Throughout history, the people inhabiting what is now
Romania have always had their own cohesive identity. Ethnic Romanians,
whether called "Dacian" "Vlachs", or "Moldovans", have
maintained important Latin cultural and linguistic roots.
For
a country with a population less than California, Romania has done well
to produce a panoply of gifted and famous leading lights in the arts,
from
Constantin Brâncuşi,
Nichita Stanescu, to
I.L. Caragiale.
The Culture of Romania is rich and varied -- even more than America!
Like Romanians themselves, the culture of Romania is fundamentally defined as the meeting
point of three regions—Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the
Balkanms—but cannot be fully included in any of them.
Whilst in North America, significant Spanish and French influences
brought about today's mix of American culture, Romanian culture has much
older roots and even more influences.
During late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the major influences came
from the Slavic peoples who migrated and settled in nearby Bulgaria,
Serbia, Ukraine and eventually Poland and Russia; from medieval Greeks
and the Byzantine Empire; from a long domination by the Ottoman Empire;
from the Hungarians; and from the Germans living in Transylvania. Modern
Romanian culture emerged and developed over roughly the last 250 years
under a strong influence from Western culture, particularly French and
German culture. See The
Origins of Romanians for more information.
Whilst in academic circles, the
origin of Romanians as a cohesive culture is rather disputed (since
few written records from the Dark Ages shed any light on the subject),
two main facts are certain:
The Romanian language is a Romance language. Moreover, some degree
of cultural descent from Ancient Rome is clear from the customs and
affinities with the other Romance nations.
The Romanian (Vlach) people that appears on records from the 10th
century on is already Christian, and Christianity seems to have been
adopted here early on, under Latin influence. However, medieval
Romanians will gradually adopt Eastern Orthodoxy, under the influence
of Constantinople (but through Slavic influence).
Roman Provinces, c. 130AD
The Romans may have provided the Lingua
Franca (Romana) for the region
Neacşu's Letter, 1521
The oldest surviving
document written in Romanian
A Rough Translation from the combined Slavic and Romanian text:
To the most wise and honoured and by God gifted master Hans
Benkner of Braşov, lots of health from Neacşu of Câmpulung.
And so I let you know of the deeds of the Turks, as I have heard
that the emperor has left Sofia, and that must be true, and went up
the Danube.
And so You should know that a man from Nicopolis came to me and
told me they saw with their own eyes that those ships which You know
about have sailed up the Danube.
And so you should know that they are taking 50 men from each
town to help on the ships.
And so you should know that some experts from Constantinople (Tsarigrad)
realized how to make the ships to past that narrow place which You
know too.
And so I tell You about the deed of Mohammed beg, as I heard
from neighbouring boyars and from my son-in-law Negre, that the
emperor gave Mohammed beg freedom to pass through Wallachia wherever
he pleases.
And so You should know that our Basarab too is fearful of that
thief Mohammed begs, even more so than You.
And so I'm telling You as my superior about what I have found
out. I am telling You, and You are wise and You should keep these
words for yourself, so that not many people know, and You should
take proper guard.
And may God bring you happiness. Amen
Dimitrie
Cantemir
Painted in the Ottoman dress of his
school days in Ottoman Istanbul. Slated to take over for his father
as prince, Cantemir was slighted for the Moldovan throne, but went
on to write some significant works including his most famous, his
History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire,
printed in 1734
Some customs, names and a substratum of words in the Romanian
language are considered Dacian influence, although some are also
disputed, as is the theory of Daco-Romanian continuity which plays a
significant role in Romanian national identity.
Between the 11th century and the 14th century the medieval
principalities of Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldova arose in the area
around the Carpathian Mountains. Most of Romanian culture unfolded in
these areas, which correspond roughly to the modern nation state of
Romania.
Transilvania, the Hungarian Principality
Transylvania came under Hungarian influence towards the end of the
11th century and the evolution of the Romanian culture there was
therefore somewhat different than in Wallachia and Moldova.
Hungarians brought Roman Catholicism as a religion, as well as
foreigners to colonise Transylvania: Saxons in the South, and Szeklers
in the west. One of the most important personalities to have been born
there is Nicolaus Olahus (Oláh în Hungarian comes from Vlach, an older
word for Romanian), historian, politician and bishop in the Kingdom of
Hungary and one of the top representatives of humanism in Europe. An
important document originating from 1521 is a letter from Neacşu of
Câmpulung to the mayor of Braşov about an imminent attack of the Turks
written using the Cyrillic alphabet, like most early Romanian writings.
