MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

UNIVERSITY OF PITEŞTI
FACULTY OF LETTERS

AGENCE UNIVERSITAIRE DE LA FRANCOPHONIE

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE PITEŞTI

CENTRE DE RECHERCHE SUR L’IMAGINAIRE. TEXTE, DISCOURS,

COMMUNICATION. IMAGINES

CENTRUL DE STUDII LITERARE, LINGVISTICE ȘI

DIDACTICE CONTEMPORANE (CSLLDC)

ALBANIAN SOCIETY FOR THE STUDY OF ENGLISH

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

EUROPEAN LANDMARKS OF IDENTITY
__________________________________________________

LANGUE ET LITTÉRATURE
REPÈRES IDENTITAIRES EN CONTEXTE
EUROPÉEN
__________________________________________________

LIMBA ŞI LITERATURA
REPERE IDENTITARE ÎN CONTEXT EUROPEAN
SELECTED PAPERS OF THE 12th INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE OF THE FACULTY OF LETTERS

Piteşti, 12-14 June 2015

No. 16/2015
University of Piteşti Press

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DIRECTOR / DIRECTEUR DE PUBLICATION: Ştefan GĂITĂNARU
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / RÉDACTEUR EN CHEF: Liliana SOARE
ASSOCIATE EDITORS-IN-CHIEF / RÉDACTEURS EN CHEF
ADJOINTS: Valentina STÎNGĂ, Liliana VOICULESCU

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE / COMITÉ SCIENTIFIQUE

Liliana AGACHE, “I. Iordan – Al. Rosetti” Institute of Linguistics, Bucharest,

Romania
Stefan BARME, University of Vienna, Austria
Grigore BRÂNCUŞ, The Romanian Academy, University of Bucharest,
Romania
Didi-Ionel CENUŞER, “Lucian Blaga” University, Sibiu, Romania
Gheorghe CHIVU, The Romanian Academy, University of Bucharest, Romania
Francis CLAUDON, Paris XII University, France
Luc COLLÈS, The Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Jean-Louis COURRIOL, “Jean Moulin” University, “Lyon 3”, Lyon 3, France
Dan DOBRE, University of Bucharest, Romania
Cécile FOLSCHWEILLER, INALCO, Paris, France
Daniela FRUMUŞANI, University of Bucharest, Romania
Alexandru GAFTON, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi, Romania
Ravil GARIPOV, Bachkire State Pedagogical University, Russia
Ştefan GĂITĂNARU, University of Piteşti, Romania
Corina-Amelia GEORGESCU, University of Piteşti, Romania
Yvonne GOGA, “Babeş-Bolyai” University, Romania
Brian IMHOFF, Texas A&M University, USA
Andrei IONESCU, University of Bucharest, Romania
Andres KRISTOL, Neuchâtel University, Switzerland
Lucie LEQUIN, Concordia University, Canada
Milena MILANOVIC, The Institute of Foreign Languages FLS, Belgrade,
Serbia
Mihaela MITU, University of Piteşti, Romania
Alexandrina MUSTĂŢEA, University of Piteşti, Romania
Nasser RASHIDI, Shariz University, Iran
Cristiana TEODORESCU, University of Craiova, Romania
Crina Magdalena ZĂRNESCU, University of Piteşti, Romania

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PEER-REVIEW COMMITTEE / COMITÉ DE LECTURE

Marinela BURADA, “Transilvania” University of Braşov, Romania

Diana CÂMPAN, ”1 Decembrie 1918” University, Alba Iulia, Romania
Rodica-Gabriela CHIRA, “1 Decembrie 1918” University, Alba Iulia, Romania
George CONSTATINESCU, University of Craiova, Romania
Simona Diana CONSTANTINOVICI, West University, Timişoara, Romania
Oliviu FELECAN, North University of Baia Mare, România
Mihaela Dana GHEORGHE, “Transilvania” University of Braşov, Romania
Luminiţa HOARŢĂ CĂRĂUŞU, „Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi, Romania
Adrian IANCU, “Lucian Blaga” University, Sibiu, Romania
Gina MĂCIUCĂ, “Ştefan cel Mare” University, Suceava, Romania
Ileana MIHĂILĂ, “University of Bucharest, Romania
Ioan MILICĂ, “Al. I. Cuza” University, Iaşi, Romania
Cristinel MUNTEANU, “C. Brâncoveanu” University, Piteşti, Romania
Steluţa STAN, “Dunărea de Jos” University, Galaţi, Romania
Dumitru TUCAN, West University, Timişoara, Romania
George Bogdan ŢÂRA, West University, Timişoara, Romania

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE / COMITÉ DE RÉDACTION

Diana-Adriana LEFTER
Lavinia GEAMBEI
Paula PÎRVU
Marina TOMESCU

The conference took place under the high patronage of the Agence Universitaire
de la Francophonie, and the proceedings were published with its financial
assistance.

La conférence s’est déroulée sous le haut patronage de l’Agence Universitaire

de la Francophonie, qui a financé la parution des actes.

ISSN 2344-4894
ISSN-L 1843-1577
University of Piteşti Press
Târgu din Vale Street, 1, 110040, Piteşti, Romania
Tel.: +40 (0)248 218804, int. 149,150

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 CONTENTS

KEY SPEAKERS / SESSION PLÉNIÈRE

Carmen ANDREI
Identité et alterité dans la traduction littéraire. De l’incommensurable des
visions culturelles du monde…………………………………………………… 7

ROMANIAN LANGUAGE / LANGUE ROUMAINE

Lucian Dumitru BĂICEANU
Sorin Stati’s Contributions in the Field of “Cultural” Linguistics:
Stories about the Word................................................................................................ 16
Iuliana-Valentina BOBOACĂ
A Hermeneutical Understanding of Moxa’s Universal Chronicle ....................... 21
Liuba BOTEZATU
Romanian Syntax Between Reality And Fiction.................................................. 26
Beatrice Diana BURCEA
Deixis and Voice in the Romanian Postmodern Poetry....................................... 33
Gabriela CRĂCIUN
Alexandru A. Philippide and the Poetics of Negativity……………………………. 41
Florentina Gisela CUMPENAŞU
The Interjections Ei!, Ia!, Iata!, Uite! and their Pragmatic Values in Romanian.. 50
Adina-Elena DUMITRU
Allusion – A Strategy of Persuasion…………………………………………………... 54
Andreea DAMIAN
The Typology of the Symbol in Minulescian Poetry.............................................. 58
Elena Lavinia DIACONESCU (GIURGIU)
The Dimension of the Artistic Images in Odobescu’s Poems ………………. 64
Elena -Andreea DINA
Figurative Dimensions in Grigore Alexandrescu’s Romantic Poetry…………… 70
Ștefan GĂITĂNARU
Gh. N. Dragomirescu, du langage au style………………………………………… 74
Raluca Maria GÎJGĂ (TĂNĂSESCU)
A Terminological Perspective on the Concept of Violence……………………….. 80
Anca MARTINAS
Functions and Contextual Meaning of Animal Phraseological Units Signifying
”Never”. ”La paștele cailor” in the Romanian Journalistic Discourse ……… 86
Anda-Elena MOLDOVAN
L’ȇtre et le paraître dans les comédies de Caragiale……………………………… 91
Andreea-Sabina NAPEU
The Standardization of the Romanian Literary Language in the Romanian
Grammar of Ion Heliade Rădulescu………………………………………………………. 95

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Margareta ONOFREI
Arghezian Symbolic Paratext................................................................................. 99
Elena -Andreea POPA
French Influence in Grigore Alexandrescu’s Work………………………………… 102
Olimpia VARGA
Folk Language in Marin Sorescu’s Work………………………………………… 106

ROMANIAN LITERATURE / LITTÉRATURE ROUMAINE

Teodora-Georgiana AMZA
Vision of Feminity in the Novels of Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu........................ 110
Lucian Dumitru BĂICEANU
A Theory about the Second Person Prose: the Relation Narrative -You- Alter-
Ego/Alterity…………………………………………………………………………………… 117
Ariana BĂLAŞA
The Image of Childhood in the Works of Mihail Sadoveanu................................. 123
Lavinia BĂNICĂ
Radu Ionescu - a Milestone in the Evolution of How Poetry and Criticism Are
Seen in Romanian Literature……………………………………………………………… 131
Alina BUZATU
Text(s), Genre(s), Context(s): the Sociocognitive Perspective.............................. 135
Maria CHIVEREANU
Image and Representation in the Romanian Folk Tale........................................ 141
Anamaria CIOBOTARU (PEFTIŢI-DOBRE)
Obsessive Metaphors of the Immediate Unreality in Max Blecher’s Prose……… 145
Lavinia-Ileana GEAMBEI
Elements de l’imaginaire communiste dans le roman « Pupa Russa »……..…… 149
Ancuţa GURBAN-DINU
Ontological Aspects of the Communion in Dorel Vişan’s “Psalms”: the
Vertical and the Horizontal of The Cross.................................................................... 159
Nicoleta HRISTU (HURMUZACHE)
The Fragmentation and Reconstructions of the Ego in Max Blecher’s
Prose............................................................................................................................ 168
Simona LIUTIEV
La maladie comme stigmate de la décadence dans le cycle de la famille
Hallipa………………………………………………………………………………………… 174
Aurelia Mihaela NĂSTASE
The Imagistic Support of Sincerity in Geo Bogza’s Poetry.................................... 182
Cosmina Andreea ROŞU
Expressive Means of Achieving Floral Avatar in Dimitrie Anghel’s Poetry…… 185
Mihaela STANCIU (VRAJA)
The Image of the Mother in Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s Prose...................... 189
Dorina Nela TRIFU
Le rapport entre la littérature et le film chez Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu…………. 195
Maria VOINEA
Nature and Myth in the Work of Calistrat Hogaş................................................. 201

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 COMPARATIVE LITERATURE. COMMUNICATION AND
CULTURAL STUDIES / LITTÉRATURE COMPAREE.
COMMUNICATION ET ETUDES CULTURELLES
Odette ARHIP, Cristian ARHIP
Historical and Artistic Identity in Romanian Pamphlets...................................... 206
Violeta BERCARU ONEAŢĂ
Relations intégratives pour quatre fonctions du langage poétique........................ 210
Gabriela BOANGIU
The Symbolic Imaginary of the Romanian Crosses (Troițe) .................................. 215
Cosmina-Alina COSMA
Relazioni romeno-italiane nei periodici di Cluj.................................................... 221
Mădălina CUCEANU ȚIBRIAN
La Citoyenneté européenne active et la préservation de l’identité nationale ....... 229
Carmen DOMINTE
Auctorial Image and Representation as Forms of Identity in Renaissance Time. 237
Cristina IRIDON, Diana PRESADĂ
Petronius’ Satyricon and Its Cinematographic Transposition……………………. 246
Ilie MOISUC
Mikhaïl Bakhtine : les visages du dialogisme………………………………………. 253
Dan–Niculae PODARU
Changing Fashion.................................................................................................. 260

ROMANIAN AND FOREIGN LANGUAGES DIDACTICS /

DIDACTIQUE DES ROUMAINE ET LANGUES ÉTRANGÈRES
Georgiana DUMITRU
Reflecting on the Experience - a Requirement of Actual Teaching
Professionalism………………………………………………………………………………... 268
Loredana Eugenia IVAN
The Initiation of the Reader-Student in Discovering Self-Identity by Studying the
Literary Text (Secondary Education)............................................................................ 273
Adriana LAZĂR
Modern Fiction for Primary and Pre-Primary Children – the Album and the
Comic Books - a Methodological Approach.................................................................. 278
Ilie MOISUC
Enseigner la litterature : representations et qualite de l’acte didactique……… 283
Ruxandra-Viorela STAN
Place and Role of the Fairy Tale in Alternative Pedagogy..................................... 289

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IDENTITÉ ET ALTERITÉ DANS LA TRADUCTION LITTÉRAIRE.
DE L’INCOMMENSURABLE DES VISIONS CULTURELLES DU
MONDE

Carmen ANDREI

Abstract: This article starts from two ideas I illustrate by means of numerous examples
I comment on: 1. there are socio-cultural gaps in the vocabulary, grammar and semantics of any
language, which are real challenges for the translator, and 2. there are immanent cultural
visions, mirroring identity and alterity, which are incommensurate between the source and target
language, forcing the translator to make clear and immediate choices. In these situations does the
translator prove his responsibility as cultural mediator. I attempt to show that different does not
mean untranslatable, as by means of practice, skill, empathy, adaptations, equivalence,
compensation, and especially linguistic hospitality, one may reach a "good" translation.
Keywords: identity, alterity, cultural translation.

Le traducteur littéraire – un médiateur interculturel

Anthony Pym proposait dans Pour une éthique du traducteur une éthique centrée sur le
traducteur et non pas sur la / les traduction(s). Sa théorie était que le traducteur est un
communicateur entre cultures, qu’il devait faciliter la coopération interculturelle. S’il
sait d’avance pourquoi et pour qui il faut traduire, alors il sait habituellement comment
traduire. Le traducteur est un intermédiaire dans les pratiques de coopération culturelle,
et non un négociateur. L’originalité de l’étude de Pym consiste dans l’introduction de la
notion d’interculturalité du traducteur, remarquablement étayée et argumentée : « Le
traducteur est interculturel dans le sens où l’espace du traduire – le travail du traducteur
– se situe dans les intersections qui tissent les cultures et non dans le sein d’une culture
unique. » (Pym, 1997 : 14). Une raison pratique lui sert d’appui : la connaissance des
langues et des cultures étrangères requiert, de la part du traducteur, un certain
déplacement à la fois subjectif et social vers les positions intermédiaires (ibidem : 38-
39). Une éthique du contenu chercherait à distinguer ce qu’il faut et ce qu’il ne faut pas
traduire (blasphèmes, langage sexiste, etc.). Mais qu’est-ce que le political correctness ?
A. Pym est pour la traduction, pour tout traduire pour faciliter la coopération. Le
traducteur n’est pas membre d’une seule culture confessionnelle ou nationale. Il se
trouve dans plusieurs cultures à la fois, dans un espace interculturel, au carrefour des
cultures. Tout comme le marin dont la responsabilité commence lorsqu’il lève les
voiles, la responsabilité du traducteur commence dès qu’il décide de traduire ou de ne
pas traduire (ibidem : 99).
Je rappelle les débuts de la traductologie dans les années 1960 lorsque le
courant bermanien prêchait l’approche de l’Autre, donc on était pour une éthique
positive de la traduction, un élan d’ouverture, de dialogue, de décentrement, de
métissage (Andrei, 2014 : 41-60). La finalité éthique de la traduction pourrait être de
servir les attentes de l’Autre : « l’acte éthique consiste à reconnaître et à recevoir
l’Autre en tant qu’Autre » quels que soient sa provenance et le contenu de ses propos
(Berman, 1999 : 74). À l’opposé de la vision éthique de la traduction, Catford, affirme


Université „Dunărea de Jos” de Galaţi; Carmen.Andrei@ugal.ro

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justement qu’il n’y aura jamais d’équivalence culturelle parfaite, « correcte » entre le
texte de départ et le texte d’arrivée, ce qui prouve que le traducteur se trouve devant le
cas de figure appelé intraduisibilité culturelle.
La traduction littérale à l’état pur est, elle aussi, réductrice, voire fautive. Une
traduction véritable, à égale distance de la paraphrase et de l’imitation, ne fait
l’économie de l’épreuve de l’étranger, elle sera selon la formule consacrée par Antoine
Berman « l’auberge du lointain », titre de l’un de ses importants ouvrages. Il faut sentir
l’étranger, mais pas l’étrangeté, rendre accessible une œuvre étrangère tout en
respectant son caractère étranger. A. Berman se disait pour la traduction ethnocentrique
qui adapte, fait des équivalences de sorte que le texte d’arrivée soit compréhensible par
le lecteur tout en laissant se manifester le « parfum » de l’original. Quant à la traduction
hypertextuelle, elle exhibe les rapports qui se tissent entre les textes émanant des
cultures différentes et pour autant enrichissantes les unes pour les autres.
Par conséquent, la question de la médiation (inter)culturelle en amène une
autre, celle de l’ethnocentrisme, qui « ramène tout à sa propre culture, à ses normes et
valeurs, et considère ce qui est situé en dehors de celle-ci – l’Étranger – comme négatif
ou tout juste bon à être annexé, adapté, pour accroître la richesse de cette culture »
(Berman, 1999 : 29). À l’objection formulée par Catford et Nord qui donnent comme
truisme le postulat selon lequel « il n’y aura jamais un code de traduction commun à
toutes les cultures », François Ost répond de manière polémique :
Toute la pratique de la traduction repose sur ce chiasme qui suppose à la fois
suffisamment de « mêmeté » pour que des équivalents soient proposés au-delà du
gouffre des langues et des cultures, et suffisamment d’« étrangeté » pour que la
langue d’accueil soit capable de se réorganiser sous le choc de cette interprétation
nouvelle (Ost, 2009 : 288).
Pour Henri Meschonnic, une éthique et une politique du traduire, voire « une éthique
politique du traduire » sont une utopie. Cela montre avec évidence à la fois un idéal et
« une prophétie du langage » (Meschonniec, 2007 : 15). L’éthique est vue comme une
question de comportement, avec soi et les autres, c’est encore « un agir » et un « faire de
la valeur ». Selon ce grand théoricien et praticien de la traduction, cette éthique, qui est
nécessairement nominaliste, montre que le rapport à soi et aux autres, à la pensée, passe
et repasse par le langage (une éthique du langage comprend le passage incessant du je
au tu par un il absent (ibidem : 19-20). Donc éthique et langage sont indissociables. En
bref, « l’éthique du traduire, c’est de traduire la subjectivation maximale d’un système
de discours que fait un poème » (ibidem : 35).

De l’altérité et de l’ipséité dans les visions culturelles du monde

Les premières théories de la traduction se fondaient sur ou / ou, les théoriciens

prêchaient le mouvement culturel vers l’intérieur ou vers l’extérieur, il n’y avait pas de
neutralité possible. Un herméneute allemand, théologien protestant du début du XIXe
siècle, Friedrich Schleiermacher, affirmait que la meilleure stratégie à adopter serait de
faire voyager le lecteur, de traduire de telle sorte que le lecteur sente l’étrangéité du
texte étranger : « Ou bien le traducteur laisse l’écrivain le plus tranquille possible et fait
que le lecteur aille à sa rencontre, ou bien il laisse le lecteur le plus tranquille possible et
fait que l’écrivain aille à sa rencontre » défendait-il.

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 L’exemple le plus flagrant de méprise culturelle qui a engendré une suite de
méprises linguistiques est la première traduction de la Poétique et de la Rhétorique
d’Aristote par Averroès qui ne connaissait pas le grec (il savait un peu de syriaque), et
l’a faite par l’intermédiaire d’une traduction arabe du Xe siècle. Le texte d’Aristote sert
comme arguments des références à la dramaturgie grecque et des exemples poétiques
qu’Averroès a tentés d’adapter à la tradition littéraire arabe. L’effet a été désastreux : le
traducteur n’a pas su comment faire passer en arabe des notions culturelles d’extrême
importance comme la comédie et la tragédie puisque ces genres manquaient dans la
littérature arabe (à lire le beau récit de J. L. Borgès à son sujet (Eco, 2007 : 193-196).
Au XIXe siècle, la conception de Wilhelm von Humboldt a posé les
fondements de la théorie des visions culturelles du monde : une langue n’est pas faite
seulement de mots, chaque langue renferme une vision immanente, propre du monde,
« tout le système linguistique renferme une analyse du monde extérieur qui lui est
propre et qui diffère de celle des autres langues », une Weltanshauung et une
Weltansicht à la fois Oustinoff, 2003 : 14). Favoriser la forme, être pour l’étranger au
détriment de l’étrangeté. L’approche est épistémologique et philosophique à la fois : la
langue n’est pas un ergon (gr. « ouvrage fait »), mais une energeia (gr. « activité en
train de se faire »). La théorie du langage montre depuis plus d’un siècle que « toute
société dépend de sa représentation du langage, comme toute représentation du langage
contient, qu’elle le montre ou le cache, sa représentation de la société » (Meschonnic,
op. cit : 178). Cette conception sera reprise par Benjamin Lee Whorf.
L’hypothèse whorfienne est la suivante : deux personnes ne partageant pas la
même langue habiteraient deux mondes différents et non un même monde étiqueté de
façon différente (Larose, 1989 : 44). L’exemple devenu célèbre est la symbolique
sociale de brown shoes / black shoes, qui ne tient pas compte du « découpage » culturel
/sémantique des couleurs1. Robert Larose renverse la perspective et met en avant
l’arrière-plan socio-culturel : il admet le recours à des modifications superstructurelles,
macrostructurelles et microstructurelles dans une traduction qui a des vecteurs
socioculturels par un principe de nécessité (ibidem : 289).
La notion d’imperméabilité des civilisations est résolue avec / par les
universaux du langage. Un argument en faveur du traduisible sont les notions
anthropologiques (mère, père, enfant, sœur, frère), les éléments primordiaux,
cosmogoniques (le soleil, la terre), écologiques (le vent, la pluie), objets et d’autres
phénomènes météorologiques. Il y a également des universaux biologiques (la
nourriture, la respiration, le sommeil) et psychologiques. Dans la même logique des
universaux, il existe aussi des universaux de cultures : le feu, l’inceste, les tabous, ce
qui mène à la saisie d’un minimum invariant de significations dénotatives (ibidem : 68).
Mais comment combler les trous référentiels ? L’exemple classique de trou
référentiel reste le finnois sauna décliné par rapport à l’angl. bath / bathroom dans les
traits inhérents suivants :

1
D’où viennent des mots-visions différent(e)s : le mot composé tout banal et pragmatique casse-
vitesse se décline en : un syntagme ironique « gendarmes couchés », « tapis berlinois » (pour
renvoyer à l’origine de la pratique) ; pour les Roumains, ce sont des « bosses », voire des
« nénés » argotiques. De même, home, bathroom, democracy signifient pour les Français, les
Finlandais, les Japonais, tout autre chose. Mais même à l’intérieur d’une même culture : pour un
Français, la neige est tout simplement la neige, mais pour un skieur français il y a : la poudreuse,
la folle, la sèche, les soufflées, la collante, la neige humide, la cartonnée, etc.

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 sauna bath / bathroom
chambre, bât + +
immersion eau chaude + +
se laver le corps - +
entrer en groupe + -

Donc, faute de combler le vide du dernier trait, l’emprunt néologique est justifié.

Dilemmes et choix dans la traduction du culturel

Une chose est certaine et reconnue à l’unanimité : quand on traduit à partir de sa propre
langue, depuis l’élément de sa propre culture, on trahit l’originalité de l’original, sa
force, sa portée. La traduction peut gommer sa nouveauté, édulcorer l’effet de
transformation qu’elle exerce sur son propre milieu. Dans le cadre d’un nationalisme
réciproque, on recommande qu’un Français traduise vers le français, un Roumain, vers
le roumain, et toutes les « bonnes » traductions en témoignent. C’est un
desideratum que je reconnais quelquefois utopique, formulé comme : « féconder le
Propre par la médiation de l’Étranger » (Berman, 1995 : 16).
Lorsque J.-R. Ladmiral affirmait dans un beau paradoxe célèbre déjà que le
traducteur est condamné à être libre, et, par voie de conséquence, que c’est éminemment
un décideur, il provoquait des débats nécessairement ardus. De surcroît, lorsqu’Umberto
Eco donnait les visions du monde mutuellement incommensurables, montrait ainsi qu’il
y a des incidents culturels inévitables qui surviennent lors de la traduction d’une langue
à l’autre (Eco, 2007 : 42), démonstration que l’on accepte comme cas de figure (pour
son roman Le Nom de la Rose traduit en tusse), mais non pas comme règle immuable
qui bloque l’acte traductif.
Les choses concrètes les plus banales comme les produits alimentaires et
ménagers, surtout quand ils sont désignés par procédé métonymique (par la simple
marque) s’avèrent des casse-tête pour tout traducteur.
Je donne quelques exemples d’incommensurabilité qui ne signifient cependant
pas incompatibilité. Ils peuvent passer pour une invitation à une réflexion approfondie
et à une réponse à ce sujet :
1) Le mot allemand Sensucht qui renvoie à une notion précise de passion ou
d’aspiration n’est pas : fr. nostalgie, it. nostalgia, angl. yearning, craving for ou
wishfullness ; mais angl. spleen ?
2) Les français bois et forêt trouvent leurs « équivalents » linguistiques et
partiellement sémantiques dans : it. legno, bosco et foresta, allem. Holz et Wald,
angl. timber, wood et forest (Eco, op. cit. : 46).
3) Le mot italien nipote ou roum. nepot couvre sémantiquement et linguistiquement
une aire que l’anglais et le français segmentent en deux unités : angl. nephew /
niece et grandchild et fr. par neveu / nièce et grand-fils /grand-fille (ibidem : 47-
50).
4) Les réalités du monde oriental exigent une documentation supplémentaire : en
Corée, le chiffre qui porte malheur est le 41 ; une femme est au 10e mois de sa
grossesse à la fin de sa gestation et un enfant né en décembre aura 2 ans (non pas 2
mois en février suivant (on compte différemment l’âge) ; si dans un texte littéraire

1
Dans la religion catholique c’est le 13, puisqu’il rappelle la trahison lors de la Cène, mais, au
Japon c’est le 4 qui est banni puisqu’il évoque la mort.

10
 on parle de la fête des mères, c’est le 8 mai (le 8 mars chez les Roumains), alors
qu’en France cette date est la commémoration d’un événement historique. Une
phrase du genre « je vous trouve très beau » ou une toute autre remarque sur le
physique de l’interlocuteur, adressée lors d’une prise de contact, est une haute
marque de politesse et ne cache aucune arrière-pensée. Connaître le code culturel,
c’est décoder correctement en « enchanté de faire votre connaissance ».
5) Fr. pain, angl. bread, allem. Brot et roum. pâine ne sont pas synonymes dans la
culture française, anglaise, allemande et roumaine. Il y a des différences
significatives de la fabrication et de la constitution qui ont donné naissance à des
expressions idiomatiques particulières : fr. casser la croûte (roum. = a lua o
gustărică), crouton (roum. = colţ, coltuc de pâine)1. De même, allem. Brot n’est
pas traduisible par pain. Le Brot allemand, c’est la miche noire accompagnée le
plus souvent de ses charcuteries, tandis que le pain, c’est la baguette blanche
agrémentée de son beurre et de son café noir, « lapette » ou « jus de chaussettes »
ou avec un « nuage » ou un « soupçon » de lait (c’est un exemple célèbre donné
par Walter Benjamin). Les Belges appellent la baguette du pain français, mais ils
ont leur pistolet ! En roumain il y a au moins une dizaine d’expressions avec pâine
qui témoignent de l’importance de cet aliment. Une vision « gastronomique »
évidente est dans le roum. frigănele (lexie qui privilégie le sens de cuit) est du
« pain perdu » en français et « du pain gagné » en hollandais.
6) Pour le mot fromage, l’anglais est pauvre (cheese), le russe en a au moins deux
(syr et tvorog). Ou encore angl. white meat (l’aile et le blanc) / black meat (la
cuisse et le pilon). Ces différences dans les structures des lexiques montrent « les
émerveillements sur la richesse de certaines langues et la pauvreté d’autres
langues, richesse et pauvreté qu’on attribuait à des propriétés mystérieuses du
génie des langues et de la mentalité des peuples » (Mounin, 1955 : 84).
7) Que comprendre d’un énoncé où l’on nous fait savoir que les jeunes participent à
un ahal (soirée galante au cours de laquelle ont lieu des joutes oratoires, qui sont
de véritables compositions poétiques) habillés en alǝssho (tissu indigoté ; le mot a
une charge sémantique dense renvoyant à la fois à l’esthétique et au rang social
élevé) ? La langue touarègue est donc chaude (difficile) : Un homme froid
(pondéré) peut avoir un cœur frais (de bons sentiments, de courage, d’amour, de
générosité) ;
8) Le mot français esprit recouvre les sens de : âme (« esprit des lois »), intelligence
(« un grand esprit »), humour (« il a beaucoup d’esprit »), sang-froid (« présence
d’esprit »), quatre sens au moins parfaitement superposables en roumain, tandis
que le russe a besoin de quatre mots différents (Etkind, 1982 : 23).
Je me range du côté des spécialistes, qui sont souvent des traducteurs
professionnels, qui soulignent cet aspect :

1
Aliment de base de 98% des Français, la baguette française est devenue un stéréotype culturel
dont les Anglais raffolent. Comme la France, l’Italie est une terre de tradition boulangère
confirmée dont les spécialités sont exportées et entrées dans la cuisine internationale. En
Allemagne, le pain à croûte ou le pain à la vapeur est érigé au rang de terroir gastronomique. Le
bun américain légèrement sucré est une vraie « religion ». Dans les cultures chinoise et japonaise,
basées sur la consommation du riz, le pain européen est un produit chic et exotique, refusé par
l’imaginaire traditionnel. La réflexion peut se poursuivre par le café dont les modes de
préparation, la quantité, l’usage diffèrent en Italie, en France, aux États-Unis, en Angleterre, en
Chine, au Japon, etc.

11
 […] il y a un intime processus de fusion entre un vécu et une manière de
l’exprimer, manière imposée par le milieu ambiant. C’est pour cette raison que les
nuances autant que les passions ne s’expriment jamais avec autant de justesse que
dans cette langue dite maternelle, qui plonge ses multiples racines, ses complexes
diverticules [recoins], dans le vécu profond, dans les synapses, dans les « tripes »
de celui qui la parle […] (Wuilmart, 2007 : 128)
Non seulement les cas d’équivalence sémantique partielle valent l’effort d’être cités,
mais également les situations où le traducteur se trouve devant un trou lexical.
Comment traduire la parabole du figuier dans la langue d’un peuple chez qui cet arbre
ne porte que des fruits non comestibles et purgatifs ou la notion d’héritage dans le
fragment du partage du pays de Canaan pour un peuple qui ne la connaît pas ?
Comment traduire lac, rivière, désert, oasis, montagne pour les peuplades qui n’ont
aucune expérience de ces réalités ? Traduire le syntagme touarègue l’Étoile de la
Chamelle en français par la Grande Ourse serait une atteinte grave portée à l’imaginaire
d’un peuple qui ne connaît pas la catégorie animale de l’ours1.
Traduire les couleurs avec les nuances sous-jacentes est un exercice « simple »
qui met à l’épreuve non seulement l’acquisition ou la réactualisation d’un vocabulaire
spécialisé, mais des perceptions individuelles relevant du bagage culturel. Il est difficile
pour un Roumain mais toujours faisable de trouver de fines nuances telles qu’azur
brume, blanc cassé, cuisse de nymphe ou écru ; pour le rouge : incarnat, turc, cinabre,
cramoisi et écarlate ; beurre frais, bouton d’or, queue de vache claire ou foncée, vert-
jaune pour le jaune, etc. Pourquoi fr. beau comme le soleil / un dieu = roum. frumos
foc et pourquoi fr. laid comme un pou / camion volé / singe / crapaud = roum. urât foc ?
Il convient de s’attarder sur le « péché » de nivellement culturel dans la
traduction littéraire qui est le rabotage le plus grave. Traduire une langue, les
spécialistes l’ont déjà affirmé maintes fois, c’est aussi traduire une culture. Chaque
langue a sa vision du monde personnelle, unique qui peut être aux antipodes de celle de
la langue d’arrivée. Les différences de visions culturelles sont perçues et se manifestent
aux niveaux linguistiques et stylistiques : dans la conjugaison, la syntaxe, les
connotations, le rythme même de la phrase (Wuilmart, 2007 : 393). Le système
linguistique de toute langue envisagé comme matérialisation des relations socio-
culturelles existant dans une communauté connaît des éléments spécifiques qui posent
des problèmes au moment d’une possible traduction dans une langue étrangère.
Je donne d’autres exemples à l’appui de ma thèse :
1) L’approche du temps, la saisie du temps se reflètent dans les nuances des temps
verbaux : précision en anglais, simplicité en allemand.
2) Dans la poésie arabe – l’arabe est une langue métaphorique comme le chinois -, les
poèmes sur la sécheresse2 ou sur la beauté de la femme (souvent comparée à une
gazelle ou à une chamelle) utilisent des tropes trop connus du lectorat autochtone,
élevé dans la tradition des métaphores exiguës, et des perceptions / visions inouïes
sur un lectorat non arabophone.

1
Un autre exemple illustratif : le roum. a le mot strungăreaţă pour désigner les dents de face qui
sont espacées, les Français les appellent simplement « dents du bonheur » et y voit le signe d’une
personne financièrement chanceuse dans la vie. Pour un Roumain, chez une femme, c’est le signe
d’une pulsion passionnelle.
2
Il y a une quinzaine de mots pour décrire la sécheresse comme il y a en Belgique autant pour
désigner la pluie.

12
 3) Les grandes métaphores symboliques : comment expliquer pourquoi le soleil est-il
du masculin en français et du féminin en allemand ? et comment traduire alors un
poème où le sexe de l’astre et ses attributs font sens ? ou un poème en turc sur la
beauté d’une femme enceinte, qui dit littéralement qu’elle a deux âmes ?
4) Comment traduire les éléments culturels dits exotiques ? Que donnerait le fameux
poème où Jacques Prévert évoque le cerisier pour ses connotations symboliques :
« La vie est une cerise / La mort est un noyau / L’amour, un cerisier », donc
poétiques, en hindi où les portées de cet arbre sont différents, voire nulles ?

On peut opter pour la dimension d’ouverture, pour l’étranger, adapter donc les
« ingrédients culturels » à la culture d’arrivée. On traduira fr. « on fait un pont pour
l’Armistice » par roum. « vom avea un week-end prelungit de ziua Armatei »,
fr. « dormir comme un loir », profondément = roum. « a trage la aghioase ». Et les
exemples de différence(s) de visions socioculturelles existent non seulement dans des
phrases banales, mais également dans des expressions idiomatiques. Un poème du
Roumain Constantin Abăluţă qui commence par Mărţişor (icône culturelle romaine qui
annonce le début du printemps) ne sera jamais traduit par le 1er mars1.

En guise de conclusions

Dans un article dont le titre montre une alternative extrême devant les lacunes
socioculturelles et devant les visions culturelles incommensurables (à savoir, soit la
stratégie de la naturalisation / de la « domestication » – mais attention au rabotage ou
au nivellement culturel ! on risque de faire beau ou de défigure), soit la stratégie de
l’exotisation, laisser transparaître l’étranger), M. Ballard insiste sur le talent créatif du
traducteur littéraire en tant que « peseur de mots » (Ballard, 2006 : 174-175), voire
« peseur d’âmes » dira Umberto Eco plus tard.
Le traducteur reste un médiateur culturel par excellence à qui on recommande
de la souplesse et de la vigilance dans la conservation de l’intégrité du texte de départ et
de sa culture, toutes deux doublées d’un comportement actif et critique dans la
formation du jugement et du goût. Dans le transfert du socio-culturel, les difficultés de
traduction des termes qui évoquent des réalités spécifiques d’une certaine communauté
linguistique sont issues de la méconnaissance des réalités en question. L’emploi figuré
de telle ou telle expression porte la marque des conditions locales spécifiques. Le
traducteur est obligé de procéder à une compréhension des allusions historiques et de les
rendre transparentes. Finalement, le découpage de l’univers et les catégories de la
connaissance apparaissent identiques pour tous les hommes.
Dans les exemples donnés j’ai mis en évidence le fait que l’adaptation est le
procédé le plus approprié pour traduire les réalités socioculturelles spécifiques et que les
trous lexicaux posent des problèmes au traducteur obligé de faire preuve d’adresse en
toute circonstance, de retransmettre les connotations socio-culturelles au même endroit
du texte ou bien la compensation (récupérer pertes et connotations en cours de route).
La traduction serait donc une « langue troisième », un corollaire, un
palimpseste, fluide dans « la fluidité effectue un travail d’acculturation qui naturalise le
texte étranger ». Cela est possible si la langue d’arrivée est souple et flexible pour se

1
En échange, pour le poème du Roumain B. P. Haşdeu, Zburătorul, j’ai trouvé un « équivalent »
pour désigner un ange adolescent qui trouble les songes érotiques des jeunes filles, même s’il
vient de la culture nordique, Le Sylphe.

13
laisser modeler, non pas défigurer. Il faut faire des courbettes linguistiques, de la
gymnastique, des périphrases et des circonlocutions. « La vision du monde », terme
tellement galvaudé, mais bien commode exprime le concept de traits innés qui
affleurent le texte et dont l’écrivain n’a pas conscience. Il est importun de demander à
un auteur « ce qu’il a voulu dire ». Il orientera le traducteur vers une interprétation
précise, souvent réductrice parce que l’auteur est souvent le pire exégète de son texte.
Je défends bec et ongles l’idée que l’éthique de la traduction de l’élément
culturel se résume par recevoir l’Autre en tant qu’Autre. C’est là un signe d’une
traduction responsable. L’éthique du traducteur pourrait se résumer finalement en
renvoyant à l’étude de Paul Ricœur : soi-même comme [en tant qu’] un autre. À présent,
le cœur de l’éthique de la traduction n’est plus la notion de fidélité, mais celle, plus
généreuse, d’hospitalité langagière : le hostis n’est plus « l’hostile », « l’ennemi » au
sens étymologique, mais « l’invité » et « l’amphitryon » à la fois (Ost, op. cit. : 293).
Je réaffirme également que sans empathie envers le texte à traduire, sans capter
et entendre sa « voix » il n’y aura jamais de bonne traduction quelles que soient les
visions culturelles immanentes. Au XXIe siècle, la traduction n’a plus rien de la
redoutable malédiction babylonienne, le traducteur littéraire est, en reprenant une belle
formule consacrée par une professionnelle, est un « marieur empathique des cultures »
(Wuilmart, 1990 : 236). Le traducteur devrait cesser de se complaire dans le carcan de
sa langue, la traiter comme un organe vivant, porteur de germes enfouis mais
susceptibles d’être développés, la considérer comme une terre d’accueil désireuse de
récolter d’autres visions du monde.
J’admets l’idée que dans la traduction littéraire il y a des visions culturelles du
monde qui sont incommensurables, mais je défends une autre : l’incommensurable n’est
pas synonyme d’intraduisible. Les difficultés sont un défi et un pari. Un traducteur
adroit réussit à faire passer ses passagers d’une rive culturelle à l’autre sans les noyer.

Bibliographie
Andrei, Carmen, Vers la maîtrise de la traduction littéraire. Guide théorique et pratique, Galaţi,
Galaţi University Press, 2014.
Ballard, Michel (éd.), La Traduction à l’université. Recherches et propositions didactiques, Lille,
P.U. de Lille, coll. « Travaux & recherches », 1993.
Ballard, Michel, « La traduction : entre enrichissement et intégralité », M. Ballard (éd.), La
traduction, contact des langues et de cultures (2), Arras, P. U. d’Artois, 2006.
Ballard, Michel, « Les stratégies de traduction des désignateurs de référents culturels », M.
Ballard (éd.), La traduction, contact des langues et de culture (1), Arras, P. U. d’Artois, 2005.
Berman, Antoine, L’Épreuve de l’étranger, Culture et traduction dans l’Allemagne romantique,
Paris, Gallimard, 1984, coll. « Essais », n° CCXXVI, coll. « Tel », 1995.
Berman, Antoine, La traduction et la lettre ou l’auberge du lointain, Paris, Seuil, coll. « L’ordre
philosophique », 1999.
Eco, Umberto, Dire presque la même chose. Expérience de traduction, trad. Myriem Bouzaher,
Paris, Grasset, 2007.
Etkind, Efim, Un art en crise. Essai de poétique de la traduction poétique, traduit par Wladimir
Troubetzkoy avec la collaboration de l’auteur, Lausanne, L’Âge d’Homme, 1982.
Ladmiral, Jean-René, Traduire, théorèmes pour la traduction, Paris, Payot, coll. « Petite
bibliothèque Payot », n°. 366, 1979.
Larose, Robert, Théories contemporaines de la traduction, Québec, Presses de l’Université du
Québec, 2e éd., 1989.
Meschonnic, Henri, Éthique et politique du traduire, Paris, Verdier, 2007.
Mounin, Georges, Les belles infidèles, Paris, Les Cahiers du Sud, 1955.
Ost, François, Traduire : défense et illustration du multilinguisme, Paris, Fayard, 2009.

14
Oustinoff, Michaël, La traduction, Paris, PUF, 4e éd., coll. « Que sais-je ? », 2003.
Pym, Anthony, Pour une éthique du traducteur, Arras, Presses Universitaires d’Artois, 1997.
Ricœur, Paul, Sur la traduction, Paris, Bayard, 2004.
Wuilmart, Françoise, « Le traducteur littéraire : un marieur empathique de cultures », Méta, 35.
n°1 / 1990.
Wuilmart, Françoise, « La traduction littéraire : source d’enrichissement de la langue d’accueil »,
La traductologie dans tous ses états », Arras, Artois, Presses de l’Université, 2007.
Wuilmart, Françoise, « Le péché de "nivellement" dans la traduction littéraire », Méta, 52, n°2 /
2007.

Cette étude a été financée par le Bureau Europe Centrale et Orientale de l’Agence Universitaire
de la Francophonie dans les cadres du projet de soutien des formations francophones de niveau
master « Discours spécialisé. Terminologies. Traduction » (2013-2015, Université „Dunărea de
Jos” de Galaţi).

15
 SORIN STATI’S CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE FIELD OF THE
“CULTURAL” LINGUISTICS: STORIES ABOUT THE WORD

Lucian Dumitru BĂICEANU*

Abstract: Sorin Stati brings a number of contributions in the field of the „cultural”
linguistics by two important volumes: Romanian words. A story of words (1964), and The
linguistic journey to the land of the Muses (1967). The papers are under the sign of the keyword -
etymology - and are structured and implemented in a poetic manner in which the science of
language is combined with „the story of the word”. The volumes analyze and study the
emergence, the evolution and the disappearance (in some cases) of the word, in various forms
and in different contexts. Building an almost narrative speech, Sorin Stati manages to keep the
scientific value of the information presented, bringing another important contribution: to the
development of linguistics as a science.
Keywords: linguistics, Sorin Stati, word, “cultural” linguistic.

Stories about different categories of words

Sorin Stati is, undoubtedly, one of the most important and prolific Romanian
linguists who managed to make major contributions in the field of structural linguistics:
theories about language methodology, mathematical linguistics theories, a careful
research of syntax and semantics field (we have discussed this subject in the article
„Perspective lingvistice: teoriile lui Sorin Stati privind semantica”) etc. Another branch
on which the Romanian linguist focuses his attention is the “culural” linguistic field,
analyzed in two of his volumes: the paper from 1964, Romanian words. A story of
words, and the paper from 1967, Linguistic journey in the muses country. The keyword
specific for these two studies is, undoubtedly, etymology. Translated from Greek
language, the term etymology means "the science of truth, sense". Sorin Stati says that
this science "is actually a weapon - weak, at the beginning - to conquer the answer to a
question as elementary as disturbing: why each thing has a certain name and not
another?" (S. Stand 1967: 16). We must specify that the present paper does not follow a
comparative analysis of ideas of Romanian linguist, but a synthetic rendering that reveal
a new approach to the linguistics research, which Sorin Stati uses it, one more easy to
understand by the reader, specialist or not. For this reason we have not given an
increased attention for the purely scientific aspects, but rather for the presentation of the
ideas and the original writing, which gives the impression of reading a novel and not a
scientific research.
The Romanian linguist believes that "no one needs an explanation of the word
... word" but draws attention to two essential conditions in selecting a word: the
adequacy to context of the words and the proper order of spelling the words for a clearer
expression of the ideas that we want to convey. The practice of speech, the oral and
written communication, is the motor for the proper functioning of the two said
conditions. The relationship between thought and language is fundamental to the human
development, in general, and for the vocabulary, in particular. The language "is a

*
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași, lucianbaiceanu@gmail.com

16
storehouse of words which you must handle it after some prescriptions". These
prescriptions are linguistic rules, which develops in parallel with the social
development. Thus, the researcher believes that a "story of words" must investigate
three major problems:
a)how and why words are born;
b)why they change;
c)how and why they die.
The answer to these questions is given in the contents of a rigorous study of the
word (1964, Romanian words. A story of words), structured in two parts: “The Story of
the word” and “The words and the life”. The vision of presentation of the novel ideas is
like a linguistic fairy tale, in which the formal, scientific manner of expressing certain
theoretical information is passed through the spectrum of the dramatic game (for every
theoretical aspect, for every word it is created a real "story" and all these "stories" are
inserted into an encyclopedia: A story of words). The direct relationship between
semantic and phonetic is the mathematical formula of the word, which is formed by an
sound shell (the material aspect, the sounds and the letters) and a meaning, a sense. The
evolution of a word is closely linked to the two components mentioned. Therefore,
sometimes some sounds disappear, others are added, others turns; and some meanings
are lost, and others appear, and others turns. Starting from the definition of the word -
"an indivisible whole, being the name of a class of objects, events, actions, relationships
characterized by a number of features that distinguish them from all objects,
phenomena, actions, relationships expressed by the other classes” Sorin Stati combat the
equivalence: word - class of objects. The linguist identifies three cases of
nonequivalents:
1) the same category of objects, events, actions, etc. sometimes it has two or more
names: ex. ceas = ceasornic (watch=clock); zăpadă = nea = omăt, (snow) etc;
2) The same designation is applied to two (rarely more) categories of objects, actions
etc. very different from each other: ex. lac (întindere de apă stătătoare) – lac (de
exemplu, de unghii);/ lake (stretching standing water) - lake* (eg. for nails, in
Romanian);
3) certain categories of objects, actions, qualities etc. have not one word to name but a
combination of two or more words: ex. Floarea-soarelui (Sunflower); gospodărie
agricolă colectivă(collective agricultural enterprise) etc.
The first case is that of synonyms, classified into three classes:
a) relative synonymy, ex. timp = vreme; (time).
b) total synonymy, ex. a sporovăi = a trăncăni = a pălăvrăgi; (gibber=chatter =
gossip).
c) contextual synonymy, ex. a trece = a se scurge, în contextul: timpul trece încet. (pass
= drain in context: the time passes slowly).
The main reason that led to the emergence of synonyms is, according to the
researcher, the borrowed of foreign words by contact with populations who spoke all
sorts of languages.
The second case is that of homonyms, which comprises two types:
a) total homonymy: ex. lac (întindere de apă stătătoare) – lac (de exemplu, de
unghii) are two identical shapes in all their forms(lacului, lacuri, lacurile, etc.) (lake,
lakes);
b) reduced homonymous, ex. rîs (de bucurie) -laugh (with joy)- and rîs
(animal), were similar in the singular form (un rîs, rîsului etc.), (laughter, laughter,
etc.), but differ in the plural (rîsuri – rîși ).

17
 The borrowing is in this case one of the reasons for this phenomenon. Usually,
an old word, inherited from Latin, add one or more new words, taken from various other
languages. There are four similar Romanian words – mai : 1) ex. mai bun, lat. magis; 2)
maiul (unealtă de nivelare), lat. malleus; 3) luna mai, lat. maius; 4) mai (ficat), din
ungurește.
The third case is that of jointing words, which has two manifestations:
a) voluntary ex. we can say o sticlă de vin Fetească (a bottle of wine Fetească) or a
Fetească;
b) obligatory (because the reduction occurred from the language from where the word
was borrowed), ex. fr. pain biscuit (pâine – pain - de două ori – bis - coaptă – cuit -) >
biscuit.

About the “birth” and “journey” of words

In the chapter "How were born the words of the Romanian language" Sorin
Stati tries to provide an answer for the first problematic question of the " story of word".
Sorin Stati considers that the Romanian vocabulary base is composed of Latin elements.
"The Latin prototype" can be recognized in the genetics of the words of the Romanian
language. The spoken words of the Roman colonists, called inherited words, form the
majority of the most important elements of our vocabulary ("the main lexical fund" or
"basic vocabulary"). With the inherit terms we call the relations between people, body
parts and organ function, the animals and plants important actions of the forces of
nature, different notions of home, work, etc. Also, at the "birth" of the words of the
Romanian language contributed other influences, such as Slavic, Hungarian, German,
Italian, English, etc.
An essential feature of the words is, considered Sorin Stati, that they "travel":
first, traveling with the population who use the words, secondly, traveling with the
items they naming.
The question How to "invent" a word (1964: 62; 66) receives answers that
consist of various concrete examples: for example the term daltonism was named like
his inventor, Dalton; The word robot was invented by the Czech classic writer Karel
Capek in 1920, who used it in his play R.U.R. (Rational - Universal - Robot) etc.
In order to answer at the question "Why the words are changing?", the
researcher talks about a number of different aspects. The first fact is the process of
change of the sound shell of words. From Latin to Romanian, at the phonetic aspect,
many changes occur at the level of the word: some sounds disappear, others are
transformed and others are added. The phonetic changes do not occur suddenly and
simultaneously to all the speakers of a language. Another process, who answered to our
question is closely linked to the meaning of a word. For example, says Sorin Stati, in the
case of the term -sos- , considering its old meaning , designate only salty sauce (the
origin of the word is the expression aqua salsa = salty water); today, the meaning of the
word has expanded, including any kind of sauce, regardless of taste.

A "biography" of the word

The second part of the study, "The words and the life" (S. Stati 1964: 117;
177), has the point of interest the relation between word and social environment where
it was "born", was developed and "died". The words, by their meaning, reflect the
reality, in all its richness, our knowledge about reality. The words used by the modern

18
man to describe objects and phenomena are usually very old, and keeps the specific
genetic code of the primitive thinking of their creators. The etymology of a word is the
most comprehensive opportunity to learn its "story". Thus, Sorin Stati propose a
crossing through history, trace the "story" wire of the Romanian words, their origin
being diverse. The first period analyzed is the ancient Rome. The beliefs and the
superstitions of people have also led to the emergence of words. The names received by
children at birth were chosen by tradition, but they were carriers of meanings. The
greco-Latin antiquity is also rich in terms with interesting stories. Also in close
connection with Roman antiquity is the issue of the name of the first five days of the
week. In the middle of the sixteenth century appears the first newspaper in Venice. The
price of a copy was a -gazetă- (the name of a Venetian coins). The publication was
called also gazette.
Another area that has contributed to the development of the Romanian
vocabulary was that of the science. The arithmetic was defined as the science of
numbers since antiquity; in fact her name is based on the Greek noun arithmos
(number). Chemistry is another area that influenced the emergence of new words such
as -alchimie- (from the Arabic word al-kimiya, which meant philosopher’s stone) etc.
An amusing example we meet in zoology: the term -cochet(a)- (coquettish) is a word
borrowed from French; the mens who held at their image were compared with some
cocks (Coquet, diminutive from coq = cock). In parallel with science is put art (music,
plastic arts, literature).

The Story of the Word in the "land of the Muses"

An explanation of the "the word ... word" is given to us in the paper from 1967,
the theme of the volume being announced from the title: the words from "the country of
the Muses". After a careful presentation of the nine Muses (Kleio, Euterpe, Talia,
Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polimnia, Urania, Caliope), the Romanian linguist
discusses various words specific for the arts represented by each of the Muses. The
volume takes the form of an epic paper, in which the author is the main character and he
travels through the world of the old words, finding their "stories".
Stopping at a discussion about "the chosen of the Muses, the poets," Sorin Stati
says that a number of Greek words in our language came in forms such as: poet, poem,
poetry, poetic, and etymologically develops the idea of "doing", "to compose".
The linguist reminds us about the story that underlies the emergence of two
controversial words: masochism and sadism. With the Austrian novelist Sacher of
Masoch (end of the XIX century) we pass from moral pathological to the medical
pathological: the perverse eroticism of Masoch’s character bears his name - masochism.
For the second word, sadism, we have another famous novelist, the Marquis de Sade
(1740-1814), with various novels.
An interesting aspect regarding the diminutives is presented to us in the "The
camouflaged diminutive": even though different, the words opera (lyric-dramatic genre)
and operetta ("small or short opera") are connected, the second is the diminutive of the
first. Incidentally it is known in this case also who coined the word: Mozart, who
introduced the word -Operette.
Sorin Stati says that "any artwork can not be discussed other than in words" (S.
Stati, 1964: 12); However, in the two volumes that we’ve reviewed in this article, the
linguist demonstrates us, that, in fact, the word itself is an artwork. Presented as a story,
having the structure of a novel, the analyzed volumes manage to keep a cargo of high

19
scientific value, through the theories presented, Sorin Stati bringing another major
contribution to the evolution of linguistics as a science.

