Eon, vol. 6, nr. 4 / 2025
Înapoi la Hermes sau despre retorică, interpretare și lumea sensurilor
ABSTRACT: If, in mythology, Hermes guides souls between worlds, in linguistics he "transports" meanings between gods and humans. Through Cratylos, Plato explicitly establishes Hermes' role as interpreter, and through Phaidros, the rhetorician—inspired by Hermes' function—is the leader of souls through words. Therefore, Hermes is the perfect figure to symbolize hermeneutics and rhetoric, both of which are arts of constructing, transmitting, and transforming meaning. Two millennia later, Gadamer would emphasize the unity between rhetoric and hermeneutics, considering both to be arts of mediating understanding. The history of rhetoric encompasses a vast tradition of theoretical prescriptions, offering guidance on how to cultivate our rhetorical competence, or more practically speaking, our ability to cope with this world of contingencies. The parallel between what Vico identifies as the fundamental activity of rhetoric, inventio (persuasion techniques), and what Gadamer calls "the fundamental problem of hermeneutics," applicatio (the always provisional fulfillment of distant meaning in the interpretive act), reveals a structural convergence between rhetoric and hermeneutics, in the sense that both inventio and applicatio are not merely technical stages, but constitutive acts of meaning production, through which truth is realized historically and contingently. From this perspective, returning to Hermes means reconnecting with the profound dynamics of human communication, with the fact that meaning is never "pure," complete, or unique, and that its transmission is inseparable from interpretation.
KEYWORDS: psychopompós, inventio, applicatio, sensus communis, rhetorical skill .
Declinul liberalismului: Schumpeter despre noul socialism paternalist
TITLE: "Liberalism in decline: Schumpeter predicting the new paternalistic socialism"
ABSTRACT: The current transformation of modern capitalism is not an unattended event. Reading some illustrious economists from the first half of the 20th century is useful for understanding the ongoing merger between big capital and state bureaucracy, on the ruins of the capitalistic order. Although Schumpeter was not able to predict exactly what type of social, cultural and political order will accompany the new socialist economic arrangement, he was right about internal and external mechanisms of capitalist decay. The complete rationalization of every aspect of western society could not avoid shattering the very basis of capitalism itself. What capitalism has done to the feudal type of social arrangement would done to the environment he created. Property, enterprise, family and capitalist ethos would disappear under the siege of complete rationalization. Therefore, it was fully understandable why industry and commerce would turn into a mere current management, while personnel would acquire the traits of a bureaucracy.
KEYWORDS: capitalism, socialism, democracy, bureaucracy, Joseph Schumpeter.
Eschatological Madness in Michel Foucault's analysis
ABSTRACT: Michel Foucault does not propose a system of typologies for the phenomenon of madness. On the contrary, he acknowledges that this is not the intention of his analytical approach. What this complex research journey seeks to achieve is a comprehensive exposition of the different views on madness that have developed throughout universal history. It is a survey that involves approaches to artistic symbolism, individual and collective theological and psychological expressions, as well as socio-political visions and decisions. In this context, Foucault's research identifies several essential relationships: between the phenomenon of madness and eschatological worldviews; between the presence of the "madman" and the archetypes of the Traveler, the Stranger, or the Messenger; and between the social integration of madness and its symbolisms that open towards the universe of individual and collective unconsciousness. Thus, the Renaissance artistic representations of madness are reviewed, exemplified by Bosch's "Ship of Fools", as well as the transition towards the modern psychiatric expertise on the conditions, disorders, or diseases encompassed within the field of mental health. All these evocations in Foucault's work do not serve to provide definitions of madness, but rather to offer diverse perspectives – interpretations that have remained open to philosophy, psychology, art.
KEYWORDS: Madness, eschatology, consciousness, symbol, phenomenon, alienation.
