Volume de autor:

• Die Ansiedlung der Sachsen in Siebebürgen, Kriterion Verlag, Bukarest, 1979, 259 p.; ed. a II-a 1992, 292 p.
• Aşezarea saşilor în Transilvania, Editura Kriterion, Bucureşti, 1981, 343 p.; ed. a II-a, Editura Kriterion, Bucureşti, 1992, 292 p.
• Românii şi saşii până la 1848 (Relaţii economice, sociale şi politice), Editura Thausib, Sibiu, 1997, 420 p.
• Die Rumänen und die Siebenbürger Sachsen vom 12. Jahrhundert bis 1848, Hora Verlag, Hermannstadt und Arbeitskreis für Siebenbürgische Landeskunde e. V. Heidelberg 1999, 304 p.

Volume în colaborare:

• Thomas Nägler, Martin Rill, Hermannstadt und das alte Land, Editura Wort und Welt & Bild, 2002, 300 Seiten, 474 Farbabbildungen, 1 Karte, 22 Ortsgrundsrisse.

Coordonare de volume:

• Istoria Transilvaniei, vol. I (până la 1541), coordonatori Ioan Aurel Pop şi Thomas Nägler, Ed., Centrul de Studii Transilvane, 2003.
• Istoria Transilvaniei, vol. II (de la 1541 până la 1711), Ioan Aurel Pop, Thomas Nägler, Cluj-Napoca, Ed., Centrul de Studii Transilvane, 2005.
• The History of Transylvania, vol. I (until 1541), coord. Ioan Aurel Pop, Thomas Nägler, Cluj-Napoca, Centrul de Studii Transilvane, 2005. 

Contribuţii la volume colective:

• Die soziale Schichtung bei den Siebenbürger Sachsen im 12. – 13. Jahrhundert, în: Deutsch-rumänisches Colloquium junger Historiker, Kulturhistoriker und Zeitgeschichtler, Eingenverlag der Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft, München 1974, p. 60-67;
• Die Ansiedlung der Sachsen in Siebenbürgen und ihr Beitrag zur Entwicklung der rumänischen Feudalgesellschaft, în: Studien zur Geschichte der deutschen Nationalität und ihrer Verbrüderung mit der rumänischen Nation, Band I, Politischer Verlag, Bukarest, 1976, 9-125;
• Studii de istorie a naţionalităţilor germane şi a înfrăţirii ei cu naţiunea română, Editura Politică, Bucureşti, 1976, p. 9-84.
• Geschichte der Deutschen auf dem Gebiet Rumäniens. Erster Band (12. Jahrhundert bis 1848) (herausgegeben von C. Göllner), Kriterion Verlag, Bukarest, 1979, p. 19-37; 189-219; 308-320; 354-461.
• Geschichte der siebenbürgisch-sächsischen Landwirtschaft, Kriterion Verlag, Bukarest 1984, 243 p. (in Zusammenarbeit mit Josef Schobel und Karl Drotleff).
• Taten und Gestalten. Bilder aus der Vergangenheit der Rumäniendeutschen. I. Band (besorgt und eingeleitet von Dieter Drotleff), Dacia Verlag, Cluj-Napoca 1983, p. 8-11, 12-14, 15-17, 18-20, 114-116, 154-157.
• Die Sozialstruktur der Siebenbürger Sachsen im ausgehenden 16. Jahrhundert, in: Gruppenautonomie in Siebenbürgen. 500 Jahre siebenbürgisch-sächsische Nationsuniversität (herausgegeben von Wolfgang Kessler), Böhlau Verlag, Köln Wien 1990, 217-224 p.
• 800 Jahre Kirche der Deutschen in Siebenbürgen (herausgegeben von Thomas Nägler, Studien und Ausstellungskatalog, Brukenthalmuseum, Wort und Welt Verlag, Thaur/Innsbruck 1991.
• 800 de ani de biserică a germanilor din Transilvania, (coord. Thomas Nägler, Studii şi catalog, Muzeul Brukenthal, Editura Wort und Welt, Thaur/Innsbruck 1991.
• Briefe an Georg Daniel Teutsch, Böhlau Verlag, Köln Weimar Wien 1994 (herausgegeben von Monica Vlaicu). Einleitende Studie, p. 7-24
• Hus und die Hussitenbewegung in Siebenbürgen, in: Jan Hus. Zwischen Zeiten, Völkern, Konfessionen. Vorträge des internationalen Symposions in Bayreuth vom 22. bis 26 September 1993 (Herausgeber Ferdinand Seibt), R. Oldenburg Verlag, München, 1997, p. 303-305.

Bref: The Art of Abridgement

The purpose of the following essay is to show that any abridgment of any given literary work emerges from an interpretation of such literary work and is in the end just that: an interpretation. However, not all scholars were in agreement with the aforementioned statement. Jonathan Swift has been one of the harshest critics of this trend and of the books of loci communes. On the other hand, Isaac D’Israeli has brought arguments in favor of the utility of such works. Both, however, have overlooked the fact that any abridgement is an attempt (endeavor) to interpret the work that is being presented in a concise manner.

Keywords: abridgement, literary interpretation, meaning, Jonathan Swift, Isaac D’Israeli.

• Borges, Jose Luis, Eseuri, traducere de Irina Dogaru, Cristina Hăulică, Andrei Ionescu şi Tudora Şandru-Mehedinţi, Iaşi: Polirom, 2006, pp.245-248.
• Eco, Umberto, Lector in fabula: Cooperarea interpretativă în textele narative, traducere de Marina Spalas, Bucureşti: Editura Univers, 1991.
• Genette, Gérard, Figures III, Paris: Seuil,1972.
• Swift, Jonathan, Călătoriile lui Gulliver; Povestea unui poloboc şi alte satire, traducere de Leon Leviţchi şi Andrei Brezeanu, Bucureşti: Editura Univers, 1985.

The theory and decline of literature. Another French perspective

In his last book, Vincent Kaufmann tries to approach literary theory from a less „French” point a view. He emphasizes the role of French literary theory in recent French culture, and puts literature in a wider cultural perspective. However, he does not pay enough attention to the avatars of theory in more recent humanistic researches – philosophy, ethics or history of ideas – in which theory seems to syrvice and to give new fruits, even if it is not any more to consider part of literary studies. Kaufmann’s coined concept – mouvance théorique – inscribes theory in a new epistemic and historical discourse in French culture and contributes to a better cultural exchange between American and French cultural discourses.

