Fra Grgo Martić, učitelj i promicatelj pedagoške misli u BiH

Author(s): Lucija Vrljičak / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 20/2015

Fra Grgo Martić was a great promoter of pedagogic thought in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a prominent Franciscan and teacher whose life and work left a lasting and indelible imprint on our educational, cultural and socio-political history, and also formed our pedagogic reality, which we today very often, unfortunately, take for granted. He devoted his life to a sixty-year long social activity within the first half of the 19th century during the rule of the Ottoman Empire or more exactly, from the moment he was ordained in the Franciscan Order in 1844 until the coming of Austria-Hungary to power in 1878 when he withdrew from the public life. Fra Grgo Martić gave a huge contribution to the development of society, culture and education as well as to the promotion of the pedagogic thought in BiH in the 19th century. He was a skillful diplomat and politician for the benefit of his people, he helped Catholic and non-Catholic population equally during his engagement in the Agency of Bosnian Franciscans in Sarajevo. He had a significant role in the establishment of the first elementary schools throughout the Franciscan Province of Bosna Argentina (Silver Bosnia), he opened the first general program secondary school in Sarajevo and wrote rule books for elementary and secondary education, that can justly be characterized as peculiar foundations on which the modern Bosnian-Herzegovinian education system rests. He was, first of all, a great man and philanthropist, an example of the Franciscan Order of Silver Bosnia he belonged to, a negotiator when needed, a writer and guardian of the literature of the Croatian people, a teacher and pedagogue in the full sense of the word.

Българският комунизъм. Дебати и интерпретации

Author(s): Nikolay Poppetrov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1-2/2015

A presentation of “The Bulgarian communism. Debates and interpretations” – research papers collection, edited by Mihail Gruev and Diana Mishkova

Aktionsgruppe Banat Reconstructs Its Past, I: Personal Memories and Collective Identity

Author(s): Cristina Petrescu / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2015

This study represents the first part of an analysis focusing on Aktionsgruppe Banat and its members’ endeavors to reconstruct their pre-1989 common past. Based on memory sources, this first part illustrates that the members of this non-conformist group have not recently recalled their experience under Romanian communism in order to turn themselves retrospectively into dissidents. Instead, they have jointly conveyed the memory of a “collective author” with a unique identity in Ceauşescu’s Romania. As the present study argues, this uniqueness derives not only from the different ethno-cultural origin of the group members, but also from their specific literary program and indeed atypical political convictions.

Norman Manea – Personal History as a Premise for Fiction. The Holocaust, Communism, Exile as Collective Drama Sublimated through Writing

Author(s): Mihaela Șimonca / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2015

When Norman Manea left Romania for Germany in 1986, he was already an established Romanian writer. Two years later he immigrated to the United States of America and ever since he has published ten more volumes. He is currently living in New York, teaching literature at Bard College.Manea’s fiction and non-fiction books published in the United States relate closely to the concepts of history, memory and totalitarianism. The year 1986 was a turning point in his writing. Whereas America gave him the chance to reach a new fiction level, his biography became a crucial source of inspiration for his work.His whole literary trajectory during his exile represents a process of memory incitement, of self-discovery at different ages; by narrating himself, the author bears witness to the violence and destruction caused by both forms of totalitarianism – Nazism and Communism. Using language as an ally to anamnesis, Norman Manea descends into his own past and rediscovers his identity. His memories represent the raw material for a literature that brings together stories of three fundamental experiences: Nazism (with its dehumanizing corollary, the Holocaust), communism (with the White Clown’s perverse pleasure in “order and discipline”) and exile, with language displacement.

