Transilvania mea. Istorii, mentalitati, identitati by Sorin Mitu

Unfortunately, at least to some extent, this inherent subjectivity harms the integrity of the work as it hinders a clear enough interpretation of the sources, which is sometimes infused with dramatic overtones. The introduction of the book makes explicit Mitu’s rejection of impersonal history writing, and as a result, he takes the path of postmodern relativism, indulging in a tight bond with the research subject. The six chapters of the book are theoretically framed, incorporating Western debates about concepts, historiography, and nationalism theories.

Consequently, the reader discovers Mitu’s Transylvania from the first half of the nineteenth century side by side with controversial topics, such as Transylvania’s autonomy, pertaining to the post-1989 period. This book, however, is designed as a heterogeneous, subjective and fragmented account of Transylvania’s history, also encompassing articles already published, but reshaped to fit into what the author calls “a typical ‘postmodern’ and polyphonic structure” (12). Mitu’s choice of topic and methods place him among the new generation of Romanian historians who study regionalism, local history and the history of the imaginary. Probably best known to the English-speaking readership for his National Identity of Romanians in Transylvania, published in Romanian in 1997 and translated into English in 2001, in My Transylvania Sorin Mitu mostly continues the analysis of identity mechanisms, the mirror image of the collective self and the other, with a focus on Romanian and Hungarian mutual representations. Key words: foreign travelers, Romanian Principalities, Romanians' image, methodology of research, 1710-1810.Transilvania mea. All these interpretations can form models of analysis of the travel reports in the Romanian space and what we have called the symbolism of the border. Another direction of analysis focused on the types of documentary sources that the foreign travelers had left.

The reconstitution of the travel route was done from the border to the capitals of the Principalities, taking into account the so-called witnesses of the borders between the West and East. Also, the directions of entry of the travelers to the Romanian space were identified and their destination was established, for capturing the state of mind of the voyagers in relation with the places they entered through to the Romanian Principalities. These two aspects are important for the scientific value of the information in the documentary sources made by the voyagers. In our research, we have focused on the origin and intellectual formation of the travelers that crossed the Romanian space. Abstract : After rereading the documentary sources and their interpretation in a modern manner, several new elements that bring originality to our endeavor of research stand out.

Transilvania mea. Istorii, mentalitati, identitati by Sorin Mitu