Limbă, Literatură, Folclor

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52505/llf.2025.2.05

Abstract: This article offers a theoretical and applied analysis of Grigore Vieru’s work for children, examined through the lens of Jakob von Uexküll’s concept of Umwelt. It demonstrates that, in Vieru’s poetry, the child-character emerges as a homo ludens semioticus, an explorer of nature’s signs and symbols, engaged in an organic and harmonious relationship with rural life. The village universe, ecosystems, and living beings carry archetypal meanings that contribute to shaping the child’s affective identity. The relationship with the mother, a central figure in Vieru’s universe and a mediator between the child, fate, and divinity, completes the sacred dimension of this poetic umwelt. Through play, imitation, and imaginary dialogue, the child constructs a symbolic microcosm, maintaining a balance between anthropomorphized nature and the natural laws of the world. Thus, Grigore Vieru’s poetry proposes a semiotic paradigm in which childhood, nature, and tradition intertwine within a meaningful space resistant to modernization and artificiality.

Keywords: Umwelt, poetic umwelt, universe, beings, child, childhood, rural space, play.