Electoral Caricature – Form of Electoral Discourse of the Peasant Party in the Parliamentary Elections from 1926. Study Case

Our study proposses an analysis of the way in which the Peasant Party, one of the most important political forces in Romania in the 1920s, used political caricature as a form of electoral discourse in the campaign for the legislativ elections in 1926. The study case was constructed on an analyses of the caricatures published in two important peasant newspapers that appeared in Bucharest: ,,Aurora” and ,,Ţărănismul”. In the absence of an analysis model in the special literature, we proceeded in a discription of the selected caricatures, following the semnifications, the political and electoral messages that were desired to be transmitted to the electorate.

The caricature is a representation, mainly in sketch, of a person or of a situation through the exaggeration of some features, especially the negative ones, with a satirical or a humoristic intention. This form of electoral discourse is very common in the party’s press and in the independent one from the inter-war years. In the 1920s the caricature was presented, especially in the peasant press and in the one declared independent, but which manifested a constant orientation for center-left, we refer here to ,,Adevărul” and ,,Dimineaţa”.

The authors advocate that the accessibility of this type of electoral propaganda within the electors was consistent, striking. Given that the electorate was predominantly rural (over 80%), with a low political culture, this form of speech was easier to understand. The overwhelming majority of caricatures have as purpose the compromising of the most powerful party – Peasant Party – and of its main supporter – The National Liberal Party. The caricature succeeded in transmitting to the peasant-electors, in an extremely simple manner, the anti-governmental political message of the peasants. With a special talent, the authors of the caricatures succeed to surprise the specificity of the election campaign in that period, mainly the weaknesses of the electoral system (the abuses, the illegalities, the lack of morality of the political actors, the non-compliance with the democratic principals etc.)

Keywords: electoral caricature; electoral discourse; the parliamentary elections from 1926; Peasant Party

Sources

a) Press

• Aurora, Bucureşti, 1926.
• Monitorul Oficial, Bucureşti, 1926.
• Ţărănismul, Bucureşti, 1926.

Specialized Studies

• Paul Nistor, „Imaginea adversarului în caricaturile politice ale războiului rece” [„Opponent’s Figure in the Political Caricatures of Cold War”], în Andi Mihalache, Silvia Marin-Barutcieff, De la fictiv la real. Imaginea, imaginarul, imagologia [From Fiction to Reality. Image, Imagery, Imagology], Iaşi, Editura Universităţii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, 2010, pp. 359-370.

3. General Studies

• Bulai, Alfred, Mecanismele electorale ale societăţii româneşti [The Electoral Mechanisms of the Romanian Society], Paideia, Bucureşti, 1999.
• Cmeciu, Camelia Mihaela, Strategii persuasive în discursul politic [Persuasive Strategies in the Political Discourse], Editura Universitas, Bucureşti, 2005.
• Enache, Răzvan, Structura ficţiunilor comunitare. Tradiţional şi modern în discursul politic românesc interbelic [The Structure of the Community Fictions. Traditional and Modern in the Romanian Interwar Political Discourse], Casa Cărţii de Ştiinţă, Cluj-Napoca, 2007.
• Iorga, Nicolae, România Contemporană de la 1904 la 1930. Supt trei regi [Contemporary Romania from 1904 to 1930. Under Three Kings.], ediţia II, Aşezământul tipografic ,,Datina Românească”, București, 1932.
• Marga, Delia, Introducere în analiza discursului cu referire la istorie şi sfera publică [An Introduction in Discourse Analysis Referring to History and the Public Area], Editura Fundaţiei pentru Studii Europene, Cluj-Napoca, 2003.
• Mihai, Florin-Răzvan, „Alegerile generale din mai 1926”, în Elite parlamentare şi dinamică electorală în România 1919-1937 [„The General Elections from May 1926”, in Parliamentary Elites and the Electoral Dynamics in Romania 1919-1937] coord. Florin Müller, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti, Bucureşti, 2009.
• Moga, Valer, Arhire, Sorin (coord.), Problema Transilvaniei în discursul politic de la sfârşitul Primului Război Mondial [The Case of Transylvania in the Political Discourse form the End of the World War I], Centrul de Studii Transilvane, Cluj-Napoca, 2009.
• Radu, Sorin, Electoratul din România în anii democraţiei parlamentare (1919-1937) [The Romanian Electorate in the Years of Parliamentary Democracy (1919-1937)], Institutul European, Iaşi, 2004.
• Idem, Modernizarea sistemului electoral din România (1866-1937) [The Modernization of the Electoral System in Romania (1866-1937)], Institutul European, Iaşi, 2005.
• Saizu, Ioan, Eşanu, Leon, Momente din istoria regimului electoral din Ro­mânia (1922-1928) [Moments in the Electoral Regims’s History from Romania (1922-1928)], în „Anale de Istorie”, Bucureşti, tomul XVI, 1970, nr. 3.
• Saizu, Ioan, Florescu, Gh. I., Alegerile parlamentare din România (1926-1928) [The Parliamentary Elections in Romania (1926-1928)], în „Cercetări Istorice”, Iaşi, tomul IX-X, 1978-1979.
• Scurtu, Ioan, Alegerile parlamentare din mai 1926 [The Parliamentary Elections form May 1926], în Studii şi Comunicări”, Muzeul Brukenthal, Sibiu, tomul XVIII, 1974.