Radical Plainness: Thomas Paine's Political Pamphlet and the Rhetoric of Revolution
ABSTRACT: This article examines Thomas Paine's
revolutionary writing and his rejection of monarchy and
hereditary aristocracy, while promoting republican self government, especially in his contributions to the genre of
the American political pamphlet. Through close analysis of
his political pamphlet Common Sense, this study reveals
how Paine transformed political discourse by employing
accessible language and rational argumentation to
dismantle the philosophical, politic and religious
foundations of monarchical rule in general, and of British
monarchy in particular. Thomas Paine's political pamphlet
thus emerges as his personal political manifesto, but also
a comprehensive, well-established expression of a
political vision which has inspired many political and
revolutionary movements and has sparked ever since its
publication lively debates about democracy, the role of
politics in the lives of the citizens, religious freedom,
economic and social inequality.
KEYWORDS: political pamphlet, the American
Revolution, independence, American literature,
republicanism, civil rights.
Cătălin Augustin Stoica. Turul doi care n-a fost: autopsia sumară a unui moment electoral (sperăm) unic. București: Editura Humanitas, 2025, 245 p. Recenzie de carte
TITLE: "Cătălin Augustin Stoica. The Runoff that Never Was:
A Brief Autopsy of a (Hopefully) Unique Electoral Moment.
Bucharest: Humanitas, 2025, 245 p. Book review"
ABSTRACT: The book of Cătălin Augustin Stoica seeks to
shed light on the events and societal developments that led to
the unexpected victory of candidate Călin Georgescu in the
first round of the Romanian presidential elections on
November 24, 2024, and the subsequent annulment of the
entire electoral process by the Constitutional Court.
Combining diverse empirical data sources, elegant analyses,
and mature insights, the author provides readers with a "brief
autopsy" of an electoral moment that triggered a wave of
anguish throughout Romanian society. The result is a
remarkable work of public sociology, elegantly packaged in a
predominantly essayistic style that is both captivating and
accessible.
KEYWORDS: presidential elections, Călin Georgescu, public
opinion polls, conspiracy theories, social media platforms,
TikTok, social cleavages.
Rodica Braga – între confesiune și autoficțiune de Sorina-Maria Victoria. Recenzie de carte
TITLE: "Rodica Braga – Between Confession and Autofiction
by Sorina-Maria Victoria"
ABSTRACT: The volume Rodica Braga – Between
Confession and Autofiction by Sorina-Maria Victoria offers an
interdisciplinary analysis of Rodica Braga's work, grounded in
the premise of an indissoluble relationship between
biographical context and creative expression. The study
explores the diversity of the writer's oeuvre, ranging from
poetry and prose, articulated around the confessional self, to
children's literature, through a critical approach that combines
terminological exploration, contextualisation, and textual
interpretation. At the same time, the author proposes her own
conceptualisation of self-writing by introducing the concept of
ego-graphy and contributes to the development of studies on
autofiction and self-writing within Romanian literary criticism.
KEYWORDS: Rodica Braga, confession, autofiction, egography, ego-positions, self-referentiality.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Transforming the Reality of Modern and Contemporary Man
ABSTRACT: This study looks to artificial intelligence (AI) as
the most significant scientific revolution of our era. We trace
the trajectory of AI from inception to implementation, and
examine social, economic, and cognitive ramifications of AI's
effects. The study focuses on how AI transforms human realty
through examining if and how AI can be a new rationality, as
both a momentum for good or as a possible momentum as a
force of harm. Through a descriptive-analytical method, we
review key literature, and some practical applications of AI
from finance, education, health, and sustainable
development. It has been established AI has the potential to
outpace human intelligence through faster precision and data
processing, creating new types of banking services, learning,
diagnosis, and resource efficiency. But with this growth comes
real concerns: displacement of work, privacy concerns, social
inequity, and perhaps, and loss of creativity due to reliance on
AI production systems. This study suggests necessary ethical
and legal interventions are required to support AI in purpose
of humanity's best interest.
KEYWORDS: Natural intelligence, Artificial intelligence,
Social reality, Scientific research, Ethical and social violations.
