Rumanian Literature

Abstract

Rumania gained its independence in 1878, and became a kingdom in 1881. Between the wars there was continuous political unrest. In this period the Rumanian upper classes helped to ensure post-war communism by their sympathy with the Nazis: the left had not been strong, and the political centre was empty — the communists gained complete control after 1947. Rumanian is a romance language, but strongly influenced by the neighbouring Slavonic languages. However, the assertion of the Latin element in the Rumanian heritage plays an important part in the literature, the earlier oral manifestations of which are typified by the dramatic ballad The Lambkin, which the poet Vasile Alecsandri transposed into a ‘correct’ form in 1852.