Le discours de presse transylvain au XIXe siècle
Discourse of the Transylvanian Press in the 19th Century

Summary/Abstract: George Bariţiu is rightfully considered the founder of the Romanian press in Transylvania. He embodies the model of the scholar constantly seeking new ways to emancipate his nation. Bariţiu’s endeavours in the field of journalism form a large editorial project which he carried out during all his life. The periodicity of the publications, the topics that are debated within them, the formal aspect of the articles, the contributors’ status or the source from which the information comes represent some of the questions which our paper aims at answering. Gazeta de Transilvania is the first political newspaper of the Romanians from Transylvania. Its first publication in 1838 is due to a law issued by the Court in Vienna. This law allowed the inhabitants in this province to publish their own newspaper, written in their mother language. Foaie pentru minte, inimă şi literatură was designed as an artistic and literary supplement of Gazeta de Transilvania, while Observatorul and Călindar pentru poporul românesc constitute another two press projects initiated by George Bariţiu. The first issue of Gazeta de Transilvania appears in March 12, 1838. Its editorial states the frequency of publication (weekly). This is meant to meet the demands of its readers and if the number of readers increased and if the latter required, the editorial board would publish 2 issues weekly. Bariţiu’s professional conscience makes him announce progressive and continuous improvement of the contents of the articles. Bariţiu also turns it into a real school that aimed at the political education of simple people, those ones that represented the journal’s target audience. Bariţiu also forsees the publication of a newspaper written in Latin characters, which might be published once or twice in a month. In his position as editor-in-chief of the newspapers he himself founded, Bariţiu shows a special growing interest to the French culture and civilization. He carries out this not only by writing articles meant to inform the readers about the value of some French writers but also by bringing details regarding the evolution of the French press, and the statistics of the French newspapers published at the time.

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