Dezvoltarea creativității prin scrierea textului liber, într-o abordare interactivă
TITLE: "Developing creativity through free text writing, in an
interactive approach"
ABSTRACT: This essay examines creativity in educational
contexts through the lens of free-text writing, integrating both
theoretical perspectives and practical applications. The
concept of creativity is analyzed based on psychological and
cognitive theories, from J. P. Guilford's distinction between
divergent and convergent thinking to the studies of Margaret
A. Boden, Todd Lubart, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, which
highlight the roles of imagination, reasoning, and flow in
generating original ideas. In education, Anna Craft and Ken
Robinson emphasize the need to create environments that
encourage free expression, risk-taking in idea generation, and
the cultivation of individual talent. Socio-cultural approaches,
including the works of Vygotsky, Bruner, Sawyer, and JohnSteiner, demonstrate that interactivity and collaboration are
essential factors in fostering creativity. Freinet's pedagogy of
free text, further developed by Donald Graves and other
scholars, provides a methodological framework that combines
spontaneous writing with collaborative feedback, enhancing
students' autonomy, responsibility, and communicative
competencies. The interactive free-text writing method is
presented step by step, highlighting thematic freedom, active
engagement, and peer cooperation. This educational strategy
facilitates authentic expression, promotes divergent thinking,
and offers a motivating and formative learning experience,
supporting the development of both cognitive and socialemotional skills among students.ethics.
KEYWORDS: creativity, interactivity, free text writing,
divergent thinking, responsibility, curiosity.
Accompanying Subject-Matter Teachers in their English-Medium Instruction Journey: A Report of Medical English Training
ABSTRACT: This report documents a multi-phase
initiative in support of Subject-Matter Teachers (SMTs)
who are transitioning to English-Medium Instruction (EMI).
Following national policy shifts, medicine lecturers are
expected to implement EMI. Therefore, a collaborative
training program was designed to address their needs
uncovered during focus group discussions. The
program accentuates psychological, linguistic, and
pedagogical needs. While the broader initiative consists
of multiple dimensions, this report focuses on the linguistic
and pedagogical training delivered to medical lecturers at
the Faculty of Medicine at Medea University. It is
grounded in a needs assessment through which key
challenges are identified: instructional confidence,
language proficiency, and classroom communication. For
three weeks, the sample doctors engaged in structured
sessions where they developed fluency, designed EMI
lessons, planned inclusive assessments, and practiced
teaching. Post-training survey responses revealed high
levels of satisfaction and perceived relevance. The
linguistic and pedagogical trainings were preceded by
psychological preparation, which forms an EMI support
model. This report underscores the complementary role
of ESP practitioners –as psychological, linguistic, and
pedagogical allies- in accompanying SMTs through their
EMI journey.
KEYWORDS: EMI; ESP; medical educators; needs
analysis; training.
Serbarea în învățământul preșcolar
TITLE: "Festive performance in preschool education"
ABSTRACT: Festive performances hold a distinctive place in
the preschool educational environment; therefore, this article
proposes an examination of theatrical manifestations, such as
Christmas performances, from the perspective of theatre
pedagogy, highlighting the formative potential inherent in the
process of their realization. These events are delimited from
theatrical performances, as they do not pursue artistic value
or aesthetic outcomes, but rather aim to create a supportive
framework that facilitates children's developmental
processes. Through the careful selection and use of theatrical
methods—such as dramatization, role-play, and storytelling—
aligned with the needs, abilities, and interests of the target
group, children can develop essential cognitive and socioemotional competencies. Within a safe and supportive
environment, they are encouraged to practice communication
skills, critical thinking, empathy, self-esteem, collaboration,
and social behavior. By highlighting the formative potential of
theatre in education through theoretical and empirical
perspectives, this article ultimately proposes a set of
guidelines and recommendations that support the paradigm
in which the formative process takes precedence over artistic
performance, thereby transforming festive celebrations into
authentic educational experiences.
KEYWORDS: theater pedagogy, festive activities, preschool
education, theatre in education, performative events, child centered approaches.
Through the Mirror: A Serious Game for Interspecies Amiable Cohabitation and Urban Reimagining
ABSTRACT: This study presents "Through the Mirror",
a narrative-based serious game developed on the
Graveler platform, designed to engage players in
ethical reflection, symbolic transformation, and real
world ecological action. Set in a winter version of
Kassel, the game unfolds across three distinct
narrative worlds. Players begin in a hostile urban
environment, navigating hunger and suspicion while
encountering NPCs who question their presence and
worth.