The Affinity Relationships between Ideology and Science

Between ideology and science there are affinity relationships, even if the general opinion deems them to be antithetical realities. The studies in the socio-political area comprise two directions. The first considers that ideology is rather a system of beliefs that deforms or occults the scientific truth. The second direction, which recognises the existence of positive relationships between ideology and science, consists of at least four perspectives: the first postulates the existence of a scientific core within the framework of ideology, which is a kind of rhetoric that helps the popularisation of scientific truths; the second considers that ideology belongs to the same type of rationality as science; the third view presents ideology as the medium wherein the scientific discourse is built, the former being the prior of any type of discourse; the forth perspective sees ideology as a means of knowledge which provides the scientific character of the cognitive endeavours in the social field.

Keywords: truth, context, ideology, individual, interest, Marxism, masses, politics, practical, society, science.

• Louis ALTHUSSER, Citindu-l pe Marx – Reading Marx (Bucharest: Political Publishing House, 1970).
• ARISTOTLE, Politica – Politics (Bucharest, IRI Publishing House, 2001).
• Terence BALL & Richard DAGGER, Ideologii politice şi idealul democratic – Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal, Second Edition (Iaşi: Polirom, 2000).
• Peter L. BERGER & Thomas LUCKMANN, Construirea socială a realității – The Social Construction of Reality (Iaşi: Universe Publishing House, Bucharest, 1999).
• Ioan Petru CULIANU, Eros şi magie in Renaştere. 1484 – Eros and Magic in the Renaissance. 1484 (Bucharest: Nemira Publishing House, 1994).
• Clifford GEERTZ, “Ideology as a cultural system”, in David E. APTER (ed.), Ideology and Discontent (New York: Free Press, 1964).
• Jürgen HABERMAS, „Cunoaştere şi interes” in Cunoaştere şi comunicare – ‘Knowledge and interest’ in Knowledge and Communication (Bucharest: Political Publishing House, 1983).
• George A. HUACO, „On ideology”, in Acta Sociologica vol. 14, no. 4, 1971.
• Ghiţă IONESCU, Politica şi căutarea fericirii – Politics and the Pursuit of Happiness (Bucharest: All Publishing, 1999).
• Herbert MARCUSE, “Omul unidimensional” in Scrieri filosofice – “One-Dimensional Man” in Philosophical Writings (Bucharest: Political Publishing House, 1997).
• Karl MANNHEIM, Ideology and Utopia (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., 1968).
• Karl MARX & Friedrich ENGELS, Ideologia germană – The German Ideology (Bucharest: the State Publishing House for Political Literature, 1956).
• Karl MARX & Frederich ENGELS, Selected Correspondence (Moscova: Progress, 1965).
• David McLELLAN, Ideologia – Ideology (Bucharest: DU Style Publishing House, 1998).
• David MILLER (coord.), Enciclopedia Blackwell a gândirii politice – The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought (Bucharest: Humanitas, 2000).
• Michael OAKESSHOTT, Raţionalismul in politică – Rationalism in Politics (Bucharest: All, 1995).
• Paul RICOEUR, „Ştiinţă şi ideologie” in Eseuri de hermeneutică – ‘Science and ideology’ in Essays in Hermeneutics (Bucharest: Humanitas, 1995).
• Daniel ŞANDRU, Reinventarea ideologiei. O abordare teoretico-politică – Reinventing Ideology. A theoretical-political approach (Iaşi: Institutul European Publishing, 2009).

Aspects of metaphor in political discours

Among the mysteries of human communication, the metaphor remains one of the unsolved problems. Linguists disagree considerably when advancing different theories of metaphor. While some see it as a vague and inadequate form of expression, others consider it as the most essential form of expression in language. Metaphor, be it a difficult concept, not only does it restricts itself in the field of literature or language, but goes beyond them to influence other fields such as philosophy, psychology, logic and more. Using examples of political discourse in the media, this paper tries to investigate some approaches that are not intended to be exhaustive, but rather useful for illustrating the specificity of argumentative discourse.

