The year
\n2017 is marked by two important celebrations that make us think of the past,
\nwhen modern Romanian culture was in its early days and still seeking to forge
\nan identity of its own. Both are linked to Junimea, a cultural group that had
\na strong bearing on Romania’s modernization process, beginning with the second
\nhalf of the 19th century.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In June
\n2017, we commemorate 100 years since the death of Titu Maiorescu, the founder
\nof Junimea, an intellectual and a politician who, criticizing the state of
\naffairs of his time, set a new trend in Romanian culture. We recall that in
\n1872, Maiorescu wrote an article with this very title: The New Trend in Romanian Culture.
\nMaiorescu’s name is closely linked with the Convorbiri literare (Literary
\nConversations) Review, which was Junimea’s flagship newspaper, whose maiden
\nissue was brought out in 1867. The publication had a groundbreaking role in the
\nliterary world and beyond, as it was here that the most relevant works were
\npublished, written by classics of Romanian literature, such as Eminescu,
\nCreanga, Slavici and Caragiale, as well as works by writers and intellectuals
\nbelonging to the generation that followed that of the great classics. It was
\nalso in the Convorbiri Literare Review that Titu Maiorescu’s famous articles
\nwere published, whereby the famous intellectual called for new standards to be
\nput in place as regards the writing and reception of literary texts and not
\nonly that. In its first years of existence, the publication was issued in Iasi,
\nback then the city of residence for most of the aristocrat-intellectuals that
\nwere part of Junimea. The Convorbiri Literare Review was first issued on a fortnightly
\nbasis, and later on turned into a monthly publication. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The poet
\nCassian Maria Spiridon is today’s editor-in-chief of the review. He told us a few things about his
\nillustrious predecessors:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
‘Convorbiri Literare’ is a journal that was published at the initiative
\nof Jacob Negruzzi. In a letter to Conachi in 1865, he wrote about Junimea’s old
\nCommittee, made of Titu Maiorescu, Vasile Pogor, Petre Carp and Iacob Negruzzi,
\nreconvening and agreeing upon 11 items. At item no.9, Negruzzi suggested
\nJunimea should have a daily paper of its own, a daily that in time grew into
\n‘Convorbiri Literare’. The publication of the journal was delayed for about two
\nyears, and it was only on March the 1st, 1867, that the first issue
\nwas published. For the title, Negruzzi suggested ‘Convorbiri Literare’
\n(Literary Conversations) and then Pogor and Maiorescu told him, ‘you gave the
\njournal its title, you should be the boss.’<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
And
\nthat’s how Convorbiri Literare came into being, the journal that even today
\nis known to have imposed the critical spirit in Romanian culture. The journal’s
\nheyday lasted from 1867 to 1944. At one point it relocated its offices from
\nIasi to Bucharest, yet its spirit remained unaltered. With details on that,
\nhere is Cassian Maria Spiridon once again. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The paper was relocated to Bucharest in 1885, 18 years after being
\nissued in Iasi on a regular basis. It continued to be published until 1944,
\nwhen the Bolsheviks came to power and banned it. The review would once again be
\npublished in 1970 in Iasi, and has since been brought out there,
\nuninterruptedly. We started preparing for the 150th anniversary of
\nthe journal last year already. We have
\nmanaged to publish a corpus of relevant texts, most of them from the so-called
\nclassical period, from 1867 to 1944. Many of the texts are less well-known
\nstuff, texts authored by such historians as Xenopol or Vasile Parvan. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The
\npublication of Convorbiri Literare was only interrupted by external causes,
\nrelating to the war. Its longevity does have an explanation, according to the
\njournal’s editor-in-chief Mircea Platon:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I believe that the secret of this longevity is that Convorbiri
\nLiterare has always been one of Romanian culture’s drivers. It crystallized an
\notherwise amorphous cultural content that had existed and manifested sparsely
\nuntil 1867, in various publications. At that time it brought to the fore the
\nidea of a national culture and even that of a country project, which did not
\nnecessarily entail breaking up with the past. ‘Literary Conversations’ hosted
\nthe evocation as well as the publication of previously unpublished stuff by
\npoet Vasile Alecsandri, who was one of the favorites of the conservatives
\ngrouped around Junimea, or stuff by liberal writer Cezar Bolliac, as well
\nas pages written by Nicolae Balcescu,
\nwho took part in the 1848 revolution. Even when Junimea veered towards the
\nconservatives, Jacob Negruzzi continued its editorial policy of national ecumenism,
\nso to speak. His politics centered on the national interest, it was neither
\nliberal, nor conservative. And that is why AD Xenopol continued to publish in
\nConvorbiri Literare even when the trend had become liberal, and that change of
\nheart was not to Maiorescu’s liking. What’s even more important is the fact
\nthat right from the start there is glaring evidence of the interest of the
\npeople at ‘Convorbiri Literare in the Romanians’ cultural unity through the
\npublication of several ethnographic articles focusing on traditions and customs
\nfrom all the historical provinces
\ninhabited by Romanians.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
At
\npresent, Literary Conversations is brought out in Iasi and is edited by the
\nRomanian Writers’ Union. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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