"In Sándor Weöres's poems flora and fauna are not only a decoration, serving as an allegorical/metaphorical background for the representation of the self's alienation and for the 20th century experience of a chaotic universe, but rather the reality of beings independent of subjective consciousness. This reality carries the already forgotten mysteries of the created world, and it definitely points towards a transcendent meaning, an ultimate goal. This paper examines how the specific relationship between self and nature can be associated with the peculiar worldview and the transcendental experiences of Weöres's poetry. Keywords: Hungarian poetry, 20th century literature, time and eternity, nature, faith "
"Ideologized Identities in the Romanian e-News. A Cultural Sociolinguistic Query of Converged Media Texts on the 2022 Russia-Ukraine Conflict. The design for this paper is to provide a qualitative analysis of how positioning towards the two parties directly involved in the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict has been the catalyst of the textual morphing of two ideologized identities in some of the Romanian e-Press. The focus was on the locus of convergence of two types of mediated texts: the production of professional press editors and journalists, and of Social Networked Sites users and prosumers. With this intent, the Romanian HotNews.ro website was scrutinized, and a number of e-news items were singled out thematically and structurally. The presumption is that the mediation process has been conducive to foregrounding two ballpark antithetic identities as underpinned by correspondent ideologies. An interdisciplinary perspective was opted for, one that joins Cultural Sociolinguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis (Agha 2007; Androutsopoulous 2006; Blommaert 2017; Herring 2013; Silverstein 2004; Thurlow 2017; Wodak 2022) with the Ethnography of Netspeak (Kozinets 2010; Markham 2016, 2020; Zappavigna 2011) and focuses on collective identities in order to diagnose how the mediated text, as part of the semiotic architecture of the said e-Press inputs, pairs up antithetic ideology-determined identities in times of crisis. Keywords: Cultural Sociolinguistics, Ethnography of Netspeak, ideologized identity, digital cultural practices, textual interpretation, e-Press, Social Networked Sites "
"The last twenty years have seen a rapid development of religion and conspiracy theories amid the expansion of digital technologies. This study seeks to address the gap in the literature on conspiracies and digital religion by focusing on the perception of Ortho-bloggers as a new type of religious actor emerging online, towards Faith and conspiracy theories in the Romanian Ortho-sphere. The study uses Romania as a case due to its Orthodox majority, good internet infrastructure, constant flow of conspiracies online and its unique geopolitical features. The findings point tendency among Ortho-bloggers towards thinking and sharing conspiracies. Key words: Ortho-bloggers, conspiracy theories, Faith, Romania, perceptions."
"The Representation of Ritual (Im)Purity through Meteorological Metaphors in Folkloric Language. For the mythical-magical thinking of archaic and traditional communities, ritualistic purity represents a fundamental dimension of the entire universe, most often linguistically expressed through a reference to its antinomian pair, with the help of the clean-unclean opposition. According to the degree of contamination with various impure things, such as the multitude of good and evil spirits that populated the world, both space and time were qualitatively differentiated in good places and bad places, good hours and evil hours. People themselves had, in turn, to fulfil this condition of ritual purity, before beginning an important activity. If they were not pure from this point of view, they would be unsuccessful whether it was about working in the fields, going to church, or travelling somewhere. However, these metaphors from folkloric language, long discussed in Romanian ethnological literature, will be invoked only as points of reference in our study, since we intend to closely analyse here some of the least investigated meteorological metaphors, such as morning dew, mist, clouds and rainbow. We consider that they too deserve close attention, considering that a person, as a passing being, is represented in many folkloric creations as a forever wanderer, who begins their path With morning dew on your feet/With mist on your back. Starting from the image of the bathed person and, thus, purified by the morning dew, but burdened by the thick, impure mist that they symbolically carry on their back, we will attempt to remake the imaginary scheme that connects the pure and the impure in the archaic mentality, a scheme organised not after the principle of antithesis, but of the ambivalence specific to symbolic logic. Keywords: pure, impure, morning dew, mist, cloud, hail, dragon, silver, rain, rainbow "
"The current educational paradigm implemented worldwide is the development of competence comprising knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This research aims to investigate the acquisition of procedural knowledge and competencies targeting this type of knowledge through the study of Biology in middle and high schools in Romania. The paper first provides a brief overview of the history and existent usage of the concepts of competence and procedural knowledge. Moreover, it describes the Romanian educational system from a diachronic perspective. Following this, a careful analysis of middle and high school Biology syllabi is conducted. Particularly, development of procedural knowledge and competencies targeting procedural knowledge in these documents is examined critically. The results of this analysis indicate that, even though syllabi mention competence and procedural knowledge, they need more concrete activity guidance and assessment to train them. Finally, an online survey targeting high school ninth-graders and first-year university students is applied and analyzed. The survey assesses the implementation of instruction based on procedural knowledge. The results reveal the need for more logistics (laboratories and instruments) provision in schools and for carrying out practical activities. A need for reconsidering Biology syllabi, educational investment, and teacher preparation is necessary to succeed in developing procedural knowledge and competencies associated with this, through the study of Biology. Keywords: procedural knowledge, competencies, curriculum, Biology syllabus, practical activity, competency-based education, middle school, high school. "
