LE SYMPOSIUM INTERNATIONAL LE LIVRE. LA ROUMANIE. L ...

296 GaBriela ruSu-PĂSĂrin
II. The roadside crucifix, a cultural identity mark of the Romanians
(ethnofolkoric research in Vojvodina)
the roadside crucifix as the hallmark of romanian cultural identity is
just one of the landmarks stressed by history and ethnology, anthropology
and visual arts, community and culture, each reffering to the vision of
world folklore in varying degrees. It is the one that requires a perception of
immediacy and a projection filtered by a behavior evaluation grid, “skills
of life and for life. therefore there is a deep ethical order within it and an
aesthetic one in its expressions”. (papadima, 1941, p. xI)
the presence of both ethical and aesthetic concepts in ovid papadima’s
definition leads to the analysis of one of the existential ceremonies, the
funerals, by harmonizing social relations (with the determinant role of
identification) and the system of cultural values.
the solidarity and strength of dedication of the values of popular culture
can be assessed by the criteria of their own originality (sn) and beauty
(sn) but mostly, we belive, in comparison with the ability of irradiation
through time and of support, as a miraculous bed germinating of
modern culture, considered to be the most important a people can have.
(dumitrescu-Buşulenga, 1988, p. 5).
“lumea cu dor” (The World of longing) and “lumea fără dor” (The
World without longing) are perceived as symbolic universes, so that space
and time are reworded according to the event in the traditional community.
preserving tradition and filtering it through social circumstances and
through the mentality horizon is essentially an upgrading and rewording
process, leaving the structure of ideas as a marking for the existential ritual.
A diachronic analysis of this phenomenon will be the substance of
future research. At this level of the research, undertaken within a short time
(July-September 2009) and over a large area, illustrated by the emblematic
cultural centers recognized for their value, we only offer a synchronic
analysis: tracking the functions og the funeral ceremony, a snapshot of
four ethnographic areas: the oltenia area beneath the mountain, the plain
of oltenia, the Bulgarian timoc (Vidin, pocraina, Florentin, rabova) and
Vojvodina (uzdin, Vrsac, ecica).
rudolf otto contends that “magic involves a force of something
disturbing and unsettling” (otto, 1992, p.148) and the cult of the dead
is centered on “the art of wincing”. the actors of both sides are gifted
individuals who “focus on the proper institutions designated to power up
these arts“.