Keywords: literary theory, Vincent Kaufmann, French theory, cultural studies

• Christie McDonald, Susan Rubin Suleiman, French Global. A New Approach to Literary History, Columbia Universtiy Press 2010.
• Kristin Ross, Laver plus blanc, rouler plus vite. Modernisation de la France et décolonnisation au tournant des années 60, Flammarion, 2006.
• Philippe Sollers, L’Ecriture et l’expérience des limites, Seuil, 1968.
• J..-Y. Tadié, La Littérature française: dynamique et histoire, II, Gallimard, 2007

I. L. Caragiale: Drama Between Illusion and Truth

The present study, part of a wider research project, aims at reinterpreting I.L. Caragiale’s drama – both his comedies and tragedies – from a non-mimetic perspective. Centering on the idea of the labyrinth, Caragiale’s drama outlines a space for searching signs that establish the synonymity of reality and truth. Created by a mauvais demiurge author in a space of illusion, the characters from Caragiale’s drama,  produce their own worlds empty of meaning, but with a strong effect of reality.

Keywords: I. L. Caragiale, empty reality, illusory worlds, author

I

• I.L.CARAGIALE, OPERE I. Proza literară ( The Complete Works of I.L. Caragiale), Ed. Stancu Ilin, Nicolae Bârna and Constantin Hârlav, Preface by Eugen Simion, The Romanian Academy, Bucharest: Univers enciclopedic, 2000

II.

• BOLDEA, IULIAN, Faţa  şi reversul textului (I.L.Caragaile şi Mateiu I. Caragiale) (The Face and Reverse of Text. I.L. Caragiale and Mateiu I. Caragiale), Târgu Mureş: Ardealul, 1998
• CĂLINESCU, ALEXANDRU, Caragiale sau vîrsta modernă a literaturii (Caragiale or the Modern Age of Literature), Second edition, Preface by Ion Vlad, Iaşi: Institutul European, 2000
• CĂPUŞAN, MARIA VODĂ, Caragiale?, Cluj Napoca: Dacia, 2002
• FANACHE, V .,Caragiale, Second edition, Cluj Napoca: Dacia, 1997
• GEORGE, ALEXANDRU, Caragiale. Glose, dispute, analize (Caragiale. Glosses, Disputes, Analyses), Bucharest: Romanian Cultural Foundation, 1996
• PAPADIMA, LIVIU,  Caragiale, fireşte (Caragiale, Naturally), Editura Fundaţiei Culturale Române, Bucharest: Romanian Cultural Foundation, 1999
• TOMUŞ, MIRCEA, Opera lui I.L.Caragiale ( I.L. Caragiale’s Work ), vol. 1, Bucharest: Minerva, 1977
• TOMUŞ, MIRCEA, Teatrul lui Caragiale dincolo de mimesis (Caragiale’s Plays beyond Mimesis), Cluj Napoca: Dacia, 2002
• TOMUŞ, MIRCEA, Caragiale după Caragiale (Caragiale after Caragiale), Sibiu: Media Concept, 2004
• VARTIC, ION, Clanul Caragiale (The Caragiale Clan), Cluj-Napoca: Biblioteca Apostrof, 2002 

Selected Publications:

• Poezia de la Gândirea (The Gândirea Poetry), Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică, col. Akademos,1997.
• Mircea Streinul. Viaţa şi opera (Mircea Streinul: Life and Work), Preface by Constantin Ciopraga, Editura Institutul Bucovina-Basarabia, Rădăuţi, 1998, I.S.B.N. 973-98224-1-x
• Instantanee critice ( Critical Instants), Editura Moldova, Iaşi, 1998, I.S.B.N. 973-572-118-x
• Mişcarea Iconar. Literatură şi politică în Bucovina anilor ’30 (The Iconar Movement. Literature and Politics in the Bucovina of the 1930s), Romanian Academy, Editura Timpul, Iaşi, 1999 [Ph.D Thesis], I.S.B.N. 973-9210-87-2.
• Feţele poeziei. Fragmente critice (The Facets of Poetry. Critical Fragments), Editura Junimea, Iaşi, 1999, I.S.B.N. 973-37-0486-5.
• Cezar Baltag. Monografie (Cezar Baltag. Monograph), Editura Aula, Braşov, 2000, I.S.B.N. 973-99520-5-4.
• Constantin Ciopraga – `85 (Edition), Editura Universităţii, Suceava, 2001, I.S.B.N. 973-8293-34-0.
• Poezia postmodernă (Postmodern Poetry), Editura Aula, Braşov, 2002. I.S.B.N  973-8206-56-1.
• Ion Creangă. Nonconformism şi gratuitate (Ion Creangă. Nonconformity and Gratuitousness), Editura Dacia, Cluj Napoca, 2002, I.S.B.N. 973-35-1510-0.
• Studii şi documente bucovinene (Studies and Documents from Bucovina), Editura Timpul, Iaşi, 2004, I.S.B.N. 973-612-128-3.
• La sud de Dumnezeu. Exerciţii de luciditate (To the South in Relation to God. Exercises of Lucidity), Editura Paralela 45, Piteşti, 2005, I.S.B.N. 973-697-404-9.
• Atelierele poeziei (Poetry Workshops), Editura Fundaţiei Culturale Ideea Europeană, Bucharest, 2005, I.S.B.N. 821.135.1.09.-1
• Calistrat Hogaş – eseu monographic (Calistrat Hogaş –Monographic Essay), Editura Crigarux, Piatra Neamţ, 2007, ISBN 978-973-7799-32-6
• Cui i-e frică de Emil Cioran? Cioran străinul (Who is Afraid of Emil Cioran? Cioran the Stranger), Editura Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2008, I.S.B.N. 978-973-23-1954-3
• Poezia de la Gândirea (The Gândirea Poetry), Ideea europeană, Second edition, Complete Editions Collection, Bucharest, 2008, 202p, ISBN 973-1925-01-5.

