From confrontation to impersonation: Romanian encounters with the English, 1850-1900

Dr. Alex Drace-Francis (Associate Professor, University of Amsterdam)

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia united to form the independent state of Romania, thus joining, to use a stock phrase of the time, ‘the European family of nations’.

This political process of international recognition was accompanied by literary and artistic efforts aiming at calibration of cultural identities. This paper considers the role of Romanian travel texts, and particularly authors' depictions of their encounters with English men and women. These representations can be understood not only as comic and satirical commentaries on English manners, but on relational identities in a European frame.

A seminar hosted by the UCL SSEES South-East European Studies Seminar Series.
Convenor: Dr Diana Georgescu