Keywords: metaphor, source concept/target concept, functional grammar

• Aristotel, Poetica, Studiu introductiv/ Poetics, initiatory study, traducere şi comentarii de D. M. Pippidi, Bucureşti Editura Academiei R.P.R., , 1965.
• Black, Max, More about metaphor, în: Andrew Ortony (editor), Metaphor and Thought, Second Edition, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, , 1993.
• Davidson, Donald, Inquiries into Truth and Interpretation, Oxford, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, , 2001.
• Gauthier, G (1994): La métaphore guerrière dans la communication politique în Métaphores (I)/ The metaphor warrior in the political discourse in Metaphors (I), Research into communication, Recherches en communication, Univ. Catholique de Louvain.
• Halliday, M.A.K., An Introduction to Functional Grammar, London, New York, Melbourne, Auckland: Edward Arnold (A division of Hodder & Stroughton), 1985.
• Lakoff, G., Johnson, M., Metaphors we live by, Chicago and London: Chicago University Press, 2003.
• Le Guern, M., 1973, Sémantique de la métaphore et de la métonymie/ Semantic from metaphor to metonymy, Paris, Larousse.
• Rorty, Richard, Contingenţă, ironie şi solidaritate/Contiguity, irony and solidarity, Bucureşti, Editura All, , 1998.
• Rovenţa-Frumuşani, D., Argumentarea. Modele şi strategii/ The argument. Models and strategy, Bucureşti, Editura BIC ALL, 2000.
• Slave, E., Metafora în limba română. Comentarii şi aplicaţii/ Metaphor in romanian language. Observations and applications, Bucureşti, Ed. Ştiinţifică, 1991.
• Zafiu, R., Diversitate stilistică în România actuală/Stylistically variety in curent Roumania, 2003, http://ebooks.unibuc.ro.

The State Idea in Byzantium and Western Europe until the Age of Crusades

In this essay I try to deal with the differences between the idea of state the two Christianities developed after Rome fall, the notion of the political ruling of the world, the different development the two Christianities had known through the passing of time, the distinct progress, the nationality, the power symbols, and the role had by the two churches. Byzantium had a strong and well outlined state order and church hierarchy. The emperor was the defensor pacis in the community. In Western Europe the feudal system is ruling the relations between different partners. The senior and the liege have both commitments and rights. The vassal has a clearer independence because he can every moment riot against his senior. There were big and concrete differences between the two Christian worlds. The Byzantine political order and hierarchy are something completely new for the feudal western world. The state idea had been lost there, once Rome had fallen, in 476. That’s one of the main reasons which led to the later confrontation between the two Christianities in the age of the crusades.

Keywords: basileus, Christianities, state, nationality, pax romana, aristocracy, feudal system.

Sources

• Appien, Histoire romaine, ed. Paul Goukowski, 1997.
• Bernard, de Clairvaux, De Consideratione. Book of Ceremonies, London, 1982.
• Choniates, Niketas, Historia, ed. J. Dieten, Berlin, 1975.
• Odo, de Deuil, La croisade de Loius VII. roi de France, ed. Henry Waquet, Paris, 1949.