Bibliography
Băiceanu, Lucian, Perspective lingvistice: teoriile lui Sorin Stati privind semantica, Academia
Română – Filiala Iaşi, Institutul de Filologie Română „A. Philippide”, Al. Andriescu - 88, volum
îngrijit de Gabriela Haja, Iaşi, Editura Universităţii „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, ISBN 978-606-714-
035-4, p. 293, 2014.
Frâncu, Constantin, Geneza limbii române și etnogeneza românilor, Ediția a II-a revizuită, Casa
Editorială Demiurg, Iași, 1999.
Stati, Sorin, Cuvinte româneşti. O poveste a vorbelor, Editura Științific ă, București, 1964.
Stati, Sorin, Călătorie lingvistică în ţara muzelor, Editura Științifică, București, 1967.

20
 A HERMENEUTICAL UNDERSTANDING OF MOXA’S
UNIVERSAL CHRONICLE

Iuliana-Valentina BOBOACĂ

Abstract: The Universal Chronicle written by Mihail Moxa consists of an apparent

collision between the monk’s Christian vision and his utilization of pagan beliefs. Understanding
and analyzing the coherence of these apparently different tracks of theoretical thought are
integral to applying a heuristic approach of his work.
Keywords: beliefs, pagan, Christianity.

1. Taking into consideration Moxa’s religious background, it should not come

as a surprise the fact that praising the Lord and His creation occurs so often in the text.
What can be regarded with a wonderous eye are the sorcerers, spells, fears, and habits of
the people that gave life to the times mentioned under the chronicle’s covers.
The compilation of several sources of inspiration that made up The Universal
Chronicle was completed in 1620 by the Christian Orthodox monk, Mihail Moxa, who
signed his manuscript Moxalie (meaning sinner), according to an old practice among the
monks for showing humility.
1.1. The first chapter of the writing is De începutul lumiiei dentîiu1, where the
monk finds it necessary to explain the undertaking of the difficult historian’s role:
(1) “Vom lua acest greu, să-i și cu préget. Ce darurile tale, iale ne răcoresc sudorile
noastre... Iată și noi, de cât ne iaste putérea, spunem cu adevăr .” (Moxa, 4v: 99)
The writer’s statement is legitimate, who did not state it in order to show off
the high effort implied by the proposed approach, but to offer his reader an excuse with
respect to errors of translation that he could have done, the excuse being repeated in the
text:
(2) “Acestea cum ne fu putérea noi scrisem.” (Moxa, 21r:114)
In what concerns the truth of those stated in his writing, the author agrees with
the opinion of Lucian of Samosata, whose writings could not have been foreign to him,
as he was a monk. The Greek satirist claimed that the historian should be bold, not
bought, self-controlled, candid, impassioned for truth: “Istoricul trebuie să fie îndrăzneț,
nevândut, stăpân pe sine, neprefăcut, împătimit de adevăr.” (Diaconescu, 1986: 340)
1.2. The chronicle’s storyline ends when Constantinople is taken by the Turks,
after having recorded almost 7millennia, to be more precise, 6998 years, the last chapter
being titled De Ț[a]rigrad, cum l-au luat turcii2.
In order to make the chronicle coherent, the Romanian linguist Nicolae Iorga
implied that Moxa first connected the sources in Slavonic: “a început înădind pe
slavonește, înainte de a da o traducere românescă a corpului de cronici, a cronograf ului
înădit de dânsul.” (Iorga, 1988: 291)
2. It has been long speculated that an author, as creator of a writing, differs
greatly from the person he/she is in everyday life. False. A historical book will always


University of Pitești, iuliana_boboaca@yahoo.com
1
"About the beginning of the first world".
2
"Of Tarigrad, how the Turks took it".

21
reveal more than its writer initially intended, most often – his/ hers traits of character.
This happens partly because an author, evoking various historical episodes, can hardly
refrain from giving value judgments, especially when he/ she belongs to a system which
justifies its mere existence precisely through this practice.
2.1. Our first world history book written in Romanian starts with the Divine
Creation, for which the chronicler consulted the Holy Bible:
(3) “Începutul lui Dumnezeu, ce fu făcătoriu desăvârșit lumiei: | Dentâiu făcu ceriu fără
stéle, numai cu cuvântul féce, și-l frâmseță Dumnezeu cu frâmsețea lui. ”1 (Moxa, 4v-5r:
99)
For the fourth day the monk uses information from antique astronomy,
according to which there are seven main planets: the Sun and the Moon, and the rest of
five planets known at that times, which the author counted from the farthest: Saturn,
Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury; Uranus (discovered in 1781), Neptune (1846), and
Pluto (1930, considered now a dwarf planet) were yet to be discovered:
(4) “Puse pre Cron mai sus, al doile Zevs și al treile Aris, al patrul[e] Soarele, de
luminează lumiei, al cincile Afrodit, al șasele Ermia, și Luna mai jos, și îmblă nepărăsit,
după zisa lui Dumnezeu, careaș în rândul ei.” 2 (Moxa, 6r: 100)
The legend of Creation continues describing the rest of the seven days, being
sensibly noted by the monk, as the linguist Ioan Bogdan wrote in his study – Scrieri
alese. (Bogdan, 1968: 628)
2.2. The storyline runs its course in Troy, where Priam ruled with his lady:
(5) “domniia Priam și avea doamnă, și născură dentr -însă feciori mulți, de -i chema ca
vrea.” (Moxa, 21r: 114)
In this chapter, titled Împărățiia Troianilor3, the wrong translation of the
source is notable. Moxa’s assigning the premonitory dream to Priam, when actually his
wife, whose name is not recorded (Hecuba), is the one having it:
(6) “păru-i că văzu un tăciune aprins eșind den trupul mueriei lui și o déde de o parte
vânt, de arse cetatea | toată. Și spuse acéstea filosofilor. Ei răspunseră că ară fi mai bine,
ce va naște să -l arunci în foc.”4 (Moxa, 21v: 114) Obviously, this will not happen,
Alexander, being left to chance (in a field), is rescued by shepherds.
The writer often uses memorable phrases to refer at the immutable destiny:
(7) “Ce iaste să fie, nu se poate tréce.” 5 (Moxa, 21v: 115);
(8) “Însă ochiul derept le véde toate. Deci cine ce face, lui face.” 6 (Moxa, 83v: 164);
(9) “Așa plătéște Dumnezeu cui nu știe har de bine ce -i dă.”7 (Moxa, 96r: 173);
(10) “Ce pre cine-l feréște Dumnezeu, în deșert cugetă rău mintea omenească!” 8 (Moxa,
99v: 175).

1
"The beginning of God, who was the perfect maker of the world: First he made the sky without
stars, only through the word He made it, and He embelished it with its beauty".
2
"He placed Chronos above, Zeus the second, and third Ares, the Sun fourth, that illuminates the
world, the fifth Aphrodite, the sixth Hermes, and the Moon below, and each planet moves
unforsaken after God’s saying, each on its way".
3
"Trojans Emperdom".
4
"It seemed to him that he saw a burning ember emerging from his woman’s body, and a gust of
wind blew it, burning the fortress down. And he said these to the philosophers. They replied ‹‹it
would be better if he threw whatever she would give birth to in the fire››".
5
"Whatever is to happen, one cannot avoid".
6
"But the righteous eye sees it all. So, whatever someone does, he does it to himself".
7
"This is how God pays he, who does not know the good gift he has received".
8
"To the one God guards, no harm can come".

22
 2.3. Moxa gives as example the Solomon’s teachings from the Bible:
(11) “Ce era adevăr pilda lui Solomon: Certarea nebunului fluer iaste!”1 (Moxa,110r:
182)
About Jesus Christ the monk wrote (this phrase was added by the writer, not
translated from his sources) the following:
(12) “Și fu I[su]s Dumnezeu și om, și făcea ciudese mari și multe, și învăța oamenii cu
adevăr, și mulți crezură întru I[su]s, că vindeca toate boalele dentre oameni. ”2 (37v:
126)
3. Examples of witchcraft are given almost from the beginning, as pagans
believed that some people could foretell the future:
(13) “Deci Enea cu câți notase cu nunsul feceră vraje și luară plăzuit, că le zise script să
noate de acolea spre apus...”3 (27v: 118);
(14) “Miră-se de-aciia împăratul, plăti și acéle trei și le arătă vrăjitorilor.”4 (32r: 121)
3.1. Moxa gives up the legend of Romulus and Remus, noting that they were
found by a swine herd, whose wife called Lupa (meaning female wolf) had given birth
to a stillborn. They took in the twins and raised them as their own:
(15) “Iară Dumnezeu-i cruță că-i găsi un porcariu, anume Festul, și féce bine că-i duse
acasă-și, iară muiarea lui, Lupa, născuse un cocon mort, că fu voia lu Dumnezeu.”5
(29v: 119)
3.2. Strange things were found while digging for a church, as happened in
Tulie’s time, or even voices that asked people to found a city could be heard (Eneas
did):
(16) “săpând temeliia afund în pământ, aflară un cap de os, de curea sânge cum ară | fi
tăiat atunce, și -i era fața caldă, ca de om viu. ”6 (32r/32v: 121);
(17) “Enia înțelése că se vor mulți pe acolo și auzi glas de-i zise să zidească acolea
cetate.”7 (28r: 118)
Predictions were something usual for ancient times:
(18) “Și semnă un numărătoriu de stéle ceasul când va muri, și fu așa.”8 (40v: 128);
(19) “‹‹Socotește-ți atâta și frâmsețile!››, că-i cunoștea în stéle ce va fi.” 9 (56v: 144)
People of those times believed in signs, rulers included:
(20) “Atunce se întunecă soarele și alt semn încă fu, că născu o muiare o fată, ce nice
avea ochi, nice mâni, nic[e] picioare | numai ce avea coadă ca de péște.” 1 (75v: 157)

1
"That it was true the Solomon’s teaching: instruction to a fool is like whislting!"; "Fools despise
wisdom and instruction" (Solomon, Proverbs, 1:7).
2
"And Jesus was God and man, and He did great and many wonders, and He taught people
truthfully, and many followed Jesus, because He healed all sicknesses of the people".
3
"So Eneas and the people he spent the night with had made a spell and followed the prediction,
as it was suggesting to spend the night from there westward".
4
"The emperor was then surprized, payed again for those three and showed them to the wizards".
5
"And God spared them for a swine herd found them, on his name Faustulus, and he did well
taking them home, as his wife, Lupa, gave birth to a stillborn, for it was the will of God".
6
"Digging the foundations deep into the ground, they found a skull, and blood was flowing as if it
had just been cut off, and his face was warm as a living person’s".
7
"Eneas had understood that their number would increase and heard a voice saying to build a city
there".
8
"And a soothsayer predicted the time when he will die, and happened as foretold".
9
"Consider for yourself this much and your charms!; for he read her fate in the stars".

23
 3.3. The chronograph’s author gladly gives up the absolute knowledge, being a
predecessor for the poet George Coșbuc ( Nu cerceta aceste legi,/ Că ești nebun când
le-nțelegi...) or for the philosopher born several centuries away, Lucian Blaga:
(20) “Ce, cum nu poți ajunge naltul ceriului, nice adâncul pământului, nice marginea
lumiei, și cum nu se pot număra stélele ceriului, nice năsipul măriei, așa nu se poate afla
adâncul scripturilor.”2 (139r: 202)
4. The work that has been the subject of this study was accomplished by the
monk’s toil to compile several sources of inspiration, who added some more
information when he felt appropriate. Although he was an erudite monk, sometimes he
made several translation errors, but by his lively manner of outlining the episodes in
Romanian, the reader will certainly forgive his confusions. Writing a universal history,
he could not have left aside the beliefs, practices, and some of the strage features
belonging to the people he described in his chronicle. Bringing God into the light, as
well as stating that Christianity is the true belief, cannot be considered anything else
but a logical consequence of the author’s religious education that has been projected
into his writing as well. For example, Saint Constantine the Great, the first christian
emperor fought rentlessly against pagans, and thus he was praised by the author:
(21) “Și abătu de surpă casele idolilor și astupă capiștile unde purta ellinii sfara
dracului, și le sfârși toată spurcăciunea lor. Și deșchise beséricile creștinești, și se lărgi |
preste toată lumea ca cu un bucin de aur glasul lui, de la marginea pământului până în
margini, să răsună cătră credința lui H[risto]s.”3 (55v/55r: 139)
The author has the distinctive merit of being one of our earliest writers and his
efforts of understanding the philosophical chaining of life events can definitely be
considered: “un pas spre cultură, spre cultura națională, spre cultura lumii.”4
(Voiculescu, 1986: 10)

Bibliography
Biblia ortodoxă, [Online], Available at: http://www.bibliaortodoxa.ro/vechiul-
testament/25/Facerea, [Accessed at 30/07/15].
Bogdan, I., Scrieri alese, Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, București, 1968.
Coșbuc, G., Poezii, II: Cântece de vitejie, București, Editura pentru Literatură, 1969.
Diaconescu, M., Depărtarea și timpul, Editura Eminescu, București, 1986.
Iorga, N., Despre cronici și cronicari , Ediție îngrijită de Damaschin Mioc, Editura Științifică și
Enciclopedică, București, 1988.
Moxa, M., Cronica universală, Ediție critică, însoțită de izvoare, studiu introduc tiv, note și indici
de G. Mihăilă, Editura Minerva, București, 1989.
Solomon, King, Proverbs, [Online], Available at:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+1%3A7&version=NKJV, [Accessed
at 30/07/15].

1
"The sun darkened then and it was yet another sign, a woman gave birth to a girl, who had no
eyes, no hands, no legs| she only had a tail, as fish have", interesting thing to call the newlyborn a
girl, in that situation.
2
"For, as you cannot reach the high sky, or the deepths of the earth, or the edge of the world, and
as the stars cannot be counted, or the sea sand, thus one cannot find the deepths of the Scriptures".
3
"And he destroyed the houses of idols and he covered the temples where the Greeks had put the
Devil’s sign, and he ended all their filthiness. And he opened the Christian churches, and his
voice widened all over the world like a golden trumpet, from one edge of the earth up to the other
edges, that echoed to the faith of Christ".
4
"a step toward the culture, toward the national culture, toward the world culture".

24
Voiculescu M., Gândire aforistică în cultura românească, Editura Academiei Republicii
Socialiste România, București, 1986.

NOTE:

This research has been partially supported by the POSDRU/ 159/ 1.5/ S/ 138963 Project Sustainable
Performance in Doctoral and Post-doctoral Research – PERFORM”, co-financed by the European Social
Fund.

25
 ROMANIAN SYNTAX BETWEEN REALITY AND FICTION

Liuba BOTEZATU*

Abstract: While axiology is a science which deals with study of values in a general way
of their interdependence, syntax as an object of study represents, in our interpretation, the
science of synthesizing/ordering verbal-communicative values in a space-temporal canvas of a
feeling prominence. Investigation, observation and analysis, as the applicative methods in a deep
experimental domain, are always requested to circumscribe, in a grammatical way, a newly-
added procedure which is valorizing-synthesizing for the same interpretation: human-word-
becoming. Or, the true identitary way, reality-fiction, at the level of a being’s transcendence into
something more than a being, should firstly be that of constructive deliberations; request of the
right to life by free will:the eloquent case - Stefan Gaitanaru - the subject of preoccupations
anticipates the author’s will…
Keywords: syntax, fiction, reality.

Any launching in the world of self-knowledge by a word including the world

of grammar, syntax in particular, is dominated by the cardinal advantages of those two
phenomenal priorities: reality and fiction. Relation between the general and the concrete
configures the relation between the real / fictional private and / abstract. Elucidation of
the role of parts of sentence, especially the main parts-is the case of logical placement to
the formulation of a question and of course the intuition to determine their response.
There is a logical placement to the question who is the subject or who does the action
and another one is a logical placement as an answer to the question/questions who are
you talking about or what are you talking about in the given example/ the given case.
Also one can answer to the question/questions of elucidation the predicate with a naive,
simplistic signification: what does the subject do- what does Ion do, and another one is
a logical placement in a case of answer to the synthesizing question- what is said about
the subject/ about Ion? In the case of the first answer logic is suitable for the plan of
reality with reference to a specific name, dependent on the state of the communicational
situation. The second answer will be that of the fictitious, placed at the condition of
abstraction/synthesizing of things, facts, phenomena with a specific reference to a
particular state of placement of fiction. Or, the rigour function of a logical-semantic
and functional principle in a language grammar keeps this competence of clarification
the situations, meaning that at the normal level, the word „grammar” has the
signification of accuracy in a varied sense of understanding.

Vocation and professionalism

Once with the theories of functional and structural syntax, in completeness

scholarly: Anatol Ciobanu - Petru Butuc, in the world of philological sciences, the
Romanian reseacher Ștefan Găitănaru ’s work is increasingly insistent, in a complex
monografic format, including Romanian Syntax (2012), and the new edition of the work
“The Subject and The Subordinate Noun Clause” (2012). The interdependence subject-
predicate as a grammatical foundation of a sentence characterizes in a fact the

*
State University in Comrat, Republic of Moldova, liuba.botezatu@yahoo.com

26
interdependence of a psycho-intellectual unit of his figure in professional field. So it
happens in research at a time, that not the author leads the positioning of an action, but
the logic of the interdependence of two or more interested people (researcher-receiver)
in culmination of the over-elaborate truth. That is detached also from his confessions in
the preface of a work “The Subject and The Subordinate Noun Clause (2012):”The
chapter about the subject would have applicative character, but it raised because of a
variety of morphological realizations of this syntactical position problem (semi-
independent pronoun, compound relative pronoun, names in other cases, not only in
Nominative, not determining, etc...) always conferred a theoretical weight of
demonstrations (10, p.5).
Therefore, “Not the same case is described in the chapter about the subjunctive
subordination, where the author benefited because of existence of some deeper, larger
things especially in literature, returning their aim to select and arrange argumentations
which are often polemical to ensure understanding of the phenomenon in all its
complexity on a consistent line...” (ibidem) to state also “The aspects of novelty
constitute as an invitation to further research, which is addressed to those people who,
naturally, believe that this issue, with its importance and complexity, is still open”.
(ibidem). With the reference to the second edition, “ This work does not absolute the
theory of that from Cluj, which says that the Subject subordinates the Predicate, but
analyzes the specific noun-verb relation and emphasizes the system of compatibilities
from the sentence. According to them, the Subject makes the theme of a sentence (
logical definition: thinking leaves him), about which something is said with the help of
the predicate (rema). That is why he selects the verb-predicate, ensuring the continuity (
compatibility ) of semantic marks.” (ibidem). In order to alert that ”This work has many
bibliographic references...there is no other collection of information, arguments and
theories. It is primarily a challenge” (ibidem,p.6) This is it! The work of research should
be that of provocation, the final aim of which is to follow continuous, creative
performance. They are ofteh used by us, so we have the right to judge about what is on
the other side- the autor’s personality – as a formative direct factor. Therefore, in a
chapter „Vocation and professionalism”, in an outstanding work of Romanian Syntax,
along with the most promenient, important figures of the nation, we paint with a big
pleasure, enjoy the name of a person who is worthy to be Ștefan Găitănaru. Anyway,
the study of syntax, in general, has to be a challenge to the human intellectual
knowledge, the knowledge of his own intellectual formation through a word.
A professor-reseacher’s role should be contagious with investigative force.
With the reference to the second chapter (ibidem, p.34): Subject., Șt. Găitănaru assumes
the responsibility of an analytical approach of depth. In the subchapter, Semantics (1.1),
for example, there is approached “the process with the object which dynamizes one of
its properties through a verb, the subject is a syntectic function fulfilled by a name (or
its equivalent) which designates the object. The verb, through which the subject
designates its properties, is not always the predicate. Also it can stimulate the properties
of some phenomena which do not imply an agent-topic in a particular case. (ibidem)” In
the subchapter Syntactic (1.2.) the subject “is a nominal part in a composition of the
main clause constituted on the basis of the relation of interdependence. The main
system is functional, which with the predicate realizes a minim-organized statement,
characterized by communicative autonomy.”(ibidem). It is the approach, through which
the same expert returns with the following explanations “When a subject is expressed
by a name, but a predicate is expressed by a personal verb, in a personal manner, the
interdependence is manifested in the following way: the verb requires the Nominative

27
Case for the name, but the name implies agreement with the verb in person and number.
There is also a morphological considerable variety of both class of substitution
dominated by the subject as well as that of dominated by the predicate, as and absolute
verbs exist there, without a subject ( subjective) and subjects of some words which are
not predicates (ibidem, p.34). Șt. Găitănaru includes several topics to the classification
of the subject by its shape: simple, multiple, complex, partitive, emphatic, developed.
So precious, synthesizing explanations appear: ”Counterarguments which invalidate this
distinction show that noun-nucleus determinants, from developed subject, are analyzed;
infinitive subjectives have subjects themselves; the so-called predicative is, as it is
interpreted by this book, the independent function of a copulative verb” (ibidem, p.36).
The author’s contribution to determine further the subject “By way of manifestation”,
“By the nature of sense”, “By the nature of syntagma ” from “which it is understood
that there exists a quantitative subject as well...”. The author states that “the syntactic
functions would also have quantitative variants through the quantitative subject,”
(ibidem, p.37) It is of great importance the manner in which in a competent way, one
can also talk about a subject of quality, an integral/total (n.n.). Referring to a subject of
quality we could attach the cycle of Vieru The mystery which protects me (1983) which
means “ The hidden mystery in a word” to analysis”. Finally, we should underline that
multiple approaches on the topic- “Eloquence of types of subjects in communication”,
are based on concrete motivations with referrences to consecrate researchers’ work: M.
Avram, 1960; Merlan, 2001; S. Stati,1972; Guțu Romalo,1973; Diaconescu,1993;
Constantinescu- Dobridoror, 2001 GBLR,2010; ... as a quotidian operation which
obliges to bring something additional to the accumulation of a suplementary quantity of
knowledge and deliberate transfer of their quality, in the enlightening process.

Measure of self-fullness

If we relate to precious truth, as discovered by the world of science, we certify

the reality of an another immense truth, that of attachment of the subconscious to the
principle of global axiology through the principle of identity. Otherwise, the measure of
fullness of a nation’s word/soul can be proven in frames of a possibility of evidence of
axyological sintetization of values on the level of universal circuit. For example, in
Grigore Vieru’s “The Song of the Morning” we connect to the operation of analysis
depth-area, we notice that the interdependence subject-predicate acquires proportions of
local and total ascesis. In the case of the local/partial ascesis we observe that the
subordinate clause from the first sentence of versification can get baptism of syntactical
function prefigured by the main clause, towards the motivational position of the
question which is put by the agent of the action: causal, modal, or attributive. In the case
of the total ascesis, however, it is also expected that the subordinate clause bending to
the predicative field of the main clause, with all referential aspects which are
incorporated by it (causal, modal, attributive), to protect its first statute of the subjective
sentence which is engaged based on a principle: cause-effect.
The same positioning (partial-total) is attributed to determination af a
predicative subordinate clause, especially in a case of the engaged factor of logic,
illustrated/demonstrated by P. Butuc eloquently in two his works: The Engaged
Predicate of Romaninan Language (3) and Studies of Grammar and History in
Romanian Literary Language (4). The questions which bother us in this context are
related to syntactic joints of our language as the analitical-synthesizing part of grammar:
How does the entire content of a text answer to the structural understanding of parts of a

28
sentence? And how do the structural parts of a sentence as syntactic and semantic units
answer the whole syntaxologic and semasiological constituted content? If we intend to
develop an encipient sentence in a text, we will obtain the two completing parts of a text
completely: Fable-morality. And then we ask, what reaction, result will be after the
answer of the whole cover of the text in unequivocal fractals with reference “to the
actual moment, to modernity” ? “It is very hard to determine the place of employment”
of a concept in hystorical circuit of the sciences connected to language without so-called
procedure reporting to “the principle of historism to modernity”, (5, p.27) as the final
result. In other words, this is just the way where P. Butuc profiles his own figure of a
virtual researcher in Romanian grammar (with refernce to A. Ciobanu’s integral
portrait).
In general, besides the effects of logical-semantic and functional unit in an
ethical-aesthetic content, the full text will not rezist the method of emphatic analysis (1),
therefore the principle of general/global axyology(2) in format: value is respect.
Besides, referring to the problem of our preoccupations, the content interdependence of
the subordinate clause: subordonation-coordontion-regention demonstrate the
consubstantial eloquence in Șt. Găitănaru ’s attitudinal formula who called the book:
“The Copulative Verb is the main part of a subjective subordinate clause in construction
with the minimal main part (the main clause consisting only of the copulative verb). The
verbs: to be and to mean, the first one with pronominal subjective, the other one with
cojunctional one. Those sentences are built according to some fixed patterns, that
implies the presence of a predicative” (ibidem). Structural modalities in formulation of
experienced Șt. Găitănaru that are accepted by our practice intervene in the logic of
expressiveness of the language according to its measure of widening or narrowing of a
functional course of the text, even if the supposed mood, intuitive – felt of a lyrical hero
at the moment of meeting of the subjective subordinate conjunctive clause with many
aspectual valences: causal, temporal, conditional, is in evidence to an eventual
transformational analysis. In a fact, the significance of the subjective subordinate clause
in a composite sentence which depends on the general formula of determination of a
subject in involvement of the subject of the action, is rather intuited, materialized as the
direct answer to a simple question of determination the subject.
After typing the variants of axiological interdependence, we are close to
Eminescu’s sonnet “ And if”. At the moment of meeting, in the evening,…,have a
lover’s eternal feeling, full of yearning and wishes: “And if the branches are knocking at
the window/ And the poplars are trembling,/It is like I am thinking of you/And coming
close to you.//And if the stars are knocking at the lake/ Enlightning it very deep,/So I
can facilitate my pain/ Brightening my thought.// And if thick clouds go away/ And the
moon appears in a luster,/ It is like I remembered/ About you forevermore. Making
contrast, here, of the content of lines in “The Evening on the hill”, written by Eminescu,
we capture at a decisive moment that the verbal interjection: Ah! From the end,
expresses the state of an emotional explosion of a lyrical hero, who feels the limits of
total anesthesia of morality: “It is such a rich night, who would not give his life for it !?
Introversion-extraversion, commenting will be the following: Ah!-the verbal interjection
(produced by the first person who requires the Imperative Mood-provocative from the
second person-another one), to motivate the cause of the effect-“for such a rich night,
Who would not give his life!? By reverse, the answer is ready: it is the night that gives
me life. The interjection: Ah! expels the effect of the whole fictional field of the text
which is stooped on the corporeal interdependence: I (ego of reality) and Another ego (
Ego from the virtual world which I aspire for). In a complex content of values, of

29
course, the primacy belongs to lyrical me as and the unique agent, the activator of the
action. It is conceivable that the first four stanzas of the poem “The Evening on the hill”
depict only static picture of picturesque void. The explosive status of lyricism, through
the interjection Ah! erupts from the last phase with dynamic action: the end crowns the
work. The pictures of nature have the administrative-static character, as we emphasized,
at the level of the lyrical me. The action of blending fractals of subjects of quatrains,
arises latently, coordinating. The Present Tense, the third person of the predicate-verbs,
wearing the objective effects of the action for the lyrical ego, every time put the agent
into an action under the provocative influence. The interference subject-object of the
action has the effectiveness of the whole through completion in two final stanzas.
Besides the motive of the poem “The ivening on the hill” is the case of a pastelist poem,
if we remember the poems about nature written by V. Alecsandri, who helped the
exegete Mihai Cimpoi to detach “the strong will of synthesis” of a classic pastelist.
(6,paj.10).
It is the positioning which we solidarize with through specification of that
poppy “lonely red-faced poppy, sleeps deeply in other world”, directly or indirectly,
pulls of poetical nature in exposing the extraordinary sensitivity of an electrocuted
creator because of the natural energetic fairy in the native country, especially of the
song of a nightingale, which makes us feel its own efficiency. It is the model, by which
we detach from Eminescu’s way to admire the actors’ vital spectacle on a stage, through
remaining in the world of contemplation for a while after the end of a spectacle,
forgetting to state the presence through “stormy applause”. We focus on the generic
synthesizer: Heavens, and the earth transforms kisses through golden rys and cheerful
songs, returning to the lyrical ego, compared to V. Alecsandri’s figure, being in
continuous “showing the face” of a twin sublime (and all other descriptive reversals). In
this way we prove that Romanian Syntax in the range sentence-text ranks as the science
of correlational interdependence: The Functional Logical-Semantic Principle - The
Global Axiological Principle. Fiction itself is connected with reality and emotionality,
also belonging to the area of predicativity (at P. Butuc) and the area of subjectivity (Șt.
Găitănaru), through fabrication and nominating the subject of the action. (n.n.). In this
way the interdependence reality-fiction of Romanian Syntax is preceding for the
harmonized interrelation of those two key principles of building our spirit in a
sintxologic way of phenomenology.
We can say that = in every track: sentence-text, reported to the Functional
logical-semantic principle there the general/global axiologic principle (2) works in
complete continuity at the level of Coșeriu’s principle, of creativity and alterity (8), as
the nodal determinant point of grouting of functional course. Therefore the unity of
measure of evidence of axiologic finishing at the level of A word is determined/is found,
as we approve, in the principle of self-reconstructions-the principle of the sovereign
inward (7) of the exegete person in romanian cultural philosophy Mihai Cimpoi, who
settled between two principles of the identary interdependence:PLSF/ FLSP-The
functional logical-semantic principle and PAG/ GAP-The global axiologic principle. In
this bipolar aspect, the interdependence, at the level of this way to live some events, sew
the diligent way in the postmodernist/fictional-realictic poem (the motive for which the
symbolism of verticality of the lyrical course patronizes by revers) and of young Silvia
Goteanschi, where the main Gordian knot of self-building and self-representations can
be settled successfully only bu his Majesty author-agent of self-formation. All five
grafic nuclei of parallelism incline, “at a climax moment” of resolving on the pointe,
vis-a-vis to which observation and synthesis are available for the creative-autoanalytical

30
person: A cobra waves through my face as I sing/ a flute for it/ like an alluring rope
between earth and heaven./ And then I,/let catch eyelid by eyelid, without
explanations.//And that is all./ Nor the branches swaying in the wind,/will not catch me,
not at all,/I will jump.//The Evil says/-The mad girl, wants to die easily!/The Angel
says:-She wants to talk to God, worthless!//But, nothing,/because I did not yet
decide.//And so on, until one beautiful day,/Alexander the Great crosses the street,
comes/to me,/wonders and says to me below his breath:/-I have not seen such a
Gordian knot in my life (12,p.28). There are many multiple forms of interdependence:
binary, partial, total, as it is proved by varied textual manifestations that belong to
Professor Șt. Găitănaru, bringing the light at a moment of position of subjective area in
syntax: of the grammatical subject, of the subjective subordinative clause, revealing the
creative style on the edge of a word. We offer, in relation to the effects of the general-
global principle, reported to reality, which always characterizes us , to find and to
develop the axiologic nodal point in the same context of feeling: Șt. Găitănaru – Petru
Butuc in the individualized interpretation (subjectivity-predicativity). Șt. Găitănru,
carrying behind the whole exercise/burden of „Romanian scripts”, that are husked in the
inner fire of the registered mentality in the linguistic field. (M. Avram, V.Guțu Romalo,
Gh. Constantinescu-Dobridor, C. Dumitriu,...)
On the one hand, there is the eloquence of the principle of historism (with P.
Butuc), on the other hand there is the same principle of historism, with ponder of
gravity, condensed in varied forms of the engaged predicate, being hardly influenced by
the school in Prague (F .Saussure, E. Coșeriu, R.A.Budagov, A. Ciobanu ...). The regent
factor of interdependence (subjectivity-predictivity) arouses interest in this
investigational field at the sentence-local and the total level of the text. If at the prosaic
level, the enlightening factor of outpouring of the essence in the content is that of the
lyrical hero alike “the mystery, hidden in a word”, then at the prosaic level the
substitutional supremacy belongs/must belong to the summative subject of a work, the
word as the protagonist of the action, the word as “the mystery” of protection of
identity. It is done in order to convince that the initial factor of force of the
interdependence in a text should always belong to the Word, like the modality
separately to have something to say. The identitary way of the truth, at the line of the
transcedence of a being into something more than a being, should be firstly that of
constructive deliberations; the request of the right to life through free will, including the
eloquent case – Șt.Găitănaru – the subject of the work anticipates the author’s will...

Instead of conclusions

If we realize the fact that the sonority of a word, the sonority of every living on
Earth nation’s language, are pertinent for the speech of the ensemble of musical spheres,
by the interdependent manifestation we are close to the theoretizations of the German
musician Hugo Riemann(1849-1919),who, in relation to the semnification of the term
Syntax, makes the following remark:
1. Syntax is a science of realization of great musical forms, emphasizing the
harmonic evolution inside these forms. Opposed to the synthetic spirit of
analysis, etc. combined in an unified and systematic vision, including the
elements of microstructure ( see: the structure: cell-word-phrase, syntactic
nucleus, motive, leitmotif, period…), what serves as a base of
conceptualization of forms, and the proper grammatical virtues, may be close
to the current structuralist researchers.

31
 2. The actual signification of the term Syntax refers to the relations that establish
between the sonorous objects, being able to be examined from two
perspectives: the abstract and the real ones. The abstract syntax does not refer
to the nature of the sonorous objects, it is the base of the formal concept in
music; it operates with two coordonative characters: successive and
simultaneous. Real syntax depends on the nature of the objects that are
correlated and averttising the plurality of appearance, attested by the existing
cultures, epochs and styles, being defined as a particular case of abstract
syntax.

What was intended to demonstrate in the limits of here and now, at the level of the
syntaxologic assembly is related with contribution of every national and universal
prestigious celebrity at the evidence of the reckless truth through which a soul sings
continuance.

Bibliography
Botezatu, Liuba. Sintaxa afectivă și metoda analizei emfatice, în: «Актыуальные проблемы
лингвистики и лингводидактики…», Сonferință Internațională, Comrat, 17 aprilie, 2015.
Botezatu, Liuba. The principle of global axiology and the bipolarized adequacy of theâunique
„DATUM”.Educational Alternatives, Volume 12, 2014, p. 1137-1162, http://www.scientific-
publications.net/en/article/1000600.
Butuc, Petru. Predicatul angrenat în limba română, Ed.Iulian, Chișinău, 2004.
Butuc, Petru. Studii de gramatică și istorie a limbii române literare , Chișinău, 2012.
Butuc, Petru, Concepții lingvistico -filozofice promovate de Anatol Ciobanu in Limba Română,
Nr.2 (224), 2014.
Cimpoi, Mihai, Mari scriitori români: medalioane literare, ed.III-a, Silvius Libris.
Cimpoi, Mihai, Nichita Stănescu:logocentrism și ontocentrism - tăcerile și plăcerile textului ,
Literatura și Arta, Nr.15, 2015.
Coşeriu, E., Linguistique historique et histoire des langues, în „Communication & Cognition”,
1992, vol. 25, no. 2-3, p. 191-198.
Ciobanu, Anatol, Sintaxa și Semantica , Chișinău, Ed. Știința, 1987.
Găitănaru, Ștefan, Subiectul și propoziția subordonată subiectivă , Pitești, Tiparg, 2012.
Găitănaru, Ștefan, Sintaxa limbii române, Editura Tiparg, 2012.
Goteanschi, Silvia, Jackspot, moment climax, in SEMN, Anul XV, NR.2012, p.284.
Riemann, H., Musikalische Syintaxis, 1877.
Бахтин М.М. Проблема текста в лингвистике, филологии и других гуманитарных
науках.Опыт философского анализа / М.М. Бахтин, М.: Искусство, 1979.

32
 DEIXIS AND VOICE IN THE ROMANIAN POSTMODERN
POETRY

Beatrice Diana BURCEA

Abstract: The present article tackles present problems in the field of pragmatics,
namely the deixis phenomenon. Expression of inter-subjectivity, the deixis has the ability to get
instituted into the enunciation subject and to structure the enunciation space. In the first part of
the study, the theoretical representative positions are being presented in a synthetic manner. The
second part presents the deictic projection implications on the post-modern poetic text: the
dialogism of the enunciative voices, the reported speech etc.
Keywords:deixis, enunciation, voice.

1. Introduction

Les études sur la subjectivité du langage – Émile Benveniste (1966), Catherine

Kerbrat-Orecchioni (1980), Levinson (1983), Jean Cervoni (1987), John Lyons (1995),
Mieke Bal (1997) – ont accordé une attention particulière au phénomen du deixis. Situé
au carrefour de la sémantique et de la pragmatique, il met en lumière la relation entre le
langage et le contexte.
Les études spécialisées en deixis donne au concept un rôle important dans
l’organisation pragmatique du discours. Dans le domaine de l’énonciation, on remarque
la relation fondamentale entre l’indicateur et le moment du discours. Dans la poésie
postmoderne, les déictiques contribuent à l’institution des voix liriques. En
reconsidérant la subjectivité déictique, le texte postmoderne amplifie la convention de
jeu de l’énonciation.
Dans cette étude, nous proposons une double approche – théorique et pratique
– sur le deixis et la voix, mettant l’accent sur plusieurs valences sémantiques.

2. Paradigmes théoriques

Considéré comme l’interférence entre pragmatiques et sémantiques, le deixis

met à jour la relation entre le langage et le contexte.Oswald Ducrot et Jean-Marie
Schaeffer (1996: 89-90) distinguent deux types de pragmatique: d’une part, l’étude de
tout pragmatique par rapport à l’énoncé, et, d’autre part, l’étude de tout pragmatique
par rapport à la situation du discours.
Le premier type de pragmatique semble se préoccuper de „ceea ce se adaugă în
afara frazelor limbii” (idem: 90). Le deuxième type de pragmatique étudie le
changement dans l’énoncé „prin discursul însuși” (idem: 91). Entre les deux il y a un
point similaire: elles étudient la construction du monde par le discours. En ce qui
concerne les relations entre la représentation sémantique et pragmatique des choses à été
observé que cela entraîne „stabilirea unor relații intersubiective în discurs” ( ibidem).
Dans cette perspective, les linguistiques parlent souvent d’une composante sémantique-
pragmatique.


University of Craiova, diana_burcea@yahoo.com

33
 Prenant la classification du B. Hansson (1974), Françoise Armengaud insiste
sur le trois types de pragmatique:

La pragmatique du premier degré est l’étude des symboles indexicaux [...]. La

pragmatique du second degré est l’étude de la manière dont la proposition exprimée est
reliée à la phrase prononcée [...]. La pragmatique du troisième degré est la théorie des
actes de langages (Armengaud 1993: 47).

Dans cette étude, nous avons l’intention d’aborder certains aspects théoriques
et pratiques de la pragmatique de premier degré.
La complexité du phénomène a soulevée à la fois l’intérêt des philosophes, des
psychologues, des linguistes, sans être en mesure de dire qu’ils ont épuisé la variété des
problèmes controversées. Les noms établis pour déictiques1 montrent l’intérêt constant
pour l’organisation pragmatique du discours.
En définissant les déictiques, Georges Kleiber a déclaré qu’il y avait deux
développements importants à l’origine de la linguistique:

[...] l’abrogation du dogme saussurien langue-discours, avec le cap mis sur les terres de
l’énonciation, et l’avènement de la pragmatique par l’élargissement de la sémantique
vériconditionnelle aux phrases hébergeant les déictiques (1986: 4).

Les déictiques ont été considérés comme des expressions dont le référent est
déterminé uniquement par rapport aux interlocuteurs (Ducrot, Todorov, 1972: 323). Ces
mots – pronoms personnels de première et deuxième personnes, les pronoms
démonstratifs, les adverbes de temps, adverbes de lieu – ont la qualité d’inclure le
monde du locuteur dans le discours de l’autre. Le phénomène a été comprise de
différentes manières par les chercheurs.
Les approches théoriques mettent en lumière deux grandes orientations: d’une
part, l’orientation américaine (Yehoshua Bar-Hillel) et d’autre part, l’orientation
continentale (Émile Benveniste). Les recherches de Ch.S.Peirce2 ont réfléchi sur les
études de Bar-Hillel. En considérant le signe comme occurence et non le type, Bar-
Hillel définit les déictiques comme “indexical expressions”. Cette terminologie est
justifiée par le fait que les déictiques impliquent „o asociere existențială a unui semn cu
realitatea reprezentată” (Ionescu-Ruxăndoiu, 1999: 84). Dans son articles, Indexical
Expressions, (1954, [2001]), en tenant compte des approches logiques et philosophiques
de Russell et Reichenbach, Yehoshua Bar-Hillel propose de considérer le contexte
pragmatique, l’acte de l’énonciation. La pensée européenne à été influencée par les
études de Benveniste sur la subjectivité du langage. Selon Benveniste, les déictiques
sont étroitement liées à l’exercice de la langue. Les indicateurs je et tu sont actualisé au
moment du discours; le langage ne fournit que des signes «vide» par rapport à la réalité:

Limbajul a rezolvat această problemă prin crearea unui ansamblu de semne goale, fără
referent în realitate, oricând la îndemână și care devin pline de îndată ce un locutor și le
asumă în fiecare instanță a discursului său (Benveniste 2000, I: 242).

1
Index (Ch. S. Peirce), egocentric particular (B. Russell), indicator (N. Goodman), shifters
(Jakobson), indexical expression (Bar-Hillel), token-reflexive word (H. Reichenbach).
2
C.S.Peirce suggère une distinction entre type / occurence et symbole / index.

34
 Dans ses recherches sur les déictiques, Émile Benveniste a inclus mots et
expressions qui donnent le temps, l’espace, les formes verbales. Il a accordé une
attention particulière au rôle des pronoms dans la communication intersubjective. Les
formes pronominales réalisent la conversion du langage en discours. Si Benveniste
estime déictiques une manifestation du discours dans le langage, Roman Jakobson,
cependant, met en évidence la nature particulière de cette classe d’unités grammaticales
(traduction française: embrayeurs), auxquelles ils attachent leur propre sens général:
«Ainsi je désigne le destinateur (et tu le destinataire) du message auquel il appartient»
(Jakobson, 1963: 179).
La thèse de Benveniste sur les formes déictiques comme vide est rejetée par
Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni. La linguistique estime déictiques:

[...] les unités linguistiques dont le fonctionnement sémantico-référentiel implique une

prise en considération de certains des éléments constitutifs de la situation de
communication, à savoir le rôle que tiennent dans le procès d’énonciation les actants de
l’énoncé, la situation spatio-temporelle du locuteur, et éventuellement de l’allocutaire
(1980: 36).

Contrairement aux unités non déictiques possedant, en langue, un denotatum

relativement stable, les unités déictiques ne possèdent pas, en langue, de denotatum
spécifiable, même si elles reçoivent bien en discours un référent spécifique (idem: 37).
Georges Kleiber aborde polémiquement la question des déictiques, rejetant la théorie
française sur leur sens adescriptiv. S’ils n’avaient pas de sens, on devrait pouvoir les
utiliser n’importe comment. De son point de vue, la thèse d’un sens déictique non
conceptuel lui paraît-elle fondamentalement erronée:

La partie descriptive que comportent les déictiques fournit, non pas l’identification
particulière du référent visé, mais joue le role d’un filtre: elle élimine tel ou tel type de
référents possible de la situation d’énonciation (Kleiber 1986: 9).

La complexité du phénomène n’a rien de nouveau pour les chercheurs de

différentes régions linguistiques. Dans les études roumaines, le deixis est considéré
„ansamblul modalităților de expresie care asigură ancorarea mesajului lingvistic (enunț)
în situația de comunicare în care este produs” (Gorăscu 2005, II: 635) . Il est nécessaire
de se référer au contexte déictique. Il implique un centre déictique: locuteur, le moment
du discours et le lieu où la communication se produit. Les déictiques comme des unités
de la langue et du discours permettent l’activité discursive lui-même.
La typologie du deixis attire l’attention sur diverses approches. Stephen C.
Levinson a effectué une interprétation descriptive du deixis imposant ses trois
catégories traditionnelles: la personne, le temps et le lieu de l’énonciation. Plus tard, il a
ajouté le deixis discursive (textuel) et le deixis sociale. Dans la ligne d’Émile
Benveniste, la classification tripartite, traditionnelles, est également assimilée par
Catherine Kerbrat-Orecchioni (1999: 78). Ceci est en accord avec Dieter Wunderlich
qui donne la priorité à certains éléments nécessaires qui entrent dans la formulation des
conditions de vérité: la personne, le temps et le lieu de l’énonciation. (Wunderlich,
1972: 37).
La recherche roumaine dans ce domaine utilise plusieurs critères de
classification. Dans les études spécialisées, outre les trois catégories traditionnelles sont

35
acceptée le deixis discursiv (textuel), sociale et descriptive. (Gorăscu 2005, II: 635-655).
Il y a aussi des opinions différentes. Liliana Ionescu-Ruxăndoiu estime le deixis
personnel et sociale comme „deixis de rol” (1999:106).
Au-delà des controverses inhérentes à un phénomène complexe, le deixis reste
le facteur fondamental permettant l’organisation pragmatique du discours.

3. Deixis et la voix dans la poésie roumaine postmoderne

Du point de vue d’Émile Benveniste, l’énonciation implique la présence du

locuteur, du co-locuteur et de la référence. Dans l’acte de la communication, chaque
locuteur peut devenir co-locuteur, la reference étant perçu comme faisant partie de
l’énonciation.
Dans son étude, L’appareil formel de l’énonciation, Émile Benveniste estime
que l’appareil formel de l’énonciation comprend: indices de personne, indices de
désignation et temps verbales (1970: 14-15). A partir de cette structure tripartite, nous
n’avons souligné dans ce document que certains aspects sur les indices de la personne.
Le terme je se refère à celui qui produit l’énonciation. Le terme tu se réfère à
l’alocuteur. La relation eu – tu n’est possible que dans le cadre de l’énonciation. Le
linguiste française estime que ces formes pronominales ne se réfèrent pas à la réalité
comme elles n’envoient pas aux positions objectives dans le temps et l’espace. Elles
visent l’énonciation dans laquelle se produisent. L’énonciation est à chaque fois unique.
(Benveniste 2000, I: 242). Les indicateurs eu et tu sont mis à jour dans l’activité
discursive. La troixième personne est considérée par Benveniste non-personne. Elle a la
capacité de combiner toute référence d’objet. Par la suite, cette personne est associée à
un concept négative parce qu’elle ne se réfère pas nécessairement aux participants du
contexte de l’énonciation. Contrairement la première et la deuxième personnes sont
considérées comme des membres positifs de la catégorie de personnes (Lyons 1995:
311).
Les remarques d’Émile Benveniste ont eu un impact majeur dans linguistique
de l’énonciation. Ainsi celui qui initie un discours assume trois rôles simultanément: le
sujet parlant (présence dans le monde), l’énonciateur (centre déictique de l’énonciation)
et l’autor (responsable des actes de la parole) (Maingueneau 2008: 167). L’idée que le
locuteur n’est pas une notion équivoque a été accentuée par la recherche de Ducrot sur
l’énonciation et la polyphonie.
La question de l’ethos, à son tour, a générée l’intérêt des anciens et des
modernes. Les considération d’Aristote sur l’ethos se référe au caractère moral d’image
de l’orateur: „caracterul, putem spune, constituie cea mai eficientă dintre probe”
(Aristotel 2004: 91). On remarque aussi la nature persuasive du discours.
Tiré de la rhétorique argumentative, le concept de l’ethos est évalué à
pragmatique littéraire. Oswald Ducrot interprète la notion d’ethos du point de vue
pragmatique. Il met en lumière la différence entre «dire» et «dit» de «dire» et
«montrer»:

Dans ma terminologie, je dirai que l’ethos est attaché a L, le locuteur en tant que tel: c’est
en tant que source de l’énonciation qu’il se voit affublé de certains caractères qui, par
contre coup, rendent cette énonciation acceptable ou rebutante (Ducrot, 1984: 201).
Dominique Maingueneau analyse l’ethos par rapport de l’acte de l’énonciation.
Il distingue entre ethos discursif et ethos prediscursif. (Maingueneau , 2007: 238 ) .

36
Pour linguiste, les études sur l’ethos ont un importance majeure pour les textes
littéraires:

Departe de a fi rezervat oratorilor, ethos-ul este implicat în scriitură în mod constant:

textele nu pot fi separate de o anume voce, de un anume ton. De când există comentarii
despre literatură au existat eforturi de caracterizare a acestei dimensiuni, fie doar și sub
forma unor aluzii (Maingueneau 2008: 177).

Dominique Maingueneau continue des commentaires sur l’ethos de Oswald

Ducrot. Il les élargit à tout type de discours. La compréhension du texte par rapport de
l’énonciation confirme l’idée que le sujet du texte est un sujet linguistique, „persoană ce
reiese din discurs” (2008: 175).
Émile Benveniste fait une distinction entre locuteur et énonciateur ce qui a eu
des conséquences sur les recherches ultérieures. Les œuvres poétiques postmodernes ont
exploité la multiplication de la personne discursive. Ainsi la voix lyrique reçoit une
marque distincte. Le jeu énonciatif encourage les poètes expérimenter les projection
déictiques. Les voix lyriques sont en concurrence. Parmi les modalités de création du
texte poétique postmoderne, il y a une préférence pour jouer conversation réelles ou
imaginaires.
L’impact majeur des théories d’Émile Benveniste sur la compréhension de
textes littéraires a conduit à de nouvelles orientations, telles que pragmatique. Leur
pertinence a générée sources de créativité.
Dans la littérature, le concept de subjectivité a établi de nouvelles façons de
comprendre le texte. Le deixis et l’ethos enrichissent la typologie de l’ego dans le
discours.
Dans la poésie roumaine postmoderne, Liviu Ioan Stoiciu enrichissent la scène
de l’énonciation par divers procédés poétique. La perspective polyphonique maintient
l’illusion de l’authenticité.
Le poème Evoe!1, par Liviu Ioan Stoiciu (2002: 332-347) exacerbe la distance
entre le moment de l’énonciation et l’hypostase lyrique imaginaire. Les grandes
séquences épiques présentent l’épopée de l’âme fasciné par l’aventure mythologique. Le
jeu imaginaire a été déclenché par le professeur à la retraite passionné de mythologie
grecque. La parodique est réalisée en ajustant la figuration mythologique au temps de la
référence2.
L’incipit annonce le jeu de l’imagination. Il est maintenue dans la structure
énonciative du texte: „STĂ TABLA, acoperită cu ceară, înscrisă, numai literă / greacă,
stă pasăre cu pește în cioc, antică, / jumătate femeie, încremenită: ă...mă, copii, iz- /
vorul, spunea bătrânul nostru, fum, pensionar, pro- / fesorul, izvorul vieții a / fost
întunericul... ă... la început domnea / visul, un haos... (și aici făcea o pauză, lungă... /
[...] / și fiindcă tot tăcea, îmi / pierdeam răbdarea și silabiseam:) pâ -clă, bre, vezi, e / tot
cantonul...(cantonul 248, haltă / CFR...) și desfășuram pielea de bou, a lirei / și
lustruiam, ostentativ, în fața lui, carapacele ei / de broască țestoasă (acordând apoi
corzile, din măruntaie / de oaie, prinse în două brațe, de / o vergea de trestie, cu foarte
mare atenție...)” (Stoiciu 2002: 332).
En l’absence de verbes performatifs, la projection imaginaire est soutenue par
de structures nominales: „(domnea) / visul, un haos...” (ibidem). L’imparfaite irréelle

1
Le texte est inséré au volume Antologia poeziei generației 80 par Alexandru Mușina (2002)
2
Dans la terminologie de Meibauer (1999).

