On the 20th of October 1872, through imperial decree, in the (Hungarian) University of Cluj, a Department of Romanian Literature is founded, having Grigore Silaşi (1872-1884) as first professor, followed by Gavril Moldovan. After the First World War, under the heading of the reputed literary historian Gh. Bogdan-Duică, the department became one of the most important centers of forming teachers and specialists. The department maintains its reputation during the difficult period of the refuge, in the 1940’s, respectively during the period of the postwar communism. The main directions of scientific research aim at critical reflection upon literary ideas, including research in poetics, thematism etc. In the field of literary theory and aesthetics, the studies develop the image of a Romanian specific theoretical context, but also contextualise the disciplines coming from the European frame of literary ideas. Ethnology and literary anthropology supplements this image of a well-tempered interdisciplinarity, founded by the reference studies of the members of the department. In the 1930’s of the last century, the department delivered it’s first courses of cultural theory, taught by prof. Dimitrie Popovici. …more