Specialized Works

• Ahrweiler, Hélène, Ideologia politică a Imperiului bizantin, Bucureşti, 2002.
• Alexander, P.J., The Strength of Empire and Capital seen through Byzantine Eyes, în: Speculum, 37, 1962, p. 343-372.
• Baynes, N., The Supernatural Defenders of Constantinople, în: Byzantine Studies and other essays, London, 1960, p. 248-260.
• Beck, Hans Georg, Ideen und Realitaeten in Byzanz, Berlin, London, 1972.
• Benson, Robert, Political Renovatio: Two Models from Roman Antiquity. Renaissance and Renewal in the Twelth Century, Cambridge, 1982.
• Bréhier, Louis, Vie et mort de Byzance, Paris, 1948.
• Brezeanu, Stelian, Ideea de Imperiu în Occidentul medieval în lumina cercetǎrilor din ultimele decenii, în: Revista de istorie, nr. 2, 1978, p. 273-298.
• Brezeanu Stelian, Imperiu universal şi monarhie naţională în Europa creştină, Bucureşti, 2005.
• Brezeanu, Stelian, O istorie a Bizanţului, Bucureşti, 2005.
• Buisson, Luc, Eroberrecht Vasallität und byzantinisches Staatsrecht auf dem ersten Kreuzzug, în: Berichte aus den Sitzungen der Joachim Jungius Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Hamburg, 1985, p. 62-87.
• Dölger, Franz, Rom in der Gedankenwelt der Byzantiner, în: Franz Dölger, Byzanz und die europäische Staatenwelt, 1953, p. 70-123.
• Dölger, Franz, Byzanz und das Abendland vor den Kreuzzügen, în: Relazioni del X. Congresso Internazionale die scienze storiche, Roma, 1955, p. 67-112.
• Erdmann, Carl, Die Entstehung des Kreuzzuggedankens, Stuttgart, 1935.
• Flori, Jean, Chevaliers et chevalerie au Moyen Âge, Paris, 1998.
• Folz, Robert, L’idée d’Empire en Occident du Ve au XIVe siècle, Paris, 1957.
• Foss, Clive, Rome and Byzantium, Oxford, 1977.
• Guillou, André, La Civilisation byzantine, Paris, 1990.
• Hehl, Ernst Dieter, Was ist ein Kreuzzug?, în: Historische Zeitschrift, 259, 1994, p. 297-336.
• Hiestand, Rudolf, Gott will es!-Will es Gott wirklich? Die Kreuzzugsidee in der Kritik ihrer Zeit, Stuttgart, 1998.
• Jenkins, J.H., Byzantium. The Imperial Centuries, London, 1966.
• Lemerle, P., Byzance et la croisade, în: “Relazioni del X Congresso Internazionale die scienze storiche, III, Firenze, 1955, p. 595-621.
• Painter, S., Western Europe on the Eve of the Crusades, în: Crusades, Philadelphia, 1982, p.18-29.
• Pall, Francisc, Crestomaţie de istorie universală medie, Partea I.Evul mediu timpuriu, Bucureşti, 1970.
• Runciman, Steven, A History of the Crusades, I.-III., Cambridge, 1957.

Liber amicitiae: Andrea Alciatus, Emblemata, Lyon, 1564,

in the Library of the National Museum Brukenthal

Liber amicitiae, Album amicorum, Stammbuch, Emlékkönyv, is the book in which friends sign. The signature is usually accompanied by a dedication to the owner of the book, as well as by a quotation, either from the Bible, or from the classics of Antiquity or from contemporary authors. It originates in the 16-th century and it continus into the following centuries.

The Library of the National Museum Brukenthal is in possession of some of these „book of friendschip”. One of it is the „Emblemata” by Giovanni Andrea Alciato (latinized Alciatus), a jurist and philologist from Milan (1492-1550), the book was publisched at Lyons in 1564. It belonged to Hieronymus Hübner of Wels, upper Austria, and contains 160 handwritten recordings, dedications and portraites made by colleagues and professions from the Tübingen, Wittenberg, and Ingolstadt Universities, as well as some from Wels, the native tom of the owner of the book. Some of these recordings, 42 in number, are accompanied by nobiliary arms, drawn and coloured by hand.

These recordings extend themselves oven a period of 29 years (1571-1600) the student years at the abore-mentioned universities and the oves spent by the onver ap the book, as a magistrate in Wels.

Keywords: medieval libraries, liber amicitiae, Library of the Brukenthal National Museum, Emblemata, Alciatus

• Andrea Alciatus, Emblemata, Lyon, 1564.
• Graesse, J.G.Th.-Benedict, Friedrich, Orbis latinus, Berlin, 1909.
• Ittu, Constantin, Tainele Bibliotecii Brukenthal / The mysteries of the Brukenthal Library, Sibiu, 2005.
• Keserü Balint, Peregrinaciós emlékkönyvek, Szeged, 1992.
• Larousse du XX-e siècle en six volumes, Tome troisième, Paris, 1930.
• Révai Nagy Lexikona, vol. 1;19, Budapest, 1911.
• Nägler, G.K. Die Monogramisten, Band IV, München, 1864.
• The New Enciclopedia Britannica, vol. 4;12, Chicago, Auckland, London…, 1994.

The Illustration of Penance Sacrament. An Iconographic Approach of the Carved Scenes on the Portal of the Protestant Church in Hosman

The western portal of the protestant church of Hosman is a sample of Romanesque style, style brought to Transylvania by the Saxon colonists. Among its decorative elements, containing column’s capitels decorated with patterns very similar to those of the western Giant Portal of St. Stephen Wien Cathedral, we have identified a different approach of carved figures, clustered in specific religious themes.

Considering the themes represented in the portal arches as a narration with specific meaning, after the individual identification of each scene we have connected these scenes to one another, finding as result a pattern of association.

According to this pattern, each part of the assembly corresponds to a specific moment in the framework of general narration, associated in various ways in the process of illustration of the sacrament of Penance.

