A Plea for Export Criticism

My study is a plea for what might be called “export criticism”, i.e. that critical discourse which retains some relevance beyond the strictly local, regional or national context where it has arisen. In this respect, I carry out an inventory of both external and internal obstacles impeding the promotion of Romanian literary criticism abroad. As regards external obstacles, the most important are the few translations of Romanian literary works into languages of international circulation (especially English and French), the absence of a recent history of Romanian literature written in a foreign language, the difficulties of assigning Romanian literature in a disciplinary niche (as an object of analysis, it seems to be at the periphery of both Romance and East-European studies) and the poor communication between Romanian and foreign researchers. Regarding internal obstacles, mention should be made of the methodological belatedness of Romanian literary criticism, its essayistic tradition and a certain dogmatism which renders it incompatible with the dominant pluralism on the international market. However, the thesis I attempt to underscore in the present paper is that Romanian literature and criticism not only can be, but they already are areas of international relevance and academic interest.

Keywords: export criticism, translations, Romance studies vs. East-European studies, essayistic vs. academic criticism, national vs. transnational literary canons

• Braga, Corin: Le paradis intérdit au Moyen Âge. La quête manquée de l’Eden oriental, préface de Jean-Jacques Wunenburger, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2004.
• Braga, Corin: La quête manquée de l’Avalon occidentale. Le paradis intérdit au Moyen Âge – 2, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2006.
• Braga, Corin: Du paradis perdu à l’antiutopie aux XVI^e-XVIII^e siècles, Classiques Garnier, Paris, 2010.
• Braga, Corin: Les antiutopies classiques, Classiques Garnier, Paris, 2012; Ion Vlad, The Novel of Crepuscular Universes, East European Monographs, Boulder/ Columbia University Press, New York, 2010; Nicolae Manolescu, French Themes, translated by Alistair Ian Blyth, Plymouth University Press, Plymouth, 2011.
• Brandes, Georg: World Literature, în Mads Rosendahl Thomsen, Mapping World Literature: International Canonization and Transnational Cultures, Continuum, London, 2010, p. 143-147.
• Călinescu, G.: History of Romanian Literature, translated by Leon Levițchi, Nagard – UNESCO, Milan, 1988 [1941].
• Cernat, Paul: Urmuziene și nu numai, în „Observator cultural”, Nr. 151, 14 ianuarie 2003.
• Cornea, Paul: Introduzione alla teoria della lettura, a cura diGheorghe Carageani, Sansoni, Firenze, 1993.
• Cornis-Pope, Marcel; Neubauer, John (eds.): History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe: Junctures and Disjunctures in the 19th and 20th Centuries, vol. I-IV, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, 2004-2010.
• Dodu Bălan, Ion: A Concise History of Romanian Literature, Academy of Social and Political Sciences, Buchares, 1981.
• Domínguez, César: “Dionýz Durišin and a Systemic Theory of World Literature”, în Theo D’haen, David Damrosch, Djelal Kadir (eds.), The Routledge Companion to World Literature, Routledge, London, 2012, p. 99-107.
• Ioniță, Maria: Oblique Speech and Humor in Ioan Groșan’s “2084: A Space Epic” and “Planet of the Mediocres”, în “East European Politics and Societies”, Vol. 25, No. 4, November 2011, p. 704-719.
• Lenz, Hélène: La stéréotypie de l’épopée roumaine, Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 2000.
• Manolescu, Nicolae: French Themes, translated by Alistair Ian Blyth, Plymouth University Press, Plymouth, 2011.
• Munteano, B.: Panorama de la littérature roumaine contemporaine, Editions du Sagittaire, Paris, 1938.
• Munteano, Basil: Modern Rumanian Literature, authorized transl. from the original French by Cargill Sprietsma, Curentul Press, Bucharest, 1939.
• Orlich, Ileana Alexandra: Myth and Modernity in the Twentieth Century Romanian Novel, East European Monographs, Boulder/ Columbia University Press, New York, 2009.
• Simion, Eugen: The Return of the Author, edited and with an introduction by James W. Newcomb, translated by James W. Newcomb and Lidia Vianu, Northwestern University Press, Evanston, Illinois, 1996.
• Spiridon, Monica: Les dilemmes de l’identité aux confins de l’Europe: le cas roumain, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2004.
• Terian, Andrei: Comparative Literature in Contemporary Romania: Between National Self-Legitimation and International Recognition, în “Primerjalna književnost”, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2013, p. 35-53.
• Vanhese, Gisèle: „Luceafărul” de Mihai Eminescu: portrait d’un dieu obscur, Editions Universitaires de Dijon, Dijon, 2011.
• Vlad, Ion: The Novel of Crepuscular Universes, East European Monographs, Boulder/ Columbia University Press, New York, 2010.