"The present paper aimed to open a debate about the increasing needs of collaborative learning in digital learning contexts. Collaborative teaching and learning are effective approaches to enhance learning and facilitate students' satisfaction. Digital platforms may help teachers develop collaborative learning environments and provide ways of building various teaching scenarios, promoting autonomous and structured learning contexts. Key words: collaborative teaching and learning, digital learning, digital platforms, lesson design "
"Dynamics of Identity Negotiation: A Case Study on a Facebook Post Pertaining to Abortion Rights. With the advent of computer mediated communication, Internet users have formed routines and rituals that mirror the articulation, the negotiation and the formation of online identities. This extremely subtle yet complex process has stimulated researchers' interest in the particularities of the socio-cultural acts performed in the on-line environment. The present study focuses on the negotiation of self- and group identity and on techniques of self-definition and self-representation, through an analysis of the reactions to a Facebook post regarding abortion rights. Keywords: Facebook, abortion, self-presentation, interpersonal goals, identity negotiation "
"The paper focuses on two concepts developed by William Zartman, namely "ripe moments" and "mutually hurting stalemates". Basically, the concepts tackle the idea of certain proper moments for the beginning of peace talks when the parties to the conflict believe that they are trapped in a painful impasse which no longer brings them victory. Our paper aims to show that hurting stalemates are sometimes the adequate starting point for peace-building efforts as well, not only for starting negotiations, and to apply this on the case of Liberia. The paper is organized around the following research questions: Is the hurting stalemate a military deadlock? Is a similar painful deadlock a good starting point for building sustainable peace in post-conflict societies? Keywords: peace studies, ripeness, mutually hurting stalemates, peace-building, post-conflict development"
The Thread Metaphor in the Linguistic Imaginary of Folklore. In our study, we analyse the conceptualization of the idea of creation in the linguistic imaginary of traditional Romanian communities, with the help of certain metaphors from the sphere of household industry, namely the thread, the linen, the towel, the handkerchief, the kerchief, the girdle and others. By exploring a number of theories from the field of cognitive linguistics and ethnolinguistics, we research not only the manners of representing genesis, but also those of other forms of "creation", such as creating human connections, both between the living and between the living and the dead. To this end, we follow certain linguistic data that encode the concept of creation, identified in folkloric texts, such as dirges, incantations, carols, fairytales, or cosmogonic legends. For their correct interpretation, we invoke their relation with popular beliefs, with ritual practices or elements of material patrimony, without which we would not be able to understand the deepest meanings. Finally, the results of the analysis highlight the significance of the seed-thread, as a core-metaphor responsible for the production of several types of creation, at different levels of existence. The thread metaphor supports the imaginary scheme of warping and weaving, which has modelled the representations about the birth of the vast canvas of the world. By analysing the multiple items, the connections and correlations created with the thread's help, we can better understand that the folkloric world is itself a vast canvas whose threads often remain visible only to the initiated. Keywords: creation, cosmogony, thread, linen, towel, handkerchief, kerchief, girdle, footbridge, bridge, connection.
"In recent years, computer role-playing games have changed the way we spend our free time. Traditional games have been increasingly replaced by digitized productions, and technology has made it easier to access videogames on multiples devices. Online games bring users together in a fantasy world in which they design avatars, manifesting their creativity and employing gaming strategies. This study analyzed Romanian gamers' behaviors and perceptions of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (henceforth MMORPGs); by employing focus groups and a survey, the authors aimed to map preferences and habits of users in terms of gender. We found that users are not likely to engage in stereotypical activities in creating and using their avatars within the games, nor do they design female avatars solely for visual pleasure, but rather for opportunistic reasons. Moreover, the research subjects did not think of choosing female avatars as a safeguard for advancing through in-game levels, but rather consider other variables, such as hard work, skills, or strategy, as important to succeed. Keywords: role-playing games, gaming behavior, gamer preferences, gender-swapping, avatar gender."
"Studies have found that product-related information from social media influencers can shape millennial consumers' purchasing behavior. This research investigates, in a descriptive approach, how Romanian millennials relate to content provided on social media platforms by influencers they prefer and follow. The study also shows factors that influence trust in this dynamic. Using data collected through an online-administered survey in the second half of March 2020, the authors found that Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube were the top preferred platforms providing the much-desired video content by influencers. Romanian millennials use this content frequently to make informed purchasing decisions, and they value honest recommendations and opinions, lending trust to experienced influencers, who seem to have qualified voices. They also show confidence towards the influencer to whom they can relate, and the one who is actively involved with their community. For Romanian millennials, the influencers' notoriety measured by the number of followers is an artefact of their quality content, and their confidence is boosted by influencers who show clear, real, and satisfactory results when using products that they are advertising. Marketers, thus, should be cognizant of the elements of trust that can translate online reviews by influencers into purchasing behavior, and can design strategies that rely on actual product benefits demonstrated by influencers. Keywords: social media influencers, Millennials, consumer behavior, fashion and beauty, trust. "
