Project title: Romanian History abroad: The Bibliography of Romanian History in Western Languages of International Circulation (1700-2010) (grant TE 0172)

Project Director: Lecturer Radu Cristian Mârza, PhD

1. Establishing the working methodology: consulting studies and books on the topic of the project, monitoring the Romanian history publications, consulting the available bibliographical volumes, compiling bibliographic records that took into account the categories of information that were to be entered into the database.
2. Constructing the database: After a thorough documentation, the decision was reached to construct the database on the Zotero platform (http://www.zotero.org/groups/historical_bibliography_of_romania), as the best suited for teamwork (each team member can see and supplement, if necessary, the data introduced by the others, as the database can be made accessible to the general public; in addition to this, the records can be exported to other formats, which can be further processed).
   
   A
   version of the database in “Word” format can be viewed on the project website. The completion this part of the project encountered difficulties concerning the time necessary for its execution, which proved much longer than originally estimated, because the records were made manually, with the actual transcription of all the data, along with the allocation of keywords. In addition, the team members received, at the end of 2013, from Bundesinstitut für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen im östlichen Europa, functioning at Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, a file with an ample bibliographic database which, on the one hand, represented, a gain for the project in terms of information, but on the other hand, extended the timeframe for constructing the database, raising serious problems of compatibility with the technical possibilities of the project. The activity of valorizing this substantial volume of information is in progress, enabling the development of the database even after the completion of this project.
3. The survey undertaken during 2012, among several prominent historians, regarding the current situation of the Romanian history works published in foreign languages.
   
   Following
   the questionnaire applied by the team members, the answers obtained were revealing as regards the following questions: the visibility of the Romanian historiography written in foreign languages throughout the world; the need to implement special programs so that Romanian history and Romanian historiography may become more visible in the world; a better development of the mechanisms through which Romanian historians can publish in languages of international circulation; the themes and topics of Romanian history that are addressed more frequently in papers published in international languages; the determinants of these options; the position of Romanian history in the wider framework of European historiography.
   
   The
   respondents included prominent historians from Austria, Germany, Ireland, Romania and the USA (Florin Curta, Keith Hitchins, Sorin Mitu, Graeme Murdock, Şerban Papacostea, Zoe Petre, Max Demeter Peyfuss, Ernst Suttner, Răzvan Theodorescu, Krista Zach). The discussions with them provided the team members with very useful suggestions for the further development of the project. Revealing, in this respect, is the answer of Keith Hitchins, a Professor at the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign, and one of the most authorized voices abroad as regards the domain of Romanian history. According to him, understanding the history of the Romanians contributes to a better understanding of European history, particularly with regard to the modernization brought forth by the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries; in the absence of such a contribution, as well as others regarding the other countries in Eastern Europe, the works about “modern Europe” written by Western historians will inevitably remain incomplete. Professor Hitchins has even suggested that it would be appropriate and useful to develop the idea underlying this project, in the form of a periodical, which will host a permanent dialogue between the historians from different parts of the world who are interested in studying Romanian history.
4. Scientific publications
   The following materials have been published or are about to be published by the team members:
   • Books:
     
     • - researcher Daniela Mârza: “Reviste româneşti de istorie publicate în limbi de circulaţie internaţională” [“Romanian History Reviews Published in Languages of International Ciculation”], Romanian Academy / Centre for Transylvanian Studies, Cluj, 2012, ISBN 978-973-7784-83-4, 186 p. (the book can already be found in 20 international libraries whose records are inluded in KVK – Karlsruhe Virtueller Katalog).
     • - Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD, Romanian Historians and Propaganda (1914-1946). The Case of Transylvania. Translation from Romanian by Carmen-Veronica Borbély. Bratislava, AE Press, 2014, 171 p., ISBN 987-80-89678-06-8.
   • Studies:
     
     • - Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD: “Discussion. The International Visibility of the Romanian Historiography and History”, in Colloquia. Journal of Central-European History, vol. 19, 2012 (“B” ranking review in the CNCS classification, included in CEEOL, currently undergoing the process of ISI accreditation).
     • - researcher Daniela Mârza: “Les institutions dans l’historiographie roumaine: Ouvrages parus pendant les deux dernières décennies dans des langues de circulation internationale”, in Transylvanian Review, vol. XXI, no. 3/2012 (“A” ranking review in UEFISCDI; the only Romanian history review with ISI accreditation; included in the EBSCO and SCOPUS databases).
     • - researcher Daniela Mârza: “Revues roumaines d’histoire parues dans des langues de circulation internationale: leur rôle et importance”, in Transylvanian Review, vol. XXII, no. 4/2013, pp. 141-153.
     • -Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD: “Constantin şi Metodie în vechea istoriografie română” [“Constantin and Metodie in the Old Romanian Historiography”] – in Romanoslavica (“B” ranking review in the CNCS classification), vol. XLIX, 2/2013, ISSN 0557-272X.
     • - researcher Cosmin Rusu: “Ein notwendiges Projekt – Historische Bibliographie in ’internationalen sprachen’ (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES) unter Bezugnahme auf die Geschichte Rumäniens. Metodische Perspektiven auf die Struktur und Chronologie der Forschung” [Un proiect necesar – Bibliografia Istorică cu referire la România în limbi de circulaţie internaţională (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES). Perspective metodologice privind structura şi cronologia cercetării], submitted for publication at Bundesinstitut für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen im östlichen Europa (Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien), from Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg – Online Publikationen (http://www.bkge.de/7090.html).
     • - Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD, “Diplomacy and Propaganda in Romania (1918–1946)”, in Empires and Nations from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century. Volume 2. Edited by Antonello Biagini and Giovanna Motta. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014, pp. 351-361.
     • - Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD, “World War I as Reflected in the Romanian Historiography (1914-1989)”, accepted for publication in the proceedings of the conference “The Great War. Analysis and Interpretation”, Rome, 19-20 June 2014. (The volume is under print at Cambridge Scholars Publishing).
     • - Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD, “Costantino e Metodio nella storiografia romena”, accepted for publication in the volume “Omagiu profesorului Cezare Alzati” [“AFestschrift for Professor Cezare Alzati”], Cluj-Napoca, 2014.
     • - Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD, “Primul război mondial reflectat în manualele şcolare de istorie din România (până la 1989)” [“World War I as Reflected in the History Textbooks from Romania (up until 1989)”], accepted for publication in the volume “Omagiu profesorului Ioan-Aurel Pop” [“A Festschrift for Professor Ioan-Aurel Pop”], Cluj-Napoca, 2014.
     • - researcher Cosmin Rusu, “The Bibliography of the Transylvanian Medieval History in Western Languages. A comparative study”, submitted for publication in Brukenthal. Acta Musei, X.1 (“B” ranking review in the C.N.C.Ş classification, indexed in the international databases Index Copernicus and Ebscohost).
     • - researcher Cosmin Rusu, “The Bibliography of the Transylvanian Medieval History in Western Languages. The historiography with reference to German cities”, submitted for publication in Brukenthal. Acta Musei, X.1.
     • - researcher Daniela Mârza, “The History of the Family in Romanian Historiography”, accepted for publication in Transylvanian Review, Supplement no. 2/2014.
     • - researcher Daniela Mârza, “The Social History in Romanian Historiography, 1989-2013”, accepted for publication in Transylvanian Review, 1/2015.
5. Participations in national and international conferences and workshops in the country and abroad
   The team members have participated in the following scientific events:
   • Conferences:
     
