Mircea Vulcănescu: a polemist monographist
This paper capitalize on the lesser known side of Mircea Vulcanescu’s activity, namely as monographist controversialist, caught in a moment of general effervescence of the young interwar generation from the beginning of the fourth decade, when the main monographists were trying to assert themselves in a distinct way and with programmatic articles in newspapers written for a mass audience, not only accessible to a limited academic research. It is about the polemics caused by his articles published in Dreapta, whose ideas were perceived as too “ruraliste” by both Peter Comarnescu, representative of the humanist left, and Mihail Polihronide, akin to the Legionary Movement. The exchange of ideas between these figures is interesting not only for Romanian interwar history, but also because they touch generally valid and current topics of social sciences: to what extent one can speak about a linear evolution of human society, or rather, about a plurality of forms of social existence; which is the difference between the sociological and ethical point of view. The article also brings new data about Vulcanescu’s attempt to find a middle way, “a rural way”, between Marxism and fascism.
Keywords: monographists, ruralism, young interwar generation, fascism, marxism, gandhism