Wallachia and Moldova
Wallachia and Moldova were both situated on important commercial
routes often crossed by Polish, Saxon, Greek, Armenian, Genovese and
Venetian merchants, connecting them well to the evolving culture of
medieval Europe. Grigore Ureche's chronicle Letopiseţul Ţărîi Moldovei
(The Chronicles of the land of Moldova), covering the period from 1359
to 1594, is a very important source of information about life, events
and personalities in Moldova. It is among the first non-religious
Romanian literary texts; due to its size and the information that it
contains it is, probably, the most important Romanian document from the
17th century.
At the end of the 17th and the beginning of 18th century, European
humanism influenced the works of Miron Costin and Ion Neculce, the
chroniclers who continued Ureche's work. Constantin Brâncoveanu, prince
of Wallachia, was a great patron of the arts and was a local Renaissance
figure. During Şerban Cantacuzino's reign the monks at the monastery of
Snagov, near Bucharest published in 1688 the first translated and
printed Romanian Bible (Biblia de la Bucureşti - The Bucharest Bible).
The first successful attempts at written Romanian-language poetry were
made in 1673 when Dosoftei, a Moldovan metropolitan, published a
Romanian metrical psalter.
Dimitrie
Cantemir, a Moldovan prince, was undoubtedly the greatest
personality of the medieval period in Moldova. He was a prolific man of
letters with interests in philosophy, history, music, linguistics,
ethnography and geography. The most important works containing
information about the Romanian regions were "Descriptio Moldovae"
published in 1769 and "Hronicul vechimii a romano-moldo-valahilor"
(roughly, Chronicle of the durability of Romans-Moldovans-Wallachians),
the first critical history of Romania.
Cantemir also wrote the first Romanian language novel, the cryptic
Historia Hieroglyphica (1705), to which he furnished a key, and in which
the principal persons are represented by mythological beasts; it is the
history of the two Wallachian ruling houses of Brâncoveanu and
Cantacuzino.
Folk Blouses and Skirts
Some great outfits at the little museum at the People's Palace
Photo: Rest Romania
The Tolerated Transilvanians
In Transylvania, although they formed a majority of the population,
Romanians were merely seen as a "tolerated nation" by the Austrian
leadership of the province, and were not proportionally represented in
political life and the Transylvanian Diet. At the end of the 18th
century an emancipation movement known as the Transylvanian School (Şcoala
Ardeleană) formed, which emphasized the ancient Roman origins of the
Romanian people and created the modern Latin-based Romanian alphabet
(which eventually supplanted an earlier Cyrillic script). It also
accepted the leadership of the pope over the Romanian church of
Transylvania, thus forming the Romanian Greek-Catholic Uniate Church.
In
1791 they issued a petition to Emperor Leopold II of Austria, named Supplex Libellus Valachorum based on the French Declaration of the
Rights of Man and of the Citizen, demanding equal political rights with
the other ethnicities for the Romanians in Transylvania and thus
starting the movement of national awakening.
The end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century
was marked in Wallachia and Moldavia by the reigns of Phanariote
Princes; thus the two principalities were heavily influenced by the
Greek world. Greek schools appeared in the principalities and in 1818
the first Romanian School was founded in Bucharest by Gheorghe Lazăr and
Ion Heliade Rădulescu. Anton Pann was a successful novelist, Ienăchiţă
Văcărescu wrote the first Romanian grammar and his nephew Iancu
Văcărescu is considered to be the first important Romanian poet.
The revolutionary year 1848 had its echoes in the Romanian
principalities and in Transylvania, and a new elite from the middle of
the 19th century emerged from the revolutions: Mihail Kogălniceanu
(writer, politician and the first prime minister of Romania), Vasile
Alecsandri (politician, playwright and poet), Andrei Mureşanu (publicist
and the writer of the current Romanian National Anthem) and Nicolae
Bălcescu (historian, writer and revolutionary).