     • - 23.05.2012: researcher Daniela Mârza delivered the paper “Transilvania – spaţiu al mai multor lumi: o abordare istoriografică (epoca modernă)” [“Transylvania - A Space of Several Worlds: A Historiographic Approach (the Modern Era)”], at the Session of scientific communications “Transilvania şi Basarabia – la graniţa Imperiilor” [“Transylvania and Bessarabia - At the Border of Empires”], an event organized as part of the Cluj Academic Days by the Centre for Transylvanian Studies, Cluj-Napoca.
     • - 19-22.06.2012: researcher Daniela Mârza delivered the presentation “Gateways to the international historical research: the Romanian historiography written in Western languages”, at the “International Conference for Academic Disciplines”, Florence, Italy.
     • - 14-15.06.2013: Lecturer Radu Mârza presented the paper “Constantin şi Metodie în istoriografia română veche” [“Constantin and Metodie in the Old Romanian Historiography”] at the international conference “A 1150-a aniversare a sfinţilor Chiril şi Metodie. Contribuţia lui Chiril şi Metodie la dezvoltarea culturii europene” [“The 1150th Anniversary of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Cyril and Methodius’s Contribution to the Development of European Culture”], organized at the University of Bucharest, the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures. The web page of the conference: http://topub.unibuc.ro/conferinta-a-1150-a-aniversare-a-sfintilor-chiril-si-metodie-contributia-lui-chiril-si-metodie-la-dezvoltarea-culturii-europene/ (the article resulting from this conference has been accepted for publication in Romanoslavica, vol. 49/2013).
     • - 20-22.06.2013: Lecturer Radu Mârza Rome attended the international conference “Empires and Nations”, organized by Sapienza University in Rome (Italy), and presented the paper “Historians, Diplomacy and Propaganda in Romania (1918-1946)”. The web page of the conference: http://conferencerome2013.blogspot.it/
     • - 7-14.07.2013: researcher Daniela Marza delivered a presentation entitled “Istoriografia românească şi comunitatea ştiinţifică internaţională: rolul revistelor româneşti de istorie apărute în limbi de circulaţie internaţională” [“The Romanian historiography and the international scientific community: the role of the Romanian history reviews published in languages of international circulation”], at the summer school organized in Cluj, with the title “Provocările istoriei ca ştiinţă şi disciplină de învăţământ la începutul mileniului III” [“The challenges of history as a science and study discipline at the beginning of the third millennium”], ninth edition; its program can be consulted at http://www.centruldestudiitransilvane.ro/Lista.aspx?t=Manifestari%202009-2014
     • - 25-27.09.2013: Lecturer Radu Mârza and researcher Cosmin Rusu participated in the international conference “Digitale Bibliotheken in Deutschland und in der Slowakei”, Košice, organized by Wissenschaftliche Fach- und Fortbildungstagung der Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Bibliotheken und Sammlungen zur Geschichte und Kultur der Deutschen im östlichen Europa in Kooperation mit DiFMOE und der Öffentlichen Bibliothek (Verejná knižnica) Jan Bocatius Košice, with the paper: - Das Projekt Romanian History Abroad: the Bibliography of the Romanian History in Western Languages (1700-2010). Struktur, Aufbau und Methodik der Forschung am Beispiel der deutschen Geschichtsschreibung. The web page of the conference: http://www.martin-opitz-bibliothek.de/de/aktuell/archiv__show/kalender/270
     • - 22-26.10.2013: researcher Daniela Mârza participated in the “International Journal of Arts & Sciences (IJAS) conference for academic disciplines”, with the paper “Trends and directions in Romanian historiography during the communist regime”, Rome, Italy.
     • - 19-20.06.2014: Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD, participated in the international conference “The Great War. Analysis and Interpretation”, organized by Sapienza University in Rome (Italy), with the paper “The Year 1914 Reflected in Romanian Historiography”. The web page of the conference: http://thegreatwarome2014.blogspot.ro/
   • Workshops
     