37
délimite le sujet énonciateur de sa propre image projetée dans le monde intertextuelle.
La projection anaphorique exprime la concurrence des voix. L’appel à la fonction
phatique et référentielle permet la distinction entre le sujet de l’énonciation et le sujet
énoncé.
Tout au long du texte, l’attitude énonciative permet un jeu pragmatique de
lecteur. Du spectacle imaginative, nous approchons seulement un fragment significatif
pour la projection déictique. Le sujet de l’énonciation met en lumière l’âme depuis
l’enfance, fortement influence par des intrusions mythologiques. Dans le texte, les
éléments de la référence („câmpia”, „cantonul”) glissent dans le jeu de l’horizon et de
l’eau fantastique „care / deformează obiectele (și le transformă / în vin, grâu și
untdelemn [...])” (idem: 338). Le sujet lyrique est doublé d’authorial ego ce qui assume
les insertions métatextuelles: „O IMAGINE A SUFLETULUI meu, din copilărie, este /
și câmpia, numai miraj, din jurul cantonului, pe arșiță, / când vezi așa, până la orizon, o
linie de plutire, nu / știu cum să spun, o apă fantastică, limpede, care / deformează
obiectele (și le transformă / în vin, grâu și untdelemn... este?...)” (ibidem). L’authorial
ego utilise la function phatique pour créer l’illusion du pacte avec le lecteur. Se fondant
sur la gratuité essentiellement ludique de la projection imaginative, le sujet lyrique
ouvre la perspective de figurations mythologiques : „[...] aici, Triton, / jumătate om,
jumătate pește, sună din goarnă, de cochilie și / stârnește furtunile / magnetice iar tatăl
său, Po- / seidon, tras de cai de mare, în car alb, peste / valuri, înconjurat de delfini, stă /
rege, în mână cu tridentul său, numai / cutremur... aici, / corăbiile, cu nouă pereche de
vâsle (trăgeau doi, pe / o bancă), au ciocuri de bronz și / cine coboară, pe scări, din el e, /
scoate purpură / din scoici...” (ibidem).
La projection énonciative est interrompue par les séquences allusives à la
réalité: („SALUT, argonauți!”... strigam eu, în fântână, dacă eram / trimis să scot apă,
de mama, la prânz”; „[...] în / vis, sărea în sus / cantoniereasa și eu și mai și / strigam:
salut, bă și vouă, zei de râu, cu trestie pe cap... era o căldură!”; „și, după ce, ai mei /
strângeau masa, mă moleșeam, așa și stăteam cu / ochii nicăieri, la orizon, dus și...
vedeam iar / ciclopul, cu o / carte, de magie, în buzunar”; „[...] îmi apăreai tu, sirenă, cu
chip de soră mai mare”) (idem: 339). Les séquences mythologiques („argonauți”, „zei”,
„ciclopul”, „sirenă”) favorise le changement de perspective. Elles enrichissent le plan
symbolique du sujet énonciateur. Dans ce contexte, l’authorial ego est une voix
distincte; la figuration mythologique est fortement minées: „(când venea ea, acasă, / să
mănânce, de pe câmp)”; „lâna (de aur?... de unde...)”; „pe berbec (unul, al / picherului,
legat de gard, în drum, să pască în șanț: / pe el călăream eu)”; „să / mă culci (că / dormi
pe picioare, bă...)”. Le temps de la référence est différent du temps de la communication
ce qui permet d’interférence des voix: „strigam eu”; „nu zbura, mă, băiete”; „salut, bă și
vouă, zei de râu”; „auzeam, în interiorul meu, un huiet”; „(că / dormi pe picioare,
bă...)”. Certains éléments de la référence réele („fântâna”, „mama”, „berbecul”,
„picherul”, „cantoniereasa”, „ai mei”, „sora mai mare”) se trouvent dans la projection
énonciative: („berbecul”, „cantoniereasa”, „sora mai mare”).
L’atitude énonciative rétrospective crée fente d’ambiguïté. Le lecteur oscille
entre proximité et éloignement du monde possible du texte. Formé dans le jeu
pragmatique, l’authorial ego interrompit l’énonciation: „[...] iar / se ciocnesc stâncile
(Simplegade), ziceam și amorțeam, / tot cu gândul, ăhă... la o vră - / jitoare, legată, pe
plajă, în coarnele unui taur, sălbatic, nu?...”; „[...] până când, în / sfârșit, îmi apăreai tu,
sirenă, cu / chip de soră mai mare, Melă și / cu trup de pasăre, să / mă culci (că / dormi
pe picioare, bă...) obligatoriu, după / amiază / (hă)” (ibidem). La relation avec l’altérité
est tendues: „nu / zbura, mă, băiete, pe el”; „(că dormi pe picioare, bă)”.

38
 Dans la projection imaginaire, l’imparfait („strigam”, „luam”, „fugeam”,
„sărea”, „stăteam”, „vedeam”, „auzeam”, „ziceam”, „amorțeam”, „apăreai”) rend
difficile la distinction entre l’énoncé et l’énonciation par des verbes dicendi („strigam”,
„ziceam”). Les mêmes verbes maintiennent l’idée d’un référent circulaire. Dans le
même temps, ils introduisent le discours directe rapporté: „SALUT, argonauți!”; „nu
zbura, mă, băiete, pe el”; „salut, bă și vouă, zei de râu, cu trestie pe cap...”. L ’absence
des signes graphiques – dialogue en ligne, des citations –crée l’impression d’un
continuum verbale. Il y a aussi une séquence de discours indirect rapporté: „că dormi pe
picioare, bă...”. Il semble un locuteur qui prennent l’entière énonciation. La polyphonie
permet d’apporter le discours poétique de l’oralité. La concurrence des voix eu – tu
marque l’interférence dialogique. Dans ce poème, il y a des séquences de discours
affectif directe rapporté („era o căldură”...”). C’est une façon évocatrice. L’alternance
des voix, l’insertion mythologique, l’absence de signes graphiques maintiennent
l’ambiguïté déictiques énonciative, spatiale, temporelle. En ce qui concerne la
représentation, le centre référentiel inclue les déictiques de la personne, du temps et de
l’espace. L’interférence des projections – réelles et mythologiques – est abandonnée à la
fin du fragment par l’appel à la fonction référentielle: „să / mă culci [...] / obligatoriu,
după / amiază”.
L’invention poétique, le jeu pragmatique ont un impact significatif sur l’acte
énonciatif. La projection déictique est accompagnée par un flux émotionnel.
L’imagination poétique est amplifiée et l’aspect prosodique est minimisé.
Le texte de Liviu Ioan Stoiciu reconsidère les éléments poétiques par rapport à la
projection déictiques. La dimension énonciative enrichit avec de nouvelles
significations l’imagerie poétique.

4. Le deixis est situé à l’interférence entre pragmatique et sémantique. Les études

spécialisées parlent de l’existence de deux (Oswald Ducrot et Jean-Marie Schaeffer) ou
trois types de pragmatique (Françoise Armengaud).
Dans cette étude, nous avons mis l’accent sur les aspects de la pragmatique du
premier degré. Dans la définition de la deixis, on a observé une grande affinité pour les
deux directions principales de l’évolution linguistique, à savoir influencé par Ch.
S.Peirce et influencé par Émile Benveniste.
Les différents noms – index, egocentric particular, indicator, shifters,
indexical expression, token-reflexive word – démontrent la complexité du phénomène.
Les déictiques ont un rôle important dans l’organisation pragmatique du discours. En
définissant ces unité linguistiques, certains chercheurs ont examiné le contexte
pragmatique, l’acte d’énonciation, d’autres ont souligné le lien avec l’exercice du
langage.
Du point de vue typologique, il y a six grandes catégories de deixis: personnel,
spatial, temporel, discursive (textuelles), sociale, «descriptif». Dans la linguistique
roumain il y a les trois catégories traditionnelles, d’autres sont acceptée par certains
chercheurs.
Dans l’énonciation, il y a une relation essentielle entre indicateur et le context
du discours. Comme expression de l’intersubjectivité, les déictiques sont liée à des
éléments de la situation de communication: les actants, le temps, et l’espace. Dans la
littérature, les déictiques aident à l’identifications des voix lyrique. À cet égard, les
marques grammaticales de la personne ont un rôle fondamental. En ce qui concerne
l’acte d’énonciation, l’ethos a aussi un rôle essentiel. Les textes sont tributaires d’une
certaine voix.

39
 La poésie postmoderne abonde en jeux pragmatiques. Dans le texte Evoe ! par
Liviu Ioan Stoiciu l’interférence dialogique est marquée par la concurrence des voix eu
– tu. La polyphonie approche le discours poétique de registre de l’oralité. Locuteur
assume toute énonciation par la présence du discours direct rapporté et par la discours
indirect rapporté. La projection déictique a réalisée une métamorphose de la subjectivité
poétique.

Bibliographie
Aristotel, Retorica, traducere de Maria-Cristina Andrieș, IRI, București, 2004
Armengaud, F., La pragmatique, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1985
Bar-Hillel, Y., „Indexical expressions”, în Vlad Alexandrescu (ed.), Pragmatique et Théorie de
l’énonciation. Choix de textes, pp. 216-232, Editura Universității, București, 2001
Benveniste, É., Probleme de lingvistică generală, I, traducere de Lucia Magdalena
Dumitru,Teora, București, 2000
Ducrot, O., Le Dire et le Dit, Minuit, Paris, 1984
Ducrot, O., Schaeffer, J.-M., Noul dicționar e nciclopedic al științelor limbajului , Babel,
București, 1996
Ducrot, O., Todorov, Tz., Dictionnaire encyclopédique des sciences du langage, Editions du
Seuil, Paris, 1972
Gorăscu, A. „Deixis”, în Valeria Guțu Romalo (coord.), Gramatica limbii române, II, Editura
Academiei Române, București, 2005
Ionescu-Ruxăndoiu, L., Conversația. Structuri și strategii , ediția a II-a (revăzută), ALL,
București, 1999
Jakobson, R. Essais de linguistique générale, I, Les Editions de Minuit, Paris, 1963
Kerbrat-Orecchioni, C., L’énonciation de la subjectivité dans le langage, Armand Colin, Paris,
1980 [1999]
Levinson, C. St., Pragmatics, University Press, Cambridge, 1983
Lyons, J. Introducere în lingvistica teoretică, traducere de Alexandra Cornilescu și Ioana
Ștefănescu, Editura Științifică, București 1995
Maingueneau, D., Discursul Literar, traducere de Nicoleta Loredana Moroșan, Institutul
European, Iași, 2007
Maingueneau, D., Lingvistică pentru textul literar, traducere de Ioana-Crina Coroi și Nicoleta
Loredana Moroșan, Institutul European, Iași, 2008
Manoliu-Manea, M., Gramatică, pragmasemantică și discurs , Litera, București, 1993

Resurse electronice
Benveniste, É., „L’appareil formel de l’énonciation”, 1970, Langages, 17 : 12-13,
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/lgge, accesat în 10 iulie 2015.
Kleiber, G., „Déictiques, embrayeurs, token-réflexives, symboles indexicaux etc.: comment les
définir?”, 1986, L’Information Grammaticale, 30: 3-32,
http://www.persee.fr./web/revues/home/prescript/article/igram, accesat în 15 iulie 2015.
Wunderlich, D. „Pragmatique, situation d’énonciation et deixis”, 1972, Langages, 26: 34-58,
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/lgge, accesat în 17 iulie 2015.

Surse
Mușina, A., Antologia poeziei generației 80 , ediția a II -a, Aula, Brașov, 2002

40
 ALEXANDRU A. PHILIPPIDE AND THE POETICS OF
NEGATIVITY

Gabriela CRĂCIUN

Abstract: The study focuses on the negative structures that pervade Alexandru
Philippide’s poetry. Starting his lyrism in a romantic tone, Philippide goes through the phases of
deconstructing the individual until its modern extinction. The romantic is deconstructed through
language techniques, through negative structures which reveal the negation of the soul, a modern
theme among modernists.
Keywords: Philippide, negativity, modernism.

Being a modernist poet with works that tend to shine just like Blaga’s wonders,
Alexandru Philippide appears in front of the critics as a coin with two faces. A lot of his
reviewers placed him, especially at the beginning, among the romantics or the neo-
romantics. Others placed him among symbolists. Expressionist and classicist influences
were also noticed throughout his poetry. This blending of literary attitudes was
eventually encapsulated in the hourglass of modernism.
Alexandru Philippide places his works on a descendent trajectory. If the poems
from the beginning are ascensional thanks to the creator’s great dreams, the later poems
will swamp into a negation of the self, where the soul will become unknown to the
lyrical ego, being alienated from the host human being.
The debut in poetry with Aur sterp established Philippide as being a neo-
romantic with eminescian aspirations. The dream of reaching the stars, the attempt of
becoming alike with the divinity and the yearning for eternity place the poet in the
position of Eminescu’s inheritor.

As Luciferus appears in Eminescu’s mythos as the poetic genius, the same way
(but – fortunately – with no allegorical intentions that are too precise, no
autobiographical symbolisms) in Philippide’s poetry, the poet’s condition is
represented through the projections of exile in the absolute. (Balotă, 1974:11) (our
translation, G. C.)

The attitude that outlines the first of Philippide’s works is a positive one, being
loaded with optimism and its derivatives: dream, hope, euphoric singing. The lyrical
ego’s optimism is linguistically expressed through affirmative verbs or through nouns,
whose meaning is a positive one, such as: “soare”, “vis”, “lumină”: “Și lumînarea, nară
de lumină,/ Soarbe/ Dinspre fereastră umbra nopții oarbe.//” (Melodie)
The optimistic attitude that covers the first poems of the volume Aur sterp,
transcribes a romantic vision, where the lyrical ego dedicates himself to contemplating
the nature, running through the onirical space holding hope in his soul.
The optimism of the poet from Iași is on short term, being gradually
diminished until its extinction. Lucidity replaces dream, sense takes the place of hope
and the lyrical ego goes through a deconstruction of his anima.


University of Piteș ti, gabrielacraciun90@yahoo.com

41
 By deconstructing the individual, placing him in the middle of contradictions,
Philippide manages to create a hamletian lyrical ego, always oscilating between being
and not being, between estranging his own soul and calling it back, between dreaming
and staying lucid.
The deconstruction of the self becomes feasible through the usage of various
negative structures reflected on a grammatical, lexical and morfo-syntactical level.
The negativity noticeable at formal level stylistically translates a sharp
pessimism born from the suffering of a lyrical ego whose dreams become unattainable
between the limits of the world surrounding him.
Lucidity answers the poet’s need of removing his soul and his dream
altogether.
The negativity found in verses within the structure of verbs, pronouns, negative
adverbs and even nouns with a negative value, is the way through which the poet
outlines and emphasizes the feeling of not belonging to a group, the incapacity of
performing something, the refuse to write in the style imposed by the epoch, the society,
the wish of being different among the others: “Calling and rejecting the universe,
craving for people and rejecting them when they are encountered, is the dialectic of
Alexandru Philippide’s poetry.” (Arion, 1982:13) (our translation, G.C.)
Negativity appears in Philippide’s poetry as a way of knowing the self.
Searching, finding and estranging the soul are self-knowledge exercises that the modern
individual assigns himself. Precisely like a creator, the lyrical ego deconstructs himself,
subsequently reconstructing himself for a short-term reunion with the soul.
For Philippide, everything is ephemeral and each thing or concept is doubtful.
The modern spirit is meant to dissect enigmas, beliefs, ideas, or to dissect himself in his
attempt of self-defining. This is what explains , “Philippide’s pleasure of contradicting
himself, of showing himself under different faces, cancelling what he had earlier
stated”(idem, p. 10) (our translation, G.C.)
In Philippide’s poetry, negativity appears the most often under the shape of
negating the verb. This frequency is justified, given the fact that the verb phrase is the
most important part of a sentence. “The proper verbal negation has the character of a
grammatical category specific to the verb” (Dominte, 2003:55) (our translation, G. C.)
The proper verbal negation appears at Philippide as being part of various
moods: indicative, conjunctive, optative and imperative.
The negation at the indicative mood frequently appears at present tense. The
first-person singular verbs outline the poet’s incapacity of living in the decor of a
society where he feels absent, as well as a visible indolence for his fellow men and for
all the happenings around him: “nu știu”, “nu pot” (Lied), “nu pot să plâng”, “nu știu”,
“nu-mi pasă” (Pastel pustiu), “nu știu” ( Invocație), “nu vreau” (Adîncire), “nu știu”
(Sirinx), “nu-i pot ține minte” ( Prin niște locuri rele ), “nu te cunosc” (Peste cîte mii de
ani), “nu mi se pare” (O întîlnire ciudată), “nu știu” (Cîndva la Stix), , “nu mă gîndesc”,
“nu vreau”, “nu las” (Pe poarta de corn), “nu mă pot prinde”, “nu-mi place”, (Monolog
în Babilon), “nu mă ascult” (Priveliște), “nu mi-i frică” (Rugăciune de dimineață ), “nu
cred” (Călătorie și popas ), “nu sînt nebun” (Clopotele), “nu fac” (Împăcare).
The most oftem encountered negative verb is the verb “a ști ”(=to know), a
defining verb for the modern poetry, where knowledge represents the most solid dream.
At the same time, knowledge is the target of the search that the lyrical ego embarks on.
The negation “nu știu” (=I don’t know) highlights the uncertainty, the impotence of
understanding the outside and above everything the impotence of understanding
himself, of getting to know the self.

42
 Another verb with a high frequency in expressing negation on Philippide’s
poetical land is the verb “nu pot” (=I can’t). The lyrical ego complains himself about the
impossibility of feeling, of revealing his feelings to the others: “Nu pot să plîng, căci
sînt surîs de floare” (Pastel pustiu), and at the same time about the incapacity of
performing something that he used to succeed in: “Nu pot să-l cînt” (Lied). The
incapacity of singing the song once known (“știut demult”) translates the impossibility
of returning to the euphory of the past. The impotence of performing this song appears
as a consequence of losing the collective voice. It is the song of some (“cântecul
câtorva”) that he can no longer hum. The only sound he can hear is the articulation of
the overwhelming solitude.
The verbal negation also appears at first person, plural, but with limited
frequency, this being a sign that empathizing with the others happens rarely, if hardly
ever. In the poem O întîlnire ciudată, the verbal phrase “nu știm” (=don’t know)
highlights the human condition, who is not all-knowing: “Cum noi nu știm ce -nseamnă
veșnicia.”
When it appears at second person, the negation takes the shape of a pseudo-
declaration: “nu știi.. .” (Priveliște), “nu mă-ntrebi” (Stil), “nu-ți vine să crezi” (Marile
singurătăți), “nu umpli” (Pe poarta de corn), “nu poți”, “nu-i îndupleci (Monolog în
Babilon), “n-o știi” ( Proclamație), “nu-ți pasă”(Căutătorul), “nu-l treci”, (Sirinx), “nu
puteți pricepe” (Incomunicabilul), “nu mă vei cunoaște” (Peste cite mii de ani), “n-ai
nici idoli, nici altare” (Veghe), “n-o știi” ( Comentarii). The most often, the interlocutor
is the collective or even the self. The individual addresses himself, he addresses his own
soul, as being an outsider with no connection to it.
The proper verbal negation also appears in third person, the poet thus
transferring the element of the unknown to the world surrounding him and at the same
time defining a society lacked of potence and will.: “nu poate”, “nu sînt ale
noastre”(Sîntem făcuți mai mult din noapte ), “nu știe” ( Pe un papirus), “nu-ncape”, “nu
se-arată”, “nu vrea” (Prin niște locuri rele ), “nu-i arsă”, “nu e”, “nu izbutește” (Rîul
fără poduri), “nu-i al meu”, “nu înțelege”, “[…] nu le/ Îndeplinește[…]”
(Incomunicabilul), “nu-i”, “nu-i curge”, “nu știe”,”, “nu se tem” (Monolog în Babilon),
“nu ne-ating”, “nu-i gata” (Călătorie și popas), “nu are-odihnă”, “nu-i cel răsfrînt”
(Comentarii), “nu-s” (Idol), “nu-s” (Pantomimă), “nu-i nevoie” (Țintirim), “n-au”
(Pastel pustiu).
The poet displays a phantomatic world. The lyrical ego often notices the
bleakness of the place: “nimeni nu-i” (Comentarii), “nu-i făptură” (Rîul fără poduri),
“nu e nimeni” (Umblă noaptea), “nu-i prezent” (Schiță pentru autoportret).
On Philippide’s poetical stage senses seem to be faded or even deafened: “nu
se poate auzi” (Marile singurătăți ). Temporality is frozen: “nu crește veșnicia”, “nu
scade” (Izgonirea lui Prometeu), “vreme nu-i” (Cîndva la Stix). The spatial dimensions
lose their edge: “Aice nu-i nici capăt, nu-i nici drum!” (Prohod), “nu-și află loc”
(Umblă noaptea).
Stopping time to flow and removing any spatial boundaries find themselves
compressed in the poet’s wish of not writing like his contemporaries in the manner and
the atmosphere of the epoch embracing them. Cancelling any spatial limits renders the
poet’s indifference regarding the formal rigor imposed to the poetry of the time. That
“nu” inserted among stanzas has a higher mission that that of contradicting, it is a kind
of “nu” told straight up to the rigorous society, a no to the common taste, a no headed
towards perfection and the idea of beauty, a total no.

43
 The verbal negation in third person also gives poems the character of myth, of
superstition: “nu-i bine” in “Nu-i bine să privești de multe ori/ Amurgul aiurit de vînt și
ciori//” (Berceuse), “nu-i voie” in “Nu-i voie să rostești cuvinte” (Pe un papirus), “nu
este dat” in “nu este dat nici unui om să știe…” (O întîlnire ciudată). Philippide uses
myth, aswell as Eminescu, but he offers it new dimensions.
Alexandru Philippide also practises proper negation at Indicative mood, at past
tense simple. This type of negation has the role of pessimistically concluding the
incertitude along and at the end of the search: “N-am cunoscut”(Priveliște), “nu te-am
găsit” (Cîntecul nimănui), “N-ai auzit?” (Izgonirea lui Prometeu), “nu te-ai întors”, “n-
au sfîrșit de tors” (Împăcare), “nu le-a cules”, “nu mi-a slujit” (Adîncire), “nu l-am
cunoscut” (În vuietul vremii), “nu s-au lămurit”, “n-au început” (Seară cu fulgere), “nu
l-ai văzut” (Balada vechii spelunci), “nu m-am urcat”, “nu te-am cunoscut” (În marile
singurătăți), “n-am trăit-o”, “nu-i cunoșteam”( Sîntem făcuți mai mult din noapte ), “n-
am mai așteptat” (Prin niște locuri rele), “n-am folosit” (Cîndva la Stix), “n-au fost
rostite”(O, cite lucruri), “n-au ajuns”, “n-am găsit”, “nu l-au pătruns” (Rîul fără
poduri), “n-a izbutit”, “nu l-am crezut” “n-a fost nimic”(Monolog în Babilon), “n-ai
apucat” (Cum zgomotul). The past tense simple negation confirms the impossibility and
the incapacity of performing, of fully knowing, of clarifying, an impossibility already
predicted through the present verbs negation. The negation at past tense simple
functions here as a denouement negation.
Philippide shows a preference for negativity, embedding it in all the tenses of
the indicative mood. Only this way the poet succeeds to include the entire poematic
development in the hourglass of negativity. Time passes in a pessimistic manner as the
lyrical ego attempts to get to know the outside world and to get to know himself.
The proper verbal negation at Indicative mood appears as being a component
of present perfect simple, past perfect and past continuous.
The present perfect simple negation appears like an immediate reaction to the
silence of the dreams long time planned, the lyrical ego lamenting the passing of time in
in his detriment and the unaccomplishment of the luciferic aim: “nu-mi răspunse” (O
întîlnire ciudată), “n-avui”(Tainicul țel), “nu-i găsii” (Pe un papirus). Therewith,
present perfect simple has a descriptive role as well.
This time placed at past continuous tense, negation traces the development of
the fruitless road to accomplishment: “nu mai cugetam acum” (Cel din urmă om), “nu-l
lămureau”, “nu pricepeam”, “n-avea” (O întîlnire ciudată), “nu știam” ( Mărturisire),
“nu-ndrăzneam” (Scamatorul de pe munte), “nu te pîndea”, “nu te-aștepta” (Sirinx)
Relevant for the past perfect negation, at the indicative mood, are the following
excerpts: “nu mai lăsase” (O întîlnire ciudată), “nu izbutisem” (Cîntec din anii
blestemați ), “nu-și aflase”, “nu-i dădusem” (Alai).
Past perfect tense places the lyrical universe in a time that is “personal, set in
the past, in which the reader, held in his own time, cannot penetrate another way than as
a listener” (Irimia, 1986:169) (our translation, G.C.)
On Alexandru Philippide’s lyrical land, negation is omnipresent, being found
in many different forms within verses.
The poet transposes his present and past in a stencil of action doomed to fail or
disappear. Any temporal dimension that appears along the poematic development will
get a negative meaning. The present time renders ipotheses and pessimistic conclusions,
being formulated as a consequence of losing the hope that governed the poems from the
beginning. The present negative verbs are lucid truths of the modern conscience, a
conscience that recognises the sign of unaccomplishment and kills the dream on time.

44
 The past tense in Philippide’s poetry most often confirms the nonexistence, the
unaccomplishment of those imagined, the unfulfillment of those hoped, the incapacity
of performing something.
Future tense is not absolved either from the process of negation. The poet
projects his lyrical discourse in a pessimist future which is marked by already predicted
impossibilities. Future tense negativity appears like a resignation provoked by the
desolating feeling of disillusion: “n-au să mai răsară”(Psalmodie), “nu ne vom mai
întîlni” (Elegie) , “nu mă vei cunoaște” ( Peste cite mii de ani), “nu voi fi silit și eu”, ( Pe
un papirus), “nu-mi va ieși” (Prin niște locuri rele), “nu veți fi în stare”
(Incomunicabilul).
The poet inserts negativity in the entire temporal circuit of poetry and in all its
actional sphere. The modern individual somehow denies belonging to the epoch in
which he lives by cancelling temporality through negativity.
At conjunctive mood, the negation of the verb phrase is set at present tense,
being mostly preceded by expressions denoting fear, anxiety that something may
happen: “să nu se surpe” (Cîntecul cîtorva), “să nu te miri” (Năluca pădurii), “să nu
aflu” (În marile singurătăți ), “să nu văd” (Scamatorul de pe munte), “să n-o sperii” (Pe
un papirus), “să nu le strice” (O, cîte lucruri), “să nu mă sperii” (Rîul fără poduri), “să
nu-l sape”, “să nu-l mistuie” (Pe poarta de corn), “să nu mai creadă”, “să nu cadă”
(Monolog în Babilon).
In its negative form, the conjunctive mood highlights the lyrical ego’s protest
against the events surrounding him. At the same time, this mood outlines the possibility
of unachievement of an action or unfulfillment of a dream. The lyrical ego’s
uncertainty, his hesitation, can be read through the negativity printed within the
conjunctive mood.
The fear of destruction, of consumption, of chaos can only be expressed
through a negation in Romanian language as opposed to English language. A relevant
example can be found in the poem În marile singurătăți: “Mi-e frică să nu aflu”, where
the verb conjugated at the Conjunctive mood is negated. In any similar structure,
negation will always be inserted. In English language, on the other hand, expressions
showing fear or anxiety can be followed by either an affirmative form of the verb or a
negative one: “I am afraid I may find out that…” or “I am afraid of not finding out
that…”.
At the Optative mood, the negation of the verb phrase appears both at present
tense and perfect tense: “n-ați putea” (O întîlnire ciudată), “n-aș putea” (Cîntec de
noapte), “n-aș mai fi” (Peste cite mii de ani), “n-ar izbuti”(Prin niște locuri rele), “n-ar
putea” (Umblă noaptea), “n-ar fi mai bine” (Monolog în Babilon), “nu le-ar fi dat”
(Prin niște locuri rele ).
At negative, the optative mood outlines the lyrical ego’s scenarios regarding
the impossibility of performing an action or the possibility of failure.
Another predicative mood where the presence of negativity can be felt in the
imperative mood: “Nu-l crede” (Țintirim), “Nu zăbovi” (Îndemn la drum), “Nu te grăbi”
(Călătorie și popas ). At this point, negativity is inculcated to the reader. It now takes
the form of a rhetorical invocation.
Through the negative imperative, the poet attempts to prevent the action from
happening. The lyrical ego prevents himself from accepting, believing, hurrying by
listening his own soul and the drives coming from it.

45
 The proper verbal negation appears in Philippide’s poetry placed in front of
the indicative mood, the optative mood and the imperative mood. At conjunctive mood,
the negation is inserted between the conjunction “să” and the proper verb.
In the philippidian poetry, negative verbal structures also appear to be
dislocated through “the insertion of manner adverbs between the expression of negation
and the proper verbal element of synthetic structure, of the manner adverbs (Dominte,
2003:59) (our translation, G. C.)
The continuity adverb “mai” dislocates forms of the present Indicative: “nu
mai este” (Drum în amurg), “nu mai am”(Romanță), “nu mai cere” (Pantomimă), “eu
nu mai sunt” (Pastel pustiu), “nu mai știu”, “nu te mai așteaptă” (Izgonirea lui
Prometeu), “nu-mi mai aduc aminte (Invocație), “nu mai poți citi”(Privești cum zboară
norii), “nu mai am nevoie”, “nu-l mai azvîrle” (Adîncire), “n-o mai măsur” (Miraj), “nu
mai sînt” (Aud o ușă), “nu mai răspunde” (Viața alăt uri).
The manner adverb “mai” separates the negation from its verbal element also at
past tense simple: “n-a mai poposit” (Astralis), “n-ai mai venit” (Priveliște), “n-a mai
rămas” (Prohod), “n-au mai aflat”, “nu s-a mai întors”(Călătorie și popas), “n-am mai
așteptat” ( Prin niște locuri rele ). At the same time, it dislocates past continuous tense at
negative form: “nu mai cugetam acum”(Ceasul greu), “nu mai era” (Pe un papirus), “nu
mai catadixeau”, (Monolog în Babilon), past perfect: “nu mai lăsase” (O întîlnire
ciudată), “nu se mai pomenise” (Legendă), and future tense: “nu ne vom mai întîlni”
(Elegie), “nu ne vom mai întîlni” (Invocație), “n-o să mai poată” (Monolog în Babilon).
The adverb ,,mai” is also inserted in the negative form of the Conjunctive
mood and the Optative mood: să nu mai știi” ( Berceuse), ,,să nu-l mai simt” (Romanță ),
,,să nu mai creadă”, ,,n-ar fi mai bine” (Monolog în Babilon).
The frequency of the adverb ,,mai” inside the negative structures on the
philippidian lyrical land denotes the persistence of the lyrical ego’s feeling of not
recognizing himself, of not finding himself. At the same time, the adverb ,,mai”
manages to stop, to cancel what was already said or done, installing a powerful feeling
of disappointment and resignation.
Alexandru Philippide also practises the dislocation of the negative structures
through the insertion of the continuity adverb “tot”: “tot n-ajung” (Aud o ușă), “tot n-au
sfîrșit” (Împăcare), “tot nu puteți pricepe” (Incomunicabilul). The adverb “tot”
amplifies the despair provoked by unaccomplishment, negativity being thus intensified.
By inserting the continuity manner adverbs inside the negative verbal
structures, the poet enhances the effect of the lyrical discourse, taking negativity to an
extreme point. The lyrical ego denies the connection with his own soul until its
cancellation. The lyrical ego estranges his own soul, addressing it eventually through a
monologue.
Philippide also places inside the negative formations manner adverbs showing
excess, as it is the adverb “prea”: “Nici lumea zeilor nu-i prea senină” (Monolog în
Babilon). By using this adverb within negative structures, the poet creates the missing
effect. Harmony misses from the gods’ world, not only from the earthlings’ world.
In Philippide’s poems negation is almost omnipresent, being it in a verbal or a
lexical form. At lexical level, there can be found a great deal of words with a negative
value or meaning.
Verbs get a negative value through meaning as well, not only through form.:
frînge (=stops the connection), să-l ucid, să-l omor (=not to be, not to exist anymore),
doboară (=defeats, destroys, exterminates), mă despart (=separate, cancel the union),

46
oprește (=stops, ends), alungă (=estranges), înlătură (removes, excludes, denies the
belonging), șchiopătând (=being unable to walk properly or staying upright).
The negative pronoun “nimeni” appears very often, indicating absence, an
absence the poet is used to, because “Philippide was forced to live a life through
<<absence>>, through inadherence to the people’s fate generally, in confinement.”
(Arion, 1982:11) (our translation, G.C.)
By employing the pronoun “nimeni”, the poet reveals the modern individual’s
condition, who is unlike anything or anyone, who finds no comfort or alleviation in
anyone, who lives alone in a universe that no one could ever manage to know entirely.
Solitude, absence, isolation can be sensed in the examples that follow:
“Nimănui” (Cîntecul Nimănui), “Nimeni” (Izgonirea lui Prometeu), “nimeni nu-i”
(Comentarii), “nu e nimeni” (Umblă noaptea), “nimeni […] nu înțelege ”
(Incomunicabilul).
The poet even entitles one of his poems Cîntecul Nimănui, this being a
downfallen song, a luciferic one. In the poems from the beginning, among the stanzas,
an euphoric, hopeful and wishful song could be heard. That song was a collective one,
Cîntecul cîtorva.
The trajectory from Cîntecul cîtorva și Cîntecul Nimănui is the modern
conscience’s itinerary, a desolated conscience, eventually impossible to be recognized
among some (“câțiva”), ending in the arms of the mute solitude.
Another negative pronoun which appears among the versified experiences is
the pronoun “nimic”. The absence of Absența ființialului este completată de absența
faptică: “nu-mi pasă de nimic” (Pastel pustiu), “nimic n-a mai rămas” (Prohod), “Îmi
voi ciopli statuie din Nimic” (Cîntecul Nimănui), “nu s-a sfîrșit nimic” ( Izgonirea lui
Prometeu), “nu găseam nimic” (Ceasul greu), “nimic în mine nu mă-mbie” (M-atârn de
tine, poezie), “Nimic aproape” (Un stol de păsări negre), “n-am găsit nimic” (Rîul fără
poduri), “nimic nu înțelege” ( Incomunicabilul), “n-a fost nimic”(Monolog în Babilon).
The high frequency of the pronoun “nimic” (=nothing) hides the dissatisfaction
towards the emptiness of a society but also towards the emptiness of the soul. Solitude
is the most pronounced phase of the nothingness.
The negative pronouns “nimic” (=nothing) and “nimeni” (=no one) often begin
with capital letters, thus the preponderance of negativity being amplified on the land of
Philippide’s poetry.
At lexical level, negativity can also be identifiable in the structure of the adverb
“nici”. This adverb has the stylistical role of creating oppositions, of putting negativity
in balance. The adverb ,,nici” appears frequently in Philippide’s poems: “nici capăt”,
“nici drum”, “nici scop”, “nici griji”, “nici nădejde” (Prohod), “nici idoli, nici altare”
(Veghe), “nici băț, nici sac”(O întîlnire ciudată), “nici frig, nici ceață” ( Pe un papirus).
The negative pronominal adjective “niciun” strengthens the negation,
cancelling this way any existence, any identity, bringing solitude in: “nici un farmec”,
“nici un pas, nici un ecou” (Pastel pustiu), “nici un vers”(Promontoriu), “nici un fluviu”
(Adîncire), “nici o rușine”, “nici un înțeles”, “nici un necaz” (Sirinx), “nici o făptură”
(Pe un papirus), “nici un om”, “nici un băștinaș” , “nici un oaspete”, “nici un hașiș”,
“nici un vin” (Prin niște locuri rele ), “nici un drum”(Incomunicabilul), “nici un
muritor”(Monolog în Babilon).
Space and time are not a reference point for the philippidian universe,
everything developing nowhere (“nicăieri”) and being headed towards never
(“niciodată”).

47
 Philippide does not limit negativity, he develops it, operating even inside the
structure of the word. We encounter very often the negative prefix “ne-” (nestins,
neatins, nepăsătoare, nemișcat, nemplinit, nestingherit, necugetată, nebun, nerod,
nebăgată, nevăzută, neizbutit, nepotolită, nencepută, neiscodită, nesărutat, nendurător,
nemplinit, nemișcat, necercetate, neașteptat, nebun, nerod, nedumerire, nemișcare,
neistovit, nefericiți, nendurător, neașteptat, neputință, nelămuri, nevăzută, nencepută,
necugetată, nepotrivire, neșterși, ,neîndoielnic, ,nențelese, nepotolită, nedescoperite,
nepregătite, nencrederea).
In the poet’s lyrical repertoire, there can be found negative prefixes which get a
positive value: necontenit (=always, without stopping), nemurire(=life), nemărginire
(=imensity), în neștire (continuously), nemaipomenit (=extraordinary, great), negreșit
(=sure, absolutely).
If verbal forms, pronouns and adverbs reveal a direct negativity, nouns
candrender through their meaning an indirect negativity: năruire (=falling apart,
destruction), deznădejde (=lack of hope), moarte (=lack of life), nebunie (=lack of
mental health, lack of sense), negură (=unknown), noapte (=lack of light, death),
întunecime, întuneric (=obscurity, lack of knowledge), haos (=no order), golul (=lack of
substance, solitude). Even if in the structure of these words there is no negative prefix,
they introduce the effect of negativity at a semantic level. They all induce a lack, a
clearly visible absence all along the lyrical discourse.
The poet resorts to all kinds of methods in order to express negativity in his
work. In Philippide’s poetry the negative motivation through subordinate sentences is
quite frequent: “Nu pot să plîng, căci sînt surîs de floare” (Pastel pustiu), “Împrumutăm
adesea chip de om, /Căci altfel n-ați putea să ne cunoașteți” ( O întîlnire ciudată), “Și cît
de rău îmi va părea/ Că nu l-am cunoscut mai bine” (În vuietul vremii), “Prietene, deși
te port în suflet,/ Eu încă nu te-am cunoscut în viață” (În marile singurătăți), “Cum n-
aveam călăuză să mă-ndrepte […]/Umblam buimac prin acești munți de trepte”
(Tainicul țel), “Nu știu, fiindcă nu-i pot ține minte ” (Prin niște locuri rele ) etc.
Expressing negativity through contrast bestows the lyrism a tensional degree,
thus amplifying the opposition: “Ai vrea să plîngi, dar nu-i nevoie, știi” (Țintirim), “Să
mi-l culeg… Dar nu găseam nimic” (Ceasul greu), “Trăim acum, dar nu ne vom
pricepe” (Seară cu fulgere) etc.
Another method Philippide employs, as well as Eminescu, is formulating a
statement through negation: “tot ce nu-i prezent – e moarte” (Schiță pentru un
autoportret), “Să fii un înger nu-i nici o rușine” (O întîlnire ciudată), “La rîul crunt pe
care nu-l treci decît o dată” (Sirinx).
Introducing a statement through negation is one of Philippide’s preferences,
manifested in his entire poetics: “De cite ori nu m-am urcat” meaning “m-am urcat de
foarte multe ori” (În marile singurătăți), ,,Eu nu mai sînt decît o amintire” (Pastel
pustiu) translatable through “eu sunt doar o amintire”. The adverb “nu” is cancelled
through the restrictive adverb “decât”. By doubling the negation, the poet introduces
statement.
In any of its forms, negativity is almost permanent in Philippide’s poetry. The
poet transposes his so characteristic solitude, absence and contradictions in the form and
expression of the poetry. The philippidian creation is outlined precisely through the
negative structures which hold in themselves all the modern spirit’s experiences and
feelings.

48
Bibliography
Alexandru Philippide interpretat de..., Ediție îngrijită de George Gibescu, Editura Eminescu,
București, 1972.
Arion, George, Alexandru Philippide sau drama unicității , Editura Eminescu, București, 1982.
Avrămuț, Horia, Alexandru Philippide, Editura Cartea Românească, București, 1984.
Balotă, Nicolae, Arte poetice ale secolului XX: ipostaze românești și străine, Editura Minerva,
București, 1976.
Balotă, Nicolae, Introducere în opera lui Al. Philippide, Editura Minerva, București, 1974.
Dominte, Constantin, Negația în limba română , Editura Fundației România de mâine, București,
2003.
Gibescu, George, Alexandru Philippide, Editura Albatros, București, 1985.
Irimia, Dumitru, Structura stilistică a limbii române contemporane, Editura Științifică și
Enciclopedică, București, 1986.
Munteanu, Ștefan, Stil și expresivitate poetică, Editura Științifică, București, 1972.
Philippide, Alexandru, Scrieri, vol I, Editura Minerva, București, 1976.
Vianu, Tudor, Studii de stilistică, Editura didactică și pedagogică, București, 1968.

49
 THE INTERJECTIONS EI!, IA!, IATA!, UITE! AND THEIR
PRAGMATIC VALUES IN ROMANIAN

Florentina Gisela CUMPENAŞU*

Abstract: The present paper concentrates mainly on certain interjections that express
directive acts in Romanian. The complex analysis of interjections ei!,ia!, iata! and uite!
constitutes an attempt to present their pragmatic values in different contexts. The multitude of
examples taken from literary works emphasize as much as possible various nuances that the
above interjections can express in our language.
Keywords: directive acts, interjection, pragmatic value.

Introduction

As a result of a detailed classification of the speech acts that the interjections

may express in Romanian, two types can be distinguished: expressive and directive acts.
The interjections ei!,ia!, iata! and uite! are included in the category of directive
acts because they are based on the fundamental principle, which is that of expressing the
speaker’s will or desire to make the interlocutor perform a certain action.

I.Phatic interjectionsthat express directive acts

This type of interjections that represent a limited number of elements can act as
pragmatic markers in order to render a series of directive acts. They are basically used
for general purposes of social interaction rather than to convey information or ask
questions.
For instance, the interjection ei! may be used to express a directive act, the
intentionality of this act consisting in the speaker’s will or desire to determine the
interlocutor to continue the story. The following examples are relevant in this case:
Farfuridi: Ştii ce, venerabile neică Zahario, ia să dăm noi mai bine cărţile pe
faţă.
Trahanache: Dă-le neică, să vedem.
Farfuridi: Ţi-am spus că mi-e frică de trădare….Ei?
Brânzovenescu: Ei?
Trahanache: Ei?
Farfuridi: Ei? Ni-e frică din partea amicului. (Caragiale, 2009: 97)
L: Mai luăm câte una mica.
M: Da.
L: Băiete, două mici…
( Pauză. Chelnerul aduce paharele cu bere.)
M: EI?
L: Ei!
M: Ei! Ce spunea amicul? (Caragiale, 2010: 63)

*
University of Pitesti, necu_gisela@yahoo.com

50
 The interjection ei! may be used to express another directive act, that of getting
in touch with someone else:
Ei, moşule, ce mai zici?
Ce să zic nepoate? (Creangă, 2009:155)
The interjection ei! may be followed by a question in order to elicit information:
Ei! Ce cauţi tu prin mahalaua noastră aşa de dimineaţă?
This interjection ei! may be used by the speaker in order to address a request to
the interlocutor, in such a case, it is followed by a conditional clause. The interjection
ei! does not present a semantic substitute expressed by a verb in the imperative:
Ei!...dacă ai vrea d-ta! (Caragiale, 2010: 117)

II. Presentative interjections that express directive acts

The presentative/ostensive interjections - ia, iacă, iacătă, iată, uite-besides the

fact that they are used to introduce objects or persons, having a deictic role, they can
also be used to express a directive act, having, in this case, an injunctive value.
The performers of directive acts generally have a fixed pattern. There are certain
interjections that are characterized by an imperative content and are built with verbs in
the imperative or conjunctive (hortative) moods. In such a case, the meaning of these
interjections can be decoded from the context. They can accomplish the directive act,
expressing an urge or a request.
Ano, zise el încele din urmă alena, ia vino, şezi lângă mine! (Slavici, 2009:153)
The interjection ia! for instance may be used to express an order or command
addressed by the speaker in order to be accomplished by the interlocutor. In this case,
the status of the interlocutors may be identical or different. When it is identical the
interjection ia! may be used by both partners in the communicational act, and, when it is
different (e.g. manager-employee), this interjection, followed by a verb in the
imperative, should not be used by the person whose status is inferior, in this case,
manifesting a lack of respect towards the person whose status is superior. In such a
situation, it refers rather to a request, and, other types of interjections also specialized to
render directive acts can be used.
When it is about a hierarchical situation, for instance, that of manager-employee,
the speaker is the one who has a superior status, being in the position of giving orders,
thus, finding himself in an authoritative position; the employee is the one who has an
inferior status and should obey the orders given by his superior.
The utterance, Ia, vino aici!, may be addressed by the speaker (the manager) to
his interlocutor (the employee), but, if the status of the two interlocutors is reversed, this
phrase is not adequate. When the status is ignored, the speaker’s image can be damaged.
In case the interlocutor accepts to execute the order, he should analyse whether it
is beneficial for him or not, but, in case of a refusal, he should analyse the consequences
that resort from the unfulfilment of the respective action. In such a context, the directive
act can be taken to an “attempt”.
Ia, lasă-mă-n colo, mătuşă, nu măsupăra, zise fiul craiului. (Creangă, 2009:143)
Ia ad-o-ncoace la moşul, s-o drămăluiască! (Creangă, 2009:36)
The speaker uses the presentative interjection ia! in order to render a directive
act, the intentionality of this act being that of drawing the interlocutor’s attention:
-Ia ascultaţi, măi! (Creangă, 2009:173)
This interjection may emphasize as well the speaker’s emotional involvement,
expressing, besides the directive act, a touch of reproach, too.

51
 -Ia ascultă, măi Stane, ce mă tot fierbi cu diplomaţie? Ce va să zică asta?
(Caragiale, 2010:117)
In case these presentative interjections are used to introduce objects, persons or
events out of the situational context, a directive act is also expressed, thus, the
intentionality of the respective act being that of making someone perform a certain
action. The presentative interjections uite! and iată!, that function as performers of
directive acts, are semantically substituted to the verb “a privi” in its imperative form.
Within the discourse, the interjections iată! şi uite! are considered equivalents of
a sentence and have the role to boost the whole context.
Iată cum stă valea.În dreapta este un deal numit Râpoasa. (Slavici, 2009:348)
L-am trimis să-mi aducă plasa cu peşte şi uite cât e de sprinte. (Slavici,
2009:110).
In the following utterances, the interjection uite! may be followed by a verb in
the imperative in order to express an order or command. The verb in the imperative is
not placed right after the interjection, but it is separated from it by other parts of speech.
The intensity of the directive act is more emphasized when there are verbs in the
imperative, instead, when the interjections are used, the degree of intensity is rather
diminished.
Uite, până vin eu, citeşte! (Caragiale, 2010:117)
Sometimes, this type of presentative interjections are also accompanied by
certain emotional values, followed by verbs in the subjunctive in order to render a
request:
- Uite, frate Popescule, să lăsăm chestiile de principiu.
The interjection uite! can also be used to express a directive act, the
intentionality of the act being that of drawing the interlocutor’s attention to an event that
represent a trigger stimulus:
Uite, coniţă, Ionel nu s-astâmpără! (Caragiale, 2010:110)
Uite, domnule, efectelenenorocite ale repausului duminical! (Caragiale,
2010:245)
In order to draw the interlocutor’s attention to a certain type of behavior, the
interjection uite! is used, followed by a verb in the imperative:
Uite, vezi, ăsta e cusurul tău-eşti indiscret. (Caragiale, 2010:64)
There are certain interjections that can be characterized by an imperative content
and they are followed by a verb in the imperative or subjunctive (hortative). When it
refers to this type of interjections, their meaning is decoded from the context.
In conclusion, it can be noticed that the interjections ei!,ia!, iata!and uite! are
specialized to express various directive acts in Romanian and their role from the
pragmatic point of view is extremely important.

Bibliography
Austin, J., Quand dire, c’est faire, în Alexandrescu Vlad (2001). Choix de textes, Pragmatique et
T héorie de l’énonciation, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti, Bucuresti, a. 1962
Austin, J.,Performatif-Constatatif în AlexandrescuVlad (2001), Choix de textes: Pragmatique et T
héorie de l’énonciation, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti, Bucuresti, b.1962
Ionescu-Ruxăndoiu, L., Conversaţia.Structuri şi strategii, Editura All, Bucuresti, 1999
Iordan, I., Stilistica limbii române, Editura Stiintifică, Bucuresti, 1975
Krieb-Stoian, S., Sensuriimplicite ale interjecţiilor de adresare, în Annales Universitatis
Apulensis, series Philologica, 2003
Magda (Manu), M., Elemente de pragmalingvistică a românei vorbite regional, Editura Dual
Tech, Bucuresti, 2003

52
Maingueneau, D., Pragmatică pentru discursul literar, Institutul European, Iasi, 2007
Moeschler, J., Théorie pragmatique et pragmatique conversationnelle,, Armand Colin, Paris,
1986
Păduraru, C.,Eugeniu Coşeriu., Contribuţii la pragmatica lingvistică, Editura Lumen, Iasi, 2009
Reboul, A., Moeschler, J., Pragmatique du discours, Armand Colin, Paris, 1998
Récanati, F., Qu’est-ce qu’un acte locutionnaire? In AlexandrescuVlad (2001) Pragmatique et
Théorie de l’énonciation. Choix de textes, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti, Bucuresti, 1980
Searle, J., Les actes de language. Essai de philosophie de language, Hermann, Paris, 1972
Searle, J., Une taxinomie des actes illocutoires, în AlexandrescuVlad (2001) Pragmatique et
Théorie de l’enonciation. Choix de textes, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti, Bucuresti, 1975

Sources
Caragiale, I.L., O noapte furtunoasa, Editura ErcPress, Bucuresti, 2009
Caragiale, I.L., O scrisoare pierduta, Editura ErcPress, Bucuresti, 2009
Caragiale, I.L., D-ale carnavalului, Editura ErcPress, Bucuresti, 2009
Caragiale, I.L., Momente si schite, Editura Tedit FZH, Bucuresti, 2010
Creanga, I., Amintiri din copilarie, Editura ErcPress, Bucuresti, 2009
Creanga, I., Povesti.Povestiri, Editura ErcPress, Bucuresti, 2009
Preda, M., Morometii, vol.I,II, Editura CurteaVeche, Bucuresti, 2009
Slavici, I, Moara cu noroc si alte nuvele, Editura ErcPress, 2009

53
 ALLUSION – A STRATEGY OF PERSUASION

Adina-Elena DUMITRU

Abstract: The present paper approaches the allusion not only as figure of speech, but,
in a pragmatic perspective, as a structure with a certain pragmatic value. With a frequent
occurrence in the contemporary public discourse, the allusion has power to orient the hearers’
opinions towards what the speakers want to induce and, in this respect, it is similar to the
metaphor with an argumentative role. Besides, the present paper proposes a configuration of the
most frequent figures of speech the allusion combines with and forms it has in contemporary
public discourse”
Keywords: allusion, persuasion, parody, pastiche.

