ASTRA – 150. Argument

Romania’s history,withitsups and downs, always foundASTRA (Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People) at the forefront ofthe cultural actionsin order to stimulate thenationalliteratureand the culturalemancipation, the scientific and technicalprogress,promotingeverywhere the higher standards of livingof the masses:accessto knowledge, art, material wealth, tolerance towards others, etc.., issueshighlightedineach ofthe General Meetings ofthe Association. Despite the syncopes, the obstaclesof all kinds, historical, ideological or economic, ASTRAhasseenfulfilled their purposes,itsmost importantinstitutionsarestillpresent inthe country’scultural life, animated by theidealsthat led totheir birth, however,adaptedto the new global, european socio-politicalcontext.  150 yearssince the establishment ofthe Association, celebratingtheirprovidenţial achievements  isa debt ofhonor.

Keywords: Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People, 150 years aniversary, Central Library of the Association, Andrei Bârseanu.

• Borş, Silviu. Biblioteca Centrală a Asociaţiunii. 1861-1950 (Central Library of the Association. 1861-1950). Sibiu-Cluj-Napoca, Editura InfoartMedia-Mega, 2011.
• Matei, Pamfil. Andrei Bârseanu şi Asociaţiunea (Andrei Bârseanu and the Association) Sibiu, Editura InfoartMedia, 2011.

One century and a half since the foundation of the ASTRA Association (1861-2011)

This paper presents in a summarized form the evolution of the ASTRA Association during its existence of over 150 years (1861-2011). The author highlights the historical and social conditions under which the ASTRA Association was founded, the struggles the generation of 1848 undertook in order to create Association, the achievements and the institutions founded by ASTRA during its existence, the contributions of the ASTRA members to the Great Union from 1918. The author also observes the constant struggle of the ASTRA members to protect the language, the faith and the inalienable rights of Romanians in Transylvania; he also emphasizes the role of culture in their emancipation as one of the civilized nations of Europe. Then he remarks the role of the General Assemblies, both at central and departmental level, in achieving and maintaining the solidarity of all Romanians.
Keywords: Romanian history, XIXth century, Transylvania, ASTRA Association, national and cultural emancipation

• Vasile Curticăpeanu, Mişcarea culturală românească pentru unirea din 1918 / The Romanian cultural movement for the 1918 Union, Editura Ştiinţifică, 1968.
• Ioan Puşcariu, Din Ţara Oltului / From the Olt Country, Telegraful Român, nr.12, 20 martie 1860.
• Ioan Lupaş, Înfiinţarea „Asociaţiunii“ şi conducătorii ei / The creation of the Association and its leaders, Transilvania, nr. 4 jubiliar, iulie – august, 1912, 326 – 348.
• ***, Actele privitoare la urdirea şi înfiinţarea Asociaţiunii Transilvane pentru Literatura Română şi Cultura Poporului Român / Acts regarding the creation of the Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of Romanian People, Editura Asociaţiunii ASTRA, 2005.
• Ştefan Manciulea, Timotei Cipariu şi ASTRA / Timotei Cipariu and ASTRA, Editura ASTRA Despărţământul „Timotei Cipariu“, Blaj, 2001.
• Vasile Goldiş, Discursuri rostite în preajma unirii şi la Asociaţiunea Culturală ASTRA / Speeches delivered at the Union and the ASTRA Cultural Association, Editura Helicon, Timişoara, 1994.
• Dumitru Acu, Andrei Şaguna şi ctitorirea Asociaţiunii ASTRA / Andrei Şaguna and the foundation of the ASTRA Association, Transilvania, serie nouă, anul XXXVII, nr. 9-10, 2008, 14-20.
• Pamfil Matei, ASTRA 1861 – 1950, Editura Dacia, Cluj Napoca, 1986.
• ***, „Astra“ 130, Sibiu, Biblioteca ASTRA, 1992.
• Nicolae Gastone, Astra Rediviva 1990: Început sau continuitate / Astra Rediviva 1990. Beginning or continuity, Editura Asociaţiunii ASTRA, Sibiu, 2007.