Noua perspectivă sovietică asupra crizei ungare din 1956 în condiţiile revizuirii „doctrinei Brejnev” la sfârşitul anilor '80 –începutul anilor '90

Author(s): Aleksandr S. Stykalin / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1-2/2015

The author focuses on the evolution of the Soviet official view on the 1956 Hungarian events during Gorbachev’s “perestroika” and in connection with the breakdown of Communism in Central-Eastern Europe.The military intervention of five Warsaw Treaty-states against the „Prague Spring” in august 1968 was theoretically fundamented through the so-called „Brezhnev Doctrine”.That was gradually abandoned by the Soviet leadership during the 1980’s and mostly during Gorbachev’s perestroika. Simultaneously a reevaluation of the Soviet official position towards the 1956 Hungarian Revolution occurred. The process reached its climax at the end of the 1980’s in the context of the breakdown of the Socialist bloc.

Ad fontes – за славянските букви и кирило-методиевските извори от Западното средновековие

Author(s): Slavia Barlieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2015

За времето на пренасянето на мощите на св. Йоан Рилски от Рила в Средец

Author(s): Dimo Cheshmedzhiev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2015

Dánské transporty do Terezína. Polozapomenutý osud židovské mládeže z Československa

Author(s): Vendula V. Hingarová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 04/2024

In 1939, hundreds of young Jews from Czechoslovakia managed to escape to Denmark, aiming to continue their journey to Palestine. Despite the initial success, many faced deportation to Terezín during Nazi raids. Otto Schwarzbart from Jemnice was among those who survived, thanks to his Danish transport number. The Zionist organization Alija mládeže played a crucial role in facilitating the emigration of Jewish children to safer countries, including Denmark. The Danish authorities initially resisted accepting refugees but eventually allowed a limited number of children to stay temporarily. The October 1943 Nazi raid in Denmark led to the deportation of many Jews to Terezín, where they endured harsh conditions. Danish solidarity and efforts to send food aid helped alleviate some of the suffering. The rescue mission involving Swedish buses in April 1945 marked a significant moment, leading to the evacuation of Danish Jews to Sweden. Otto Schwarzbart's story exemplifies the resilience and solidarity during these challenging times.

Колко тежи изкуството? Игра и сериозност от Кант до Ватимо

Author(s): Lyuboslava Hristova-Petrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2024

Although initially the concept of art as play incorporates the idea of art’s autonomy and irreducibility to the control of rational concepts, as outlined by Kant, its later interpretations are marked by the shadow of inevitable comparisons with its irrevocable antipode – seriousness. Deeply embedded in the concept is the risk of reducing art to the lightness of enjoyment and entertainment, far from the serious dimensions of life, or to purely subjective expression at the expense of truth and knowledge. Authors such as Schiller and Gadamer attempt to rehabilitate art’s weight, redefining precisely the concept of “play” into a key feature of human nature or humanitarian knowledge respectively. Lyotard advocates the special status of art-as-play, capable of rewriting the rules of the other spheres of life. While according to critics of the concept, such as Vattimo, the term itself is at the heart of depriving art of ontological and existential weight.

Mişcarea socialistă din România în perioada neutralităţii (1914-1916)

Author(s): Gabriela Dristaru / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 23/2024

The history of the socialist movement has been one of the most ideologically manipulated subjects in Romanian historiography during the communist regime. Benefiting from access to important archival sources, which before 1989 had been discretionarily administered by party authorities, this article re-examines the activity of the Romanian Social Democratic Party during the two years of neutrality (1914-1916). The contribution explores the positions adopted by Romanian socialists towards the war, the main policies they extolled at the time, and, above all, their impact on Romania’s politics and society.

„Iubit-am pe Iacob”. Gala Galaction, apostolul Pavel și poporul ales

Author(s): George Enache / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1/2024

Gala Galaction was one of the personalities of the Romanian Orthodox Church during the first part of the 20th century. He was fluent in Hebrew and translated the Bible from the original Hebrew text. His political convictions were directed at the democratic left and he considered himself a „pro-Semite”. He had a great openness to the Jewish population in Romania, which he sought to defend many times. For this reason, the anti-Semites within the Romanian Orthodox Church and beyond challenged him harshly.The study aims to highlight the way in which Gala Galaction related to the „Jewish question” in all its aspects, in interwar Romania. I will investigate how Gala Galaction approached the Jewish tradition, his friendship with many representatives of the Jewish community in Romania, his support for the Zionist cause, his fascination with the Apostle Paul and the Epistle to the Romans, which strengthened his belief that Jews play an essential role in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Pascal and Recursion

Author(s): Walter Gander / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2024

In this paper, we show the impact of Pascal on numerical software. Using recursion, a new and elegant algorithm for quadrature could be developed.