A Complete Critical „Experience”

The study analyses Eugen Simion s book on Romanian pre-romantic poets, „Dimineața poeților”, focusing on the innovatory premises of its critical inquiry. First published in 1980, the book soon became an object of debate between the traditional critical paradigm – represented as such by Șerban Cioculescu – and the new critical inquiries, inspired by the French Nouvelle Critique. Gaston Bachelard, Roland Barthes, Georges Poulet or Jean-Pierre Richard are permenant, but flexible, sources of inspiration for the close-reading in „Dimineața poeților”. Eugen Simion s study stands out among the most spectacular re-interpretations of outdated writers in the postwar Romanian criticism.

Keywords: pre-romantic poetry; literary history; critical paradigm; Nouvelle Critique; rhetoric analysis;

• Barthes, Roland, Despre Racine, traducere de Virgil Tănase, Editura pentru Literatură Universală, București, 1969.
• Cioculescu, Șerban, Dioptrii critice, în „Flacăra”, anul XXX (1343), 5 martie 1981.
• Cioculescu, Șerban, Franchețea e forma bunei credințe profesionale (convorbire realizată de Nicolae Manolescu), în „România literară”, Anul XV, nr. 37, joi 9 septembrie.
• Cristea, Valeriu, „Dimineața poeților” și ora exegezei, în „România literară”, an XIV, nr. 11, joi, 12 martie 1981.
• Poulet, Georges, Metamorfozele cercului, traducere de Irina Bădescu și Angela Martin, intriducere de Mircea Martin, Editura Univers, București, 1987.
• Richard, Jean-Pierre, Literatură și senzație, traducere de Alexandru George, Editura Univers, București, 1980.
• Idem, Poezie și profunzime, în românește de Cornelia Ștefănescu, prefață de Mircea Martin, Editura Univers, București, 1974.
• Simion, Eugen, Dimineața poeților. Eseu despre începuturile poeziei române, ediția a IV-a, revăzută și adăugită, Polirom, Iași, 2008.
• Idem, Sfidarea retoricii, Cartea Românească, București, 1985.

• Idem, Universul poetic la 1870 (I-IV), în „Caiete critice”, nr. 4 – 7 (306-309), 2013.

Romanian Literary Criticism in European Context: New Perspectives and Interpretations

The present article focus on Andrei Terian’s book, Theories, Methods and Reading Strategies in Romanian Literary Criticism and Historiography from T. Maiorescu to E. Lovinescu, defending the idea that, between 1870-1930, Romanian literary criticism was dominated by a positive-evolutionary paradigm, wich is circumscribed by four main characteristics: the obsessive concern with method, the generalizing taxonomy practice, “directional criticism” and historicism. 

Keywords: Romanian literary criticism, reading strategies, positive-evolutionary paradigm, historicism, “directional criticism”

• Dobrescu, Caius, Plăcerea de a gândi. Moştenirea intelectuală a criticii literare româneşti (1960-1989), ca expresie identitară într-un tablou global al culturilor cognitive, Edituran Muzeului Naţional al Literaturii Române, Bucureşti, 2013.
• Goldiş, Alex, Sincronizarea criticii româneşti postbelice în deceniile opt şi nouă. Teorii, metode, critici, Editura Muzeului Naţional al Literaturii Române, Bucureşti, 2013.
• Patraş, Antonio, Eugen Lovinescu şi modelele româneşti şi europene ale criticii literare interbelice, Editura Muzeului Naţional al Literaturii Române, Bucureşti, 2013.
• Terian, Andrei, Teorii, metode şi strategii de lectură în critica şi istoriografia literară românească de la T. Maiorescu la E. Lovinescu, Editura Muzeului Naţional al Literaturii Române, Bucureşti, 2013.
• Terian, Andrei, G. Călinescu. A cincea esenţă, Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 2009.
• Varga, Dragoş, Colocviale. Perspective critice şi estetice, Editura Muzeul Literaturii Române, Bucureşti, 2013.

