nch symbolism to Romanian literature.

The period between the two world wars gave rise to the novel, which
quickly took its place beside lyrical poetry as an important form of
literary expression. An important contributor to the development of the
novel was Liviu Rebreanu, whose _Forest of the Hanged_ is a powerful
description of the horrors of war. His other important novels are
_Ion_, dealing with peasant life, and _Ciuleandra_, a psychological
novel.

Mihail Sadoveanu, whose most important works were published in the 1920s
and 1930s, is considered the foremost realist of the twentieth century.
His writings deal mostly with history and with peasant life. In 1924 he
won the national prize for literature, and in 1949, the Gold Peace
Medal.

Outstanding interwar poets were Lucian Blaga, Ion Barbu, and Tudor
Arghezi. Blaga's poetry was an exposition of his philosophy based on the
traditional way of life interpreted as a cosmic mystery. Barbu's poems
are of an abstract and esoteric nature. Arghezi is considered the
greatest poet since Eminescu on the basis of his use of language and
symbolism.

Immediately after World War II poetry again took the lead in literary
expression. Although much prose was published, none of it was considered
of particular importance. The poetry can be divided into three main
schools: surrealist poetry, poetry of spiritual revolt, and a
return-to-tradition balladry.

Several of the prewar writers and poets continued to produce after the
communist takeover and subjected themselves to the constraints of
Socialist Realism. Among them were Sadoveanu, Calinescu, Camil Petrescu,
and Arghezi. Others were denounced for their previous writings and
became silent. The literary output of the 1950s is generally regarded as
second rate. Several notable novels, however, were published in the
early 1960s. Among them were George Calinescu's _Bietul Ioanide_ (Poor
Ioanide), Ion Sadoveanu's _Ion Sintu_ (Saint John), and Petru Dimitriu's
_Cronica de Familie_ (Family Chronicle). Of particularly outstanding
merit and lasting quality are Marin Preda's peasant epic _Morometii_
(The Moroments) and Eugen Barbu's naturalist novel _Groapa_ (The
Trench).

With the relaxing of cultural controls in the mid-1960s, many of those
who had been silent resumed their writing, together with a new group of
younger writers. The mid-and late-1960s saw an outpouring of literary
creativity that had been pent up during the preceding