Theatre of the Nation: Romanian historical and allegorical drama before the First World War

Romanian historical and allegorical drama before the First World War

Abstract

This study investigates the way in which Romanian theatre before World War I contributed to the formation of Romanian national consciousness and to the articulation of the ideal of a unitary national state. My analysis addresses the historical drama and dramatic allegories of the nation, with special focus on the drama of the early 20th century (and on the works of playwrights such as Alexandru Davila, Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea, Nicolae Iorga, Zaharia Bârsan, Ștefan Octavian Iosif and Victor Eftimiu). As a related topic, I address the rise of extremist nationalism in pre-war Romanian society. Mainly resorting to discourse analysis and close reading, I demonstrate the importance of theatre in the crystallisation of the Romanians’ national-identity assertiveness, which culminated, politically speaking, in the achievement of the Great Union of 1918.