The destiny of a taste formative writer. From the savour of the gastronomic review to the bitter taste of compromising

The article aims to show how the communist ideology penetrated the literary discourse of one of the most interesting authors of the inter-war period, Al. O. Teodoreanu, famous for his literary gastronomic articles published in the 30’s. The author is imprisoned by the communists in late 1950’s and is forced to pay a tribute to the regime by introducing in his gastronomic articles praises of the new power. The article is supposed to see the “evolution” of the author from the glorious and liberal period before the Second World War to the end of his life with a focus on the gastronomic literature.

Keywords: gastronomic reviews, communist ideology, Newspeak, compromise, gastroliterature, wooden language

• *** Documente ale PCR / Documents of the Romanian Communist Party, Editura de Stat pentru literatură şi artă, Bucureşti, 1963.
• Fitzpatrick, Sheila, Everyday Stalinism:Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930’s, Oxford University Press, New York, 2000.
• Giugariu, Mihai (coord.), Prigoana: documente ale procesului C. Noica, N. Steinhardt, Al. Paleologu, A. Acterian, S. Al.-George, Al. O. Teodoreanu etc./ The Opression: documents of the political trial of the group made of C. Noica, N. Steinhardt, Al. Paleologu, A. Acterian, S. Al.-George, Al. O. Teodoreanu etc., Editura Vremea, Bucureşti, 1996.
• Kogălniceanu, Mihail, Negruzzi, Constantin, 200 de reţete cercate de bucate, prăjituri şi alte trebi gospodăreşti întocmite de Mihail Kogălniceanu şi Costache Negruzzi / 200 Recipes of edibles, cakes and other household tips,; acum de isnoavă scoase de Titus Moraru, cu zugrăveli de Florin Creangă, înfăţoşate lumii de dumnealui Mircea Zaciu şi tîlcuite de vestit întru criticeşti izvoade şi pre învăţat al pandimoniului nostru literariu George Călinescu, Editura Dacia, Cluj, 1973-
• Marin, Sanda, Carte de bucate, ediţia I / Cookery Book, first edition, Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 1936-
• Mercheş, Dorina, Biobliografie Al. O. Teodoreanu (Păstorel) / Biobliography Al. O. Teodoreanu (Păstorel),, Iaşi, [s.n.], 1986
• Negrici, Eugen, Expresivitatea involuntară / The Involuntary Expressiveness, Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 1977.
• Pandele, Rodica (coord.), Păstorel şi corespondenţii săi / Păstorel and his pen friends, Editura Eminescu, Bucureşti, 1998, p. 78-
• Roman, Radu Anton, Bucate, vinuri şi obiceiuri româneşti / Edibles, wine and Romanian gastronomic customs, Editura Paideia, Bucureşti, 1998-
• Teodoreanu, Al. O., Gastronomice / Gastronomical reviews, ediţie îngrijită de Grigore Damirescu şi Valentin Borda, postfaţă de George Muntean, Editura pentru Turism, Bucureşti, 1973
• Teodoreanu, Al. O., De re culinaria, ediţie, note şi glosar de Rodica Abrudan Pandele şi Aristiţa Avramescu, Editura Sport-Turism, Bucureşti, 1977
• Teodoreanu, Al. O., Inter pocula, prefaţă de Titus Mocanu, Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca, 1973
• Françoise Thom, Limba de lemn / The Wooden Language , traducere de Mona Antohi, studiu introductiv de Sorin Antohi, ediţia a II-a, Editura Humanitas, Bucureşti, 2005.
• Ulmu, Bogdan, Gastronomice… à la Păstorel / Gastronomic reviews… à la Păstorel, Editura Institutul European, Iaşi, 1998.
• Zafu, George, Politice şi apolitice / Politics and nonpolitics, Editura Victor Frunză, Bucureşti, 1996.

E. Lovinescu and Proust’s “method”

The present study delineates the specific means of trafficking Proust’s innovative method within the boundaries of the Romanian literature. Consequently, we referred to the theoretical displays of the most prominent modernist critics and writers (namely, E. Lovinescu and Camil Petrescu), so as to illustrate the way in which the Romanian personalities most “wired up” to the Western movement of ideas managed to give a personal interpretation for the concept of “involuntary memory”. Although Proust appeared to advantage the involuntary memory as a fertile means of creation revolving unconscious movements after been moved forward by a sensory stimulus, yet exclusively a musical stimulus (not also a visual one, because the image as such cannot trigger re-minding), the French writer did not dismiss the voluntary memory. In fact, he considered that only the volitive process employs the consciousness to frame a spatial image of time (as image). Unfortunately, equally Lovinescu and Camil Petrescu translated Proust’s notes on the two types of memory into a Manicheist vision that privileges either sensibility and involuntary memory (Camil Petrescu), or reason and voluntary memory (Lovinescu). However Proust’s mind on mind is quite integrative and states the necessity of translating time into image, that is, spatial representations, which altogether have drawn the hypothesis of a novel “architecture”.

Keywords: voluntary memory, involuntary memory, unconsciousness

• Lovinescu, Viaţă dublă, Ediţie îngrijită de Ion Nuţă, Editura Omnia, Iaşi, 1991.
• Idem, Bizu, Ediţie îngrijită, prefaţă şi note de Marian Papahagi. Editura Dacia, Cluj, 1974.
• Idem, Acord final, Ediţie şi prefaţă de Aurel Sasu, Editura Dacia, Cluj, 1974.
• Idem, Mite, Bălăuca Ediţie critică, prefaţă, note, variante, glosar şi bibliografie de Ion Nuţă, Editura Junimea, Iaşi, 1980.
• William Marx, Rămas-bun literaturii. Istoria unei devalorizări (sec XVIII-XX), traducere de Liliana Dragomir, Ana Stan, Carmen Habără, Diana Coman şi Alexandra Gheorghe sub coordonarea lui Alexandru Matei, prefaţă de Alexandru Matei, editura România Press, Bucureşti, 2008.
• Camil Petrescu, Noua structură şi opera lui Marcel Proust, în vol. Teze şi antiteze. Eseuri alese, Ediţie îngrijită, prefaţă şi tabel cronologic de Aurel Petrescu, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1971.
• Marcel Proust, Eseuri, traducere, prefaţă şi note de Irina Mavrodin, Editura Univers, Bucureşti, 1981.
• Paul Ricoeur, Memoria, istoria, uitarea, traducere de Ilie Gyursik şi Margareta Gyursik, Editura Amarcord, Timişoara, 2001.

