historiographic French-American networking, Roger Chartier is granted the role of a mediator by the author. This, and after him Alain Corbin, Pascal Ory, Jean Franois Sirinelli have set

priorities for cultural history, a transition from social history of the culture to a cultural history of the social. Interferences of the two historiographies was responsible for asserting new cultural French history, which will require investigation of new themes, such as cultural sensitivity, entertaining manifestation or imaginary, themes related to palpable life (nature, body, everyday things, senses and feelings, ages of life, morals, festal culture, mythological reconstruction etc.). New studies have the advantages of being more accessible than previous and that of proliferation of historiographic discourse (see Mouvement social, Clio, Revue dhistoire de XIXe sicle). Nevertheless, the most important change that new historiography brings is the fact that it deals with collective dimensions of the phenomena that were already studied, and especially it deals with their influence in social and cultural environment. In other words, just as Ecaterina Lung says, the new cultural history does not deal with the history of physics, but with the physicians history, not with the history of press, but with the journalists history. Perhaps they should have given a more comprehensive account of historiographic innovations and their limits in relation to the concerns of some microdisciplines that seduce consumers of strongly romanced historical documents (see self-history and psycho-history, that are vulgarized, unfortunately and unavoidable, by documentaries of media channels which are specialized in approaching classical history issues in a new manner - e.g. power, Egypt, Rome, Celts, masonry, religions etc.). Romanian field: obsession of coming into step/ synchronism After presenting the histroriographic phenomenon of cultural history in West, Ecaterina Lung allots a chapter (Cultural history in Romania, with to chapters: 1. History of Culture; 2. The History of Mentalities in Romania) to the impact that the Western cultural history had for the Romanian academic space. The political context of the last two centuries has influenced directly, sometimes in brutal form (see the liquidation of Gh. Brtianu in the concentration Romanian system), the evolution of writing history in the Romanian cultural space. Researcher begins her chapter with a brief history of interest in culture and cultural history for the Romanian cultural space, giving a history of this kind, since the Enlightenment (cultural current very loved by the Romanian historiography under Communism because it 127

New History in the West and in Romania. Consideration on a Volume of Cultural History (a Reviewing)

seemed, with some contributions, synchronous with that of the West). According to the analysis, in the nineteenth century, interest in culture increases, in the context of Romanian intelligentsias desire to attain to Union, its about intelligentsia that found in culture (as cultural unity of the Romanians) an argument infinitely better than politics for building a common history of all Romanians. When we speak generally about Romanian historiography and about its developments in modernity, we must note the existence of constant cultural attitudes, namely to be synchronized with the evolution of Western culture/historiography (see Titu Maiorescus, A.D. Xenopols, Ioan Bogdans, Vasile Prvans, Nicolae Iorgas, George Clinescus and especially Gheorghe Brtianus efforts, these scholars who need to overcome the gap between the Western and Eastern cultures especially the Romanian culture). Although it was dominant attention paid to elites as creators of cultural institutions and of factual and cultural history, certain interest in small people (Nicolae Iorga) and their culture (popular culture) grows up - timidly, indeed - for other manner than that which is specific to ethnology and sociology. Change of political regime after 1946, liquidation of intelligentsia with anticommunist options and imposing of materialist-dialectical interpretation of history - first in internationalistStalinist manner, and then in a Marxist and nationalist mode deeply affected historiography, that became a political annex, part of official ideology. The relative liberalization in Ceausescus regime, in the late 60s, the resumption of cultural contacts with the West have facilitated a scrappy and irresolutely penetration of the methods and issues specific to collective mentalities history (in this case, somewhat synchronized, Ecaterina Lung appreciate previous labour of Alexandru Duu, Lucian Boia, Pompiliu Teodor, Zoe Petre). Obviously, post-communist era, efforts of forenamed promoters and of young historians affirmed after 1989 (Alexandru Florin Platon, Mihaela Grancea, Toader Nicoar, Simona Nicoar, Andi Mihalache, Ovidiu Pecican etc.) will be given more space in texts economy. It seems that, due to classical decency that is specific to analyst, and due to a restrictive approach, the author pretermits relevant names and steps of philologists (see Smaranda Vultur, Dolores Toma). The author distributes certain historiographical roles consecrated in 128