The panorama of artificial intelligence – development or advancement?

Author(s): Ondřej Roubal,Kateryna Narusevych / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

The objective of this study is to identify and describe the main milestones in the development of artificial intelligence in the form of a chronological overview of its historical development. This study also seeks to present an argument that challenges the stereotypically and uncritically accepted thesis that draws no distinction between the concepts of development and advancement as they apply to artificial intelligence. Development is a mechanism following a process of leaps forward, without a goal, without criteria based on values or morals. Progress is an ambivalent phenomenon, the practical outcome and result of a specific developmental phase of interacting social, technological, economic, and cultural factors. A historical understanding of the context that gave rise to the development of key concepts of artificial intelligence technologies is the foundation for further possible scientific analysis and qualified predictions of the transformation of society. The phenomenon of artificial intelligence is distinctive for its ambivalent nature. On one hand, it contributes to the prosperity of society, increases efficiency, accelerates performance, and makes a range of human activities easier and more precise. On the other hand, artificial intelligence generates unseen social risks, transforms the function of cultural patterns, and breaks social norms, raising philosophical, ethical, moral, and legislative questions. This review study can serve as a starting point for further study and research analyses to identify the main trends in the technological development of artificial intelligence in the context of questions of advancement in social, cultural, political, economic, ethical, or legislative transformations of society.

THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF THE REIGN. THE RECOGNITION OF THE UNION AND ITS FINALIZATION (JANUARY 24, 1859-JANUARY 24, 1862)

Author(s): Vasile-Virgil Coman / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 40/2025

From the first months of Cuza's reign, difficulties arose with the administration system imposed by the Paris Convention, with two governments, one in Iaşi, the other in Bucharest, with two Chambers, with a Central Commission in Focşani. The draft laws developed by this commission had to be investigated by both governments, voted by both Chambers, sanctioned and promulgated separately by Cuza. The system was undeniably cumbersome. It is not surprising that, from this way of working, by which the lord was forced to move continuously from one capital to another, there were voices demanding the full union of the Principalities, with the risk of violating the Paris Convention, i.e. over the decision of the Guarantor PowersAlongside the diplomatic struggle waged first for the recognition of the double election, then for the full Union, was the ruler's permanent concern to defend and strengthen the country's autonomy. In general, Cuza had a precautionary attitude, full of courtesy, towards the sultan and the high Ottoman dignitaries. In both visits that Cuza made to Constantinople, in September 1860 and in June 1864, he was very well received and the impression he left was excellent. The same care to defend the country's autonomy and dignity, the same way of proceeding, was adopted in relations with the Austrians. Austria was hostile towards the Principalities, both before and after the union.The concern for defending the country's autonomy and dignity is also evident in relations with Russia. When, in September 1859, the Russian vice-consul in Ismail complained both directly to Cuza and to the Ministries of Foreign and Interior about a series of cases that had occurred in the locality, the Council of Ministers of Moldova, meeting on the 15th of the month, investigating these cases, found that the local Moldovan authorities had acted "in order." The hostile attitude adopted by Austria, but also by Turkey towards Cuza's double election, determined Cuza to concentrate the army in the Floreşti camp.