Keywords: Iconography, Romanesque, Portal, Sculpture, Penance, Sacrament, Confession, Prayer, Salvation, St. Michael, St. Peter, Church, Hosman, Transylvania, Sibiu County

• Avram Alexandru, Arhitectura ecleziastică, în 800 de ani de biserică a germanilor în Transilvania, Catalogul expoziţiei, ed. Thomas Nägler, Heidelberg, 1991;
• Entz Geza, Die Baukunst Transsilvanies im 11-13 Jahrhundert, l.Teil, în ActaHistoriaeArtium, tom XIV, 1968;
• Garnier François, Le langage de l’image au Moyen Age, vol. I (Signification et symbolique), Paris, 1982;
• Garnier François, Le langage de l’image au Moyen Age, vol. II (Grammaire des gestes), Paris, 1989;
• Gerevich Tibor, Magyarország Románkori Emlékei, Budapesta, 1938;
• Horwath Walter, Der Emporenbau der romanischen und frühgotischen Kirchen, în: SV, 58, 1935;
• Keller Hiltgart L, Reclams Lexikon der Heiligen und der biblischen Gestalten. Legende und Darstellung in der bildenden Kunst, Stuttgart, 1975;
• Luca Sabin Adrian, Pinter Zeno Karl, Georgescu Adrian, Repertoriul arheologic al judeţului Sibiu (Situri, monumente arheologice şi istorice), Sibiu, 2003;
• Nägler Thomas, Aşezarea saşilor în Transilvania, Bucureşti, 1981;
• Roth Victor, Geschichte der Deutschen Baukunst in Siebenbürgen, Strassburg, 1905
• Suciu Coriolan, Dicţionar istoric al localităţilor din Transilvania, Bucureşti, 1967-1968;
• Vătăşianu Virgil, Istoria artei feudale în Ţările Române, Bucureşti, 1959;
• Wirth Jean, L’image à l’époque romane, Paris, 1999.

Church, politics and culture in the Century of Lights. A book about the Union with the Church of Rome

The book we are referring to presents a first stage of the works of a research team supported by the Pro Oriente Foundation from Vienne and coordinated by Johann Marte, Viorel Ioniţă, Iacob Mârza, Laura Stanciu şi Ernst Christoph Suttner, and with the purpose to retell the events from the beginning of the movement for the Union of the Romanians in Transylvania up to the year 1761; this first volume ending with year 1701. The scope of the individual articles drawn up on the basis of a preestablieshed theme list and following the pattern of the lexicon texts, is to present the events in order to obtain a common understanding of the events, understanding that should not lead to unchristian conflicts between the different religious groups.
Keywords: Pro Oriente, Church of Rome, Romanians from Transylvania, Orthodox Church, Union

The Diary of a dissatisfied poet

A fragment from a larger study on the diary of the poet Victor Felea (1923-1993), the present contribution presents only a part of the aluvionary thematic structure of the diary (a true document on the destiny of an artist in the totalitarian age), that is: the discontent regarding his own poetry and his precarious social status at that time, poetic projects, theory of poetry, caricature of his colleagues’ literature, critical reception, masters and models. These personal, subjective information are mirrored with the objective image of the literary works, also reflected in other documents.

Keywords: Victor Felea, theory of poetry, socialist realism, poetic sterility, literary models

• Felea, Victor, Jurnalul unui poet nemulţumit / The Diary of a Discontent Poet, 2000
• Selejan, Ana, Literatura în totalitarism/ Literature During Totalitarianism, vol. 1-6. Sibiu; Bucureşti, 1994-2000; v. şi ediţia a doua: vol. 1-4, Bucureşti: Editura Cartea românească, 2007-2010

The paper is focused on studying the articles that Ştefan Aug. Doinas published in the “Teatrul” (“The Theatre”) revue between 1956 and 1957. The poet had composed a few dramatic chronicles before he was arrested and sentenced to a one year prison penalty. In that short interval, no one (excepting probably his colleagues) was aware that the writer signed also with his birth name: Ştefan Popa. Our main contribution is to reveal this unknown historical detail. Besides, we analyse the strategies the author used in his discourse.

Keywords: Ştefan Aug. Doinaş, Ştefan Popa, “The Theatre”, dramatic chronicles, Socialist Realism.

• Templul memoriei. Emil Şimăndan în dialog cu Ştefan Aug. Doinaş, Arad, Fundaţia Culturală „Ioan Slavici“, 1998.
• Ştefan Augustin Doinaş, Evocări, Bucureşti, Editura Fundaţiei PRO, 2003.