Myths and mythoids in Mircea Ivănescu’s Poetry

My case study is represented by the poetry of Mircea Ivănescu, as I presume it embodies the most adequate example of a paradoxical condition: while it pretends to be a biographical and secularized annotation of the everyday life of the everyman, it nevertheless dissimulates a deep mythical structure, composed of remnants of ancient myths combined with recent cultural myths, mostly received via Anglo-Saxon (and also French and German, even though in a lesser extent) cultural channels. The presence of this „mythoids” has been noticed before, at least by Alexandru Cistelecan (in his Mircea Ivănescu monograph from 2003) and by myself, in my study on Mircea Ivănescu from 2007, but no extensive study has been made on the nature, structure, and function of this mythical underframe. The conclusions drawn from the case of Mircea Ivănescu’s poetry could be extended afterwards for the most interesting cases of Romanian recent poetry – since it experiences an even more acute discrepancy between the apparent secularization of the world and the formation of new mythical and spiritual structures (the New Age spirituality, mainly – but not exclusively) which poetry has to react with.

Keywords: contemporary Romanian poetry, sacred and poetry, biographism and myths, mythical underframes, Mircea Ivănescu

• Jean Baudrillard, Mots de passe, Paris, Pauvert, département des Éditions Fayard, 2000 (2nd edition 2007)
• Mircea Cărtărescu, Postmodernismul românesc, București, Humanitas, 1999 (2nd edition 2003, 3rd edition 2010)
• Alexandru Cistelecan, Mircea Ivănescu, [a micromonograph] Brașov, Aula, 2003
• Alexandru Cistelecan, Mircea Ivănescu, in Alexandru Cistelecan, Poezie și livresc, București, Cartea Românească, 1987
• Jean-Marie Domenach, le Retour du tragique, Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1967
• Hugo Friedrich, Die Struktur der modernen Lyrik. Von der Mitte des neunzehnten bis zu der Mitte des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts, Hamburg, Rowohlt, 2006.
• Mircea Ivănescu, Poeme alese. 1966-1989, [anthology by Alexandru Mușina,] Brașov, Aula, 2003
• Mircea Ivănescu, versuri poeme poesii altele aceleași vechi nouă, anthology and preface by Matei Călinescu, Iași, Polirom, 2003
• Mircea Ivănescu, Interviu transfinit. Mircea Ivănescu răspunde la 286 de întrebări ale lui Vasile Avram, Bistrița, Casa de editură Max Blecher, 2012
• Mircea Ivănescu, Gabriel Liiceanu, Măștile lui M.I. Gabriel Liiceanu în dialog cu Mircea Ivănescu, București, Humanitas, 2012
• Mircea Ivănescu (anthology and translation by ~), Poezie americană modernă și contemporană, Cluj, Dacia, 1986.
• Hugh Kenner, The Pound Era, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1973
• Gilles Lipovetsky, Le bonheur paradoxal. Essai sur la société d’hyperconsommation, Paris, Gallimard, 2006
• Gilles Lipovetsky, L’Occident mondialisé: Controverse sur la culture planétaire, Paris, Grasset, 2010
• D. McClatchy, Introduction, in The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry, edited and with an introduction by J.D. McClatchy, New York, Vintage Books (division of Random House), 1990
• Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecce homo. Cum devii ceea ce ești, translated by Mircea Ivănescu, București, Humanitas, 2013
• Platon, Republica, translated by Andrei Cornea, in Platon, Opere, vol. V, ed. by Constantin Noica & Petru Creția, București, Edit. Științifică și Enciclopedică, 1986 (2nd revised edition, București, Teora, 1998, 2 vol.).
• Ezra Pound, The Cantos of Ezra Pound, New York, New Directions Publishing, 1996
• Jerome Rothenberg, Technicians of the Sacred: A Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania, University of California Press, 1985
• Radu Vancu, Mircea Ivănescu. Poezia discreției absolute, București, Vinea, 2007
• Radu Vancu, Convorbirile cu Eckermannii, în Mircea Ivănescu, Interviu transfinit. Mircea Ivănescu răspunde la 286 de întrebări ale lui Vasile Avram, Bistrița, Casa de editură Max Blecher, 2012

Paul Zarifopol or the Essay against Criticism

Paul Zarifopol (1874-1934) could be described as a notable case of misreading in the field of Romanian literary history. Although alotted generous space in most histories of Romanian literature (from E. Lovinescu to G. Călinescu and Nicolae Manolescu), Zarifopol is often presented as an „anticlassical” literary critic, with no particular method and no systemic thinking, an impetuous and subjective writer of feuilletons. Collating critical opinions of his contemporaries, as well as fragments from private letters, this paper analyses the way in which Zarifopol deals with his own work and aims to prove that he deliberatly chose to be an essayist, and not a literary critic. Zarifopol’s criticism stems from a generalized skepticism, as the only expression of intelectual freedom which is possible in a postwar world.