1. The present paper proposes a particular approach of allusion, which is not

seen as a figure of speech, but, in a pragmatic perspective, as a structure with a certain
pragmatic value. Thus, it tries to explain its frequent use in the contemporary public
discourse by the power of allusion to orient the hearers’ opinions towards what the
speakers want to induce.
If we start with defining the allusion and the delimitations it implies, the
similarity with the metaphor with an argumentative role can be noticed and these
observations are based on examples in contemporary public discourse.
2. Defining the terms which are used is a preliminary and necessary step in
studying the pragmatic role of this type of structures.
In the Dictionary of figures of speech, the allusion is defined as “a word or a
sentence which aims to evoke an event or a character from history, mythology, folklore,
by means of a suggested comparison” (Dragomirescu, 1995: s.v.aluzie) in order to
characterize a situation in a suggestive manner. As the allusion consists in imitating a
famous verse, a saying or a proverb, it offers the reader/hearer the opportunity to
reconstitute the comparison, by a spontaneous reflection.
In Language and politics, Rodica Zafiu noticed/asserted that “in the relatively
recent pragmatic studies, the allusion is a privileged case of communication study,
because, to a great extent, it is based on a ‘contract’, on a conversational complicity
between the partners in the dialogue, and because it brings just a confirmation of the
things which are already known, a reestablishment of the connection and a refresh of
memory.” (Zafiu, 2007:72). It is also asserted that this figure is based on a deviation
from the normal way of understanding, which means interpreting each piece of
information in its context of occurrence, in connection with what has already been said
and with what is going to be said next. The premises of some pathological forms of
abusive and incoherent reading can be found here.
Without the hearer or reader's comprehending the author's intention, an
allusion becomes merely a decorative device. Allusion is an economical device, a figure
of speech that uses a relatively short space to draw upon the ready stock of ideas,
cultural memes or emotion already associated with a topic. Thus, an allusion is
understandable only to those with prior knowledge of the covert reference in question, a
mark of their cultural literacy.
(Preminger & Brogan, 1993 apud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusion )


University of Pitesti, adina_elena_dumitru@gmail.com

54
 2. Allusion and metaphor as argumentative strategies share a series of elements
which may be the basis for comparing these two figures of speech.
The argumentative force of metaphor derives from the inference that the hearer
does on his own, this way he/she accepting easier what the speaker aimed to but without
expressing it directly. The pressure of metaphor exerts on the hearer, who is lead to a
judgment, to reasoning and, finally, to a conclusion which he/she reaches by his/her
own and that is why it seems to belong to him/her, not to the one who stated/performed
the metaphor. As “it is always easier to deny what the interlocutor asserts rather than
what you inferred by inferential effort” (Roventa Frumusani, 2000: 119), the conclusion
is naturally accepted by the hearer.
Similarly to the metaphor with an argumentative role, the allusion presupposes
a route which is to be followed by the hearer in order to “discover” the comparison, the
elements which represent the basis of associating the two persons or those two
situations. This hearer’s reflection increases his/her chances to adopt the opinion
regarded by the speaker. Moreover, with the allusion, that complicity shared by the
partners in the verbal exchange which R. Zafiu discussed about, creates a more solid
premise for persuasion/ seduction/ manipulation, because a quasi-identification of
speaker and hearer, as a basis for inducing an opinion, is achieved.
Dominique Mainguenau makes a clear distinction between the simple allusion
to other sentences and the imitation of an entire text or of a discursive genre.
Considering as a starting point the remark that mass media and advertisement
established a habitude of allowing famous, well-known sentences or fragments to be
seen behind another sentence, Maingueneau shows that the main purpose of such a
practice is to attract the reader/hearer, “making him/her perceive two sentences in only
one and, thus, to highlight a ludic ethos” (Maingueneau, 2007: 210).
But the allusion is a starting point for a phenomenon of another dimension, the
imitation which has the appearance of captivation or subversion.
3. There are a lot of examples in the contemporary public discourse that can
prove the frequent use of allusion with an argumentative force, strengthening the
similarities to the metaphor. In addition to the similitudes which have been already
mentioned above, one more comes to support this comparison; as the metaphor
combines with other figures of speech, the allusion also reflects in other figures of
speech or it underlies them. Among these combining figures, two seem to be favorite:
antonomasia and paronomasia.
-Antonomasia
De potopul românilor care te vor scuipa, cu dispreț, în ochelari, nici de -ai fi Noe n-ai
să poți scăpa, fă, domnu' Goe!( http://m.academiacatavencu.info/social/ceausescu-a-
nviat--adevarat-a-nviat--38397)
-Paronomasia
premierul Mickey Mao (http://www.romanialibera.ro/stil-de-viata/monden/foto--cum-
este-ironizat-premierul-victor-ponta-pe-internet-381466)
Catedrala Mânuirii Neamului (http://www.academiacatavencu.info/actualitate/oprescu-
si-catedrala-manuirii-neamului-prost-4967)
When the speaker considers that the structure is not “clear” or “transparent”
enough, when he/she wants to help the interlocutor to infer what he/she aimed to, the
element which is regarded in a sarcastic or jus ludic way occurs in the sentence. The
same device is present with the explicit metaphor, where both the metaphorized and the
metaphoric terms can be found in the text. But the argumentative force of the allusion

55
weakens in this situation, as it happens with the explicit metaphor, too, because the
inferential effort of the hearer becomes weaker.
plenul Camerei Defulaţilor, pardon, Deputaţilor
(http://www.academiacatavencu.info/index.php/actualitate/in-cinstea-lui-ponta--bor-
lanseaza-azi-sticla-de-mir-la-trei-sferturi-%E2%80%9Cpremier%E2%80%9D-38405)
Marea Adunătură Națională, adică Parlamentul
(http://www.academiacatavencu.info/social/ceausescu-a-nviat--adevarat-a-nviat--38397)
BOR lucrează, în momentul de faţă, la realizarea a 170.000 de iconiţe sfinţite, cu
imaginea Sfântului Plagiarie (pe numele lui de mirean Victor Ponta), apărătorul
loazelor, care vor putea fi achiziţionate, contra cost, de toţi elevii ce dau bacul anul
acesta.
(http://www.academiacatavencu.info/index.php/actualitate/in-cinstea-lui-ponta--bor-
lanseaza-azi-sticla-de-mir-la-trei-sferturi-%E2%80%9Cpremier%E2%80%9D-38405)
However, the most interesting form of allusion is the parody or the pastiche,
which can evoke:
-a literary fragment
Simulări 2015. Nu ştiu alţii ce cred, dar calculele mele sunt optimiste.
(http://www.cdep.ro/pls/steno/steno.stenograma?ids=7475&idm=1,003&idl=1)
"Toate-s vechi şi nouă toate" - Avem un nou Guvern
(http://www.cdep.ro/pls/steno/steno.stenograma?ids=7360&idm=1,086&idl=2)
Cum nu se dă ursul scos din bârlog, țăranul de la munte strămutat la oraș, porcul luat
din lături, Năstase alungat de lângă rembranzi și Iliescu smuls din politică, tot așa,
drăgăliță Doamne, nu vrea Ponta să plece de la guve rnare ca să meargă la răcoare.
(http://jurnalulbucurestiului.ro/academia-catavencu-ceausescu-a-nviat-adevarat-a-nviat/)
Ca să nu-l mai știe nefericit și anul ăsta, Mamița Vrânceanu-Firea-Pandele, văru’
Cazanciuc și cumătrul Nițu i-au promis micului Goe din fruntea guvernului că o să-l
ducă la Jilava, să-l vază pe Băsescu legat la cușcă. Pentru o asemenea vizită însă, e
nevoie de o condiție de bază: să -l bage mai întâi pe Băsescu la cușcă. Și, de când micul
Goe a bătut din călcâi și a zis că vrea breaking news la televiziuni, că Băse a intrat la
zdup alături de Udrea, cei trei și trepădușii de prin Parchet nu mai prididesc să-i caute
nod în papură Marinarului. Că așa vrea Marinelul.
(http://www.academiacatavencu.info/opinii/curat-neconstitutional--da%E2%80%99-
agatati-l-cu-ceva--38357)
-the title of a well-known literary work
Călin (file juridice de poveste) (http://www.academiacatavencu.info/politic/calin--file-
juridice-de-poveste--38410)
-a proverb, a saying
Usturoi n-au mâncat, gura nu le miroase decât a lavandă, sloganurile de altădată sunt
astăzi “aduse la zi”. (http://www.romaniacurata.ro/revirginarea/)
Ceaușescu a-nviat? Adevărat a-nviat! (http://jurnalulbucurestiului.ro/academia-catavencu-
ceausescu-a-nviat-adevarat-a-nviat/)
-a biblical fragment
Dacă interes național nu e, nimic nu e!
(http://www.academiacatavencu.info/actualitate/revista-tresei--daca-interes-national-nu-
e--nimic-nu-e--38415)
As one of the tendencies in the contemporary political and journalistic
language is to make capital out of the colloquial, spoken language aspects, especially
out of those which come from the informal, argotic area of the language system, as a
consequence of the fact that the speaker is oriented towards an audience as large as

56
possible, which lacks homogeneity, the allusion also refers rather to proverbs and
sayings, that is to the folkloric background.
Furthermore, certain fragments of contemporary discourse which has become
famous are parodied or pastiched, because they are well known by this large audience
that the speaker aims to reach at.
-sentences which are currently used in public discourse
"Prezumţia de corupţie le taie funcţionarilor publici pofta de muncă"
(http://www.cdep.ro/pls/steno/steno.stenograma?ids=7460&idm=1,115&idl=1)
"Jos mâinile de pe eroul Avram Iancu!”
(http://www.cdep.ro/pls/steno/steno.stenograma?ids=7475&idm=1,035&idl=1)
Jos mainile de pe TVR !( http://www.cotidianul.ro/jos-mainile-de-pe-tvr-260686/)
Jos mâinile de pe Halep! (http://www.cotidianul.ro/jos-mainile-de-pe-halep-259495/)
Ponta, jos mainile de pe ambasadori (http://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-opinii-18441305-
ponta-jos-mainile-ambasadori.htm)
Jos mainile de pe justitie ! /de pe Iași/de pe 2 Mai/ de pe școlile cu predare în limba
română...
( http://independent.md/video-protest-jos-mainile-de-pe-scolile-
romanesti/#.V2iK9bh97IU)
procedura dusă de doctorul Ponta pe cele mai înalte culmi juridice, teoretice și practice
(http://www.academiacatavencu.info/politic/calin--file-juridice-de-poveste--
38410?c=q2561)
-fragments of advertisement messages
Pe pușcării ar trebui să scrie: „aici sunt banii dumneavoastră”
(http://www.academiacatavencu.info/actualitate/revista-tresei--daca-interes-national-nu-
e--nimic-nu-e--38415)
4. Conclusions
Allusion can be considered not only a figure of speech, but, in a pragmatic
perspective, a structure with a certain pragmatic value. Thus, it is frequently used in the
contemporary public discourse, as the allusion has power to orient the hearers’ opinions
towards what the speakers want to induce. In this respect, it is similar to the metaphor
with an argumentative role, and its argumentative force depends on a series of factors,
among which the hearer’s knowledge that is required for understanding the allusion has
an important position. The allusion often relates with the parody and pastiche in
contemporary public discourse and this phenomenon leads to a type of structures that
can be called “suitcase phrases”.

Bibliography
Bidu-Vrănceanu,1997– Bidu-Vrănceanu, Angela, Călărașu, Cristina et alii, Dicționar general de
științe. Științe ale limbii, Editura Științifică, București.
Dragomirescu , 1995- Gh. N. Dragomirescu, Dicționarul figurilor de stil , Editura Științifică,
București, 1995
Maingueneau, 2007- D. Maingueneau, Analiza textelor de comunicare, Institutul European, Iasi,
2007
Rovența-Frumușani, 2000- D. Rovența -Frumușani, Argumentarea. Modele și strategii , All,
București, 2000
Slama-Cazacu, 2000- T. Slama-Cazacu, Stratageme comunicaționale și manipularea, Polirom,
Iași, 2000
Zafiu, 2007- R. Zafiu, Limbaj și politică, Editura Universității București, 2007
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allusion, Preminger & Brogan (1993) The New Princeton
Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.Princeton University Press.

57
 THE TYPOLOGY OF THE SYMBOL IN THE MINULESCIAN
POETRY

Andreea DAMIAN

Abstract: Being one of the most important symbolist writers, this paper tries to
emphasize the types of symbols that Ion Minulescu uses in his poetry, and how these give a
distinctive note to his lyrical speech. The interdependence between the form and the message of
his creations make him an unique symbolist writer, who goes beyond the limits of what symbolism
imposed. The mixture of feelings is organized according to some inner rules that create a
typology of a different symbolist writer.
Keywords: typology, poetry, rhetorism.

The symbol exceeds its sense as notion, turning into fact. This, in the Kantian
philosophy, it suggests a coexisting reality, whether people know it or not.
T. Todorov delimits the symbol from the sign, refusing to accept its inclusion
in the general theory of signs or in the semiotics, because the symbol is not just a word
(sign), but a fact.
The beginnings of the symbol theorization appear since Aristotle, he associates
signs with words and characterize them through a relationship of interdependence:
sound- feeling- existing fact. Feelings are the same regardless of the individual, facts are
identified in their own image. Aristotle observed that sounds are distinct, they can not
be motivated in association with inner feelings, in this way sounds name the felling
without becoming its image.
The conventionalist theory of symbols is accepted by Aristotle, who will
mention it several times throughout his work, suggesting the significance given to
names. Names become symbols only after they receive the semantic investiture. In
Poetica, Aristotle also mentions the inability of names to form wider units, to combine.
For Aristotle, the symbol has wider meanings than the word, but one can
observe the superficiality regarding the multitude of linguistic and non-linguistic
symbols.
Also, Stoics mention the interdependence between signifier, signified and
object. The signifier is the Aristotelian sound, the significant represents its image and
the object is the real fact.
The two physical entities: the signifier and the object determine Plato’s idea,
meaning its representation the lekton. The lekton appears at a first language level and is
able to evoke the third term (object); it suggests the reference of sound to things.
There is no mention of a semiotic theory, but the linguistic sign stands out as a
distinctive sign. Unlike semantics, logic directs to the non-linguistic symbolism..
At a linguistic level, signs are indirect statements, therefore the logical sign
theory cannot be complementary to the theory of the linguistic symbol.
The terminology is exposed differently: the signs are made up of sound- lekton
and fact; and the indirect symbols represent the evocation of a lekton by another.


University of Pitești, damiandreea@yahoo.com

58
 According to the critic of Sextus, the perfect sign has one meaning, but the
polysemia of certain signs requires an eclectic approach and not just a purely semiotic
one.
The adjacent ideas suggested by a particular symbol are interpreted from a
rhetoric point of view: "The rhetoric speaks, in connection with the figure operation
about what is not named, naming it" (Todorov Tzvetan, 1983: 41)
The metaphor relates both to the linguistic and to the semiotic level. Aristotle
observed this duality and associated the metaphor to the synonymity process. The
evolution of rhetorics is synthesized by Quintilian: "We like to do things so that they are
suggested, than to tell them open." (Quintilian, 2002: 24)
The rhetoric moves towards semiotics, speaking for the first time about the
existence of a motivation in choosing symbol, motivation that appeared with the
introduction of the onomatopoeia in the register of the rhetorical figures.
Hermeneutics increases the research area and offers multiple possibilities of
interpretation, making clear the difference between direct and indirect.
It brings at the surface the transmitter’s desire to influence the perception of
the message by the receiver imposing certain positive or negative aspects. The
symbolistic is divided into: painting (imitative symbol), writing (hieroglyphic symbol)
and language (metaphorical symbol and enigmatic symbol).
The ancient writing is one of ciriological type, with a symbolistic motivated
by visible similarities passing then to a symbolic writing characterized by unjustified
indirect transposition.
However, in researching the symbol T. Todorov admits that rhetoric is the
starting point in classifying the rhetorical figures and the symbol.
There are two traditions of rhetorics: the condillacian type rhetoric and the
rhetoric modeled by Du Marsais.
Highlighting the rhetorical figures is different according to each rhetorical
style. For Condillac the signified is the key to defining because the feeling or the
emotion is a rhetorical expression, and not pure reason. However, this moderate form is
not entirely opposed to Du Marsais’s emotional rhetoric, both focusing on rhetorical
figures, but the first one tends to a thorough description of them.
The premise that to each signifier can be assigned one ideal signified limits the
ability of the tropes or expressions to be synonymous without reducing their
significance. The ornamental rhetoric promoted by Condillac allows the relativism
becoming a rhetorical figure that takes the form given by the individual, the more
individuals, the more rhetorical figures and as many expressed truths
The structural-functional rhetoric of Du Marsais designates two sides of
rhetorical figure: the structural one (the composition) and the functional one (the effects
on other party).
Taking into consideration the two aspects imposed by these rhetoricians, it is
created a more detailed classification than the previous: linguistic figures and figures of
thought.
The linguistic figures are subclassified into tropes and nontropes, tropes can
be: expression tropes (related to the signifier) and semnification tropes (related to the
signified); nontropes are divided into: diction nontropes, elocution nontropes, style and
structure nontropes.
It is noted that these classifications are very mobile, which gives a rich
dynamism to the ordering of rhetorical figures according to certain criteria. For modern

59
retorics, for the successors of the French school, the symbol becomes the central
rhetorical figure, the base of symbolism.
Romanian symbolism succeeds in bringing a literary synchronisation with the
other European literary currents of the era.
While in France symbolism appears as a manifestation against parnassianism,
this poetic-aesthetic attitude of Parnassian resistance finds followers quite easily. In
Romania the emergence of the denial of symbolism is not parnassianism since almost
all Romanian symbolist poets are also parnassianist poets.
This experience of the differences between European and Romanian events had
also been felt in the case of Romanticism, which appears as a social-political manifesto,
but also an aesthetic one. Whereas in France Romanticism emerged as an escape from
the rigors of classicism. So the Romanian Romanticism is not suppressed by a severe
classicism as the classical doctrine does not appear, and both the classical and romantic
doctrine manifesto make evidence of structural coexistence.
The symbolist poetry is considered to be a purified poetry, the path to true
poetry. Unlike Classicism and Romanticism which promoted radical manifestos,
Symbolism knows another kind of promotion through literary cafes and literary salons.
Here, the rigor of the classical manifestos is changed by orality, the poetry is created
here and the theorization will come much later.
Minulescu is not just the promoter of the theorization of symbolism, but he
lives a literary life alongside all his contemporaries. His work is equated with the
development of the vast literary trends.
The artistic and creative life of the poet combines with his personal life, these
two are generating one another, because his inner feelings are symbolist, he does not
write symbolist manifestos but he theorize his daily pure symbolist existence: “a
Minulescu mythology is a mythology of the symbolism” (Manu Emil, 1981: 182)
The minulescian lyric abounds in relations with its environment, and the
symbolist essence penetrates beyond creation, reaching the daily lives where his home
is a true sanctuary of this new trend.
In a relaxed atmosphere rise the first curiosites of the minulescian liryc: the
minulescian bohemia becomes a masterpiece of the style which is characterized by a
playful-conscious temperament, his poetry belongs to the extremes: he develops an
urban romantism in a modern troubadour manner.
The lyrical discursivity of his works suggests a constant communication
between the author and the reader, which allowed same traditional readers to apreciate
his modern writings and even to get to know more of this new trend.
The avant-garde poets and the literary currents which they were promoting
succeeded in discovering new realms of poetry, offering the potentiality to retrieve a
reinvented lyricism from the immobility of the previous one. The minulescian lyric uses
these vanguard techniques, but his lyric outlines the urban troubadur concealed with a
tender nostalgia, which creates a comic anecdotal character.
However, the minulescian poetry is not based on the intensity of amusement,
this arising spontaneously from the discursivity which, by respecting the symbolist
criteria (observing the chorus, exposing the ideology), creates a theatrical poetry that
will be read in a dramatizing context, pointing out to the mixture between proper
bantering and the preciousness of the imposed language, generating convivial poetry
without comic aim defined from the begining.

60
 The rain methaphor from Acuarelă suggests the beginnings of life, the
ancestral pair over which the passing of time has left its mark, this is a deep thought
exposed to the reader very cherfuly with great prowess.
The urban landscape represents the changing of decor from a distant paradise
into the raining city: ,,În orașu-n care plouă/ De trei ori pe săptămână/ Un bătrân și o
bătrână/ Două jucării stricate/ Merg ținându-se de mână!” (Acuarelă).
The minulescian romances read over time provide multiple perspectives; the
sensation of easy reading leads in fact to the lyrical meditation containing also hermetic
elements.
Minulescu’s poetry offers multiple cues of interpretation, it cannot be precisely
framed, ranging from meditation to elegy and to tightly coded verse. His lyric goes
beyond symbolism, as Emil Manu says: “only an aesthetic research of symbolism could
define the minulescian area of this literature ” (Manu Emil, 1981: 185)
The ease of the minulescian poetry seems to be the result of the symbolist
support, its features create an easy rhetoric that abounds in symbols and correspondents,
in various decors and chromatic reachness. However the critics appreaciate his poetry
beyond these boundaries: “some litearary historians found even gratuitousness and
intelectual game in his romances” (Tomuș Mircea, 1966: 105)
The minulescian lyric grows the blurring of emotions, the lyrical meditations
with tragic shades, the instinctual detail in a reach chromaticism, with a scenic game
resembeling to a ritual procession. However, Șerban Cioculescu, as well as G.
Călinescu, observe his relaxed attitude regarding the deity: ,,Eu nu mint/ Eu sunt ca
Tine.../ Nu știu dacă -i rău sau bine/ Dar nu cer să fiu iertat/(...)/ Ce fac eu la fel ca
Tine,/ Nu-i păcat...”
The idea of a pure poetry appears with symbolism, the essence of purity starts
from intuition and not like in Romanticism from truth. Bergsonien influences manifest
in the symbolist poetry through the absence of the asimilation of the moral values as
goals of the poetry.
The symbolist aesthetic area excludes these notions, considering them non or
extra-aesthetic.
The attempts of theorizing the current existed but did not prove prolific. Even
though the modern tendencies of the poets to comment or make notes regarding their
creation provides a reach and valuable material for symbolist theory.
The symbolist reaction against Parnassianism is based primarily on the
transformation of the poetry in a specific music. So, parnassians saw poetry as a
painting, and for the symbolists the painting becomes audible, a sonority with grave
accords that resonates with the interior states.
The new modernist concept does not allow expresing the poetic object but
suggesting it to a level of a weightless intuitivity.
The creations become lyrical meditations that exceed the rational stepping
toward the unutterable and revealing a new lyrical consciousness. So the symbolist
figure of style are the encriptions of some intuitive notions.
The plasticization of poetry made by the parnassians revolts the symbolist, who
was seeking its musicalisation.
The suggestion, the vague and the ambigous go beyond the concept of
asimilating a semnification reaching the theatricality of the language of the modern
poetry. So the language becomes creative, generating poetic experience. On a formal
level, symbolist poetry combats the conventionalism of the traditionalists, adhering to
the free verse.

61
 The minulescian typology of symbols does not subdue to the rules imposed by
this trend, because the poet does not comply absolutely with the symbolism. Minulescu
borrows the decor and the sensitivity from the symbolists, a motivation given by Tudor
Vianu for this attitude lies in the fact that Minulescu experienced only some symbolist
groups, not all of them.
The minulescian symbol is not taken, but adopted, improved and passed
through the filter of his own feelings which sometimes creates a distance from the
current itself.
Emil Manu supports Tudor Vianus assertion but also completes it
extrapolating Parnassian influences and avant-garde poetics beyond minulescian lyric,
reaching the broadening of the themes and enriching the rhetorical style in the first half
of the twentieth century in the Romanian poetry.
The symbol manifests sensory-pensive, addressing from a semiotic approach.
It depicts two aspects: the formal side that leads to the hidden essence and the obscure
side that represents the coding of the concept.
Minulescu is the first symbolist who goes down in the street, the urban
universe in which people carry out their daily lives impress the poet. The small lyrical
stories make him a lyric character; this urban drama does not depress him, but gives
spectacularity to his creation.
The street becomes a metaphorical symbol, and Minulescu was named poet of
the street, but unlike G. Călinescu the decorative objects does not lead his creation, but
at a psychological level they create the atmosphere.
The chromatic aspect of his landscapes bring civilization to the fore, they are
animated by plastic intensification techniques preserved from Parnassianism in order to
complete the melody specific for his creations.
From a thematic point of view the minulescian Parnassianism is one before the
symbolism regarding the ambient, the marine landscapes, the watercolours and the
pastels: ,,În port e liniște/Și-n zare-/Tot liniște (dar mult mai mare)/ În larg sirena nu
mai țipă/ Și macarelele-au tăcut” (Marină estivală).
The modernity of the minulescian creations is felt especially in the social
phenomenon, the avid reading public manifests from the symbolist period till now:
“...for Minulescu the public is a theme of literary sociology, Minulescus work never
ceased to exist” (Manu Emil, 1981: 192)
The minulescian lyric does not have a pattern; it is mainly symbolist, romantic
in the inner feeling, parnassianist in the pictoriality of the decor and modernist by the
means of expression used in a Romanian poetry that was almost capped at the begging
of the twentieth century.

Bibliography
Bote, L., Simbolismul românesc, Editura pentru Literatură, Bucureşti, 1966.
Călinescu, G., Istoria literaturii române de la origini până în prezent, Minerva, Bucuresti, 1982.
Călinescu, M., Ion Minulescu poetul sau Resursele umorului liric, in Ion Minulescu, Versuri,
Editura pentru Literatură, Bucureşti, 1964.
Cioculescu, Ș., Aspecte literare contemporane, Minerva, București, 1972.
Davidescu, N., Aspecte şi direcţii literare, Minerva, Bucureşti, 1975.
Dănciulescu, S., Poetica minulesciană, Scrisul Românesc, Craiova, 1986.
Densuşianu, O., Manifeste literare, Poezie , Proză, Dramaturgie, Edition cared for by Lucian
Pricop, Coresi, Bucureşti, 2003.
Dimitriu, D., Introducere în opera lui Ion Minulescu, Minerva, Bucureşti, 1984.
Manu, E., Ion Minulescu în conştiinţa simbolismului românesc, Minerva, Bucureşti, 1981.

62
Pop, I., Avangarda în literatura română, Minerva, Bucureşti, 1990.
Quintilian, Institutio oratoria, Loeb classical library- Harvard University Press, Cambridge,
2002.
Tomuș, M., Cincisprezece poeți, Editura pentru literatură, București, 1966.
Todorov, T., Teorii ale simbolului, Univers, București, 1983.
Vianu, T., Amintirea lui I. Minulescu, afterword to I. Minulescu Versuri, Minerva, Bucureşti,
1974.

63
 THE DIMENSION OF THE ARTISTIC IMAGES IN
ODOBESCU’S POEMS

Elena Lavinia DIACONESCU (GIURGIU)

Abstract: This study is focused on the research of the artistic images that can be
identified in Alexandru Odobescu’s poems. The poems are not so well-known by the public, but
they reveal a specific vocabulary, the author’s interest in using different figures of speech, but
also the interest in describing his country and his feelings about women.
Keywords: figures of speech, love poems, patriotic poems.

Alexandru Odobescu is best known in Romanian literature for Pseudo-

cinegeticos, his masterpiece. However, the author also wrote poetry, even if he did that
for a short period of time when he was a student in Paris. Through this he tried to
discover his literary path.
Odobescu’ activity as a poet proved to be just an experiment. The critics
showed little interest in his poems. In fact, very few critics ever mentioned the titles of
Odobescu’s poems in their literary analyses. One of them was D. Păcurariu who wrote
the book A. I. Odobescu, which was published by Youngsters Publishing House
(Editura Tineretului) in 1966; D. Păcurariu mentioned two patriotic poems: Odă
României (1852) and Întoarcerea în țară pe Dunăre (1855) and six love poems written
between 1850 and 1853: <Eu crez că dulceață>, dedicated to Cxxxxxa, <Ca tot codrul
să răsune>, dedicated to Axxxa, <Multe femei>, Moartea unei amante and two others
without a title. It is a curious fact that only three love poems were selected to be
included in the first volume dedicated to Odobescu’s writings (Publishing House of the
Romanian Academy, 1965). The other three poems that D. Păcurariu only mentioned
can be found at Romanian Academy Library (Ms. 4935, f. 1-23). For the moment we
are going to analyse only those that were published by the Publishing House of the
Romanian Academy.
Written in October 1850 in Paris, the poem <Eu crez că dulceață > seems to be
an exercise of composing some lines. From the beginning one can notice Odobescu’s
inversion technique, which proves his effort in getting a rhyme and creating the feeling
of a romantic atmosphere. The poem is structured in eight stanzas and its topic is
focused on describing a beloved woman. Odobescu had used the techniques of literary
portrait and description since the early years as a writer; these techniques helped him
develop his literary skills. At a closer look at the text, we can observe that the first five
stanzas contain a presentation of his lover’s mouth, face, eyes, hair and chest and in the
last three stanzas the girl is described as a goddess and a beauty of nature.
The first stanza: Eu crez că dulceață / Decât p-ale tale / De garoafe buze / Nu
e de găsit. has a particular aspect due to the inversion of lines, but also due to the
presence of the verb “to be” at the end of the sentence. The verb being at the end is
specific to Latin writings, as Odobescu was preoccupied with the translation from this
language. The idea of comparing a part of the human body with a flower (in this case
the mouth is like a carnation) is continued in the second stanza with the image of the


University of Pitesti, lavi_di@yahoo.com

64
girl’s face compared with a hyacinth: Fața ta îmi pare / Zambila ce micsă / Cu -a
zăpezii-albeață / Palidu-i veșmânt .
Each stanza seems to be a photo that describes the features of the beloved one
in the deepest details. Therefore the fourth stanza: Crez că vântulețul / Pe mai dulce
undă / Decât neagra-ți buclă / Nu poate-adia is the “photo” which surprises the
movement of the woman’s hair against the wind.
Odobescu oscillates between black and white, the colours which he considers
necessary in describing the perfect woman’s portrait. Over the years, when the author
wrote Pseudo-cinegeticos and inserted in this book the story Basmul cu Fata de piatră
și cu Feciorul de împărat cel cu noroc la vânat, it was noticed that some elements from
his poetic debut were kept in the lines that presented the portrait of the female
protagonist: ...ieși acum din stâncă / albă, dalbă fată, / vie și frumoasă, / blândă,
răcoroasă, / cu chip luminos, / cu trup mlădios. The literary motives such as white
colour, light, graceful body, which are present in these lines, prove that Odobescu uses
the same technique of describing feminine beauty. In the sixth stanza of the poem <Eu
crez că dulceață> the girl’s body is described: Crez chiar că zeița / Ceea-a fromusețe
<i> / Mai puțin mlădioasă / Decât tine-a fi. Although the resemblance to a deity seems
to be the ultimate compliment, the poet continues to eulogize his girlfriend in the last
two stanzas, stating that: Tu îmi pari obiectul / În care Natura / Ș-a pus chiar mândria /
A se-mpodobi and Tot ce este galeș / Tot ce te atrage / În însați ființă / S-a împreunat.
Comparing the words that Odobescu used to the primordial elements, it was
noticed that the writer used three of them: soil, air and fire. The words that are related to
the lexical field of soil are: garoafe, zambila, zăpezii; the words vântulețul, adia,
columba belong to the lexical field of air and scânteie și foc are related to fire.
There are plenty of nouns in the poem and they are sometimes linked to
adjectives in order to create a stylistic effect that is specific to epithets: palidu veșmânt,
negrilor ochi, dulce undă, neagra buclă. In most of the stanzas there are few verbs. The
most frequent verb is the popular form of “to believe” used in the first person, singular:
crez, which appears at the beginning of five from the eight stanzas. The purpose is to
express the writer’s deep belief in his girlfriend’s beauty. The majority of the verbs are
in the indicative mood and the negative form introduced by the word decât: nu e, nu
iese, nu poate, nu varsă. There are also a few verbs in the present, the affirmative form:
micsă, îmi pari, atrage; verbs in the past: a pus, a împreunat or verbs that appear in the
infinitive mood: a fi, a-mpodobi.
The dominant figure of speech is inversion, not only of the parts of speech, but
also of the lines. It can be noticed the presence of monorhyme as in folk poetry and the
measurement of lines is of six syllables.
<Ca tot codrul să răsune>, dedicated to Axxxa, was written in 1851 and had
eight stanzas, each with two lines.
The theme chosen by Odobescu is a classic one and it is related to nature and
love. The forest, which is a witness character, represents the terrestrial space where a he
and a she can love each other. The beginning and the end are identical due to the
repetition of the same lines: Ca tot codrul să răsune d-ale tale dulci cântări,/ Și ca eho,
plin de taină, să-ți trimiță salutări!.
The vocabulary is better developed that the previous odobescian poem. There
are many words related to the lexical field of the forest: codru, tufei, fronză, filomele,
arborii. The close terrestrial space of the woods is doubled by the open space of the
heights through the words: vulturul, piscuri, zefiri. All these are important for the poet
because he associates the feelings of love, gratitude, awe, as it comes out of the lines:

65
Orice sunet al naturei m-a făcut a resimți, / Când fiori, când mulțumire, ce nu poci a le
descri. The voices of the birds (the nightingales and the eagles) are considered to be
pleasant to the human hearing: Toată firea să desmiardă, ascultând cântarea lor. Still,
there is nothing more beautiful in the poet’s imagination than his sweetheart’s voice. He
compares this voice with the one of a mermaid: Dar când glasu-ți de sirenă, înălțându-
se treptat, / Printre arborii pădurei cu putere-a răsunat, / Îmi zisei că firea-i numai un
susur nesimțitor, / Căci c -o notă dedeși viață unei lume de amor . The author mingles
three elements and three worlds: aquatic, terrestrial and aerial.
In this poem Odobescu succeeds to create some acoustic images through the
following expressions: codrul să răsune, șoptea a tufei fronză, vărs gemete d-amor,
ascultând cântarea lor, strigătu-i măreț, sunet al naturei, cu putere-a răsunat.
The epithets are obtained by writing an adjective after a noun: filomelele
duioase, gemete d-amor, vulturul semeț, susur nesimțitor, but also by writing an
adjective before the noun: dulci cântări, misterioase fericiri. The forest is personified
and it is capable of saying hello through its echo. One comparison is only used in the
text of this poem in order to show the deepness of the eagle’s voice: Și ca trâmbiță d-
arhanghel este strigătu-i măreț .
Since Odobescu’s debut as a writer, he revealed his predilection for using folk
forms of some words, such as nouns in genitive that end in –ei instead of –ii: pădurei,
naturei or folk forms of the verbs: trimiță, să desmiardă, poci.
By analyzing the tenses in the stanzas, one can observe the author’s tendency
of using present simple when he describes the nature, which suggests the durability and
the eternity of the open space. Still, when the writer talks about his own feelings and the
interaction with the person he loves, present perfect tense is used: simțit -a; a făcut a
răsunat.
Many main sentences can be identified at a phrase level and they are followed
or preceded by temporal clauses introduced by the word „when”: Când șoptea a tufei
fronză; când vărs gemete d-amor; Dar când glasu-ți de sirenă … cu putere-a răsunat.
The poem <Ca tot codrul să răsune> represents a prove of Odobescu’s
attempts to write under the influence of an easy romanticism. However, „the
versification difficulties that the young poet tries to fix by looking for the right rhyme
do not indicate poetry as the literary way that Odobescu should follow. (T. Vianu,V.
Cândea, 1965, p. 378)
Composed in July 1853 in Paris, the unfinished poem <Multe femei> is a
specific work to Odobescu’s early years, but the poet becomes capable now of more
mature judgements over some realities. This aspect is proved by writing the work
Călătorie din Paris la Londra one year before. „The declarations of circumstance
addressed to any muse from exile or from the country do not denote anything good in
order to make him different from the other lovers of the same age. He had already
loved many women (multe femei) at 19 years old, the last one always being his first love
(întâiu-mi amor) and he had already had the chance to know how bitter life was”. (T.
Vianu,V. Cândea, 1965, p. 411-412)
Alexandru Odobescu passed through some artistic phases in his short period as
a writer of love poems: at the beginning he described the woman he loved, then he
remembered the best moments they spent together in a natural environment and in the
end he wrote about the moment of betrayal and break up. In the poem <Multe femei> it
can be identified the motif of langour (dor): am plâns cu dor; un dor nesfârșit. The
author uses some words frequently: the adjective dulce is necessary for creating epithets
(mai dulce nume; dulci cântări; suspine mai dulci), the noun dulceață appears in the

66
expressions: râul dulceții (metaphor) or Eu crez că dulceață /Decât p-ale tale / De
garoafe buze; these exemples prove the writer’s difficulties in finding the most suitable
words and expressing himself in an original way. If fact everybody knows that
Odobescu worked hard to choose his words, as he was not a natural talent.
Although without a great literary value, these three love poems presented
above are important for identifying and understanting the origins of the authentic
odobescian style. His passion for art and literature represents the basis of his
development as a writer. That is the reason why Odobescu had the ability to transform
nature, human body and gestures into an artificial painting. „He turns a natural spot into
a pastel or a landscape; a town into an architectonic environment; a woman into a
portrait.[...] Odobescu’s paradox is to create art only through the illusion of life and life
through the illusion of art: he is sensual when perceiving art and he is an aesthete when
perceiving reality”. (N. Manolescu, 1976, p.47-49)
Odobescu’s patriotic poems are better known by the public: Odă României and
Întoarcerea în țară pe Dunăre (published in 1855 in România Literară Magazine).
They proved that the author was a patriot who dreamed about the emancipation of the
Romanian people.
The first two stanzas from Odă României are deeply subjective; the poet
carries out an imaginary monologue with his mother country which he cherishes, but at
the same time he deplores its destiny. The usage of vocative: țara mea iubită, mândră
Românie, mumă iubitoare represents a pathetic proof of Odobescu’s affection for his
country. He creates lines that have a contradictory symbolic value in order to illustrate
the increase and decline of a nation; thereby, the Romanian land is crossed by golden
rivers: râuri d-aur sub boltă azurie (chromatic epithet), but over them the happiness had
passed: Trecut-au fericirea ș-a’ tale sărbători, / Cum trec l-al toamnei crivăt plăpânde
dalbe flori (comparison).
The second stanza continues with a rhetorical question: Când fiii tăi s-adapă
cu laptele-ți cel dulce/ Și când cosesc ei spicul ce sânul tău aduce/ Se mai gândesc ei
oare la sântul legământ / Ce ți -au jurat odată, în timpuri mai ferice:/ „Să apere cu
brațul străbunul lor pământ,/ Până și cel din urmă va zace în mormânt”?. These lines
represent a symbolic presentation of a nation in decline; at the same time, the above
lines condemn the peaceful present without patriotism and they praise the „happy” past
dominated by battles. The noun ”grave” is a descendant symbol, its purpose being to
show the ultimate sacrifice made by Romanian ancestors. The same idea of sacrifice is
perpetuated in the following stanza through the lines : ... românul acel ce-n bătălie/ Uita
că copilașii, sărmanii! zac în pat/ Lipsiți de hrana zilei... când țara -i de scăpat!
The poet seems to be an orator, because he creates an enthusiastic speech about
the life of the people in the past and in the present: Când se sculau românii, pe loc
pierea dușmanul [...] Românii d-acum, însă, trăiesc cu umilința! „The young poet
develops a time motif by comparing the ancestral courage with nowadays humiliation:
De vechi făgăduințe nu va nimeni să știe, Dar țara-i tot aceea, frumoasă, roditoare” (T.
Vianu,V. Cândea, 1965, p. 228). The author identifies the cause of this situation:
Străina uneltire revarsă neștiința,/ Ș-a țării neatârnare e numai ca un pai / Luptându -se
în viscol cu crivețe de plai . Odobescu criticizes the foreign poisonous influence not only
through some articles, but also through these patriotic poems. Poetry is for him another
way of expressing his own artistic and patriotic beliefs. ”The originality of this
composition written in adolescence comes from the idea of national renaissance through
arts” (T. Vianu,V. Cândea, 1965, p. 228).

67
 Odă României is an original writing. By analysing this poem, one can notice
the author’s effort in bringing together different figures of speech, such as: epithets:
râuri d-aur; boltă azurie; lanțuri d-aramă; pulbere d-aur; văl cumplit; metaphors:
duhul libertății; a păcii dulce floare; al artelor izvor; focul vieței; steaua nemuririi;
comparisons: să furi, ca Prometeu, scânteia ce nu piere; ca flacări văpăiezi; inversions:
adânca durere; aspră voinicie; veșteji lauri; luminoase sfere; limpedea cătare;
reoccurences: tot aceea, tot limpede, tot încântătoare; s-a stins la noi, s-a stins virtutea.
Among the stanzas which assure the oscillation between the glorious past, the
injurious present and the possible future reborn by art, there are some visual images
created in order to demonstrate an absolute aspect – the beauty of the country: Dar țara-
i tot aceea, frumoasă, roditoare;/ Tot limpede e cerul, câmpia zâmbitoare,/ Și munții cu
pâraie, cu piscuri, cu zăpezi;/ Și nopțile de vară tot sunt încântătoare./ Cu f ața -ți
argintie, tu, lună! scânteiezi.
Odobescu will get to his artistic maturity with a diverse vocabulary as a result
of his life and education. In Odă României, composed at the beginning of his literary
career, it can be observed his interest in a certain vocabulary, with specific forms and
constructions which defined his style later. The author liked folk words that he used a
lot in order to create ”a local colour” for his poem: ferice (=fericit), păs (=necaz),
osmanul (înv.= turc), măcelărit (= măcelărire), neatârnare (înv.= independență
politică), cătare, vecinic (= veșnic); văpăiezi (înv. intranzitiv), cătau (= căutau), s-aținte
(= s-ațintească), nu va să știe (= nu va ști), va să-nflorească (= va înflori). There are
some regional phonetic versions: mumă, sântul, atuncea, marturi, colo, vieței, cării
(=cărei), vârtutea, sărbând, iarăș, țălul, orizonul .
”Composed of 12 stanzas, the poem Odă României has a clear and logical
development.” (T. Vianu,V. Cândea, 1965, p. 228) Since his adolescence the writer
used to have a specific pattern of writing a phrase with balanced subordinate clauses.
Here is an exemple:
I. Dar țara -i tot aceea, 1. frumoasă
2. roditoare;
II. Tot limpede e cerul, I. II. III. IV.
V.
III. câmpia zâmbitoare
IV. Și munții 1.cu pâraie, 1 2 1 2 3
2. cu piscuri,
3. cu zăpezi;
V. Și nopțile de vară tot sunt încântătoare .
The theme of the poem Întoarcerea în țară pe Dunăre was presented by many
other writers of the time; it referred to young intellectuals who returned home with new
patriotic ideals after spending some time abroad. Still, the idea of coming home
suggested different feelings to each poet: some of them felt the happiness of finding
love, peace or serenity; others felt the sadness generated by solitude and expected death.
For Odobescu, coming back home meant rediscovering the environment where he could
move and create: Sunt ferice că-mi văd țara,/ Văd curgând Dunărea lin;/ Sub cer neted
văd cum seara,/ Malul e de taine plin.
The poem begins with two stanzas in which the author expresses his regrets for
not having a better voice: un glas tare, sunător și versuri pline de dulceți in order to
praise the country. In the following four stanzas he expresses his affection for the
beauty of his birthplace: m-aș cerca a le descri; aș culege flori și stele/ Și aș împleti cu
ele/ Cununi pentr’a’ tale nunți; Viața mea cu bucurie / M i-aș zdrobi-o-n fala ta; Te-aș

68
urma, mândră și tare/ Pe un tron scânteietor;/ Te aș face eu mai mare. These lines
contain some verbs in the conditional that indicate at a stylistic level the young
intellectual’s patriotic ideals. He also condemns those who oppress the people. Daca
toți cât nasc în tine/ Așa dragoste-ar simți, / Poate-ai fi și tu mai bine,/ Poate-atât n-ai
suferi./ Însă vai! mulți te apasă/ Mulți din sângele-ți trăiesc/ Și de doru-ți nu le pasă,/
Căci chiar ei te asupresc.
The other stanzas describe the same emotion produced by the idea of coming
home. There are some lines that contain the metaphor of the star, which can have a dual
meaning from a symbolic point of view. On one hand, the star indicates Odobescu’s
destiny as a human being, and on the other hand the star is the source of inspiration and
creation for Odobescu, the writer: Însă inima-mi tresare/ Când gândesc a revedea/ Pe
pământ, câmpia mare,/ Și pe ceruri, a mea stea,/ Steaua ceea favorită,/ Ce gându -mi
copilăresc/ O închipuia unită/ De pământul românesc.
Compared to Odă României, Întoarcerea în țară pe Dunăre does not have to
many figures of speech. Some inversions can be noticed: falnic viitor; întins pământ;
tainică-armonie; nestins amor and epithets: dulce mulțumire; tron scânteietor; cer
neted; gândiri noroase; eterul luminos; gingașe licuriri . The dominant lexical field is
related to nature: deal, câmpie, moșie, pământ, stea, cerul, Dunărea, malurile; these
words helped the author to create his visual images.
Taking a closer look to Odobescu’s vocabulary, it can be observed his interest
in using folk words: preget, fericea (fericirea), voi s-apuci (vrei s-apuci), voi s-arunc
(vreau s-arunc), voi să-nec (vreau să-nec), aș cerca (aș încerca); regional phonetisms:
daca (Walachian phonetism instead of dacă) and sânt (Moldavian phonetism instead of
sfânt), reoccurences: al tău falnic viitor; ale tale frumuseți; al tău cer; ai tăi munți; a ’
tale nunți; a’ Dunării talazuri; a mea stea; a mea copilărie; ale slavei măguliri; a mea
inimă.
All the ideas presented above demonstrate that Odobescu’s work got some
specific features in time. Although he wrote a few poems which were not appreciated by
the critics, they represented the clear proof of the author’s literary interest; the poetry
was like an exercice that helped him create a career in literature and promote Romanian
literary language.

Bibliography
Gheție, I., Baza dialectală a românei literare, Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România,
București, 1975;
Iordan, I., Stilistica limbii române, Editura Științifică, București, 1975;
Irimia, D., Structura stilistică a limbii române contemporane, Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică,
București, 1986;
Ivănescu, G., Istoria Limbii Române, Editura Juminea, Iași, 1980;
Manolescu, N., Introducere în opera lui A. Odobescu, Ed. Minerva, București, 1976
Păcurariu, D., A. Odobescu, ed. Tineretului, București, 1966;
Teodorescu, G. Dem., Ene. V., Istoria limbii și literaturii române: de la începuturi până la 1882 ,
Editura Saeculum, București, 2002;
Vianu, T., Studii de stilistică, Editura didactică și pedagogică, București, 1968;
Vianu,T., Cândea, V., Alexandru Odobescu – Opere, vol. I, ed. Academiei Republicii Socialiste
România, București, 1965.

69
 FIGURATIVE DIMENSIONS IN GRIGORE ALEXANDRESCU’S
ROMANTIC POETRY

Elena -Andreea DINA

Abstract: This work tries to emphasizes the place of Grigore Alexandrescu in the
Romanian literature, by showing his creative characteristics. He is a dual writer because he
created Romantic poems but on the other side , he is also a Classical writer, a man of reason who
created remarkable fables, epistles and prose. This work focuses on his Romantic side, by trying
to reveal his originality and the sources of his work.
Keywords: Romanticism, tropes, authenticity.

Nineteenth-century literature was deeply influenced by socio-historical and

cultural context of those times characterized by feudal struggle and the ideal of freedom
that animates the souls of Romanians.
Grigore Alexandrescu is one of the writers of the pasoptist movement, being in
the generation of writers who created in the middle of history, actively participating in
the commission of acts of great historical importance for the Romanian people, as part
of the political generation of writers.
The uniqueness of the period that created Grigore Alexandrescu is given by the
fact that Romanticism occurs simultaneously with Classicism, which will seriously
affect the process of creating of the Romanian writer. His work includes both Romantic
elements identified in his romantic and historical lyric and also the social one, and on
the other side there are classical elements all through his fables, epistles and prose.
In the case of Grigore Alexandrescu it can be discussed about his creative
dualism; although feels love, sadness, hopelessness, Grigore Alexandrescu remains
essentially a man of reason, and then a man of sensations, since he can not miss his
moralistic nature. Horia Badescu observed this feature in his biographical study where
he afirms: “Dynamics sentiment remains, no matter how he talks about heart and soul,
one outside, without the serious and internalized support of the self gnomism which is
so sincere for the moralist from social poems is here without support, correspondences
are pictorial rather than rhythmic tune.” (Bǎdescu, 1981:11).
Moreover, in the case of Grigore Alexandrescu, personal conscience is not
designed to reveal the ideas and feelings of the writer, but is a collective consciousness
that represents the interests and the feelins of people, Grigore Alexandrescu becoming
seized as the voice and representative of the ideals and the struggle of the Romanians .
At the figurative level, Grigore Alexandrescu’s poem seems simple, as George
Cǎlinescu distinguished “ a coal poetry bleak metaphor.” (Cǎlinescu, 1962 :165).
However, at a better view, the figurative exist in his romantic poetry , the
primary source being the poetry of Lamartine, whose ideology about life is inspiring,
without affecting the authenticity of Romanian poet.
It thus cultivating in Grigore Alexandrescu’ lyric the desire of isolation in the
rural areas, away from the hectic life of the city because man must have a simple life,
mediocre in order to find his happiness.