A great book

Andrei Bodiu discusses the most recent novel by Caius Dobrescu, pointing out the originality of the book, its European charachter. Andrei Bodiu’s idea is that Euromorphotikon is a novel of great complexity, debating thems and subjects which are closely connected with Romanian and European problems. The author interrogates , for instance, the problem of sexuality and what happens after the sexual revolution of the 60’s. Andrei Bodiu reads Euromorphotikon as a „great book”, a very important book for the Romanian postmodernism.

Keywords: contemporary Romanian literature, Romanian postmodernism, Caius Dobrescu, Euromorphotikon, novel in rhymes, Romanian and European identitary issues

• Caius Dobrescu, Teză de doctorat, Iaşi, Polirom, 2007.
• Caius Dobrescu, Odă liberei întreprinderi, Bucureşti, ed. Tracus Arte, 2009.
• Caius Dobrescu, Euromorphotikon, Bucureşti, ed. Tracus Arte, 2010
• Umberto Eco, Opera deschisă, Piteşti, Paralela 45, 2002

FEMININE AGES IN THE NOVELS OF HORTENSIA PAPADAT-BENGESCU AND VIRGINIA WOOLF.

THE ADOLESCENT FEMALE CHARACTERS

The author compares and contrasts some adolescent female characters in the novels written by the Romanian novelist Hortensia Papadat Bengescu (Lenora, Sia, Coca-Aimee, Mika-Le etc.) to some of the young female characters in Virginia Woolf’s novels (Elizabeth Dalloway, Katherine Hillbery, Cam Ramsay, Jinny, Susan, Rhoda, Rachel Vinrace).

This paper focusses on the relation between one particular biological period and the manner in which girls try to express femininity throughout adolescence. While the adolescent female characters in Virginia Woolf’s novels unveil a morality and breeding shaped by the strict patriarchal Victorian rules of education, most of the female characters in Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s novels prove a rather lax, less articulated morality. The view that a woman’s anatomy is her destiny lies at the heart of biological determinism and was one of the favourite motifs in her novels.

Virginia Woolf, considering the aspect of self-discovery and aiming to define a distinctively feminine identity, makes some subtle, necessary clarifications as regards the ‘femininity’, namely the reality described by a socially constructed image, rather than of ‘femaleness’.

Keywords: adolescent female characters, biological determinism, explicit feminine behaviour, femininity versus femaleness, morality, attitude, breeding and rules of education.

Women in Literature – An Odyssey of the Feminine Imaginary

The purpose of the following article is to present a panorama of the main positions of women in literature (reader, especially as critic, character and writer) and some of the most important aspects of the feminine imaginary. Starting as readers for pleasure, women became rational literary critics in the 20^th century, especially when feminist criticism established “gender” as a fundamental category for the literary analysis. As a writer, woman had been considered a real monster for long time, because she abandoned the angelic image of the patriarchal ages, for the image of a person in creative action. The feminine imaginary could be reduced at some general patterns, more or less important matters for women’s universe and peripheral for men’s world. In fact, a real writer should speaks from the both points of view, male or female, being so close to androgyny.

Keywords: women, reader, writer, feminist criticism, feminine literature, feminine imaginary, androgyny