A pivotal revelation occurs when the player looks into
a glowing mirror and discovers they are not human,
but a raccoon -one historically commodified and now
legally exterminated in many European cities. This
identity twist invites the player to wake up into a
second world, where they are summoned by a
mysterious deity to the temple within a Gothic castle.
There, they are entrusted with the mission of
reimagining the city through humane coexistence
strategies: raccoon cafés, safe waste systems, and
educational diplomacy. The final world shifts to metareflection, naming the player "steward of creation" and
asking for real-world action – evidence of workshops,
posters, or donations in support of urban wildlife.
Drawing on theories from environmental ethics,
symbolic learning, and game-based pedagogy, the
game merges poetic storytelling with civic
engagement. Early playtests indicate that the
combination of narrative twist, spiritual framing, and
ecological realism fosters deep emotional impact and
ethical awareness.
The study argues that such games can serve as
valuable educational tools and invitations to empathy
and interspecies responsibility.
KEYWORDS: serious games, ecological action,
immersive narrative, human as steward of
creation, interspecies.
Identitatea culturală și de gen: instanțe ale minorităților opresate în romanul contemporan Fată, femeie, alta
TITLE: "Cultural and Gender Identity: Instances of
Oppressed Minorities in the Contemporary Novel Girl,
Woman, Other"
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this essay is to analyze the
techniques and accuracy with which Bernardine Evaristo's
novel Girl, Woman, Other problematizes cultural and
gender identity and explores different forms of abuse,
starting from a community already subjected to collective
oppression. By intertwining the stories of twelve women
belonging to an ethnic minority, the novel places the
concept of intersectional feminism at the center and allows
for the identification of the criteria underlying various forms
of marginalization: race, culture, social status, religion,
sexual orientation. Evaristo breaks away from the
traditional, both in form and content, thereby offering a
new dimension to historical and social realities and
recontextualizing a series of recurring, yet controversial
and often taboo, issues. Starting from a series of
characters whose true identity has been repressed, the
novel Girl, Woman, Other highlights the persistence of
certain prejudices and preexisting forms of
marginalization, while simultaneously dismantling the
expectations of idealistic activism. Evaristo employs a
variety of postmodern techniques and traits, which
contribute both to the authenticity of the text and to the
highlighting of a diverse range of themes, including the
historical struggles of minorities against various forms of
oppression, as well as the idea of accepting one's identity
over the otherness imposed by a rejecting and patriarchal
society. Additionally, the principle of returning to origins is
noticeable in the novel through the introduction of myth
and symbolism, as well as through the rejection of
civilization and a return to primal instincts. Thus, the
contemporary novel Girl, Woman, Other addresses
current social issues from a distinctive perspective,
representing a major reference point in the study of
feminism in literature.
KEYWORDS: Bernardine Evaristo, feminism, identity,
colonialism, intersectionality, sexuality, racism.
The Arabic Medieval Travel Narrative and the Discourse of Alterity
ABSTRACT: This article aims to explore the image of the
cultural Other and the manifestations of alterity in The
Arabic Medieval Travel Narrative. It seeks to identify the
patterns of cultural centralism through which the image of
the Other was formed during the medieval Arab-Islamic
era. The study examines the dimensions of this image and
the forms of centralism by adopting a cultural reading open
to the concept of alterity. It focuses on the cultural patterns
and narrative strategies that shape the image of the Other
in the Arabic medieval travel and their emergence from
cultural centrality. The journey becomes an act of
recognition that takes multiple forms, beginning with the
self and returning to it through the discovery of the Other,
making the travel narrative a text of dual discovery. The
importance of this study lies in the fact that the
relationships arising from the desire for recognition still, to
varying degrees, shape the perception of the Other today.
What we uncover through our exploration of ancient texts
largely retains its cognitive value in defining the current
boundaries of the relationship between the Self and the
Other.
