A Hermeneutic Exercise of the Convergence between National Features and the Modernity of the European Spirit

However ungrateful the situation of Romanian writers who express themselves by means of a language with a limited circulation – the Romanian language – may remain, quite a few of them are European writers. This is reflected in the role they play in their national literature, the modern contents and artistic expressivity of their works and, last but not least, their commitment to the active conscience of human community. The present article is aimed at undertaking a hermeneutical exercise of a centuries-old, fruitful history of cultural and literary Franco-Romanian relations from the beginning until the second half of the 19th century. We will mainly address the topic of Vasile Alecsandri and his generation, who struggled with all responsibility for the development of these relations. This study proves how the Romanian writer, truly European by character, knew that the convergence between national specificity and the modernity of the European spirit is the basis for literary success, the longevity of his works and the cultural relations between his nation and France. Literature has always meant a value of human equilibrium, civilization and humanization. Taking into account all that has been mentioned above, we believe that dwelling at some length upon the exemplary demonstration of the Romanian Europeanism carried out by Vasile Alecsandri in his human and artistic essence, cannot be anything but legitimate, opportune and useful.