• ***, Feminist Literary Theory. A Reader, edited by Mary Eagleton, second edition, Cambridge, Blackwell Publishers, 1995
• ***, New French Feminism: an anthology, edited and with introductions by Elain Marks and Isabelle de Courtivron, New York, Harvester – Wheatsheaf, 1981
• Ardener, Edwin, Belief and the Problem of Woman, in Perceiving Women, edited by Shirley Ardener, New York, Halsted Press, 1978
• Banuş, Maria, Mit, realitate şi etern feminin/ Myth, Reality and the eternal Femininity, în Luceafărul, anul XVI, nr.9 (566), 3 martie 1973
• Caillois, Roger, Eseuri despre imaginaţie/ Essays on imagination, traducere de Viorel Grecu, Bucureşti, Editura Univers, 1975
• Cixous, Hélène, Catherine Clément, The Newly Born Woman, translated by Betsy Wing. Introduction by Sandra M. Gilbert, Minneapolis and London, University of Minnesota Press, 2001
• Constantinescu, Pompiliu, Scrieri/ Works, vol.IV, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1970
• De Beauvoir, Simone, Al doilea sex/ The Second Sex, vol.I-IV, ediţia a treia, traducere şi prefaţă vol.I Delia Verdeş, traducere vol.II-IV de Diana Crupenschi, Bucureşti, Editura Univers, 2006
• Dumitriu, Dana, Oglinda sfărâmată/ The broken Mirror, în România literară, anul VII, nr.32, 8 august 1974
• Evola, Julius, Metafizica sexului/ The metaphysics of sex, traducere de Sorin Mărculescu, ediţia a treia, Bucureşti, Editura Humanitas, 2006
• Felski, Rita, Literature after feminism, Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press, 2003
• Gilbert, Sandra M., Susan M. Gubar, The Madwoman in the Attic – The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth Century Literary Imagination, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1984
• Irigaray, Luce, Thinking the difference; for a peaceful revolution, translated from the French by Karin Montin, New York, Routledge, 1994
• Lefter, Ion Bogdan, Postmodernism. Din dosarul unei „bătălii” culturale/ The Postmodernism. From the File of a Cultural “Battle”, ediţia a doua adăugită, f.l., Editura Paralela 45, 2002
• Lovinescu, Eugen, Aquaforte/ Aquaforte, Bucureşti, Editura Contemporană, 1941
• Moers, Ellen, Literary Women, New York, Oxford University Press, 1985
• Noica, Constantin, Însemnări despre feminitate/ Notes on femininity, în Universul literar, anul XLVII, nr.34, 1938
• Petrescu, Camil, Notă despre romanul nostru feminine/ Note on our Feminine Novel, în Revista Fundaţiilor Regale, anul IV, nr.2, 1 februarie 1937
• Popescu, Magdalena ‘Dulce Brigitte’ de Maria Luiza Cristescu/ ‘Sweet Brigitte’ by Maria Luiza Cristescu , în România literară, anul II, nr.12(24), 20 martie 1969
• Protopopescu, Al., Romanul psihologic românesc/ The Romanian Psychological Novel, Bucureşti, Editura Eminescu, 1978
• Sebastian, Mihail, Notă la un roman feminine/ Note on a feminine novel, în Revista Fundaţiilor Regale, anul III, nr.5, 1 mai 1936
• Showalter, Elaine, The New Feminist Criticism – Essays on Women, Literature and Theory, edited by Elaine Showalter, New York, Pantheon Book, 1985
• Spacks, Patricia Meyer, The female imagination, New York, Avon books, 1976
• Stekel, Wilhelm, Psihologia eroticii feminine/ The Feminine Psychology, traducere din germană şi cuvânt introductiv de Georgeta Mitrea, [Iaşi], Editura Trei, 1997
• Thibaudet, Albert, Reflecţii/ Meditations, vol.I-II, traducere de Georgeta Pădureanu. Texte alese, prefaţă şi note de Mircea Pădureanu, colecţia „Biblioteca pentru toţi”, vol.I şi II, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1973
• Vancea, Viola, Proza feminină/ The feminine Prose, în România literară, anul II, nr.26 (38), 26 iunie 1969
• Woolf, Virginia, Eseuri alese/ Special Essays, vol.I-II, traducere, prefaţă şi note de Monica Pillat, Bucureşti, Editura RAO International Publishing Company, 2007
• Zaharia-Filipaş, Elena, Studii de literatură feminină/ Studies on feminine literature, [Bucureşti], Editura Paideia, [2004]

The present approach documents and analyses the research that has been done in the field of Romanian fairy-tales by german-speaking researchers in Transylvania.

The world of Romanian fairy-tales wasn’t completely unknown to german-speaking readers. End of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century, several german-speaking scientists undertook the gathering of Romanian fairy-tales and their translation into German. Pauline Schullerus was one of them. Adolf Schullerus gathered fairy-tales himself and sorted them accordingly to the standardisation of types developed by Antti Aarnes. The present approach is a documentation and analysis of the research that has been done in this field.

The borders of the verbal fixation were easily transgressed by storytellers. Synchronistically with the gathering of fairy-tales, researchers became interested in the interethnic relations between the populations.

Keywords: Schullerus, romanian fairy-tales, standardisation of types by Antti Aarnes, language barriers

