Vol. 4 No. 1 (2021): Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies
Editorial
Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies promotes fresh views that explore models of Romanian identity within the framework of cross-cultural approaches. The journal is open to multidisciplinary and plurilingual contributions. Our scientific purpose is to endorse multi-faceted research and comparative views, without neglecting in-depth interpretations of literary, cultural, and scientific works and events.
Between the covers of the current fourth volume, there are fifteen articles and two book reviews dedicated to first-hand inquiries examined against the backdrop of cogent evidence. An international team of contributors scrutinizes diversified instances, such as historical backgrounds of the Romanian language, the connection between language and mind, interlingual renditions, and the relation between language and society. Written in English, Romanian and French, these essays shape the contours of Romanian works of literature, translation studies, cultural studies, and linguistics.
There can be no doubt that the complex field of Literature instigates unbounded judgements that dominate the discussions in the field of research. The present edition incorporates seven studies of this kind designed to bring forward insightful analyses of different literary works. Alina Buzatu, affiliated with the University of Constanța, introduces this section with a conceptualization of genre as an essential taxonomic tool for literature and the entire field of human discourse in an attempt to prove its versatility and adapting capacity. The section continues with Lucreția Pascariu’s study of how Carmen Sylva and Mite Kremnitz managed to use literary methods characteristic to the feuilleton novel when writing Astra. An epistolary novel. The literary collaboration between the two writers under the pseudonyms “Dito und Idem” was a real accomplishment in the 19th century in Romania and the whole European continent. The third study of this section coincides with the historical background of the Romanian P.E.N Club and is investigated by Dan Horațiu Popescu, from the Partium Christian University of Oradea. This study identifies itself with the third chapter in an intended piece of literary history, calling attention to the immediate aftermath of World War I.
The collective work of Brânduşa Juică, Virginia Popović, and Marinel Negru embodies perspectives on some lyrical experiences in which the homeland - Banat -, is in the focus of some Romanian poets, belonging to different literary generations. In Romanian literature in Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia, poetry is the favourite genre of writers, especially when it comes to the second half of the twentieth century. Further on, Cristina Hermeziu offers for consideration an analysis of the symbolic values of the dilemma between the Romanian language and the Russian language, which is at the heart of the diegesis of the novel Grădina de sticlă (The Glass Garden) by Tatiana Țîbuleac. This study casts some light on the different dimensions created by the author when describing the strife of a Moldovan orphan caught in a forced Russian political settlement, trying to rebuild herself between two languages and cultures. Bianca-Maria Bucur, a young researcher at 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba-Iulia, introduces the concept of bovarism, as defined by Jules de Gaultier at the end of the 19th century, and illustrated in Pupa russa, a postmodernist novel written by Gheorghe Crăciun. The paper that closes this distinct portion is elaborated by Lucian Vasile Bâgiu, from the Lund University of Sweden. This study examines Liviu Rebreanu’s novel Amândoi (Both) meticulously, in terms of archaisms and regional words used by incidental characters, notwithstanding their social status or aspirations.
As part of the field of Translation studies, Andra-Iulia Ursa’s paper tackles the issue of translation and retranslation in a research based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of three Romanian renditions of one of the stories in James Joyce’s Dubliners - “A little cloud”.
The volume continues with four Cultural Studies that focus on the in-depth examinations of archaeological data, museum studies, and overviews of communism. Simona Lazăr, a fellow member of the Institute for Researches in Social Studies and Humanities from Craiova, works down the line of theoretical models for different types of exchanges in the metal age in South-eastern Europe. Two different instances of communist society are investigated in this section. Iulia Stoichiț, from Transilvania University of Braşov, digs into criminality with The Bandits, Vasile Ernu’s second volume of a trilogy dedicated to marginal men, the world of thieves, of bandits, in a communist society, the narrator never becoming one of them. Felix Nicolau, associated with the University of Lund, tries to identify and analyse the sources of linguistics of dissimulation (constative and performative utterances) during the economic and political instability that affects the post-communist present, as well as to demystify certain stigmas unconditionally applied to Southeast European civilizations: corruption, laziness, negative Balkanization, frivolity and lack of consistency. Finally, Mădălina Iacob, from the West University of Timişoara, elaborates on the topic of the museum as a symbol of cultural practice in the contemporary era.
