Identity and Destiny: Ideas And Ideology In Interwar Romania
29/2007
COVER Ion Theodorescu-Sion (1882-1939), Peasants from the Carpathians, National Museum of Art, Bucharest
With its ideological, political and industrial aspects, World War I had thrown a shadow of distrust over the groundwork of western democracy, on its humanitarian stance, but also on the scientific ideal of the positive modern science, the constant progress to the benefit of humanity. The result, for many intellectuals in the interwar period, was an unabashed skepticism and an inclination to forget liberal and democratic individualism in favor of various formulae of collectivism. Erwin KESSLER
We have experienced situations which led us to reason, to art and mysticism. (…) Being painfully and precociously hit by life, we have become accustomed with realities unknown to others (...) We have understood that suffering in life is motivated… We want the values that are not derived from political economy, nor from technology or from parliamentarism to be victorious. Pure, spiritual – absurdly spiritual – values, the values of Christianity.”
Mircea ELIADE, 1927
We don’t need prophets (…) ideologues with funny and interesting parti pris. If this is the ‘culture’ of the soul, we prefer the more modest civilization of the matter. What our people lacks is liberty, roads, justice and clean streets. We need a few men of character and a few thousand systematic water closets…
Mihai RALEA, 1928
PLURAL would like to thank the following for the permission to reproduce the works in the gallery:
Special thanks to Professor Keith Hitchins, whose initial idea set this project in motion.
SPELLING In some cases, the diacritical marks (pronounced: ă ≈ er, â and î ≈ uh, ş = sh, ţ = ts) were dropped from Romanian original titles, newspaper and magazine names, movement and trend names, and person names; geographical names may appear either in Romanian (Bucureşti, Iaşi) or in English (Bucharest, Jassy). Omitted passages are usually indicated by (…).