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University of Piteşti, dina.andreea55@yahoo.com

70
 The pessimistic air is felt through the lyrics of the pasoptist poet through
meditation, to reliving that have as a source the nostalgia which is so common in his
work.
The writer tends to use certain specific romance topics limitless including:
“ruins, hallucinating noctambulism, the ghost and its variants (range, shade), desert
aquatic or land stellar are preferred [...]. Terrible, fierce, rabid, raging, terrible,
monstrous have tropics fundamental values for the poet.” (Bǎdescu, 1981:21).
One of the basic features of his poetry is the music of Grigore Alexandrescu
which was taken from Ossian’s poems, giving rise to harmonies.
Grigore Alexandrescu is a poet of images used in the lyrics sound like: ,,
Adesea pe câmpie / Auz o armonie, / Un ce melodios: / Un glas care se pare / Ascuns în
depãrtare / Un imn misterios."( Frumuseţea D- ei) or lyrics of Viaţǎ rusticǎ;,, În cugetu-
mi mulţumit, / Slǎvind o-naltǎ putere, / Eu ascultam în tǎcere / Al multor mii de fiinţe /
Concertul nemǎrginit.”
Natural phenomena are presented as if coming to life, as evidenced wind force
in the poetry Viaţǎ câmpeneascǎ: ,,Prin aluniş sulfa vântul / Frunza uşor clǎtina, / Nucii
bǎtrâni ca pǎmântul / D - alungul se desina; / Unda cea armonioasǎ / A u nui ascuns izvor
/ Ca o şoaptǎ armonioasǎ / S- auzea în preajma lor.”
The poet has the artistic power to give life to rural tranquility in lyrics such as:
,,Un clopot ce seara se aude la turme / ce stǎ, reîncepe, abia rǎsunând / Ca glas care
moartea e- aproape sǎ- l curme, / Când viaţa- nceteazǎ treptat îngheţând / Un greier ce
cântǎ, o iarbǎ, rǎsunǎ singing, grass, răsura, / Stufoasa pǎdure, pierdute cǎrǎri,/Adânca
murmurǎce - nvie natura/ Ca geniuri tainici ascunse prin flori.” (Reverie).
The antithesis is also very often used in poetry, as Grigore Alexandrescu
recourses to the theme of ruins, opportunity to put in opposition the glorious past of the
Romanian people and the present which seems mediocre and ephemeral. In this regard
the poem Umbra lui Mircea. La Cozia has in the center, a remarkable figure,
representing the past glory of our people: ,, Oltule, care-ai fost martur vitejiilor trecute/
Şi puternici legioane p-a ta margine-ai privit,/ Virtuţi mari, fapte cumplite îţi sunt ţie
cunoscute,/ Cine oar’ poate se fie omul care te- a- ngrozit?/ Este el, cum îl aratǎ sabia
lui şi armura/ Cavaler de ai credinţei, sau al Tibrului stǎpân/ Traian, cinste a Rome ice
se luptǎ cu Natura,/ Uriaş e al Daciei, sau e Mircea cel Bǎtrân?Mircea! Îmi rǎspunde
dealul; Mircea! Oltul repeteazǎ/ Acest sunet, acest nume valurile -l primesc; Unul altuia
îl spune; Dunǎrea se înştiinţeazǎ,/ Şi - ale ei spumate unde cǎtre mare îl pornesc.”
For the love poetry, the antithesis is used to put in opposition the false ideals
believed by the poet before meeting the love and the other side the true purpose of his
life, the fulfillment through love. Such is the case of the following lyrics: ,, Dupǎ vara
cea bogatǎ/ Vine iarna -ntǎrâtatǎ/ bate vânt îngrozitor ” (Prieteşugul şi amorul- Emiliei)
As a poet of meditation, Grigore Alexandrescu’s poetry abounds in rhetorical
interrogations used not only in the historical poems in which the poet reflects on the fate
of Romanians, but also in love and life. In the poetry Frumuseţea D-ei almost an entire
stanza is based on this figure: ,, De unde vine oare? / Din sferele senine? / Din zefirii ce
zbor? / Din iarba ce şopteşte/ Din plant ace trǎieşte/ Din floare? Din izvor?”
On the other side, there are quite frequently used rhetorical exclamations, thus
putting out deep feelings as seen in the lyrics: ,, A! cât de mult amarǎ, / Viaţa o sǎ -mi
parǎ! /Minuturile, veacuri o sǎ le socot./ A oricǎrei zi razǎ/ Noi lacrimi o sǎ vazǎ/ Când
pe streine ţǎrmuri, strein o sǎ trǎiesc!” ( Inima mea e tristǎ)
Grigore Alexandrescu is a short verse and focused poet, so the ellipse is
another stylistic figure underlying the creation of the poem the poet forty-eighter, figure

71
found in Aşteptarea: ,, Acesta este ceasul…sau cel puţin soseşte,/ Dar ea unde sǎ fie?
De ce nu se iveşte? (...) / ...Se auzi un sunet… Sǎ ascult… mi se pare…/ Nu e nimic: o
frunzǎ în vale a cǎzut.”
As noted by Horia Badescu, Grigore Alexandrescu is obsessed by the sense of
gradation, “visions are flashing, in a dynamic sequence that today we call it- a movie.” (
Bǎdescu, 1981: 22). An example is the scene in which the poet gives shape to the
picture of death, of apocalypse using short, enunciative sentences in the poetry Ucigaş
fǎrǎ voie : ,,Apoi deodatǎ în nori se ascunse./ Şi lipsa ei dete cumplitul semnal:/ În
spaima nespusǎ ce-atunci mǎ pǎtrunse/ Vǎzui trecând moartea pe palidu-I cal./ Schelet
d-altǎ lume, cu forme cumplite/ Râjind cǎtre mine privea neclintit:/ În mâna-I uscatǎ, în
unghii ascuţite/ Ţinea o femeie… din capu-I zdrobit,/ Muşca câteodatǎ, muşca cu
turbare.”
With the process of graduation, the poet can discern a tendency to increase up
to gigantic spaces and glorious past, leading in this way to hyperbolization as seen in
Umbra lui Mircea. La Cozia, where the figure of Mircea appears colossal: ,, Este el,
cum îl aratǎ sabia lui şi armura,/ Cavaler al credinţei, sau al Tibrului stǎpân, /Traian,
Gloria Rome ice se luptǎ cu natura? / Uriaş e al Daciei, sau e Mircea cel Bǎtrân? / <<
Mircea! >> Îmi rǎspunse dealul; / << Mircea! >> Olt repetează; / Acest sunet, acest
nume, valurile-primesc, / Unul altuia îl spune, Dunǎrea se -nştiinţeazǎ, / Ş- ale ei
spumate unde cǎtre mare îl pornesc.”
In the lyrics, there are also other figures of speech, one of them being the
metaphor, considered by Horia Badescu “non-plastic ‘ which appears in verses such as:
,,Îmi place a naturii sǎlbatecǎ mânie / (...) Cu focul care arde în pieptu - mi sfâşiat” (
Suferinţa) . In the poem Nu, a ta moarte... there also appear metaphors in lyrics: ,,
Fierul cel roşu care- apasǎ / Mâna cruzimii p - un osândit, / Mai adânci urme nici el nu
lasǎ/ Decât amorul astfel simţit.”
Horia Badescu affirms that “not the metaphorical force lacks Alexandrescu
very often, but the metaphysical metaphor. On the whole poetic image, his metaphor is
likely attributive, not verbal. It captures the qualities and not moving things. It shows,
but does not include the dynamics of thought, becoming its relation to the cosmos than
designate the size of projections, but rarely the tension and the movement of the inerior
flux which generates this projection, its underground coordinates.” (Horia Bǎdescu,
1981: 25).
Another feature of this genuine forty-eighter poet consists of his power to
personify good, suffering or sadness, using specific verbs. Thus, “Pain is a being who
suppresses the man helped by the Faith. Sorrow walking on a road and on her steps it
comes the Good. Imagination is free to imagine every abstraction how she wants, see,
for example, with the yellow and tense pain, sorrow disheveled and apathetic smiled
youthful appearance.” (Cǎlinescu, 1962: 165) .
There are many epithets in lines such as: ,, Şi negurǎ, şi viscol, şi cer întǎrâtat’
(Suferinţǎ), ,,Pace adâncǎ ce mi-ai rǎpit ‘"(Nu, a ta moarte ...), ,,Nǎdejdi, viaţǎ, cinste,
simţirile-nfocate ‘(Când dar o sǎ guşti pacea ...), ,, Misterioasǎ limbǎ a silfilor cereşti ’
"(Unei necunoscute moldovence) etc.
In addition there are also comparisons as: ,, Unde se-nalţǎ un fum de sânge,/
Ca bluestem jalnic şi necurmat! ‘"(Nu, a ta moarte ...) or, ,, Eu lanţurile mi le zgudui cu
mânie, Ca robul ce se luptǎ c- un jug neomenos, / Ca leul ce izbeşte a temniţei tǎrie / Şi
geme furios . ‘"(Când dar o sǎ guşti pacea ...), etc.
At the lexical level, even the words are used for figuratives as Grigore
Alexandrescu uses archaisms which ,,indirectly creates the impression of old favors

72
the time returned which the subject reclaims, contributes to the achievement of that true
color (of place or time ) that Romantics discover and theorize.” (Anghelescu, 1973:
138).
As a feature of the literary language of the century when Grigore Alexandrescu
published, he used archaisms in parallel with neologisms, the poet having the creative
power of combining the two types of lexical opposites, giving balance and harmony to
the poems, thus proving to be an experienced study of language.
In conclusion, the words of Mircea Anghelescu remain memorable: “Under the
apparent banality of his style, which may explain the lack of interest of researchers in
the what he is regarded, but we can reveal an impressive adequacy of its theoretical
principles (the Letter to Voltaire, the prefaces, etc.) with their application throughout the
work, a remarkable intuition of the meaning of language development and a valuable
contribution to the enrichment stylistic procedures of the Romanian poetry.”
(Anghelescu, 1973: 140).

Bibliography
Alexandrescu, Grigore, Opere, I, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1972.
Anghelescu, Mircea, Introducere în opera lui Grigore Alexandrescu, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva,
1973.
Bǎdescu, Horia, Grigore Alexandrescu- parade mǎştilor, Bucureşti, Editura Albatros, 1981.
Cǎlinescu, George,, Gr. M. Alecsandrescu, Bucureşti, Editura Pentru literaturǎ, 1962.
Cornea, Paul, Originile romantismului românesc, Bucureşti, Editura Cartea Româneascǎ, 2008.
Dragomirescu, Ghe. N., Dicţionarul figurilor de stil, Bucureşti, Editura Ştiinţificǎ, 1995.
Ivaşcu, George, Istoria literaturii române, Bucureşti, Editura Ştiinţificǎ, 1969.
Petraş, Irina, Figuri de stil- Mic dicţionar- antologie pentru elevi, Bucureşti, Editura Demiurg,
1992
Pǎcurariu, Dimitrie, Clasicism şi Romantism. Studii de literaturǎ românǎ modernǎ, Bucureşti,
Editura Albatros, 1973.
Popovici, Dimitrie, Romantismul românesc, Bucureşti, Editura Albatros, 1972

73
 GH. N. DRAGOMIRESCU, DU LANGAGE AU STYLE

Ștefan GĂITĂNARU

Abstract: The work Gh. N. Dragomirescu From Language to Style represents the input
of Romanian linguistics in the development of European neo-stylistics. The present study edifies
both the continuity and the creativity elements which present in the work of the Romanian
researcher.
Keywords: style, figure of speech, deviance.

Lorsque paraissait en 1975 Petite encyclopédie des figures de style, la situation

de la stylistique au niveau européen abandonnait l’état de latence dans laquelle les
théories de la communication l’avaient maintenue longtemps. Le père de la stylistique,
Charles Bally, avait consigné dans la période de déclin la prolifération des termes
stylistiques, née d’une acribie analytique, des termes qu’il avait considérés rébarbatifs et
pédants, qui étendaient les zones d’interférence au lieu d’opérer des délimitations
claires.
Dès 1964 Roland Barthes avait proposé une résurrection de la rhétorique,
considérant l’instrumentaire théorique comme appartenant au structuralisme
linguistique. Roman Jakobson lui-même invoquait la nature linguistique de la poésie (la
poésie comme langage), montrant que seulement la linguistique pouvait assumer les
compétences d’élucider les structures particulières spécifiques à l’ineffable artistique:
Comme la linguistique est la science globale des structures linguistiques, la poétique
peut être considérée comme faisant partie intégrante de la linguistique. (Jakobson,
1963 :210). Il a été considéré un pionnier de la résurrection de la stylistique par l’apport
théorique dans le domaine de la poétique, mais surtout par les applications sur la
métaphore et la métonymie.
Dans les études antiques, la rhétorique visait en même temps homo loquens
(l’argumentation dans le discours, comme science de l’éloquence) et homo poeticus,
étendant les techniques de la persuasion sur la sensibilité ludique de l’art. La nouvelle
stylistique assume le terme de rhétorique avec la deuxième acception (la loi de la
complémentarité), engageant les plus importants linguistes (sémioticiens) comme:
Roland Barthes, Jean Cohen, G. Genette et les chercheurs de la Liège, constituée dans le
Groupe µ.
Dans cette période, Gh. N. Dragomirescu engagé dans le processus général de
résurrection de la rhétorique, s’était proposé dans Petite encyclopédie des figures de
style de réaliser une recherche moderne pour son temps des faits de style, acceptant la
continuité des termes à l’opposé de Novalis qui s’était proposé de choisir entre la
rhétorique et la stylistique: Les figures de style constituent l’objet de premier rang de la
stylistique, de la stylistique qu’on peut nommer par manque d’autre terme, stylistique
rhétorique.(p.11)
Comme linguiste et surtout grammairien, le chercheur roumain considère que
les faits poétiques peuvent être révélés sous les aspects les plus profonds par les
instruments de la linguistique. Il vise même l’introduction de nouvelles figures, comme
l’attribut de l’objet, l’adjectif possessif éthique, le nominatif éthique. L’apport (le

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University of Pitești, stefan_gaitanaru@yahoo.com

74
support) de la linguistique est édifié chaque fois dans des chapitres théoriques intitulés
d’une manière suggestive: Le lieu des figures dans la langue et leur importance, La
source stylistique de la langue au niveau de la grammaire, La grammaire et les figures.
En réalité, en explorant chaque niveau de la langue sous l’aspect de l’expressivité,
l’auteur aborde aussi les niveaux phonologique et lexical, très bien représentés par les
figures. Toutefois, le rôle prioritaire est réservé à la grammaire : On peut dire qu’en
essence les valeurs de la grammaire expressive ne sont que la racine de toutes les
figures, au sens que la technique de réaliser les quatre groupes de figures est définie
par quelques phénomènes qui constituent l’objet de l’analyse grammaticale. (p.13)
Ainsi, on ignore l’avertissement de Claudel : Les grands écrivains n’ont pas été faits à
supporter les lois des grammairiens, mais qu’ils imposent les siennes et non seulement
la volonté, mais aussi leur caprice. (RG, p. 22)
Ancré dans les recherches de son temps, Gh. N. Dragomirescu reprend
l’engagement des deux disputes de la stylistique européenne.
Premièrement, la définition du fait de style par d’autres traits distinctifs que par
ceux hérités de la rhétorique de l’Antiquité.
Le style comme écart avait été conçu au début par Paul Valéry et repris dans
des recherches soutenues par Ch. Bruneau. Impressionnés par le mirage de cette
nouveauté, les chercheurs n’ont pas eu peur des connotations morales des termes, ni de
concevoir l’art dans le registre pathologique, proposant des termes comme abus,
violation, scandale, anomalie, écart, subversion, infraction (Cf. RG, p. 15). Il paraît que
quelques définitions vont mieux avec l’avant-gardisme : La langue poétique est non
seulement étrangère au langage soutenu, mais elle lui est totalement opposée. Son
essence consiste dans l’écart aux normes du langage. (Todorov, 1965, cf. RG, note 25,
p. 16).
Les représentants du Groupe µ trouvent une solution, en reconsidérant le
concept de norme comme quelque chose qui doit être dans l’état normal de choses. Les
questions rhétoriques n’ont pas manqué: Faut-il dénoncer les écrivains comme des
turbulents ou les faire rentrer à l’école comme exemple négatif? (...) En fait, pas sans
raison, la tradition les considère comme les garants de la belle utilisation de la langue.
Ils connaissent le matériel de la langue mieux que quelqu’un d’autre, comme le
sculpteur la marbre. (RG, p.24) Comme Platon qui montrait que l’essence de toute
similitude était la différence (l’unité des contraires), les néo-stylisticiens posent au
centre de l’acte poétique la corrélation entre l’écart et la norme: Le producteur de l’effet
actualise par un petit geste l’écart et la norme. Une métaphore, par exemple, n’est pas
perçue comme métaphore seulement si elle renvoie en même temps au sens propre et au
sens figuré. (RG, p.24)
La solution des spécialistes de Liège est théorique et valable au niveau des
métasémèmes et moins aux niveaux extrêmes (métaplasmes, métalogismes). Ainsi, le
problème a été éludé.
Gh.N. Dragomirescu en aurait considéré un sophisme inacceptable. Son
attitude reste catégorique. Il considère un non-sens la formulation de Larousse, qui
demandait le choix des mots et des constructions qui échappent à la grammaire (RG;
p.12) parce que le style est l’ensemble des procédés par lesquels un écrivain
s’approprie les ressources d’une langue pour exprimer sa pensée.(GhND, p.12) On
considère que la structure grammaticale est celle qui a généré et génère ces ressources
(ibidem), son rôle étant normatif.
Toutes les définitions données aux figures comme écart sont combattues, de
Quintilian (figura sit arte aliqua novata forma dicendi) à Delacroix (l’ensemble des

75
infractions à l’ordre ordinaire) (cf. GhND, p.14) Devant ces arguments d’autorité, le
stylisticien roumain recourt sous une autre forme au même subterfuge que les
chercheurs de Liège: La figure est un écart (novata forma) du langage usuel (non pas
de la grammaire!). L’écart ne se fait pas arbitrairement, mais selon les règles de l’art
dont la raison et le modèle se trouvent dans la nature. (Gh. N. D., p.15) Au lieu de
l’écart, c’est la règle de l’intégration du langage poétique dans l’unité de la
communication.
À la lumière des recherches actuelles, on peut renoncer à de pareils
subterfuges, proposés par Gh. N. Dragomirescu et par le texte de la rhétorique générale.
Le point de début qui entraine les forces pour le travail sur le langage, la
volonté poétique, est dans le modèle informationnel le propre moi qui, au niveau de la
connaissance individuelle, dépasse le modèle informationnel du monde externe. Cette
chose est mise en évidence, en utilisant d’autres mots, par Gh.N. Dragomirescu
décrivant la nécessité de l’auto - réflexivité du créateur dans la poésie: L’impulse et la
finalité du phénomène stylistique se trouve dans la nécessité de l’auto - réflexivité d’une
individualité humaine, du moi comme agent de la création. La condition de l’auto -
réflexivité est le vécu intense de son essence sui-generis comme étalon de son propre
création et l’écart de tout modèle étranger au timbre personnel du moi créateur.
(GhND, p.12)
Faisant la différence entre thèse (la totalité des informations résultés de la
connaissance qu’une œuvre véhicule dans son texte) et esthésie, comme des vécues
impliques de la propre sensibilité, on accorde importance a la dernière: L’auto -
réflexivité du moi créateur (pas du tempérament) dans toute fiction, c’est-a-dire dans la
matière organisée, dans le but de communiquer avec le monde, constitue le message
artistique (poétique) de l’œuvre d’art. (Ibidem)
Concevoir la langue sur des niveaux est importante dans le choix des figures. Il
semble que cela a existé dès toujours, de la rhétorique (stylistique) antique à celle
moderne. La diversification des métaboles se conforme à ces principes. Les
métalogismes, sans être une innovation du Groupe µ, considérés comme figures de
pensée, se réfèrent en fait au niveau textuel de la langue.
La configuration de la langue a connu plusieurs variantes à l’époque moderne.
Ainsi, Noam Chomsky impose le niveau phonologique (l’expression sonore), le niveau
sémantique (le signifiant de la théorie saussurienne) et syntaxique, le niveau de la
combinatoire, non seulement au niveau syntaxique proprement dit, mais à tous les
niveaux, comme des relations entre leurs unités: Ce système de règles peut être analysé
en trois composants principaux d’une grammaire générative: des composants
syntaxiques, phonologiques, sémantiques. (Chomsky, 1964 :21)
D’une manière similaire, Ch. Morris aborde le niveau lexical (défini comme la
relation entre les mots et leurs référents), le niveau syntaxique (les relations entre les
mots) et le niveau pragmatique (la relations entre l’énoncé et le contexte
extralinguistique qui l’a généré, mais aussi comme relation entre les mots et leurs
utilisateurs).
On rencontre une distribution des figures de styles pour les niveaux de la
langue chez Gh. N. Dragomirescu, même si l’auteur opère une autre classification en
quatre groupes: figures de répétition, figures d’insistance, figures d’ambiguïté et figures
de plasticité. Le premier groupe correspond toutefois à plusieurs critères de
classification: les figures de répétition peuvent être classifiées d’une manière plus claire
(et plus intéressante), parce que la répétition constitue le genre proximal le plus évident,

76
la différence spécifique se réalisant par la diversification de la topique (GHND): Les
figures de répétition: phonologiques, lexicales, grammaticales. (Ibidem)
Cherchant à expliquer la nature des figures, il note: J’ai trouvé que la
technique de la réalisation d’une figure peut être l’expression directe de l’insistance et
de la symétrie. (Ibidem, p. 19)
Les études ultérieurs des années 70, caractérisés par l’irruption des linguistes
sans le sanctuaire de la poétique (Lortomas, 1994, p. 5) reprennent les idées d’écart et
de sélection en termes linguistiques: on a conservé les concepts d’écart et de choix qui,
chers à nos prédécesseurs des années 50, restent et plutôt redeviennent essentiels.
(Ibidem, p. 3)
Au XXIe siècle, les linguistes ont observé que les faites de langue d’un certain
niveau se déroulent d’après des règles qui composent un code. Ainsi, il y a un code
phonologique, un code sémantique et un code syntaxique. Par exemple, la règle de la
différence alternante fonctionne à l’intérieur du code phonologique. L’aspect alternant
est imposé par le fait qu’il y q seulement deux classes de phonèmes (des consonnes et
des voyelles: il n’y a pas un mot formé seulement de consonnes; celles-ci doivent
alterner avec des voyelles); l’aspect de la différence est imposé par le petit nombre de
phonèmes d’une langue à la différence du grand nombre des mots. Une telle règle est
déterminée aussi contextuellement: dans un énoncé, les mots ne peuvent commencer ou
finir de la même façon. La probabilité de l’écart à ce code n’est pas perçue comme une
faute, mais comme abus (l’exemple des assonances, des allitérations et de la rime): prin
vulturi vântul viu vuia…
Le code sémantique a au moins deux règles fondamentales: la règle de
l’investissement sémantique (une séquence de sons ne peut être utilisée si elle n’a pas
été investie sémantiquement par les utilisateurs; cf. Coșbuc: frumoase toate și înrulpi) et
la règle de la compatibilité (les associations syntagmatiques supposent que les termes
engagés aient des restrictions sélectives; on ne peut pas dire, par exemple, l’avion
pâture).
Parmi les règles du code syntaxique, il y a les règles de la topique et de
l’accord.
Il y a trois attitudes envers le code: écart, abus (excès) et respect. Elles
fonctionnent dans le langage poétique conformément à la loi de la compensation selon
laquelle il faut respecter au moins un code. L’abus est relativement libre. Par exemple,
la figure phonologique présente dans le vers de Coșbuc ( prin vulturi vântul viu vuia)
transgresse le principe de la différence alternante, mais, dans l’économie de la
communication, le phénomène semble plutôt un abus. L’emploi du mot înrulpi
transgresse la règle de l’investissement sémantique, mais il y a l’analogie vulpi/ înrulpi,
proposée par la rime.
La transgression du code morphologique (la syntaxe des morphèmes) est
rencontrée plus fréquemment dans la poésie ancienne (Dosoftei: Dreptul mă va
înfrunta-mă/Și cu silă m-a certa-mă...).
Parce que l’inversion syntagmatique est permise en roumaine (băiatul
înalt/înaltul băiat), la transgression de la topique est ressentie comme abus, comme
déplacement de l’accent sémantique. On rencontre aussi des écarts topiques, qui sont
acceptés: (Cantemir: Spre aceasta, acela al Senecăi mult a folosi poate cuvânt; atuncea
îl dinaintea casii în ulițe scotea). Ainsi, on peut aborder du point de vue pratique les
structures du langage figuré, qui permettent à l’auteur de transmettre une partie de soi-
même.

77
 Gh.N.Dragomirescu aborde les mêmes aspects, utilisant des concepts comme
insistance et symétrie, sur lesquels il configure en manière inédite les quatre groups de
figures, basés sur une certaine technique de l’insistance itérative, qui donne naissance
aux figures de répétition, d’insistance augmentative et réflexive, qui caractérise les
figures d’insistance ou la technique de la réalisation qui peut être l’expression indirecte
de l’insistance, c’est-à-dire la suggestion ( …) ce que a déterminé le groupement de
plusieurs figures du chapitre de l’ambiguïté ( …) une série de figures groupées sous le
nom des figures de la plasticité (GH.N.D, p. 19).
2. Aborder théoriquement et avec application le langage marqué
stylistiquement par des figures a une vieille tradition et des complications modernes,
mais les spécialistes ont observé que l’esthésie du langage poétique peut se réaliser
aussi en l’absence des figures.
Dans l’analyse de ce problème, on peut constater que les procédés spécifiques
pour la littérature ne sont pas les meilleurs moyens pour assurer une communication
rapide et sans équivoque du point de vue du contenu du message. (RG, p. 23) Cette
chose fait référence plutôt au texte scientifique qui ne peut pas se dispenser en totalité
du langage naturel, par la contextualisation des figures sédimentées et lexicalisées
durant le temps. Mais on ne peut dire non plus que c’est suffisant de dérégler la langue
pour être poète ou qu’il faut recourir simultanément à toutes les ressources de la
rhétorique pour produire une littérature de qualité (RG, p. 22). Les écrivains baroques,
les précieux et les maniéristes en ont excellé avec des résultats qui n’ont pas atteint le
grand art.
On a invoqué le style neutre, le style du langage commun, on a parlé des
écrivains cristallins (Du Bos) et on a fait la distinction opérée par Roland Barthes entre
écrivains et écrivants. (RG, p. 21).
Les stylisticiens ne sont pas d’accord de créditer le style neutre d’une manière
illimitée, par la conviction qu’il est facile d’observer que l’absence même de la figure
peut constituer une figure, qu’un écart peut être même la manque significative d’un
écart (RG, p. 22) selon le modèle du morphème zéro qui reste toutefois morphème.
L’évolution du langage du concret à l’abstrait, du sensoriel à rationnel a donné
un pourcentage majeur de lexicalisation des figures et de sédimentation en champs
sémantiques: on peut s’interroger si la figure chassée par la porte n’est rentrée par la
fenêtre. (RG, p. 22). Ainsi naît la difficulté de scientifiques d’éviter les figures du
langage naturel, mais aussi des poètes de prouver leur originalité: Lorsque la métaphore
entre dans les traités des savants et la paronomasie dans les traités des psychanalystes,
on peut s’attendre à ce que le style littéraire de manière intentionnelle banal ne
réussisse à cacher pour beaucoup de temps son originalité. (RG, p. 22). On peut
déduire que les prétentions de style neutre sont le plus souvent illusoires. (Ibidem).
Essayant d’édifier la place et l’importance des figures dans la langue, Gh. N.
Dragomirescu accrédite l’idée des stylisticiens et des créateurs (Dumarsais, Fontanier,
Marmontel, Boileau) selon laquelle il y a une certaine disposition des figures, demandée
par les styles de la langue (les conversations d’une journée de marché au foire, le texte
de l’Enéide, les discours académiques), mais il n’exclue pas l’existence du style neutre:
Il s’agit de ces œuvres qui brillent par la profondeur de la pensée et par l’originalité de
la fantesie, qui peuvent se dispenser du style figurée. (GHND, p : 17) On cite Goethe
qui avait consigné dans Les Maximes l’existence de la poésie sans figures qui ne peut
être placée dans la zone inférieure de l’axiologie esthétique et Blair qui avait considéré
que les passages les plus sublimes et les plus pathétiques des auteurs anciens en vers ou

78
en prose étaient presque toujours manquants de figures de style, rédigés dans le style le
plus simple. (GHND, p. 17)
La projection en phase primitive du langage et la pénurie de plus en plus acute
d’œuvres à degré zéro d’écriture a conduit a l’encadrement dans l’opinion générale des
stylisticiens: La conclusion qui résulte est la suivante: il semble que même lorsqu’on
parle et écrit sans figures, ces-ci sont impliquées de manière génétique dans le langage
le plus simple.(GHND, p. 18)
L’étude grammatical à l’appel de la stylistique a le devoir d’identifier et
d’édifier ces procédés-là qui ne se retrouvent plus dans la structure de surface du
langage: même si la stylistique n’a besoin de découvrir les figures intentionnées, elle est
toutefois endettée d’aider la grammaire à déterminer celles qui ne sont pas reconnues
comme telles.(Ibidem)
Ayant un tel fondement théorique, Petite encyclopédie des figures de style,
réalisée par Gh. N. Dragomorescu s’inscrit dans le courent modern de la stylistique
européenne, offrant la preuve que la projection linguistique est la seule pouvant édifier
le niveau stylistique comme système de stylèmes, dans les retortes duquel se produisent
les grands mystères de l’art des mots.

Bibliographie
Dragomirescu, Gh.,N., Mică enciclopedie a figurilor de stil, Bucureşti, Editura Ştiinţifică şi
Enciclopedică, 1975
Dubois, J., Edeline, Fr.,, Klinkenberg, J-M., Minguet, F., Pire, Fr., Trinon, H. (Grupul μ),
Retorica generală, Bucureşti, Editura Univers, 1974
Bally, Ch., Traité de stylistique francaise, Paris, 1951
Barthes, R., Essais critiques, Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1964
Jakobson, R., Essais de linguistique générale, I, Problèmes généraux, Les éditions de Minuit,
1963
Cohen, J., Structure du langage poétique, Paris, Flammarion, 1966
Cohen, J., Théorie de la figure, Communications, 1970, no .16, p. 3-26
Genette, G., Figuri, Bucureşti, Editura Univers, 1978
Todorov,T., Les Poètes et le bon usage, în Revue d’esthétique, vol XVIII, p. 300
Chomsky, N., Language and Mind, New York: Harcourt Brace, 1972
Larthomas, P., Qu’est-ce que le style? (Preface), Paris, PUF, 1994.

79
 A TERMINOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE CONCEPT OF
VIOLENCE

Raluca Maria GÎJGĂ (TĂNĂSESCU)*

Abstract: This study aims to be a precise terminological mirror of the concept of

violence.We focus on the semantic and structural analysis of the terms that we encounter in the
semantic field of this concept.
Keywords:semantic field, subconcept, semantic anlysis.

The concept of violence comprises a linguistic reality whose features haven’t

been clearly defined neither by the common language nor the specialized language. Its
complexity is established by the multitude of different meanings and images on this
concept, depending on the scientific field to which they circumscribe. The fact is that
this term is used when “talking about facts associated with harmful phenomena in the
society” (Sîrbu, C., Dincă, C., 2009 : 15). Placing this concept in the social area, we will
necessarily associate it with a discipline deeply rooted in the reality, social assistance.
Whether it is a moderate violence (delinquency, sects activity, kidnapping, actions of
recuperators, domestic violence or child abuse) or greater violence (trafficking in drugs
and persons, crimes against humanity committed during the armed conflicts), the terms
that gravitate around the semantics of this concept will find their place of extreme
importance in the hierarchy of the terminology system of social assistance.
Even referring to a single discipline, the concept of violence as described
above has several meanings which may depend on the situation of specialized
communication in which it is used. Its simple use in conjunction with other terms in the
field of social assistance do not clearly ensure its mono-referential, unequivocal and
precise nature, prerequisites for a word to gain specialized character and be considered
within a particular area, this being due to the large semantic area which is difficult to
synthesize in one word. The term, as a linguistic expression of the concept, is therefore
difficult to use without giving rise to ambiguities, and to avoid polysemantism, the
general concept should be broken into subconcepts that will bring as linguistic
representation a single term. The relationship between the term and the concept must be
unequivocal and precise. The cleavage of this concept into subconcepts ensures
precisely this accuracy and this uniqueness of meaning which is essential for the
terminological system of social assistance. Violence, in general, is defined by MDA as
“incontinence of personal reactions or feelings reflected in words and in actions,
violation of legal order, deed characterized by brutality and disregard for the rights and
will of someone”, while verbal violence, a subconcept subordinated to the concept of
violence in the terminological system of social assistance is defined as “addressing
through an offensive, brutal language, and the use of insults, threats, degrading or
humiliating words and expressions”. Breaking the concept into less substantiated units
of meaning impacts on the semantic area. The semantic area is significantly reduced,
but this has a positive impact on the mono-referentiality and monosemantism, these
newly formed terms becoming more transparent, clear and precise. These terms gain a

*
University of Craiova, ralucagijga@yahoo.com

80
strong conventional nature and an intense specialization. Their extension to common
language, even if it exists in the context of secularization of knowledge, is relatively
limited, and if is is performed, it presents a high risk to tilt toward the ambiguisation of
the significance and to lose the specialized semantic load.
The ISO 704 norm mentions the importance that the specialized language must
have in the study of a specific science, emphasizing that it must be focused "on the
concepts and their representations" which should be indispensable tools of knowledge
of the respective domain. Specialized language should really be looked as a true code
meant to ensure both communication between specialists and by imposing a strict
standardization to achieve uniformity of perception regarding representations of the
concept under research within the social assistance field. In the case of the concept of
violence, the mental construction that provides the connection between the linguistic
reality and its definition within the terminological triangle, is one difficult to achieve as
according to ISO 704 because this concept represents an abstract entity that enters the
area of social phenomena. From this point of view, especially for the legal-
administrative language on social assistance, one should establish clear traits of this
concept.
From this perspective, it is essential to describe the concept of violence both in
its intension and in its extension. It can be considered a very general nucleus, around
him being organized all other subconcepts which are in a relationship of subordination
to the core concept. In terms of intention, violence is an absolute term because it can be
understood independently of other terms, its contents can be set by individual
characteristics that can be considered in isolated contexts. We pointed out above that in
order to highlight the specialization of this term, it has been divided in language units
with a narrower semantic area. The newly formed terms by this cleavage are relative
terms that can not exist independently, they are bound to the nucleus by a semantic
subordination relationship. These secondary concepts are expressed typically by
terminological collocations, they being mostly compound terms. Characteristic to these
collocations is that while the semantic area is restricted, the linguistic form expands. In
these collocations, the most important in terms of meaning is the secondary term. It is
the one ensuring the monosemantism of the term, erasing any trace of interpretation or
polysemantism, which is specific to the specialized language. The term emotional
violence restrains the act of violence to the emotional sphere. The term has the
following structure: adjective + noun. Although the adjective is the secondary term of
the terminological collocation, it is the one that emphasizes and clearly shows its
meaning. Its semantic area, by restraint, becomes more precise, and possible confusion
arising during specialized communication is removed.
Another aspect that we need to discuss is that not all the time in the
terminological collocations the core term that is kept is violence. In case of violence
committed against minors, the term used is child maltreatment. The term violence is
replaced by maltreatment, but the meaning is the same. This replacement may be due to
the trend of dividing the social assistance discipline into sub-fields. Another fact that we
should bring in question is that all forms of abuse and neglect committed against
children were not considered violence, but rather education until a few decades ago.
Romanian social assistance must therefore fight, at a terminological level too, this
traditionalist mentality because "culturally, in Romania the different forms of violence
are well tolerated by society" (Neamţu, 2003: 697). Imposing these new terms that
circumscribe the semantic field of violence is an innovation both at the level of
terminology and methods and techniques with which this science is forced to operate.

81
 By analyzing the term of violence in its extension, we will note that it is a
general term, i.e. its extension includes several elements revolving around the core term.
It is also distributive, that is, everything is true for the core concept is applicable
subconcepts resulting from the need for accuracy of the specialized language. The
extension of this term is considerably the specialized language of social assistance,
displaying some 20 terms that may be associated to the terminological scope of the
concept of violence.
If we wanted to represent the terminological board of this concept, we would
hit its very general sense which often may print a vague and ambiguous character. If
this is acceptable in common language, in specialised language this may raise numerous
problems because the terms must be an exact mirror of the linguistic reality it expresses.
We can compare this concept with what Angela Bidu-Vrăceanu called "supra-assembly"
(Bidu-Vrăceanu, 1984: 164). The common sign of the supra-assembly /violence/ can be
considered as belonging to the semantic metalanguage, its interpretation being very
general, consisting of a variety of actions employing brute force. Even the etymology of
the term borrowed from French (violence = brutal force), where it came from lat.
"Violentia", refers to this semantic feature suggesting the idea of constraint that is
defined as the use of superiority over a fellow creature in order to impose a certain
behavior. The same seme also indicates the lexical-semantic category the terms of this
supra-assembly belong to, namely: noun. This multiplicity of terms that revolve around
the concept violence provides "the conceptual coherence and hierarchical reporting"
(Bidu-Vrăceanu, A. 2007: 58) that we must consider when we refer to the social
assistance domain.
We can note that this supra-assembly consists of two fields that suggest the
idea of intensity / moderate / and / great /. They cannot be defined by components and
they group around them other terms that make up together a paradigm. These two main
fields must be subject to two distinct analyzes because they present more specific
differences.
Of the two fields, the largest and the one that particularly is of interest in social
assistance is marked by the seme /moderate/ as it relates to social issues that are the
subject of this discipline. Variable semes in this field could be structured as follows:
/generation/ with the values /adult/ and /minor/. In other words, we must take into
account that violence committed on adults is referred to by a different term of the one
committed on children. In case of the value /adult/ we will have a value / general / and
one / particular /. Also, for the value / minor / we will present a value where the minor is
/victim/ and another where he is /aggressor/. Within the value /victim/ there will also be
the value /active/ or /passive/.
The oppositions that make up the board of moderate violence could be
rendered by the following table:

82
 Variabile semes
Adult person Minor person
Extra- Extra-
Intrafamiliar Intrafamiliar
familiar familiar
General Particular Break- Victim Aggressor
in, Maltreatment Juvenile
robbery, delinquency
physical murder Passive Active
violence,

physical
Semes violence

common emotional
to the violence,
Emotio- Emotio-
field nal nal
economic
neglect, abuse
/violence/ violence
Domestic
+ violence Physical Physical
sexual
neglect, abuse,
/moderate/ violence,
Sexual Sexual
verbal
neglect abuse
violence

social
violence,

spiritual
violence

83
 The field of designations of violence crimes that can be correlated with great
violence is difficult to fit into a semantic matrix if it meets the semantic criteria of the
supra-assembly of violence by the presence of common semes /violence/ +/great/.
First of all, even if in the scholarly literature it is used the sign of / great / due
to the polysemy of this adjective, we shall emphasize from the very beginning that in
this context is used with a global meaning. The seme / violence / will also have a
semantic load that will refer to an increased brutally, brutally manifesting their effects
both on an individual level, by injuring the person, and on a collective level by the
negative effects it will have on the social plan in certain communities. The variable
semes, although generally referring to the purpose for which violence is produced, vary
from one term to another and illustrate the various representations that violence has in
modern society. The definitions of these terms shall be substantial and descriptive to
create images as clear as possible on the phenomena under discussion. The
conceptboard of this semantic field may have the following composition:

Common semes /violence/ Variable semes

+/great/+/produced by an Purpose
organization/
To obtain To change the To create a
material benefits form of climate of
- human government insecurity
trafficking -terrorism -terrorism
- drug trafficking -war
- trafficking in
minors

In conclusion, we should note that within the social assistance terminology the
term violence is well defined, clear and concise, and this is underlined by the
structuration of the concept into subconcepts. These subconcepts are expressed through
a vast number of terms which leads to the creation of a true terminological field around
the core concept of violence. Analyzing this terminological field, one should note that it
is trying to present in a fair manner the numerous representations that violence has in
the contemporary society, removing any remaining lack of inaccuracy off the
specialized language of social assistance.

Bibliography
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Bucureşti, 2000
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Bucureşti, 2001
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Enciclopedică , 1988
Bidu-Vrănceanu, Angela si Forăscu Narcisa- Modele de structurare semantică,Timişoara ,
Editura Facla , 1984
Bidu-Vrănceanu, Angela si Forăscu Narcisa- Limba română contemporană. Lexicul,Bucureşti,
Editura Humanitas Educaţional , 2005
Busuioc, Ileana, Introducere în terminologie, Editura Credis, Bucureşti, 2001.

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Cabre, M.,T., La terminologie.Theorie, methodes et applications, Paris, A Colin, 1998.
Neamţu, George- Tratat de asistenţă socială, Iaşi, Editura Polirom, 2011
Pitar, Mariana, Manual de terminologie şi terminografie, Editura Mirton, Bucureşti, 2009.
Sîrbu, C., Dincă, C., Sindromul marii violenţe, Ed. Universitaria, Craiova, 2009.

85
 FUNCTIONS AND CONTEXTUAL MEANING OF ANIMAL
PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS SIGNIFYING ”NEVER”. ”LA
PAȘTELE CAILOR” IN THE ROMANIAN JOURNALISTIC
DISCOURSE

Anca MARTINAS*

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to emphasize the large number of

Romanian animal phraseological units that mean "never” and to exemplify the function
and contextual meaning of the most frequent one in the contemporary Romanian
journalistic: ”la paștele cailor”.
Keywords: phraseology, function, pragmatic, journalistic, newspapers.

Considering that the function of phraseological units usually becomes more

important than their standard meaning in the journalistic discourse, they usually express
unfavourable attitude towards lack of effectiveness, distrust and disagreement in
relation to people or situations. As speech acts, they may be complaints, warnings,
refusals. In informal style, they are the pragmatic synonyms of ”I don’t believe it”,
”rubbish”, ”nonsense”, rejecting a statement. The social context in which these animal
phraseological units are used may influence their function and meaning.
The corpus contains online articles published in the period 2005-2015, picked
up from the newspapers ”Evenimentul Zilei”, ”Ziarul de Iași”, ”Monitorul de Vaslui”,
zvj.ro.
After defining the basic concepts in the first part of the article, the second part
will analyse the pragmatic and functional role of the most frequent animal
phraseological units in the contemporary Romanian journalistic.

1. Concepts
The article will further introduce the main concepts: phraseology and
phraseological unit.
1.1. Phraseology
Phraseology studies “the constant combination of words or by the stable
syntactic groups” (Hristea 1984:139), “the word groups characterised by a preferential
selection in the use of a linguistic community”. The narrow definition comprises only
the groups of words that almost have the functional value of the lexicon, for example
“the phrases and the phraseological expressions that highly belong to the organisation of
vocabulary” (Groza 2005: 48).
1.2. Phraseological units
There are more synonymous terms for the concept of ”phraseological unit”,
narrower or broader, such as “phraseological groups”, “syntagmatic units”, “stable
phrases”, ”phraseologisms” (”frazeologisme”), ”multi-word groups” or ”fixed
expressions”.

*
Technical University of Civil Engineering, Bucharest, martinasanca@yahoo.com

86
 Liviu Groza prefers the term “phraseological unit” and only in some cases
those of “co-location”, “terminological co-location”, “phraseological phrase”,
“phraseological expression” to designate a group of words with global meaning (Groza
2005: 49).
Phraseological units are stable combinations of two or more words with unitary
meaning, already existing in language and famous in usage, felt as separate units that
name only one object, process or phenomenon, one trait or action, etc., opposed to the
”free syntactic groups of words” (Hristea 1984:139). Liviu Groza broadly defines the
phraseological unit as a “complex linguistic sign, superordinate to words, likely to get
one or more functional values in an utterance. The narrow definition refers to ”a
complex linguistic sign, being descriptive or logically accepted as such by the use of
language, also accepted as part of a sentence, and thus as belonging to a lexical-
grammatical category, semantically encoded or not, being the object of the organization
of vocabulary as a whole or as a part of it” (Groza 2005: 47 - 48).
In order to point out their functional and pragmatic role in the journalistic
discourse, the present article will also refer to phraseological units from a pragmatic or
sociolinguistic perspective.
Strässler considers idioms to be a functional element of language, „a pragmatic
phenomenon, for example something that is judged from the point of view of the
language user” (Strässler 1982).
Pragmatic idioms (in some cases also called routines, social formulas or
gambits) are the lexical items whose occurrence is required by a particular social
situation (S. Gramley and K.M. Patzold 1992: 55).

2. Phraseological units meaning ”never”

More than 37 synonymous phraseological units that mean ‘‘never” in
Romanian are registered in the phraseological dictionaries named DFLR (”The
Romanian Phraseological Dictionary”) and DELS (”The Dictionary of Expressions and
Phrases”). Besides these, their variants should also be considered.
It is interesting that almost half of these phraseological units contain an animal
term: ”când o zbura porcul (cu ața)”; ”când lupul şi mielul împreună vor paşte şi leul cu
boul împreună vor mânca”; ”când o prinde mâţa peşte”; ”când o prinde mâţa peşte şi
coada de urs o creşte”; ”când va creşte coada ursului”; ”când or zbura bivolii”; ”când se
va împrieteni şoarecele cu pisica”; ”când va face broasca păr (nuci)”; ”când o face ursul
coadă și prepelița noadă”; ”când se va vedea ursul cu cercei umblând după miei”; ”când
oi vedea ursul în doi craci, văcar după vaci”, ”când mâșcolii vor face mânji”; ”când s-or
roade furnicile pământului” (reg.); ”(la anul) când o făta motanul”.
Structurally, the phraseological units mentioned above usually follow the
pattern of subordinate temporal clauses. Yet, besides them, there are phrases that mean
”never” and do not formally fall into the same category, for example: ”la Paștele
(Paștile) cailor (calului)” and ”la vara calului”.
”La vara calului” is an example of a phrase that means ”never” only when it
contains the animal term in the singular form. When that is in the plural (”La vara
cailor” meaning ”în perioada de mijloc a verii, când caii sunt loviţi de streche”), it
becomes semantically different, referring to midsummer.
There are cases when the animal keyword in the standard form (”tomcat”,
”pig”, ”wolf”, ”lamb”, ”cat”, ”mouse”, ”bull”, ”bear”, ”horse”, ”frog”, ”pike”) may be
substituted in context by other animal terms that are more suggestive in the given
situation.

87
 There are also synonymous phraseological units that do not contain a keyword
denoting animals. These and the animal phraseological units sometimes coocur in
newspaper articles in order to strengthen the journalist’s attitude or to reach the
discoursive goal: ”Când mi-o (va) creşte iarbă-n barbă (palmă)”; ”când mi-o (îmi va)
creşte păr în palmă”; ”când mi-oi (ţi-i, ţi-oi) vedea ceafa”; ”când o da din piatră lapte”;
”când o face plopul pere (mere) şi răchita micşunele (mere dulci)”; ”când o face plopul
nuci și r ăchita mere dulci”, ”când va (o) face spânul barbă”; ”când or înflori căpşunile
iarna”; ”când se va lipi cerul de pământ”; ”când s-o întoarce gârla”; ”când va da din
piatră lapte”; ”când o cânta știuca-n baltă”; ”când gaură în apă se va putea face” (pop.);
”(La anul) când o-nflori bostanul / la anul cu bostanul”; ”la anul cu brânză”; ”cât e hăul
și dudăul”; ”cât e cucul”; ”până-i cucul”, ”la sfântul așteaptă”, ”la moșii ăi verzi”, ”la
anul și la mulți ani”.
As it can be noticed in the above phraseological units, they literally denote a
situation that is impossible, unreal, even absurd and they perfectly match contexts when
the journalist expresses disagreement.
Not all the phraseological units registered in the dictionary are used in the
journalistic discourse. The most frequent ones are ”la paștele cailor” and ”când o zbura
porcul”, exemplified below.

3. Functions and Contextual Meaning of Animal Phraseological Units Signifying

”Never”. ”La paștele cailor” in the Romanian Journalistic Discourse
Phraseological units often occur in headlines or in the pre-textual component
named incipit to draw readers’ attention, building up a bridge between the transmitter
and the receiver. The headline should be ”clear, informative, concise, free from the
figurative opulence and not ambiguous”, but, ”in practice, the nowadays Romanian
journalism supports the rhetoric of the spectacular and the shocking headline, based on
multiple lexico-semantic grammatical and figurative artifacts […], and ”the reader’s
choice to read or not to read an article depends on the persuasive force of this
element” (Cvasnîi-Cătănescu 2006:11).
Researchers such as Ch. Fillmore, P. Kay and J. O’Conner (1988: 521-538)
have been concerned about the sociolinguistic, pragmatic and psycholinguistic
perspectives on idiomaticity.
As Ioana Murar noticed and summarized the studies in the field, sociolinguistic
and pragmatic aspects of language use need to be considered when analyzing the role of
phraseological units in discourse: the occurrence of idioms is determined by a particular
social situation, the social context is important for their correct interpretation and their
function sometimes overrides their meaning (Murar 2009: 146).
Liviu Groza considers that the phraseological units meaning ”never” can be
included into the category of answers. They usually disapprove with something that has
been told previously, having the same pragmatical function as ”What do you mean? I
don’t believe a word!”( in the Romanian variant: „Ce tot spui acolo?”, „Fugi de-aici!”)
(Groza Liviu, 20011).
In the following part of the article, we will exemplify the most frequent
phraseological units in the Romanian journalistic discourse.
They may be used to complain, to warn or disagree, to refuse to believe, so
they may perform communicative functions, having the role of speech acts or they may
express lack of hope, disappointment or distrust. As they often occur in headlines or
incipit, they refer to the situation detailed by the article.

88
 In the following text, the two phraseological units are strengthened by the
adverb ”never”, which is meant to emphasize the ironic value that reveals distrust.
In the newspaper ”Ziarul de Iași”, the phraseological unit ”când o zbura
porcul” keeps its pragmatic role in the ironic context, meaning ”I don’t believe you!”):
„La pastele cailor ..sau... Cand o zbura porcu` . Avand in vedere ca variantele
anterioare pot fi posibile .... este mai sigur ca .. NICIODATĂ” (zvj.ro, 10.01.2012).
In the next example, the allusion to the phraseological unit stands for distrust,
although the verb is in its past simple form, as if the action had already taken place. The
deictic value of the noun ”ziua” cannot change the meaning of impossibility, but it
contributed to the ironic and humorous value:
„Ziua când a zburat porcul
Romanica noastra, sa fie condusa de niste tineri specialisti, educati, cinstiti si
inteligenti, care lupta pentru binele national. Dar asa ceva nu se va putea
intimpla acum, fiindca ar insemna sa zboare porcul, ceea ce n-ar fi prea
indicat cind mai e putin pina la Ignat.” (ziaruldeiasi.ro, 24.11.2008).
A humorous allusion to the phraseological unit expresses disagreement and
reproach regarding the ”swine fever” which brought income to some politicians: „Şi
porcul a strănutat. În zbor” (ziaruldemures.ro, 2.05.2009). The headline is ludic and
persuading. The reader feels the distrust implicature, suggested by the initial meaning of
the phraseological unit meaning ”never”.
The next example illustrates the use of the idiom ”la paștele cailor”. In the
context in which the employees who worked to accomplish the census haven’t got their
money yet, still waiting for it, the phrase „la paștele cailor” expresses lack of hope,
disappointment, distrust regarding the way the problem is going to be solved. The
presence of the quotation mark delimits the intertextual element.
„Banii recenzorilor, la «pastele cailor»!
La mai mult de douã sãptãmâni de la finalizarea Recensământului, recenzorii
bârlădeni încă își așteaptă banii. Se pare că vor mai avea de așteptat, întrucât
nici cei care au coordonat numărarea locuințelor și a persoanelor nu știu când
va aloca Guvernul fondurile necesare.” (monitoruldevaslui.ro, 16.11.2011).

A well-defined pattern in the press is the following: the headline contains the
phraseological unit that summarizes a crime and also clarifies the position of the
journalist. It is followed by the details that disambiguate, such as the identity of the
guilty people and how the crime took place.
Depending on how serious a problem is, the animal phraseological unit ”la
paștele cailor” may draw attention to a crime or an unfair situation, being the synthesis
of a denouncement, and express disappointment caused by the lack of punishment:
Jurnalisti arestati in scandalul ziarului "The Sun"
„Probabil, va fi ”judecat”, la fel ca Nicolae Popa, la Pastele Cailor. Sau
”cand o zbura porcul” – data care, din fericire, pare sa se apropie cu pasi
mari!, www.evz.ro, 31.01.2012).
The animal phraseological unit may sometimes get a function similar to that of
”Can you hear that?”, ”Look!”, aimed both to inform and to draw the reader’s attention.
In order to strengthen the meaning, synonymous animal phraseological units may co-
occur, like in the case of the phrases ”la paștele cailor” and „când o zbura porcul”.
Although journalists should be objective, idioms may sometimes express the
speaker’s attitude towards the person or situation, such as ”his irritation or anger; they
may convey an unfavourable or a contemptuous attitude towards the person or thing

89
denoted or even a frivolous attitude, a lightly humorous or quietly mocking view of the
person or thing referred to (Cowie et al. 1984: xl).
To conclude, the function of phraseological units may be more important than
their standard meaning. The same animal phraseological unit may have diverse
meanings and functions, depending on context. Thus, ”la paștele cailor” can mean more
than ”never”. As speech acts, the phraseological units meaning ”never” may be
complaints, warnings, refusals, expressing disagreement and disappoitment. The
complaint may be serious or humorous, mocking at reality, depending on how it is
perceived by the journalist and on his intention.