Keywords: essay, theory, literary criticism, Romanian literature, Paul Zarifopol

• Adorno, Theodor W., „The Essay as Form”. În New German Critique, No. 32. (Spring – Summer, 1984), pp. 151-171.
• Chinezu, Ion, Pagini de critică/ Pages of Criticism, ediţie îngrijită de I. Negoiţescu, Bucureşti, Editura pentru literatură, 1969.
• Constantinescu, Pompiliu, Scrieri/ Writings, Bucureşti, E.P.L., 1967, vol. II şi Scrieri, Bucureşti, Minerva 1971, vol. V.
• Good, Graham, The Observing Self: Rediscovering the Essay, London, Routledge, 1988.
• Manolescu, Nicolae, Istoria critică a literaturii române. 5 secole de literatură/ The Critical History of Romanian Literature. 5 Centuries of Literature, Piteşti, Editura Paralela 45, 2008.
• Muthu, Mircea, Paul Zarifopol între fragment şi construcţie/ Paul Zarifopol between the Fragment and the Edifice, Bucureşti, Editura Albatros, 1982.
• Negoiţescu, I., Istoria literaturii române/ The History of Romanian Literature, I, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1991.
• Ralea, M., Interpretări/ Analyses, Bucureşti, Editura Casa Şcoalelor, 1927.
• Schärf, Christian, Geschichte des Essays. Von Montaigne bis Adorno/ The History of the Essay. From Montaigne to Adorno, Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Berlin, 1999.
• Zarifopol Paul, Eseuri / Essays, I-II, ediţie îngrijită şi introducere de Al. Săndulescu, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1988.
• Zarifopol Paul, Pentru arta literară/ For Literary Art, I-II, ediţie îngrijită şi introducere de Al. Săndulescu, Editura Fundaţiei Culturale Române, Bucureşti, 1997-1998.
• ***, Paul Zarifopol în corespondenţă / Paul Zarifopol in corespondence , ediţie îngrijită de Al. Săndulescu şi Radu Săndulescu, introducere de Al. Săndulescu, Bucureşti, 1988.

A Winter Night’s Dream: “The North” in Eminescu’s Works

The present essay represents an assessment of the poetic figures and signs which constellate around the Northern space, the way it is imagined and described in Mihai Eminescu’s prose and poetry. First of all, it evaluates G. Calinescu’s notion of ‘boreal vision’ within the context of great romantic themes; from this perspective, Eminescu’s obvious taste for the Northern mythology and for wintry scenes can bear the appearance of mere clichés and cultural conventions. However, our point is that, twining the Romanian epic from its onset, the Northern narrative scheme and its correspondent figures have always accompanied the artistic process, most of them being able to convert into great symbols of Eminescu’s personal myth. Such spectacular conversions are to be found in the way Northern characters (King North, Queen Midnight, Princess Pole Star/Poesis, The Bard/ Skald) and arctic signs (the pole star, the diamond) can reach the deepest recesses of Eminescu’s basic imagery.

Keywords: Boreal vision, (King) North, Queen Midnight, Pole Star, Odin, Freia, Diamond, King, Queen, Ice, Snow, Arctic Ocean

• Călinescu, G., Opera lui Mihai Eminescu (Mihai Eminescu’ Work), vol I-IV, Minerva Publishing House, Bucharest, 1985.
• Constantinescu, Viorica S., Dicţionar de cultură poetică. Eminescu (Dictionary of Poetic Culture. Eminescu), Universitas XXI Publishing House, Iaşi, 2010.
• Eminescu, Mihai, 2254, edited by Eugen Simion, “Editura Enciclopedică” Publishers, Bucharest, 2004.
• Eminescu, Mihai, Opere I. Poezii tipărite în timpul vieţii (Works I. Poetry Published During Life), critical edition cured by Perpessicius, “Fundaţia pentru Literatură şi Artă Regele Carol al II-lea” Publishers, Bucharest, 1939.
• Eminescu, Mihai, Opere III, Poezii tipărite în timpul vieţii (Works I. Poetry Published During Life), critical edition cured by Perpessicius, “Fundaţia pentru Literatură şi Artă Regele Mihai I” Publishers, Bucharest, 1944.
• Eminescu, Mihai, Opere IV. Poezii postume (Works IV. Posthumous Poetry), edited by Perpessicius, The Publishing House of RSR Academy, Bucharest, 1952.
• Eminescu, Mihai, Opere V. Poezii postume (Works V. Posthumous Poetry), edited by Perpessicius, The Publishing House of RSR Academy, 1958.
• Eminescu, Mihai, Proză Literară (Poetry. Literary Prose), volumes I-II, edited by Petru Creţia, “Cartea Românească” Publishing House, Bucharest, 1978.
• Todoran, Eugen, Epopeea română (The Romanian Epic), Junimea Publishing House, Iaşi, 1981.