     • - 30.08.2012: Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD organized at the University of Vienna a discussion / workshop on the topic of the project, rallying the participation of historians like: Docent Petrea Lindenbauer, Prof. Michael Metzeltin (Univ. Wien), Prof. Thede Kahl (Univ. Wien, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena), Dr. Ioana Revnic, Dr. Holger Wochele (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena).
     • - 03.09.2012: Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD, organized a debate on the project topic at the History Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava, with the participation of specialists like: Prof. Roman Holec (“Comenius” University in Bratislava), Assoc. Prof. Ján Lukačka (“Comenius” University in Bratislava), PhD student Adam Hudek (History Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava), Dr. Gabriela Dudeková (History Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava), Marina Zavacká (History Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava), Elena Mannová (History Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava).
     • - 20.11.2012: researcher Cosmin Rusu organized, in Oldenburg, Germania, the workshop “Istoriografia în limbi de circulaţie internaţională (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES) cu referire la teritoriul României. I. Istoria spaţiului românesc în contextul istoriei sud-est-central europene” [“The Historiography in Languages of International Circulation (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES) Regarding the Territory of Romania. I. The History of the Romanian Space in the Context of the History of Southeast Central Europe”], with the following partner institutions: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg and Bundesinstitut für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen im östlichen Europa, Oldenburg. Participants: apl. Prof. Dr. Matthias Weber, Hon.-Prof. Dr. Konrad Gündisch, Dr. Marco Bogade, Iris Schepermann. The topic of the discussions: The historiography of the Romanian space in the context of South-East-Central European history, with particular emphasis on the historiography written in German.
     • - 23.11.2012: researcher Cosmin Rusu organized, in Gundelsheim am Neckar, Germania, the workshop “Istoriografia în limbi de circulaţie internaţională (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES) cu referire la teritoriul României. II. Istoria Transilvanei” [“The Historiography in Languages of International Circulation (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES) Regarding the Territory of Romania. II. The History of Transylvania”]. Partner institution: Universität Heidelberg, Siebenbürgen Institut/Siebenbürgische Bibliothek, Gundelsheim am Neckar. Participants: Dipl.-Bibl. (FH) Christian Rother, Dipl.-Bibl. (FH) Hannelore Schnabel, Hon.-Prof. Dr. Konrad Gündisch. Topic of the discussions: The History of Transylvania in Historiography in Languages of International Circulation (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES)
     • - 26.11.2012: researcher Cosmin Rusu organized the workshop “Istoriografia în limbi de circulaţie internaţională (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES) cu referire la teritoriul României. III. Preistoria şi Antichitatea clasică (grecească, dacică, daco-romană)” [“The Historiography in Languages of International Circulation (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES) Regarding the Territory of Romania. III. Prehistory and Classical Antiquity (Greek, Dacian, Daco-Roman)”] Partner institution: Universität Stuttgart, Philosophisch-Historische Fakultät, Historisches Institut – Abteilung für Alte Geschichte. Participants: Prof. Dr. Holger Sonnabend, Dr. Frank Daubner, Dr. Frauke Sonnabend, M. A. Christian Winkle. Topic of the discussions: The Historiography of Prehistory and Classical Antiquity (Greek, Dacian, Daco-Roman) in languages of international circulation (DE, EN, FR, IT, ES) Regarding the Territory of Romania – the past, the present and perspectives.
     • - 12.02.2013: Radu Mârza participated at the University of Debrecen (Ungaria) in a workshop about the history of Transylvania, where he presented the project, the database and the research possibilities it offers.
6. Documentation stages
   The team members completed the following documentation stages:
   • - 27.08 – 9.09.2012: Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD completed a documentation stage in Vienna, Austria, at the University of Vienna - Institute of Romance Studies and the Institute for Southeast Europe
   • - 10.11-09.12.2012: researcher Cosmin Rusu completed an ample documentation stage in several prestigious libraries in Germany (Humboldt Universität Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Bundesinstitut, für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen im östlichen Europa Oldenburg, Siebenbürgen-Institut, Gundelsheim am Neckar, Universität Stuttgart, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München).
   • - 5-13.09.2013: Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD completed a documentation stage in London, Great Britain.
   • - 04-8.11.2013: researcher Daniela Mârza – documentation stage in Rome, Italy.
   • - 14.10-14.11.2013: researcher Cosmin Rusu – documentation stage in Germany (Munich, Regensburg) and Austria (Vienna, Krems).
   • - 5.12-8.12.2013: Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD - documentation stage in Bratislava, Slovakia.
   • - 8.09.-14.09.2014: Lecturer Radu Mârza, PhD – documentation stage in London, Great Britain.