COLLECTIVE

Anastasie Simu

Simu Museum A conservative MP in the 1888, 1891 and 1899 parliament sessions, Anastasie Simu finally became tired of the Machiavellian political life in Romania at the end of the 19th century; realising he had no prospects to achieve momentous social and cultural events

Ciuleandra

excerpt Finally, one Sunday the old man decided that we should drive to the estate belonging to an uncle of mine in Arges, to Manesti, and spend three-odd days there. We had to leave early, so as to get there by noon. But since the old man had some kind of unexpected business,

The Cathartic Play Of Dance

Romanian folk dance is a huge universal breathing, reflecting like a mirror the passing, the metamorphosis, that macrocosmic something always different. Hora, brâul, sârba, the pair dance highlight the joy of being, like an ostinato (by keeping the melodic line but always

The Romanian Death Iconography Or A Different Kind Of Assisted Death

In the field of iconography the rhetoric of the end manifested itself initially as a history of silences, the absence of the motif being possibly equally significant as its presence since, as Michel Vovelle demonstrated, images interest us as expression of a selective, oblique

Comments On The Legend Of Master Manole

excerpts1. Participation and RepetitionPerhaps the most significant difference between modern man and archaic man consists in this: for archaic man, a thing or an act acquires significance only in as much as it participates in a prototype, or in as much as it reiterates

The Museum Of The Romanian Village

In his opening speech at the inauguration of the Village Museum, Professor D. Gusti said: …We did not have the example of open air museums from the northern countries, such as Skansen, Bigdo or Lillehammer. They convey us too much romantic and ethnographical merit, focusing

Romanians - 1943

excerpt THE ROMANIANS' SPIRITUAL LIFE The Two Myths of Romanian SpiritualityIn any culture, there is always a central myth that discovers it and that is to be found in all its major works of art. Romanians' spiritual life is dominated by two myths that express,

The Weed Talk

I have never met Ştefan Bertalan. A founder of the sigma group in Timishoara, the most influential hub of constructivist experimentalism in Romanian art, Bertalan has always seemed to me somehow ill-timed, included in the canon, and confined therein. I came once into contact

The Erotic Arms Race

A young man learning of how Les Fleurs du Mal was condemned for obscenity during Napoleon III's uptight times can only be left speechless if he has happened to read Baudelaire. For the young generations of today, the poet's depiction of lesbian delights appears

The Wedding Book

excerpt  A few violent knocks on the door startled him. Vera hid under the blanket again, and Jim pushed the door ajar. It was the maid, who wanted to know if they were still there, puzzled by the fact that they hadn't come out of the house till noon. They hurried

National Minorities Reflected In The Romanian Fundamental Laws

Romania is a national state, at least that is what every Romanian constitution agrees upon, and more than 20 national minorities, which are represented in the Romanian parliament, live on the territory of this state. It is not at all easy to live among such ethnic diversity,

Majorities And Minorities In Documents From The Interwar Period

excerpts Over the last few years, one of the more or less impartially analyzed issues has been the relationship between Romanians – as majority population – and the others represented, broadly, by ethnic, religious, cultural communities etc. The current approach is