Romanian Francophony, the Beautiful Stranger

Abstract

French in Romanian space meant much more than mastering a linguistic instrument, being the expression of adherence to a whole series of values, ideas and ideals specific to modern European nations. Romanian intellectuals and political elites chose French as an idiom for the expression of freedom, modernity and the belonging of Romanian space to the Europe of free nations. The francophone dimension of Romania developed especially during the first half of the 20th century. It was at this time that Bucharest became little Paris”. Many Romanian writers then chose to create the most significant part of their work in French. Illustrious names, including those of Constantin Brancusi, Eugène Ionesco, Mircea Eliade, Georges Enesco, Emil Cioran, have since become part of the Francophone cultural heritage. The French-speaking component of Romanian history, built over two centuries of history, has been able to resist even under the conditions of great precariousness imposed under totalitarianism, after the Second World War. Immediately after the return of democracy, Romania joined, as a full member, the institutional Francophonie (1993), returning to the Francophone family to which it was attached in an extremely rich past.