The Church and „The Transylvanian Association”

The 150th anniversary of the “Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and Culture of the Romanian people”(ASTRA) urges us to put light on some aspects regarding the contribution of the Romanian Church in Transylvania to its creation, but also to its prosperity. The involvement of the Church in the activity of ASTRA was only natural, being a continuation of the multiple role met by the Church in Transylvania not only in the spiritual life of the nation, but also and especially in the cultural and national-political one, in a time when Romanians in the intra-Carpathian territories did not have their own statal organization, as their brethren across the Carpathians did.
Keywords: Romanian history, XIXth century, Transylvania, ASTRA Association, Romanian Church in Transylvania, Andrei Şaguna

• Acte privitoare la urzirea şi înfiinţarea Asociaţiunii transilvane pentru literatura şi cultura poporului român, Sibiu, 1862.
• A doua adunare generală a „Asociaţiunii transilvane”, Sibiu, 1862.
• Revista „Transilvania”, Sibiu, an. 42, nr. 4, 1911 (număr jubiliar).
• Ioan Lupaş, Mitropolitul Andrei Şaguna, ed. II, Sibiu, 1911, p. 242-253.
• Ioan Lupaş, Andrei Şaguna şi conducătorii „Asociaţiunii transilvane” (1861-1922), Bucureşti, 1922.
• Vasile Curticăpeanu, Mişcarea culturală românească pentru unirea din 1918, Bucureşti, 1968.
• Antonie Plămădeală, Asociaţiunea, un reazem al naţionalităţii române, în vol. său „Dascăli de cuget şi simţire românească”, Sibiu, 1918, p. 338-348.
• Pamfil Matei, Asociaţiunea transilvană pentru literatura şi cultura poporului român (Astra) şi rolul ei în cultura naţională (1861-1950), Cluj-Napoca, 1986.
• Mircea Păcurariu, Contribuţia Bisericii din Transilvania la crearea şi activitatea Astrei, în vol. său „Studii de istorie a Bisericii Ortodoxe Române”, I, Bucureşti, 2005, p. 219-332.
• Pamfil Matei, Andrei Bârseanu (1858-1922) şi Asociaţiunea, Sibiu, 2011.

Thinking of the Association’s Pantheon

On the 150th anniversary since the creation of ASTRA – the most important cultural society of Romanians in Transylvania -, starting from the unveiling of a statue of August Treboniu Laurian in the ASTRA Park from Sibiu, the author of the study meditates on the Romanians’ gratitude (and, not surprisingly, also their ingratitude) towards the deserving ministers of ASTRA and of the Romanian culture, as well as to the profound truth of Andrei Bârseanu’s statement: “By doing justice to the memory of great men, peoples honorthemselves.”
Keywords: Romanian history, XIXth century, Transylvania, ASTRA Association, statues of ASTRA personalities, ASTRA’s Pantheon

Central Libray ot the Association. 1940-1945

The evolution of the Library of the Association must be associated with the evolution of the Association as cultural society, as the latter had in its turn an evolution specific to the European ethno-political movements.

Starting with 1940, the library will be reorganized until 1945, with the help and according with the model of the library of The „King Ferdinand the 1st” University of Cluj, by Petre Olariu and Aurel Gherasim (the latter continuing the work from 1945 until 1948).

Keywords: modern Romanian history, the Library of the Association, University of Cluj, Petre Olariu, Aurel Gherasim

• Bibliotecarii „Astrei“. (1861-1999). Dicţionar / The librarians of the Astra Association, IInd ed., Col. „Biblioteca «Astra»”, no. 16, new series, Sibiu, 1999.
• Direcţia Judeţeană Sibiu a Arhivelor Naţionale, Fond „Astra“, părţile structurale Protocoale de exhibitie, respectiv Registre de Intrare-Ieşire, Indici-alfabetici, Procese verbale şi Acte, perioada 1861-1950 / The Sibiu County Direction of the National Archives, Astra Fund, structural parts Exhibition protocols, respectively Entry-Exit Registers, Alphabetical Indexes, Proces Verbals, and Documents, 1861-1950.

ASTRA – 150 years. Correspondence for The Romanian Encyclopaedia’s

The study focuses on Corneliu Diaconovici and his editorial staff from Sibiu, as they collaborated for the realization of the The First Romanian Encyclopaedia. The author examines their correspondence, exploring the records preserved in The Sibiu County Archives, making thus an inventory of the variegated proposals on different fields: exact and natural sciences, humanities, economy, culture and art, eclesiastic matters a.s.o.

