Culture of Romania

This stands true for the years after the Phanariote-Ottoman period, at the beginning of the 19th century, when Romanians had a historical context and Romania started to become westernized, mainly with French influences, which they pursued steadily and at a very fast pace.

From the end of the 18th century, the sons of the upper classes started having their education in Paris, and French became (and was until the communist years) a genuine second language of culture for Romanians.

Moldavia and Wallachia were both situated on important commercial routes often crossed by Polish, Saxon, Greek, Armenian, Genovese, and Venetian merchants, connecting them well to the evolving culture of medieval Europe.

His most important works containing information about the Romanian regions were Descriptio Moldaviae, published in 1769, and Hronicul vechimii a romano-moldo-valahilor (roughly, Chronicle of the Antiquity of the Romano-Moldavo-Wallachians), the first critical history of Romania.

In Transylvania, although they formed the majority of the population, Romanians were merely seen as a "tolerated nation" by the Austrian leadership of the province,[2] and were not proportionally represented in political life and the Transylvanian Diet.

The period from 1711 to 1821 was marked in Wallachia and Moldavia by the reigns of appointed Phanariote Hospodars; thus, the two principalities were heavily influenced by the Ottoman and Greek world.

Among the greatest personalities from this period are the novelist and publicist Ioan Slavici, the prose writer Panait Istrati, the poet and writer Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea, the poet and publicist George Coșbuc, the poet Ștefan Octavian Iosif, the historian and founder of Romanian press in Transylvania George Barițiu and Badea Cârțan, a simple peasant shepherd from Southern Transylvania who, through his actions became a symbol of the emancipation movement.The first half of the 20th century is regarded by many as the golden age of Romanian culture, and it is the period when it reached its main level of international affirmation and a strong connection to European cultural trends.

Also, George Călinescu was a more complex writer who, among different literary creations, produced the monumental "History of the Romanian literature, from its origins till present day".

The number of important Romanian painters also grew, and the most significant ones were: Nicolae Tonitza, Camil Ressu, Francisc Șirato, Ignat Bednarik, Lucian Grigorescu, and Theodor Pallady.

The freedom of expression was constantly restricted in various ways: the Sovietization period was an attempt at building up a new cultural identity on the basis of socialist realism and lending legitimacy to the new order by rejecting traditional values.

On the one hand, against the authorities' intentions, the outstanding works were perceived as a realm of moral truths, and the significant representatives of genuine cultural achievement were held in very high esteem by the public opinion.

On the other hand, the slogans disseminated nationwide through the forms of official culture helped spread simplistic views, which were relatively successful among some ranks of the population.

Large-scale editing houses such as Cartea Românească, Editura Eminescu, and others appeared, which published huge collections of books, such as the Biblioteca pentru Toţi ("The Library for Everyone") with over 5,000 titles.

Financed by the government, during the 1960s, a whole industry developed at Buftea, a town close to Bucharest, and some films, especially gangster, Western-genre, and historical movies, were very well received by the public.

Three individuals emerged as the most important Romanians abroad: playwright Eugen Ionescu (1909–1994) (who became known in France as Eugène Ionesco), creator of the Theatre of the Absurd and eventual member of the Académie française; religious historian and writer Mircea Eliade (1907–1986); and the essayist and philosopher Emil Cioran (1911–1996), the greatest French-writing master of style after Pascal.

Gheorghe Zamfir was a virtuoso of the pan pipes and made this instrument known to a modern worldwide audience, and was also a composer or interpreter for a great number of movies.

The fall of soviet-style communism in 1989 elated the cultural world, but the experience hasn't been an easy one due to problems in the transition period and the adoption of a free market economy.

However, this soon reached a saturation point, and publishing houses began to decline due to a combination of bad management, a rapid drop in sales, and the absence of subsidies.

Also, among the most appreciated actors, both from the new and old generation, one can name Ștefan Iordache, Victor Rebengiuc, Maia Morgenstern, Marcel Iureș, Horațiu Mălăele, Ion Caramitru, Mircea Diaconu, Marius Chivu and others.

Caranfil's film Filantropica and Puiu's The Death of Mr. Lazarescu were extremely well received and gained awards at international festivals in Paris and Cannes.

Besides domestic production, Romania became a favorite destination for international producers due to the low cost of filming there, and big investments have been made in large studios.

Medieval festivals held in cities in Transylvania, which combine street theatre with music and battle reenactments to create a very lively atmosphere, are some of the most popular events.

Sentimental music, however, is the most valued, and Romanians consider their doina (a sad song either about one's home or about love, composed like an epic ballad) unique in the world.

The ethnologists, poets, writers, and historians have tried in recent centuries to collect and to preserve tales, poems, ballads and have tried to describe as well as possible the customs and habits related to different events and times of the year.

Also, despite accusations of collaborationism with the communist regime, which continue to plague the Romanian Church, some clerics such as Dumitru Stăniloae and Richard Wurmbrand openly protested against political interventions in religious business.

[5] The Turks brought meatballs (fried mititei or perişoare in a soup called ciorbă); from the Greeks, there is the musaca (moussaka) and covrigi (hot pretzels); from the Bulgarians, a wide variety of vegetable dishes like zacuscă; from the Austrians there is the şniţel (schnitzel); from the Hungarians, their ornate pastries; and the list could go on.

During Christmas, nearly every family slaughters a pig and cooks it using a wide variety of traditional recipes like cârnați – a type of long sausage with meat; caltaboși – sausages made with liver and other internal organs; piftie – a jelly made from parts like the feet, head and ears; tochitură (a kind of stew) – served along with mămăligă and wine ("so that the pork can swim"); and tobă (head cheese).

The meal is sweetened with the traditional cozonac (sweet bread with nuts, poppy seeds or lokum – rahat in Romanian, known in English as Turkish delight).

From the innocent child's thank you: Săru-mâna pentru masă, c-a fost bună şi gustoasă, și bucătăreasa frumoasa ("Thank you for the meal, it was good and tasty, and the cook was beautiful"), to the more philosophical Mulțumescu-ți ție Doamne, c-am mâncat și iar mi-e foame ("Thank you Lord, for I have eaten, but I am hungry again"), Dragostea trece prin stomac ("Love passes through the stomach"), the simple Pofta vine mâncănd ("Appetite comes while eating"), the sarcastic Porcul mănâncă orice, dar se-ngrașă pentru alții ("The pig would eat anything but it gets fat for others"), or the expression of total fulfillment, Mâncat bine, băut bine, dimineața sculat mort ("Ate well, drank well, in the morning woke up dead").

Romania was once also the cradle of Yiddish theatre, and to this day, Bucharest is home to a State Jewish Theater, despite the small number of Jews remaining in the country.