THE DIPLOMATIC - MILITARY MISSION OF MAJOR ALEXANDER SOCEC IN SWEDEN (III)

Author(s): Stelian-Cătălin Ghițuleasa / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2025

The final part of Major Alexandru Socec’s mission in Sweden in 1901 reveals very interesting aspects of how the Swedish Army functioned—one of the most well-organized armies in the world at the beginning of the 20th century. The flawless execution of the Swedish Cavalry maneuvers is particularly impressive, with the memoirist meticulously capturing every significant moment of the battles scheduled over several days (August 2–5). The closing ceremony of the special Cavalry maneuvers is also described in a truly fascinating manner, highlighting the special attention that the Swedish Royal House paid to protocol. A special focus is given to the extensive presentation of the formidable relationship between the King of Sweden and his army. The way in which King Oscar II and his officers treated Major Socec, who attended the maneuvers as a representative of King Carol I, is striking. The honors enjoyed by the envoy of the Romanian sovereign provide further evidence of the extraordinary prestige that this monarch had throughout Europe, including in a country like Sweden.

In Defense of a Common Goal: Connecting the History of Czechoslovak Left Exile Groups

Author(s): Daniela Spenser / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2024

ANDĚLOVÁ, Kristina – SUK, Jiří – ZAHRADNÍČEK, Tomáš: Pro nás dějiny nekončí: Politická práce a myšlení českého levicového exilu (1968–1989). Praha, Argo – Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, v.v.i., 2023, 354 pages, ISBN 978-80-257-4229-7.

Why Does the First World War Still Haunt Us? War, Sorrow, and Justice (Editors’ Introduction)

Author(s): Snezhana Dimitrova,Giovanni Levi / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

Three Images of Death – An Essay on the Perception of Death in Serbia, 1914–1916

Author(s): Ivan Obradović / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

The First World War, particularly the period of 1914-1916 is engraved in the collective memory of Serbian society as “Time of Death”. The aim of the article is to analyze the individual perceptions of death, the images and representations of death in the war, and how contemporaries related to death, dying and funeral customs in the above-mentioned period. The discussion is based on the works created by the painter Miodrag Petrović during the war, more precisely his sketch for the composition The Funeral, made in 1916. An important topic of this article is whether and how the specificity of the Serbian case, such as previous experience of war, punitive expeditions, hunger, epidemics, and exile influenced the perception and symbolic interpretation of death and dying in Serbian society, among both soldiers and civilians.

Ethnicism in 20th century: on Romanian Fascism and National-Communism

Author(s): Victor Neumann / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2025

The communist regime rewrote history in order to hide or falsify the tragedies of Romania's past. This was inspired by the same discriminatory ideologies as the previous totalitarian regime. That is why for many decades the Communists denied the Holocaust. How can this be explained? What were the premises of an interpretation of history that so distorted the reality of the past? A glance at the intellectual history of Romania over the past 100 years, the memories of my meetings with Romanian intellectuals and the practices of family tradition shed light on this. The itinerary of modern and contemporary Romania has been "torn" between a philosophy of being and a philosophy of the nation. The intellectual biography of the interwar generation largely sums up the difficult evolution towards modernity. It was not only the writings of Mircea Eliade and Constantin Noica that influenced the culture of identity and, by implication, the political culture. The examples are similar in the case of many intellectuals, those of interwar Romania being notable for their exaggeration of the relationship between politics and history, ethnicity and nation, cultural community and work of art. The cultural organicism refers to the racist theories dear to some Romanian scholars of previous generations. The totalitarian politics of 20th Century was the way to realise ethnic being, which meant not only ignoring or excluding minorities, but also the civic nation.

Słabość istot żywych. „Ewolucja według Calpurnii Tate” Jacqueline Kelly

Author(s): Alicja Mazan-Mazurkiewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2024

The article is an analysis and interpretation of Jacqueline Kelly’s novel The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (situated in the context of the writer’s work and, more broadly, the trend of retro youth novels). Referring to the concept of catharsis constitutive of Greek tragedy (offered to the recipient to experience pity and fear), I would like to present The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate as a work that offers compassion, sadness and hope – a “weak” version of catharsis, adjusted to the sensitivity of the young reader, and, at the same time, not distorting the difficult truth about the world. Above all, the category of weakness, common to people and other human beings have been highlighted. The primary goal of the article is, therefore, to extract the axiological message of the novel. To do so, a compilation of various methodologies (comparative studies, ecocriticism, feminist criticism), and a research tool have been used.