Keywords: ASTRA, The Romanian Encyclopaedia, Corneliu Diaconovici, correspondence, collaborators, records.

• Serviciul Judeţean Sibiu al Arhivelor Naţionale, Fond ASTRA, Corespondenţa pentru elaborarea Enciclopediei Române, 1895-1938.
• Valeriu Branişte, Oameni, fapte, întâmplări, Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1980.
• Sever Bocu, Drumuri şi răscruci. Discursuri, f. e., Bucureşti, 1945.
• Ion Clopoţel, Amintiri şi portrete, Editura Facla, Timişoara, 1973
• Nicolae Cristea, File de memorialistică, Jurnal, Casa de Presă şi Editură Tribuna, Sibiu, 1998
• Corneliu Diaconovici, Activitatea Asociaţiunii pe teren literar, în Transilvania, XXIX, 1898.
• Corneliu Diaconovici, O dare de seamă, în Transilvania. Analele Asociaţiunii, 1903, nr. 5
• Onisifor Ghibu, Pe baricadele vieţii. Anii mei de învăţătură,  Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1981
• Nicolae Iorga, Oameni cari au fost, Editura militară, Bucureşti, 1975.
• Pamfil Matei, ,Asociaţiunea Transilvană pentru Literatura Română şi Cultura Poporului Român” (ASTRA) şi rolul ei în cultura naţională 1861-1950, Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1986.
• Ion Petrovici, Felurite probleme şi oameni. – Evenimente. Note de drum, Editura literară a Casei Şcoalelor, Bucureşti, 1928.
• Sextil Puşcariu, Călare pe două veacuri1895-1906, Editura pentru Literatură, Bucureşti, 1968.

ASTRA’s preoccupations concerning the creation of a national theatre for Transylvanian Romanians

In the second half of the 19th century, the Romanian population in Transylvania were steeped in a traditional folk culture which was having its undeniable merits, yet was a self-sufficient one, confined to itself. Romanians had to withstand the prejudices and, rather often than not, the scorn of the other ethnicities in the Empire, which called for their taking major actions, in order not to remain at the perifery of Transylvania’s multinational society. Astra‘s leaders have realized this imperative and their sustained efforts of founding cutural institutions had a decisive role in the spiritual emancipation of the Romanian population. A most notable institution which they founded was the short-lived Society for the Romanian Theater Fund. This paper pins down the important moments in the evolution of the two institutions that contributed to the influential prime role of the Astra Society in Romanians’ cultural history.

Keywords: Astra, theatrical movement, cultural action, national theater, drama, Transylvania.

• Actele privitoare la urzirea şi înfiinţarea Asociaţiunii transilvane pentru literatura română şi cultura poporului român / Official Papers of the Initiating and Founding of the Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People, Sibiu, 1862.
• Anuarul III al Societăţii, 1899-1900/ The Third Annuary of the Association. Braşov, 1900.
• Astra. 1861-1950. 125 de ani de la înfiinţare / 125 Years since Its Founding, coordonator Victor V. Grecu, Sibiu, 1987.
• Colecţia Revistei Transilvania / The Collection of the Transylvania Review.
• Drimba, Lucian, Istoricul societăţii pentru fond de teatru roman in Ardeal / The History of the Society for the Fund of Romanian Theatre in Transylvania, Oradea, Editura Societatea de Ştiinţe Filologice din RSR, 1969.
• Dragoman, Corneliu, Dramaturgia şi teatrul în acţiunile culturalizatoare al Astrei / Drama and Theatrical Performance in Astra’s Cultural Activities, colecţia Biblioteca Astra, Sibiu, 1998.
• Fond Astra, la Direcţia Judeţeană Sibiu a Arhivelor Statului / The Astra Papers, in the Sibiu County State Archives.
• Matei, Pamfil, Astra. Asociaţiunea transilvană pentru literatura română şi cultura poporului român 1861- 1950 / The Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People, Cluj-Napoca, Editura Dacia, 1986.
• Matei, Pamfil, Asociaţiunea în lumina documentelor (1861-1950). Noi contribuţii / The Association Reflected in Documents (1861-1950). New Contributions, Sibiu, Editura Universităţii „Lucian Blaga”, 2005.
• G. Preda, Activitatea Astrei în 25 de ani de la Unire / The Activity of Astra in the first 25 Years after the Union (1918-1943), Sibiu, Biblioteca Astra, 1944
• Revista Luceafărul / The Luceafărul Review, 1905.

