Sămănătorul or Semănătorul (, Romanian for "The Sower") was a literary and political magazine published in Romania between 1901 and 1910. Founded by poets Alexandru Vlahuță and George Coșbuc, it is primarily remembered as a tribune for early 20th century traditionalism, neoromanticism and ethnic nationalism. The magazine's ideology, commonly known as Sămănătorism or Semănătorism, was articulated after 1905, when historian and literary theorist Nicolae Iorga became editor in chief. While its populism, critique of capitalism and emphasis on peasant society separated it from other conservative groups, Sămănătorul shared views with its main conservative predecessor, the Junimea society, particularly in expressing reserve toward Westernization. In parallel, its right-wing agenda made it stand in contrast to the Poporanists, a Romanian populist faction whose socialist-inspired ideology also opposed rapid urbanization, but there was a significant overlap in membership between the two groups. Sămănătoruls relationship with the dominant National Liberal Party was equally ambiguous, ranging from an alliance between Sămănătorul and National Liberal politician Spiru Haret to Iorga's explicit condemnation of 20th century Romanian liberalism.
Promoting an idealized interpretation of local history, basing its aesthetic ideals on the work of national poet and conservative essayist Mihai Eminescu, the publication advertised itself as the voice of oppressed Romanians in Transylvania and other areas controlled by Austria-Hungary prior to World War I. Its irredentism, as well as its outspoken criticism of the political and cultural establishment, made Sămănătorul a popular venue for young Romanian intellectuals from both the Kingdom of Romania and the regions surrounding it. The traditionalist literary faction coalescing around the magazine was generally opposed to modernist literature and the aesthetics of modern art, but was more tolerant of Symbolism. In time, Sămănătorul became host to a subgroup of the local Symbolist movement.
Although short-lived, Sămănătorul was a major influence on later Romanian literature and culture in general. Its legacy stood at the center of cultural debates between traditionalism and modernism lasting throughout the 20th century. While Iorga personally tried to revive it with the magazines Drum Drept and Cuget Clar, Sămănătorism was adopted by other traditionalist or agrarian currents, and was a contributing factor to the cultural tenets of local far right and fascist groups. During the interwar period, it also made a significant impact in Bessarabia (a region since divided between Moldova and Ukraine). The Sămănătorist ideology itself was traditionally criticized for encouraging isolationism and xenophobia, as well as for its flirtation with antisemitism. In literary and art criticism, the term Sămănătorist acquired pejorative connotations, denoting specific pastoral and patriotic clichés.
History Origins
The establishment of Sămănătorul was linked by researchers to a set of significant events of fin de siècle European economic history. Spanish historian Francisco Veiga placed the emergence of Sămănătorul in direct connection to a European-wide evolution of capitalism and related phenomena affecting the middle class: "In the traumatic circumstances of late 19th and early 20th century imperialist crises [...] and the rejection of urban-industrial society by the petty and medium bourgeoisie threatened by the crisis of capitalism, Sămănătorism can be identified with those groups of intellectual movements seeking to preserve national identity in front of threats, by resorting to an idealized past."Veiga, pp.164–165 Alongside the "identity crisis" provoked by "the traumatic advance of industrial modernization inside a country with a majority peasant and illiterate population", researcher Paul Cernat discusses the "decline" of local boyar aristocracy as issues preparing the ground for Sămănătorul and like-minded journals.Cernat, p.19 Likewise, Swedish art historian Tom Sandqvist views Sămănătoruls focus on the peasant community as a source of legitimate culture as connected with economic change and "emerging industrialization": "In the mid-1870s grain prices had declined catastrophically, and it became more and more obvious that the image of the grateful farmer and the 'natural' village community as bearer of true Romanian culture was false and did not correspond very well with a reality characterized by utmost poverty, misery, autocratic boyars, ruthless profiteers, moneylenders, and village gendarmes".Sandqvist, p.60 The emergence of Sămănătorism and Poporanism, Sandqvist notes, happened "in spite of this—or rather because of it", since both still proclaimed "the special character of Romanian culture as deriving from the traditional village community." Researcher Rodica Lascu-Pop presents a similar perspective, discussing Sămănătorism as "an echo of mutations occurring in society at the beginning of the century: the acute crisis of the peasant issue [...], the social gap between the urban and rural environments."Lascu-Pop, p.565
The historical moment represented by Sămănătorism has also been linked by historians with various tendencies in Western culture. Its rejection of industrial society was thus seen as equivalent to the sentiments expressed in the poems of Robert Frost in the United States or Francis Jammes in France.Drăguţ et al., p.169 Comparatists John Neubauer and Marcel Cornis-Pope described the magazine as part of the larger phenomenon of "populism and agrarian nationalism" in East-Central Europe, together with Poland's Głos magazine and Slovakia's Naturizmu current, with the ideologies of Hungary's Dezső Szabó or the Népi írók, Válasz or Kelet Népe groups, as well as with the political program of Estonia's Jaan Tõnisson.Neubauer & Cornis-Pope, pp.53–55 Commentators have also found specific similarities between Sămănătorul and various cultural or political movements in Poland, from the Galician intellectuals' interest in the local peasantry during the late 19th century (Chłopomania) Constantin Geambaşu, "Stanisław Wyspiański în cadrul modernismului polon" , in the University of Bucharest's Romanoslavica, Vol. XLII, 2007, p.12 to the ideology of Roman Dmowski's National Democracy.Veiga, p.69 Literary critic Mircea Anghelescu also places the Sămănătorist movement's beginnings in conjunction with intellectual fashions prevalent in Romanian culture during the national revival and before World War I: the patriotic travel literature of Vasile Alecsandri, Grigore Alexandrescu and George Melidon; the Neo-Brâncovenesc style in Romanian architecture; and the rediscovery of national Romanian costume by Romanian Queen Elisabeth (Carmen Sylva). Mircea Anghelescu, "Călătoriile, între literatură și viața reală", in Observator Cultural, Nr. 312, March 2006 His colleague Valeriu Râpeanu contrasts the initial rise of Sămănătorism with the moment of "crisis" experienced in Romanian letters, at a time when a generation of major writers—Ion Luca Caragiale, Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea, Alexandru Vlahuță etc.—were approaching the end of their careers.