Linguistics is a segment dedicated to the detailed examination of language. Annemarie Sorescu-Marinković, from the Institute for Balkan Studies, Belgrade, brings to the readers’ attention an unpublished Ottoman era document in Romanian, issued in 1861 in Rabrovo, a village in the Vidin region. Although very short, the document is handwritten using Cyrillic script and reveals essential facts about the Romanian-speaking population in Ottoman Bulgaria. Further on, Marcela Ciortea, affiliated with 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, addresses both the Romanian native speakers and those interested in the grammar of this language. This research brings under scrutiny three segments: the pronominal clitics, verb voices, and the prepositional complement, as presented by the team of scholars under the guidance of Professor Gabriela Pană Dindelegan, who undertook in 2010 the toilsome mission of aligning the Romanian grammar to the European research manner. This segment is brought to an end by a study undertaken by Ileana-Manuela Raț, from the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, on the stylistic processes of the popular language portrayed by N. D. Popescu in Iancu Jianu, Head of Administration and Iancu Jianu, Captain of the Hajduks.
The Book reviews section starts with the insightful observations of Camelia Zăbavă, from the University of Craiova, about the second volume of a series dedicated to Romanian literature in exile. The survey of the work of Mihaela Albu and Dan Anghelescu, entitled Necunoscutul scriitor Virgil Ierunca (The Unknown writer Virgil Ierunca), traces out the busy world of a good journalist and editor, poet, literary critic, memoirist, and portraitist. The second book review of this volume belongs to Mihaela Albu, member of the Writers’ Union of Romania, and calls attention to the collection of papers presented in a panel organized at Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria on June 22nd, 2019. Borders and Contacts. Local, Regional and Global Phenomena, coordinated by Carmen Dărăbuş and Camelia Zăbavă, is structured in three chapters: linguistics, literature and cultural studies, with the purpose of demonstrating that even though borders may separate us, culture unites us all.
The articles assembled in this collection map a topography of Romanian language, culture, and identity. The significant work of theoreticians and practitioners was reviewed by thirty-five external scholars, who acted as anonymous reviewers of the material and whose investment is of the most significant importance in facilitating the exchange of knowledge. Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies is published in collaboration with Lund University, 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania, and the Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest, and welcomes contributions from scholars worldwide.
Andra-Iulia Ursa
Advisory board for this issue
Mona Arhire, Transilvania University of Brașov Brașov
Sorin Arhire, 1 Decembrie 1918 University, Alba Iulia
Iosefina Blazsani-Batto, Azerbaijan University of Languages / Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest
Rodica Gabriela Chira, 1 Decembrie 1918 University, Alba Iulia
Adrian Chircu, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca
Marcela Ciortea, 1 Decembrie 1918 University, Alba Iulia
Sorin Ciutacu, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Nina Corcinschi, Institute of Romanian Philology ”Bogdan Petriceicu-Hasdeu”, Republic of Moldova
Carmen Dimitriu, Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest/Comrat State University, Republic of Moldova
Cosmin Dragoste, University of Craiova
Mihai Gligor, 1 Decembrie 1918 University, Alba Iulia
Magdalena Filary, University of Craiova
Ovidiu Ghenescu, 1 Decembrie 1918 University, Alba Iulia
Monica Huțanu, West University of Timișoara
Laura Lazăr Zăvăleanu, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Monica Manolachi, University of Bucharest
Iolanda Mănescu, University of Craiova
Diana Mihuț, West University of Timișoara
Angelo Mitchievici, Ovidius University of Constanța
Constantin-Ioan Mladin, 1 Decembrie 1918 University, Alba Iulia
Paula Neamțu, University of Oradea
Marius Nica, Petroleum-Gas University of Poiești
Antonio Patraș, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași
Dana Percec, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Loredana Pungă, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Dana Radler, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Cristina Sărăcuț, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca
Corina Selejan, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu
Coralia Telea, 1 Decembrie 1918 University, Alba Iulia
Titela Vîlceanu, University of Craiova
The cover photo was taken on April 20th, 2011 by Florian-Rareș Tileagă and represents the window to the reconstructed house of Fefeleaga in Bucium, Alba County, Romania