“Astra“ and the youth

The paper presents aspects of ASTRA’s activities for the youth throughout its 150 years of existence. There are mentioned: scholarships and stipends, organization of thematic contests with prizes, setting up schools and libraries, printing of textbooks, organization of literacy courses. ASTRA Rediviva (1990-2011) expanded the range of activities for young people by organizing complex events, such as: the Home Camps of Romanian Civilization, the Eminescu Liturgies, the printing of youth magazines etc. One highlights the contribution of young people in organizing cultural, artistic, scientific events and sports activities under the auspices of the ASTRA Association.
Keywords: Romanian history, XIXth century, Transylvania, ASTRA Association, activities for the youth, prizes, scholarships

• Ion Agârbiceanu, În catedrala Sfintei Treimi, în vol. ,,Serbările de la Blaj”, Tipografia Seminarului teologic greco-catolic, Blaj, 1911.
• Radu Brateş, Rolul Astrei în viaţa neamului, în rev. ,,Astra blăjeană”, nr. 3(60), septembrie, Blaj, 2011.
• Ana Hinescu, Astra, Adunarea generală de la Blaj, 19-21 septembrie 1936, în rev. ,,Astra blăjeană”, nr. 3(60), septembrie, Blaj, 2011.
• Daniela Pănăzan, Implicarea Astrei în promovarea valorilor culturale în rândul tinerilor, în rev. ,,Astra blăjeană”, nr. 3(60), septembrie, Blaj, 2011.
• Valer Moga, ,,Astra” şi societatea (1918-1930), Editura Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca, 2003.
• Dragoş Ştefan Petrescu, Premisele înfiinţării ,,Astrei”, în ,,Revista Română, anul XVII, nr. 3(65), septembrie, Iaşi, 2011.
• Ioan Seni, Despărţământul Astra Năsăud în peisajul cultural al judeţului Bistriţa-Năsăud, în rev. ,,Astra blăjeană”, nr. 3 (60), septembrie, Blaj, 2011.

The Civil Superior Boarding School for Girls from Sibiu—foundation of the ASTRA Association

This study presents one of the foundations of the ASTRA Association – namely the Civil Superior Boarding School for Girls from Sibiu –, proof of the effectiveness of propaganda in favor of girls’ education and women’s empowerment. The Civil Superior Boarding School for Girls from Sibiu, opened in 1886, during the 25th Anniversary since the Establishment of the Association, was a model for the creation ofsimilar institutions in Transylvania.
Keywords: Romanian history, XIXth century, Transylvania, ASTRA Association, girls’ education and women’s empowerment, Civil Superior Boarding School for Girls from Sibiu

• Albini Septimiu, Şcoala civilă de fete cu internat a Asociaţiunii transilvane pentru literatura română şi cultura poporului român din Sibiu, Imprimeria Aurora, Gherla, 1887.
• Bariţiu George, Despre educaţiunea femeilor la naţiunea română, în „Transilvania”, nr. 17 / 1869.
• Bariţiu George, Despre emanciparea femeilor, „Observator”, nr. 2 / 1879.
• Bologa Vasile, Monografia Şcoalei civile de fete cu internat şi drept de publicitate a Asociaţiunii pentru literatura română şi cultura poporului român pe 25 de ani de la înfiinţare, Tiparul Tipografiei Arhidiecesane, Sibiu, 1911.
• Borgovan Vasile Grigore, Ionel. Principii morale şi creştineşti de educaţiune, Biblioteca Poporală a Asociaţiunii, Tipografia Iosif Marschall, vol. I, Sibiu, 1904.
• Popea Ioan, Casa părintească, crescătoarea indivizilor şi popoarelor, Biblioteca Poporală a Asociaţiunii, Tiparul Tipografiei Arhidiecesane, Sibiu, 1903.