Mihai Eminescu
The union between Wallachia and Moldavia in 1859 brought a
growing consolidation of Romanian life and culture. Universities were
opened in Iaşi and in Bucharest and the number of new cultural
establishments grew significantly. The new prince from 1866 and then
King of Romania Carol I was a devoted king, and he and his wife
Elisabeth were among the main patrons of arts. Of great impact in
Romanian literature was the literary circle Junimea, founded by a group
of people around the literary critic Titu Maiorescu in 1863. It
published its cultural journal Convorbiri Literare where, among others,
Mihai Eminescu, Romania's greatest poet, Ion Creangă, a storyteller of
genius, and Ion Luca Caragiale, novelist and the Romania's greatest
playwright published most of their works. During the same period Nicolae
Grigorescu and Ştefan Luchian founded modern Romanian painting; composer
Ciprian Porumbescu was also from this time.
In Transylvania, the emancipation movement became better organised
and in 1861 an important cultural organisation ASTRA (The Transylvanian
Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian
People) was founded in Sibiu under the close supervision of the Romanian
Orthodox Metropolitan Andrei Şaguna. It helped publish a great number of
Romanian language books and newspapers, and between 1898 and 1904 it
published a Romanian Encyclopaedia. Among the greatest personalities from
this period are: the novelist and publicist Ioan Slavici, the poet and
publicist George Coşbuc, the poet Ştefan Octavian Iosif, the historian
and founder of Romanian press in Transylvania George Bariţiu and Badea
Gheorghe Cârţan, a simple peasant shepherd from Southern Transylvania
who, through his actions became a symbol of the emancipation movement.
The first half of the 20th century is regarded by
many as the golden age of Romanian culture and it is the period when it
reached its main level of international affirmation and a strong
connection to the European cultural trends. The most important artist
who had a great influence on the world culture was the sculptor
Constantin Brâncuşi, a central figure of the modern movement and a
pioneer of abstraction.
The relationship between traditional and Western European trends was
a subject of heated polemics and outstanding personalities sustained the
debates. The playwright, expressionist poet and philosopher Lucian Blaga
can be cited as a member of the traditionalist group and the literary
critic founder of the literary circle and cultural journal Sburătorul,
Eugen Lovinescu, represents the so-called Westernizing group, which
sought to bring Romanian culture closer to Western European culture.
Also, George Călinescu was a more complex writer who, among different
literary creations, produced the monumental "History of the Romanian
literature, from its origins till present day".
The beginning of the 20th century was also a prolific period for
Romanian prose, with personalities such as the novelist Liviu Rebreanu,
who described the struggles in the traditional society and the horrors
of war, Mihail Sadoveanu, a writer of novels of epic proportions with
inspiration in the medieval history of Moldavia, and Camil Petrescu was
a more modern writer distinguishing himself through the analytical prose
writing. In dramaturgy, Mihail Sebastian was an influential writer and
as the number of theatres grew also did the number of actors, Lucia
Sturdza Bulandra being an actress representative of this period.
Alongside Lucian Blaga, a poet of an equal importance was Tudor
Arghezi who was the first to revolutionize the poetry in the last 50
years. One should not neglect the poems of George Bacovia a symbolist
poet of neurosis and despair and those of Ion Barbu a brilliant
mathematician who wrote a series of very successful cryptic poems.
Tristan Tzara and Marcel Janco, founders of the Dadaist movement, were
also of Romanian origin.
The period was dominated by the overwhelming personality of the
historian and politician Nicolae Iorga who, during his lifetime
published over 1,250 books and wrote more than 25,000 articles. In
music, the composer George Enescu and pianist Dinu Lipatti became world
famous. The number of important Romanian painters also grew, and the
most significant ones were: Nicolae Tonitza, Camil Ressu, Lucian
Grigorescu and Theodor Pallady. In medicine a great contribution to
human society was the discovery of insulin by the Romanian scientist
Nicolae Paulescu. Also Gheorghe Marinescu was an important neurologist
and Victor Babeş was one of the earliest bacteriologists. In mathematics
Gheorghe Ţiţeica was one of Romania's greatest mathematicians, and also
an important personality was the mathematician/poet Dan Barbilian.
After World War II, due to the occupation by the Red Army and the
establishment of a communist regime in Romania, a great number of
Romanian cultural personalities left the country, some of them managing
to make a mark on the international cultural scene. Three individuals
emerged as the most important Romanians abroad: playwright Eugen Ionescu
(who became known in France as Eugčne Ionesco), creator of the theatre
of the absurd and eventual member of the Académie française; religious
historian and writer Mircea Eliade; and the essayist and philosopher
Emil Cioran. Fellow Romanian Ioan Petre Culianu continued Eliade's work
with great success, in the United States.
