Literature of Moldova comprises the literature of the principality of Moldavia, the later trans-Prut Moldavia, Bessarabia, the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, and the modern Republic of Moldova, irrespective of the language. Although there has been considerable controversy over linguistic identity in Moldova, the Moldovan and Romanian languages are virtually identical and share a common literary history. Moldovan literature, therefore, has considerable overlap with Romanian literature.
History
The creation of Moldovan written literature was preceded by a rich folklore that emerged in the 10th and 11th centuries CE: calendrical and family ritual poetry (Plugusorul), fairy tales, heroic epics (Hydra, Toma Alimos, The Knight Gruia Grozovan, Mihul Kopilul, Codreanu, Corbea), historical songs (Duca Vode, Buzhor, Tobultok), folk legends, proverbs, popular sayings, lyrical songs, ballads (The Sun and the Moon, The Rich Man and the Pauper, Dolca). The greatest achievement of Moldovan epic-lyric pastoral poetry is the ballad Mioriţa, various versions of which were found across Romania. The national struggle against the Ottoman occupation is reflected in the ballad The Well of Frost, which was popular not only in the Moldovan principality but also in Wallachia.
The Middle Ages
The first written records appeared in Moldova at the turn of the 10th-11th centuries CE in Old Church Slavonic (or Middle Bulgarian), which was the official language of the church and state until the 7th century, as well as the literary language. In this language appear the significant sacred and historical literature (The Life of St John the New and the preachings of Gregory Tsamblak), a hierarch of the Moldovan church between 1401 and 1403; anonymous chronicles of the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as those of Makarios, Eftimius, Azarius in the 16th century, and so on. The first Moldovan book was Kazania (interpretations of the Gospels) by the Metropolitan Barlaam (1590-1657) published in 1643. Barlaam's successor, Metropolitan Dosoftei (1624-1693) translated the Psalms in verse in the Romanian language.
From the 15th century, Moldovan literature absorbed influences from Latin literature, chiefly propagated by the Dominicans and the Franciscans, as well as southern Slavs (from Serbia and Bulgaria). The first half of the 17th century was marked by the awakening of nationalist consciousness among the Romanians. The Moldovan prince Vasile Lupu established a university, several publishing houses (from 1642), and introduced the first Moldavian legal code, especially laws on serfdom which provided a number of benefits to the big landowning classes.
The second half of the 15th century saw the development of historical literature in the Moldovan principality. The chronicles were compiled at the behest and supervision of the rulers, and were intended to glorify their reigns and actions. During the reign of Stefan the Great, an official chronicle was written in the Slavonic language: the original is lost, but its contents have been preserved in five different editions: Anonymous Chronicle, the Putna Monastery Chronicle (in two versions),The first (preserved in the Saltykov Shchedrin Library, St. Petersburg, covers events to 1518, while the other (in the Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR) continues to 1526. The documents chronicle the reign of Stefan. See Mokhov, 1964. a Moldovan-German chronicle, a Russo-Moldovan chronicle and a Moldovan-Polish chronicle.Translated at the end of the sixteenth century from Moldavian court annals that depended on the early 15th century version. See Foot et al. page 342. While all the editions include the reign of Stefan, there are differences and further additions by their scribes.
Moldovan chronography in Slavonic continued to develop in the 16th century. Roman Makarios' chronicle, compiled on behalf of Peter Rareș, covers historical events occurring between 1504 and 1551. Eftimius, abbot of the Căpriana monastery, was asked by Alexandru Lăpușneanu to continue Makarios' work to include the events of the principality between 1541 and 1554. The events of the years 1554-1574 were addressed by the monk Azarius, a disciple of Makarios, by decree of Peter the Lame. The fundamental premise of these 16th century chronicles was the establishment of centralised power in Moldova, as well as emphasis on the continuity between Roman and Greek history and Moldavian history.Foot et al, page 342. Azarius was the last representative of the school of court chroniclers.
The Annals of Moldova illuminate the period from the 14th through the 18th centuries. They describe the activities and achievements of various princes and monasteries, the chief proponents of Christian culture of the time. From the 17th century, the chronicles began to be written in the Romanian language. The best known chroniclers are Grigore Ureche (1590s-1647), Miron Costin (1633 -1691), Ion Neculce (1672-1745).
Moldovan historiography rose to the levels of contemporary European science in the works of Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723). Dimitrie Cantemir was the author of one of the most complete histories of the Turks. His History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire (1714) was translated into many European languages. A valuable historical, ethnographic and geographic source is his Description of Moldova (1716).