Museums of the “ASTRA” Association

Since the first years of existence of the Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People, among the ASTRA leaders surfaced the idea of creating a museum of the Romanians from Transylvania, but because of financial difficulties, putting the idea into practice was always postponed. On August 19^th, 1905, was opened the Exhibition which marked the solemn inauguration of the museum. According to the previously published programs, the exhibition was structured in two parts: the ethnographic one and the historic and cultural one, each of them having several thematically divided sections. Between the two World Wars several reorganizations of the permanent exhibition from the Palace of the Association were recorded, the emphasis being put on the scientific systematization of the collections. In 1948, the Museum of the Association became a Museum of the State and two years later its heritage was assigned to the Brukenthal Museum. The Association organized other museums like the “Avram Iancu” National Museum (1924) and the Union Museum from Alba Iulia (1929). In 1936, in Braşov, within the former Casa Baiulescu, was imagined a regional museum for the Ţara Bârsei region. Other museums organized by the ASTRA were recorded, but many of them were merely ethnographic collections. Let us remind only the ones from Sighetul Marmaţiei, Odorheiul Secuiesc, Sasca Montană, Ţebea, Chelari etc.

Keywords: exhibitions, collections, museums, Transylvania

• Bariţiu George, Părţi alese din istoria Transilvaniei (Chosen parts of the Transylvanian history), Braşov, 1995.
• Grama Ana, Etnomuzeografie transilvană. Muzeul „Asociaţiunii”, 1905-1950 (Transylvanian Ethnomuseography. Museum of the “Association”, 1905-1950), Sfântu Gheorghe, 2010.
• Matei Pamfil, Asociaţiunea Transilvană pentru Literatura Română şi Cultura Poporului Român (ASTRA) şi rolul ei în cultura naţională (1861-1950 (Transylvanian Association for Romanian Literature and the Culture of the Romanian People (ASTRA) and its role in the national culture (1861-1950), Cluj-Napoca, 1986.

The ASTRA Association, cradle of the Albina Bank

The ASTRA Association is the oldest and highest cultural institution of the Transylvanian Romanians, the work of an exceptional generation of intellectuals and politicians entirely devoted to the Romanian people. They have realized that in the struggle for social, political and economic emancipation fire guns and enthusiasm are not sufficient, whereas the Romanians’ culturalization and their growth in material wealth may prove a more powerful weapon, rising their national dignity and pride in the relations with the foreign rule and with the privileged co-habiting nationalities. The victories and failures of the 1848 Revolution were moments of deep reflection and analysis for Romanian intellectuals in Transylvania, concerned by the future of Romanian society in the predictable socio-political structure of the Habsburg Empire.
Keywords: Romanian history, XIXth century, Transylvania, ASTRA Association, national and cultural emancipation, Albina Bank

• Mihai D. Drecin, Banca ,,ALBINA”, din Sibiu, Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1982.
• Ioan Lupaş, Monogafia Băncii ,,Albina“, în mss la A.B.M.O.R.S.
• Nicolae Petra-Petrescu, Monografia ,,ALBINA” 1872-1897, Sibiu, 1897.
• *** Serbările de la Blaj, 1911, Tipografia Semin. Teol. Gr. Cat. Blaj.

Aurel Vlaicu And The Astra Celebrations From Blaj (1911)

Aurel Vlaicu managed to fly an airplane for the first time in Transilvania during the Astra celebrations which took place in 1911. All this happened when the cultural association had its general conference at Blaj. The engineer Vlaicu was a inventor, constructor and pilot. The plane he flew during this meeting was his own creation. All this historic event brought huge joy to the Romanians from Transilvania and to the others from beyond the Carpathians.

Keywords: Aurel Vlaicu, Blaj, Sibiu, Astra, N. Iorga, A. Bârseanu, I. L. Caragiale

Sources

• Arhivele Naţionale, Direcţia judeţeană Sibiu, Fondul Astra, (The National Archives, The County Direction Sibiu, The Astra Fund), 1911.

Periodicals

• Foaia Poporului, (The People Sheet), Sibiu, 1911.
• Gazeta Transilvaniei, (The Transilvanian Gazette), Braşov, 1911.
• Luceafărul, (The Evening Star), Sibiu, 1911.
• Telegraful Român, (The Romanian Telegraph), Sibiu, 1911.
• Unirea, (The Union), Blaj, 1911.

