in memoriam Reinhart Koselleck
About the ConferenceUnderstanding Romania through the history of its concepts
HERC is an interdisciplinary research initiative dedicated to the historical evolution of Romanian political, social and cultural concepts. By examining how their meanings have changed across different historical periods and placing them within their broader European intellectual context, HERC seeks to advance a deeper understanding of Romania's intellectual, cultural and political development.
As Reinhart Koselleck observed, language and society are interdependent. Of primary importance is the structure of thought within which a fact from the past is framed, and through which it is possible to establish hierarchies, interpretations, and conclusions. Important is the processing of data, facts, and events, as well as the freedom to identify in human behaviour the strategies and phenomena that people generate in certain spatio-temporal contexts. When languages reflect continuity from one era to another, we speak of conservative mental reflexes, resistant to change. The structure of thought within which a fact from the past is situated becomes essential, and through it hierarchisation, interpretation, and conclusions are possible. Hence the freedom to decode the phenomenon and to formulate and reformulate (rewrite) a point of view.
Reinhart Koselleck was interested above all in the linguistic transformation of the German world during the transition period between 1750 and 1850, attending closely to concepts that reflect modern thought such as Aufklärung (Enlightenment) as a cultural theory. In the case of Romanian historiography, we are interested in the concepts that describe the unfinished process of modernisation in a space in which social contradictions go hand in hand with the asymmetry of political thought and action, and with the ways in which these are reflected in linguistic forms. The history of concepts is a minimum condition for the redefinition of the historical world, for the linguistic reflection of social evolution.
Viewed in relation to social history and the history of political thought, Romanian languages are in immediate connection with the evolution of concepts such as culture, ethnoculture, nationality, nation, democracy, liberty, and civilisation. Taking as its point of reference the impressive German lexicon Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe, the HERC 2026 conference aims to apply the methodology of Prof. Dr. Reinhart Koselleck to the elaboration of a Begriffsgeschichte Rumäniens.
Read the conference statementThree main themes structure the intellectual project of HERC 2026, each lighting a dimension of how concepts travel, transform, and take root.
How did the Romanian language absorb, assimilate, and reconfigure the fundamental concepts of European modernity? From the terminological transfers associated with the Enlightenment to the ideological pressures characteristic of the 19th and 20th centuries, Romanian social and political discourse represented the primary space for the articulation, legitimation, and contestation of modern identity.
Romania's modernisation unfolded under the tension between the adoption of Western European political and conceptual models and the persistence of historical, social, and institutional gaps that limited or modified their application. The transfer of modern concepts did not mean a simple appropriation of already constituted meanings, but rather a process of translation, adaptation, and reinterpretation. From this asynchronicity emerged distinct conceptual configurations that go beyond explanations based on the centre-periphery opposition.
The concept of "Europe" has never carried a uniform or stable meaning in Romanian culture, but has functioned as a polysemantic term whose understanding varies according to historical, political, and cultural contexts. Within HERC 2026, 'Europe' is examined in Romanian political culture both as a normative model associated with modernisation and integration, and as a critical reference point through which the internal realities of society are problematised and evaluated.
The methodology of Begriffsgeschichte — conceptual history — analyses the semantic evolution of social and political concepts over time. Developed by Reinhart Koselleck, Otto Brunner, and Werner Conze in the monumental Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe (1972–1997), this approach, with a major impact in the humanities and social sciences, is particularly relevant for the Eastern European intellectual space.
HERC 2026 inscribes itself in this tradition, investigating how the fundamental concepts of modernity were translated, contested, or transformed by the intellectuals of the Școala Ardeleană, by the representatives of the 1848 generation and the national renaissance, by the extremist ideologies and political regimes of the 20th century, and by the democratic reconceptualisations after 1989.
The research aims at deepening the understanding of the modern and contemporary history of Romania.
Papers submitted to HERC 2026 may address the historical evolution of any of the following conceptual domains as they appear in Romanian political, cultural, and intellectual history.
Proposals addressing conceptual intersections, translingual transfers, and comparative European contexts are especially encouraged.
HERC 2026 welcomes abstracts from historians, linguists, philosophers, literary scholars, and social scientists working on the conceptual history of Romanian and Eastern European modernity.
Abstracts of 300–500 words should be submitted in Romanian and English. All will undergo double-blind peer review.
Prof. Dr. Victor Neumann is a Romanian historian, specialising in the history of Romania and the history of Central and South-Eastern Europe. A Member of the Academy of Europe, professor at the West University of Timișoara (1998–2018) and at the Bucharest National University of Arts, he is known for the rigour of his studies, for promoting a multicultural and cosmopolitan understanding of Europe's past and present. His career is defined by intellectual freedom, the critique of historical narratives, and close attention to the complex interplay of ideas that have shaped and continue to shape modernity. Among his principal works on intellectual history, the history of ideas, and conceptual history: Tentația lui Homo Europaeus. O istorie intelectuală a Europei Centrale și de Sud-Est (Științifică, Bucharest, 1991; All, Bucharest, 1997; Polirom, Iași, 2006; RAO, Bucharest, 2015; Mega, Cluj, 2021); Ideologie și Fantasmagorie. Perspective comparative asupra istoriei gândirii politice în Europa Est-Centrală (Polirom, Iași, 2001); Neam, Popor sau Națiune? Despre identitățile politice europene (Curtea Veche, Bucharest, 2003; 2005; RAO, Bucharest, 2015; Mega, Cluj, 2022); Conceptualizarea istoriei și limitele paradigmei naționale (RAO, Bucharest, 2015); Istoria României prin concepte. Perspective alternative asupra limbajelor social-politice, collective volume edited together with Armin Heinen (Polirom, Iași, 2010).
In English: The Temptation of Homo Europaeus. An Intellectual History of Central and Southeastern Europe, translated by Dana Miu and Neil Titman (Columbia Univ. Press, New York, 1993; the second edition, Scala Publishers, London, 2020); Essays on Romanian Intellectual History, West Univ. of Timișoara Press, 2008; Kin, People or Nation? On European Political Identities, translated by Gaby Reigh and Neil Titman, (Scala Publishers, London, 2021); Key Concepts of Romanian History. Alternative Approaches to Socio-Political Languages, Edited by Victor Neumann and Armin Heinen, translated by Dana Mihăilescu, (CEU Press, New York-Budapest, 2013); Modernity in Central and Southeastern Europe. Ideas, Concepts, Discourses, Edited by Victor Neumann and Armin Heinen, RAO Publishers, Bucharest, 2018.
Member of the Academy of Europe — Professor of the Bucharest National University of Arts & Professor at the West University of Timișoara (1998–2018)
One of the major objectives of the HERC initiative is the elaboration of the Lexicon of Fundamental Romanian Concepts – a collective work dedicated to the historical evolution of concepts that have shaped Romanian culture, society, and political thought.
Each article will analyze the history of a fundamental concept, tracing the transformations of its meanings across different historical contexts and placing it in dialogue with European intellectual traditions. Conceived as a reference work, the Lexicon aims to provide an essential tool for research into the intellectual and conceptual history of Romania.
The volume will be published in the Datagroup Studies collection, the academic imprint of Datagroup Publishing House in Timișoara, in collaboration with the National University of Arts in Bucharest (UNArte).
HERC 2026 brings together researchers interested in the historical evolution of fundamental Romanian concepts and their place within the European intellectual context. We invite you to contribute your research to the development of a field in full affirmation and to the building of an academic community dedicated to Romanian conceptual history.