collective mentalities history and comparative literature (Al. Duu, Horia Mazilu), political anthropology of antiquity (Zoe Petre), history of death, of dying and thanatoloy (Toader Nicoar, Mihaela Grancea) (6), imaginary (Lucian Boia), identity and otherness (Toader Nicoar, Sorin Mitu, Mihaela Grancea). An important tool to promote such steps was the publication Caiete de antropologie istoric (Historical anthropology books, published in Cluj, Romania), newsletters of research institutes, such as those published by the Centre for Imaginary History (Bucharest), History of Mentalities Laboratory, Centre for Anthropology and Ethnology, and others. We believe that Xenopoliana fulfilled a special role in this area, a publication that early in the first post-communist decade launched in large thematic numbers inspired by essential problems, dilemmatic paradigms, and debates of new history. Although at the beginning of the chapter the author gave the sensation that she wanted to protect the image of Romanian historiography, presenting it in a smooth manner, with constant achievements and without emphasizing a fundamental characteristic of Romanian cultures history (isolated character, within same historical work, of concerns for the history of collective mentalities, and cultural history), Ecaterina Lung ends her chapter on Romanian contributions in this domain through an optimistic and balanced note. Blue library Two case studies are attached to the study in discussion: 1. Popular culture and 2. A History of Reading. As Ecaterina Lung says, it is not easy to define the concept of popular culture. At the beginning (see 80s), Richard Hoggart (7) asserted that popular culture is a system of values (that depends on elites culture) representative of rural masses and that this is a form of resistance towards the dominant culture of the elites. Obviously, as the interest in urban history increased, sociologists and anthropologists found out that elements of popular culture entered in the cityscape, moreover, that they have interacted originally with axiology of urban areas (mainly proletarian) and generated urban popular culture (8). Having made this brief introduction to the theme, Ecaterina Lung proceeds to the next step, namely to establish the manner in which a beginner constitutes his documentary armour to study popular culture forms. In classical approaching manner, the author generalize role

Mihaela Grancea

of so-called blue libraries (see Bibliothque Bleue de Troyes) composed of cheap books, almanacs, horoscopes, chivalric novels, books purchased by the least wealthy, but also by the old middle class of cities: civil servants, merchants - a substantial, but not homogeneous audience. Even more, these books are a form of degradation/ simplification/ rehabilitation and popularization of elitist axiology. For example, the character Don Quixote is a deranged due to values of a past society, very differed from his domestic environment. Obviously, the author introduces a distinction supposed by concept of urban culture, given that, for many decades, the concept of mass culture is functional, too. In order to circumscribe each one, they assigned certain definitions: so, while popular culture is driven by traditional and indigenous values, mass culture (or should we say for the masses), a media product, is the effect of acquainting with values from foreign cultural areas, having a great social impact. In conclusion, while popular culture (be it rural or urban) has an essential role in creating an identity of community, mass culture is an acquired culture, with certain consumerist, economic and political finalities. The second case study deals with history of reading, history of books or social and cultural history of communication - as a discipline in cultural history. History of books developed at the intersection of several disciplines related to human communication process - history, sociology, literature, Bibliology and Library -, disciplines having in common the concern to understand book as a force in history, with multiple socio-cultural functions (means of transmitting ideas, amplifier of cultural, religious, social and economic changes). Ecaterina Lung ends her study with a chapter of conclusions, of which should be mentioned that the author forces the reader to realize actuality and importance of cultural awareness/cultural documents (fiction literature, iconografy, book as mean of communication, plastics etc.) in apprehending human history, the Other, and to realize that at the root of human relationships are lot of issues of cultural nature. Optimistically also, Ecaterina Lung argues that cultural history have gained more ground in Romania. We are somewhat sceptical, if we allow for the manner in which this newest kind of historical narrative is published in Romanian media. Conclusively, Ecaterina Lung offers an important study, with clear explanations and

illustrative examples for this subject, constantly aiming to achieve teaching, socio-cultural finalities, to help in understanding of connections evident between different historical phenomena (see, in this sense, continuity at cultural level realized between romantic conception of history, culture and nation - a bond that became theoretical and emotional connection in German identity project - and ultranationalist and racist Nazi ideology). Notes 1. See Le Grand d'Aussy, Histoire de la vie prive des Franais, 3 volumes, Paris, 1782; we consider that a larger employment of this text did Odile Redon, Franoise Sebban et Silvano Serventi, La gastronomie au Moyen Age - 150 recettes de France et d'Italie, Stock , 1995. 2. See the fashion brought forth especially in the Italian history writing by Carlo Ginzburg, with The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1980 (the Italian edition is not so popular) and through Das Schwert und die Glhbirne. Eine neue Lektre von Picassos Guernica, Frankfurt am Main, 1999. We deem that pioneerdom belongs to Le Le Roy Ladurie, with his Montaillou, village occitan (1975), though still there are specialists who assert that this demarche belongs only to historical anthropology. In our opinion, it is hard to accomplish the radical anatomy of an interdisciplinare study as Le Roy Laduries one. 3. The beginnings of these preoccupations could be located before this. There it is the experience of the studies of anthropology written by scientist from Gttingen (since 1970), related to proto-industrial rurality (see Barbara Dudens study). 4. According to information we own, in North America some Independence War survivors have been interviewed in the 20s years of 19th century. 5. We agree with Clifford Geertz, Thick Description: toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture, in The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays, New York, 1973, p. 330. 6. There are some quotable names of young researchers, like: Marius Rotar, Mihai Nicolae, Cristina Bogdan, and Silvia Marin. 7. However, the beginnings badge could be The Uses of Literacy: Aspects of Working Class Life, Chatto and Windus, London, 1957. 8. Ibidem, p. 191-192. From this point of view, most illustratives of Richard Hoggarts are The Uses of Literacy... and A Local Habitation, 1918-40, Chatto and Windus, London, 1988. 129

New History in the West and in Romania. Consideration on a Volume of Cultural History (a Reviewing)

SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY a. Papers in periodical journeys Geertz Clifford Geertz, Thick 1973 Description: toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture. In: The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays (1973) New York, p. 330.

b. Books Browing 1992

Ginzburg 1980

Ginzburg 1999

Goff 2003

Grand dAussy, 1782 Hoggart 1957

Browning, Christopher, Ordinary Men : Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, HarperCollins (1992) New York. Ginzburg, Carlo, The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller, Johns Hopkins University Press (1980) Baltimore. Ginzburg, Carlo, Das Schwert und die Glhbirne. Eine neue Lektre von Picassos Guernica, Suhrkamp Verlag (1999) Frankfurt am Main. Goff, Jean le, Saint Francis of Assisi, trans. Christine Rhone, Routledge (2003) London. Grand d'Aussy, Pierre JeanBaptiste le, Histoire de la vie prive des Franais, vol. 1-3 (1782) Paris. Hoggart, Richard, The Uses of Literacy: Aspects of Working-Class Life (Penguin Modern Classics), Chatto and Windus (1957) London. Hoggart, Richard, A Local Habitation, 1918-40, Chatto and Windus (1988) London. Ladurie, Le Roy, Montaillou, village occitan de 1294 1324 (1975). Redon, Odile, Sabban, Franoise, Serventi, Silvano, La gastronomie au Moyen Age - 150 recettes de France et d'Italie (1995) Stock.

Hoggart 1988 Ladurie 1975 Redon et ali 1995

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REALITY AS IMAGE OF FICTION (A reviewing) REALITATEA CA IMAGINE A FICIUNII (Recenzie)

Ph.D. Student Dragos Sdrobi Babe Bolyai University of Cluj Napoca Email: dragossdrobis@yahoo.com

We are tempted, often unconsciously, to see fiction and reality as contradictory levels of human mind, a temptation probably instilled by the force of the rationalized modernity. The interpretation key could have been wrong. Actually, if we were to summarize the past of the history, the leitmotiv was the fight against the image and its cognitive capacity that interprets and fills it with ineffable and, in the same time, recurrent meanings: imagination. The image is not anything else but the bond between fiction and reality. It is precisely this lesson that imagination ant its projection, imaginary, tried to teach us every day: dichotomy is not an adequate model to interpret life; instead the triadic approach reality-fiction-image offers suggestions and incites the human curiosity. The dichotomist thinking wants to offer sureness, the imaginary cultivates mystery. Dichotomy crushes the corolla of worlds mysteries; imaginary reveals the mystery as much as it hides it. History as an adventure of image, a history that lets itself reinterpreted, revalued but never annihilated. If art is, by excellence, the emancipation of human imagination, then a history of imaginary is nothing but a way of surprising the human being through his artifacts. Even such a perennial vision upon history is brought to forefront in the book coordinated by Andi Mihalache and Silvia Marin-Barutcieff, From fiction to real (the image, the imaginary, the imagology)53 an exciting incursion into the world of imaginary, a world where to imagine means to iterate and also to promise. We make a different approach by avoiding the contradictory relationship with the truth and emphasizing the episodes in which this one owns it54, through such a programmatic
53

formula the editors captured the philosophy of the cultural historys intercessions, reunited in this book. As a matter of fact, the researcher Andi Mihalache from Jassy is at his third attempt55, intercessions that prove that cultural history represents a generational tendency in Romanian historiography, a cultural history that proposed transferring its scientific interest from describing the social structures to analyzing the cultural practices. Memory, unjustly banished from among sources of reification of the past, is in the spotlight again, becoming a source of archiving the real through imagination. This is the real bet of cultural history: memory as pasts representation and the past as a suggestion of an imaginary that reinvents and revalues history continually. A history which is rather volatile than perceptible, that reveals its ingenuous character only to the eye that sees beyond the simple image. A history that sees the cultural artifact as the only option of finding the rules and the principles of the past societies. The historian of culture is convinced that Ideologies never address a naked subject.() Ideologies always work upon a ground: that ground is culture. To insist on this is also to insist on history56 . At first glance, the reader might seem discouraged in front of the eclecticism of such scientific intercession. It is just an appearance, because, actually, the thematic horizon is unitary, starting with theoretical elaborations and adjustments of imaginary, and then moving the attention to an objective direction of sounding the imaginary, among we mention the theme of eschatology, thanatology, of representing the woman as a cultural act, the ethnic otherness, self-representation, virtual realities. If there are still voices that deny the importance of some themes of cultural history, we must remind that cultural history as well as the anthropological discourse cancelled the differences and eliminated from their discourses concepts like high culture or mass culture. In the cultural historys studies, culture has an ambivalent meaning, reuniting ideas, attitudes, practices, institutions, as well as commercial
55

Andi Mihalache, Silvia Marin-Barutcieff (coord.), De la fictiv la real (imaginea, imaginarul, imagologia), Iai, Ed. Universitii Alexadru Ioan Cuza, 2010. 54 Ibidem, p. 12.