In large measure, the propagation of Sămănătorist ideas was also helped along by the sentiment that the conservative establishment had abandoned the cause of Romanians living in Transylvania, Bukovina and other regions controlled by Austria-Hungary (particularly those who, the new intellectual leaders cautioned, were threatened by Magyarization policies).Călinescu, pp.601–602, 605; Cernat, pp.19–20; Veiga, p.165, 166 The group's protest against the political class' perceived lack of patriotism was joined with what Veiga defines as "an offshoot of renewed Romanian agitation in Transylvania".Veiga, p.165 In parallel, Veiga notes, the group was also reacting against "an opportunistic international policy" and the penetration of foreign capital on the Kingdom's markets. At the time, however, the National Liberals were reluctantly committed to supporting King Carol I's alliance with the Central Powers, and, through it, with Austria-Hungary.Veiga, pp.18, 32–33 According to literary historian Z. Ornea, the will to demonstrate "the unity of the Romanian population in matters of specific spiritual life" formed one of the characteristics of Sămănătorism. Iulian Ciocan, "De la sămănătorism la postmodernism" , in Revista Sud-Est, Nr. 4/2002
Establishment
Published in the capital Bucharest, Sămănătorul was co-founded by two already established writers, Alexandru Vlahuță, from the "Old Kingdom", and the Transylvanian-born George Coșbuc, in late 1901. Both of them were already known as editors of magazines with traditionalist agendas: Vlahuţă had founded and edited the magazine Vieața, while Coșbuc had done the same with Vatra.Călinescu, pp.556, 583, 592–594, 601–602, 661; Vianu, Vol. II, pp.184–185; Vol. III, pp.24, 243 Among the original staff of writers were several formerly associated with Vieața: Ștefan Octavian Iosif, Dimitrie Anghel, Ion Gorun, Constanța Hodoș and Vasile Pop.Călinescu, p.61 The regular contributors included Ion Agârbiceanu, I. A. Bassarabescu, Panait Cerna, Elena Farago, Emil Gârleanu, Octavian Goga, Constantin Sandu-Aldea, Ioan Slavici and I. E. Torouțiu. "Sămănătorul", biographical note in Cronologia della letteratura rumena moderna (1780–1914) database, at the University of Florence's Department of Neo-Latin Languages and Literatures; retrieved October 30, 2009 Other notable collaborators throughout the early years were Zaharia Bârsan, Paul Bujor, Ilarie Chendi, Virgil Cioflec, Alexandru Davila, Sextil Pușcariu and Constantin Xeni, alongside the lesser known Ion Ciocârlan and Maria Cunțan.Călinescu, p.638, 702
The new publication received support and funds from Spiru Haret, the National Liberal Education Minister, who saw in it an opportunity for improving the lifestyle of peasants, for raising the interest of intellectuals nationwide, and for endorsing planned changes to the state-sponsored education system.Călinescu, p.601; Livezeanu, p.116–117 It is sometimes described as a successor to Semănătorul, a magazine published in Bârlad during the 1870s, and to a similarly titled magazine published in Galaţi during 1899. Sămănătorul, entry in the Ștefan cel Mare University of Suceava Library database; retrieved October 30, 2009 In the years after it was set up, Sămănătorul inspired the creation of like-minded smaller journals published in provincial cities, from Craiova's Ramuri to Bârlad's Făt Frumos.Călinescu, p.601, 633, 646, 648; Cernat, p.19, 27–28, 63, 104; Ornea (1998), p.137 Its doctrine was largely replicated in Transylvania by the publication Luceafărul, founded in 1902 by Goga and his fellow activists Alexandru Ciura and Octavian Tăslăuanu.Călinescu, p.601, 607, 638
The new magazine's first-ever issue carried the date of December 2, 1901.Călinescu, p.556 Printed in cooperation with Editura Minerva publishing company,Vianu, Vol. III, p.243 it was financed and owned by Iosif, who also worked on the editorial staff.Călinescu, p.602 The editorial office itself was located at Regală Street, No. 6, near Calea Victoriei (on present-day Ion Câmpineanu Street) and in the same building as Minerva's printing presses. Ion Simuţ, "Centenarul debutului sadovenian" , in România Literară, Nr. 41/2004 The editorial piece introducing the first-ever issue, written by the two main editors but left unsigned, carried the title Primele vorbe ("The First Words"), and expressed concern over the lack of positive messages in Romanian literature. This overview was completed in the second issue by Coșbuc's piece, Uniți ("United"), which condemned what he called "imported" and "sick" literature.