Constantin Noica′s text – a hermeneutic perspective. terrestrial, corinthian and ceremony of the language of noica′s text

The Romanian literary critique stubborns in seeing in C. Noica’s creation a product of pure philosophical essence, as Noica himself describes it in specific texts.

In reality, the mechanisms of creating a philosophical discourse fail in Noica’s text, in which philosophy can only function as „language” (to limit, as „theme”), incapable of creating logical, connotative, derivative structures, polyphonies, semantic intersections.

Instead of the philosophical creation, a literary discourse builds itself, with deliberate ambiguities, with polysemantic cross roads, relying maximally on metaphor, ambiguity, polysemantism and denotation.

The result is, consequently, an eminently literary text, on the border between philosophical essay, story/tale and fable, a „proteinic”  (maximal) text.

Keywords: Constantin Noica, maximal space/text, border, philosophical discourse, author, language

• Afloroaei, Ştefan 1997. Cum este posibilă filosofia în estul Europei? (How is the Philosophy Possible in Eastern Europe?), Editura Polirom, Colecţia Plural, Iaşi.
• Antohi, Sorin 1997. Civitas imaginalis. Istorie şi utopie în cultura română (Civitas imaginalis. History and Utopy in Romanian Culture), Editura Litera, Bucureşti.
• Bădiliţă, Cristian 2007. Platonopolis sau împăcarea cu filosofia (Platonopolis or Reconciliation with Philosophy), Editura Universităţii Emanuel, Oradea.
• Brădăţan, Costică 2000. O introducere la istoria filosofiei româneşti în secolul XX, (An Introduction to the History of Romanian Philosophy in the Twentieth Century), Editura Fundaţiei Culturale Române, Bucureşti.
• Călinescu, George 2005. Istoria literaturii române de la începuturi până în present ((The History of Romanian Literature from its Origins to the Present), Editura Academiei Române, Bucureşti.
• Călinescu, Matei 2005. Cinci feţe ale modernităţii (Five Faces of Modernity: Modernism, Avant-garde, Decadence, Kitsch, Postmodernism), Editura Polirom, Iaşi.
• Codoban, Aurel 1992. Filosofia ca gen literar (Philosophy as a Literary Genre), Editura Dacia, Cluj-Napoca.
• Cornea, Andrei 1995. Platon. Filosofie şi cenzură (Plato. Philosophy and Censorship), Editura Humanitas, Bucureşti.
• Cornea, Paul 2006. Interpretare şi raţionalitate (Interpretation and Rationality), Editura Polirom, Colecţia Collegium, Iaşi.
• Diaconu, Mircea A. 2008. Cui i-e frică de Emil Cioran? (Who Is Afraid of Emil Cioran?), Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti.
• Diaconu, Mircea A. 2008. Poezia de la Gândirea (Poetry of  Gândirea),  Editura Ideea Europeană, Bucureşti.
• Dumitriu, Anton 1975. Istoria logicii (History of Logic), ediţia a 2-a, Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti.
• Ducrot, Oswald şi Schaeffer, Jean-Marie 1996. Noul dicţionar enciclopedic al ştiinţelor limbajului (New Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Sciences of Language), Editura Babel, Bucureşti.
• Dur, Ion 1994. Noica. Între dandysm şi mitul şcolii (Noica – Between Dandysm and the Myth of the School), Editura Eminescu, Bucureşti.
• Dur, Ion 1999. Noica – portretul gazetarului la tinereţe (Noica – The Portrait of the Journalist as a Young Man), Editura Saeculum, Sibiu.
• Eco, Umberto 1996. Limitele interpetării (Limits of Rightness), Editura Pontica, Biblioteca Italiană, Constanţa.
• Eco, Umberto 2006. Opera deschisă (Open Work), ed. a 4-a, Editura Paralela 45, Colecţia Studii Literare, Piteşti.
• Flonta, Mircea 1998. Cum să recunoaştem pasărea Minervei? Reflecţii asupra percepţiei filosofiei în cultura românească (How Do We Recognize the Owl of Minerva? – Reflections on the Perception of Philosophy in Romanian Culture), Editura Fundaţiei Culturale Române, Bucureşti.
• Handoca, Mircea 1989. Constantin Noica Istoricitate şi eternitate – Repere pentru o istorie a culturii româneşti (Historicity and Eternity – Landmarks for a Romanian Cultural History), Editura Capricorn, Bucureşti.
• Hirghiduş, Ion 1999. Introducere în ontologia lui Constantin Noica (Introduction to the Ontology of Constantia Noica), Ed. Dacia, Cluj.
• Husserl, Edmund 1994. Filosofia ca ştiinţă riguroasă (Philosophy as Rigorous Science), Editura Paideia, Colecţia cărţilor de seamă, Bucureşti.
• Ianoşi, Ion 1998. Constantin Noica între construcţie şi expresie (Constantin Noica between Construction and Expression), Editura Ştiinţifică, Bucureşti.
• Ianoşi, Ion 1996. O istorie a filosofiei româneşti în relaţia ei cu literature (A  History of Romanian Philosophy in Her Relation to Literature), Editura Apostrof, Cluj-Napoca.
• Ianoşi, Ion 1997. Dicţionarul operelor filosofice româneşti (A Dictionary of Romanian Philosophical Works), Editura Humanitas, Bucureşti.
• Laignel-Lavastine, Alexandra 1998. Filosofie şi naţionalism. Paradoxul Noica, (Nationalism and Philosophy – The Noica Paradox), Editura Humanitas, Bucureşti.
• Lavric, Sorin 2008. Noica şi mişcarea legionară (Noica and Legionary Movement), Editura Humanitas, Bucureşti.
• Liiceanu, Gabriel 1996. Epistolar (Correspondence), Editura Humanitas (ed. II), Bucureşti.
• Liiceanu, Gabriel 1991. Jurnalul de la Păltiniş. Un model paideic în cultura umanistă (The Păltiniş Diary – A Paideic Model in the Humanist Culture), Editura Humanitas, Bucureşti.
• Liiceanu, Gabriel 1992. Cearta cu filosofia (Dissenting to Philosophy), cap. Filosofia şi paradigma feminină a auditoriului, Editura Humanitas, Bucureşti.
• Marga, Andrei 1992. Introducere în metodologia şi argumentarea filosofică, (Introduction in the Philosophical Methodology and Argumentation), Editura Dacia, Colecţia Propedeutica, Cluj – Napoca.
• Marino, Adrian 1973. Dicţionar de idei literare (Dictionary of Literary Ideas), vol. I (A-G), Editura Eminescu, Bucureşti.
• Marino, Adrian 1987. Hermeneutica ideii de literatură (Hermeneutics of the Idea of Literature), Editura Dacia, Cluj – Napoca.
• Moraru, Cornel 2000. Constantin Noica (Constantin Noica), Editura Aula, Colecţia Canon, Braşov.
• Mincu, Marin 1993. Textualism şi autenticitate (Textualism and authenticity), Editura Pontica, Constanţa.
• Negrici, Eugen 2003. Literatura română sub comunism. Proza (Romanian Literature under Communism), Editura Fundaţiei PRO, Bucureşti.
• Ornea, Zigu 1995. Anii treizeci. Extrema dreaptă românească (The Thirties – A History of the Extreme Right Movement(s) in Romania), Editura Fundaţiei Culturale Române, Bucureşti.
• Paleologu, Alexandru 1986. Ipoteze de lucru (Working Hypotheses), cap. Despărţirea de Noica (Farewell from Noica),  Editura Eminescu, Bucureşti.
• Simion, Eugen 1976. Scriitori români de azi (Romanian Writers of Nowadays), vol. II, Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti.
• Simion, Eugen 1981. Întoarcerea autorului. Eseuri despre relaţia scriitor-operă, (Author’s Return), Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti.
• Simion, Eugen 1985. Sfidarea retoricii (Defying Rhetoric), Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti.
• Ulici, Laurenţiu 1995. Literatura română contemporană (Contemporary Romanian Literature) Editura Eminescu, Bucureşti.
• Vianu, Tudor 1971. Filozofie şi poezie (Philosophy and Poetry), Editura Enciclopedică Română, Bucureşti.

