Istoria, componentă definitorie a identităţii naţionale. Răpirea Basarabiei în concepţia lui Mihai Eminescu

Abstract

Starting from a semiotic model of national identity, I will deal in this paper with one of its main elements: history. However, my text won’t cover only theoretical aspects, but I will also apply them to a symbolic case for Romanian nationalism: Mihai Eminescu’s journalistic activity. His articles are extremely relevant for defining Romanian national identity throughout the 19th century and not only. In his opinion, history is a main argument for preserving national identity and this idea makes him often refer to Basarabia as an example for Romanians’ struggle to defend their territories.