In media res (studii de istorie cultural), coord. Andi Mihalache and Adrian Cioflnc, Iai, Ed. Universitii Alexandru Ioan Cuza, 2007 i Romantism i modernitate (atitudini, reevaluri, polemici), coord. Andi Mihalache and Alexandru Istrate, Iai, Ed. Universitii Alexandru Ioan Cuza, 2009. 56 Geoffrey Eley, What is cultural History?, in New German Critique, 1995, no. 65, p. 23.

Reality as Image of Fiction (a Reviewing)

artefacts, texts, architecture etc. As I stated above, the cultural history annihilates the dichotomist approach, considering that through such an approach- discursively speaking- the popular or mass culture, with all deriving from it, is unjustly and aprioristically devalued in front of the culture notion so called elitist. The cultural history made no secret from its scientific claims, among which the most important are the capturing and restoration of an eras spirit, shaping the superstructure in which individuals were/are interconnected and introducing the sociological term of subculture as a form of surprising the whole social panoply; this manner of interpretation reopens the file of the relations between urban-rural environment, male-female or old-young people. 57 These claims of the cultural history are found in this volume. Only a simple overview of the volumes tables of contents makes you able to remark the plasticity of the workshops names that reunite the studies with a common theme58, which is a guarantee of the readings quality. Moreover, because we deal with an intercession that approaches the imaginary, we must positively underline the presence of the image in this volume, an image that, besides the authors interpretation, invites the reader to discover other valences of phantasm. The thematic richness fully proves the complexity and the almost infinite potential of the cultural history, which reveals itself through game, a mind game in the definition that Marsilio Ficino gives to this term in his famous expression Jocari serio et studiosissime ludere. The world as an image, imagination and imaginary game as well. Not incidentally I mentioned the name of Ficino, a prominent figure of Renaissance, a period when imaginary resumes its central place in culture, cultural current that raised the scientific interest of Ioan Petru-Culianu, his book being probably among the first intercessions of cultural history of an Romanian researcher. 59
57

Peter Burke, What is cultural history?, Cambridge UK, Ed. Polity, second edition, 2008, p. 20-30. 58 The sky on earth (Cerul pe pmnt), The fear and its friends (Frica i prietenii si), She (Ea), Enemy, stranger, different (Duman, strin, diferit), Imaginary bodies (Corpuri imaginare), Altdat, altundeva, Via Funeraria, The sound, the colour, the game (Sunetul, culoarea, jocul), Self Image (Imaginea de sine), Spare worlds (Lumi de rezerv), Paper museums (Muzee de hrtie), Imagination, a victim? (Imaginaia, o victim?). 59 see Ioan Petru Culianu, Eros i magie n Renatere 1484, Iai, Ed. Polirom, 2003.

The synthesizing attempt of the studies reunited into this volume seems almost impossible. The multitude and consistency of the chosen thematic reminds the competent public about the famous intercessions of the French Historiography School, among we mention those coordinated by Jacques le Goff60 or Pierre Nora61. Sprung from legitimate interrogations in a Romanian field of historiography too stiff with certainties, the studies reunited here can be- each of them- directive lines of research that would involve a concerted and assiduous teamwork. But, as knowledge means, first of all, formulating the interrogations, the volume undoubtedly represents an inexhaustible source of speculation, innovation and rebuilding a past that becomes a foreign country to the contemporary. Here we find the purpose of cultural history: not updating the image, but entering the backstage, loosening the fabric to detect the intimate resorts of a world that can be revived or who knows? - that never left us. Which would be the destiny of the image in the contemporary world? Unlike Gilbert Durand who anticipated the suffocation of imagination in front of the image prefabricated by the media society, the contributors to this volume share the detachment from the pessimistic perception of the French researcher, considering that mundus imaginalis does not mean the end on imaginary, but it becomes a source of perpetuate recreation of the imaginary. For a clarification of the concepts the authors use, we have to remark the biography that Corin Braga realizes for the notions imagination, imaginary and imaginal. Following a chronological line, the author discovers that for Greeks imagination was seen as a second grade psychological function, situated between senses and reason, the latter Aristotel seems convinced- having the obligation to evaluate and correct the imaginations errors62. The Jewish Christian tradition subscribes to the same interpretation womb, intensifying the negative role, source of the original sin of imagination. In the Middle Age, the philosophy and religion align against phantasm, reaching the great imaginary censorship63 in the 16th century. The rationalist current permanently banishes imagination from
60

Jacques le Goff, Faire lhistoire, Paris, Gallimard, 3 vol., 1974. 61 Pierre Nora (coord.), Les lieux de mmoire, Paris, Ed. Gallimard, 3 vol., 1984-1992. 62 Corin Braga, Trei termeni pentru a defini fantezia creatoare: imaginaie, imaginar, imaginal, p. 16. 63 Ibidem, p. 17.

