Nr. 4 (21) anul VI / octombrie-decembrie 2008 - ROMDIDAC

EX PONTO NR.4, 2008
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women are dressed in the traditional costume, offering a visually detailed
support to the ekphrasis:
The women wear a high-necked, ankle-long chemise of white
homespun linen, with full sleeves gathered at the elbow and richly
embroidered, usually with blue. Bands of narrow embroidery decorate
the waist and the skirt also. The chemise is girded to the body by a thick
woolen belt, binding tightly to the figure the upper edge of a narrow apron
of striped swollen homespun, very brilliant in color. ∂…∑ This dress is
preserved with jealous care, and is never produced except on Sundays
and holidays. 4
The images became more and more popular in the newspapers around
the 1890s and the American newspapers used illustrations to arrest their
readers’ eyes and interest. “The photograph provided a model for the
desired journalistic impact: objective, true to life, mesmerizing” state Stuart
and Elizabeth Ewen in their book Channels of Desire. Mass Images and
the Shaping of American Consciousness. Analyzing the contribution of the
illustrated journalism to the formation of the American multi-ethnic society,
they reached the conclusion that “the camera was a powerful mechanism
for conveying fantasy and suggesting transcendence; its imagery employed
a powerful, visual vernacular, understandable even to immigrants unable
to speak English” (18). In this context, the publication of the Romanian
monarch’s photos and of the illustrations depicting Romanian soldiers helped
Americans identify Romanians as people with ancient roots reflected by their
hand-made outfits, in the process of modernization, and eager to fight for their
independence and national unity.
The image of the Romanian folk costume continued to be internationally
promoted for the first two decades of the twentieth century due to the following
Romanian queens who perpetuated Queen Elizabeth’s model and wore
national costumes at official dinners, other public events, and in postcards.
The favorite of the American magazines was Queen Mary. Her devotion to the
wounded soldiers during the First World War and her cultural activism were
constantly subjects of the European and American journalist alike. Articles
about her work as a nurse in the war hospitals or about her writings were
published in: The Graphic (1893, 1918), The Ladies’ Home Journal (1916),
The Century Magazine (1918), National Geographic (1922, 23), Vanity Fair
(1932), The Saturday Evening Post (1933), etc. Moreover, her meeting with
the US president Woodrow Wilson in Paris on April 11, 1919 at the Peace
Conference was covered by the American journals as well as her 1926 tour
in the US, which was considered one of the featured events of the year.
Romanian Folk Culture at World’s Fairs
Simultaneously, the world’s fairs exhibited Romanian products, artworks,
and more importantly, they brought folk bands to sing, play, and dance to
Romanian folk music. Romania had participated uninterruptedly at the world’s
fairs since 1867, when it was invited at the Parisian Exhibition until the 1939
New York World’s Fair. For more than five decades, Romania represented
herself as a rural country, whose peasants preserved the authentic Roman
heritage and its essential national traits. 5 The myth of the bon sauvage offered
a framework for understanding the rural societies and their life. Explanatory
texts which accompanied the exhibition contained significant information.
Statistics mentioned that four fifths of the population lived in rural areas