Scrisorile din Basarabia ale lui Ivan Aksakov
Ivan Aksakov’s Letters from Bessarabia
The poet and literary critic Ivan Aksakov (1823-1886) has published in 1888 a massive selection from his letters, bearing the title Letters to Those from Home. His correspondence revealed a keen intelligence, able to observe, seize and digest the various aspects of the numerous countries he visited. In what regards Romanian culture, these letters are important insofar they reflect Bessarabian culture at the middle of the XIXth century (when Aksakov had been sent there with the alleged purpose of inspecting bakeries, cereal stores, and Jewish schools, whereas his secret mission was to identify the possible conspirative connections against the Russian Empire between the Polish immigration and the locals).
Keywords: Russian literature from the XIXth century, correspondence, Ivan Aksakov’s letters, Bessarabian culture in the XIXth century