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the human beings mechanisms of finding the truth, attitude that lasts till our days. It is in this bleak landscape, in which imagination was discharged from human faculties, the French school of historiography reinvents polemics, introducing two new concepts: imaginary( which refers both to the products of imagination and the dynamic faculty that creates them) and imaginal that offers a material form and a real presence to intangible ideas and essences64. That is why it becomes even more interesting the revaluation of the initiative of introducing the monotheism in the Ancient Egypt by Amenhotep IV or the cult of ancestors in Ireland, where the Christian religious imaginary recovers elements of the druidic paganism. The history of colour - which reminds us of the Michel Pastoureaus65 well-known study - reveals the social force that the chromatic spectrum had upon individuals and that evolved, completed the human experience from Antiquity until present day and filled the imaginary with new clichs, including that of the Red Man. Silvia Marin-Barutcieffs study presents the iconographic evolution of the Saint Hristofor, the saint who gained his visibility, wishing to be less visible66. Pursuing the achievement of a typology of iconographic representations in the Romanian space, the result of a decennial research where the used imagistic baggage reached 135 representations, the author catches Saint Hristofors evolution from the martyr with zoomorphic face carried in a vessel to the stage of the divine Christ-the childs wearer and reaching the foundation of the chinocefal tradition at the beginning of 18th century- through the Greek branch. The 19th century brings a new metamorphosis of the saints representation, this time the zoomorphic model being an animal with a powerful symbolic function in the Christian imaginary: the lamb. The pluralism and polysemy of Hristofors representationsSilvia Marin-Barutcieff concludes- would have a common denominator in the holiness purpose: the final escape from sin, the imagistic proteanism having as a correspondent the closeness to God that appears when concealing the humans real face

and revealing it only before the Heavenly Throne.67 We are impressed by the Judgment Day scene on the western wall of Vorone monastery, but we discover that Sucevia offers a remarkable eschatological iconography68, too, which confirms the images postulate as a religious and even political form of communication in the Romanian medieval society (let us mention that those doomed to hell are constantly represented as Muslims wearing turbans?). The incursion into the Romanian medieval mentality is completed also by the sounding of the deaths imaginary, closely related to the feeling of fear that this experience gives birth to. Disease as anticipation of death, occupies a special place among the phobias of the medieval man69 who resorts to any means to avoid the end. Among these ways, in the Romanian space, we find the escape from death by fire purification, a practice toponymically established by the existence of some towns, especially around Bucharest, called Afumai. The representation of sexual otherness brings into attention the myth of Amazon. Amazonland - the anywhere country, the land of nowhere - would not have been anything else but the otherness of the Roman-Greek and later Christian society, an imaginary that places this territory in an exotic and as far away geography. The impossibility to locate the land of the women warriors shows the global character of this feminine imaginary, which would have a central function in a male society. The farness, primitiveness and desert of this land of Amazon reveals, through the very force of these adjectives, the unsounded character and undesirable to be sounded by a civilized, patriarchal and normally ranked. The embodiment of absolute otherness, the Amazons remains a source of curiosity. Adriana Babeti transforms writing into a personal war (Thinking I was in the library like in an outpost, I tried to arrange the troupes in order following them on the map, with the whole operating theatre under my eyes70). Here is how this scientific offensive that starts in Libya leads us to Leucosiria (an old name of a small part of
67 68

64 65

Ibidem, p. 21. Michel Pastoureau, Albastrul. Istoria unei culori, Chiinu, Ed. Cartier, 2006. 66 Silvia Marin Barutcieff, Chipurile unui sfnt fr chip. Noi consideraii privind morfologia facial a Sfntului Hristofor, p. 119.

Ibidem, p. 134. Arcadie Bodale, i viitorul are un sfrit. Imaginea Apocalipsei n pictura mural de la mnstirea Sucevia, p. 153-180. 69 Critina Bogdan, A peste, fame et bello, libera nos, Domine ! Lumea romneasc premodern sub lupa calamitilor, p. 181-198. 70 A. Babeti, Amazonlandia ara de oriunde, trmul de nicieri, p. 201.

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Little Asia), we travel a little bit to north-east to stop in Caucasus, then we go down to the Ukrainian steppe where on the restless Don we find the Sauromates. Information takes us all away, in Thrace, Bohemia, in the Scandinavian mythological world to meet Valkyrie and Varna, a kind of Parce of the North. The spirit of adventure kept alive by knowledge leads us over seas and countries in the two Indies, even in Africa. And here I am at the end of this journey to Amazon land that did not cover all the cartographic lands mentioned by mythologers, historians, travelers, missionaries71. The conclusion of this imaginary itinerary is definite: where the Law of the Father rules indivertibly () the tribes, kingdoms or empires of the Amazons are projected far away towards the barbaric peripheries, where all the strange things are found, monstrous or not, all the deviations from known and accepted rules72. Cultivated as an image of rollover normality, Amazon land would be- unlike Platos Atlantis- a dystopia and implicitly a discursive support for the patriarchal society. A form of exclusion of women by force of imagination is also Lilith73, element of Jewish cabalistic tradition. Unlike Eve who embodied the lack of will, Lilith is incarnate will who, metamorphosed in snake, finally seduces tempted Eve. Just like Andrei Oisteanus study about the legend of Saint Gheorghe catches the magical qualities of women, proving the complementariness of the two sexes, Lilith, a revalued cabalistic symbol, became the symbol of the feminist movement today, fully proving the recovering and upgrading of the imaginary by contemporary. The image of the woman in the Romanian environment is also interesting, the great absences of Romanians history (Nicolae Iorga), where, until the beginning of the 20th century, she was perceived and could socially manifest herself only as a philanthropist, a sensitive emphatic human being, an attitude that blocks her ascent into the mens world. Ecaterina Lung completes painting of the womens representations, bringing forward her status in the Byzantine world of the 6th-9th centuries, described in iconographic works. I have treated the authors of historical works not as some objective witnesses of some real events, but as spokesmen of their society, the author
71