KEYWORDS: cultural centralization, alterity, travel,
islamic middle age, the other, otherness
Problema fundamentelor în filosofia chineză antică. Cadre conceptuale, paradigme și tradiții de gândire
TITLE: "The fundamentals of ancient Chinese philosophy.
Conceptual frameworks, paradigms and thinking traditions"
ABSTRACT: Ancient China, one of the oldest continuous
civilizations in the world, stands out through many remarkable
achievements such as some of the earliest writings in the
world, the Great Wall of China and the Silk Road. Philosophy
in long lasting China takes shape during the Zhou Dynasty
between 1066 and 771, when the Yi Jing, the Book of
Changes, appears. The philosophical schools formed by great
Chinese thinkers emerge at this time, including Lao Tsi and
Confucius.
The problem of major philosophical issues becomes clear.
These include Dao, Yin and Yang, Qi understood as spiritual
energy and the authority of the past. All these appear as a
process, not as substance.
KEYWORDS: China, Lao Tsi, Dao, Yin and Yang, Qi.
The Theory of Apocatastasis: New Theological Opinions on an Old Dogmatic Controversy
ABSTRACT: The study entitled "The Theory of
Apocatastasis: New Theological Opinions on an Old
Dogmatic Controversy" addresses a central and
simultaneously controversial theme within Christian
eschatology – the universal restoration (apocatastasis) – and
reevaluates its implications in the context of contemporary
theological thought. The work explores the contributions of the
Church Fathers and modern theologians to the understanding
and interpretation of this doctrine, highlighting the tensions
between divine love, human freedom, and eschatological
justice. It analyzes the impact of this theory on several
fundamental dimensions of dogmatics: soteriology, the
theology of hope, the problem of evil and hell, and the
complex interrelations between God's attributes. The
research methodology is patristic and interdisciplinary,
deliberately avoiding rigid scholastic systematizations. The
approach is centered on the question as a form of open,
prophetic, and apophatic thinking, grounded in a "theology of
exception" that reveals the margins and crises capable of
disclosing the essence. The study explores the convergences
between Orthodox theology and modern philosophical and
scientific thought (Heidegger, Kant, Jung, Cantor), aiming to
comprehend the "antinomy of hell" and the spiritual
significance of a possible universal salvation. Thus, the study
aims not only to provide a dogmatic clarification but also to
open a space for existential and pastoral questions of
contemporary relevance, in which the issue of universal
salvation gains profound – perhaps even emblematic –
significance. In the face of the "hell of despair" characteristic
of the modern age, apocatastasis is revisited not as a
doctrinal certainty, but as a living horizon of Christian hope
and love.
KEYWORDS: Apocatastasis, Universal Salvation,
Eschatology, Controversy, Christian Universalism.
Repere istorice și lingvistice privitoare la cuvântul "Crăciun"
TITLE: "Historical and linguistic insights into the word
«Christmas»"
ABSTRACT: The origin of the word "Crăciun" (the Romanian
name for Christmas) has generated numerous controversies
for almost two centuries, being regarded as a term unique to
the Romanian linguistic area and difficult to explain
etymologically. Scholars have proposed multiple hypotheses,
ranging from Latin origins (incarnatio, crastinus, calatio,
creatio), to Slavic, Indo-European, Albanian sources, or even
mixed theories. Some explanations connect the word to the
winter solstice, to pre-Christian symbolism, or to folk traditions
associated with the winter log. The creatione hypothesis,
although officially adopted by many philologists, raises
linguistic and theological objections and has been contested
because of possible doctrinal implications. Other theories, such
as "crai-ciun" or those referring to an ancient Slavic deity, are
considered fanciful or insufficiently supported. The most original
and coherent modern interpretation is based on the James
Frazer's Myth of the Golden Bough, which argues that the term
derives from an ancient celebration linked to mistletoe, a plant
with sacred and healing properties, venerated in the context of
the solstice. This pre-Christian tradition would later have
overlapped with the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord.
Despite extensive research, there is no unanimously accepted
solution, and "Crăciun" remains a term marked by local
particularities, with deep cultural and historical roots in the
Carpathian–Danubian region.
