In the last decade of the 18th century, the Romanian Transcarpathian space entered the “recovery phase”, which is characterized by a timid but progressive discovery of the values ​​of the Western world. The international situation coincided with the efforts of the first Romanian intellectuals in the sense of joining the Romanian space to the Western model. Neither teleologically nor from day to day, but following the historical process with relative success, the historical space located in the zone of influence of the East[1] it was transformed into one of the imported values ​​characteristic of the Western world.

The beginning of the “recovery phase”, the awareness of the existence of a historical gap compared to the Western world[2]and then, around the 1830s, what is called the necessity of “burning stages” gave rise to a phenomenon specific to the Romanian principalities: “assimilation> does not go parallel to liquidation>. Therefore, until late, until the middle of the 19th century, whimsical contrasts in institutions, morals, clothing, etc., will continue.[3].

Intrinsic to this civilizational mixture is the fact that “before a generation takes its measure, the criteria that order creation and taste change so that it becomes anachronistic, but physically out of sync”[4].

This is a phenomenon called by Paul Cornea “a mix of ages and models“, characteristic of any transitional period. In other words, works age faster than their authors, ideas leave the intellectual circuit before their sources do.

In the language of modern youth, the trend is changing at a dizzying speed. Because, in fact, this is the problem I propose to address: the problem of models and cultural models among today’s teenagers[5]. Can someone/something still become a “classic” for today’s youth? Will today’s youth/tomorrow’s adults return to the phenomena that now influence their views of the world and their behavior in everyday life? Can our days still produce “canonical authors”? What about “content creators”? Do they create for today and tomorrow, under the sign of the temporary, or do they also have a long-term perspective?

The phenomenon observed and analyzed by Paul Cornea has now reached a level that is difficult to predict. Not only that, the speed of transformations no longer allows generation to be “measured”. This phenomenon affects everyone Influencer with which modern children and young people identify themselves. If earlier “time had no patience”[6] with a generation, we can now discuss a flamboyance of chronology, expected by both “content creators” and its consumers. Today’s youth casually state with a smile that what was trending a few weeks ago has been thrown into the “TikTok dustbin”[7]. This aspect does not intrigue them, does not confuse them, because, at first glance, there are no landmarks and patterns to look for in social networks. Instant gratification is important, the satisfaction of the “virtual self” with almost complete disregard for the consequences of these actions for the “real self”[8].

Another phenomenon identified by Paul Cornea, characteristic of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, is this diglossia, practices of bilingualism. Diglossia among the younger generation recently there has been an upward trend. This phenomenon can be compared to past contexts, but it also has unprecedented characteristics.

This phenomenon is also found in Romanian culture, regardless of whether it is about those who studied in Greek but start writing poetry (also) in Romanian[9], regardless of whether it is Romanian politicians or cultural figures for whom French was the language of communication. But these days one of the main purposes of bilingualism is to avoid age confusion. In other words, young people use a “new language” and not for the adults around them to understand.

Thus, one of the languages ​​is used by young people in conversation with the adults around them. For some of them, the Romanian language, since it is about it, could well be classified as a “dead language”. But at least he is – still – recognizable.

This cannot be said about the second language used by young people. A combination of Romanian, English and specially invented concepts. It is the language in which they communicate, in which they understand each other, while making sure that the adults’ access to this new linguistic reality is limited.[10]. The duration also depends on this new language. Words come and go, the lexicon is directly influenced by social media trends. And the speed of transformations is so high that some terms used by twelfth graders seem outdated to ninth graders.

This is not the only period of metamorphosis in Romanian society. In the cultural and political history of the Romanian space, several transitional periods can be distinguished, each with its own characteristics. According to Stefan Casimir, “the transition resembles temperature or voltage. A person says that he has a temperature or pressure only when they exceed the norm and, implicitly, they feel Similarly, a society is considered transitional only when the rhythm of pretense precedes the cadence> which until then made them invisible”[11].

And now, a high temperature causes unknown “symptoms”, and language “tension” manifests itself in an unprecedented way. What Paul Cornea called “a mixture of eras and models” becomes, in the case of the younger generation, lack of models and non-mixing of ages.

Unlike previous eras, when social and cultural metamorphoses were directed by adults, today’s are out of everyone’s control because even those who facilitate them are not in control. The fact that fewer and fewer adults have access to the world of young people does not mean that this world belongs to them. Because the world of constant changes and unpredictability is no one’s, but no one’s world.

However, the fact that young people today often say that they do not have role models, that impermanence is part of their daily lives, does not mean that they do not need stability and role models in their lives. On the contrary, incessant “scrolling” can also be interpreted as a symptom of a continuous search for regularities and the inability to detect them. And until the world is irreparably changed, one aspect is true both in the past and in the world today: children are the ones who seek, adults are the ones who must give. Landmarks and models. It is worth our effort in this regard. Otherwise, we risk contributing to the undermining of one of the main goals of a democratic society: that the world for our children be better than the one in which we grew up. _

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