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On National Specificity, 1935

If I had had the courage to speak freely, directly, without resorting to these pages in front of me, and without caring about the serious language mistakes I may make in French – and which I will definitely make –, if I had the courage to start my free conversation with

Historical Ideas And Forms, 1919

Four Inaugural Lecturesexcerpts TWI ENI KAI PANTI 1. Our Life's DutyLecture to open the courses on Ancient History and The History of the Arts, held in the winter semester of MCMXIX-MCMXX at the University of Cluj, read on II November MCMXIX From one day to the next,

The Transfiguration Of Romania, 1936

excerpts Chapter II: The Romanian Adamism  Oh God! What have we been doing for a thousand years?! All our life, ever since a century ago, is nothing but the process through which we realized we actually did nothing… the comparison with what was accomplished in other countries

Intellectuals And Their Radical Political Involvement: Reflections And Subsequent Perceptions

In the last decades, particularly after the collapse of the communist regimes, ardent debates have taken place regarding the political commitment of certain great intellectuals and writers, generating even theoretical and philosophical reflections, concerning the relationship

The National Spirit, 1926

The polemic, sustained by two journals, around a problem that is admittedly dated has yet to die down. One of them maintains that we are surrounded by Chinese walls, that we vegetate in an oriental indifference when we are not openly hostile toward the flow of ideas and

Neoliberalism, 1927

excerpts Plutocracy What is the regime of the new men? Since the dawn of societal development, the axis of social life has always revolved between the following two extremes: the agrarian regime, based on the domination of the land, and the capitalist regime, based on

Mysticism

Twenty years ago, religious people had to hide their inclinations. Otherwise they would have been mercilessly mocked at, because atheism enjoyed, then, a great popularity. It was the time of endless hopes over positivism, over the omnipotence of the scientific postulates,

Europeanism And Traditionalism, 1924

excerpt We have finally got our own querelle des anciens et des modernes. Several traditionalist publications are once again demanding clear, classical art. Others ask for authentic Romanian art, that is, inspired from national velleities and potential. Finally, some denounce

Tradition And Modernity In The 1920s (IV)

excerpts Chapter IV. What path shall we choose for our evolution? 1 The history of modern Romania has registered, periodically, a phenomenon that might seem strange at first glance. That is the discussion, every two or three decades, concerning the development of the country

The Effects Of Disappointment

At the beginning of the '20s, fascism represented the newest and the most catching political phenomenon. Nevertheless, it failed to be a roaring success everywhere and especially at the very beginning. In Romania, the obsession of being permanently synchronized with

Tradition And Modernity In The 1920s (III)

excerpts Chapter III. Reason and rationalism under accusation  2 The truth is that any objective examination of the ideological phenomenon that we are studying cannot avoid the conclusion that things were quite similar in France and Germany. By entering the territory

The Generation Of '27, Between The Holocaust And The Gulag

excerpt After the year when its first program was launched, namely Mircea Eliade's Spiritual Itinerary, the generation of '27 (or the young generation, the generation of the '30s, the generation that lived life for life's sake, the experiential and Orthodox