defines the Identity-Otherness dialectic, where the representation of the Other says more about the Creator of the representation than about the represented Object. The clichs that describe woman must express her inferiority. For example, the manifestation of pain is a proof of irrational, of her incapacity to subordinate emotion to reason. From this incapacity, it derives the interdiction of the logos, the right to speak in the presence of men, the husband remaining the only option for a dialogue. To underline such a misogynist attitude, the discourse of Empress Theodora, wife of Emperor Justinian, is updated, a discourse written by Procopius from Caesarea following certain canons: the empress apologizes for her courage to speak in front of the men; moreover, she proves determination by assuming a masculine role. The moment, a sententious one, represents a critic to the emperor who is not capable to impose the norms of woman identity on his wife. Woman must obey her husband in the Byzantine world- this is a reality that emerges from the analysis of marriage practices: to consolidate a political alliance, fathers would offer their daughters, brothers-sisters74. What comes from these frescos is the theory of reflexwoman of the man, the only feminine representations which Byzantine historiography keeps, being those that escape the norms: Empress Theodora, a negative example of feminism, and the opposite Pulcheria who became a model of piety and a strong defender of the idea of virginity75. Fear of strangers was a constant of human living. Modernity, through the cult of traveling, is the one that revalues the image of the stranger, cultivating the cosmopolitan spirit in an area filled with the atavistic fear of Otherness. The Enlightenment imaginary contributes to the liberation of strangers figure of via negativa, utilizing it ideologically. Introduced in the European symbolic geography, but with the purpose of setting the centre and the peripheries attached to it, a process met at the collective mind level, we observe that the interest for strangers does not reveal the stranger, but the one whos looking for him76. The modernity theme is accompanied by the revolution motif, with the whole human typology that emerges from this phenomenon.
74

Ibidem, p. 221. 72 Ibidem. 73 Felicia Waldman, Un model al imaginarului evreiesc: Lilith, p. 223-232.

Ecaterina Lung, Reprezentri ale femeilor n istoriografia bizantin, secolele VI-IX, p. 236. 75 Ibidem, p. 242. 76 Ruxandra Iordache, Uzajele alteritii. Strinul fictiv n romanul francez din secolul XVIII, p. 258.

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Positively valued in the historiographic discourse- even if we are conscious that revolution only introduces the idea of fast change and it also means crime77- the logic of revolution also implies the mechanism of creating (or inventing) the enemy, the myth of counter-revolutionary78 man being used by the Romanian 1848s generation as a form of stimulating the local patriotism. A posteriori, the attitude of the counter-revolutionary man shows cynicism and selfishness when, in fact, the counter-revolutionary mans impulse is fortified by the consciousness of the new illegitimate revolutionary power. Once again, the force of the clich demolishes the realities requests: the counter-revolutionary man remains the figure of social injustice, unlike the revolutionary man (or in the case of a rural society, the outlaw) who becomes the architect of a new equitable social order. Alexandru Florin Platon analyzes the mystic metaphor of the sovereigns corpora: a biological one, subject to the laws of nature and the other a political one, symbol of immortal power, an attempt to amend the theory of the two corpora of the medieval sovereign, stated by the German historian Ernst Kantorowicz half a century ago. The historians thesis resumes the analogy The King as Imago Dei, whose authority legitimates by the symbolic parallel God- Lord of the world, the King - lord of the state. Thus, the royal authority demanded total obedience, including from the clergy, apparently being a form of limitation of the extra-territory principle, a principle that was the basis of the medieval Occidents reorganization when the Church became the supreme authority. By political corpus metaphor, the king imposes this demand to the clergy, firstly due to the unavoidable necessity to conserve the unity of the corpus-state, which begins with the absolute respect that had to be shown to the head sovereign. A logic like this describes the two principles- that of extra-territory and of the sovereigns double corpusas being complementary, Hugues de Fleury being convinced that, by such a behavior, the clergy did not show its inferiority to the political power, did not betray its mission, because the hierarchical organization of the terrestrial world and the harmony between its elements generally
77