General literature

• Curticăpeanu, Vasile, Mişcarea culturală românească pentru unirea din 1918, (The Romanian Cultural Movement For The 1918 Union), Bucureşti, 1968.
• Macavei, Elena, Asociaţiunea Astra şi adunările generale (1861-2011), (The Astra Association And The General Meetings 1861-2011), Sibiu, 2011.
• Matei, Pamfil, Asociaţiunea în lumina documentelor (1861-1950). Noi contribuţii, (The Association In The Light Of Documents 1861-1950. New contributions), Sibiu, 2005.
• Serbările de la Blaj (1911), O pagină din istoria noastră culturală, (The Celebrations From Blaj 1911. A Page From Our Cultural History), Blaj, 1911.
• Sofronie, Mihai, Iuliu Maniu şi serbările Astrei de la Blaj (1911), (Iuliu Maniu And The Astra Celebrations From Blaj), în: Acta Musei Porolissensis, XVII, 1993, Zalău.

Specialized literature

• Album Vlaicu, (Vlaicu Album), Orăştie, 1920.
• Gheorghiu, Constantin, Aurel Vlaicu. Viaţa şi opera, (Aurel Vlaicu. Life And Work), Bucureşti, 1973.
• Iorga, Nicolae, Ce ne învaţă cariera lui Aurel Vlaicu, (What Does The Career Of Aurel Vlaicu Teach Us), Vălenii de Munte, 1914.
• Mărghitan, Liviu, Inginerul aviator Aurel Vlaicu, (The Engineer Aviator Aurel Vlaicu), Bucureşti, 1980.
• Negrescu, Gheorghe, Aurel Vlaicu văzut de un zburător contemporan, (Aurel Vlaicu Seen By A Contemporary Aviator), Bucureşti, 1973.

Active and Passive Attitude (Point of View) in George Baritiu and Nicolae Cristea Debate

The question of participation or not of the Romanians in the dispute held in the Hungarian Parliament had split the Romanian intellectuals during the second half of the XIX-th century. Thereby, the responses were controversial. Some voices encouraged activity and participation. On the other hand, others suggested rejection of involvement. The main debaters were George Baritiu and Nicolae Cristea who published their point of view in Transylvanian publications. The differences concerned the different approaches of the political responsibility and the struggle for political and civil rights of the Romanians.

Keywords: Austria-Hungary, inactive, active, memorandum, patriotism

• Bariţiu, George, Părţi alese din istoria Transilvaniei. Pe 200 de ani în urmă, Ediţia a 2-a, vol. III, Braşov, 1995;
• Branişte, Valeriu, Amintiri din închisoare, Studiu introductiv de Nina Constantinescu şi Alexandru Porţeanu, ediţie îngrijită de Alexandru Porţeanu, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1972 ;
• Cristea, Nicolae, File de memorialistică. Jurnal, Studiu introductiv, îngrijirea ediţiei, note şi comentarii de Anca Sîrghie, Casa de presă şi editură Tribuna, 1998;
• Dunăreanu, Elena, Presa românească sibiană (1815-1968), Sibiu, f.ed., 1969;
• -Iorga, Nicolae, Istoria literaturii româneşti în veacul al XIX-lea. De la 1821 înainte, vol. II, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1908; Istoria presei româneşti de la primele începuturi până la 1916, Bucureşti, f.ed.,1922;
• Lupaş, Ioan, Contribuţiuni la istoria ziaristicii ardelene, Sibiu, Asociaţiunea, 1926;
• Păcăţian,T.V. Cartea de aur sau luptele politice naţionale ale românilor de sub coroana ungară, vol III, Dieta Ardealului, 1905; vol. IV, Dieta ungară din Pesta, 1906; vol. V, Ciclul Parlamentar 1869-1872; 1909; vol.VI, Ciclul Parlamentar 1872-1881,1910; vol. VII Ciclul Parlamentar, 1881-1896, 1913; vol. VIII Ciclul Parlamentar, 1896-1910, 1915.
• Popa Mircea, Taşcu, Valentin, Istoria presei româneşti din Transilvania, Editura Tritonic, Bucureşti, 2000; Panoramic jurnalistic, Editura Eikon, Cluj-Napoca, 2011;
• Sîrghie, Anca, Din istoria presei româneşti, Editura Technomedia, Sibiu, 2004;
• Vişinescu, Victor, Valori lexicale şi stilistice în publicistica literară românească, Editura Albatros, 1981; O istorie a presei româneşti, Editura Victor, Bucureşti, 2000.

