Dimitrie Cantemir - Precursor al Etnografiei și al Folcloristicii Românești
Dimitrie Cantemir - Predecessor of Romanian Folklore and Ethnography 194

Summary/Abstract: The central problem of Dimitrie Cantemir's work, related to ethnic and cultural identity of his people, gives him the status of precursor of some scientific research domains that will assert their full two centuries later. The arguments about the origin and unity of the language and culture of the Romanian people are based on the historical written document, of linguistic, archaeological-etymological and oral culture documents. Although traditions were perceived as an objective document, in enlightenment esprit, by imposing the popular literature, information filtering, the documentary interference archaeology-history – linguistics tradition remains the information scientific trunk of folklore studies and ethnographical research until the beginning of the 20th century, when folklore studies and ethnography become independent disciplines.

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