Modern Era
Only at the end of the 17th and early 18th centuries did a secular literature develop in Moldova. The so-called Transylvanian school promoted the idea of a Romance origin for the Romanian people and their language, an idea that propelled their nationalistic development from the end of the 17th century. This 'Latinate' school included Samuil Micu-Klein (1745-1808), Gheorghe Şincai (1754-1816), Petru Maior (c.1756-1821). In 1780, Samuil Micu-Klein's grammar Elements of Dacio-Romanian Language in Latin was published, while other scientific and historical works include Şincai's Chronicle of the Romanians and other peoples (on which he worked for over thirty years, and which was published posthumously), and Maior's History of the early Romanians in Dacia (1812) and A Conversation on the Beginnings of the Romanian Language between an Uncle and a Nephew (1819).
Alexandru Beldiman (1832-1898) wrote the chronicle Tragodia sau mai bine a zice jalnica Moldovei întâmplare după răzvrătirea grecilor, a tale of social upheaval during a peasant uprising in 1821 against the boyar landlords. Much of the storytelling of the first half of the 19th century reflected the social struggle between the poor peasantry and the landowning classes in Moldova and Wallachia. Songs celebrating the Hajduk appeared at this time. Bourgeouis literature of the period painted a villainous picture of the hajduks, but in folks songs they were romanticised as heroes and champions of peasant rights. The Moldavian national musical style Doina circulated widely.
Among the founders of Moldavian lyric poetry are the father Ienăchiță Văcărescu and son Alecu Văcărescu. They both wrote love songs in the tradition of the ancient Greek poet Anacreon, an extant example being Amărâta turturea ("The Moping Dove").
At the beginning of the 19th century, the writers Gheorghe Asachi (founder of the first Moldovan newspaper Romanian Bee in 1829), Alecu Donici, Alecu Russo, Constantin Stamati, Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu and Mihail Kogălniceanu become famous.
Kogălniceanu published the journal Dacia Literară (Literary Dacia), as well as the historical journal Arhiva Românească in 1840. Along with Vasile Alecsandri and Constantin Negruzzi he published the literary journal Revival, which was soon thereafter closed down by the censors.
Negruzzi can be considered the founder of modern Moldovan prose. He was active in the peasant uprising of 1821, fled to Bessarabia where he met, and was subsequently deeply influenced by, Alexander Pushkin.
In the second half of the 19th century, Moldovan literature fell under the influence of the middle-class, especially of the French. Latinate influences rising in Transylvania had a considerable following in Moldova and Wallachia. Another source of influence on Moldovan literature was that of the Germans.
The noted poet and dramaturge Vasile Alecsandri was active in the national movement for the unification of Moldova and Wallachia, participating in the revolution of 1848, headed the magazines Progress, Literary Dacia, and founded the journal Literary Romania. In 1888, Elena Sevastos published the collection Cantece Moldovenesti (Moldovan songs). Nationalism, aestheticism, and the idealisation of folk art characterised the folklore collections of the time. The critic and politician Titu Maiorescu, on the other hand, was representative of a countervailing conservative strand in the arts. Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu, the editor of the gazette Trojan and the satirical journal Cerienok was very popular. Critics noted that in the trans-Prut Moldova and other provinces of Romania, there was beginning a Francophone Romanian culture. At the same time, the 19th century is notable for the establishment of a nationalist literature as well.
Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
From 1926, the newspaper Plugarul Roșu (Red Ploughman) published in Tiraspol, followed by Pagini literară (Literary pages), and then organised by May 1, 1927, into the journal Moldova literară, occupied an important corner of Moldovan literature. In April 1927 was organised the Union of Moldovan Soviet Writers (Reseritul, or Sunrise), with Mozes Kahana as its first chairman. At the end of 1931, the writers' union in Tiraspol divided two sections: Tinerimea and Ularf. In November, the journal Moldova literară reorganised itself into a politico-literary monthly October - an organ for the Union of Writers and the Socio-literary division of the Moldovan scientific committee. From 1930, the pioneering magazine (Leninist Spark) began publication.
Dmitrii Milev can be considered the first Soviet writer from the Moldovan Autonomous SSR. In his short stories, Milev described in bright detail the bestiality and terror of Romanian fascism in a Bessarabian village, and the protest and resistance of the peasantry. But Milev also depicted the Bessarabian farmers as an undifferentiated mass that propels individual heroes. The revolutionary movement was shown as spontaneous and without perspective. Some of his works were to some extent or the other pessimistic, albeit veiled.
Mihai Andriescu, born in a peasant family in Bessarabia, was a Communist poet, among whose works were Navalire, and Grigore Malini.
Teodor Malai, also born in Bessarabia, was a farm-hand, fought in the Civil War, organiser of collective farms, a senior member of the Communist party. He published a collection of poems, Oţelu jiu in 1929. His oeuvre covered the October Revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat, class struggle, the problems of the establishment of Socialism, the defence of the USSR, and life in the Party and the Komsomol.