Romania is in the last place in the European Union in terms of people reading books, and this tendency of de Culturalization is observed in today’s society more than ever. Functional illiteracy, the scientific and digital illiteracy, the lack of basic information, all eventually lead to the collapse of any society. And Romania, from this point of view, is on the edge of the gap. Why don’t Romanians read? Professor Bogdan Bucur, historian and sociologist within SNSPA, explained the phenomenon that spreads especially among young people like a virus.
Romanians do not like to read. Archive
Why don’t I read Romanians anymore
The Romanians read more during the communism regime compared to how they do it today, the historian Bogdan Bucur, a professor within the SNSPA, said for “Adevărul”.
“I do not want to idealize those times, far from me, but we must still say things by name. At that time there were tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of books. Remember, for example, the library collection for all? Who took out some absolutely exceptional books at derisory prices? Obviously, everything was controlled by the Romanian state. Unfortunately today, Ministry of Culture He is no longer interested in producing an accessible, quality and mass culture ”, explains the specialist.
On the other hand, he admits, the Romanians do not even have time to read as they had in the past. And this is because we live in a world in a continuous movement and development, a world to which we have to cope daily, we live in times when technique and technology develop at an amazing speed.
We are in the era of the latest generation smartphone, artificial applications and intelligence. We don’t even remember how the paper of a book in the library smells. And we would not have how to live robotic in real life, everyday, building a parallel, online.
“We have this “misfortune”, which we all possess in your pocket or bag, which is called a smartphone, which comes with games, applications, which gives us access to social networks, which grinds us time but also energy “, considers the teacher.
He believes that reading books lost a fantastic ground immediately after the Revolution, when Romanians became great television consumers.
“But the solution is not, obviously, the one to reduce the TV program again to two hours to return to books and read. The solution should come from the school, where children should be book -oriented. To discover the beauty of reading. ”
And another aspect to consider: if you raise through the bookstores, you will find two great things. On the one hand, the peppered prices at which books are sold and, on the other hand, so-called “maculature” that invaded the shelves.
But we should know how to choose the wheat, Professor Bogdan Bucur believes. “There are some filters to which the reader could call. I mean the literary critic, the art critic and teachers. The maintenance of the latter is not only to plant the students to read a book, but to guide them in such a way that the children choose something of quality. Because not everyone can discern among the thousands of books placed on the stalls of the bookstores ”.
Unfortunately, in the absence of such a guide, the child, the young man is lost. “There is, indeed, a lot of maculature that is produced by many publishers precisely because it is addressed to an amateur audience ”, explains Bogdan Bucur.
A large audience that requires simple, accessible and beautifully wrapped messages. This is because many of us are tired of thinking, we tired to put our minds to the contribution, to give birth to critical and valuable judgments.
Culture with drop. Little by little we can do a lot
Bogdan Bucur confessed that love for books, if not cultivated in school, can be cultivated in adult life. It’s harder, but not impossible. “The big companies could expose their employees to small doses of culture. I’ll give you an example: I was recently invited by such a corporation to talk to employees about human rights. And I really liked to do this because this is a form of adult education. Therefore, in this equation and responsibility of corporations, companies, companies to culturalize people, to educate them, “intervenes.”
There are courses that human resources departments contract from the university area. “This really happens especially in the case of corporations that have resources and allow themselves to pay several hundred euros to bring someone to discuss on a certain topic. ”
The teacher, however, warns that the one who comes in front of people should be a specialist. “I am afraid, however, that, often, we also call the tricks who know how to make ballet in their mouths, who know how to remove craft words, which seem to say extraordinary things but, in reality, say scary banalities.”
In conclusion, for the education and culturalization of adults, they should be trained in the field of work. “And the state to offer deductible expenses to employers who are involved in a form of scientific and cultural literacy of employees. But with one condition: in front of people to be brought specialists from the university environment. Exclusively specialists ”, Bogdan Bucur insists.
Bogdan Bucur, historian and university professor within the SNSPA. Archive
Public interest message: “It’s sexy to read”
Another solution to raise awareness of the benefits made by books and to read would be the national campaigns broadcast in online, but also on television. As we are urged not to eat sugar, not to consume salt or alcohol, so we should be told to put our hand, from time to time, on a book.
“The message must be a simple, funny, friendly, but seriously at the same time. Humor would be the main instrument here. Maybe in Caragiale’s style. Then, this message should be designed according to the person to whom it is addressed: young, women, men, children. The interests of people must be taken into account. The message should be thought of on their profile in such a way that they even reach them, even reach them, arouse their curiosity for science, culture, book, education ”considers Professor Bucur who has reached a problem: the lack of cultural infrastructure in Romania. “I do not want to imagine what is happening in a village, for example, where you have nothing. Not theater, not a library, what about a museum, opera, opera, etc. ”.
However, even in these dramatic situations there are solutions if you have the availability to look for them. “Although children are” captive “in state education institutions, and from this point of view, things seem to be simpler, they are not at all. Because in many areas there is not even a house of culture. ” What to do? As in the rural area on the day of the vote there is electoral trait, so could there, on a certain day of the week, a cultural trait. “People to be embarked on coaches, but not sent to the vote, but to the theater in the nearest city. Especially the young people, who at least once a year see a play, to participate in a show or a Philharmonic concert ”.
Switzerland brought the room orchestra to the classrooms. When and to us?
But the culture can come to the village itself, if otherwise it is not possible. It is demonstrated by Switzerland, where the authorities also allocated a budget in this regard. “There is a symphony orchestra, a small band, a six -handed hand, maybe seven people who brought music in the classrooms.”explains Professor Bucur how to proceed with others. “They organize mini-concrete in front of children, describe their instruments, explain their meaning how they work, how they are handled, etc. In this way, students interact directly with culture, art. ”
The teacher believes that this culturalization model from the school banks could also work in the Romanian villages. “But unfortunately, Ministry of Education does not appreciate this kind of activity. For now, at least the education system is oriented in another direction ”, the university professor Bogdan Bucur.
Among the Member States of the European Union, the lowest share of people who read books were registered, in 2022, in Romania (29.5%), Cyprus (33.1%) and Italy (35.4%), Eurostat data shows. At the opposite end, the highest weight of people who read books were registered in Luxembourg (75.2%), Denmark (72.1%) and Estonia (70.7%).