Bibliography
Cătănescu, Maria, 2006, Retorică publicistică. De la paratext la text, Editura Universităţii din
Bucureşti
Cowie et al., 1984, Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English, vol. I-II. General
Introduction, OUP, Oxford
Ch. Fillmore, P. Kay and J. O’Conner, ”Regularity and idiomaticity in grammatical constructions:
the case of ‘let alone’”, Boston, 1988, 521-538
Gramley, Stephan, Patzold, Kurt-Michael, 1992, A Survey of Modern English, London, Routledge
Groza, Liviu, 2011, Probleme de Frazeologie. Studii. Articole. Note, Editura Universității din
București
Hristea, Theodor, 1984, Introducere în studiul frazeologiei, în Sinteze de limba română, ed. a III-
a, Theodor Hristea (coord.), Bucureşti, Ed. Albatros, 134-161
Mărănduc, Cătălina, 2011, Dicţionar de expresii, locuţiuni şi sintagme ale limbii române (DELS),
Bucureşti, Corint
Mile, Tomici, 2009, Dicţionar frazeologic al limbii române (DFLR), 65.000 de frazeme,
București, Saeculum
Murar Ioana, ”Pragmatic and functional uses of idioms” în Analele Universităţii din Craiova.
Seria Ştiinţe Filologice. Lingvistică, XXXI (1-2), Craiova, 2009, p. 146.
Strässler, Jürg, Idioms in English: A pragmatic analysis, Tübingen, Günter Narr, 1982

90
 L’ȆTRE ET LE PARAÎTRE DANS LES COMÉDIES DE
CARAGIALE

Anda-Elena MOLDOVAN*

Abstract: The article aims to present the role of the contrast between the construction
of fictional worlds by the characters and the reality of the text in the actantial roles and in the
polyphony of the discourse in I.L.Caragiale’s comedies.
Keywords: fiction, actantial roles, polyphony.

1. Réalité et fiction

L’article se propose de présenter le rapport entre la réalité et la fiction dans les

comédies de Caragiale. On comprend par réalité les faits présents dans les textes et que
le lecteur accepte grâce à la convention de fictionalité et par fiction les univers
imaginaires construits par quelques personnages à léintérieur des textes et qui
contredisent les informations véhiculées par les textes. (Pavel, Toma, 1992: 202-212)
Ce rapport entre la réalité et la fiction crée l’effet de comique par contraste. (Popa,
Marian, 2010: 7-15)
Les comédies de Caragiale sont des comédies de mœurs qui présentent deux
isotopies principales: la vie de famille et la vie politique. Les personnages traitent ces
deux aspects soit par accepter le réel, soit par construire des univers fictifs, voire
compensatoires dans lesquels leurs intérêts et croyances restent intactes. Le conflit est
ontique, entre être/paraître, réalité/fiction. (Tomuș, Mircea, 2012: 241) De ce point de
vue, les personnages présent le prédicat de base mentir sous les trois formes: active,
passive et pronominale, parce que les personnages mentent les autres, sont mentis par
les autres ou se mentent à eux-mêmes.
Le réel est transformé à l’aide des procédés comiques comme l’imbroglio, le
travesti, le quiproquo, qui confèrent aux pièces une dimension carnavalesque. (Vera,
Călin, 1966 : 43) Le mensonge collectif met en évidence un monde corrompu, incapable
de reconnaître les valeurs authentiques, miroir de la société roumaine contemporaine à
l’auteur, mais aussi de la société en général, critiquée en utilisant la satire sociale.
(Ionesco, Eugène, 2011: 172) À un autre niveau, ce monde devient un univers absurde
dans lequel les personnages n’ont pas la capacité de comprendre ce qui se passe. (Polet,
Jean-Claude, 2000:479)
Le contraste réalité/fiction a comme corolaire au niveau de la syntaxe narrative
la superposition des rôles actantiels différents, même opposés d’agent et de patient sous
des multiples variations. L’aperçu du propre intérêt et le cours des événements
conduisent à des réorganisations au sein de groupes actantiels. Ainsi, un personnage
peut cumuler des rôles actantiels différent/opposés en même temps ou peut changer de
rôle actantiel au fil des événements. Les personnages perdent leur consistance, leur
contour, devenant des acteurs interchangeables.
Au niveau du discours, l’inconséquence des acteurs se traduit en polyphonie
des points de vue. Un même personnage/plusieurs personnages peuvent avoir des points

*
University of Pitești, moldovan.anda_elena@yahoo.com

91
de vue différents/opposés sur la même situation. Au-delà de la pluralité de la
perspective, le lecteur/le spectateur a la possibilité d’observer la situation d’une posture
privilégiée, grâce à son statut extradiégétique. (Rabatel, Alain, 2003: 19) Comme
destinataire indirect des interactions (Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Catherine, 1984: 49), le
public peut avoir différentes attitudes envers les personnages: attitude critique et
distanciée, investissement affectif, investissement pulsionnel. (Jouve, Vincent,
1992:110)

2. Une lettre perdue

La pièce présente la relation adultère entre Zoe Trahanache, l’épouse de

Zaharia Trahanache, et Stefan Tipatescu, le meilleur ami du mari trompé, qui forment
un ménage à trois. Au-delà de l’aspect familial, les deux hommes sont des hauts
responsables politiques. Mêlant vie privée et vie politique, cette relation amoureuse
devient le centre d’intérêt de la pièce. Catavencu, un adversaire politique, trouve une
lettre d’amour compromettante qui dévoile cette relation et décide d’en profiter. Il
montre la lettre au mari trompé, espérant ainsi d’obtenir son support politique pour le
fauteuil de député. À sa surprise, Trahanache ne le croit pas, pour lui la lettre étant un
faux. Trahanache est incapable d’accepter le réel et se construit un univers parallèle
dans lequel sa femme est fidèle, Tipatescu est son meilleur ami et Catavencu est un
menteur et un falsificateur. Cette double perspective sur les événements conduit à un
double statut actantiel selon le plan de la réalité et de la fiction: Zoe Trahanache est la
femme fidèle à son mari et l’amante de Ștefan Tipătescu , Stefan Tipatescu est le
trompeur et l’ami dévoué, Catavencu est le révélateur et le menteur, Zaharia Trahanache
est l’homme honorable et le mari trompé.
L’univers fictif de Zaharia Trahanache est mis en danger par l’intervention
d’Agamamnon Dandanache, le candidat du centre. Celui-ci a conservé sa carrière
politique en utilisant comme Catavencu le chantage comme arme politique, grâce a une
lettre d’amour compromettante. Il raconte à Trahanache son histoire aves la lettre
d’amour, mais ils ne se comprennent pas. Dandanache confond Trahanahe avec
Tipatescu et à cause du quiproquo son discours donne soit plus d’information que
nécessaire, soit l’information est insuffisante à la compréhension des faits. Les
interventions de Trahanache donnent à Dandanache l’impression que celui-ci a oublié
leur discussion, une discussion qu’ils n’ont pas eue en réalité. Le quiproquo avec
imbroglio entretient l’illusion de Trahanache et un même temps le double statut
actantiel des deux personnages: Trahanache est à ses yeux l’homme honorable, mais
pour Dandanache c’est l’homme qui ne comprend pas; Dandanache est à ses yeux est un
homme du mérite, mais pour Trahanache c’est une personne confuse.

3. M’sieur Leonidas face à la Réaction

La pièce présente le couple de retraités Leonidas et Efimita, qui remémorent

les événements de la révolution de 11 février 1966. C’est l’occasion pour Leonidas de
fantasmer sur ce que la république signifie, sur des personnalités historique comme
Garibaldi et le pape. (Cazimir, Ștefan, 1967 : 126-127) L’interprétation erronée du
contexte situationnel et d’un article de presse par le couple transfère les théories
fantasmagoriques de Leonidas au plan du concret. Les bruits et les feux d’arme qu’ils
entendent très près de leur maison sont interprétés comme l’éclatement de la révolution
et les deux s’enferment dans leur maison de peur des révolutionnaires.

92
L’arrivée de leur bonne, Safta, introduit un nouveau point de vue sur les événements,
cette fois-ci un point de vue très proche de la réalité. Elle leur dit que les bruits et les
feux d’armes étaient pour la fête qui s’est tenue à l’épicier. Son intervention éclaircit la
situation, permettant une réinterprétation correcte des événements.
La double perspective sur les événements produit deux grilles de lectures: une
en clé du réel, l’autre en clé de la fantaisie. Les bruits et les feux d’armes traduisent une
fête/une révolution, les participants sont des fêtards/des révolutionnaires, les retraités
sont témoignes à une fête/victimes des révolutionnaires (double statut actantiel).

4. Une nuit orageuse

La pièce présente un ménage à trois, formé par le mari trompé, Dumitrache,

son épouse Veta el Chiriac, l’homme de confiance du mari. Dumitrache trouve que la
plus importante chose au monde est de défendre l’honneur de sa famille. Cet objectif
peut paraître bizarre pour quelqu’un qui est trompé, mais il ne voit pas la réalité. Cela
détermine un double statut actantiel (un statut dans la réalité et un autre statut dans
l’univers fictif de Dumitrache): Dumitrache est défanseur de l’honneur de sa famille et
mari trompé, Veta est épouse fidèle et amante de Chiriac, Chiriac est l’homme de
confiance de Dumitrache et l’amant de Veta.
L’apparition d’un nouveau personnage, Rică Venturiano, qui courtise Zița, la
sœur de Veta, détermine une réorganisation actantielle. Les procédés de quiproquo et
imbroglio créent la confusion parmi les personnages. Ainsi, pour Chiriac, Veta est
l’amante trompeuse et Rică Venturiano est son amant; pour Dumitrache, Rică
Venturiano est le séducteur de sa femme. Cela détermine un triple statut actantiel (un
statut dans la réalité, un statut fictionnel dans l’univers de Dumitrache, un statut
fictionnel crée par l’apparition de Rică Venturiano pour Dumitrache et Chiriac):
Dumitrache est le mari trompe par Veta et Chiriac, le défenseur de l’honneur de sa
famille, le mari trompé par Veta et Rică Venturiano; Veta est l’épouse infidèle et
l’amante de Chiriac, l’épouse séduite par Rică Venturiano, l’amante infidèle qui trompe
Chiriac avec Rică Venturiano.
La fin de la pièce apporte de la lumière sur le rôle de Rică Venturiano. Son
image change et il devient pour Dumitrache la chance de Zița et un jeune à l ’avenir
prometteur, tandis que Chiriac intervient auprès de Dumitrache pour le mariage du
nouveau couple. Le triple statut actantiel est remplacé par le double statut actantiel,
présent dès le début de la pièce.

5. Histoires de carnaval

La pièce présente deux ménages à trois: le premier est constitué de Nae

Girimea-Mița - Crăcănel et le deuxième de Nae Girimea-Didina-Pampon. Une lettre
d’amour dévoile la vérité et les victimes de la tromperie veulent se venger. Le travesti
carnavalesque conduit à des confusions et Nae réussit à s’échapper à la vigilance de ses
persécuteurs, mais le vrai adjuvant de Nae est son valet, Iordache. Lorsque Pampon et
Crăcănel sont venus pour punir Nae et qu’ils forcent la porte, Iordache construit un
scénario fantasmagorique pour aider son maître s’en sortir: il appelle la police et
dénonce un vol. Ainsi, se crée un double statut actantiel (un statut actantiel dans la
réalité et un autre statut actantiel dans le scénario de Iordache): Pampon et Crăcănel sont
des amants trompés et des voleurs, Nae est celui qui trompe Pampon et Crăcănel et la
victime du vol de Pampon et Crăcănel.

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 Nae adhère au scénario de Iordache et sauve Pampon et Crăcănel de l’arrêt de la
police. Avec la complicité de Mița et Didina, Nae donne une nouvelle interprétation à la
lettre d’amour compromettante et au contexte situationnel, qui lui deviennent
favorables. Il y a une réorganisation actantielle à deux niveaux (en réalité et dans le
scenario de Nae): Pampon et Crăcănel sont les amants trompés et les bénéficiaires de la
générosité de Nae, Nae est celui qui trompe Pampon et Crăcănel et en même temps le
sauveur de Pampon et Crăcănel, Mița et Didina sont les amantes fidèles et les amantes
trompeuses en même temps.

6. Conclusions

Les comédies de Caragiale se caractérisent par le contraste entre la réalité et

l’univers fictif construit par personnages à l’intérieur du texte, le contraste étant le
fondement de la comédie. Ce contraste détermine au niveau de la syntaxe narrative la
superposition de rôles actantiels et au niveau du discours la polyphonie des points de
vue.

Bibliographie
Călin, Vera, Metamorfozele măștilor comice, Editura pentru Literatură, București, 1966
Cazimir, Ștefan, Caragiale. Universul comic, Editura pentru Literatură, București, 1967
Ionesco, Eugène, Note și contranote, Humanitas, București, 2011
Jouve, Vincent, Pour une analyse de l’effet –personnage, Littérature, no 85, 1992, p. 103-111
Kerbrat-Orecchioni, Catherine, Pour une approche pragmatique du dialogue théâtral, Pratiques,
no.41, mars 1984, p. 48-62
Pavel, Toma, Lumi ficționale, Editura Minerva, București, 1992
Popa, Marian, Comicologia, Editura Semne, București, 2010
Polet, Jean-Claude, Patrimoine littéraire européen, Anthologie en langue française, Editions De
Boeck Université, Bruxelles, 2000
Rabatel, Alain, Le problème du point de vue dans le texte de théâtre, Pratiques, no. 119/120,
2003, p.19
Tomuș, Mircea, Pentru un alt Caragiale, Editura Academiei Române, București, 2012

Acknowledgment:
This work was partially supported by the strategic project PERFORM,
POSDRU159/1.5/S/138963, inside POSDRU Romania 2014, co-financed by the European Social
Fund-Investing in People.

94
 THE STANDARDIZATION OF THE ROMANIAN LITERARY
LANGUAGE IN THE ROMANIAN GRAMMAR OF ION HELIADE
RĂDULESCU

Andreea-Sabina NAPEU*

Abstract: Ion Heliade Rădulescu was one of the most remarkable personalities in the
Romanian culture. He was considered the creator of modern grammar because, during his
linguistic activity, he was involved in the process of reinforcing the canons of the Romanian
literary language. Moreover, in 1828, he published The Romanian Grammar, a study which
included a series of problems related to the standardization of the language. As the
standardization had a key role in the evolution of the language, he dealt with problems associated
with the spelling, on the one hand, and with the enrichment of the vocabulary, on the other hand.
Furthermore, Heliade thought of adopting the model of religious writings, as a basis for the
further development and unification of the literary language. His aim was to create a unitary
language that could be used in different fields of activity.
Keywords: linguistics, standardization, Romanian grammar.

1. Ion Heliade Rădulescu - an ideologist of the language

Ion Heliade Rădulescu (1802-1872) was a remarkable personality in the

Romanian culture in the first half of the 19th century. The cultural activity in the
Principalities was totally dominated by him; this fact creating a real Heliade moment in
our Romanian culture.
The discussions about the development of the language were predominant over
the 19th century. The linguists were discussing firstly about the establishment of some
spelling rules, then about creating some new dictionaries and new grammar books. All
these trials had an important role in the evolution of the language. Ion Heliade
Rădulescu was a pioneer in this domain and for this reason he laid the bases of a society
called Romanian Academic Society in 1866, which later (in 1879) became Romanian
Academy (Academia Română).
The problem of the standardization of the Romanian language turned into a
very important subject at that time due to the fast developing of the Romanian culture.
Moreover, the standardization implies an encoding of the language, and the trial that
sustain this process became practical by developing grammars, spelling books and
normative dictionaries. The first half of the 19th century is characterized by the
affirmation of the writers that belong to the Forty-Eighters generation, a seamless
generation that was fighting for the accomplisment of a common goal: the unification of
the Romanian literary language: “Țălul nostru este realizația dorinței ca românii să aibă
o limbă și o literatură comună pentru toți”. On this line, the embracement of some
unitary canons was compulsory.
The need of using a modern language was formed due to a general opinion
according to which the Romanian language was situated, in the 19th century, at a lower

*
University of Pitești, sabina.napeu@gmail.com

95
level of development, in contrast with other Romanic languages. That is to say, the
linguists tried to discharge the language of its archaic level of development.
An important role in the unification of the Romanian literary language came to
Ion Heliade Rădulescu; he hall-marked the whole process of synchronization of the
culture with the century, without giving up on the idea of a national identity. In fact, this
aspect was, in other words, the ideal that guided an entire generation - the Forty-
Eighters. Ion Heliade Rădulescu focused on the standardization phenomenon,
continuing the undertakings of the Transylvanian School. He defined the language
cultivation as a personal mission he had in a letter to his Moldavian correspondent,
Costache Negruzzi, in 1836: “A cultiva o limbă, va să zică a o curăți de tot ce nu o
poate face să înainteze, de tot ce nu este al său și nici nu poate simpatiza cu dânsa ”
(Macrea, 1970: 136). Furthermore, Heliade’s interest for studying the Romanian
language is an idea that comes from the Enlightenment period.
The process of unification and standardization of the Romanian language was
guided by the language spoken in Walachia and a proper explanation for this is the fact
that the literary language had, from its beginnings, a Walachian pattern; furthermore,
Ion Heliade Rădulescu assessed the Walachian patterns also in the writing of the
Moldavians, in the 19th century. Heliade’s linguistic evolution had two stages: the first
stage was marked by the elaboration of some theories regarding the standardization and
the unification of the literary language, while the second stage displayed the writer’s
excessive predilection for italienism.

2. Linguistic approaches in the Romanian Grammar

Ion Heliade Rădulescu’s linguistic direction within 1841 is sustained by the

publication of the most known normative work in the period, the Romanian Grammar;
firstly, the study went as a manuscipt as far back as 1820, being published in 1828, at
Sibiu. It was inspired by the model of the French philologist Charles-Constant Le
Tellier. Heliade’s Grammar imposed as a real linguistic landmark in the age and all the
other studies about grammar did not come to the same level. Heliade, a real “language
theoretician” (Haneș, 1904: 43), created a book that distinguished among others by
stating a series of canons in a pertinent way. The appearance of the book was
determined especially by educational reasons; moreover, its importance consists of the
further developing of the Romanian language. Also, one of the book’s objectives was
the correction of the language.
Regarding the table of contents, the Romanian Grammar is composed of
Introduction (Prefață) and five parts, being an integer in which all the author ’s theories
about the modernization of the language are gathered. The Introduction has a key role
because it represents a premise, a bridge that makes possible the connection with the
further analyses offered in the book. The Introduction includes the main vocabulary
aspects: on the one hand, the spelling (which will be developed in the final part of the
book), and on the other hand, the problem of the neologism. In addition to this, the
Introduction is one of the parts that has helped Heliade to be on the rise in comparison
to the other Forty Eighters. Also, the book brings forward the linguistic outlook of Ion
Heliade Rădulescu, along with the solutions offered by him in order to solve the
language problems.
The standardization of the Romanian language was an essential condition for
its evolution, existing a general agreement in the acceptance of the idea that the
Romanian literary language is based on the liturgical language of the 18th century. Led

96
by the faith that the language was one of the main agencies for developing the national
unity, Heliade imposed this idea in the respective period, declining all the latinists’ trials
at that time: ”Limba bisericească dă rumânului niște tipi obștești, însă în puncia și fașele
sale, căci se află cuvinte în deosebite noroade rumânești, cum și tipi gramaticali, dar cu
mult mai clasici și mai regulați decât cei scriși până acum” (Costinescu, 1979: 55).
Another important aspect of the standardization of the language is the
progressive replacement of the Cyrilic alphabet with the Latin one. To this effect,
Heliade suggests, in the first instance, that the Cyrilic script should be reduced to 29
letters. The criterion that underlies this resolution is a phonetic one: “pentru fieștecare
sunet și pentru fieștecare glas câte un semn, adică câte o slovă” (Heliade Rădulescu,
1980: 542). The Slavonian letters are considered by Heliade inappropriate: “Literele
slavone sunt haine nepotrivite pentru limba noastră, care își poate lua din m agazia cea
mare și bogată a maicei sale veștmintele dorite și pe măsura ei” (Heliade Rădulescu,
1973: 16). Appart from the phonetic criterion, Heliade was guided by the idea of
national dignity: “Limbii române îi șade mai bine a se înfățișa în veștmintele ei cele
vechi care au fost pentru dânsa, a se înfățișa adică scrisă cu litere strămoșești” (ibidem,
16). Through this spelling transformation, Heliade becomes the creator of the transition
alphabet, a stage that finishes in 1841, when the Latin letters monopolize the writing of
all the texts at that time. The spelling is defined as the art of writing corectly:
“meșteșugul de a scrie drept și cu judecată zicerile oricărei limbi” (Macrea, op. cit. :
138). With the help of the grammar, Heliade encouraged the phonetic writing in the
Romanian language.
The problem of the enrichment of the vocabulary, proposed in the Introduction
of the book, is another interesting aspect which takes part in the process of the language
standardization. Concerning vocabulary, Heliade exposed three main problems. Firstly,
he talked about the enrichment of vocabulary so that it can be able to easily express the
ideas of a modern science which was in progress. Secondly, he proposed the
replacement of non-Latin words. Thirdly, he suggested the embracement of some Latin
terms in order to express new notions that did not have correspondents in the Romanian
vocabulary.
According to Heliade, the enrichment of vocabulary can be made in two ways:
on the one hand, by forming words with the help of intrinsic means, and on the other
hand, by loaning words from other languages. Heliade relieves the problem of the
neologisms due to a cultural necessity, in the sense that, through the enrichment and the
arrangement of the old language, it will be created a new language. This new language
will be an instrument of communication in all domains: “Acela care cunoaște și știe mai
multe lucruri, a aceluia limbă este și mai bogată în vorbe și mai plăcută” (ibidem, 552).
Heliade makes recommendations about the loanwords from the Romanic languages, that
should be done within bounds: “Trebuie să ne împrumutăm, dar trebuie să luăm numai
acelea ce ne trebuie și de acolo de unde ne trebuie și cum ne trebuie” (ibidem, 553).
Moreover, he assesses the embracement of the neologisms: “Vorbele streine trebuie să
se înfățoșeze în haine rumânești și cu mască de Rumân înaintea noastră” ( ibidem, 553).
The Romanian Grammar is an important book through its Introduction and its
table of contents; this represents a unit of aspects which led to making Heliade’s point:
the standardization of the Romanian language. The publication consists of three main
chapters: etymology, syntax and spelling and deals with ten parts of speech that still
exist nowadays in the Romanian language. Besides, the book starts with a definition of
the grammar: “Grămmătic’a este unǔ meșteșugǔ prin care învățămǔ să cunoaștemǔ o
limbă a o vorbi și a o scri ’ întocmaĭ după însușirile și firea ei” ( Ibidem, 73). This

97
definition highlights the practical outlook about the language. Also, it defines the
grammar as a study of the language structure, from different points of view: descriptive,
normative and historical. Heliade tries to discover and to set the language rules in an
accurate way and this attempt represents, in fact, the apparition of an extraordinary
moment in the evolution of the linguistic thinking, which played an important role in the
foundation of the Romanian literary language. At a morphological level, Heliade prefers
the Walachian canons against the Moldavian ones. Some of the most important issues
are linked to verbal forms, auxiliaries or degrees of comparison for adjectives. Both the
classifications and the theories proposed by the linguist can be easily recognized in the
modern grammar used nowadays, which means that Heliade’s purpose was fulfilled.
The syntax is made upon the model of Le Tellier’s French grammar and it demonstrates
the following problems: concord, syntactical relations between clauses and description
of the syntax categories. In other words, a first attempt of describing the language
syntax begins to form. Heliade’s contribution to the language is an important one but,
beginning with the year 1841, he abandons this line and strikes to the italienism.

3. Conclusions

The process of reinforcing the modern literary language started due to an

imperative need of expression in a new language which will become a communication
tool in various domains. Ion Heliade Rădulescu was a pioneer on this line. He had a
well-known contribution to the modernization of the language and his philologic
activity played an exceeding part in the development of the Romanian literary language,
being thankworthy at that time. Moreover, Mihai Eminescu considered him the father of
the language, a language that is still spoken nowadays.
The Romanian Grammar is a study that has a normative essence and Heliade’s
role in developing the language is huge and undoubted. He became the creator of the
modern grammar, a true adviser in language problems. His linguistic activity influenced
the whole process of the language unification and went a long way towards the
reinforcing of the Romanian literary canons. That is to say, all his trials were intented
upon creating a perfect and correct language.

Bibliography
Costinescu, Mariana, Normele limbii literare în gramaticile românești , Editura Didactică și
Pedagogică, București, 1979.
Haneș, Petru, Desvoltarea limbii literare române în prima jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea,
Tipografia Munca, București, 1904.
Heliade Rădulescu, Ion, Scrieri lingvistice, ediție și studiu de Ion Popescu -Sireteanu, Editura
Științifică, București, 1973.
Heliade Rădulescu, Ion, Gramatica Românească, ediție și studiu de Valeria Guțu-Romalo,
Editura Eminescu, București, 1980.
Macrea, D., Studii de istoria limbii române literare. Secolul al XIX-lea, volumul 1, Editura Pentru
Literatură, București, 1969.
Macrea, D., Studii de lingvistică română, Editura Didactică și Pedagogică, București, 1970.

98
 ARGHEZIAN SYMBOLIC PARATEXT

Margareta ONOFREI*

Abstract: This study focuses on presenting the paratextual symbolization for the
Arghezian volumes of verse. According to the definition of the paratext, after Gerard Genette, and
cognitivist theories, the Arghezian titles constitute distinct categories, the majority of them
leading to the lyrical matrix of the author; all of them converge to metatextual aspect of speech,
based on the book isotopy. Arghezian context is characterized by the combination of opposites,
and that feature is an obvious fact from the paratext.
Keywords: paratext, title, book.

The concept of the paratext, introduced by Gerard Genette, includes a set of

verbal productions, ”a bound of printed text that actually conducts the reader’s
perception of the text” (Genette, 1997: 2). Quoting the respective author, we can say
that the paratexts represent a vestibule of the book universe, a liminal zone between real
and fictional.
Beyond the author’s name which operates as an index of a particular style or
literary school, the title ”has both a stylistic and a poetic function [...], also occupying a
prime position in the text-receiver established report” (Ibidem:73). The title initially
attracts the reader’s attention, acquiring a primary significance ulteriory compared with
the textual experience: ”moniker must be correct so as not shocking, not so exactly, how
suggestive” (Irimia, 1999: 31).
Therefore, paratextuality has as a main component the title which involves an
action taken by the writer after the creation process; for decoding it, the reader goes
over the reverse process, the action of the decoding the linguistic sign.
From the cognitive perspective, the linguistic knowledge is a type of
metaphorical cognition, because, as Eugen Coșeriu said, ”language is essentially
cognitive activity: activity of knowledge that is done through symbols” (Coșeriu, 2009:
171-172). So the title is a symbol equivalent of a human experiential metaphors overlap
area over the immediate revelation to calling to whom preceding the contextualized
assembly. The metaphor becomes the territory of reconciliation between thought and
imagination, representing both as intellectual issues and as a linguistic act.
To name a thing in terms of an another thing becomes a metaphor of the human
experiential specificity. So the Arghezian willingly hipercodated titles send the reader to
a general area of knowledge that arises from decoding reported on contextualized title.
This study focuses on presenting the paratextual symbolization for the
Arghezian volumes of verse. This approach is difficult because of the ability of
regeneration and generalization; Each of the many editorial appearances of the author
includes an infinity of contrary or surprising associated sems.
In the same way that Arghezian poetry was impossible to be integrated into a
particular literary school, the paratext of his volumes do not follow clear principles,
pointing out the diversity. However, there are some defining characteristics of it: poetic
intuition of its isotopic matricial symbols (the book, divinity versus humanity, the tree)

*
University of Pitești, onofrei_ada@yahoo.com

99
and the developing of a vast semantic field of them, dominated by the nominal group
combined with the using of the adjectival epithet of the accentuated qualification.
The semantic paradigm of the paratext leans towards formulating metalingual
title, being in connection with the matricial symbol of the book - creation. The symbol
becomes a metaphor for cognitive Arghezian language, named directly just in playful
volumes of grains and grit, as My Little Evening Book/ Cărticica de seară and My
Beautiful Book/ Cartea mea frumoasă.
The derivative little book tends toward a relatively arbitrary of the linguistic
sign, because it implies a partly motivated relationship of its using related to the lexeme
book. It expresses both the golden age of childhood and the modesty status of a self.
The appreciative, recurrent epithet beautiful describes the fundamental feature of an act
signifying permanent artistic aesthetic.
The semantic field of the book is complemented by specific signs which are
used in the metalingual paratexts of the volumes: Cuvinte potrivite, Alte cuvinte
potrivite, Stihuri noi, Stihuri pestrițe, Poeme noi, Silabe, Una sută una poeme, Versuri.
The isotopy of the book is completed with the oximoronic alotopy of the Flori de
mucigai, through which the particular significance is different, even contrary to general
significance of creation. Beautiful verses are in an opposite coincidence with the ugly
lyrics, lexically sustained by the specific linguistic signs. At the experiential level, they
represent another facet of the beautiful aesthetics.
The Arghezian semantic paratextual paradigm is dominated by the recurring
nouns; in its unarticulated form, it gives speech generality, also representing
metaphorical references to the experiences of the self: Mărțișoare, Hore, Făt -Frumos,
Frunze, Cadențe, Silabe, Ritmuri, Crengi, Deslușiri. The proper name gives an
indication of the semantic translation of reality to fantasy. The other nouns semantically
equate with the matricial, isotopic Arghezian symbol, in relation to the explicitly or
implicitly metaphorical art of writing.
The semem mărţişor aims to coordinate semic node denoting the object of
adornment, tied by a thread stitching, red and white, which offers but a sign of the
arrival of spring; at the cognitive level, it may be associated with the metaphorical
aesthetic plan of the fecundity of creation. Hora reveals the artistic side of existence by
combining music and literature. This semem may be associated, at significant levels,
with rhythmic movements (Rhythms/ Ritmuri), semantically linked, by extension, to the
sequence of harmonies, called cadence/ cadențe . The aesthetic reveals itself to
corroborate the arts and supplemented with the signs of the natural artistic transposed
from the perspective of self enunciation, which are consistent with another Arghezian
matricial symbol, man as a tree: Frunze/ Leaves, Crengi/ Branches. Syllables sign
accords directly with the internal structure of the matricial symbol of the book,
representing an indispensable component of it.
Two of the titles of books, The Apiary/ Prisaca and Noaptea/ The Night,
present individualization through articulation. The first of them is a metaphor for the
universe finely organized by particular laws contemplated by self enunciation and
elevated to the status of the symbol. The metaphor of the night, sign equivalent to death,
acquires, through articulation, meaning an election of the ego for reconciliation with the
world and the threshold smooth transition to another dimension.
Another category is the collocation title. This is usually a nominal group:
1. nominal group with a noun center and an adjectival adjunct: Agate negre,
Cuvinte potrivite, Alte cuvinte potrivite, Stihuri noi, Stihuri pestrițe, Poeme noi,

100
 Frunzele tale, Cartea mea frumoasă, Animale mici și mari, Iubitele noastre
animale;
2. nominal group with a noun center and nouns in the genitive case as adjuncts
(Facerea lumii, Țara piticilor, Prietenii copiilor, Sporturile copiilor ) or nouns
in the dative case as adjuncts (Cântare omului);
3. nominal group with a noun center and numerals as adjuncts: 1907-Peizaje, Șapte
cântece cu gura-nchisă, Una sută una poeme, Șapte frați.
Of course, there are exceptions to this classification, such as using exclamatory
interjections Hallelujah! / Aleluia!, correlated with religious symbolism, which is
enriched with semantic expressiveness both laudatory or rhetoric (equivalent
synonymous with Amin lexeme) or using the non-semantic numeral XC; in that case, the
ambiguity leading to calling the extreme.
The nouns of the nominal-center group are variations of the same frame: the
matrix of creation; all of them converge to metatextual aspect of speech, paratextual
already intuited. The isotopy of the book isotope specific is related to Arghezianism,
revealed to the reader through its particular elements: cuvinte, agate, stihuri, silabe,
cadențe, ritmuri, frunze, crengi. Their determinations nuance each element, building
around it, signifying a possible network disclosed, in particular, every discourse of
volumes.
For example, the first Arghezian cycle, never published in full and kept in
manuscript, entitled Black Agates/ Agate negre shows symbolist-Baudelairian side of
his early formation. The semem agates contains the sem of treasure and the metatextual
one, the sem of creation. At the lexical level, duality is derived from homonymy, the
term designating both a variety of semiprecious stone and a typographic font type.
The paratextuality of the collocation for the Cuvinte potrivite volume founded
a cult of the word as the foundation of creative writing whose arcane lies deeper
meanings, disclosed during the reading. Arghezi’s words are accompanied by a driver of
signification, matching, meaning crafted, carefully chosen forced into emotional context
or semantic sphere selected from more choice, even unpoetic levels.
The linguistic sign is constituted as an entity to calling a particular signification
in the case of each discourse that can be decoded by reference to context. All of these
signs is the overall paradigm, macrotextuală of writing. Arghezian context is
characterized by the combination of opposites, and that feature is an obvious fact from
the paratext.
The craft of the Arghezian language arts manifests throughout his lyrical
productions, author himself declaring himself a jeweler as carefully in matching each
entity in a coherent, unified universe.

Bibliography
Arghezi, T., Opere, Editura Univers Enciclopedic, București, 2000
Coșeriu, Eugen, Sincronie, diacronie şi istorie, Editura Enciclopedică, Bucureşti, 1997
Coșeriu, Eugen, Creaţia metaforică în limbaj, în Omul și limbajul său. Studii de filosofia
limbajului, teorie a limbii și lingvistică generală, Editura Universităţii Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iași,
2009
Coteanu, Ion, Probleme de lingvistică generală, vol V, Editura pentru Literatură, București, 1967
Genette, Gerard, Paratexts. Thresholds of interpretation, England, Cambridge University Press,
1997
Irimia, Dumitru, Introducere în stilistică, Iaşi, Editura Polirom, 1999

101
 FRENCH INFLUENCE IN
GRIGORE ALEXANDRESCU’S WORK

Elena -Andreea POPA

Abstract: This work tries to emphasize the place of Grigore Alexandrescu in the
Romanian literature, by showing his authentic features. He played an important place in the
modernization process of the Romanian literary language. His sources of inspiration were
represented by the French writers such as: Lamartine, Volney, La Fontaine; moreover many of
the French words were adopted by the Romanian language during the XIXth century.
Keywords: Romanticism, neologisms, modernization.

During the nineteenth century, certain historical, social and cultural events
occur that demand the synchronization of the Romanian with European literature.
Through scholars studying abroad and bringing innovative ideas takes place a
real process of emancipation of the Romanian people on all levels.
The people want the union of the Romanian Principalities, autonomy and the
spread of culture among the Romanian people, attempting synchronization on all levels
with the West, whose development was a model for our culture.
In the case of Grigore Alexandrescu, the French influence was the main source
of his writings, although his work was created through two distinct aesthetic registers,
representing the duality of his consciousness.
As a dominant feature, Alexandrescu is a Romantic, both in his elegies and
meditations, as well as in letters and fables, even if the latest are characterized by a
slower imaginative spirit and formal balance.
The poet is reflective and practical, controlling his emotions lucidly; he sought
to discover the profound truth of their own destiny through self-analysis, but the truth of
the external world by denouncing the contemporary vices and defects.
Lamartine’s influence in the work of Grigore Alexandrescu is emphasized by
George Călinescu, who affirmed that: ”In a part of it, the poetry of Grigore
Alexandrescu is the strongest expression of lamartinismului.” (Călinescu 1962, p. 109),
adding that: “The meditation, reverie and harmony in nature, religiosity, prayer, oceans;
immensity are visions of the great French poet. Sometimes the vision gets a hazy
Ossianic air and the reflection a Ossian Byronic roar.” ( Ibidem).
One of the most representative Romanian critics, Eugen Simion, emphasizes
the dual feature of Grigore Alexandrescu that is also one of Lamartine’s characteristic
and is given one one hand by an extremely pessimistic view on life, and on the other
hand the idel of a perfect morality, as the critic sustains: “Noboby has observed that this
moral innovator has, when it comes to himself, the feeling of a dark fate. The stanza
«and to live in pain is my mood» expresses his vision on life”.(Simion, 1980, p.141).
Nicolae Manolescu referred to this influence in the following manner: “In what
French influence on our language is regarded, it must be admitted that it was a true
magic, creating even a strange biographical archetype: it becomes almost compulsory,
following the model given by Milly, a voyage and a love in Italy (Asachi,


University of Piteşti, dina.andreea55@yahoo.com

102
Alecsandri),or the early death of muse (Bolintineanu, Cârlova).” ( Manolescu, 2003,
p.26).
The sublimity of nature described through the Romanian poet’s stanzas, as in
the case of Lamartine and Voltaire’s is also charged with political significance, George
Călinescu explaining that: “In a historic moment the country was without prestige and
without large buildings, only nature filled the chest of the patriots with the feeling of
greatness, and opposed to the misery of feudal landowners opposed its imperishable
monuments.” (G. Calinescu, 1962, p.112).
If one tries to compare Lamartine’s poetical universe with Alexandrescu’s one,
there are many differences, one of these being represented by the night register that
occupies an important place in Alexandrescu’s lyrics; on the other hand, Lamartine
oscillates between night and morning registers. Regarding this feature it is sustained
that: “After all, this poetry of stars is a praise to the universe, but Grigore Alexandrescu
does not possess the Franciscan exult of Lamartine. His eye sees better the register of
stars and candles”.(Călinescu, 1962, p. 109).
The Moon occupies a central place in Grigore Alexandrescu’s lyric, and this
kind of praise poetry of stars is common to many French poets such as: Fontenelle,
Ronsard with his Hymne des Astres, du Ciel, de l’Eternity, Voltaine with his La
Henriade, etc.
This is also the case of Grigore Alexandrescu’s poetry Răsăritul lunii. La
Tismana: “Apoi glob rubinos, nopţii dând mişcare şi viaţă,/Se-nalţă şi, dimprejuru-i
dese umbre depărtând,/Pe-ale stejarilor vârfuri, piramide de verdeaţă,/Se opri; apoi
privirea-i peste lume aruncând,/Lumină adânci prăpăstii, mănăstirea învechită,/Feudală
cetăţuie, ce de turnuri ocolită,/Ce de lună colorată şi privită de departe /Părea unul din
acele osianice palate(…) Niciodată astă lună ce înoată în tărie,/ Ca fanal purtat de valuri
pe a mărilor câmpie.”( Răsăritul lunii. La Tismana)
Although the theme of ruins has known an old tradition in universal poetry, in
the case of Grigore Alexandrescu’s poetry evoking the ruins and pessimistic meditation
which they cause had entered in our literature through the poetry of the French poet,
Volney.
In the spirit of Volney, Alexandrescu exclaimed at seeing the ruins of the royal
palace of Targoviste; all that’s left of the old glow of the city, Adio la Târgovişte ,
which then evolves within the meaning of a Lamartinian meditation: “Culcat pe-aste
ruine, sub care adâncită/E gloria străbună şi umbra de eroi,/În linişte, tăcere, văd lumea
adormită/Ce uită-n timpul nopţii necazuri şi nevoi./Dar cine se aude şi ce este ăst
sunet?/Ce oameni sau ce armii şi ce repede pas?/Pământul îl clăteşte războinicescul
tunet,/Zgomot de taberi, şoapte, trece, vâjâie-un glas...//Dar unde sunt acestea? S-au
dus! Au fost părere./Căci armele, vitejii şi toate au tăcut/Aşa orice mărire nemicnicită
piere!/A noastră, a Palmirei şi-a Romei a trecut.” ( Adio la Târgovişte).
Regarding the letter, Grigore Alexandrescu was influenced by Boileau and
Voltaire’s poetry, without excluding Romanian poet authenticity in support of ideas and
especially in presenting morals of life.
Grigore Alexandrescu’s letters, written in a classicizing manner, contain
elements of the poetic arts that are staging truthful images of the era mores, from a
satirical and critical point of view; the goal of the epistles are to demystify the world,
but also the illusions that literature can correct manners.
French influence has played a major role in the modernization of the Romanian
literary language; one reason being given for the common origin of the two

103
civilizations, Stefan Munteanu adding the prestige reason given by the French
civilization in the early nineteenth century.
Grigore Alexandrescu was not one of the theoreticians of establishing the rules
of Romanian language, but his work is an illustration of the modernization process of
the Romanian language.
The variety of his work involved the use of various stylistics; he chooses to use
spoken language, in order to be closer to the people, and many terms that are used have
French origin, although some words were not completely adapted to Romanian
language.
In his historical poems, Grigore Alexandrescu uses a superior language, by
using neologisms such as: cadenţă, luptător, orizont, a repeta, rezultat, egoism,
varietate, nobil, generaţie, glorios and some French words which were excluded from
the Romanian lexicon as sujet has become.
In order to emphasize the numerous words of French origin, an example of
poem can be Anul 1840; in writing this poem Grigore Alexandrescu used various words
of Latin and also Slavic origin, but those of French origin emphasize the high character
of the vocabulary. In verses such as: “(…) Puţine-aş vrea, iubite, din zilele-mi
pierdute,/Zile ce-n veşnicie şi-iau repedele zbor;/Puţine suvenire din ele am plăcute:/A
fost numai-n durere varietatea lor!/Dar pe tine, an tânăr, te văz cu mulţumire!/Pe tine te
doreşte tot neamul omenesc!/Şi eu sunt mic[ parte din trista omenire,/Şi eu a ta sosire cu
lumea o slăvesc!/Când se născu copilul ce s-aştepta să vie,/Ca să ridice iară şi pe omul
cel căzut,/Un bătrân îl luă în braţe, strigând cu bucurie:/“Sloboade-m[, st[pâne, fiindcă l-
am văzut.”/Astfel drepţii ar zice, de ar vedea-mplinite/Câte într-al t[u nume ne sunt
făgăduite./O, an prezis atâta, măreţ reformator!/Începi, prefă, răstoarnă şi
îmbunătăţează,/Arată semn acelor ce nu voiesc să crează;/Adu fără zăbavă o turmă ş-un
păstor./A lumii temelie se mişcă, se clăteşte,/Vechile-i instituţii se şterg, s-au
ruginit;/(…)Oricare sentimente înalte, generoase,/Ne par ca nişte basne de povestit,
frumoase,/Şi tot entuziasmul izvor de idei mici./Politica adâncă stă în fanfaronadă,/Şi
ştiinţa vieţii în egoism cumplit;/De-a omului m[rire nimic nu dă dovadă,/Şi numai
despotismul e bine întărit./An nou! Aştept minunea-ţi ca o cerească lege;/Dacă însă
păstorul ce tu ni l-ai allege/Va fi tot ca păstorii de care-avem destui,/Atunci... lasă în
starea-i bătrâna tiranie,/(…)Şi ce mai rău ar face o stea, un comet mare,/Care să arză
globul ş-ai lui locuitori?/(…)Şi trăiesc în durere ca-n elementul meu.(…)”( Anul 1840)
Words such as: drept>fr. droit; a prezice>fr. predire; varietate>fr.variete;
sentiment; generoase>fr. genereux; entuziasm>fr. enthousiasme; ştiinţă>fr. science;
egoism>fr. egoism; tiranie>fr. tyrannie; comet>fr. comete; glob>fr. globe; element>fr.
element, are some of the words that Alexandrescu chooses in order to create his poem.
Aurel Nicolescu, in the work Observations on language of the Romanian
writers, analyzing a fragment of Journey diary observed that: “Among the neologisms
presented in his writing, most are of French origin (...). In the process of adapting the
lexical system, meaning to frame the words available in the language, most of its
neologisms have been used with a form identical to the current one, from this category
are the following: expression, figure, shape, imagination, invented, poets, visit.”
(Nicolescu, 1971 , 93).
Like his contemporaries, Grigore Alexandrescu belongs to the Romanian
writers of the nineteenth century that have actively contributed through their work to the
modernizeation of the Romanian language, where French influence played a decisive
role.

104
Bibliography
Alecu, Viorel, Curentele literare în literature română, Bucureşti, Editura didactică şi pedagogic,
1971.
Alexandrescu, Grigore, Opere, I, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1972.
Anghelescu, Mircea, Introducere în opera lui Grigore Alexandrescu, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva,
1973.
Bǎdescu, Horia, Grigore Alexandrescu- parade mǎştilor, Bucureşti, Editura Albatros, 1981.
Cǎlinescu, George,, Gr. M. Alecsandrescu, Bucureşti, Editura Pentru literaturǎ, 1962.
Cornea, Paul, Originile romantismului românesc, Bucureşti, Editura Cartea Româneascǎ, 2008.
Dragomirescu, Ghe. N., Dicţionarul figurilor de stil, Bucureşti, Editura Ştiinţificǎ, 1995.
Ivaşcu, George, Istoria literaturii române, Bucureşti, Editura Ştiinţificǎ, 1969.
Manolescu, Nicolae, Poeţi romantici, Chişinău, Editura Ştiinţa, 2003.
Nicolescu, Aurel, Observaţii asupra limbii scriitorilor români, Bucureşti, Editura Albatros, 1971.
Petraş, Irina, Figuri de stil- Mic dicţionar- antologie pentru elevi, Bucureşti, Editura Demiurg,
1992
Pǎcurariu, Dimitrie, Clasicism şi Romantism. Studii de literaturǎ românǎ modernǎ, Bucureşti,
Editura Albatros, 1973.
Popovici, Dimitrie, Romantismul românesc, Bucureşti, Editura Albatros, 1972.
Simion, Eugen, Dimineaţa poeţilor, Bucureşti, Editura Cartea Românească, 1980.

105
 FOLK LANGUAGE IN MARIN SORESCU’S WORK

Olimpia VARGA

Abstract: We wish to discover in Marin Sorescu’s lyrics the folk language’s humor, the
critical spirit, the rich lyrical imagination, the capacity for verbal invention and spontaneity.
That’s why we’ll especially focus on the folk language, the Oltenian idioms conditioned by the
social-cultural factor, which leaves a specific mark upon the characters present in the series La
Lilieci and in the children’s volumes.
Keywords: Oltenian idioms, interrogation, interjections

A poet, dramatist, essayist and gifted writer with a exceptional vocation, Marin
Sorescu dedicated himself to literary creation with a peasant’s “diligence” and
“squandering”, a peasant who knows its purpose in the world, by writing the poem
“Solemn”:
“Toate hârtiile mele/ Le-am cărat cu brațul/ Pe un câmp mare,/ Le-am semănat
solemn/ Și le -am arat adânc/ Cu plugul./ Să văd ce-o să răsară/ Din gândurile acestea,/
Din bucurii, din tristețe, din fericire/ Iarna, primăvara, vara și toamna./ Acum mă
plimb pe câmpul negru/ Cu mâinile la spate,/ Mai neliniștit cu fiecare zi/ Nu se poate
totuși/ Nici o literă să nu fi fost bună”.
In his work, Marin Sorescu used artistic expressions and common and folk
language, the most current possible to describe existential states, familiarly treated,
admitting:
"Sunt (…) pentru poezia care-și pune problemele mari ale omului, fără a se
angaja să răspundă mecanic la ele. Sunt prin urmare pentru poezia ca instrument de
cunoaștere a omului ca om. Să dialoghezi despre problemele fundamentale ale tale, ca
om: fericire, adevăr, existență, moarte (...). A avea curajul să-ți dezvăluie
subiectivitatea, sufletul până în cutele lui cele mai întunecoase, spaimele și năzuințele
cele mai intime”. (Sorescu, 1968: 151).
In contrast to poets who have classically featured the most important lyrical
themes of poetry – creation, life, death, destiny, love etc – Sorescu, in his stylistically
behavior, with his shirt unbuttoned completely and his sleeves rolled up, he debates
these subjects as a mystery servant and with a specific humor.
The sad and delicate joke, without clownery of others, is his way of
considering life and death. He did not intend and never wanted to make people laugh
through the folk language that he used, he wanted to do this through his lyrics.
The folk conception of love is obvious in those “incantations” – in
Descântoteca – true “comedies” with “him and her” in which the language, dialogues,
ironies, fireworks and the reduction to family universe advocates for the integrity of this
volume in the prolongation of the series "La Lilieci” or even in its center.
If in the folk poetry love is a game, our poet tries to break the rules and makes
up a new expression "de-a v-ați vațelea” (in which the critic met a Tudor Arghezi line
"De-a v-ați ascunselea”).