Pages from the life of the Năsăud ASTRA Department

The Năsăud ASTRA Department is one of the strongest departments of the ASTRA Association. The paper presents the history of this institution and the main activities carried from its founding date to the present. There are highlighted the contributions of this department to the organization of the General Assemblies of the Association in 1870, 1893, 1991, 2010. The main facts reviewed here are: the organization of annual general meetings of the department, the activities of its component circles, the publications under its patronage, the scholarships, awards and stipends for students, the collaboration with schools and universities, as well as with both local and county administrative institutions.
Keywords: Romanian history, XIXth century, Transylvania, ASTRA Association, national and cultural emancipation, Năsăud department, General Assemblies, activities for the youth.

• Adrian Onofreiu, Districtul Năsăud (1861-1876), edit. Argonaut, Cluj-Napoca, 2010.
• Districtul Năsăud 1861-1876 Contribuţii documentare, edit. Fundaţiei George Coşbuc, Năsăud, 2003.
• Filiala Bistriţa Năsăud a Arhivelor Statului, fond Fondurile grănicereşti năsăudene.
• Ioan Seni, Pagini din istoricul Despărţământului ASTRA Năsăud, în Conferinţele Bibliotecii ASTRA.

Paul Goma. The Novel ”Astra”: The Ceremonialization of the Text. Questioning and duality. Part two

The study aims to illustrate the settlement of the novel under the binomial autonomy, the binary construction proving that it is the most suitable to represent the duality and the system utopia. Reviewed progressively at the same time with the “advancement into the epic economy”, through inserts or retrospective, the characters illustrate the product of a system, turning themselves into victims or into their tools. Paul Goma suggests the idea that historical events manage to embezzle radically the flowing of the life, dividing the society into what it was and what it became, between normality and abnormality. On this background, the author constructs his novel into a system, without insisting on the name of the characters or using it in the ironic sense in response to the silence of all in front of the poster spelled illiterately “ăncins p. iventr”. Notwithstanding the attitude, spelling in mind, with the mouth closed, the narrator suggests the idea of liberty deprivation – and it closed. The society, as a result of implantation of fear into the brain, degrades, the only possibility of rehabilitation, of returning to the roots being the library. Being a shelter for books, it will represent, through the access to culture, a sure cure antidote against the communist disease, the awakening of conscience and reason to overcome the tension and return to normality. On the other hand, one of authorial purposes is to give a definition to the novel, the text becoming a novel that is born in our presence. Materializing this objective, mainly on his writings, the author makes a clever game of combining the read text with the written one and its transposition from one person to another and from one tense to another cancels the distinction between reality and fiction.

Keywords: Paul Goma, the novel Astra, binary construction, totalitarian system, anomaly, restraint, fear, library, metatext

• Allport, Gordon W. Structura şi dezvoltarea personalităţii (Structure and development of personality), traducere de Ioana Herseni, Bucureşti, Editura Didactică şi pedagogică, 1981, 579 p.
• Cesereanu, Ruxandra,  Paul Goma. În: ,,Steaua” nr. 8/1991, pp. 13-14
• Girard, René, Minciună Romantică şi adevăr romanesc (Deceit, Desire and the Novel), traducere de Alexandru Baciu, Prefaţă de Paul Cornea, Bucureşti, Editura Univers, 1972, 317 p.
• Goma, Paul, Astra, Cluj, Editura Dacia, 1992, 193 p.
• Goma, Paul, Autofilmare, Despre cartea Astra (Autofilming, About the book Astra), autofilmare disponibilă la adresa web http://www.paulgoma.com/autofilmari-44-48-26-februarie-2011/, accesat la 26 februarie 2011.
• Marino, Adrian, Hermeneutica ideii de literatură (The Hermeneutics of the idea of ​​literature), Cluj-Napoca, Editura Dacia, 1987, 552 p.
• Philippe, Gilles, Romanul. De la teorii la analize (The Novel. From theory to analysis), traducere de Elena Popoiu, Iaşi, Editura Institutului European, 2002, 111 p.
• Podoabă, Virgil, Punctul critic. Pagini despre şi de confesso-literatură. Studii şi mărturii (The critical point. Pages on and of confesso literature. Studies and testimonies), Bucureşti, Editura Paralela 45, 2007, 339 p.
• Sitar-Tăut, Daniela, Lecţia de literatură a Astrei (Astra’s lesson of literature). În: ,,Metaliteratură”, nr. 5-6/2010, pp. 91-97.

