Baia Mare North University, in cooperation with “Petre Dulfu” County Library, organized today the Conference “Emigration without Exile” held by CĂLIN-ANDREI MIHĂILESCU, essayist and university professor at UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO CANADA.
I accepted the invitation sent by the American Corner for three reasons: the topic, the weather and my curiosity.
I must confess that the event surpassed my expectations.
At first sight the lecturer himself, an intelligent and charismatic person , is an immigrant.
He left Romania for Canada. But he is more than that. He traveled all over the world both physically and spiritually, becoming an expert in comparative literature, literature from all continents, a person with an impressive cultural background.
I was surprised by the fact that although he left Romania long ago, he did not seem to have forgotten his native language ( as sometimes happens with some people who want to give the impression they are above all and in only several months begin to utter Romanian words with a foreign accent).
In the first part of his speech he referred to the "exile" concept.
I remember that before and during Communism many intellectuals left Romania because they could not cope with the regime. Some of the most famous were Eugen Ionesco (1), Emil Cioran (2) and Mircea Eliade(3)
They managed to become famous abroad.
I accepted the invitation sent by the American Corner for three reasons: the topic, the weather and my curiosity.
I must confess that the event surpassed my expectations.
At first sight the lecturer himself, an intelligent and charismatic person , is an immigrant.
He left Romania for Canada. But he is more than that. He traveled all over the world both physically and spiritually, becoming an expert in comparative literature, literature from all continents, a person with an impressive cultural background.
I was surprised by the fact that although he left Romania long ago, he did not seem to have forgotten his native language ( as sometimes happens with some people who want to give the impression they are above all and in only several months begin to utter Romanian words with a foreign accent).
In the first part of his speech he referred to the "exile" concept.
I remember that before and during Communism many intellectuals left Romania because they could not cope with the regime. Some of the most famous were Eugen Ionesco (1), Emil Cioran (2) and Mircea Eliade(3)
They managed to become famous abroad.
While Noica (4) and Nicolae Steinhard (5) were sent to prison and marginalized.
The situation today is different. Most of the people leave Romania mainly for economic reasons.
The most interesting is the situation of the Romanian working in Spain and Italy.
While in Spain they feel at ease and have started to organize themselves in large communities with an Orthodox Church and even classes in Romanian, in Italy they are faced with fascist manifestations reminding us of the 30s. The causes are complex and mostly the people without proper education, without any profession , started to create unpleasant situations that led the natives to exasperation .
The Romanians abroad no longer live in exile.
They can travel from Europe to America in only 10 hours.
Due to the Internet they can communicate with their families and with their friends.
However, because they have to adapt themselves in a new society, possessing sometimes completely different mentalities, it is not easy to integrate rapidly.
Some of the immigrants are not able to do that and in a short time they might experience a nervous breakdown and some of them end tragically.
The discussions with the audience pointed out some interesting issues.
Adults/ old people do no longer look tragically to the families who are abroad. On the contrary, they gather together on holydays and share stories about their children abroad, about their intentions to visit them or about the fact that they keep sending money home to build a new house and set up a business when coming back . Some of them come back. Others don't.
The aspect of the villages in Maramures has changed a lot.
But the dramatic aspect of the present day immigration is that of the young children who miss the affection of their parents.
Their school situation is visibly affected. They sometimes meet together forming communities of adolescents who spend time and money together in pubs and discos. School is no longer that important for them.They have money and the feeling life is easy.
The idea of belonging to a group drives them together.
I think our project, by using the experience of such teenagers, could give us a new perspective upon this phenomenon and we could become more efficient in helping them.
______________________________________
The situation today is different. Most of the people leave Romania mainly for economic reasons.
The most interesting is the situation of the Romanian working in Spain and Italy.
While in Spain they feel at ease and have started to organize themselves in large communities with an Orthodox Church and even classes in Romanian, in Italy they are faced with fascist manifestations reminding us of the 30s. The causes are complex and mostly the people without proper education, without any profession , started to create unpleasant situations that led the natives to exasperation .
The Romanians abroad no longer live in exile.
They can travel from Europe to America in only 10 hours.
Due to the Internet they can communicate with their families and with their friends.
However, because they have to adapt themselves in a new society, possessing sometimes completely different mentalities, it is not easy to integrate rapidly.
Some of the immigrants are not able to do that and in a short time they might experience a nervous breakdown and some of them end tragically.
The discussions with the audience pointed out some interesting issues.
Adults/ old people do no longer look tragically to the families who are abroad. On the contrary, they gather together on holydays and share stories about their children abroad, about their intentions to visit them or about the fact that they keep sending money home to build a new house and set up a business when coming back . Some of them come back. Others don't.
The aspect of the villages in Maramures has changed a lot.
But the dramatic aspect of the present day immigration is that of the young children who miss the affection of their parents.
Their school situation is visibly affected. They sometimes meet together forming communities of adolescents who spend time and money together in pubs and discos. School is no longer that important for them.They have money and the feeling life is easy.
The idea of belonging to a group drives them together.
I think our project, by using the experience of such teenagers, could give us a new perspective upon this phenomenon and we could become more efficient in helping them.
______________________________________
1.Eugène Ionesco, born Eugen Ionescu (November 26, 1909 – March 28, 1994), was a Romanian and French playwright and dramatist, one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd. Beyond ridiculing the most banal situations, Ionesco's plays depict in a tangible way the solitude and insignificance of human existence. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
2 Emil Cioran (April 8, 1911 – June 20, 1995) was a Romanian philosopher and essayist. (http://en.wikipedia.org) who, starting with 1937 lived in France and wrote only in French.. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
3. Mircea Eliade (March 13 [O.S. February 28] 1907 – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day. His theory that hierophanies form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time, has proven influential. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
4. Constantin Noica (July 25 [O.S. July 12] 1909, Vităneşti, Teleorman - December 4, 1987, Sibiu) was a Romanian philosopher, essayist and poet. His preoccupations were throughout all philosophy, from epistemology, philosophy of culture, axiology and philosophic anthropology to ontology and logics, from the history of philosophy to systematic philosophy, from ancient to contemporary philosophy, from translating and interpretation to criticism and creation. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
5. Nicolae Steinhardt (born Nicu-Aurelian Steinhardt; July 12, 1912-March 29, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox hermit and father confessor. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
2 Emil Cioran (April 8, 1911 – June 20, 1995) was a Romanian philosopher and essayist. (http://en.wikipedia.org) who, starting with 1937 lived in France and wrote only in French.. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
3. Mircea Eliade (March 13 [O.S. February 28] 1907 – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day. His theory that hierophanies form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time, has proven influential. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
4. Constantin Noica (July 25 [O.S. July 12] 1909, Vităneşti, Teleorman - December 4, 1987, Sibiu) was a Romanian philosopher, essayist and poet. His preoccupations were throughout all philosophy, from epistemology, philosophy of culture, axiology and philosophic anthropology to ontology and logics, from the history of philosophy to systematic philosophy, from ancient to contemporary philosophy, from translating and interpretation to criticism and creation. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
5. Nicolae Steinhardt (born Nicu-Aurelian Steinhardt; July 12, 1912-March 29, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox hermit and father confessor. (http://en.wikipedia.org)