“Ovidius” University of Constanta, olimpia_varga@yahoo.com

106
 The folk language fills Marin Sorescu’s lyrics, lyrics in which the parodist “is
childish”, with fine fantasy and gentle irony which accompanies the moral.
"Calci ca-n străchini, spargi și strici/ Halal veac, halal furnici” (Altă furnică)
The logical relations between objects are in a transposition phase so that
overturned logical relations can result.
"Eh, un cal de-aș avea,/ Să-l sui colea în spinare, / și să-l plimb/ prin lumea
mea, / Eu pe jos și el călare” (Dii)
Children are playing with words as if they are toys and the poet, being childish,
creates words or is playing:
"Mi se-ntr-una mi se-ncotro/ Mi te duce mi s-ar culca/ Încotro căci eu nu pot/
Să mă mai dezvăț de dulce./ De dulcele, de ulcele/ Dedulcite-n dulcigaie” / (Mi)
or: "Cucuriguu! mii de zodii/ Cucuriguu-gululu/ ‘N cotcodacul de prin rodii/
Cum i-am spus chiar eu lui Lulu.” (Cocoșește ).
In the poem "Cântec de-al dracului” a folk style structure achieved through
monorhyme, paired rhyme and anaphora is met:
"Ce spumă sub cascadă, / Ce iarnă sub zăpadă, zăpada de pe zadă/ Țineți-
o să nu cadă/ Că vine-o avalanșă/ C -o piatră-n ea etanșă, / Ce viscol e la munte, / Ce
apă e sub punte, / Ce gheață e pe apă, / Ce copcă ce te scapă/ Dacă te dai pe
gheață/ Cu vârsta ta în brață”.
The sayings are used in their original form but with different valences:
Adevărul iese la lumină/ Extrem de încet/ or
Untdelemnul iese la suprafață/ Numai după ce -a fost înecat” (Adevărul iese la
lumină).
as like popular phrases:
"...te înalți după mintea/ care ți-a plecat cu sorcova” (Oriunde, sus)
or when he says he put his glasses on his nape to see only “With his after mind”
(Precauție ). Sometimes the saying’s elements are restructured:
"M-am îmbrăcat c-o armură/ Făcută din pietrele care-au rămas/ După ce-a
trecut apa” (Precauție )
Some popular phrases are recreated – sewn with white thread:
"Ce-am făcut acum zece ani ... / Ei, asta e un cusur cu ață albă” (Sonetul
XXXI) or "Suntem amândoi niște perde vară” (Sonetul XXXII)
The folk language is especially present in the volume Descântoteca, in the
series La Lilieci and in the children’s volumes, where we frequently stumble upon
apostrophe, interrogation, interjections:
„Moșul ține de cazma, dar o scapă din când în când/ Poc, poc, poc/ Și tocmai
atunci – pleosc!” (Halebarda)
In the poem Cântec de-al dracului a folk style structure achieved through
monorhyme, paired rhyme and anaphora is met:
"Ce spumă sub cascadă,/ Ce iarnă sub zăpadă, zăpada de pe zadă/ Țineți-o să
nu cadă/ Că vine-o avalanșă/ C-o piatră-n ea etanșă,/ Ce viscol e la munte, / Ce apă e
sub punte,/ Ce gheață e pe apă, / Ce copcă ce te scapă/ Dacă te dai pe gheață/ Cu vârsta
ta în brață”. (Cântec de-al dracului)
We frequently see collocations, which appear in an independent way or in a
collage of poetry. The consecrated collocation “Green sheet”(Foaie verde) is the title
for a poem in which the communion with nature is expressed in a serious tone with
echoes of Eminescu:
"Codrule,/ Dă-mi o frunză de sus,/ Pentru lumină și pentru tinerețe, / Și pentru
viața care nu moare. / Noi ne-am scris sufletul/ Pe frunze ... / Codrule,/ Dă-mi toate

107
frunzele tale/ Să cânt cu ele. / Sau mai bine cântă tu/ Și cu sufletul meu.” (Foaie
verde)
The famous metaphors of Miorița: “On a field/ On a mouth of heaven”(„Pe-
un picior de plai/ Pe-o gură de rai”), are used in many other poems, in their originally
form or with small modifications. The poet’s spirit swims daily in the soul’s waters
which does not even have a bridge and if he would drown “I’ll clung onto a field/ and
I’ll swim towards the heaven mouth”(„mă țin de -un plai/ Și -not spre gura cea de rai”)
(Bridge over the soul- Pod peste suflet); the venerable white sheep, the blessed black
sheep, the books which kept, throughout time, our history, our sufferings, our artistic
beauties, risen from “the mouth of heaven” („gura de rai”) or they have entered in
spring “On a mouth of heaven, always a little crooked…” (Venerable white sheep,
blessed black sheep - Prea cinstite oi albe, cuvioase oi negre).
In the poem "Mi” a phrase appears formed by the combination of the two: “On
a foot of heaven” („Pe-un picior de rai”) , and the word heaven is the starting point for
a word game (as we shall see) as in children’s language: “…picior de rai, / de raie, / De
raiale de râiele”.
The folk verse "Fluiere de soc” forms a collage: "Războincii (...) stau în
cojoace de lână/ Rătăciți pe fluiere de soc” as the Christmas carols’ verse: "Să ni se
arate…/ Cerul cu stelele ș i istoria toată” (Prea cinstite oi albe, cuvioase oi negre).
A tale phrase – “As threads in four threads” („Ca de fire-n patru fire”) is used
in the poem Descent (Coborâre) where the poet – as a tale character – lowers himself to
the soul with his rope left in the sun, towards that realm “where there’s a waste/ As
threads in four threads”( "unde e o risipire/ Ca de fire-n patru fire”).
The stereotypical phrase at the end of tales is used in a love story “taken from
life” or “more suitable” “pinched out of life” which needs to end like all other stories:
"Și-am încălecat pe-o șa/ Și-oi mai încăleca” (Dimpotrivă)
The poem of New Year’s traditions provides the one in love, whose calendar
begins with love, the song of the carol: " Sorcova vesela spun pe cer,/ Oprindu-mă în
dreptul fiecărei stele/ Și întrebând din poartă: / Primiți sorcova? ” (Oriunde)
The sayings are used in their original form but with different valences:
"Adevărul iese la lumină/ Extrem de încet/ Untdelemnul iese la suprafață/
Numai după ce-a fost înecat” (Adevărul iese la lumină) or when he says he put his
glasses on his nape to see only “With his after mind” (Precauție ). Sometimes the
saying’s elements are restructured:
"M-am îmbrăcat c-o armură/ Făcută din pietrele care-au rămas/ După ce-a
trecut apa” (Precauție)
Some folk phrases are recreated – sewn with white thread becomes blemish
with white thread: "Ce-am făcut acum zece ani ... / Ei, asta e un cusur cu ață albă”
(Sonetul XXXI)
When searching for the folk roots of Sorescu’s poems in other series than "La
Lilieci”, it is obvious that our poet overturns, metamorphoses, demystifies and twists
everything he knows from his elders. But this fact does not undo the affinity with its
spiritual fond belonging to the poet’s world, world in which he has his springs as he said
so himself, and as the trilogy "La Lilieci” shows.
"M-am adunat/ Din toate izvoarele care s-au pierdut/ Încă înainte de
nașterea mea./ Pot da o listă lungă/ De gânduri care, venind de sub pământ,/ S-au înfipt
în porii sufletului/ Ca sulițele într-o panoplie” (Câte puțin)

108
 Conclusions
As he said so himself, with this book the poet tries a similar experience to the
one from Amintiri by Ion Creangă, an experience of recovery, meaning aesthetics, and
an experience of poetic generalization of the Oltenian idioms: "Cartea La Lilieci...
poate fi luată și ca o încercare de reconstituire a epopeii satului (...) și ca o carte de
amintiri din copilărie. Una din ambițiile mele cele mai mari a fost să demonstrez că și
graiul oltenesc este tot atât de literar ca și celelalte, pe care oltenii le -au receptat cu
bună credință (...) ”. (Hinoveanu, 1974: 96-104).
The poet who imprinted in our minds this Romanian hearth through a book,
confessed that for him: “ …this village is a pole porch within the Romanian village’s
big home, of which I love to lean my forehead. The Romanian village is the continuer of
the old ancient fortresses, in the meaning of keeping a civilization … for me, Bulzești, is
the gift which history gave me”.
Publishing this controversial book, the poet unveiled through the call for an
age of “innocence” not just a structural theme of his creation, he unveiled the supra
theme itself. Because he is not just the author of two children’s books (Unde fugim de-
acasă and Orientul infinitului mic pornind de la nimic), not just the writer who loves
children and who aesthetically recovers the lost infanthood’s times, but the artist who
grants childhood – as an universe and the specific mode to be, to have an attitude
towards the world – an existential significance, as Creangă did, a serious meaning and
not a philosophical date. These big eyes opened on the world, that wonder with which
the poet looks toward his surroundings, that irony, that ingenuous humor, that innocent
game suitable for Marin Sorescu are nothing else but reflexes of a prolonged childhood,
through which he is universally understood in his essential notes.
If, in its ensemble, "La Lilieci” establishes an original lyric monograph of the
Oltenian village, the first volume provides a rural childhood monograph, with some
general information, specific to village life, thus specific to tradition and national
mythos, and some other information specific only to the Bulzești village. A speech
regarding the world of childhood can be implemented in Marin Sorescu’s poetry study.

Bibliography
Hinoveanu, Ilarie, Convorbiri cu…[şi Marin Sorescu], Editura Scrisul Românesc, Craiova, 1974.
Sorescu, Marin, Postfaţă, în volumul Tinereţea lui Don Quijote, Editura Tineretului Bucureşti,
1968.
Sorescu, Marin, La Lilieci, vol.1, Poeme, Editura Eminescu, Bucureşti, 1973.
Sorescu, Marin, Poezii, Editura Scrisul românesc, Craiova, 1990.

109
 VISION OF FEMINITY IN THE NOVELS OF HORTENSIA
PAPADAT-BENGESCU

Teodora-Georgiana AMZA

Abstract: In the interwar period, as well as afterwards, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu

was generally considered an antifeminist, but the articles she published in the magazines of those
times, as well as her works bring forth the woman and her role in society, justifying therefore the
special interest given to women. Even if the writer didn’t assume this role with an exacerbated
militancy, when she creates her characters she keeps the leading role for a woman to the
detriment of a man, as he is rather the element that completes her image. In her prose, the
feminine mystery derives of motives such as sickness, solitude, the search for happiness and love,
the woman’s condition in society. In what regards Hortensia Papadat Bengescu, we notice that
she doesn’t write in favour of women, and neither does she try to portray them favourably;
however, for us, the concept of feminine literature starts taking shape in connection to her works.
Keywords: femininity, vision, solitude.

Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu can be considered a singular destiny in the

Romanian prose: firstly, as the sole writer amongst the forefront prose men in the
Romanian literature, secondly, as literary course configured later on, when the writer
was 43 years old (the literary debut in 1919 with the short stories volume “Ape adânci”
- “Deep Waters”) and, thirdly, as evolution of the epic vision.
Referring to this last aspect, Eugen Lovinescu, the critic who played the role of
a mentor for the author, considered that her work portrays at an individual level the
meaning of the evolution of prose as global phenomenon within the Romanian cultural
space: “within the course of the literature of Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu we can see the
course of the Romanian literature itself, within its evolution path from subjective to
objective”. (Lovinescu, 1929: 23)
The “Sburătorul” literary club critic explained this work path with the author
fulfilling two norms: “dominating the temper by means of reflection” and “submitting
to the obscure fatality of the literary genius allowing the creation”. By enumerating
other fundamental characteristics, as well, of the writer’s work, as the “modernism of
the intellectualism”, of language, of an “accurate and interlinked psychologism”,
Lovinescu welcomes the “signs of a civilized literature” within the rural and nationalist
context of the era”.
Another great critic in Romanian literature, Tudor Vianu granted Hortensia
Papadat-Bengescu, alongside Liviu Rebreanu, “the statute of founder of the new novel”
(Vianu, 1988: 226), for the concepts she put into circulation, for the depth of her
analyses, the art of the characterisations she made, the techniques she used, that can be
found in abundance in the writings subsequent to her period and played the role of a
model.
The critics of the age received the novelty of Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s
writing by seizing coincidence of a feminine impressionism with the deep analysis,
traits that E. Lovinescu synthesises as: “The literature of Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu
escapes to any formula. It is neither the creation of an architect imagination, nor


University of Piteşti, teodora_745@yahoo.com

110
sentimental creation. I suspect, nevertheless, that it shall become a creation of
psychological analysis.”( ibidem )
The characters in the novels are women on which the writer practices elaborate
explorations, women of all ages, of the most diversified conditions and appearances, but
each of them carrying a complex spiritual universe, complicated or unsuspected,
representing the main topic. The writer explores with responsiveness and courage the
depth of the feminine mystery. The language of its novels uncovers the almost
obsessive concern for certain themes, connected to the sensibility of the woman’s spirit.
She approaches in her novels, from all points of view, the love, eroticism, family, the
rise, snobbery, failure. The last of the themes, failure, includes the whole of all the other
themes, especially in the author’s vision on woman.
Her intent is obviously controversial and subtly indicates a reflection on the
women’s chance for self-affirmation in a petty, unscrupulous world, false values
absorbing and suffocating aspirations. Valences of femininity in the modern prose,
reaching ordinariness, lead to disequilibrium, to breakdown, defeat, failure. All these are
interconnected in the novel “Roots” („Rădăcini”), where we find in the foreground
Aneta Pascu, Nory Baldovin and Dia Baldovin, three maniacs, exposed to failure. Here,
the human decline is even better exposed, stylistically translated through the metaphor
of disease. The sanatorium, the hospital, the consulting room become locations of
choice for many of the events seized not only in the novel “Roots” („Rădăcini”), but al
so in “A Concert of Bach’s Music” („Concert din muzică de Bach”) or “The Hidden
Road” („Drumul ascuns”), becoming spaces for dwelling for the real or would-be
diseased characters. The Rim family opens their new residence at the same time
exclusivist consulting room, destined for the feminine social elite in Bucharest. “The
consultation room, very spacious, was fit up with all the comfort. The tables’ and
cabinets’ crystal, the various tools were shining: there was an entire range of sofas with
complex springs. Lina handled one to lift and extend exactly like an operating table.”
(Bengescu, 1972: 5). The image described shows that the author lays accent on the
characters’ morbid manifestations, drawing up genuine clinical observation sheets
registering the declines of the physical body almost voluptuously. The psychic does not
remain outside the general alteration of the being.
Many of the characters in the author’s novels are physicians, nurses, nursing
aids, midwives (Lina, Rim, Walter, Pejan, Mari etc.). Lenora from “The Dishevelled
Maidens” („Fecioarele despletite”) marries Doctor Walter after divorcing the gentleman
farmer Hallipa. The new residence in Borodin palace is described as the actual luxury
clinic it really is, as it has become as an annex to the palace. Lenora, the ex owner of
Prundeni, becomes an instrument of failure as the jaws of death grasp her life. As the
cancer swipes the essence of her femininity and exuberant being, she shall languish in
agonizing humiliation in the palace turned from home into hospital and tomb.
The domain of the pathological unfolds with diversity and complexity.
Physical pathology and psychical pathology. From this point of view, the feminine
characters are inventoried and exposed as in a giant insectarium of abjection,
degradation, falseness and immorality. The sketch of this gallery is seized by Constantin
Ciopraga: “Pragmatically, almost, she investigated a vast gallery of female characters,
portraying “The Dishevelled Maidens”, demimondaines, extravagant women or bearing
neurotic stigmas, snobbish, enigmatic, defeated appearances or denaturated specimens,
woman between sexual frenzy or frigidity; a series of characters succeed in her novels
acting with the blind power of the instinct (Mika-Lé) or cultivating an abstract love (Dia
Baldovin), vulgar women (Moşica Mari) or eye candy women (Coca Aimeé)”. Within

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this landscape, only one character seems to escape the tendency: Elena Drăgănescu, but
here as well appear many deviations from what should have been a model.
Coming to an end in the process time, alternation of the angle, deviation from
the initial path of the characters, search for unconscious loops are the means by which
the writer faces us with discontinuous characters, indefinite from a typological point of
view, untypical, lacking the aspect of an active and functional social behaviour.
Involving positions and placements in the high society, Hallipa, Drăgănescu, Rim,
Walter, Marcian hold titles, professions, attributions merely enunciated, without ever
forming into aspects of opposition or refuges, to complete them or give them balance.
Their knowledge is often mediated by the optic of a witness character, as Mini, playing
the role of an “informant” of the reader, but who also comments on the situation, by
himself or with another character. This method made G. Călinescu state that: “Almost
all the work does not exist by actions, but as a genuine work of a woman by making
news circulate. The heroines pay visits to one another and gossip, giving birth to the
literature of bedroom secrets, of scandals and calumnious rumours”. The prose woman
makes no concession to typologies, is permanently preoccupied by the evolution of a
femininity marked by age aggregation and disaggregation, as well as by social ones:
“Delayed, therefore, from making aggressive ravages, the decay was latent, the
afflictions suppressed, but a morbid discomfort incarcerating the entire body was
replacing them. That condemned body did not feel as such neither the energies of a pain
capable or relieving it through death, nor the hope for healing. The episodes of the fight
between body and distress were stalled, the attack powers reduced to infirmity, the
resistance was missing as well.”( ibidem 183-184).
If in the traditional novel, the woman identifies with the love itself, and the
couple relationship is based only on true feelings, the writer’s prose modifies
completely the vision on love. The signs of the pathological prove it, either by
exacerbated instinctive manifestations (Lenora, Mika-Lé, Sia), phantasmagorical erotic
mania (Aneta Pascu), or by Elena’s frigid coldness or the sexual uncertainty manifested
by Nory Baldovin. The rhetoric of the interwar novel disapproves the direct approach of
such subjects and the allusive language of the characters makes transparent references to
themes inaccessible for the respective period. But Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu breaks
the boundaries and stands outside the patterns of the era.
Another theme is the family, as the main apparent structure of the world in the
Hallipa cycle, although inside each of these families an irreversible degradation process
is created, whose initiative devolved upon a member of this micro group: Elena
Drăgănescu, Ada Razu, professor Rim or Doctor Walter. Despite an authentic net
involving the characters either through their blood connections, or by human relations,
the solitude is their main state. Seizing her characters in this solitude, the writer is
preoccupied with deciphering their inner mechanisms. The evocative power of the
images used by the author subsists in the capacity of reviving a certain aspect, but also
in that of creating a perspective of deeper meanings. The widest forms of the family
decline are revealed here. Victor Marcian is an international career musician, cousin of
prince Maxenţiu. His encounter with Elena Drăgănescu is premeditated by Ada Razu,
Maxenţiu’s wife, interested to ensure this way her way in Elena’s house, occasioned by
the concert she was to host in her guest halls. For Elena, meeting Marcian produces a
deviation from the trajectory established by her in compliance with her aristocratic
ideals, that of a perfect woman, whose flawless image is to be perceived by anyone
around her as role model. Elena elaborates a wrought image for herself, repressing any
outbreak from the obscurity of the human being and her impeccable appearance

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enforces respect to those around her. In spite of this severe program, Elena still has
weaknesses and Marcian’s apparition provokes an outbreak from the pattern: “She was
not used to the phenomena of the sensitivity, she tolerated them innocently and visibly,
without the control of the “self-consciousness”. Active, cerebral, annoyingly fair and
rigid, Elena becomes disagreeable with her aristocratic air, the snobbery she displayed
and through her excess ‘of qualities’”.
In return, Ada Razu integrated perfectly in the category of snobs and newly
enriched. She is characterised by an extraordinary ambition to gain access to the
aristocracy. Parentless, but owner of a considerable fortune, Ada Razu – “the queen of
flour” marries the death-marked prince Maxenţiu. The physical Portrait of Ada Razu is
simply grotesque: a devil-like dried gipsy, with lips as red as the frozen blood and with
a pair of ardent eyes beneath the leather bonnet she was embellished with, edging even
more her chin. Her black hands, with flax-like fingers, wore rings with stones as big as a
“tunic button”. In spite of the fragility her body inspired, Ada Razu was a champion
tennis player, dance champion and a very good horse rider, adhering easily to any social
event. Full of energy and unscrupulous, Ada knew how to make her way into life. From
time to time she was taking her husband out of the house, to show the world he was still
alive.
Temperamental and changeable, Ada Razu lays eyes on the handsome suburb
“don Juan”, Lică, the distant relative of Elena Drăgănescu, the ex fiancé of her husband.
Without thinking twice, she will introduce Lică into her house, under the pretext that he
shall take care of the prince’s thoroughbred horses. Knowing that Lică is the uncle of
the arrogant Elena Drăgănescu, Ada Razu plans how to gain access to her snobbish
society. With a great amount of ruse, she succeeds to convince the great musician Victor
Marcian, cousin of Maxenţiu to take part to the concert organized by Elena Drăgănescu.
As a sign of gratitude, Elena Drăgănescu resumes the relations with Ada, her old school
colleague, although she doesn’t have a good opinion of her. The death of prince
Maxenţiu gives back to Ada the right of “free pass” in the fashionable society which, in
fact, she had never left.
The heroines of the novels of Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu often come from
broken families which are in the centre of the action or in the background, and the
relationships within the families can be classified into two categories: matrimonial or
filial. Broken couples built on materialism, enrichment and mistrust that can be found in
her novels: “A Concert of Bach’s Music” („Concert din muzică de Bach”), “The
Dishevelled Maidens” („Fecioarele despletite”), “The Hidden Road” („Drumul ascuns”)
or “Roots” („Rădăcini”) which are revealed in their deepest dissolution. On the other
side, the filial relations are the most labyrinth-like relations ever encountered in the
literature. The mothers portrayed in the novels are almost completely deprived of
motherly love, they manifest openly their repulsion towards their own sin, as Doctor
Rim, Lenora or Elena Drăgănescu-Hallipa, who is hardly concerned with her son’s
emotions, Ghighi, and sacrifices him for the return to the ground, to the roots. Her
ambition to make him a good landlord shall bring the boy on the verge of depression
and determine him to hang himself. It is here also that the accent is laid on the situation
of orphan or bastard child. Orphans are usually the “illegitimate daughters” seeking for
a protector male or woman. Born out of momentary incestuous liaisons, they represent
the shameful secret of good families, carefully hidden, but testifying for past mistakes.
Girls disowned by parents bear in their behaviour or appearance the signs of the
grotesque giving life to them. Their entire existence lies under the sign of the existential
failure even from their birth, because of their obscure origin (Nory Baldovin, Sia, Mika-

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Lé). The bastards are the twins of evel destroying the happiness and apparent harmony
of the domestic couples. In society, they are spiritually and even physically (Sia)
malformed individuals, solitary, detested by the other members of the clan.
The novel “A Concert of Bach’s Music” brings in the foreground a social class
seeking to be acknowledge as having a certain image, fighting to enforce it, especially
as behind the sumptuous façades of the houses it lives in, scenes and fact take place that
violate the norms of the class. In order to reflect these two contradictory aspects,
essence and appearance, the author resorts to differentiated techniques: group
conventions corresponds to the auctorial, summarising and precise analysis, “as a code
of mandatory manners and as a pure supra-individual exteriority”, the original
authenticity, the individual; wishes and sentiments, still alive and animated corresponds
to the multiplicity of voices, “the alternation of angles and reflectors”. Usually, one sees
into Elena’s world by means of the author’s comment, whereas in Maxenţiu’s or Rim’s
inner universe the approaches are diverse: there is either self-analysis, interior
monologues, even if the character’s way o f thinking seems narrated by someone else
trying to keep its authenticity although is not translating it accurately, either reflectors
through the voice of other characters.
In Hallipa cycle, only in “The Dishevelled Maidens” we have this unique
reflector, Mini, a marginal character in terms of action, but who reflects it through his
consciousness doubled by an equal sensitiveness. In the other novels, the investigation
technique is changed. In “A Concert of Bach’s Music” the unique reflector disappears,
the perspectives are multiplied and alternating, but in the same time the author
intervenes from outside of the characters, as instance expressing the outer point of view.
Nicolae Manolescu explains this hybrid method by appeal to the novel’s substance,
who’s object is “the psychological and social mechanism of a fresh class” ( Manolescu,
1981: 24), searching for its façade, the ostensive and impenetrable image. But its
members did not come yet to dissimulate perfectly the essential outbreaks, the process
take generations, “the masks don’t cover impeccably the faces and the rule of the class
game is always attacked from inside by the chaotic outbreaks, by the rebellions and
desires not complying with the code”. These two conceptions are revealed through
adequate techniques: the personal desires and feelings are communicated by alternating
the angles and reflectors, group conventions, by analysis.
The novel “The Hidden Road” marks the stage of the class installing within the
boundaries of an equable conventionalism, which doesn’t allow for the freedom of
expressing a driven spiritual content. From the technique point of view, this novel
recurs to omniscient classic analysis.
For the feminine characters in the novels of Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, an
important role is played by stating one’s personality on a social and cultural level. This
aspiration is stressed in several directions: in the profession, in the public life, in art.
Nevertheless, for the many, the social success is more important than the professional
one. In the Hallipa cycle, the superiority of the landowner aristocracy is underlined,
even if it’s an imposture on the uncivilized middle class. The reflex of the social rise is
the snobbism, a mask of miming the refinement, the good taste and keeping the
appearances of impeccable virtue. Almost all the feminine characters pay the price with
their lives for this masqued ball. The peak of the refinement is the classic music culture,
thus the concert is the event allowing for an incursion in the lives of those attending to
it, it’s a conventional event whose monopole, the planner, Elena Drăgănescu, does not
want to lose because its success implies her confirmation as a leader inside the class.

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 In the end of the novel, in spite of all obstacles, from which the most
threatening was the death of Sia, the concert shall take place as a way of erasing the
unpleasant reminder of the accident menacing to compromise the façade, the order
dictated by the courtesy and the conventions. A world is therefore represented which, in
order to survive, “must golden its emblem”, always and unceasingly. Approaching the
snobbism and the life in Bucharest, the novelist reflected in her work a newly-formed
middle class society, dispersing either socially, or biologically. The moral and spiritual
degradation of the society appears to Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu as result of an inner
consumption, by hereditary causes, as suggested here and there. The logical explanation
is the lifestyle the characters adopt, the limited and cruel horizon of their
preoccupations, the permanent obsession of preserving their social position, wherefrom
the social rivalry of the couples. Death and disease bear symbolic significations, as
almost all feminine characters are deprived of humanity, reaching the threshold of
disequilibrium, of the failure and unaccomplished self.
Of significance is not only the vision of Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu on the
idea of womanhood, but also her image, as reflected in the consciousness of her
contemporaries and of the posterity, innovative ways of personating the creative
femininity, transcending the condition of the common existence and rising through
literature, through her work.
The novels reflect the author’s image, aspirations, obsessions, author who, in
the process of time, in the arbitrary memory of the descendants, becomes an
“everlasting young Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, goddess from a Greek frieze”. This is
why, while other feminine figures “have vague shapes and cannot compete with their
novelist projections, granting their requital, bring them in the foreground and give a
consistence, a complexity and a beauty greater than those of the masculine character”,
the great lady of the Romanian literature transcends her condition, at the confluence
between life and creation, becoming a prototype of femininity in this small island of
time between the two great wars the humankind fought. (Pârvulescu, 2007: 316).
Consequently, this fascinating journey in the universe of women, setting off
from myth, cumulated an entire series of stories and truths, images and personifications,
managing to reveal as such multiple aspects of the woman, the one remaining forever,
between reality and fiction, the most controversial and inciting character in the history
of life and the world of art.

Bibliography
Ciobanu, Valeriu, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, Editura pentru literatură, Bucureşti, 1965.
Ciopraga, Constantin, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti 1973.
Cristescu, Maria- Luiza, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu- portret de romancier, colecţia
Contemporanul nostru, Editura Albatros, Bucureşti, 1976.
Holban, Ioan, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, , Editura Albatros, Bucureşti, 1985.
Lovinescu, Eugen, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, în „Critice”, vol. VII, Editura Ancora,
Bucureşti, 1929.
Lovinescu, Eugen, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, în „Istoria literaturii române contemporane”,
vol. IV, Editura Ancora, Bucureşti, 1927.
Mincu, Marin, Romanul Hortensiei Papadat-Bengescu, în vol. Critice II, Editura Cartea
românească, Bucureşti, 1971.
Muşina, Tania, Ipostaze ale feminităţii în romanele Virginiei Woolf şi ale Hortensiei Papadat-
Bengescu, Editura Muzeul Literaturii Române, Bucureşti, 2013.
Papadat- Bengescu, Hortensia, Concert din muzică de Bach, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1982.
Petrescu, Camil, Mărturii pentru marea europeană, în „Tiparniţa literară”, II, 1930, nr. 2-3.

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Protopopescu, Alexandru, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu - Înjosirea romanului, în vol.
„Romanul mitologic românesc”, Editura Eminescu, Bucureşti, 1978.
Vianu, Tudor, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, în vol. „Arta prozatorilor români”, II, Editura
pentru literatură, Bucureşti, 1966.
Zaciu, Mircea, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu, în vol. Masca geniului, Editura pentru
literatură, Bucureşti, 1966.

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 A THEORY ABOUT THE SECOND PERSON PROSE:
THE RELATION NARRATIVE -YOU- ALTER-EGO/ALTERITY

Lucian Dumitru BĂICEANU*

Abstract: Second-person literature represents a literary phenomenon that has been

growing more and more lately. In short stories and novels we find various examples of texts in
which the narrative perspective no longer falls under the traditional formula (text written in the
first person or third person). The use of the second person pronoun (YOU) in the narrative text
aroused lot of controversy: on the linguistic level and on the theory of literature level. Another
approach to the interpretation of this narrative-YOU address we can find in psychology and
philosophy, turning to analyze some key-terms: the relationship I- alter ego and the identity-
alterity relation. Therefore, we propose an analysis of the second person prose from a different
perspective, that of psychology and philosophy, to crystallize a concrete theories on this
innovative and surprising form of literature.
Keywords: second person prose, narrative-YOU, alterity, alter-ego.

Jonathan Culler wrote in Problems in The Theory of Fiction that the metaphor
‘person’ should not be seen as an analytical tool, but as an integral element of creation
and realization of fiction itself: „rather, as Jonathan Culler suggests, the metaphors of
"person" should be seen not as analytical tools but as integral to the making and reading
of fiction itself (Culler, 1984: 6)”(Schofield, 1998). Opposite to the structuralist
terminology ‘point of view’, the person becomes an indispensable concept of fiction,
integrated and decanted in the fiction, source of subjectivity. Thus, when we discuss
about the person, should no longer limit the examination to shape, but also to utility, the
person being the nucleus from which is born the narrative perspective or composition of
narrative perspective through which is produced, later, fiction. Furthermore, by
reference to the three models of narrative-person (first person, second person and third
person), Dennis Schofield believes hat the smoothest, special by her atypical character,
it is the second person, being the one that refuses to establish a stable model of
subjectivity, permanent putting in parallel the two other traditional forms: “I regard the
"second person" as a special case of narrative "person" that, at its most fluid, can
produce an experience of reading quite unlike that of reading traditional "first-" and
"third-person" narrative. Essentially, this unique experience comes about because
Protean-"you" neglects to constitute the stable modes of subjectivity that readers expect
to find within narrative textuality.”(D. Schofield, 1998: 13).
Starting from the ideas outlined by the Australian researcher, we present four
different perspectives of second person prose :
1. The first relationship that can be established is that in which a narrator speaks
of himself using the second person, keeping a certain distance in relation to his
acts and thoughts. In this case the relationship is very simple to illustrate: an I
converts, disguising himself, in a YOU. We do not have only a simple case of
first person disguise, but the multiplication of subjectivity through
intersubjectivity. This type is called standard form (Richardson, 1991: 311).
Mathematically we propose the following formula: I =YOU ≠ HE . This

*
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iasi, lucianbaiceanu@gmail.com

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 category includes many examples, from the famous novel by Michel Butor, La
modification, to an example from the Romanian literature, Mihai Zamfir Late
education.
2. Another type of relationship is one in which a narrator talks about a YOU
which is another character. In this case we can not talk about an disguise of an
I, but a disguise of an HE (the character), which is in a direct relationship with
the narrator, being somehow aware of the words of the narrator: thus HE
becomes a YOU. This category is called autotelic form (Richardson, 1991:
311). Mathematically we propose the following formula: EU ≠ YOU = HE. In
the Romanian literature, a good example is the novel Ce ne spunem când ne
vorbim (What do we say to us when we speak to us) by Chris Simion.
3. A third form of relationship is the one in which the YOU is not a participant of
the narrated events, but even the reader. In this case we are talking about a
narration built almost like a speech, the whole text is addressed to an
interlocutor, the reader. The YOU is not not an I or a HE, because the whole
speech is directly focused on reader. Called autotelic form (Richardson, 1991:
311), it has mathematically the following formula: I ≠ YOU≠ HE. A well
known example is the novel of Italo Calvino, If on a winter’s night a traveler.
In the Romanian literature, we find a good example in the novel O sută de ani
de zile la Porțile Orientului (A hundreds of years of days at the East Gate) by
Ioan Grosan.
4. The fourth form refers to a rhetoric situation in which the addressing does not
refer to a particular person. YOU can simultaneously be an I, a HE or retain his
value. Called subjunctive form (Richardson, 1991: 311), the mathematical
formula which would define it is: I = YOU = HE. Although it is the rarest
category, we find an example in the Romanian literature: the novel The God of
love by Felix Aderca.
The narrator is represented by the formula of a narrative-YOU, the nature of
his identity being just one of the problems that brings the new type of fiction. Another
unknown is the question: Who says the story?. This "shape-shifting quality" (D.
Schofield, 1998: 11) is a source of constant ambiguity, a textual mystery that permanent
inciting the reader. Hence, the high dynamic quality of a text written at the second
person.
Directing their attention to the first category of second person prose (standard),
the most common, many theorists have created a myth: that all the texts written at the
second person always hide the mask of the I in the pronoun YOU. In other words, the
narrative-YOU is nothing but an alter ego and the entire second person prose is a textual
construction at the first person, hidden under the mask of the second person. As we
already shown, there is indeed a category of second person prose in which the YOU is
the mask of an I, but it is not the only form of text narrated at the second person prose.
Also, when we talk about that, we can not put equality between the prose written at
first-person and the second person prose. This is the reason why, in this article we have
chosen to talk about the relationship established between the narrative-YOU and the
concept of alter ego and alterity. We use both concepts (alter ego and alterity) to show
the significant difference between them and how it manifests in relation with the
narrative-YOU.
The claim that the second person prose built through the pronoun YOU an alter
ego of the I is half true. As we demonstrated in other articles (cc: bibliography), in the
YOU pronoun, not only hides the intention to disguise the ideas of an I, but also the

118
desire to transform the text into a speech in which is involved also the reader, and in
which the subjectivity is multiplied, realizing what Dennis Schofield called
intersubjectivity. This is why we believe that the most appropriate term to describe the
pronoun YOU is the concept of alterity, analyzed and discussed both in psychology and
in philosophy. The alterity includes in its essence also the concept of alter-ego, but leads
the idea to another level, to integration in his scheme to both the I and the Other.
Jean Baudrillard and Marc Guillaume, in Figures of alterity, agree that all the
texts submitted to Another (l’autre) are „un soi de travaliu, de doliu paradoxal, în forma
renegării, în fața unei componente care, în altul, ar fi dispărut sau e pe cale de
dispariție”(Guillaume, 2002: 6) /"a kind of labor, a paradoxically grieving , in the form
of denial, in the face of a component which, in the other, it have disappeared or is
disappearing"(Guillaume, 2002: 6), a component that researchers call "radical alterity":
„în fiecare altul (autre) există Celălalt (autrui) - ceea ce nu este eu, ceea ce este diferit
de mine, dar pe care-l pot înțelege, chiar asimila - și există de asemenea o alteritate
radicală, inasimilabilă, incomprehensibilă și chiar inimaginabilă”/ “in each Another
(autre) exist the Other (autrui) - which is not I, which is different from me, but which I
can understand, even assimilate - and there is also a radical alterity, which can not be
assimilated, even incomprehensible and unimaginable "(Guillaume, 2002: 6). And the
second person prose represents a text which is addressed to Another, represented by the
YOU pronoun. Who is the other (autrui) in the YOU pronoun? The answer is very
simple: the reader, who is different from the I, that is behind the narrative-YOU. In this
idea stands the difference between the prose at the first person and the second person
prose. If in the first case we are talking about narrative subjectivity, in the the second
case we are talking about a multiplication of subjectivity, about intersubjectivity. The
transition from Autre(another) to Autrui(other) is "a huge faustian labor" (Guillaume,
2002: 11), but it seems that in the second person prose it becomes much easier to
understand and achieve, the literature space becoming a direct insertion of the reader in
text.
Marc Guillaume considers the fiction of The Other, done by literature, a
product of a exacerbated freedom and he sees it lacking of veritable because of lack of
object. The researcher proposal is to build a "mixed fiction" as producing of alterity:
„ceva care este construit plecând de la un real și care este umplut apoi cu o cantitate de
imaginar, de ficțiune”/ "something that is built starting from a real and which is then
filled with an amount of imaginary, of fiction"(Guillaume, 2002: 35).The example that
the author gives is the one of the mixed fiction, of geographical origin, where the actual
geography may be reproduced through fiction, achieving an alterity: „nu e vorba de a
inventa, de a propune un Maroc complet imaginar, de exemplu. Dar nu e vorba nici de a
lua o poziție etnografică și de a dezvolta descrieri minuțioase ale realului. Ceea ce e
interesant e a vedea în ce fel se deformează la un moment dat realul, tocmai în căutare
de alteritate”/"is not about inventing, to propose a completely imaginary Maroc, e.g.
But, also, it’s not about to take a ethnographic position and to develop meticulous
descriptions of reality. What is interesting is to see how the reality is deformed at a
given moment, precisely in search of alterity”(Guillaume, 2002: 35). Thus, the mixed
fiction would be an intermediate species between a real and an imagined product. A
mixed fiction is, also, the second person prose: the real element preserved and
incorporated into the text is the reader. Whatever the type of the second person prose
that we talk about, the reader mark will be felt in the narrative-YOU.
The alterity is understood by Edgardo D. Carosella as a desired change, as a
stage in the individual evolution, as a model: "être soi, c’est à la fois devenir autre et

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s’appropier cette altérité nouvelle; cette appropriation d’une altérité nouvelle est la
capacité d’évoluer dans son identité”(Carosella, 2010: 33). In the second person prose,
the narrative-YOU contains a sum of all external models, specific to readers, which can
set up an internal I attributed to the original idea proposed by the author. The most
compact formula which can characterizes the alterity is very well illustrated in the
following sentence: „Incorporer l’autre pour construire sa propre identité”(Carosella,
2010: 191). This is the process that is realized in the text at second person: the I is not
enough to narrate and becoming the narrative-YOU can simultaneously incorporate the
reader, the author and the narrator, by multiplying the subjectivity and producing a
complex textual identity.
For Martin Buber, the organization of the world stands under the sign of the
double: „pentru om lumea este dublă după cum și atitudinea lui este dublă.”/ "for
humans the world is doubled as also his attitude is double." (Buber, 1992: 29). The
researcher sees the I-You relationship as a couple that forms a "fundamental word",
together with other fundamental words such as "I-That" where That can be replaced by
She or He. The conclusion of these relationships is that I can exist only in relation to his
double: „Cînd este rostit TU, este rostit în același timp EU din perechea verbală EU-TU;
Când este rostit Acela, este rostit în același timp EU din perechea verbală EU-
Acela.”/"When is pronounced YOU, it is pronounced at the same time I from the verbal
pair I-You; When That is pronounced, it is pronounced at the same time the I from the
verbal pair I -That."(Buber, 1992: 30). However, only the relationship between I and
YOU can form a whole, an equivalence: „Cuvântul fundamental EU-TU poate fi rostit
numai cu întreaga ființă. Cuvântul fundamental EU-Acela nu poate fi niciodată rostit cu
întreaga ființă.”/ "The fundamental word I-You can only be spoken with the whole being.
The fundamental word I-THAT can never be spoke with the whole being."(Buber, 1992:
30). In the second person prose, the used person often hide the mask of an I, being a
mask which nevertheless maintains an umbilical cord attached to the I. In contrast, in
the first person prose, the report is split, the I cut the contact with the whole being,
expressing only a partial projection. Consider therefore that the second person prose is
superior at the level of reflection of the character’s psychology, just by sketching an I
completed by the alterity, an I unchained by censorship, which feels free to say
everything, because of anonymity conferred by the second person pronoun.
Martin Buber believes that „TU nu reprezintă un lucru ca obiect, căci acolo
unde există un lucru vorbim despre Acela. TU-ul există doar în relație. Astfel, lumea
experienței reflectă legătura EU-ACELA, pe când lumea relației e reprezentată de
legătura dintre EU și TU”/“the YOU doesn’t represent a thing like an object, because
there where it is one thing we talk about THAT. The YOU only exists in relationship.
Thus, the world of experience reflects the I-THAT connection, while the world of
relationship is the link between I and YOU”(Buber, 1992: 32). We believe, however,
that in the second person prose the pronoun is a hook which binds both the I and the
THAT. The perfect example is the four type of second person prose, the one in which
the narrative-YOU is indefinite and placed under the mathematical report I = YOU =
HE.
The I-You relationship overlaps not only forms of alterity, but also make direct
reference to the relations between I in front of another person, as YOU of mine,
understood by Martin Buber as an element that establishes a reciprocity with the I. In
this case, the YOU „umple orizontul întreg; nu pentru că n-ar mai exista nimic în afară
de el: ci pentru că toate celelalte trăiesc în lumina lui”/B"fills the whole horizon; not
because there would be nothing out of him but because all the other live in his

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light"(Buber, 1992: 35). Mutatis mutandis, this relationship finds place in two specific
forms of second person prose: the case where we talk about the address to the reader
and the case where the YOU is used as an address to another character. In both cases we
are talking about reciprocity and relationship. The I is not canceled, it is melted in the
YOU, became superior person, whose presence depends the entire narrative structure.
In the case of intervention to the reader, the YOU encompasses the totality, the
undefined infinite, the I (the emitter) is certainly the author. So, it succeeds a spectral
multiplication of subjectivity, the perception and the comprehension of the text being
dependent by the permanent relationship between I (the text) - YOU (the reader) or I
(the text producer, the author) - YOU (the reader, the receiver). In the second case, when
the second person is used in the dialogue between two characters, the action being
carried out, also, by the discursive interaction, the I-YOU relationship is equally present:
both courts are principal, concrete generators of action and of discourse.
Martin Buber believes that "the You can not be experienced." (Buber, 1992:
37), it can only be approached, integrated into the I, but never lived. The choice to use
the second person pronoun in prose is dictated by the wish to bring the reader closer to
text, shock him, contrary him. Whatever the type of second person prose, the YOU has,
among other objectives, that to produce a shock of reading which can approach the
reader to the text or irritated him. Either way, the text achieves its goal. Martin Buber
believes that between I and You there is no pre-knowledge and there is no need it. But is
there a pre-knowledge between text and reader? The structuralist theory speaks of the
absence of a original first reading, the reading being always a second act: there is no
reading, just rereading. The theory is developed also by Matei Calinescu, who focus the
attention on the fact that a literary theme and a subject of a text no longer have how to
be original, and, also, even if this first condition would be achieved, we talk often about
the texts that we do not ever read them, but about which we have heard, about we were
told or have read something about them. It is through these arguments is suspended the -
first- characteristic of a reading. But what happens in a second person prose? We still
speak about a pre-knowledge of the subject or of the text? It will be a reread? Our
opinion is that the second person addressing breaks the wire of textual expectations and
lead to the existence of a first reading: the text is addressed to me, the reader, named in
text – YOU. Our opinion is strengthened by another idea proposed by Martin Buber:
"the present is born only because that YOU becomes present"(Buber, 1992: 39).
Therefore, the readings obtained the characteristic of first reading, the text becoming a
speech that is produced when the the reader discover it with the physical eye and with
the mind’s eye. Furthermore, this kind of text can be refused by the reader, rejected and
considered outrageous. What distinguishes the second person prose from other types of
writing is, therefore, the fact that it forms a reciprocity between I and You (as the reader,
character and alter ego), a relationship that requires the existence of a prime-reading, a
reading of the present.
The personal pronoun YOU used in the second person prose must be often put
in relation with the concept of alter-ego, but is connected to another more
comprehensive concept: the alterity. Called a form of alterity, the narrative-YOU
becomes an unique pronoun, met under the same form, but in different narrative
scheme, in all four categories of second person prose. However, we must specify that
the psychological and philosophical theory of looking at and interpreting the narrative-
YOU is just a variant which must be next to the linguistic and literary interpretations.
Thus, we considered that is required a careful discussion of this interpretative aspect of
the second person prose, topic often discussed, in our opinion, incorrectly, which led

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many theorists to interpret the text as a variant of first-person prose, canceling all this
spectacular form of manifestation of this narrative construct. Also, we would like to
specify that this article discusses the subject of second person prose only from the
theoretical perspective, following that in a future article to accomplish a study case on
novels from all four categories of second person prose.

Bibliography
Baudrillard, Jean, Guillaume, Marc, Figuri ale alterității , traducere de Ciprian Mihali, Editura
Paralela 45, București, 2002.
Baudrillard, Jean - Celălalt prin sine însuți, Editura Casa cărții de știință, 1997, Cluj-Napoca.
Băiceanu, Lucian, The Second Person Prose avant Butor: Felix Aderca - The God of Love, în
volumul Communication, Context, Interdisciplinarity - 3rd Edition, ISSN: 2069 - 3389, Editat de
The Alpha Institute for Multicultural Studies, publicat de „Petru Maior" University Press, Tîrgu-
Mureş, 2014, p.494. (http://www.upm.ro/cci3/?pag=CCI-03/vol03-Lit).
http://www.upm.ro/cci3/CCI-03/Lit/Lit%2003%2063.pdf
Băiceanu, Lucian, The Second Person Prose: From Michel Butor to Mihai Zamfir, în
Management Intercultural Volumul XVI, Nr. 2 (31), 2014, p.393.
http://www.mi.bxb.ro/Articol/MI_31_49.pdf
Buber, Martin, Eu și tu, traducere din limba germană și prefață de Ștefan Augustin Doinaș,
Editura Humanitas, București, 1992.
Carosella, Edgardo D., Pradeu, Thomas, L’ Identité, la part de l’Autre. Immunologie et
philosophie, Ofile Jacob, Paris, 2010.
Culler, Jonathan, 1984, Problems in the Theory of Fiction, Diacritics 14 (1): 2-11.
Richardson, Brian, 1994, I etcetera: On the Poetics and Ideology of Multipersoned Narratives, în
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*1991, The Poetics and Politics of Second Person Narrative, în Genre 24 (3): 309-30.
Schofield, Dennis: 1998, The Second Person: A Point of View? The Function of the Second-
Person Pronoun in Narrative Prose Fiction, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia,
(http://members.westnet.com.au/emmas/2p/index2.htm).

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 THE IMAGE OF CHILDHOOD IN THE WORKS OF MIHAIL
SADOVEANU

Ariana BĂLAŞA*

Abstract: The aim of this study is to reflect a synthetic view of the child’s world and
childhood in the works of Mihail Sadoveanu, one of our great classics. Beyond sobriety, force,
and manifest intelligence, beyond the grandeur of the historical novels he wrote, the children
books of Mihail Sadoveanu never cease to amaze us with their playful style, full of subtleties, and
concern for detail. His literary world is truly amazing. A world of harmony between child and
nature, composed of pure images and sensations, unaltered by conventional vision.
Keywords: Mihail Sadoveanu, image, childhood.

Over time, both Romanian and foreign writers enriched children’s literature
with works that have entered the history of literature under the name of “children’s
books”.
Through their creations, the Romanian writers and the foreign writers help us
each time to find the living childhood in us, that world that was permanent, sustainable,
and unwavering.
About Sadoveanu, G. Călinescu said that “he is a great storyteller, with an
enormous capacity to speak authentically, resembling the one of Creangă’s and
Caragiale’s, more inventive than the first one, and more poetically than the second one,
although, he didn’t have the artistic balance of Caragiale.” (Călinescu, 1941: 561)
The era in which Sadoveanu writes is the one of the Realistic novel, as well as
the Modern one. Zola, Flaubert, Gogol, Kafka, T. Mann were already there. Thus,
Sadoveanu is perceived by the literary criticism of that time as a realist with a Romantic
vision, and a Romantic who shapes details as well as a Realist, a contemplative.
But the originality of his work is given by his capability to merge with the
world he described. The charm in his stories relies in the mystery to be relieved, to
whom we, as the readers, can reach gradually, through repeated readings, discovering
their musicality, their emotional dominance, their balance status and their meaning.
For Sadoveanu, as well as for Creangă, the return to childhood represents the
meeting with the age of innocence, that becomes a moral refuge in hard times. On the
one hand, he relives the moving moments of his childhood, in writings like Mister
Trandafir, The Apprenticeship Years, and on the other hand, he portraits child
characters that become role models due to their capacity to face life’s hardships (The
Wonderful Grove, A Gloomy Man, Little Boy, At Mestecănei).
The most persistent memories are linked to schoolyears and the teacher
Busuioc (the story Mister Trandafir). Sadoveanu recalls the memories as a letter
addressed to a friend. He combines the description of the childhood places with the
image of his beloved teacher, with the story about the minister’s visit, introducing the
dialogue in the key-moments. In the same way as Creangă, Sadoveanu uses oral
expressions, Moldavian dialect specific terms: barrels (poloboace), apostle (apostol), to
sift (iscodi), to tease (a dăscăli). The expressiveness of the text increases with the using
of comparisons and metaphores that accentuates the image of children’s games.

*
University of Craiova, ariana.balasa@yahoo.com

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 When reading The Wonderful Grove, At Mestecănei, A Gloomy Man, we can
identify the traits of the child character realized by Sadoveanu. “I Praise our Lord for
having a childhood”, Sadoveanu wrote in The Apprenticeship Years, and thus, we
understand how that marvelous pages of children’s literature appeared.
Although he wrote a good deal of his reference works in prose renewal period,
in the light of modernization brought by Liviu Rebreanu, Camil Petrescu, Hortensia
Papadat-Bengescu etc., Sadoveanu remained in the area of short stories, stories and
novels avaible for teaching reading (either by Romantic texts or Realistic ones).
Structurally, Sadoveanu has a certain sensibility towards the show of the
world, and an outstanting reception capability. His available material seems
inexhaustible. This explains his impressive pace of books composition – which is rather
a result of his receptivity and his conception of literature than of his creative
imagination. From the beginning, contemplation was an important element in making
his prose formula. Sadoveanu is a contemplative, not an observer. He looks from a
distance, out of a cosmic perspective in which things become components of a great all,
moments in a continuos flow.
This receptivity, together with the perception of infinite diversity inevitably
develop the feeling of time, which, from the registration of the unceasing change of
objects’s shape, becomes a reason for philosophizing. It is right here where we can find
Sadoveanu’s lyricism source, and its expression varies from sentimentalism, to
lamentation, and meditation.
When looking translates from the landscape to the people, the receptivity keeps
its high tone, his writings are inspired by the exact intuition of different types, taken
from all steps of our society. (Maiorescu, 1967: 474)
The Realist character (even Impresionist) of this prose is seriously mitigated by
the intervention of some factors: by the perspective we already discussed, by his
contemplative attitude, by the feeling of time. There are a multitude of characters in his
prose, but very few of them are memorable, and none of them is properly a great literary
hero. The facts, the events are as well many, but few of them are to be remembered by
their own consistency.
In most of Sadoveanu’s writings, a writer with a good narrative school, we can
feel the presence of a storyteller. His charateristics: the narrative “focusing” of the
whole discourse, the oral and archaic style, the emotional tone exposure, the popular
expressions, the stories within a story, these make up all reasons for a vivid and
captivating reading.
Mihail Sadoveanu’s art as a storyteller consists in combining the epic with the
lyrical, the story with his poetic genius.
The childhood theme can be found especially in the stories A Gloomy Man, At
Mestecănei, Mister Trandafir, Little Boy, Through Eyelashes, and The Wonderful
Grove.
The place where these events occurred is the Moldavian Valley, crossed by the
Siret, a river comparable to the seas. There is still an affective persistency of
unforgettable familiar sights, “thus they belong to childhood.” (Călinescu, 1964: 294)
The past, the Moldavian Valley and the autumn are the three important sources
of inspiration, and the most recurrent expression is that of melancholy, which gives a
special charm to the writings of Sadoveanu.
Memories of childhood adventures revive “the faces past”, as it’s the teacher’s
face, Mister Trandafir, whose prototype was Sadoveanu’s teacher from Pașcani. The

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writer described him in two portrait sketches named Mister Busuioc and Again About
my Teacher.
The autobiographical notes can be detached as well from his authorial
discourse formula. Being written as a letter, the story imposes, right from the beginning,
some evocative accents: “I was thinking at the time when I wandered these places with
you…” (Sadoveanu, 1978: 41)
A simple physical portrait, but a memorable one, follows immediately: “…tall,
well built, with a short black mustache, as always, kindly smiling, scowling sometimes,
inspiring us a boundless respect.” (ibidem: 43)
The last details of the physical portrait make a direct move towards the shaping
of the moral portrait, suggesting the key reading: the emphasis on human qualities.
Short (respecting proportions and the rules of a story), the details that made such an
impression upon the writer impress the reader as well: everything the teacher said
entered in our memory for the entire life (even though all four of the primary classes
were “piled in a long room”).
Several times, in order to emphasize his generosity, the author compared the
teacher with an apostle.
Over the course of the narration, the author discloses two of his own sources of
inspiration (Neculce and Creangă). At a time, recounted with great emotion (“There was
a great calm around us, in that spring, and far away, to the Siret, we could hear a whistle
song. The twilight shadows came upon us, the storyteller remained silent, and we were
speechless…”), the teacher reads them the story of Harap-Alb. (ibidem: 44)
There’s a break, followed by late memories, when the teacher, at an old age,
suggested to his ex student the near end, in a poetical manner: “I’m going to meet with
Harap-Alb and Creangă.” (ibidem, 45)
This formula had a great influence upon the writer, and so, when he comes
home, later on, after the death of his teacher, he writes: “Mister Trandafir wasn’t happy,
nor sad or old anymore.” (ibidem)
Reprising his childhood memories, the author reproduces again the portrait of
the protagonist, but this time, in a dynamic, even cinematographic way: “When smiling,
his short mustache revealed some long teeth, with a great gap in the middle. When he
was trying to show us how to recite heroic poetry, he was talking very loud, and he was
raising his right arm.” (ibidem: 47)
Following this, there is a particular sequence in the economy of the story: the
visit of two foreign guests, who want to have a talk with the teacher, to see the school,
and even to attend the class.
The meeting shows some other details, dense touches of color on the teacher’s
portrait: in his entire career, the schoolmaster did his job with passion, showing love for
his students, and not because he was scared or for a check up. By introducing in the
scene two objective characters, the narrator tries to convince us that the enthusiastic
impressions of the children, and their loving memories weren’t just some emotions or
sheer inventions in their memory.
Written as a letter, the story acquires more credibility, as a sincere and
confessive discourse. By adding certain elements of the memorialistic prose, the writer
manages to create an attractive fictional universe, in which the reader can go through
very easily.
The child characters created by Sadoveanu are, most of the time, motherless,
raised up by loving grandparents, and thus, they are forced to overcome life’s
difficulties much too soon (s. A Gloomy Man).

