Radio România Internațional

Tag: modernity

  • The Christmas tree, between tradition and modernity

    The Christmas tree, between tradition and modernity

    It may seem surprising, but the first decorated Christmas tree in Romania only dates back to 1866, in passing one of the important years in Romania’s history, because then a new era began, marked by the one who would later become their king – Carol I Less than eight months after the arrival of the Prussian Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, the royal palace in Bucharest hosted, in December 1866, the first Christmas tree in Romania decorated for Christmas with spectacular decorations brought from the sovereign’s native country.

     

    The custom of decorating the Christmas tree, specific to the Germans, imported to Romania through the Royal House, enjoyed people’s appreciation and spread throughout the country, at first imitated by the urban elites, then taken over in the countryside.

     

    But why a fir tree and not another tree? Because the Romanians already gave it much older meanings which will be reviewed next by one of the most important ethnological researchers in Romania, university professor Doina Ișfănoni: ʺLet’s not forget that the fir tree is a sacred tree for Romanians. It is, if you will, the tree of life that connects Heaven and Earth. It is the tree that, starting from birth to burial, accompanies human life, being decorated in different ways according to the age stages. At birth, a fir sapling is chosen, and it’s either left in the forest or transferred closer to the family’s home. The tree is, somehow, a kind of barometer of the child’s evolution. As the tree grows, so will the child grow, will grow tall, handsome and, of course, believing in ageless youth – just as the tree never changes its green color. Then the wedding fir tree is also decorated with colorful papers, ribbons, bells on top. So is the funeral fir tree. It is adorned, in the case of unmarried young people, with black tassels, a headscarf (usually worn by local girls) and a bell which jingles when the wind blows, and which is said to be the husband or wife of the deceased. So, for Romanians the fir tree has a very complex connotation.ʺ

     

    The fir tree also has a Christian significance as this tree was also adopted by Romanians as a central element of the Nativity celebration. Its Christian connotations are enhanced by the choice of specific ornaments. Doina Ișfănoni lists them again:  ʺFor example, the little lights, the candles that were put in the tree, giving it that magical aspect, refer to the symbolism of the candle, which is the substitute of Jesus. The wax is the body, the flame is the spirit. Also, the apples that were hung in the Christmas tree were not only simple ornaments. Red apples were preferred, indeed, to be as visible as possible, and they refer to the original sin of Eve with the famous apple and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Heaven. Walnuts are also hung in the fir tree, covered in tinfoil, because they also represent, if you will, a particle of light, a light that is reflected in the interior space and thus gives an extra glow. The nut is also a symbol in the context of the winter solstice and of the Christian customs. Because the walnut is the fruit that endures over time and is the expression of fruitfulness, of wealth, of the passage of time that does not affect it. And from a Christian point of view, since the walnut has the sign of the cross at its core, it adds to the symbolism of the Christmas tree as a celebration of the Savior’s birth. The entire walnut kernel has the shape of a human brain which translates into enlightenment. It is the moment when we all know that, during the winter holidays and especially at Christmas time, through the birth of the Savior, each of us has the promise of a rebirth. It is the moment when the three sisters – Hope, Love and Faith – get together giving humans extra strength, extra energy and extra hope. Of course, on top of the Christmas tree is an angel or a star that led the Magi to Bethlehem, where the Savior was born, in the manger.ʺ

     

    Unfortunately, the ethnologist researcher Doina Ișfănoni says, many of us nowadays lose sight of the many connotations of the fir tree, which, from a symbol, is transformed into a simple decoration: ʺIf you ask what the Christmas tree means to Romanians, people will give very different answers, and you will find that none of them will refer to the cosmic tree, none of them will talk about its decorations as a syncretic fusion between Christianity and pre-Christianity. The role of specialists is to bring to people’s attention the meaning of the fir tree, of traditions, to explain that every gesture has a meaning, a value, a motivation, nothing is senseless. ʺ

     

    We also talked to Doina Ișfănoni about plastic fir trees which in many cases replace the natural ones: ʺPeople replaced the live fir tree with the plastic tree. It’s a blasphemy, in my view, because you don’t bring death into the house, you bring life into the house, you need life and vitality. Artificial trees have no value. This is just my opinion, others may have other opinions. As regards tradition, I for one, I’m trying as much as possible to bring back to people’s consciousness its value and importance. ʺ

     

    The fir tree is the element that brings together the family and relatives, who, at Christmas, gather around it, give and receive gifts, then sit down at the table full of special dishes, some prepared only at this time of the year. But not before receiving the carolers, which announce the birth of Jesus.