Ştefan Bănulescu’s novellas

The author of the study gives emphasis to several defining features of Ştefan Bănulescu’s short story fiction, as revealed up to the volume Scrisori provinciale – Provincial Letters (1976). After an insignificant volume of literary reportage, Ştefan Bănulescu’s picture in the public consciousness becomes that of an exceptional story teller, immediately following M. Sadoveanu,s from this perspective, according to certain critics. Bănulescu cherishes an expression characterized by a mysterious aura, he pursues the solid construction and considers terms of reference which tend towards the classical harmony of the epical matter, but still exhibiting an undeniable modernity of the rhythm and perception. Ever since its publication, after Drum în câmpie – Path in the Plain (1960, with a foreword written by Eusebiu Camilar!), Iarna bărbaţilor – Men’s Winter (1965) was one of the most commented books of the 7^th decade. Mistreţii erau blânzi – Boars used to be harmless, Dropia – The Bustard, Satul development lut – The Loam Village, Vară şi viscol – Summer and Blizzard, and less Masa cu oglinzi – The Table with Mirrors, Gaudeamus or Iarna bărbaţilor- Men’s Winter (which was left apart in the subsequent edition) have brought about subtle, encomiastic comments over the years, the critical verb being seduced by the storyteller’s gift. The volume Scrisori provinciale – Provincial Letter paves the way for the novels which will to be published in the following year, representing, at the same time, a moment of full recognition of his narrative art.

Keywords: Ştefan Bănulescu, story, narrative strategy, myth, symbol, magic, fiction, Danube Delta, Danube Plain, tradition, customs, breed.

• Bremond, Claude, Logica povestirii, traducere de Micaela Slăvescu, prefaţă şi note de Ion Pânzaru, Buc., Univers, 1981.
• *** Dicţionarul general al literaturii române, A-B, Buc., Editura Enciclopedică, 2004, p. 443 şi urm.
• Kayser, Wolfgang, Opera literară, O introducere în ştiinţa literaturii. Traducere şi note de H.R. Radian, cuv. înainte Mihai Pop, Buc., Univ., 1979.
• Mugur, Florin, Profesiunea de scriitor, Buc., Albatros, 1979.
• Negoiţescu, Ion, Scriitori moderni, Buc., EPL, 1966, p. 483.
• Paustovski, Konstantin, Trandafirul de aur. Traducere de Janina Ianoşi, prefaţă şi tabel cronologic de Ion Ianoşi, Buc., Minerva, 1981.
• Păunescu, Adrian, Sub semnul întrebării, Buc., C. R., 1971.
• Perpessicius, Iarna bărbaţilor, în „Gazeta literară”, 1966, nr. 21, p. 3.
• Regman, Cornel, Nuvela şi povestirea românească contemporană (1944-1974), studiu introductiv, antologie şi bibliografie de…, Buc., Eminescu, 1974.
• Regman, Cornel, Nuvela şi povestirea românească în deceniul opt, antologie, introducere şi aparat critic de …, Buc., Eminescu, 1983.
• Simion, Eugen, Scriitori români azi, I, Buc., C. R., 1978.
• Spiridon, Monica, Ştefan Bănulescu, Braşov, Aula, 2001.
• Ştefănescu, Al., Jurnal de critic, Buc., C. R., 1980.
• Tătaru, Ieronim, Ştefan Bănulescu – Dropia, în „Limbă şi literatură”, 1981, vol. 1, pp. 71-77.
• Ţeposu, Radu G., Fabulosul parodic, în „România literară”, 1982, nr. 40, p. 4.
• Vlad, Ion, Lectura – un eveniment al cunoaşterii, Buc., Eminescu, 1977.
• Vlad, Ion, Povestirea. Destinul unei structuri epice, Buc., Minerva, 1972.

“I’m afraid of not invented stories”. The Security Files of Oskar Pastior

The present study appeared in the periodical “Spiegelungen” (München) and deals with the persecution and collaboration of the modern German poet Oskar Pastior (1927, Sibiu – 2006, Frankfurt am Main) with the Security before leaving Romania and settling in Germany. The German poet, an adolescent aged 17, was deported to the labor camps of the Soviet Union where he survived for 4 years. Once he returned to his country, he continued his studies – the Brukenthal Highschool in Sibiu and the German Studies at the University in Bucharest –, being persecuted by the Secret services, both for his homosexual inclinations and for his anti-Soviet poetry. 1961 he signed a collaboration agreement as an informer with the Security and he assumed this role until 1968 when he left on a journey to Germany and didn’t return to Romania any more. Oskar Pastior was a close friend and collaborator of Herta Müller, the 2009 Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature.