Alexandru Muşina, “Budila Express”. An exercice of “close reading”

The present article is an essay and an analysis of Alexandru Muşina’s poetry, focused on his methods and his themes such as they are approached in his best-known long poem, Budila Express. Between the concepts that he used, such as experimentalism, irony, subversion, the such called trivial poetry, the author emphasizes the importance of satire, the main expression of Muşina’s critical attitude. Thus, Muşina created an intelligent, social, comic though bitter poetry, masterfully learned and practiced. The article also shows how the communist environment and the censorship were incentives for poet’s imagination and, on the other hand, how this biting game of hide and seek has become an important mark of
Muşina’s poetry.
Keywords: contemporary Romanian poetry, generation ‘80, Alexandru Muşina, Budila Express, postmodernism,
experimentalism

• Diaconu, Mircea A. Poezia postmodernă / Postmodern Poetry. Braşov: Aula, 2002.
• Lefter, Ion Bogdan. O oglindă purtată de-a lungul unui drum. Fotograme din postmodernitatea românească / A Mirror Carried Alng a Road. Photograms from Romanian Postmodernism. Piteşti: Paralela 45, 2010.
• Lefter, Ion Bogdan. Flashback 1985: Începuturile „noii poezii” / Flashback 1985: The Beginnings of the „New Poetry”. Piteşti: Paralela 45, 2005.
• Muşina, Alexandru. Paradigma poeziei moderne / The Paradigm of Modern POetry. Braşov: Aula, 2004.
• Perian, Gheorghe. Scriitori români postmoderni / Postmodern Romanian Writers. Bucureşti: Ed. Didactică şi Pedagogică, 1996.
• Ţeposu, Radu G. Istoria tragică & grotescă a întunecatului deceniu literar nouă / The Tragic & Grotesque History of the Dark Literary Decade Nine. Bucureşti: Cartea Românească, 2006.

Mateiu I. Caragiale: „Strangeness” and Canonical Value

The article analyses Mateiu I. Caragiale’s work in the light of the modern relationship between strangeness and beauty, which, pointed out by Edgar Allan Poe (‘there is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion’), and, later, Baudelaire (‘Le Beau este toujours bizarre’), was made into a critical principle by Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon. Taking into account the modern equivalence between eccentricity and literary value, the writing of Mateiu Caragiale reveals the fundaments of its power of fascination and establishes its relevance as a turning point for the Romanian literature as an aesthetic phenomenon.

Keywords: modernism, western canon, strangeness, aestheticism

• Matei Călinescu, A citi, a reciti. Către o poetică a (re)lecturii/ Reading and re‑reading. Towards a Poetics of (Re)reading, Editura Polirom, Iaşi, 2007.
• Mihai Zamfir, Palatul fermecat. Antologia poemului românesc în proză/ The Enchanted Palace. The Anthology of the Romanian Prose Poem,, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1984.
• Ovidiu Cotruş, Opera lui Mateiu I. Caragiale/ The Work of Mateiu I. Caragiale, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1977.
• Alexandru George, Mateiu I. Caragiale, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1981.
• Călinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini până în prezent/ The History of the Romanian Literature from Its Origins to the Present Day, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1986.
• Harold Bloom, Canonul occidental. Cărţile şi Şcoala Epocilor/ The Western Canon, traducere de Delia Ungureanu, Grupul Editorial Art, Bucureşti, 2007.
• Ion Negoiţescu, Istoria literaturii române/The History of the Romanian Literature, vol. I, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1991.
• Cornel Mihai Ionescu, Palimpseste/Palimpsests, Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 1979.
• Vasile Lovinescu, Al patrulea hagialâc/ The Fourth Pilgrimage, Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 1981.

Romanian Literature after World War II in a Book by Marin Sârbulescu

Marin Sârbulescu’s prose is a very good example of healthy Romanian literature after World War II: it pretends to follow the official directions but, in fact, it undermines them. His short-stories are not only comic, but also affluent in political hints, building up a fancy parody of the communist regime and its stupid rules. The writers and the compulsory method of creation, the propaganda, the levelling of human beings, the class hatred are some of his topics. In order to get rid of censorship, the book contains three texts which seem more time-serving and are placed them at the end, but even those writings contain a very subtle satire, hard to depict by the unimaginative readers.

Keywords: socialist realism, ideology, comic, parody, intertextuality

• Sârbulescu, Marin, Prin foc și pară / Fuming and Fretting, Ed. Cartea Românească, 1971.