reflected the similar properties of the Universe, therefore evoking its unity79. The political corpus certifies the transformation of the royal authority from a moral principle into a legal administrative entity, assumption that builds the political modern thinking, while the doublecorpus has as its essential feature the perpetuation of the king over the biological destiny. The political corpus and the double corpus are essentially the source of the legitimate power transfer, eliminating the risk of political void, visible in the formula: Le roi est mort! Vive le Roi! Ultimately, it underlines the symbolical value of the corpus in the political medieval imaginary, related to its most important aspects: authority and power80. A special and sort of new place for historiography is the discourse about death, Mihaela Grancea being a daring initiator of Thanatology in the Romanian historiography. Preoccupied by the analysis of cemeteries, as an interface of life and death and as place of destroying the memory, the author catches the mental resorts, the psychological and architectural ones that radically changed/ changes the aspect of this space from postmodern world. If ,initially, the cemetery represented the separation of the two worlds, the dead and the living, the sumptuousness of the funeral monument (the author relates to tomb fashion in this case) makes the process of the deceaseds social segregation more and more visible, the inequality being present in front of death. The researcher from Sibiu brings into discussion the therapeutic function of the cemetery, which favours the serene acceptance of the necessity to renew ourselves, in the same time, expressing her scepticism regarding the longevity of this space-place of memory (remembrance), often competed by the incineration practice. A possible extinction of the cemetery may irremediably affect both the traditional cult of the dead and the domestic existence of those who survive them81. A new element is Mihai Chipers82 study that approaches an under-postulated theme and tangentially approached in the Romanian historiography. The cult of honour, proof of
79

I should remind the very charge of Renault Escande, Cartea neagr a revoluiei franceze, Cluj Napoca, Ed. Grinta, 2010. 78 Nicolae Mihai, Fiu rtcitor sau trdtor incurabil? Figura contrarevoluionarului n imaginarul politic romnesc de la 1848, p. 303-318.

Alexandru Florin Platon, Metafora corpului politic i dublul corp al regelui: o ipotez pe marginea a dou expresii ale imaginarului medieval al corpului, p. 374. 80 Ibidem, p. 379. 81 Mihaela Grancea, Ce ne-a mai rmas. Repere din imagistica cimitirului modern, p. 501. 82 Mihai Chiper, A fi ofier. Onoare i imagine de sine n Romnia modern (1859-1918), p. 649-682.

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Romanian societys synchronization with the European trend in the second half of the 19th century, forms a symmetry with the duel tradition (meaning violence) that defined the masculine culture: In the societies with pronounced notions of honor and shame, the reputation of a person depended on physical bravery and on the force of the response to an insult. This subject, by the fact that approaches notions that are configured on genres (shame, honor), inevitably leads to the interaction of three terms: the intangibility of the corpus, honor and genre. It is almost inherent that these aspects could not be better shown than by analyzing the role of the army as a standard of the new masculinity in the dissemination of the behaviors circumscribed to the Western honor83. For the European society of the 19th century, the officer represents an identity that all youngsters aspire for, in the context in whichbeing a career open to everyone it became a channel for social promotion. The essential level of the officers identity could only be honor and if honor was lost, the identity would be annihilated84, the author is analyzing the multitude of behavior catechism of the officer that prescribed strict norms for different aspects of acting in society. The injured honor could have been regained only by duel, by assuming the ultimate risk: losing life. The duel, even though it was banned, represented an often-met practice, representing an agile way of holding back the generalization of the pacifist behavior, being able to lead to the loss armies combative spirit.85 The photograph. Meeting with the past. Such an imaginary incursion suggests us Andi Mihalaches86 study. Performing photography is between art- due to its initial empiric character- and science- being a mechanical reproduction of reality. The photograph becomes the source of human experience in the 20th century, if we think not only of the way we relate to these artifacts, but also to the manner the photographed ones presents themselves. The text, an exchange of lines between memory and image, enchants us by lyricism that makes you a prisoner of nostalgia, curiosity, optimism and scepticism all in the same way. The photo, a presence of the lost world, an occasion to recall
83 84

and to confess, is no matter its aspect- is a mark of own identity. The phenomenon surprised by the author is the photograph as a bauble, for the simple fact that photograph represents images participation to an identity scenario that everyone affords at home.87 The photograph feeds the illusion that we can recover history and that time can also be immortalized. But the immortalization of time gives birth to nostalgias vigour. These would be only a few arguments that make this study worth study. Without being sententious, we may say that we find ourselves in front of an intercession that re-interrogates the relation between history and memory, an equation that needs permanent revision, because only eliminating the inherited certainties we can have access to the privileged reformation of historiography. SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY Burke 2008 Peter Burke, What is Cultural History? Polity, (2008) Cambridge UK. Culianu, Ioan Petru, Eros i magie n Renatere 1484 [Eros and Magic in Renascence 1484], Polirom (2003) Iai. Geoffrey Eley, What is Cultural History? In: New German Critique, 1995, no. 65, p. 23. Escande, Renault, Cartea neagr a revoluiei franceze [The Black Book of French Revolution], Editura Grinta (2010) Cluj Napoca. Goff, Jacques le, Faire lhistoire, vol. 1-3, Gallimard (1974) Cluj Napoca. Grancea, Mihaela, Ce ne-a mai rmas. Repere din imagistica cimitirului modern [What Remained for Us. Guide marks from the Modern Cemeterys Imaginary]. In: De la fictiv la real. Imaginea, imagologie, imaginarul [From Fictive to Real. Image, Imagology, Imaginary], Editura Univeristatea "Al.Ioan Cuza",

Culianu 2003

Eley 1995

Escande 2010

Goff 1974

Grancea 2010

Ibidem, p. 651. Ibidem, p. 663. 85 Ibidem, p. 679. 86 Andi Mihalache, Textul din imagine. Narativizarea fotografiei n literatura autobiografic din Romnia, secolele XX-XXI.