The Association, the Museum and their people

The fruit of many years of research in the archives of Sibiu and from other cities, as well as of a few decades of experience as a curator documentarist – or as a documentarist of the museum – the book of Mrs. Ana Grama, Ethnomuzeography from Transylvania: 1950-1950: the Museum of the Association, gives us a broad and credible perspective over the emergence and evolution of the ASTRA Museum until 1950, with some forays even after the time limit stated on the cover. The author strives to understand and to explain the phenomenon of the ASTRA, starting with a larger context, almost a century before its establishment in Sibiu, in 1861. The book includes all the steps that led to the establishment of the ASTRA Museum, insisting on the debate about its purpose, the founding collections and the achievement of a building to accommodate it. The volume is complemented by reproductions of archival documents, relevant to the theme treated, by an impressive selection of photographs – the photographic archive of ASTRA and the most important photographs represented in the collection are also presented in detail – as well as several articles that address disparate aspects of the museum history.

Keywords: the ASTRA Association, the ASTRA Museum, ethnography, museography, Sibiu, photografic archive, museum history.

• Ana Grama, Etnomuzeografie transilvană: Muzeul Asociaţiunii 1905-1950 / Transylvanian ethnomuseography: The Museum of the Association 1905-1950, Sfântu Gheorghe, Editura Eurocarpatica, 2010.

Andrei Bârseanu şi „Asociaţiunea” – a cultural and historical reference point

The book Andrei Bârseanu şi „Asociaţiunea”, written by Professor Pamfil Matei, PhD., represents an act of culture whose significations must be drawn due attention to an valued. It is a fundamental document for the Romanian national history, a scientific work of great interest.

Having thoroughly read the content of the book, I found a polyvalent scholar, fully dedicated to his national culture. A monograph on the life and activity of a personality like Andrei Bârseanu is hard to achieve considering the multitude of qualities he held (cultural historian, member and chairman of several prestigious cultural bodies, such as ASTRA, senator, professor, writer, folklorist, translator, journalist).

Looking at the book from a linguistic point of view, it is justified to consider it a valuable, but also useful instrument, especially due to the glossary that brings to the fore aspects of the Romanian language at the end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th. By selecting outdated terms, but also neologisms that have gradually entered the fundamental Romanian vocabulary, this glossary enables the reader to gain access to sense and signification. Moreover, in the Note on the edition, the author provided sundry linguistic considerations on the texts that have been included in the volume.

Keywords: „Asociaţiunea”, nation, history, culture, linguistics

An unexpected and pleasant surprise. People and places from the old Sibiu town

The present study focuses on some data concernig the biography of Cornel Lungu, putting them in relation with his book’s title – namely the genesis of his book’s idea, the dedication, the significance of its motto, some technical references concerning the coordinator, the editor and the publishing house, the documents’ photocopying a.s.o. The second part of the study deals with the bibliographic knowledge on the subject, examining what the author’s forerunners have said about the same issue, what the author brings new in his book, the reference sources, and the conclusions.

Keywords: history of Transylvania, Sibiu, Cornel Lungu, biography, content, reference sources.

• Emil Sigerus, Chronik der Stadt Hermannstadt, Editura Honterus, Sibiu, 1930.
• Nicolae Lupu, Cetatea Sibului, Editura Meridiane, Bucureşti, 1966.
• Nicolae Nistor, N.M. Marinescu-Frăsinei, Sibiul şi ţinutul în lumina istoriei, vol. II, Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1990.
• Alexandru Avram, Ioan Bucur, Topografia monumetelor din Transivania. Municipiul Sibiu, 5.1.1., Municipiul Sibiu, Centrul istoric, Editura Rheinland (editor Cristoph Machat), Köln, 1999.
• Hermann şi Alida, Fabini, Sibiu. Portretul unui oraş din Transilvania, Sibiu, 2001.
• Nicuşor Dănuţ Ivănuş, Sibiul de altădată, în Colecţia Emil Fischer, Muzeul Naţional Brukenthal, Sibiu 2007.
• Mircea Oprişiu, Civitas Cibiniensis. Să ne cunoaştem cetatea, Editura Tipotrib, Sibiu, 2008.