KEYWORDS: Christmas, etymology, solstice, traditions,
mistletoe, Golden Bough.
P. Eugenius Lersch OCist on Joachim of Fiore and Geofrrey of Auxerre – A Medieval Controversy within the Cistercian Order. Book Review
ABSTRACT: This review examines the intellectual and
theological confrontation between Joachim of Fiore and
Geoffrey of Auxerre as reconstructed by Eugenius Lersch
OCist in his monography written in German dedicated to
those two medieval figures: Joachim von Fiore und
Gottfried von Auxerre - eine mittelalterliche Kontroverse
im Zisterzienserorden (be+be-Verlag: Heiligenkreuz,
2024). While both thinkers were firmly rooted in
Benedictine–Cistercian spirituality and shared a concern
for the reform of the Church, they advanced markedly
different models of interpreting history and ecclesial life.
Joachim developed an innovative trinitarian vision of
historical progression organized into three ages, a
framework that later inspired both reformist and anticlerical currents. Geoffrey, by contrast, defended a more
traditional ecclesiology centered on hierarchical order,
doctrinal integrity and moral interiority, sharply criticizing
Joachim's speculative methods. Lersch situates this
conflict within a broader intellectual shift: the transition
from monastic to scholastic theology around the year
1200. Geoffrey's opposition to Joachim thus reflects not
merely personal or institutional disagreement but a deeper
epistemic reorientation within medieval theology and
philosophy.
KEYWORDS: Joachim of Fiore, Geoffrey of Auxerre,
Cistercian Order, Medieval Eschatology, Twelfth Century
Philosophy.
Catedrala din cuvinte: 101 concepte pentru a înțelege religiile lumii și reîntoarcerea sacrului în cultură. Recenzie de carte
TITLE: "The Cathedral of Words: 101 Concepts for
Understanding the Religions of the World and the Return of
the Sacred in Culture. Book review"
ABSTRACT: This analysis explores Mihai Coman's "101
concepte pentru a înțelege religiile lumii" ("101 Concepts for
Understanding the Religions of the World") through a
communicological and hermeneutic lens. Taking the recent
consecration of the Cathedral of National Salvation as a
symbolic pretext, it looks at how Coman builds a "cathedral of
words," translating the sacred into the language of culture and
communication. The book presents 101 central concepts that
show how world religions differ, yet also share common
patterns of meaning. Coman writes in a way that is both
accessible and intellectually rigorous, creating bridges
between anthropology, religious studies, and semiotics. His
approach reminds readers that symbolic language allows
cultures to shape spiritual experience and interpret
transcendence. His approach reminds readers that symbolic
language allows cultures to shape spiritual experience and
interpret transcendence. This perspective connects naturally
with the ideas of Mircea Eliade, Rudolf Otto, Émile Durkheim,
and Clifford Geertz, who each saw religion as a network of
meanings within human culture. In conclusion, the book
invites readers to rediscover religion as a living form of
symbolic communication and as a space for intercultural
dialogue in today's world.
KEYWORDS: religious communication; symbolism; sacred;
hermeneutics; intercultural dialogue; Mihai Coman.
Semnul ca entitate fractală înconcepția
lui C.S. Peirce
TITLE: "The Sign as a Fractal Entity in C.S. Peirce's
Conception"
ABSTRACT: This essay aims to revisit C.S. Peirce's semiotic
project within an interdisciplinary framework shaped by some
speculative and terminological acquisitions from fractal
geometry. To understand the internal dynamism through
which speakers engage their semiotic levels, we refer to
several Peircean postulates about the structure and
development of the sign in the process of interpretation. In
Peirce's conception, the sign reveals a fractal triadic structure
that implicates the entire Universe as a matrix "permeated
with signs." In other words, the sign proves to be a cognitive
device for generating increasingly complex semiotic
structures.
KEYWORDS: sign, object, interpretant, intuition, semeiosis,
fractals, knowledge, concept.