• Ierunca, Virgil, Trecut-au anii…, Fragmente de jurnal. Întîmpinări şi accente. Scrisori nepierdute, / As The Years Went Passing By…, Fragments from a Diary. Reviews and Accents. Retainable , Ed. Humanitas, 2000.

• Manu, Emil, Generația literară a războiului,/ The Literary Generation of World War II, Ed. Curtea Veche Publishing, 2000.
• Negrici, Eugen, Literatura română sub comunism. 1948-1964,/ Romanian Literature under Communism. 1948-1964, Ed. Cartea Românească, 2010.
• Popa, Marian, Istoria literaturii române de azi pe mâine, I-II/ The History of Romanian Literature. Today and Tomorrow, I-II, Ed. SemnE, 2009.
• Preda, Marin, Viața ca o pradă, / Life Hunting, Ed. Albatros, 1977.
• Pricop, Constantin, Literatura română postbelică. Preliminarii,/ Romanian Literature after World War II. Preliminaries, Ed. Universității „Al. I. Cuza”, 2005.

The 80’s Generation and their Short Prose Fiction

The article signed by Ovidiu Moceanu brings forth the moment when the 80’s generation started its affirmation, and it emphasizes the implications of the young writers’ interest in short prose fiction. The return to short prose fiction does not equate a transitory preoccupation and, when a generation aims at revitalizing its structures, one cannot talk about an epiphenomenon. It is a generally accepted fact that the previous decade had focused on the Romanesque convention. Caiete critice (no. 1-2/1983) of the Viaţa Românească Journal marks an essential moment in the evolution of the novel and accomplishes a significant image from within, from the perspective of those “involved”. The survey on the situation of “today’s Romanian novel” is conducted at a time when people talk about the “resurrection of the short prose fiction”. Terms such as „text”, „textualization”, „experiment” abound and the preoccupations for finding new narrative solutions prevail. The theory the writers report themselves to (the nouveau roman, the texts of the “Tel Quel” group, R. Barthes’ writings, generative grammars) is, undoubtedly, interesting.

In the ’80s, a fertile route can be glimpsed by means of books belonging to Mircea Nedelciu (Aventuri într-o curte interioară / Adventures in an Inner Yard, Efectul de ecou controlat/ The Effect of Controlled Echo, Amendament la instinctul proprietăţii/ Amendment to the Ownership Instinct, Zmeura de câmpie/ Field Raspberry), Gheorghe Crăciun (Acte originale/copii legalizate/ Original Documents/ Legalized copies), Alexandru Vlad (Aripa grifonului/ The Gryphon’s Wing), Sorin Preda (Povestiri terminate înainte de a începe/ Stories ended before beginning), George Cuşnarencu (Tratat de apărare permanentă Treaty for Permanent Defence), Nicolae Iliescu (Departe, pe jos…, Far away, walking…..), Aurel Antonie (Mozaicul/ The Mosaic), Carmen Francesca Banciu, Tudor Dumitru Savu, I. Lăcustă, some of the authors published in the anthology Desant ‛83 etc., many being on the way to their editorial debut at the time, but well/known figures in journals.

Keywords: short prose fiction, text, textualism, experience, the 60’s generation, the 80’s generation, structure, innovation, modernity, tradition.

• Volume de critică şi teorie literară, antologii

• Crăciun, Gh. Competiţia continuă. Generaţia ’80 în texte teoretice. Ed. Vlasie, Piteşti, 1994.
• Crăciun, Gh. şi Viorel MarineasaGeneraţia ’80 în proza scurtă, Ed. Paralela 45, Piteşti, 1998.
• *** Desant ‛83. Antologie de proză scurtă scrisă de tineri, Buc., C.R., 1983, p. 5.
• Gorcea, Petru Mihai, Structură şi mit în proza contemporană, Eseu despre destinul literar al generaţiei şaizeci, Buc., C.R., 1982.
• Iorgulescu, Mircea, Arhipelag (1970-1980). Proză scurtă contemporană.
• Antologie de …, Buc., Ed. Eminescu, 1981.
• Idem, Ceara şi sigiliul, , C. R., 1982.
• Idem, Critică şi angajare, , Eminescu, 1981.
• Moraru, Cornel, Semnele realului, , Eminescu, 1981.
• Idem, Textul şi realitatea, , Eminescu, 1984.
• Muşina, Al. Antologia poeziei generaţiei ’80, Ed. Vlasie, Piteşti, 1993.
• Regman, Cornel Nuvela şi povestirea românească în deceniul opt. Antologie, introducere şi aparat critic de…, Eminescu, Buc., 1983.
• Simion, Eugen, Întoarcerea autorului. Eseuri despre relaţia creator-operă, , C.R., 1981.
• Idem, Scriitorii români de azi, IV, C. R., Buc., 1989.
• Tomuş, Mircea, Mişcarea literară, , Eminescu, 1981.
• Ţeposu, Radu G. Istoria tragică şi grotescă a întunecatului deceniu literar nouă, Eminescu, Buc., 1993.
• Ulici, L., Confort Procust, , Eminescu, 1983.
• Vlad, Ion, Destinul unei structuri epice, Buc., Minerva, 1972.