87

Ibidem, p. 800.

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(2010) Iai. Lung 2010 Lung, Ecaterina, Reprezentri ale femeilor n istoriografia bizantin, secolele VI-IX, Editura Universitii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (2010) Iai. Mihalache, Andi, Cioflnc, Adrian (coord.), In media res (studii de istorie cultural), Editura Universitii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (2007) Iai. Mihalache, Andi, Istrate, Alexandru (coord.), Romantism i modernitate (atitudini, reevaluri, polemici) [Romanticism and Modernity (attitudes, revaluations, polemics], Editura Universitii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (2009) Iai. Mihalache, Andi, MarinBarutcieff, Silvia (coord.), De la fictiv la real (imaginea, imaginarul, imagologia) [From Fictive to Real. Image, Imagology, Imaginary], Editura Universitii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (2010) Iai. Nora, Pierre (coord.), Les lieux de mmoire, vol. 1-3, Gallimard (1984-1992) Paris. Pastoreau, Michel, Albastrul. Istoria unei culori, Cartier (2006) Chiinu. Platon, ALexandru-Florin, Metafora corpului politic i dublul corp al regelui: o ipotez pe marginea a dou expresii ale imaginarului medieval al corpului. Comunicare inut n 11-112010 la Universitatea Al. Ioan Cuza din Iai. Waldman, Felicia, Un model al imaginarului evreiesc : Lilith, Editura Universitii Alexandru Ioan Cuza (2010) Iai.

Mihalache, Cioflnc 2007

Mihalache, Istrate

Mihalache, MarinBarutcieff 2010

Nora 19841992 Pastoureau 2006 Platon 2010

Waldman 2010

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HISTORY, MEMORY, MYTH: REPRESENTING THE PAST, INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR CULTURAL HISTORY ANNUAL CONFERENCE, OSLO, AUGUST, 3RD TO 6TH, 2011

Professor Ecaterina Lung Faculty of History, University of Bucharest Email: ecaterina_lung@yahoo.com

The fourth annual ISCH conference was held in 2011 at the University of Oslo. International Society for Cultural History was founded in 2007 at Aberdeen, UK, in order to better define the field of cultural history in relation with other academic disciplines within and outside the humanities. The need for such a society became evident, as the study of culture has been central to the humanities for two or even three decades now. In august 2011 at Oslo, despite the tragedy that has happened in Norway some weeks before the beginning of the Conference (the brutal murder of dozens of young people, most of them students of the University of Oslo, at 22th of July 2011, by the psychopath Breivik), the discussions were full of signification. The central theme of the conference History, Memory, Myth: Re-presenting the past was able to federate more than hundred and fifty scholars from different parts of the world. Romania was represented there by the papers written by Ecaterina Lung, University of Bucharest (Neglecting Barbarian Identity in Barbarian Kingdoms in the Writings of the VIthVIIIth Century Historians) and Mihaela Grancea, University of Sibiu (The artistic film and the remythologization of the outlaw). It is worthy to note that the geography of representation at different regions of the world shows that the cultural history, as any contemporary historiographical trend, is a phenomenon of the Western, especially Anglo-Saxon speaking academic world. Also, the cultural history is well represented in northern European countries, where it has developed upon an ancient ethnographical tradition. So, the contributors from Norway, Finland (the country that organised the ISCH conference in 2010), Sweden and Denmark were quite a majority this year at Oslo. Then came, in order of their number, the scholars from UK, Germany, Australia, USA, Spain, Italy, Greece and other European and non-European countries. French

scholars formed a quite coherent group, interested in cultural history of music, lead by Didier Francfort, from the University of Nancy. More than the geographic provenance of contributors, the topics debated at the Oslo conference were interesting and shown the growing importance of the cultural history today. The methodological debates from past decades leaved a maybe not so well defined concept (cultural history label continues to be seen as a slippery one) but a consensus about the leading significance of culture in our society. The lectures presented at Oslo debated Collective Memory and National Building, Bodies and Museums, Popular Musical Styles, Nostalgia, History and Conflict, Nature, Epistemology and Historiography, Mass Media, Popular Culture, Political Uses of the Past, and so on. The methodologies used by the contributors were various, inspired by history, literary criticism, cultural studies, cultural criticism, cultural analysis or cultural anthropology. The study of cultural artefacts and practices was another direction illustrated by some lectures. In conclusion, one can say the label of cultural history continues to be a sort of umbrella-term, comprising many different directions of research. There are some national forms of cultural history, but the current tendency seems to be towards a greater unification. The inter- and multidisciplinary nature of cultural history is another specificity of this field, whose significance is growing. A final word must be said about the organisers, leaded by Anne Eriksen, who managed, in a so difficult period, to assure, fist, that the Conference is held (it was a horrific moment, after the attacks, when everything was about to be cancelled), and then that debates take place in the best conditions possible.