Tension as a Semiotic Concept of Communication Effects. Studies in Media Contents in the Theory and Application of Communication
ABSTRACT: This article presents tension as an
interdisciplinary concept central to the effects of
communication. The concept is grounded in rhetorical,
semiotic, and media theory and interwoven with related
ideas such as intention, the relationship between content
and container, and extension. We argue that at the core of
communication, both in theory and application, tension
operates as an intrinsic dynamic between communicators,
shaping meaning through interaction. In a review of the
concept in recent research approaches and its
fundamentals in the Platonic-Aristotelian philosophy we
show that the approach of semiotics allows for theorization
of tension, whereas the concept of tension is not only here
but also in other contemporary areas of communication
like rhetoric, discourse studies, and content analysis
employed (sections I and II). The concept of tension is
studied in three case studies of digital content and
discussed for media of the contemporary world (section
III). We present a model of tension in communication and
describe how elements of tension reveal power dynamics
in discursive communication and generate conflicting
meanings that go beyond the basic semiotic structure
(Section IV).
KEYWORDS: semiotics, tension, communication theory,
media theory, rhetoric, Aristotelian philosophy.
Scientific uncertainty and sentiment in COVID-19 reporting: An analysis of headlines and article bodies
ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic required media
professionals to communicate rapidly evolving and
often uncertain science to their audiences. This study
investigates how scientific uncertainty and sentiment
intersect in journalistic materials published during this
global health crisis, focusing on differences between
general interest and science-focused media. Our
analysis is based on a large corpus of journalistic
articles that were published at the onset of the
pandemic (March–August 2020) and in two additional
timeframes, the same months in 2017 and 2023. We
used dictionary-based uncertainty detection and
automated sentiment analysis to examine headlines
and article body content in the two types of
publications. Our findings indicate that articles with
high scientific uncertainty were more likely to feature
negative headlines across both outlet types, though
this trend did not extend to body content. COVIDrelated articles published in 2020 revealed heightened
negativity in both headlines and body content for
general interest outlets. For specialized outlets,
negativity was primarily present in body content. These
results contribute to a more nuanced understanding of
the complex dynamics between scientific uncertainty
and sentiment in the context of public health crises.
KEYWORDS: scientific uncertainty, science
journalism, science communication, health
communication, sentiment analysis, COVID-19.
Andrada FISCUTEAN
Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies
University of Bucharest
andrada.fiscutean@fjsc.ro
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6303-5719
Radu-Ioan MIHAI
The Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
University of Bucharest
rimihai2001@gmail.com
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5902-1426
Comunicarea pozitivă, recunoștința și
starea de bine
TITLE: "Positive communication, gratitude, and well-being"
ABSTRACT: Over the past decade, the positive orientation in
psychology, together with emerging research that integrates
the communicative dimension into the study of wellbeing, has
generated increasing interest within the field of
communication sciences. In this context, the present paper
aims to contribute to the development of interdisciplinary
research by examining the potential of communication to
support mental health and individual wellbeing across diverse
contexts. Specifically, the study explores the role of
communication in the practice and expression of gratitude,
conceptualized as one of the central components of positive
psychology. Through an integrative theoretical approach, the
paper highlights communication as an essential process in the
practice of gratitude, brings to the fore the largely
underexplored potential of positive communication, and
discusses the implications of this perspective for future
research on positive communication and psychological
wellbeing.
KEYWORDS: the power of positive communication,
practicing gratitude, impact, positive experience, mental
health, positive psychology.
Geneza jurnalismului românesc în Transilvania
TITLE: "The genesis of Romanian journalism in Transylvania"
ABSTRACT: The emergence of written press in Transylvania
at the beginning of the 19th century is a natural consequence
of the national and social revival initiated in the last decades
of the 18th century by the scholars of the Transylvanian
School. The cultural movement, the press is part of, is
oriented in two directions: one, national, which aimed at
obtaining and defending the rights of the Romanian nation and
its affirmation, the other, social, which aimed at the economic
and social emancipation of the Romanians and equality in
rights with the other nationalities of the Habsburg Empire.
KEYWORDS: George Barițiu, politics, culture, literature,
patriotic, Romanian language