Dihotomii identitare în Basarabia în contextul cristalizării conștiinței naționale: 1918-1940
Identity dichotomies in Bessarabia in the context of the crystallization of national consciousness: 1918-1940

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to investigate the identity paradoxes that Bessarabia faced in the period 1918-1940, in the context of the creation of the national consciousness in the Greater Romania. In an interstitial zone, of political and cultural interference, the identity of the inhabitants of the territory of Moldova was (re)shaped, over time, by several major historical paradigms that articulated the national-state construction. The premises of an identity dissolution were born with the annexation in 1812 of the territory named Bessarabia. This is when Bessarabia knows for the first time a different and difficult direction of development, becoming a community separated from all the other Romanian territories. The situation changes during the period of unified Romania when the link with the Romanian Centre is restored. The inhabitants of the Bessarabian territory are faced with a process of “Romanization”, which crystallizes the landmarks of a Romanian national consciousness. The nationalist sentiments of young intellectuals, existing since the beginning of the 20th century, intensified in the following decades, being expressed in various publications, political groups and organizations that urged national reawakening. However, a complete “identity synchronization” with the Greater Romania was only partially successful, given the multi-ethnic imperial legacies, the deep rural character (complete with the high degree of illiteracy), the obstacles faced by the Romanian administration, the reluctance of some Bessarabians to believe in the pan-Romanian ideal, the uncertainty regarding the international status of the “recovered” territory. During this period, the identity of Bessarabia was shaped and understood through different perspectives related to the ambivalent cultural legacies. Just like in the European space, the revalidation of an identity by the Bessarabian political elites was done through the reinterpretation of historical events.

• Details
• Contents