• Cronici, recenzii din periodice, prefeţe, articole

• Cristea, Valeriu, Virtuţile genului scurt, în „România literară”, 1974, nr. 7.
• Manolescu, Nicolae, Arhipelag, în „România literară”, 1981, nr. 21.
• Ormesson, Jean d’, Interviu cu Borges, în „Secolul 20”, 1982, nr. 5-6.
• ***, Romanul românesc de azi (anchetă), în Caiete critice, supliment al revistei „Viaţa Românească”, 1983, nr. 1-2.
• Simion, Eugen, Demnitatea mitică a naraţiunii, în „Secolul 20”, 1978, nr. 2-3, p.52 sqq.
• Idem, Moartea unui mit, în „Flacăra”, 15 iunie, 1984, p. 18.
• Ţeposu, Radu G., Fabulosul parodic, în „România literară”, 1982, nr. 40, p. 4.

• Texte critice despre proza scurtă a generaţiei ’80 la început de drum

• Brumaru, A. I., Principiul textului, în „Astra”, 1983, nr. 2, p. 5.
• Ciobanu, Nicolae, Recenzie M. Nedelciu, în „Luceafărul”, 1979, nr. 22.
• Idem, Valori nuvelistice actuale, în „Luceafărul”, 1984, nr. 27, p. 6.
• Crăciun, Gheorghe, Arhipelagul ’70-80 şi noul flux, în „Astra”, 1982, nr. 8, p. 1 şi 3.
• Crohmălniceanu, Ov. S. Prefaţă la Desant ‛83. Antologie de proză scurtă scrisă de tineri, Buc., C.R., 1983, p. 5.
• Petrescu, Liviu, Recenzie Al. Vlad, în „Steaua”, 1981, nr. 1.
• Petrescu, P. Lucian, Amendament la instincte impersonale, în „Orizont”, 1983, nr. 43, p. 11.
• Pricop, C., Descrieri şi povestiri, în „Convorbiri literare”, 1983, nr. 11, p. 5.
• ***, Realitatea socială şi tinerii scriitori (colocviul), în „Ateneu”, 1984, nr. 5, p. 2-7.
• Simion, Eugen, Lectura ca temă epică, în „România literară”, 1981, nr. 28.
• Steinhardt, N., Recenzie Gh. Crăciun, în „Steaua”, 1983, nr. 8, p. 58.
• Titel, Sorin, Fascinaţia cotidianului, în „România literară”, 1984, nr. 12, p. 10.
• Ulici, L., Prima verba, în „România literară”, 1984, nr. 11, p. 10.
• Idem, Recenzie M. Nedelciu, în „Contemporanul”, 1981, nr. 33.
• Vlad, Ion, Inepuizabilele resurse ale naraţiunii, în „Steaua”, 1984, nr. 4, p. 14.

Single women in the novels of Virginia Woolf and Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu

Modernity in literature brings about, especially at the beginning of the XX^th century, a novelty as regards the hypostases of femininity, namely the single woman.

The single woman is portrayed, in the characters present in the novels of Virginia Woolf and Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, as a young, intelligent, educated lady in search of her gender identity. In order to live in harmony with herself and because she cannot accept the patriarchal rule in the family of the mid XIX^th century, she makes choices like: financial independence and refusal to submit to men, implicitly denying marriage.

The single women in the novels by Virginia Woolf – Evelyn Murgatroyd, Doris Kilman, Lily Briscoe or Miss La Trobe – and Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu – Laura, Hilda Gert, Minette Persu or Nory Baldovin – are portrayed as unconventional, professionally autonomous and trying to shape their lives outside the traditional, restrictive pattern shaped by false moral values and convictions imposed by the authoritarian power of the men in the family. In spite of their rebellion against gender boundaries, the single women accept their femininity, but, at the same time, cultivate their masculinity, choosing to integrate feminine and masculine traits into a balanced entity.

Keywords: single women, patriarchal values, gender identity, the power of the men in marriage, femininity and masculinity.

