Vol. 8 No. 1 (2025): Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies
Editorial
Identity is a topic that has been explored by researchers throughout all epochs and over the centuries. One’s sense of being and belonging to a community is an innate desire that reflects the person’s evolutionary path. Writing is one of the forms of expression where a personal quest meets a private way of exploration. The Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies invites scholars worldwide to express their epistemological quests in a highly prestigious and academic environment, encouraging discussions and debates on issues concerning human awareness. The current issue puts forward a unique framework of addressing the question of identity, be it Romanian identity located within universal history or Jewish identity and resilience during the Second World War, tackling various research areas which were grouped into six sections (literature, translation studies, linguistics, anthropology, history and cultural studies) and a section of book reviews where Mihai Iacob's book engaging with Mircea Cărtărescu's reception in Spain is analysed.
Connecting national and international forms of art, Romanița Constantinescu, from the University of Bucharest, Romania, and Heidelberg University, Germany, starts the Literature section and explores a correspondence between the opening line of Mihai Eminescu’s poem, Ode (in Sapphic metre), and Leonardo da Vinci’s laconic aphorism: When I believe I am learning to live, I will learn how to die. Focusing on Mihai Eminescu’s personality, Maria-Corina Dimitriu, from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, examines the social context within which the poet lived and worked as a member of the Junimea Literary Circle, employing a recent theoretical framework on literary forms of sociability.
History and literature merge into the form of the historical novel, a shared genre. Alexandra Olteanu, from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, reflects on the consumerist cycle of literature and the secularization of history in Romania, discussing the emergence of the Romanian historical novel. Shifting the readers’ attention to the sentimental novel, Raluca Georgiana Babii, from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, highlights the importance of Turgenev's character archetype within the evolution of the Romanian sentimental novel before the First World War, analysing the Slavic influence on Mihail Sadoveanu’s short story, Neculai Manea's Notes. Nicoleta Ifrim, from Dunărea de Jos University of Galați, discusses the concept of identity through “relocation” scenarios in Bogdan Suceavă’s ego-graphic writing, Memoirs from an Ideal Library, thus closing the section.
The issue continues with the Translation Studies part, which begins with Delia Georgeta Ćupurdija, from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, who proposes a theoretical instrument for young translators who engage in translating poetry. Her approach targets a teaching method using conceptual integration. Daniel Dejica, from the Politehnica University of Timișoara, and Adriana Toma, from West University of Timișoara, conducted a research investigation into the impact of mental translation on communicative language teaching and learning in Romanian schools. Andra-Iulia Ursa, from 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, examines the translation and retranslation of the Bible in both English and Romanian, with a focus on the strategies used to adapt the sacred text for contemporary readers. Returning to literature, Felix Nicolau, from the University of Granada, Spain, reconsiders certain stages in the history of translation studies, providing a mini-synthesis of translations of Romanian literature into Hispanic literature and concluding with analyses of the translation of some literary texts from different periods of Romanian literature.
Linguistics includes a comparative study of functional texts in the textbooks concerning Romanian as a Second Language. Emphasizing the importance of systematically teaching functional texts, Valerica Sporiș, from Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, advances innovative solutions for the development of this field. Anthropology launches a perspective on reality through social-historical and economic landmarks and arguments induced by the concept of loyalty. Gabriela Bodea, from Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, approaches the idea of loyalty from multiple perspectives, namely dynastic, social-identity, religious, and divided, assigning to it meanings with paradigmatic potential. Focusing on the work of Cornel Grofșorean and its impact on scientific studies of Banat society during the interwar period, Attila Carol Varga, from George Barițiu Institute of History in Cluj-Napoca, features the History section. Cultural Studies includes a cartography of Romanian and foreign literary works and films on the Holocaust in Romania, published and produced in the post-1945 period. Arleen Ionescu and Dumitru Tucan, from the West University of Timișoara, trace in their research testimonials of the trivialization, denial, and then assumption and acceptance of the past realities of the Holocaust in Romania. The first part of their work follows the chronology of published works on what happened before, during and after the Second World War in Romania. Lastly, Alba Diz Villanueva, from Complutense University of Madrid, Spain, maps a review of Mihai Iacob’s book, Cărtărescu. Ala Izquierda, Autoimagen de Mircea Cărtărescu en España (1993-2018) [Cărtărescu. Left Wing. Self-image of Mircea Cărtărescu in Spain (1993-2018)].
Honoured to include such diverse and complex articles and reviews, we would like to express our gratitude to all the contributors to this issue. Academic excellence is owed to the highly professional and qualitative work of our thirty peer-reviewers from Germany, Israel, Cyprus, Romania, and the authors from renowned university centres in Germany, Croatia, Spain, and Romania. The international recognition of the journal also reflects the constant and invaluable contributions of the permanent members of the scientific advisory board, who come from Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Sweden, and Romania. Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies is published in collaboration with Lund University, Sweden, Granada University, Spain, 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania, and the Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest, and welcomes contributions from scholars worldwide.
Bianca-Maria Bucur
Reviewer Board for this issue
Diana Câmpan, 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania
Laura Mariana Cismaș, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Ela Cosma, Romanian Academy, George Barițiu Institute of History, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Mihaela Cozma, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Roxana Maria Crețu, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Carmen Dimitriu, Tel Aviv University, Israel / Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest, Romania
Anca Otilia Dodescu, University of Oradea, Romania
Cristina Gherman, Technical University of Civil Engineering, Bucharest, Romania
Veronica Grecu Bălan, Vasile Alecsandri University of Bacău
Daniela Hăisan, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania
Crina Herțeg, 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania
Florin Lobonț, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Doris Mironescu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania
Marius Nica, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiești, Romania
Antonio Patraș, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania
Alina Nicoleta Pădurean, Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania
Ana Magdaleana Petraru, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania
Daniela Petroșel, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania
Valeriu Stancu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania
Coralia Telea, 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania
Iulian Toma, University of Nicosia, Cyprus
Ottmar Trașcă, Romanian Academy, George Barițiu Institute of History, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
The editorial activities undertaken by Associate Editor Lucian Vasile Bâgiu for this issue included a visit to Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, Bucharest, Romania, which was partially funded through Order no. 4067/28.03.2024 issued by the Romanian Ministry of Education, and a training programme to Charles University in Prague, Czechia, which was funded by Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI), through PN-IV-P2-2.2-MC-2024-0071, contract MC 261 from 22/11/2024.
The Editorial Board of Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies used the anti-plagiarism software https://sistemantiplagiat.ro/ provided by 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania to determine the originality of all manuscripts.
