Vol. 9 No. 2 (2026): Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies
Editorial
The second issue of Volume 9 of the Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies features contemporary approaches to a diverse range of themes. Covering the fields of Literature, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Film, Translation Studies, Linguistics, History, Book Reviews, and a closing section, Restitutio, the articles present engaging insights into Romanian cultural heritage.
Five compelling studies open the issue with analyses of the Literature. Ileana Alexandra Olrich, from Arizona State University, USA, explores Panait Istrati’s book, Vers l’autre flamme [Towards the Other Flame] and traces its confessional style. Corina Mariana Mitrulescu, from Nicolae Bălcescu Land Forces Academy, Sibiu, Romania, examines the construction of masculinity in Panait Istrati’s Kyra Kyralina (1926/1971) through a gender-critical lens, focusing on the male protagonist, Stavro. Cristina Mirela Nicolaescu, from Yozgat-Bozok University, Turkey, analyses the central significance of failure in Emil Cioran’s major literary and philosophical works. By exploring the multifaceted nature of failure in his writings, she demonstrates that failure emerges as a source of clarity, liberation, and artistic passion. Ioana Moroșan, from the Institute for Literary History and Theory G. Călinescu, Romanian Academy, Romania, interprets the symptomatic representations of maternal experience in modern Romanian women's novels. She traces the theme of motherhood in Ciclul Hallipilor [The Hallipa Cycle], written by Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, and in Patimi [Passions], written by Sofia Nădejde. Cristina-Ileana Rogojină, from Ovidius University of Constanța, Romania, investigates the symbolic, narrative, and ethical functions of water in Romanian fairy tales, drawing on a corpus collected by Dumitru Stăncescu (2010) and Petre Ispirescu (1984). Her comparison selectively engages with Germanic and Slavic traditions as researched in the Brothers Grimm (2011) and Aleksandr Afanasyev (2020) fairy tales.
The following articles examine cultural elements identified as part of Romanian history. Annemarie Sorescu-Marinković and Valentina Živković, from the Institute for Balkan Studies, at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Belgrade, illustrate the co-shaping of the natural and cultural landscapes of the village of Deliblato, located on the margins of the Deliblato Sands, in Vojvodina, Serbia, also known as the “European Sahara”. Adriana Elena Stoican, from Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania, approaches Carmen Firan’s novel, Umbra pierdută [The Lost Shadow], and analyses the writer’s identity as expressed in fiction in a transnational context. Mária Szikszai, from Babeș–Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, proposes an anthropological study that investigates how silence and reticence are embedded in everyday writing practices under conditions of censorship, surveillance, and personal constraint. Her corpus includes 2400 documents, which were edited and collected by the Catholic priest Mihály Tyukodi.
The Film section includes an extensive study on the cooperation between Polish and Romanian cinematography. Wojciech Święch, an independent researcher from Poland, examines how filmmakers from Poland and Romania collaborated on the film Trenul de aur [The Golden Train], directed by Bohdan Poręba (1934–2014) and identifies the factors that shaped its reception among Polish and Romanian audiences.
Translation Studies opens with an in-depth analysis of eleven Romanian translations of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. Daniela Hăisan, from Ştefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania, examines the relationship between translation and adaptation, the reasons for retranslation, how retranslation has redefined Robinson Crusoe, and the inverse relationship between teaching and entertaining as the two basic purposes that modulate translated children’s literature. Ana-Magdalena Petraru, from Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania, aims to reassess and emphasise the importance of Antoaneta Ralian and Irina Mavrodin’s diaries. Daniel Dejica, from Politehnica University Timișoara, Romania, and Patricia Cornelia Grigoraș, from the West University of Timișoara, Romania, close the section with an examination of current pedagogical practices in technical translation training in Romania. They reveal a pedagogical landscape that has largely shifted towards practice‑oriented and interaction‑driven instruction, with project‑based learning, case studies, workshops, and guided group activities emerging as central methods. Turning to Linguistics, Bogdan Vătavu and David Morariu, from the Faculty of Letters and Arts at Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, propose a case study based on Romanian novels in the Digital Museum of the Romanian Novel archive. Their study bridges the gap between the field of Digital Humanities and Natural Language Processing by assessing whether off-the-shelf NLP tools are suitable for analysing DH-oriented textual corpora. Raluca-Andreea Petruș, from the West University of Timișoara, Romania, defines and illustrates the various types of cognates and proposes a classification of cognates into three categories, namely proper, partial, and deceptive, exemplifying the linguistic concept by focusing on the English and Romanian languages. Gabriel-Dan Bărbuleț and Andra-Iulia Ursa, from 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania, analyse how international students learning Romanian as a foreign language interpret conversational implicatures, and assess their developing pragmatic competence.