• Istorie, critică, teorie literară şi culturală
  • Albérès, R.-M., Istoria romanului modern / The history of modern novel. Traducere de Leonid Dimov. Prefaţă de Nicolae Balotă, Editura pentru Literatura Universală, Bucureşti, 1968.
  • Beauvoir, Simone de, Al doilea sex / The second sex. Traducere de Diana Bolcu şi Delia Verdeş, Editura Univers, Bucureşti, 1999.
  • Booth, Wayne C., Retorica romanului / The rhetorics of the novel. Traducere de Alin Clej şi Ştefan Stoenescu. Prefaţă de Ştefan Stoenescu, Editura Univers, Bucureşti, 1976
  • Manolescu, Nicolae, Arca lui Noe. Eseu despre romanul românesc / Noah’s Arch. Essay on Romanian novel, vol. II, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1981
  • Mihăieş, Mircea, De veghe în oglindă /Catcher in the Mirror, ediţia a II-a, Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 2005
  • Concise Dictionary of British Litterary Biography, Modern writers, vol 6, A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book, Gale Research Inc. Detroit, London, 1984 (British Novelists, Virginia Woolf).

• Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu
  • Balaurul /The Dragon , Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1978. Postfaţă şi bibliografie de Roxana Sorescu

• Fecioarele despletite / The Disheveled Maidens, Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1986. Prefaţa de Doina Modola

• Concert din muzică de Bach /A Concert of Bach’s Music, Editura Tineretului (Colecţia Lyceum), Bucureşti, 1967. Prefaţă şi note de Eugenia Tudor
• Drumul ascuns / The Hidden Road, Editura Tineretului (Colecţia Lyceum), Bucureşti, 1967. Prefaţă şi note de Eugenia Tudor
• Rădăcini / Roots, Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1986. Postfaţă şi tabel cronologic de Doina Modola
• Cristescu, Maria Luiza, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu. Portret de romancier / Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu. Portret of a novelist , Editura Albatros (colecţia „Contemporanul nostru”), Bucureşti, 1976

• Virginia Woolf
  • Călătorie în larg / Voyage Out. Traducere şi note de Georgeta Pădureleanu, Editura Univers, Bucureşti, 1994.
  • Noapte şi zi / Night and Day. Traducere de Veronica Focşeneanu, Editura Univers, Bucureşti, 1987.
  • Doamna Dalloway / Mrs. Dalloway. Traducere de Petru Creţia. Prefaţă de Geta Dumitriu, Editura Rao, Bucureşti, 2003.
  • Spre far / To the Lighthouse. Traducere de Antoaneta Ralian, Editura Rao, Bucureşti, 2002
  • Orlando. Traducere de Vera Călin, Editura pentru Literatură Universală, Bucureşti, 1968
  • Valurile/ The Waves. Traducere şi prefaţă de Petru Creţia, Editura Univers, Bucureşti, 1973.
  • Între acte / Between the Acts. Traducere şi postfaţă de Frida Papadache, Editura Univers, Bucureşti, 1978

M. H. Abrams: “It’s only a century!”

„M. H. Abrams: « E doar un secol! » / M. H. Abrams: « It’s only a century », is an introduction to the life and academic career of one of the most distinguished contemporary scholars, who turned 100 in 2012. Some of his major works and ideas are highlighted, together with certain critical reactions. The presentation is followed by a fragment, translated from The Mirror and the Lamp, and focusing on the mimetic theories.
Keywords: M. H. Abrams, centenary celebration, academic environment, criticism, poetic language

• Abrams, M. H., „The deconstructive angel”, în Modern Criticism and Theory: A Reader, David Lodge, ed., Longman, London and New York, 1997.
• Abrams, M. H., The Mirror and the Lamp, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1971.
• Crawford, Franklin, „English professor Mike
  Abrams fêted at 100th birthday bash”, Cornell Alumni Magazine, 2012.
• Glaser, Linda, „Faculty reflect on the legacy of M.H. Abrams”, Cornell Chronicle Online, 18 iulie 2012
• Kirsch, Adam, „The Last Critic Turns 100”, Tablet Magazine, 11 iulie 2012.
• Kobas, Linda Grace, „Honored literary scholar M.H. Abrams continues his labors (of love)”, Cornell Chronicle, 10 iunie 1999.
• Nabokov, Vladimir, Lolita (trad. Horia Popescu, post-faţă Dan Grigorescu), Editura Universal Dalsi, Bucureşti, 1994.
• Richards, I. A., Principles of Literary Criticism, Routledge, London, 1924.
• Winterton, Danielle, „Cornell’s M. H. Abrams marking 100th birthday with book release, celebration”, Ithaca.com, 20 iulie 2012.