ETHNOGONICAL MYTHS AND HISTORICAL IMAGINARY REGARDING THE GENESIS OF THE ROMANIANS AND VLACHS
ETHNOGONICAL MYTHS AND HISTORICAL IMAGINARY REGARDING THE GENESIS OF THE ROMANIANS AND VLACHS

Summary/Abstract: Ethnogonical Myths and Historical Imaginary Regarding the Genesis of the Romanians and Vlachs. The study offers a presentation of the ethnogonical myths and historical imaginary regarding the genesis of the Romanians and Vlachs by successive micro-analyses dedicated to the topic. Thus, we analyse: 1. the specific terminology used in this approach (ethnogony, ethnogenesis, eponym heroes, ethnonyms, endonym and exonym, mythonym); 2. the historical and mythical sources of the Romanian ”dismounting” (descălecat) and the evolution of the scholars’ preoccupations dedicated to the genesis of the Romanians; 3. the study case of the ethnogonical myth of the eponym heroes Roman and Vlahata, compared to further medieval legends about people founding brothers, based on the foreign written testimonies and on pan-Romanian ethnogonical ballads and legends; 4. the mythical significance attributed to Romanian ethnogony, comprising the utilitarian function, the spiritual meaning, the moral responsibility and the transcendental sense connected with the foundation of the people, as well as the historical imaginary of the Romanian ethnogenesis, insisting on: the ontological value of the name by which people found their existence, the politicization of geography and the nationalization of geographical differences, the teleological interpretation with regard to the Romanian ethnogenesis and the Vlach ”colonization”.

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