The final three sections address perspectives on History, Book Reviews and Restitutio. Attila Varga, from the Romanian Academy, George Barițiu Institute of History, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, emphasises the pivotal role of Abafi Aigner Lajos in understanding the Masonic lodges and secret societies in the Banat region in the late 18th century. Ela Cosma, from the Romanian Academy, George Barițiu Institute of History, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, discusses how celebrations of Greece’s main National Day (25 March 1821) among Greeks living in present-day Romania are reflected in the pages of the bilingual periodical, Ελπίς/Speranța [Elpis/Speranța/Hope]. Maria-Crina Herțeg, from 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania, reviews the book Research in applied linguistics and language education: Design, methods and analysis (2025), authored by Teodora Popescu, and highlights its substantial relevance for MA students, PhD students and early-career researchers pursuing a career in applied linguistics and language education. Bianca-Maria Bucur, from 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania, examines Sorina-Maria Victoria’s critical study, Rodica Braga – Între Confesiune și Autoficțiune [Rodica Braga – Between confession and autofiction], and foregrounds the interdisciplinary interpretive framework that reads Rodica Braga’s poetry and prose as a unified project of self-writing. Maria Bîscal (Oprea), from 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania, discusses the debut novel of the Spanish writer Miguel Gane, Când o să te faci mare / Cuando seas mayor [When you grow up]. She underscores the originality of the writer’s contribution to migration literature and exploring childhood as a site of both trauma and transformation. Ultimately, Lucian Vasile Bâgiu, from 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania, presents the activity of the doctoral supervisor, Professor Mircea Popa, within the Doctoral School of Philology of IOSUD-Alba Iulia during the period 05.03.2005-03.12.2021.
We conclude by expressing our utmost respect and appreciation to the authors from the USA, Turkey, Serbia, Poland, and Romania; to the peer reviewers from Poland, Germany, Israel, and Romania; and to the permanent members of the scientific community from Germany, Spain, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Sweden, and Romania. Honoured by the commitment and diligence of all contributors to the journal, we are profoundly grateful for the collaboration of the forty-two peer reviewers, notably three academics from each of the following institutions: Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania; the West University of Timișoara, Romania; and Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania; along with seven representatives of Speculum Centre for the Research of the Imaginary, 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania. Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies is published in collaboration with Lund University, Sweden; University of Granada, Spain; 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania; the Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest; and the Technical University of Civil Engineering, Bucharest, Romania, and welcomes contributions from scholars worldwide.
Bianca-Maria Bucur
Reviewer Board for this issue
Mona Arhire, Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania
Ileana Benga, The Folklore Archive of the Romanian Academy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Valeska Bopp-Filimonov, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
Sorin Ciutacu, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Mihaela Cozma, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Carmen Dimitriu, Tel Aviv University, Israel / Romanian Language Institute, Bucharest, Romania
Roxana Elena Doncu, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania
Irina-Ana Drobot, Technical University of Civil Engineering, Bucharest, Romania
Andrzej Dubicki, University of Lodz, Poland
Marcela Fărcașiu, Politehnica University of Timișoara, Romania
Ioan Fărmuș, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania
Rodica Grigore, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania
Mariusz Guzek, Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz, Poland
Alina Nicoleta Ionescu, Aurel Vlaicu University of Arad, Romania
Monica-Lucreția Luca-Husti, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Gheorghe Manolache, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania
Speranța Milancovici, Vasile Goldiș Western University of Arad, Romania
Alexandra Mitrea, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania
Marius Mureșan, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Valentin Orga, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dana Percec, West University of Timișoara, Romania
Daniela Petroșel, Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania
Cecilia Policsek, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dan Horațiu Popescu, Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania
Dana Radler, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania
Marina Cristiana Rotaru, Technical University of Civil Engineering, Bucharest, Romania
Aleksandra Salamurović, Regensburg University, Germany
Marcela Sălăgean, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Laura-Rebeca Stiegelbauer, Vasile Goldis Western University of Arad, Romania
Simona Șimon, Politehnica University of Timișoara, Romania
Anca Tatay, Library of Romanian Academy, Cluj-Napoca Branch, Romania
Piotr Zwierzchowski, Kazimierz Wielki University, Poland
The editorial activities undertaken by Associate Editor Lucian Vasile Bâgiu for this issue included two visits to Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Philology, Institute of Romance Studies, Krakow, Poland which were funded through the Erasmus + program.
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 check the research integrity of all submitted manuscripts.