• Brednich, Rolf W.(Hg.): Grundriss der Volkskunde. Einführung in die Forschungsfelder der europäischer Ethnologie/Outline of the Folklore Introduction into the research entities of European Ethnology. 3. Auflage, Berlin 2001.
• Dima, Alexander: Rumänische Märchen. In deutscher Übersetzung nach Haupttypen ausgewählt und mit Anmerkungen versehen/ Romanian Folktales. German translation following main types, chosen and provided with explanatory notes. Leipzig 1944.
• Enzyklopädie des Märchens, Handwörterbuch zur historischen und vergleichenden Erzählforschung/ Romanian Folktale. Concise Dictionary to the Historic and Comparative Folkloristics, Hrsg. von Kurt Ranke-Band 1, Göttingen 1977.
• Enzyklopädie des Märchens, Handwörterbuch zur historischen und vergleichenden Erzählforschung/ Romanian Folktales, Concise Dictionary to the Historic and Comparative Folkloristics, begr.von Kurt Ranke. Hrsg. von Rolf Wilhelm Brednich-Band 12, Göttingen 2007.
• Kroner, Michael (Hg.): Interferenzen. Rumänisch-ungarisch-deutsche Kulturbeziehungen in Siebenbürgen/ Interferences. Romanian-Hungarian-German Cultural Relation in Transylvania. Cluj 1973.
• Obert, Franz: Rumänische Märchen und Sagen aus Siebenbürgen. Mit vergleichenden Anmerkungen von Adolf Schullerus/ Romanian Folktales and Legends from Transylvania. With comparative connotations by Adolf Schullerus. Hermannstadt1925. Sonderausdruck aus Archiv des Vereins für siebenbürgische Landeskunde, XLII. Band, 2.u. 3. Heft. Hermannstadt 1924.
• Orend, Misch: Aus dem Nachlass von Adolf Schullerus. Ein Beitrag zur siebenbürgischen Märchenforschung. In: Sonderausdruck aus: Österr. Zeitschrift für Volkskunde/ From the Inheritance of Adolf Schullerus. A Contribution to Research Concerning Transylvanian Folktales. In: Special print of: Austrian Journal for Folkloristics, Bd. XXII/71, 1968.
• Schullerus, Pauline: Rumänische Volksmärchen aus dem mittleren Harbachtal. Neuausgabe besorgt von Rolf Wilh. Brednich und Ion Taloş/ Romanian Folktales from the mMiddle of the Harbach Valley. New edition provided by Rolf Wilhelm Brednich and Ion Taloş. Bukarest 1977.
• Schullerus, Pauline: Rumänische Volksmärchen aus dem mittleren Harbachtale. Gesammelt, übersetzt und eingeleitet von – In: Archiv des Verein für siebenbürgische Landeskunde,/ Romanian Folktales from the Middle of the Harbach Valley. Assembled, translated and introduced  – In: The Transylvanian Association for applied geographics, Neue Folge, Band 33, Heft 2 und 3, hrsg. vom Vereins-Ausschuss. Hermannstadt. In Kommission bei Framz Michaelis 1905.
• Schullerus, Adolf: Siebenbürgisches Märchenbuch. Hrsg. vom Ausschuss des Vereins für siebenbürgische Landeskunde/ Transylvanian Book of Folktales. Edited by the board of the Transylvanian Association for applied geographics. Hermannstadt 1930.

Under the sign of marginalia: the scales of literature

– reading notes –

Our article focuses on the reading notes of Ariane Lüthi’s book Pratique et poétique de la note chez Georges Perros et Philippe Jaccottet (The Praxis and the Poetics of the Note at Georges Perros and Philippe Jaccottet) (2009). The note is analyzed in the context of fragmentary writing and from a poietical dimension. The two modern poets make an important use of notes in order to render the transitive and the spontaneous character of expression. Different topics are taken into consideration: the status and the role of the note during the reading and writing process, the note and the translation activity, the note as a literary genre.

Keywords: Georges Perros, Philippe Jaccottet, poetic note, fragmentary writing, poietics

• Roland Barthes, « Délibération », Tel Quel, 1979, repris dans Œuvres Complètes (Complete Works), t. 5, Seuil, 2002, « Séance du 16 décembre 1978 ».
• Maurice Blanchot, L’Espace littéraire (The Space of Literature), Paris, Gallimard, (1955) 1988.
• Cioran, La Tentation d’exister (The Temptation to Exist) (1956), in Œuvres (Works), Paris, Gallimard, « Quarto », 1985.
• Antoine Compagnon, La Seconde main ou le travail de la citation (The Second Hand or the Work of Quotation, Paris, Seuil, 1979.
• Gilles Deleuze, Critique et clinique (Critics and Clinics), Paris, Minuit, 1993.
• Marie Dollé, L’imaginaire des langues (The Imaginary of Languages), Paris, L’Harmattan, 2002.
• Nicolas Grimaldi, Le Désir et le temps (Desire and Time), Paris, PUF, 1971.
• Ariane Lüthi, Pratique et poétique de la note chez Georges Perros et Philippe Jaccottet (The Praxis and Poetics of the Note at Georges Perros and Philippe Jaccottet), Paris, Éditions du Sandre, 2009.
• Françoise Susini-Anastopoulos, L’écriture fragmentaire – définitions et enjeux (Fragmentary Writing – definitions and stakes), Paris, PUF, 1997.