Keywords: Oskar Pastior, Herta Müller, deported, informer file, persecution file, The National Council for Security Archives Study

Crooked mirrors, right reflection.

 Experimental prose of the 1980s in Central and East Europe

Starting from an outline of Adorno’s aesthetic theory stating that every work of art is defined by a dual condition, seeking both autonomy and mimesis, I investigate the experimental prose and novel in the East European, mostly Romanian, communist 1980s arguing that the so-called ‘evasionistic’ (for their abandon of narrativity, plot and traditional realism) were actually pioneering a new literary representation of reality, one that would not maintain the ideological facade and hide the totalitarian mutilation of everyday life. This perpetuation of a negative aesthetics in prose was taken as an echo of French textualism and nouveau roman but the differences in historical and political conditioning are crucial. The tradition of realism was renounced and its contemporary inheritors implicitly denounced for the sake of representing the truth of the un-essence and estrangement.

The epistemological relevance of this experimental prose is still largely neglected and two polar traits are to be traced here: first, a hyper-rational, analytical investigation of material, social world and natural language as opposed to the irrationality of the political system, and secondly, a ‘secular mysticism’ (Robert Musil’s term) that is seeking for life deep beneath the historical rubble.

Keywords: experimental prose, Central and Eastern Europe, Theodor Adorno’s aesthetic theory, “secular mysticism”, negative aesthetics.

• W. Adorno, Minima moralia. Reflecţii dintr-o viaţă mutilată,Art, Bucureşti, 2007
• Livius Ciocârlie, Viaţa în paranteză (Jurnal 1965-1977), Editura Amarcord, Timişoara, 1995.
• Gheorghe Crăciun, Competiţia continuă. Generaţia 80 în texte teoretice, Editura Vlasie, Piteşti, 1994
• Gheorghe Crăciun, Mecanica Fluidului, Cartier, Chişinău, 2003
• Gheorghe Crăciun, Trupul ştie mai mult, Paralela 45, Bucureşti-Piteşti, 2006
• Monica Lovinescu, Jurnal 1994-1995, Humanitas, Bucureşti, 2002
• Czesław Miłosz, Gândirea captivă, Humanitas, Bucureşti, 1999
• Alexandru Muşina, Scrisorile unui fazan. Epistolarul de la Olăneşti, Cartier, Chişinău, 2006
• Alexandru Muşina, Scrisorile unui geniu balnear. Epistolarul de la Olăneşti II, Aula, Braşov, 2007
• Mircea Nedelciu, Tratament fabulatoriu. Roman cu o prefaţă a autorului, Compania, Bucureşti, 2006
• Monica Spiridon, Ion Bogdan Lefter, Gheorghe Crăciun, Experimentul literar românesc postbelic, Paralela 45, Piteşti, 1998
• Vladimir Tismăneanu (ed.), Raport final. Comisia Prezidenţială pentru Analiza Dictaturii Comuniste din România, Humanitas, Bucureşti, 2007

Identity of substitution: Sensationism – the poetics of mask authentifying

Through his writings, either theoretical, programmatic or essays, the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, appears as twice an anarchist: both a heteronymic and an orthonymic one. In this study, we shall analyse the cultural legitimating strategies that Pessoa, under Álvaro de Campos’s mask but also as himself, builds, thus contributing to the definition and refinement of modernist critical awareness within which scepticism will convert to stronger reactions, futuristic visions, messianic-apocalyptic tones, becoming more complicated in the subtle architectures of irony and Dadaist palinodic cynicism, leading the European spirit into a deep reform.
Keywords: Fernando Pessoa, Álvaro de Campos, heternonymous, sensationiste poetry, mask, identity, cultural irony, modernist critical awareness, cultural legitimacy, European spirit.

Volumes:

• Pessoa, Fernando – Álvaro de Campos – Choix de poèmes (1914-1935) / Álvaro de Campos – Selected poems (1914-1935), Éditions Royaumont, 1988.
• Pessoa, Fernando – Le Chemin du Serpent, Oeuvres Complètes / The parth of the serpent, Complete works, tomeVII, Christian Bourgois Éditeur, 1991.
• Pessoa, Fernando – Oeuvres Complètes, Proses, I / Complete works, Prose, I, Publiées du vivant de l’auteur, réunies, annotées et présentées par José Blanco, Éditions de la Différence, Paris, 1988.
• Pessoa, Fernando – Ploaie oblică / Oblique rain, transl. by Roxana Eminescu, Univers, Bucureşti, 1980.
• Pessoa, Fernando – Sur les Hétéronymes / On heteronyms, Éditions Unes, 1993.

Anthologies:

• Baconsky, A.E. – Panorama poeziei universale contemporane / The panorama of contemporary universal poetry, Albatros, Bucureşti, 1972.
• Caragea, Dan – Antologia poeziei portugheze / The anthology of Portuguese poetry, Editura Edinter, Bucureşti, 1990.
• Ulici, Laurenţiu – Nobel contra Nobel / Nobel versus Nobel, anth., Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 1988.

Studies:

• Crăciun, Gheorghe – Dimensiuni tranzitive în poezia modernă / Transitive dimensions in modern poetry, 1998 – Aisbergul poeziei moderne / The iceberg of modern poetry, Editura Paralela 45, Piteşti, 2003.
• Doinaş, Ştefan-Augustin – Măştile adevărului poetic / The masks of poetic truth, Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 1992.
• Fauchererau, Serge – Expressionnisme, dada, surréalisme et autres isme / Expresionism, dada, surrealism and other isms, I domaine étranger, Editions Denoël, Paris, 1976.
• Gil, José – Fernando Pessoa – ou la Métaphysique des Sensations / Fernando Pessoa – or the metaphysics of sensations, Éditions de la Différence, Paris, 1988.
• Muşina, Alexandru – Paradigma poeziei moderne / The paradigm of modern poetry, Leka Brâncuşi, f.l., 1996.
• Papahagi, Marian – Exerciţii de lectură / Reading exercises, Dacia, Cluj, 1976, Marian – Faţa şi reversul (eseuri, studii, note) / The head and the tail (essays, studies, notes), Institutul European, Iaşi, 1993.
• Vattimo, Gianni – Dincolo de subiect / Beyond the subject, Pontica, Constanţa, 1994
• Zamfir, Mihai – Formele liricii portugheze / The forms of Portuguese poetry, Univers, Bucureşti, 1985.

