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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

Proto-History Or The Middle Ages

The European nations are divided into two main groups: those which had a glorious Middle Ages period out of whose crises the Renaissance came out, and those which had a minimal, insignificant, derived one. The former created most of the civil, spiritual and cultural history

Nationality In Art, 1927

excerpts What is a nation? We shall define: A nation is the totality of blood-related individuals, living on a determined territory functioning as a necessary support to their existence, and sharing: a common language, which they have shaped themselves, a common past,

Religion And Identity In Interwar Romania: Orthodoxism

In the two decades between the world wars the majority of Romanian intellectuals were engaged in a grand debate about what it meant to be Romanian and how national character determined social and political development. [1] The ideological commitments of the protagonists

All Those Images

Early Sunday afternoon, lying in bed with a large illustrated book of Ion Creangă stories, Memories of Childhood Days: the time stood still, waiting for me to turn over the pages, and I had all the time in the world. My father was sitting next to me reading too, but I was

Why Spiridon Was Late

CHARACTERS: NEACSU SPIRIDON: sixth grade pupil, the head of the Pioneer Unit VICA: Neacsu Spiridon's classmate, pupil on dutyMARIANA: classmate of Vica and SpiridonA WOMAN: 30-35 years oldTHE TEACHER: 28-30 years oldPUPILS: Neacsu Spiridon's schoolmates The setting

The Childhood Certificate

I once experienced a terrible fright. I woke up one day to discover a different world from what I knew it to be, more clear-cut, more plainly divided into complementary colors and opposite moral categories. It all looked like in a naive painting: clear and graphic. The only