Well-known Romanian musicians outside of Romania during this period
include conductors Sergiu Celibidache—the main conductor at the Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra and later of Munich Philharmonic Orchestra—and
Constantin Silvestri, main conductor at the Bournemouth Symphony
Orchestra. Gheorghe Zamfir was a virtuoso of the pan pipes and made this
instrument known to a modern worldwide audience, and was also also a
composer or interpreter for a great number of movies. Composer and
architect Iannis Xenakis was born in Romania and spent his childhood
there.
George Emil Palade a cell biologist and a teacher became the first
Romanian to receive the Nobel Prize, winning the 1974 Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine for describing the structure and function of
organelles in cells. Elie Wiesel, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in
1986, was born in the Romanian town of Sighetu Marmaţiei.
Communist
Culture
The Communist Flag, 1947 - 1989
In Romania, the communist regime imposed heavy censorship an almost all
elements of life and they used the cultural world as a mean to better
control the population. Two currents appeared: one that glorified the
regime and another that tried to avoid censorship. The first is of
almost no lasting cultural value, but the second managed to create
valuable works, successfully avoiding censorship and being very well
received by the general public.
From this period the most outstanding
personalities are those of: the writer Marin Preda, the poets Nichita
Stănescu and Marin Sorescu, and the literary critics Nicolae Manolescu
and Eugen Simion. Most dissidents who chose not to emigrate lived a life
closely watched by the regime, either in "house arrest" or in "forced
domicile"; some chose to retreat to remote monasteries. Most of their
work was published after the 1989 Revolution. Among the most notable
examples are the philosophers Constantin Noica, Petre Ţuţea and Nicolae
Steinhardt.
Mass Book Appeal
A strong editorial activity took place during the Communist regime.
With the purpose of educating the "large masses" of peoples, a huge
number of books were published. Large-scale editing houses such as
Cartea Românească, Editura Eminescu and others appeared, which published
huge collections of books, such as the Biblioteca pentru Toţi ("The
Library for Everyone") with over 5,000 titles. Generally, a book was
never published in an edition of less than 50,000 copies. Libraries
appeared in every village and almost all were kept up to date with the
newest books published. Also, due to low prices, almost everyone could
afford to have their own collection of books at home.
The negative part
was that all the books were heavily censored, and usually sought to
promote Communist ideals. Also, due to rationing in every aspect of
life, the quality of the printing and the paper also was very low, and
the books therefore degraded easily.
Staging Events
During this period, there was a significant increase in the number of
theatres, as they appeared even in the smallest towns. Many new
establishments were built and in the big cities they became important
landmarks, such as the building of the National Theatre of Bucharest,
situated right in the middle of the city, immediately adjacent to
Romania's kilometre zero.
In the smaller towns, there existed the
so-called "Worker's Theatre", a semi-professional institution. Partly
due to the lack of other entertainment venues, theatre was highly
popular and the number of actors increased. All of the theatres had a
stable, state-funded budget.
Again, however, the drawback was the heavy
control imposed on them by the regime: censorship was very present and
only ideologically-accepted plays were allowed. More progressive
theatres managed to survive in some remote cities that became favourite
destinations for young actors, but they generally had only a local
audience.
The Shortened Widescreen
Cinemas evolved the same way as the theatres; sometimes the same
establishment served both purposes. Movies were very popular, and from
the 1960s, foreign films started becoming quite widespread. Western
films, when shown, were heavily censored: entire sections were cut, and
dialogue was translated only using ideologically accepted words. Domestic
or "friendly" foreign productions constituted the bulk of films in
cinemas.
During this period, cinematography started to develop in
Romania and the first successful short films were made based on Caragiale's plays. Financed by the government, during the 1960s, a whole
industry developed at Buftea, a town close to Bucharest, and some films,
especially gangster, Western-genre and historical movies were very well
received by the public. The most prolific director was Sergiu Nicolaescu,
and probably the most-acclaimed actor from that period was Amza Pellea.
After the fall
of communism in 1989, there was an almost immediate explosion of
publication of books previously censored by the regime. Books were
published in huge numbers per edition, sales were high, and a great
number of publishing houses appeared.
However, this soon reached a
saturation point, and publishing houses began to decline, due to a
combination of bad management, a rapid decline in sales, and the absence
of subsidies. Many closed after only a few titles published; some
changed their profile and started editing commercial literature - mainly
translations - and the state-owned publishers entered a "state of
lethargy".