Biographies:

• Pessoa – Une Photobiographie / Pessoa – A photobiography, Maria José de Lancastre, Christian Bourgois Éditeur, 1990.

Short prose’s state of grace

Vasile Chifor, a romanian critic and prose writer from Sibiu, writes an essey about the Ioan Radu Văcărescu’s book of prose A village called Romania, printed in three editions in the last ten years, the last one in 2010. The critic focuses about the background and the characters of Văcărescu’s prose, in fact over 30 short stories, about the special world of this literature, either far from idealism, or under the sign of social determinism and automation of existence. The author, writes the critic, comes from a famous tradition, that of transilvanian romanian prose, but he built a modern literary frame of an unique spiritual territory, including his native town of Sibiu, his fictional signature being under the sign of narration.

Keywords: Romanian contemporary prose, Ioan Radu Văcărescu, short story, narration, narrativity, traditional and modern prose.

• Ioan Radu Văcărescu, Un sat numit România / A village called Romania (schiţe, povestiri, nuvele, Editura George Coşbuc, Bistriţa, 2010, volum aflat, prin prelucrări şi reordonări, la ediţia a treia).

From „rex Gyla maior” to „Stefanus dux Ultrasilvaniae” (?953-1270)

Why did Transylvania have a parallel evolution compared to Pannonia until the mid-11^th century?

The latest scientific works of Romanian historiography answer this question taking into account the possibility that the North-West intra-Carpathian Transylvanian area could have been conquered as a consequence of a dissident direction manifested within the Hungarian / Hunogur confederation. This made Tuhutum to take possession of a territory which was not as well organized as those of Menumorut or Glad. Analysing the fragment of the Chronicle mentioning Arpad’s election as ruler, T. Sălăgean considers that Tuhutum’s departure occurred immediately after this moment, practically on the first opportunity he was offered to earn freedom. The conclusion to be drawn suggests that “the Ultrasylvanian land” was conquered on his own and for himself by a Hungarian tribal leader in conflict with Arpad.

The integration and organization of the Transylvanian territory as an entity of the Arpadian kingdom determined two operations:

– The imposing of  the comitatens system, which made it easier to control the territory and the collection of vassal obligations ;

– The implementation of a church organisation system, with a double role: economical and political.

Keywords: Transylvania, Middle Ages, Gylas, Stefanus, dux, rex

• Brezeanu, Stelian , Identităţi şi solidarităţi medievale. Controverse istorice / Medieval Identities and Solidarities. Historical Controversies), Bucharest, 2002.
• Curta, Florin ed., East Central of Eastern Europe in The Early Middle Ages, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005.
• Dragota, Aurel, Aspecte de multiculturalitate spirituală. Rit şi ritual funerar în Transilvania şi Europa Centrală şi de Sud-Est (sec. IX-XI) / Aspects of Spiritual Multiculturalism. Funeral Rite and Ritual in Transylvania in Central and South-Eastern Europe, Alba Iulia, 2006.
• Madgearu, Alexandru, The Romanians in the Anonymous Gesta Hungarorum. Truth and Fiction, Cluj-Napoca, 2005.
• Păcurariu, Mircea, Istoria Bisericii româneşti din Transilvania, Banat, Crişana şi Maramureş până în 1918 / The History of The Romanian Church from Transylvania, Banat, Crişana and Maramureş until 1918), Cluj-Napoca, 1992.
• Pascu, Ştefan, Voievodatul Transilvaniei / Transylvania’s Voivodship), I, Cluj, 1972.
• Pop, Ioan Aurel, Românii şi maghiarii în secolele IX-XIV. Geneza statului medieval în Transilvania / Romanians and Magyars During the 9th – 14th Centuries. The Genesis of the Medieval State in Transylvania), second edition, Cluj-Napoca, 2003.
• Rusu, A.A., Castelarea carpatică. Fortificaţii şi cetăţi din Transilvania şi teritoriile învecinate (sec. XIII-XIV) / The Carpathian Encastlement. Fortifications and fortress from transzlvania and surroundings territories (13th-14th C.), Editura Mega, Cluj-Napoca, 2005.

Central European historiographical convergences. Transylvania – Slovakia

The author brings into discussion two recent studies in Romanian historiography. These two books are representative for the relations between Romanian and Slovak historiographies, for their mutual support in what regards the intepretation of the historical becoming of the Romanians and the Slovaks within the Habsburg Empire. The study focuses on the evolution of the cultural history recorded during the ages of the Aufklärung (18th century) and Vormärz (1800-1848).
Keywords: Transylvania, Slovakia, Habsburg Empire, Central Europe, historiography.

• Bărbulescu, Mihai, Deletant, Denis, Hitchins, Keith, Papacostea, Şerban, Teodor Pompiliu, Istoria României, Bucureşti, Editura Enciclopedică, 1998.
• Bernath, Mathias, Habsburgii şi începutul formării naţiunii române. Traducere de Marionela Wolf. Prefaţă de Pompiliu Teodor, Cluj Napoca. Editura Dacia, 1994.
• Bodea, Oana, Un timp al schimbărilor. Renaşterea naţională a popoarelor din Europa Centrală în Aufklärung şi Vormärz. O istorie comparată, Bucureşti, Editura Rao, 2011, 416 p.
• Câmpeanu, Remus, Elitele româneşti din Transilvania veacului al XVIII-lea, Cluj Napoca, Presa universitară clujeană, 2000.
• Gorun, Gheorghe, Un model de integrare europeană: Instaurarea dominaţiei austriece asupra Transilvaniei. Prelegere inaugurală, Oradea, februarie 2003.
• Hitchins, Keith, Conştiinţă naţională şi acţiune politică la românii din Transilvania (1700 – 1868). Introducere şi îngrijirea ediţiei Pompiliu Teodor. Traducere de Sever Trifu şi Codruţa Trifu, Cluj-Napoca, “Dacia”, 1987.
• Mannová, Elena (coord.), Scurtă istorie a Slovaciei. Traducerea din limba slovacă şi indice de Eva Mârza, Radu Mârza, Bucureşti, Editura Enciclopedică, 2011, 474 p.
• Mârza, Radu, The History of Romanian Slavic Studies. From the Beginnings until the First World War. Translated from the Romanian by Leonard Ciocan, Cluj-Napoca. CST, 2008.
• Neumann, Victor, Neam, popor sau naţiune? Despre identităţile politice europene. Ed. A II-a, Bucureşti, 2005.
• Protase, Maria, Petru Maior: un ctitor de conştiinţe, Bucureşti, “Minerva”, 1973.
• Stanciu, Laura, Biografia unei atitudini: Petru Maior (1760-18219). Prefaţă: Iacob Mârza, Cluj Napoca, Risoprint, 2003.
• Teodor, Pompiliu, Sub semnul Luminilor: Samuil Micu, [Cluj], Presa universitară clujeană, 2000.
• Zoltán, I. Toth, Primul secol al naţionalismului românesc ardelean 1697 – 1792. Traducere din limba maghiară de Maria Someşan, [Bucureşti], Editura Pythagora, 2000.

