The Positive Periphery. Three ways of dealing with the complex of the “margin” in the Romanian literature of the 1990s and 2000s – with three case studies
This paper explores the relationship between the peripheral cultural spaces and the center of a cultural world by focusing on the relationship between the writer or creator who lives in such a peripheral space and the cultural society of the “center”. While the complex of the “margin” is a wide-spread complex in the Romanian culture of the last three decades and the label of “marginality” is associated with strong negative connotations, this rule has several notable exceptions. There are circumstances in which the margin and marginality can become a positive factor in the life and creation of a writer. The paper submits to the attention of the reader three case studies from the recent history of the Romanian literature that support the argument of a “positive periphery” – or a “positive marginality”. The conclusive part of the article presents the potential advantages or the “positive sides” of this marginality in the creative life of a writer and in his/her relationship with the “center” of the cultural and social world. The paper is part of a research project financed by the Romanian Academy.
Keywords: Center and periphery; contemporary Romanian literature; narrative fiction of the 1990s; Positive periphery; Positive marginality
