Rumanian Language and Literature

Various Influences.

The intellectual development of Rumania has never until modern times been affected by Latin culture, but it has been most profoundly influenced successively by Slavonic, Greek and Byzantine, and Western, notably French and Italian, literature. Rumanian literary history may be divided into three periods: the Slavonic, from the beginnings in the mid dle of the i6th century down to 171o; the Greek, from 1710 to 183o; and the modern, from 183o to the present. The change from Slavonic to Rumanian was very gradual. Slavonic had been the language of the church from the early middle ages, and was therefore hallowed in the eyes of the people and the clergy. Through the political connection with Bulgaria and Serbia it had also been the language of the chancelleries and the court. The beginnings of Rumanian literature proper consist of translations, as literal as possible, from Slavonic, prompted by the activities and aspirations of the Calvinistic reformers in Transylvania.

The second period is marked by a complete waning of Slavonic influence, through the literary activity of the Phanariote rulers. The Slavonic kingdoms to the south had ceased to exist, politically and culturally, whilst the Greeks brought with them the old litera ture from Byzantium and drove out the last remnants of Slavonic. They treated Rumanian as an uncouth and barbarian language, and imposed their own Greek upon the church. This Greek period corresponds to that of the Renaissance in the West ; but when the rule of the Phanariotes was shaken off, the cultural link was broken too, and under Western influences began the romantic movement which has dominated Rumanian literature since 183o. Much of the Rumanian literature of the first two periods has been preserved only in mss. ; few of these have been investigated, and a still smaller number have been compared with their original.

First Period: c. 1550-1710.

Rumanian literature begins, like all modern European literature, with translations from the Bible. The oldest of these are direct translations from Slavonic texts, f ol lowing the original word for word, even in its grammatical con struction. The first impetus towards the printing of the Rumanian translations came from the princes and judges in Transylvania. It was under their orders and often at their expense that the first Slavonic printing-presses were established in places like Kron stadt (Brasov) Orastia, Sasz-Shebesh and Alba Julia, where Slavonic and Rumanian books appeared. The foremost printer and translator was a certain Diakonus Koresi, of Greek origin, who had emigrated to Walachia and thence to Transylvania. He was assisted in his work by the (parish priests) of those places where he worked. The very first book published in Ruman ian is the Gospels printed in Kronstadt between 156o and 1561. An absolutely identical Slavonic text of the Gospels appeared in the same year, or one year earlier, which no doubt was the original for the Rumanian translation. Following up the list of publica

tions of the books of the Bible in chronological order, we find Diakonus Koresi immediately afterwards printing a Rumanian translation of the Acts of the Apostles; in 1577 he printed at Sasz-Shebesh a Psalter in both Slavonic and Rumanian; the Rumanian follows the Slavonic verse for verse.

The first complete Rumanian translation of the New Testament appeared at Alba Julia, in Transylvania, in 1648. Its chief author was a certain Hieromonach Sylvestre, a Walachian who had under taken the work at the command of Prince Gabriel Bethlen of Transylvania and while it was based on the Slavonic version, it was collated with the Hungarian Calvinistic translation and the Greek original. The first edition of the complete Bible was pub lished (1688) by order of Prince loan Sherban Cantacuzino, by Radu Greceanu, assisted by his brother Serban and by Bishop Metrofan of Buzeu. This may be considered as the supreme lit erary monument in Walachia in the 17th century. At least Ioo years had to pass before a new edition of the whole Bible was undertaken. The first rhymed Psalter in Rumanian was published by Dositheiu in 1673.

The ancient collections of homilies in Rumania are due to the same proselytizing movement. Almost the first book printed by Koresi (at the expense of the magistrate of Kronstadt, Foro Mik laus, c. 1570), seems to have been a translation from some Calvin istic compilation of homilies, one for every Sunday in the year. A Slavonic original sent by the metropolitan Serafim of Walachia served as the basis for a second collection of homilies known as Evangelie inviitcitoare (1580). The first collection of homilies, known as Cazanii, appeared in Dliigopole, i.e., Campulung, in Walachia, in 1642. It was compiled by a certain Melchisedec and contained 13 homilies.

The Rumanian language was not yet introduced into the church. The burial service seems to have been the first to be translated from the Slavonic. Two Evhologia appeared during the second half of the 17th century, one by the bishop Dositheiu (Jassy, 1679 8o) and the other by Ioan of Vinti (Belgrad, 1689). This Moli teivnic (prayer-book) has been the basis of all subsequent editions of the Rumanian prayer-book. The liturgy proper was also trans lated by Bishop Dositheiu in 1679, but a translation from the Greek, by Jeremia Kakavela (Jassy, 1697), was the one adopted in the churches. In 1694 Alexander Dascalul translated, and the bishops Mitrofan of Buseu and Kesarie of Ramnicu Valcea printed (among other church books) the 12 volumes of the Mineu in Slavonic with Rumanian rubrics, and short lives of the saints, as well as the Triod and the Anthologion.