Initially, with "Opinions sincères", Iorga offered a historian's manifesto against the whole cultural establishment, likened by historian Ovidiu Pecican with Allan Bloom's 1980s critique of American culture. Before 1914, Iorga focused his critical attention on Romanian Symbolists, whom he denounced for their erotic style (called ""lupanarium" literature" by Iorga) and aestheticism—in one instance, he even scolded "Sămănătorul" contributor Dimitrie Anghel for his floral-themed Symbolist poems. His own theses were ridiculed early in the 20th century by Symbolists such as Emil Isac, Ovid Densusianu or Ion Minulescu, and toned down by "Sămănătorul" poet Ștefan Octavian Iosif.