To carry out a veracious analysis of a people's psychology is a utopian thought, and the multiple risks involved in making estimates and commentaries on the specificity of a still maturing nation become unavoidable. Each individual is a small, but unique and unrepeatable universe that may undergo unexpected metamorphoses throughout his life. How unpredictable is the human soul? Most often, it is a paradox. Under these circumstances, it is all the more difficult to determine what is characteristic of an entire people. All the same, specialists doggedly pursue their analyses and interpretations, aided by statistics, surveys, and their own intuition, trying to establish the respective degrees of tradition, borrowing or influence in Romanian customs, and whether the Romanians' historical destiny is the natural outcome of their psyche, or rather the opposite. Historians, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists, writers, politicians, ethnologists, musicologists contribute to a relevant panorama of the Romanian mind and soul. Most of the opinions expressed in this issue are those of Romanians themselves, and a primary conclusion would be that all those who praise their co-nationals are not inevitably nationalistic, while faultfinders often love their compatriots more than the former.A victim of invasions of all kinds from times immemorial, Romanians seem to have preserved their specificity in the face of any challenge. Some say it's because "a bowed head won't be cut off by the sword" (but neither will it see the sun, others complete). Still others claim that it is to the Orthodox Church that Romanians owe their resilience and continuity; yet many regard Romanians as one of the least religious peoples they have ever come upon. The very fact that Romanians have been living at the crossroads of the Eastern and Western civilizations gave birth to countless paradoxes, which we hope will turn the reading of this issue into an even more interesting experience.We chose old photography as our companion because, whether true to life or not, the reality it depicts underwent fewer – and more recognizable – filters on the part of the artists.
by Aurora Fabritius