These last survived due to state financing, but their
publishing activity diminished. Despite this, some publishing houses
managed to survive and develop by implementing market policies, and also
by increasing the quality and the general aspect of the books they
published.
Among the most notable contemporary Romanian publishers are Humanitas in Bucharest, Polirom in Iaşi - two of the elite publishing
houses, or Teora - oriented toward technical topics and dictionaries.
Some publishing houses developed their own chains or bookstores, and
also other new, privately owned bookstore chains opened, replacing the
old state owned ones.
Revista Revised
Culturally oriented newsprint periodicals followed a similar
trajectory of boom and bust. A few have survived and managed to raise
their level of quality and to maintain a critical spirit despite the
hardships they encountered. Dilema Veche (Old Dilemma) and Revista 22
(Magazine 22) remain respected forces in Romanian culture, with
Observator Cultural a lesser, but also respected, weekly paper. Also, a
state financed radio (Radio România Cultural) and a television channel
(TVR Cultural) with a cultural programme exist, but they are not highly
popular.
Many new young writers appeared, but due to financial constraints,
only those who have gained a strong reputation could get the financial
backing to publish their works. The Writers Association, which should,
in principle, support these writers' efforts, hasn't undergone much
change since 1989 and there is much controversy surrounding its activity
and purpose.
The most successful writers, like Mircea Cărtărescu, Horia
Roman Patapievici, Andrei Pleşu, Gabriel Liiceanu and Mircea Dinescu,
are respected personalities in Romanian life, but they have to devote
some of their would-be writing time to other activities, mainly
journalism. The ties with the Romanian Diaspora are now very strong and
even foreign-language Romanian writers like Andrei Codrescu (who now
writes primarily in English) are very popular.
Video Killed the Stage Star
Romanian theatre also suffered from economic hardships, and its
popularity decreased drastically due to the increased popularity of
television and other entertainment venues. Some theatres survived due
their prestige (and some continued subsidies); others survived through
good management, investing in themselves and earning a steady audience
through the high quality of their productions.
Experimental or
independent theatres appeared and are quite popular in university
cities. Uniter - The Romanian Theatres Association - gives yearly awards
to the best performances. Some of the most criticaly acclaimed directors
in contemporary Romania are Silviu Purcărete, Tompa Gabor, Alexandru
Dabija and Alexandru Darie. Also, among the most appreciated actors,
both from the new and old generation, one can name Ştefan Iordache,
Victor Rebenciuc, Maia Morgenstern, Marcel Iureş, Horaţiu Mălăele, Ion
Caramitru, Mircea Diaconu, Marius Chivu and others.
Romania, Second Location Darling
Due to the lack of funds, Romanian film-making suffered heavily in
the 1990s; even now, as of 2005, a lot of controversy surrounds state
aid for movies. Well known directors such as Dan Piţa and Lucian
Pintilie have had a certain degree of continued success, and younger
directors such as Nae Caranfil and Cristi Puiu have become highly
respected.
Caranfil's film Filantropica and Puiu's The Death of Mr.
Lăzărescu were extremely well received and gained awards at
international festivals in Paris and Cannes. Beside domestic production,
Romania became a favourite destination for international producer due to
the low cost of filming there, and big investments have been made in
large studios.
The number of cultural events held yearly in Romania increased in the
last years. Some sporadic events like the "2005 Bucharest CowParade"
have been well received and yearly events and festivals have continually
attracted interest. Very popular are medieval festivals in cities in
Transylvania, which combine street theatre with music and battles
re-enactment to create a very lively atmosphere.
Festivals of Light and Sound
In theatre, a yearly
National Festival takes place, and one of the most important
international theatre festivals is the "The Sibiu Theatre Festival"
while in filmmaking, the "TIFF" Film Festival in Cluj, the "Dakino" Film
Festival in Bucharest and the "Anonimul" Film Festival in the Danube
Delta have an ever stronger international presence. In music, the most
important event is the "George Enescu" Classical Music Festival but also
festivals like "Jeunesses Musicales" International Festival and Jazz
festivals in Sibiu and Bucharest are appreciated. An important event
will take place in 2007 when the city of Sibiu will be, along with
Luxembourg, the European Capital of Culture
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For
a country with a population less than California, Romania has done well
to produce a panoply of gifted and famous leading lights in the arts,
from
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Dimitrie
Cantemir
Dimitrie
Cantemir
romania's
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