The influence of German culture on the theatrical and musical life of Sibiu in the late XIXth and early XXth centuries

The Romanian culture in Transylvania at the end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th was mostly influenced by the German culture. Sibiu was a place of a multicultural tradition due to its Romanian, German or Hungarian inhabitants. The relatively high number of theatre performances and symphonic concerts announced in the local papers (Telegraful Român, Tribuna, Transilvania) proves that the German theatre and music were favorably received by the public in spite of its heterogenic structure. The most representative German playwrights and composers were known in Sibiu through their works that contributed to the spiritual enlightenment of the public.

Keywords: German culture, German theatre and music reflected in the local periodicals (Telegraful Român, Tribuna, Transilvania).

• Boia, Lucian, Istorie şi mit în conştiinţa românească, Bucureşti: Editura Humanitas, 1997.
• Boitoş, Olimpiu, Activitatea lui Slavici la „Tribuna” din Sibiu, Cluj: Editura revistei „Societatea de mâine”, 1927.
• Cornea, Paul, Originile romantismului românesc. Spiritul public, mişcarea ideilor şi literatura între 1780-1840, Bucureşti: Editura Cartea românească, 2008.
• Onu, Eugen, Zum Spielplan des Hermannstädter Theaters in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, în Forschungen zur Volks- und Landeskunde, vol. 13, nr. 1,  Bucureşti: Editura Academiei, 1970

The incidence of bioterrorism for contemporary society

Terrorism is the scourge of modern society, representing a major threat to individual, national and also international / global security.

A mode of action in this context, with a particularly high level of threat is represented by the use of biological agents / pathogens, to trigger such attacks – bioterrorism.

Although, to date, bioterrorist attacks are rather scarce, lacking the ability to generate major effects for the targeted populations, the potential of this type of attack induces compulsory need, at national / international level, to insure the capacity to generate an appropriate response – prevention / control.

Keywords: Bioterorism, pathogens, terrorism, biotechnology, legislation.

• Guillemin Jeanne, 2002, The Political Determinantsof Delayed Diagnisis: The 1979 Sverdlovsk Anthrax Outbreak and the 1972 Yugoslavian Smallpox Epidemic, Confronting Terrorism – 2002, Ed. By Rajan Gupta and Mario R. Perez
• Jackson P. J. et al., 1997, PCR analysis of tissue sample from the 1979 Sverdlovsk anthrax victims: The presence of multiple Bacillus anthracis strains in different victims, from Microbiology, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 95
• Măciucă M., Toma G., 2004, Dimensiunea militară a securităţii în condiţiile accelerării procesului globalizării / Military dimension of security in terms of accelerating the process of globalization, Editura U.N.Ap., Bucureşti, (http://www.sri.ro/upload/Brosura%20Bioterorism.pdf)
• Spencer R.C., Wilcox M.H., 1993, Agents of biological warfare, Rev Med Microbiol, nr.4 (http://www.sri.ro/upload/Brosura%20Bioterorism.pdf)
• Yew Meng Hor M., Vridar Ramraj V., Roach K., 2005, ”Global anti-terrorism law and policy”, Cambridge University Press, New York
• http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32002F0475:RO:HTML
• http://www.bordeninstitute.army.mil/published_volumes/biological_warfare/BW-ch01.pdf
• http://www.bio-terry.com/HistoryBioTerr.html
• http://biosecurityblog.com/2011/04/04/the-great-illusion/
• http://www.usamriid.army.mil/education/bluebookpdf/USAMRIID%20BlueBook%206th%20Edition%20-%20Sep%202006.pdf

From Tradition to Postmodernism in China’s Civilization and Culture

In the vast metropolitan areas of China, a five millennia civilization coexists, dramatically, with postmodernism and avant-gardism. On the one hand, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, on the other, the new airport, the high-speed trains, the National Theatre, the Water Cube, the Bird’s Nest, five and seven star hotels defying the laws of architecture and physics. A distance of millennia stretches from the Great Wall to the Bird’s Nest, expressing completely different paradigms of existence. They share the vitality, strength, creativity and genius of a nation. History coexists with modernity and postmodernity by China’s opening to other cultures and civilizations. It is an illustration of the concept “Alliance of Civilizations” shaping the globalizing world. China’s spiritual identity is expressed through several metamorphoses and cultural models. Academic education, scientific research, culture, knowledge are at the basis of these spectacular paradigms.

Keywords: paradigms, tradition, postmodernism, alliance of civilizations, metamorphoses, globalization, culture, knowledge

• John King Fairbank, China: A New History (Belknap Press of Harvard UP, 1992)
• James Fallows, Postcards from Tomorrow Square: Reports from China (Vintage Books, 2009)
• Jacques Gernet, A History of Chinese Civilization (Cambridge UP, 1982)
• Peter Hessler, Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China’s Past and Present (HarperCollins, 2006)
• Victor Mair: Tao Te Ching: The Classic Book of Integrity and the Way (Bantam, 1990).
• John Pomfret, Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China (Henry Holt & Company, 2006)
• Jonathan Spence, Search for Modern China (Norton, 1990)
• Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2010)