Etnograful Cantemir şi folclorul Orientului asiatic (Partea întâi)
Ethnographer Dimitrie Cantemir and the Folklore of the Asiatic Orient (Part I)

Summary/Abstract: The present study emphasizes the remarkable value of the work of Prince Dimitrie Cantemir, a Renaissance autochthonous scholar. In the first part, the savant is presented as a predecessor of both Romantic movement and modern ethnomusicologists. His contributions in the field of Turkish music are absolutely original. The other chapters of the study present Ottoman Empire beliefs and customs, known by Cantemir either in a direct manner or by means of the ample bibliography he has consulted. Professor Caraman’s main source is Historia incrementorum atque decrementorum Aulae Othomanicae, the fundamental yet little known work of the scholar. The eulogy to Cantemir is enhanced as the ethnological and mythological importance of the reported facts is identified. Each section of the work becomes a small scale study of linguistics, ethnography and folk philosophy. Therefore, the grandness of Cantemir work takes the shape of a luxuriant sapiential frame that enriches our knowledge.

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