Literatura și identitatea națională în România interbelică

Abstract

The interwar period in Romania (1918–1940) was a defining era for the crystallization of national identity, deeply influenced by literature and the press. Writers and intellectuals sought to articulate a cohesive sense of Romanian identity in response to the political and territorial unification. Through novels, essays, and poetry, they explored themes of tradition, modernity, and the rural-urban divide. Newspapers such as Gândirea, Viața Românească, Cuvântul and Adevărul played a crucial role in shaping public discourse, offering a platform for nationalist, traditionalist, and modernist perspectives. This article examines how literary figures
such as Lucian Blaga, Liviu Rebreanu, Camil Petrescu, and Mircea Eliade engaged with the question of national identity, highlighting the tensions between autochthonism and Europeanization.