     

    At least in the rural area of ​​Romania, the ancient traditions are still preserved for the celebration of the Nativity and strictly observed. That’s why Romania still counts among the pampered countries of South-Eastern Europe, says university professor Doina Işfănoni: the cultural behaviors that go back in history make us say that, for us, Christmas continues to be that step towards the sacred, which opens on the eve of December 25 and ends on January 6, on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. (LS)

  • Modernity in Early 19th Century in the Romanian Space

    Modernity in Early 19th Century in the Romanian Space

    Public opinion started leaning towards secularism and the rule of law, to the detriment of a despotic state of church institutions. The French influence was essential in inspiring modern ideas, at a time when political and military events led into a new era.



    The Romanian Principalities, still under Ottoman control, were in dire need of reform. The Ottoman political and economic model had failed, and was a hurdle to new trends and aspirations. Modernity had sown the seeds of national movements, and in the Romanian space it manifested in the Greek and Romanian insurrections of 1821.



    The French Revolution was the decisive element in the emergence of national movements, as emphasized by historian Georgeta Penelea Filiti: “The French Revolution largely laid the groundwork for what was about to happen over the following two decades, culminating in the 1821 moment. When it comes to Romanian lands, we have to draw a line between the national movement led by Tudor Vladimirescu and the rather foolhardy movement of the Greeks led by Alexander Ypsilantis, an adviser to the Czar of Russia. I dare say “Romania, in quotation marks, because it was a Greek, Philippide, who used for the first time, in 1816, the term “Romania, meaning the area inhabited mostly by Romanians. Ypsilantis came to the Romanian Principalities from Russia, first to Moldavia, then to Bucharest, hoping that he would get a Christian people, and his own Greek people, to rise up and be helped by Russia. That did not come to be, his movement failed, unfortunately, just as Tudor Vladimirescu’s movement failed. Things did not go well between the two, and Tudor ended up being killed by Ypsilantis people.



    Modernization in the Romanian space followed the times, and in retrospect it could not have been hindered by any factor, just as it was not the result of any plan. It was first and foremost a result of the French influence.



    Historian Georgeta Penelea Filiti once again: “This state of mind generating profound changes and rifts in society are not easy to quantify and pinpoint. People had more information, had in their hands merchandise from Western countries, people talked about fashion and cuisine. What changes is the language that people use, the French language starts insinuating itself, replacing the Greek language among Romanians. There was no imposition to adopt either the Greek or the French languages, it was about the language of the era, the language of culture dominating the Romanian space. However, the Romanian language was being encouraged as well. […] We have to keep in mind the fact that not all French people arriving to the Romanian space were revolutionaries, there were also a lot of refugees. The French Revolution, among the bloodiest, given that any revolution is bloody, but the French Revolution was so more than most, produced a lot of refugees, who were looking to make a living. A lot of French people became secretaries, teachers, public servants in various ministries, and at the same time they were highly sought after as private tutors for wealthy families. The French spirit prevailed. Some of the French people were revolutionaries as well, people of all walks of life left France to settle in Bucharest.



    The ideas of modernity had a prevailing influence in Europe due to Napoleon I’s military campaigns, which turned the old political order on its head. The turmoil caused by France traverses Europe, from Britain to the west to Russia to the east, and also to the Ottoman Empire.



    Georgeta Penelea Filiti believes that in the Romanian space, the French drive to transform Europe from the ground up was represented by a generation of cultured youth, as always a ferment for change: “There was a movement here seeking to create in Bucharest a center of change so strong as to generate a revolution, but that was hard to make happen. As they say, Napoleon stirred the hill of ants, and the most important thing is that this caused a lot of young people in the Romanian space to take up studies abroad. They looked up to the emperor, they saw a savior in him. In 1813, a lot of Romanians went to study in Halle, along with Greek speakers that were settled in the Romanian space, including Aromanians. In Halle, Gottingen, Vienna, plenty of young people went to study medicine, among them Apostol Arsachi. When the emperor passed through Halle, he had the opportunity to hold a speech attended by him. It is a beautiful, fiery speech, in which he says: ‘Your Majesty, save the Christian from the Ottoman Empire!’ Dozens upon dozens such appeals rained on Napoleon, who was obviously a good Christian, but he was also an emperor, a dictator, who pursued his own politics.



    Romanian modernity took shape in the first two decades of the 19th century, but its ideals supposed a lot more time to pass, and lot more struggle.