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 Despite its shortness, catching only a single episode (meeting a child who,
sadly, drives the sheep to pasture), the writing shows an unexpected complexity, which
can hardly be distinguished at a superficial reading. A Gloomy Man was initially
considered a sketch, but we can rather talk about a story, a species particularly
developed by Sadoveanu.
The aforementioned complexity is given by the alternation between timelines
(present–past), and between story modes (narrative–evocation), as well as by the
writer’s ability to ilustrate the harmony or the contrast of moods, the moods of the main
character, and nature’s moods; another aspect of this complexity is the extraordinary
psychological depth of the child character.
Undisputed master of winter images, Mihail Sadoveanu captures, like an
Impressionist painter, the vernal landscape: “the ground was dried, the cornel trees were
beginning to flourish… The violets dribbled through the dead leaves.” (Sadoveanu,
1979: 70)
This is the framework in which the meeting between the narrator and the
youngest child of Dumitru Onișor takes place, and the youngest is described as follows:
“He was a pale and tiny kid, and he was dragging, on the moist ground, the heavy boots
of his older brother. He raises his sad eyes, wrapped in a gray shadow, towards me…
He said hello with a soft voice, in which I could depict an early suffering…” (ibidem)
Calling this “halt kid”, who had just entered in the “eighth spring of his life” a
“lad”, the author tries to get close to him, to make him a dialogue partner.
The narrator’s attitude changes gradually, and what initially seemed like an
ordinary conversation between a wayfarer and a child, who was grazing sheep outside
the village, becomes a profound dialogue abot responsability and pain, about life and
death.
Although the early experience of his mother’s death forced him to grow up, his
childish soul begins to stir every time he remembers his mother; you coul feel his
“tearful voice.” (ibidem: 72)
Between the plan of the events and the evoking plan, the narrator places a
curtain, that is, another landscape: “the grove with its hazel wood, the flourished cornel
trees and the violets, woken up by the singing birds. This picture is in high contrast with
the mood of the characters, while the Siret, whirling, big and turbid...” seems to suggest
exactly the child’s worries, troubles, and pain. (ibidem: 74)
Unsurpassed creator of atmosphere, Mihail Sadoveanu continues the storyline
with an evocation of his own childhood, presenting the portrait of the child’s mother,
Irina, whose eyes, “drowning in a smoky wave”, were the eyes of Niculăeș as well:
“Now, our Irina was dead... leaving her warm soul and her rich mind to the child. The
memory of our Irina will only live through the pale child.” (ibidem: 75)
Imagining the child’s separation from his mother, on the dying bed, the writer
uses once again the elements of nature, whose purpose is to emphasize the tragedy of
the situation: “Her tenderness and her wisdom seemed to belong now to my small
traveler companion, in those lonely nights of suffering, when both of us were conferring
in tears, and outside, the stormy winter raged with despair.” (ibidem)
Returning to the grove, where the child sees himself vaguely, “in a fog light”
(an extraordinary suggestion of the clear-obscure) brings a change in the atmosphere.
His state of mind is filled with joy, due to the revival of his sheep. He smiles for the first
time, and his smile casts the narrator back to the past, reviving for a moment “the face
that flourished, and charmed, with a single smile and a look, the fleeting hour of his
life.” (ibidem: 76)

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 Although is mostly fiction, the work of Sadoveanu on childhood is based on
many autobiographical elements. We will find again this characteristic in the stories At
Mestecănei and Through Eyelashes.
Using the same narrative technique as in Mister Trandafir, addressing an
imaginary friend, Sadoveanu recalls two distinct emotional moments, that have a
common bond: two characters deprived of the maternal love much too soon.
At Mestecănei shows a touching moment from the life of Iliuță, a seven years
old child, delicate and sickly, raised by his grandparents. The storytelling takes place
from the perspective of the grown man, narrating with emotion and tenderness an
episode of his childhood: a vacation spent in Mestecănei, at an old woman called
Mărgărinta, “who breast fed me for almost two and a half years, for I, dear, didn’t have
a mother, like you.” (Sadoveanu, 1978: 77)
The reason for this particular travel is the boy’s recovering after a long illness.
The road carriage gives the narrator the opportunity to describe, in his unmistakable
style, a late winter landscape: “The forests looked bare and brown, the mountains blue...
and a silvery light, endless and sweet. Up in the sky, the mist and the clouds rised a
gentle light, of pink-rose. I immediately knew the smooth side of the village, with its
birch trees lined on the ridge, like an iron bar, unflinching in the red sunset.” (ibidem:
79)
After the touching description of his encounter with the old woman,
Mărgărinta, it follows a series of events occurred in the company of Irinuța, the
daughter of Mărgărinta: the exploration of the village’s surroundings, the involvement
in domestic activities, the games played on the ice slide. The narrator shows a special
attention to a funny, and, on the same time, weird event for the child raised in the city:
the manner in which the geese hatch their eggs, and take care of their offspring:
“Although I didn’t really understand what that is and what is about to happen, this
incident caused me such great joy, that I was waiting for the geese to come to the door,
to knock, and to ask if they could come in. I would have jumped immediately to let
them in.” (ibidem: 83)
With a linear construction, At Mestecănei could be a really captivating reading
for the children, and for the adults, longing for the beautiful moments from their
childhood.
Through Eylashes constitutes a change in the narrative register. Although it
begins in the same epistolary style, with the characteristics of a confession, made to a
close person, the evocation begins with a visit to the native village. The reason for this
visit is to solve certain problems related to the division of property between the relatives
on the mother’s side.
The narrator is struck by the reviewing of the childhood places, and this
triggers his memories and the change in the timeline: “And in one night, as I was laying
on the porch, the past had come back to me, with such an unusual force that I started to
think without interruption about the one that had no tomb anymore…” (Sadoveanu,
1979: 46) The evocation of the mother is full of tenderness (“I remember my mother
young and beautiful, tall, red-cheeked, with dark, gentle eyes”, ibidem: 48), but as far as
his recollection go, we can depict some feelings of spite and late reactions of
indignation. The childhood he describes is an unhappy one, marked by the violent
reactions of his father and his relatives towards his sick mother, events that had a great
influence upon the child’s evolution: “My father would twist his mustache in great
anger, and he was looking daggers at us, screaming, and I will always remember those
eyes, mad with rage, popped out of their sockets.” (ibidem: 49)

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 The story ends as the narrative returns to the present timeline, on the porch of
the grandparents’ house, the connection to his only beautiful memories from childhood.
The finale image has a strong emotional touch: “I closed my eyelids, and I felt how my
dead mother’s dark eyes were opening inside me, starring at me.” (ibidem: 61)
A series of biographical details reveal, as well, the spiritual warm, and the
understanding the writer manifests towards children. Before being written, The
Wonderful Grove was secretly narrated to one of his little girls.
The Wonderful Grove (from the volume Through Eyelashes), is a masterpiece
when it comes to the shaping of the child character. Through all the nine chapters, we
make this wonderful journey alongside Lizuca, in which the real elements combine with
the fantastic ones, and thus, making us think, in some extent, about Dorothy’s journey,
from Kansas (s. The Wizard of Oz, Frank Baum).
Lizuca’s physical and moral portrait is shaped gradually, starting with the
observations of her stepmother, Missis Mia Vasilian, in the presence of some guests (“If
the poor child didn’t have a proper education, you can only blame it on the
grandparents. She came from there with the gestures and the habits of a peaseant... I
can’t put a single piece of embroidery on her, or a ribbon, for that matter. Could you
imagine that at her age – she is six years old – she can’t do a proper bow?”),
(Sadoveanu, 1978: 8) until her actual appeareance, in the first chapter: “She was a small
girl, but, in the same time, robust and well-rounded. Her blue canvas dress was crooked,
and hanging innapropriately on her littel body. Her booties were full of dust, and the
laces were untied... Her hair was cut very short, boyish... Her little nose was in great
need of a handkerchief... Her mouth was a little too big, and her cheeks too red... The
young lady wasn’t pretty or delicate at all. Only her brown eyes, shadowed by black
eyeleshes had something like a small flower of light.” (ibidem: 10) The portrait suggests
the environment in which the little girl was raised, deprived of the maternal affection,
neglected by a stepmother who was too busy with the visits of her friends, from the so-
called hight society of the town. Her lack of education is emphasized by her behaviour
around the house: She doesn’t show any shyness towards the noble gathering, she
doesn’t say hello, she thrust two fingers in the jam. In the house, Lizuca is struggling
with loneliness, she is being hit, and treated harshly by the maid servant, and her only
friend is Patrocle, the little dog, an old brown badger, with human eyes.
Tired of loneliness, Lizuca starts to decipher the mysteries of life, and gets the
courage to leave the parental home. She embarks on a journey to her grandparents’
house, in the company of Patrocle: “And both of them emerged... starting on a long
road, and full of adventures.” (ibidem: 16)
Using the quest motif, which we generally know from fairytales, Sadoveanu
analyzes the child’s traits at this age. Not having enough knowledge to understand the
real world, Lizuca can’t make the difference between reality and fantasy. She assigns
human qualities to all the living creatures she meets along the way: “Lizuca knew that
these willows were humans and beasts, wise men of old ages. She was looking at them
shyly, and listened to their sighs and whisperers.” (ibidem: 18) Her imaginary talk with
the sun-flower depicts all the suffering she endured in her stepmother’s house. By
walking in the grove, Lizuca enters another world. The writer himself prepares the
readers for what it follows: “It seemed like they entered in the land of a fairytale.”
(ibidem: 19)
Describing her walk through the grove, Sadoveanu blends the epic tale with
descriptions of nature. G. Ibrăileanu said that “Sadoveanu is a gifted painter of the
nature. He knows how to play with words, how to put in words the pictorial aspect of

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things.” The images are portrayed through the eyse of the six years old girl, gaining
exaggerated proportions: “Very high wattles were raising from the right to the left...
Lizuca had never seen the moon so close, and it was so big... Some kind of restlessness
sneakes in her soul...” The little girls plucks up courage, and she nestles with Patrocle in
an old osier hollow, imagining that the flowers are asleep. She goes to sleep, and in her
dream, the elements of the surrounding reality combine with the memories from the
world of stories, that her mother and her grandmother have told her (“My mother used
to say that without stories, this life would be dull and sad”): the seven dwarfs and a
beautiful lady, Statu-Palmă, Sfarmă-Piatră, Strâmbă-Lemne, and two old people,
resembling her grandparents.
When she wakes up, Lizuca is in her grandparents’ house, and she can hear the
voice of her stepmother outside, who had come to take her home. Although the
grandparents are present only at the beginning of the story, in the presentation of the
stepmother, when they refuse to let Lizuca go back, the image that the readers form is
that of simple and honest people, who lead a modest life, caring about little Lizuca, and
loving her. She stays with them, determined to never return to the parents’ house: “And
when I see my father, I will convince them that I would rather die than go back there
again.” (ibidem: 40)
The story of the little Lizuca, the majestic descriptions of the grove and its
living creatures, awaken the imagination of the little readers, and takes them to a world
of wonders, close to their warm and innocent souls. Here, we can recognize the stylistic
mastery of Sadoveanu, who knows how to emphasize the characteristics of this age: the
interest and love for the small creatures and nature, the curiosity and the desire to grasp
the mysteries of the unknown through the medium of fantastic elements, known from
the fairytales.
Many literary critics consider The Wonderful Grove to be a brilliant
combination between reality and poetry. Beyond the story of little Lizuca, there is a
monumental illustration of the feeling of merger, of community with nature, of human
tenderness towards nature and the trust in a certain goodwill shared by all the beasts of
the field. Garabet Ibrăileanu compares this feeling of community with nature with the
one from Miorița.
For the child described by Sadoveanu, the nature is a familiar place, where he
feels protected. Often, the nature is recording the personal tragedies and events that took
place in the interval of a lifetime, or during a period when memory could be operated,
and it returns these memories back to us. Nature constitutes the exciting element, or the
bridge that allows the writer or the characters to slide with imagination towards a past
that usually lies there, hidden, in the depths of its own memories.
The impulse of nature, of natural factors like: the wind, the warm spring sun,
or the tender autumn sun, the moon light, the birds song, the smell of flowers or the
smell of hay, the murmur of springs, the snowfall, regularly stay (in an implicit or in an
explicit manner) at the origins of most of these forays into the writer’s (or the
characters’) past.
From a psychoanalitic perspective, we can identify in this profound nostalgia
of the past a more pronounced form of nostalgia, for childhood and its universe, a
nostalgia for the pure forms of life. And Sadoveanu’s Realism lies precisely in his
familiarity with the things of nature, and the past, while his Romantic view lies in his
profound nostalgia for the familiar things, for the community with nature.
The fact that his passion for nature, with all that it implies, followed the
narrator, as well as the one for stories, since childhood, could be easily observed, and in

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a fun way, in the autobiographical prose, called My Mother Was a Well Known
Mischievous, which marks the encounter with a destiny that would dominate his entire
life. A hunting episode makes his personality split, separating from the civilized part of
his human being, in order to live the primary emotions of the archaic human being. The
perception of the writer is a cosmic one. The revelation of greatness which amazes the
soul and shows willingness towards contemplation is purely sensorial. The reality and
the dream merge like a mirage, real, changed in the invasion of light, in the twilight or
in the whitish morning haze.
In the low haze of the Siret, in a complete wonder, the young hunter’s
sensations, still a child, resemble the ones of discoverer, who finds strange lands, with
no connection to the previous life. People, beasts, birds and all living creatures, who are
searching for each other suggest a vital entity. The native space, the place you feel like
home, is an universal center.
So, Sadoveanu wrote both for the child that tries to discover the mysteries of
the universe, as for the grown man, that finds himself living hard times, and he looks for
consolation, and maybe, for some answers, in the happy moments of childhood.

Bibliography
Bratu, Savin, Mihail Sadoveanu,o biografie a operei, Bucureşti, 1963
Călinescu, G., Istoria literaturii române – de la origini până în prezent, Editura Fundaţiei Regale
pentru Literatură şi artă, Bucureşti, 1941
Ciopraga,C., Mihail Sadoveanu, Bucureşti, Editura Tineretului, 1966
Maiorescu, T., Critice, Bucureşti, Editura pentru literatură, 1967
Manolescu, N., Sadoveanu sau Utopia cărţii, Bucureşti, Editura Eminescu, 1976
Ralea, M., Valori, Editura pentru Literatură şi artă Carol II, Bucureşti, 1935
Sadoveanu, M., Dumbrava minunată, Bucureşti, Editura Ion Creangă, 1978
Sadoveanu, M., Domnu Trandafir, Bucureşti, Editura Ion Creangă, 1978
Sadoveanu, M., La Mestecănei, Bucureşti, Editura Ion Creangă, 1978
Sadoveanu, M., Nuvele. Povestiri, Bucureşti, Editura Lucman, 2000
Sadoveanu, M., Un om necăjit, Bucureşti, Editura Tineretului, 1979
Vianu, T., Arta prozatorilor români, Bucureşti, Editura Eminescu, 1973

130
RADU IONESCU - A MILESTONE IN THE EVOLUTION OF HOW
POETRY AND CRITICISM ARE SEEN IN ROMANIAN
LITERATURE

Lavinia BĂNICĂ*

Abstract: The evolution of Romanian literary theory and criticism roughly fits the great
development stages of modern Romanian literature, effectively contributing to its ideological and
aesthetic orientation, and to its advance. Therefore, I do not think it is too much to say when one
claims that Romanian literary theory and criticism were born together with modern Romanian
literature. Our first literary critics were well educated, well-read, and often translated without
mentioning the original author. The studies of Radu Ionescu will try to prove that the purpose of
literary works is to reveal and nurture the idea of beauty, while that of criticism is to contribute to
its understanding and advancement.
Keywords: Superior criticism, aesthetic value, philosophical perspective.

The arrival of critical thinking in Romania, the process of its taking shape in
the early decades of the 19th century can be explained by the influence of the
Enlightenment, which, once it arrived here, inspired consciences to take a critical view
of society and envisage a world free of theology and dogmatism. After the impetus of
the Enlightenment followed the idea of social and cultural progress, the idea of the
better, the more beautiful made its way into all fields of thought, and the first field
where it was applied here was literature. But since at the beginning of the 19th century
the breadth of literature included all written cultural expressions, the viewpoint was
more closely linked to language and linguistic articulation. In a first phase, literary
criticism became a matter of language criticism.
In the times of the 1848 generation, culture and literature acquired a strongly
militant character, thus resulting in scarce attention given to the aesthetic, while social
issues took precedence (see Ion Heliade Radulescu’s famous call to his contemporaries,
“Write as much as you can, as best as you can”.) In its beginning stage, the direction of
development of Romanian criticism went from culture to language and only at the end
toward literature. Following the example of Western literary criticism, Romanian
critical thinking started to feel the need for analysis, to compare and amend literary
output. The abundance of writings demanded criticism apt to clear the way and give
appropriate guidance.
As Tudor Vianu remarked, Romanian culture was at that time caught in a
confusion of values and was struggling with a fuzzy distinction between art and science.
European literary ideologues (Voltaire, Rousseau, La Harpe, Marmontel, Levizac) had
laid the foundation of Romanian literary theory and criticism.
Raised under the wing of Alexandru Odobescu, Radu Ionescu was a thinker on
poetry and the fine arts. He was the instrument that brought about the aesthetic
development stage of Romanian literature. Being familiar with the works of Hegel, and
in the spirit of his Aesthetics, Radu Ionescu defined beauty in opposition to science and
by reference to truth (which Titu Maiorescu would also do later).

*
University of Pitesti, lavinia_banica@yahoo.com

131
 His Principiile criticei (Principles of Criticism) is a true leap in the quality of
thought, brilliantly foreboding the position later to be taken by T. Maiorescu. With his
limpid style and familiarity with leading notions of contemporary philosophy and
aesthetics, Radu Ionescu sought to explain artistic expression and the principles on
which art criticism should be based. He would say that art is a fruit of inspiration, not of
reflection (see T. Maiorescu - the object of poetry is a feeling, a passion, and not an
intellectual thought.) Speaking about the purpose of art, R. Ionescu discusses the theory
of art as imitation, which he rejects, stating that art does not merely reproduce images of
reality, but transforms them, and brings them closer to the type of ideal beauty.
The concept of impersonal catharsis is seen by R. Ionescu even since 1861 as
the end purpose of art. He is our first theoretician to speak of a superior criticism, also
pointing out its principles. While making an admirable apology of criticism, R. Ionescu
also delves on literary criticism, which covers all creations of the spirit. He is the one
who gave, before Maiorescu, a fruitful definition of criticism.
A consistently Hegelian thinker, R. Ionescu grants poetry unlimited powers: it
is and has always been humanity’s teacher. His discourse on poetry is carried further in
his Despre poezie şi frumoasele arte (On Poetry and the Fine Arts), a study published a
year before Principles of Criticism.
Writing at a time when political writing is strikingly more valuable than poetry
(a stilted poetry, even though sometimes interesting or ground-breaking through its
themes), Ionescu has not secured his place in the history of Romanian culture thanks to
his excellent political journalism, but by virtue of a series of highly interesting articles
on literary theory and criticism, as well as by his poems - that are more than modest -
published in his youth. In these fields of work, Ionescu is distinguished by his merits of
being a forerunner, first of all of Maiorescu, in the latter’s establishment of a program
and a direction of criticism. The writer had a very unusual, at the time, knowledge of
literature, philosophy, and aesthetics: he translated works by Poe, was familiar with -
and competently discussed - Classical poetry, Hugo’s Romantic poetics, but also the
realist poetics in Balzac’s novels; he quoted and used Hegel’s Lectures on Aesthetics;
he showed a deep knowledge of Plato, of Descartes, but also of contemporary thinkers
(Proudhon, Pierre Leroux).
Ionescu was therefore a spirit of serious intellectual upbringing, and well-
versed on the latest trends of thought - including in philosophy. Following the
pronouncements of T. Vianu, later criticism mostly retained the Hegelian component of
his aesthetic thinking. His quoting and use of Hegel’s philosophy is indisputable and
significant: but even more significant is how the Hegelian perspective (whose
educational component is generally removed) is connected to the older Platonic
dominant of the 1848 Romantic thought (this clarification does not refer to the study of
sources, since Hegel is an acknowledged source, but a more precise definition of post-
1848 thinking in relation to, on the one hand, the thinking of the 1848 generation, and
with that of Junimea’s generation, on the other).
In his 1855 preface to G. Sion’s edition of D. Bolintineanu’s Poems, which
included his Epistolă amicului G. Sion (Epistle to My Friend G. Sion), Ionescu
elaborates the theory of the “ideal beauty” to which poetry takes us, because “our life is
a long exile [...]. Our weary soul sometimes wills to fly [...] to once again see the ideal,
its heavenly realm.” What is discussed here is not the Hegelian idea (since to Hegel the
Idea is lived in nature as in an “otherness of itself”), but the isolated Platonic idea (as in
Timaios), in a cosmic home from which we are exiled. A non-Platonic interpretation of
Hegel also appears in Principles of Criticism, where it is stated: “In fine arts,

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imagination, according to what kind of beauty lies before it, creates forms to represent
ideas.” The interpretation of Hegel through Plato and Neoplatonism reveals the
tendency of Romanian culture to assimilate Hegelian thought without escaping the
limits of the Platonic cosmological model, which held sway over it during the age of the
1848 revolution.
A précis of aesthetics, his Principles of Criticism clearly does not show a very
rigorous way of thinking, because the author constantly conflates two notions which
would have normally required distinction (the “principles of art” and “principles of
criticism”), thus always shifting from criticism to its subject. But what is interesting is
the view of later critics, related in meaning to that of the English term “criticism”, that
unifies history, criticism and art theory through the two methods with which it
scrutinizes its subject: the historical method (which would lead, by analyzing historical
types, to “establishing a set of absolute principles in any art”), and the theoretical
method, that “deduces” principles from the “idea of beauty.”
Fusing Hegel with Plato, Ionescu is searching for principles at the intersection
of history with the absolute of the idea. What gives originality to this system of thought
is its author’s great confidence in the value of criticism. While equated with the free
development of human reason, criticism plays for Ionescu the role that poetry played,
for Cezar Bolliac (and for the Romantic thinkers) in the evolution of humanity:
“Criticism is the highest form of reason, and it proves intellectual freedom”; it “must
have an ideal that is above all things which exist” and “toward which it raises and
against which it measures the production of the human genius,” having to “rise itself to
absolute principles.” Identified with the principle of self-knowledge (“know thyself”)
and with thought in general, criticism becomes, in a fine comment to Descartes (“I
think, therefore I am”), the guarantee of existence (in the words of Descartes,
“humankind searches for itself, feels for itself”).
Radu Ionescu differentiates two critical methods, charged with the task of
finding the principles underlying any artistic creation: the historical method, based on
analysis, and which “by studying the rules of masterpieces lays down absolute
principles in any art,” and another method, which reaches the idea of beauty by deriving
its principles from there. But the best method is the one that unites the other two: “The
true superior criticism is that which, in addition to the dedicated study of various artistic
works, and in addition to developing the taste needed to appraise them, would also join
them with philosophical thought, in order to look into the principles of art and
understand beauty in itself.” Study, taste, philosophy - these are the basic elements of
superior criticism. In a word, criticism paves the way for civilization; the degree of
civilization of a nation can be seen in the way it encourages the development of arts and
letters.
Although he envisaged a synthesis between the historical and aesthetic
methods to achieve the true superior criticism, R. Ionescu’s article is overly theoretical.
The difference between him and Maiorescu consists precisely in the fact that the latter
grounds his statements in examples, and also in the fact that along with theoretical
notions Maiorescu introduces a kind of criticism that is applied to contemporaneous
Romanian poetry. While Maiorescu enforces a conduct, a program, Radu Ionescu has
none.
Through the value he assigned to criticism Radu Ionescu is indeed a forerunner
of Maiorescu and a theoretician whose thought defines the development of Romanian
spirituality, even if in practice his criticism is modest, mainly summarizing, especially
afflicted by the hollow rhetoric of his long-winded sentences.

133
 As to his views on the novel - Don Juanii de București (The Don Juans of
Bucharest) -, after Heliade had repudiated the novel R. Ionescu considered it as a
defining work for that age. Beauty does not disappear, but shows itself under different
forms: “The novel can tell us all, can describe all.” Also, here appears the idea of the
empty forms - the (political, social and cultural) forms that were imported, but that,
since they have no roots here, cannot work well.
The view that now takes shape in Romanian criticism is that the work of art is
not created as the author pleases, but according to certain rules, and that it progresses as
humanity tends toward perfection. These discussions have further helped to clarify the
notion of national literature and that of artistic work. Originality is a fundamental
requirement of artistic value. By understanding the contemporary flow of ideas, the first
Romanian theoreticians established here the classical principles on which artistic works
are founded, adding to these local Romantic elements. Criticism becomes a means of
selection and enforcement of values. The studies of R. Ionescu will try to prove that the
purpose of the artistic work is to reveal and nurture the idea of beauty, while that of
criticism is to contribute to its understanding and advancement. The definitive synthesis
of the era would be later elaborated by T. Maiorescu.

Bibliography
Cornea, P., De la Alexandrescu la Eminescu [From Alexandrescu to Eminescu], Ed. Academiei,
București, 1966
Hanță, A., Idei și forme literare până la Titu Maiorescu [Ideas and Literary Forms before Titu
Maiorescu], Ed. Minerva, București, 1985
Marino, A., Introducere în critica literară [Introduction to Literary Criticism], Ed. Academiei,
București, 1968
Mihăilescu, Fl., Conceptul de critică literară în România [The Concept of Literary Criticism in
Romania], Ed. Minerva, 1976
Vianu, T., Influența lui Hegel în cultura română [The Influence of Hegel in Romanian Culture],
în Scriitori români [Romanian Writers], vol. II, Ed. Minerva, București, 1970

134
 TEXT(S), GENRE(S), CONTEXT(S): THE SOCIOCOGNITIVE
PERSPECTIVE

Alina BUZATU*

Abstract:The focal point of my paper is genre, a concept relevant for all discoursive
knowledge and practice. Highly praised in some aesthetic mentalities and equally repudiated in
others, genre is one of the first conditioned reflexes when we utter the word literature; the
archeology of this concept prove the cultural resistance of the tripartite system, dislocated only in
the XXth century and replaced with a more flexible and appropriate taxonomy (i.e. narrative /
descriptive / argumentative / dialogal / explicative etc.). Nowadays theorists agree that genres
play a decisive role in the intricate ceremonial of presupposing, organizing and managing all
discoursive activities, not only when making literary artefacts. Scientific articles or gossip, TV
news or medical anamnesis, they all are governed by generic laws. Genres give identity to human
discourses, affirm their duration, institute the enunciative contract, build expectations, schedule
semiosis, adjust the comprehension process, condition memorization etc. Based on these
premises, my sociocognitive approach aims to examine, on one hand, (1) the (multimodal) mental
models involved in the production and comprehension of the socially shared discourse and how
these mental models are ”translated” into linguistic procedures, strategies and techniques and,
on the other hand, (2) the relation between knowledge, ideologies, norms, values and the
apprehension of genres in different epistemic communities.
Keywords: genre; sociocognitivism; mental model.

Preamble

The recent case of Charlie Hebdo and the huge turmoil around it the confront
us - in the most insufferable way - with the sad reality that, after centuries of
metacritical reflection and thousands of erudite tomes, we still have to clarify our ideas
upon the nature and the function of the fictional artefacts, if our common aim is a
successful cultural negotiation. We deal with fictionality and factuality for ages; yet, old
questions about their semiotic quality – some with plethoric answers – seem to become
urgent matters on intellectual agendas. How do we circumscribe the territories of
fiction? Does the populations living within their borders speak a language understood
by others? If not, where does the short circuits occur? And, the most important, can we
find better solutions for the societal malfunctions derived from these ruptures?
Another problem is the visibility and the intelligibility of the answers
formulated by theorists and cultural data analysts. Fiction is problematized in elitist
cercles, but what about the less gifted, the profane minds? Common sense and
epistemology tell us that we should open old theoretical survival kits, find tools, melt
and remould them in a multidisciplinary crucible. One such reliable tool is genre.

The (re)constitution of a concept: genre. From Russian Formalism to

sociocognitivism

The semantic extension of a concept so resistant and diachronically stratified as

genre test our metacritical competences. In its diachronical zig-zag route, genre crossed

*
Ovidius University of Constanța, alina.p.buzatu@gmail.com

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cultural and literary events, borrowed meaning from them and collected so many
pragmasemantic traits, that its reconstitution cannot be perceived now at a first glance.
If we fly over its territory, we cannot distinguish the landforms. If we zoom in, focusing
specific objects, we lose the integral contour. As every other concept, its internal
structure is not a simple sum of its parts, but a co-incidence, the accumulation of
multiplicities: ”(t)he concept is (...), at the same time, absolute and relative; relative to
its own components, to other concepts, to the plane which it is delimited from, to the
problems they are trying to solve; but absolute by the condensation it operates, by the
place it occupies at this level, by the conditions associated to the problem.” (Deleuze,
Guattari, 1980: 49)
Its archeological structure comes with many complications. Genre is indeed on
of the oldest taxonomies in humanities – constantly invoked or equally repudiated. By
virtue of traditions, some researchers and (old) school teachers praise it and place it in
the head of their critical interpretations. Others treat it with scepticism or contempt,
considering it an atavism. Somehow both parties take genre for granted; we seem to
know instinctively the genre of a given text, but if we are asked to convert instinct to
reason and explain our choice, the arguments are too often fallible. It is also true that
when we are taught literature, we are induced the (false) impression that genres are
recipes, lists of ingredients in variable quantities; the more we read, the more we
understand that authors (many of them canonized) have the bad habit of disregarding
the recipe. Bottom line, it is not easy to discuss the genre in other terms than those of
reified definitions, as it is equally not easy to efface or get rid of it.
It is important to revisit the genre even if we only consider it a zero degree of
intelligibility when opening the investigation process of a text. An elementary
theoretical exigency tells us to articulate the genre with the concepts belonging to the
same plan, to which it interacts dialogically. The word genre convokes other contiguous
words: literature, text, discourse etc.; their relations are ambivalent, a love/hate dispute
with no previsible end. It would be of course futile, if not hilarious, to construe the word
/ the idea of literature; we appeal to the more appropiate Jakobsonian term, literarity
(i.e. the capacity of a discursive sequence to be understood as literature under specified
circumstances) in order to analyze the semantic substance of genre.
Basically, literarity can be understood in two ways (Genette, 1991: 134). The
first way is the essentialist one, which claims that certain texts have a sort of literary
aura that accompanies them in all circumstances, for all ages and communities of
readers. This type of thinking gives birth to a work of art / literature as an object cut off
from nature (framed apart), with the function of not having any function at all,
perceived by disinterest and detachment. These works that become legitimized through
an essentialist criterion distill the common language and enter the territory of literature
by cancelling the usual functions of language based on a paradoxical agreement of
mutual irresponsibility (the famous willing suspension of disbelief), on whose behalf
speakers accept that statements that change are neither true nor false, or rather they are
both true and false at the same time. These sublimations of discourse are intransitive,
separated from the world and anchored in a pseudo-reference or a denotation without
denotate. In this perspective, genre is a poor coat – thin and even transparent for this
altère autarchic worlds. If fiction is at stake (and not diction), genre is a mode of
representation, a register, noble or vulgar. For centuries, genres - from Aristotle,

136
Horace, Diomede1, continuing with the Renaissance poets, Boileau and Abbot Batteux
to the German Romantics - meant a number of representative prescriptions written as
part of the intricate ceremony of literary investiture.
The second way to define literarity is the conditionalist one, which is
dominated by formal criteria (or rematic, a term that Genette finds more appropriate).
Becoming a sign prevails over the laws of imagination. It is the merit of the 20th century
to break away with the resistant Aristotelian tradition whereby the nature of literary was
equated with sets of themes and privileged images for centuries, all wrapped in
transparent language. From this perspective, genre is equated with diction. The
conditionalist works are those literary entities which assert their existence in/as
discourse. After sixty years of formalism, structuralism, semiotics, discourse analysis
and numberless avatars, the genre earned not only its syntactic dimension, but also
remoulded its pragmasemantic quality. At present, the conditionalist approaches
outnumber the essentialists ones. Maybe the formal definitions are more confortable,
because they are fed by the substance of linguistics and seem to have a guaranteed
rationality. For instance, Russian formalists consider genres as a kind of building
blocks, linguistic prefabricated patterns which can lead to (or better said, can
counterfeit) a literary object. Their ideas were sublimated in structuralism (narratology,
in particular) and semiotics, which also exalted the constructive processes. Their models
are extremely useful today to the teaching practice, but should be taken cum grano salis,
as they suffer from an obvious mechanistic pattern and many times fail to judge the
aesthetic value.
Somewhere along the formalist triumphant route, unfortunately for the illusions
of conditionalist theories, theorists began to say it louder and louder that no method
specifically builds literarity; in other words, there is no necessary connection between
the choice of strategies, techniques, representation methods and the quality of being
literary / fictional2. This aporetic moment is solved by resizing the concept of genre in
the vast field of discourse. For Mikhail Bakhtin (that Bakhtin separated from
formalism), literary genres are only a particular secondary case of discourse genres,
caught in the network of interdiscourse, a dialogic space regulated by norms. The idea
that the text is produced under a system of rules which build the unity of a whole
enunciation sociolinguistically circumscribed, first asserted by Bakhtin, comes to us
today mainly via Foucault. The Bakhtin solution is perpetuated in the 1970s3 and it is

1
At the end of the 4th century, Diomede rebooted ‘genre’ (genera) the three Plato modes: genus
imitativum (dramatic), genus ennarativum (narrative), genus commune (mixt). This is the model
that has brought some benefits, but also has unbearable side effects , which persisted, sometimes
without any remedy, until early 20th century. This triad epic / lyric / dramatic manages, to ascend
to the 20th century, with some obstinacy worthy of a better cause, even if it resulted from an
erroneous interpretation and misuse extension of the ‘modal’ categories identified by Aristotle,
or in intellectual laziness (Genette, 1991: 79).
2
For example, in the very the case of narrative which seemed the best ‘tamed, Gérard Genette has
shown that there is no exclusively narrative content, because the only specificity of narrative is its
unique mode of organization (identifiable, it is well known, in representation exogenous to
literature).
3
Thus, Todorov, who reads the formalists and Bakhtin, and launches them on the French market
of ideas, distinguishes between the ‘genre model’ and the ‘empiric genre’. Subsequently,
generations of theoreticians such as K. Viëtor, K. W. Hempfer, A. Fowler, A. Kibédi Varga, J. M.
Schaeffer, J. Fontanille, J.M. Adam, F. Rastier, D. Maingueneau, P. Meijer, J.-M. Caluwe, A.
Petitjean et alii illuminate the different nuances of the concept of genre. Thus, A. Kibédi Varga

137
the solid ground of the sociocognitive approach. Guided by the same premises, the
linguists of text - J.-M. Adam, F. Rastier or D. Maingueneau - replaced the label genre
with textual type. For them, types are forms of global and abstract textual organization,
therefore stable, unchanging and reccurent, grounded on some cognitive universals, and
manifested in variable ways, in different historical and cultural scenographies. J.-M.
Adam inter alii identifies five textual types: narrative, descriptive, argumentative,
dialogic, explicative.
After 1980, the genre made a paradigmatic leap, redefining itself in the terms
of cognitivism. When revisiting Darwin, the cognitivists also reread Brunètiere and
Wittgenstein, from the latter retaining the idea of family resemblance. They keep the
presumption of the living in imagining the relationships that a text has with a genre,
with the difference that they rewrite them under the form of the ratio between genotype
and phenotype. L’air de la famille or the shared DNA means, in their own form, the
identification of some general-anthropological structures that update typology such as
lyric, epic, dramatic, fantastic, etc. Texts resemble one another; some glorify their
kinship, others behave like irreverent children or even kill their genitors. For the
cognitivists, genre is a cognitive architecture that groups sets of procedures; the genre
‘falls’ into a text as a structure of intentions organized in hierarchies depending on the
importance, or in other words, like the steps of an algorithm or a list of tasks. Each
procedure becomes self-representational, autopoietic, which means that it carries in
itself its own instructions for deciphering and use, and it is an intelligent agent, because
it carries over cultural beliefs.
For classical philologist, the cognitivist formulations, though pertinent, are still
exotic. Which are the active cognitive processes while reading a text? Can we attach
different conceptual maps to different types of texts? Can these cartographies contain
semantic layers - like, let’s say, Google Maps? etc.)
The sociocognitive approach of genre is possibly the most integrative theory, a
sort of Theory of Everything. In this true inter/multidisciplinary endeavour, concepts
coming from other scientific fields (psychology, sociology etc.) collaborate and
coalesce with the linguistic notions, being spared of the accusations of local border
traffic addressed to many such exchanges. Teun Van Dijk, the guru of this approach,
speaks about discursive genres; they function the same as their correlates (or should we
say, subordinates), literary genres. In school we are taught to deconstruct a novel, to
decant the narrative parts from descriptive or dialogal passages. It is truly amazing that
few people realize that the similar process is always active in the background of our
mind1. We understand the structures and the categories of a discursive situation, we

suggests that we should speak of generic categories - provisions of the human spirit itself, then of
actual genres – the short story, the novel, the novella, etc. and of subgenres, presented as
historical and thematic subdivisions: the Italian or the English sonnet etc. J. M. Schaeffer talks
about genre schemes, required both by the authorial voice and by the reader alike. Returning to
Aristotle, Genette proposes to distinguish modes, pragmatic transhistorical and relatively constant
categories, three in number: fictional (the Aristotle diegesis), the dramatic mode (mimesis), and
the lyric or poetic mode. The concept of genre is reserved to empirical categories of texts, set
after observing historical data according to certain criteria. The relations with the modes are
complex, but cannot be reduced to a simple inclusion / as to subgenres, they from the thematic or
historical specifications of genres.
1
Other prominent scholars, Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner, focus on what they call
conceptual blending, a mental process with a decisive role in the way we live and think. Almost
invisibly to consciousness, conceptual blending choreographs vast networks of meaning, framing

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identify participants, ascribe roles, measure the variations of style and register because
our private (yet discrete) encyclopedias contain the genre rules and conventions.
For Teun van Dijk, the missing link in understanding the genre is context. Our
ability to discern discursive genres are mediated by contexts, which act as mental
models. In his studies, he limits the term context to those properties of the
communicative situation that are relevant for discourse. Let me remind that relevant
means subjective, not objective – those relevant properties of the social situations are a
subjective selection: ”(c)ontexts are not objective, but subjective. They are not a
relevant selection of “objective” social properties of the situation, but a subjective
definition of such a situation. This is perfectly compatible with the notion of relevance,
because this notion is also inherently relative: something is (ir)relevant for someone. In
other words, a context is what is defined to be relevant in the social situation by the
participants themselves.”(Van Dijk, 2009: 15)
Yet again, contexts / mental models / situational models (or whatever their
name may be) do not influence discourse in a direct way. The theorist warns us against
a widespread determinist phallacy: people assume that gender, race, age, status etc.
influence the way they/we speak. This does not happen (not in a direct way), simply
because the social properties of a situation are not cognitive phenomena; they are
phenomena of different kind, of different levels of analysis and description. For a better
understanding of this idea, Van Dijk uses an argument per contrario: if such a direct
influence between social situations and discourse were to exist, all people in the same
social situation would probably speak in the same way, which they obviously don’t.
It is also true that contexts do not entirely contain personal elements. Due to
socialization, language users acquire various kinds of shared knowledge and beliefs,
they are vectors of their cultural models: ”Models constitute the unique interface that
combines the personal and the unique, on the one hand, with the social and the shared,
on the other hand. And what is true for mental models is also true for the discourses that
are controlled by them: both are unique and personal, as well as social and
intersubjective.” (Van Dijk, 2009: 17)

Instead of conclusions

Genres are – we learn from the sociocognitive perspective – part of the hidden
codes of the programs run silently by our minds. Genres manage and organize all our
discourse activities, give them identity, affirm their duration, institute the enunciative
contract, build expectations, schedule semiosis, adjust the comprehension process,
condition memorization and, essentially, help us collaborate culturally.

Bibliography
Damasio, A.R., Descartes’ Error. Emotions, Reason, and the Human Brain, London, Penguin,
2005.
Deleuze, G., Guattari, F., Mille plateaux. Capitalisme et schizophénie 2, Paris, Minuit, 1980.

our worlds. The two neuroscientists underline that this is an unnoticed, “silent” phenomenon in
present-day life. It might seem strange that the systematicity and intricacy of some of our most
basic and common mental abilities could go unrecognized for so long. Perhaps the forming of
these important mechanisms early in life makes them invisible to consciousness. Even more
interestingly, it may be apart of the evolutionary adaptiveness of these mechanisms that they
should be invisible to consciousness, just as the backstage labor involved in putting on a play
works best if it is unnoticed. (Fauconnier, Turner: 2002)

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Fauconnier, G., Turner, M., The Way We Think. Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden
Complexities, New York, Basic Books, 2002.
Genette, G., Fiction et diction, Paris, Seuil, 1991.
Iser, W., The Fictive and the Imaginary: Charting Literary Anthropology, Baltimore, The Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1993.
Stockwell, P. (ed.), Cognitive Poetics: An Introduction, London / New York, Routledge, 2002.
Patai, D., Corral, W.(ed.), Theory’s Empire. An Anthology of Dissent, New York, Columbia
University Press, 2005.
Van Dijk, T. A., Discourse and Context. A sociocognitive approach, Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press, 2008.
Van Dijk, T. A., Society and Discourse. How Social Contexts Influence Text and Talk,
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2009.

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 IMAGE AND REPRESENTATION IN THE ROMANIAN FOLK
TALE

Maria CHIVEREANU

Abstract: The present work aims to define and identify the concept of image as it
appears in the Romanian folk tales. It shows some of the images which outline the Romanian
collective consciousness on life and world. For an overview, there will be exploited mythical
images whose symbolism indicates universality of the folk tale. Interpretation of the images can
be correlated with symbolism of motifs.Therefore, the short analysis of images in the Romanian
folk tales demonstrates the narrator’s ingenuity to combine bright landscapes with shadowy
forests, in order to capture the reader’s attention, using the suggestive power of images.
Keywords: image, representation, folk tales.

According to the linguistic norm, the term image designates “a sensory

reflection of an object in the human mind in the form of sensations, perceptions or
representations” (DEX, 1996: 475). It may also mean “an artistic reflection of reality
through sounds, words, colors, in music, literature, and fine arts” (Ibidem).
Imagination seems to fascinate in relationship with literature. According to
Jean Burgos “everything seems to go by itself or almost by itself, at least as long as we
do not agree with the most modest thorough analysis of this fascination, whether it be to
keep it intact, taking shelter behind all too persistent poetic mystery or to reject it from
the outset, resorting to any attenuating explanatory system, to the extent to which it
becomes reductive” (Burgos, 1988: 27).
What really matters within the meaning analyzed by specialists is the image as
expression of a reality hitherto unlived. In relation to a text, imagination works by the
word that conveys more than in the beginning. Therefore, “the meaning of the word
image in discourse overlaps with a plurality of meanings or facets that make it resound,
while leaving around a reality that would never have come to exist without it; reality
from language, but probably not only language whose background merges reality with
the poetic act, be it writing or reading” (Burgos, op. cit: 28).
G. Bachelard is not investigating but recording the nature of the image. He is
“not indifferent to the mechanism of images creating from each other, to their
organization in constellations activated by their composing elements, while making the
written text dynamic- a mechanism whose study is an essential task for the poet”
(Ibidem: 61). Also in his opinion, “the explosion defining images, like any
manifestation of a vital dynamism cannot be compatible with any way of structuring,
regardless of its level” (Ibidem: 65).
A suitable definition of the term image should be sought neither in
theoreticians, poetry practitioners nor analysists only interested in its chemical reality.
Therefore, Jung proposes the following definition: “When talking about the image, I do
not understand its simple mental copy of the external object, but an immediate
representation well described by the poetic language, an imaginative phenomenon
which maintains only indirect relations with the perception of objects; rather the product
of imaginative activity of consciousness, it has a more or less sudden manifestation, like


University of Piteşti, mchivereanu@yahoo.com

141
a vision or hallucination without having a pathological character, i.e. without ever being
part of the chemical picture of any disease” (Burgos, op. cit.: 166).
For Jung, however, the image is mainly an immediate representation, allowing
its detachment from what is called a metaphor. Furthermore, the author points out that
the imaginative phenomenon different from metaphor derives from the imaginary
activity of the subconscious.
To understand how to organize text space schemes, Burgos makes an analogy
between the poetic and mythical, bringing a series of arguments also pertaining to
Eliade. The author resumes a special kind of suggestion that the myth has in relation to
time: “it might be said that myths keep us out of the profane, chronological time while
making us enter a qualitatively different, sacred time, both absolute and indefinitely
recoverable” (Eliade, 1978: 18).
It was highlighted that our subconscious is not only mythological, but its
contents can mirror the destinies of life and living matter. Mircea Eliade points out that
“the only real human contact with cosmic sacredness is carried out subconsciously, be it
its dreams and imaginary life or creations that spring from the subconscious” (Eliade
apud Burgos, 1988: 179).
Making a careful analysis of the mythologist’s research, Burgos believes that
“the perfect history that the myth recounts will reveal a certain arrangement of different
adventures to its final conclusion; but also any ritual will extract its meaning from here,
because symbolically repeating the original event will become possible by improving
the contents hitherto insubstantial” (Burgos, 1988: 181). The religion historian’s
research aim to add some cosmic values to individual values, implying symbolic content
that myths live on.
In terms of mythical image origin, some researchers found out it has no
meaning and can be sought in individual experience or social life, in the subconscious
or in history. Moreover, it was stated that “while the myth sets up as a tool that uses
common language structures to comply with in its development - condition of its
existence as a story – mythical images, on the contrary, cause continued disintegration
of these structures due to their symbolic nature, diversity and alternation” (Ibidem: 186).
Symbolic images can be understood as metamorphosis of concrete
representation through a permanently abstract meaning. From this perspective, the
symbol is a representation that causes a concrete meaning. Similar to mythical images,
symbolic images indicate universality of the folk tale: the image of the rescuer hero who
dies and resurrects or the image of the hero in love.
Furthermore, it must be highlighted that motifs’ symbolism in folk tales can be
correlated with interpretation of images during the day and night (Durand, 2000: 118).
In daytime (solar) one can integrate images such as: the charmed bird of the palace, of
the bright castle, of daytime landscapes, of golden-haired children. These images found
in the texts of folk tales highlight the power of collective mind.
The image of the charmed bird is represented as a bird with magical forces,
having a royal rank. Ispirescu’s text highlights this aspect. Furthermore, it sings only at
the sight of the shepherd, a character with an exceptional destiny: “everyone was
surprised at the beauty of that bird in thousands and thousands of colours; its feathers
shine like mirrors in the sun; the church tower does no longer fall down; the bird makes
its nest in the tower” (Ispirescu, 2010: 23).
The image of the castle is the centre of the ideal space. Penetration into that
space is possible only after passing different tests, involving dangerous places, usually a
dark forest or a deep abyss. The beauty of the palace dominates the architectural image.

142
The dragon, fairy or king’s palace, are made of bronze, silver or gold ,,Aurul cu care
erau poleiţi stâlpii şi ciubucele de pe lângă streaşină licărea de-ţi lua ochii” (Ibidem ).
The image of the golden-haired children surprises beauty in the superlative.
Ispirescu’s folk tale Înşir’te mărgăritari is eloquent in this respect. The superlative
character is shown through an adverbial phrase ,,doi feţi- logofeţi cu totului totului de
aur” (Ibidem: 46), “ cu totul şi cu totul de aur”( Ibidem: 50).
The image of the wise occurs frequently in the Romanian folk tales, especially
in those in which the hero is the smart girl or the wise king. The term wise can be
replaced by the synonym old man. In popular mentality the king is wise, having the
status of leader: “Acel împărat mare şi puternic bătuse pe toţi împăraţii de pimpregiurul
lui şi-i supusese… ; Toată împărăţia se fălea că o să aibă un împărat înţelept şi procopsit
ca Solomon împăratul” (Ibidem: 14).
The nocturnal register is made up of chromatic images: green “is assimilated
with calm, rest and maternal profundity”(Durand, 2000: 219), while black, white and
bright red have a destructive role. Among the elements making up the nocturnal
register, there are shadowy forests populated with negative characters such as dragons
or giants; Muma Pădurii, wasteland, mountains.
The image of the forest develops a variety of interpretations. According to G.
Durand the forest is “centre of intimacy” (Ibidem: 240). In the folk tale the forest is
thought of as an intermediate space between the here and the beyond; it is represented
as a large and opaque space: “Această casă este înconjurată de o pădure deasă şi înaltă,
unde stau toate fiarele cele mai sălbatice din lume...” (Ispirescu, 2010: 10), “Când
ajunseră acasă la porc, care era într-o pădure mare” (Ibidem: 9); “trecu prin nişte păduri
mari cu buştenii ca butia”(Ibidem).
The correlation between forest and Muma Pădurii aims to highlight the
relationship between space and characters. The character takes on attributes of the
environment he lives in and can sometimes undergo metamorphosis.
The image of the wasteland belongs to the nocturnal register, especially by the
existence of the hole. It is those holes that separate the sacred space from the profane.
The space in the folk tales allows the religious man to understand how human beings go
beyond the spiritual realm.
The metamorphosed human being in the folk tale goes beyond the sacred space
by passing tests of initiation. The profane space is obliterated while achieving spiritual
eternity. In this regard, it is noteworthy Făt- Frumos’s search for eternal youth.
Reaching the wasteland, the hero parts with his soldiers and explores the place,
which is assimilated to a new level in his initiation: “După ce trecu afară de împărăţia
tatălui său şi ajunse în pustietate, Făt – Frumos îşi împărţi avuţia pe la ostaşi şi, luându-
şi ziua bună, îi trimise înapoi” (Ibidem: 8).
The image of the mountain, which became stereotype in the Romanian folk
tales is a space inaccessible to mortals: “Şi mergând lupul aşa, ajunse la graniţa iadului,
unde se bat munţii în capete ca berbecii...” (Pop – Reteganul, 1986: 112); “La munţii ce
se bat în capete este apă vie şi apă moartă” (Ispirescu, 2010: 29). The image of the
mountain is stylistically presented by means of descriptive metaphors: , “munţi de
cremene din care ţâşneau flăcări de foc; glodurile, colţii de munte care erau tot de
cremene” (Ibidem: 12).
The brief analysis of images in the Romanian folk tales shows the narrator’s
ingenuity in combining bright landscapes with shadowy forests, with a view to capture
the reader’s attention, using the suggestive power of images.

143
Bibliography
Bachelard, G., Poetica spaţiului, Piteşti, Editura Paralela 45, 2003
Burgos, J., Pentru o poetică a imaginarului, Bucureşti, Editura Univers, 1988
Coteanu, I. (coord), Dicţionarul explicativ al limbii române, Ediţia a II-a, Bucureşti, Editura
Univers Enciclopedic, 1996
Durand, G., Structurile antropologice ale imaginarului, Bucureşti, Editura Univers, 1977
Eliade, M., Aspecte ale mitului, Bucureşti, Editura Univers, 1978
Ispirescu, P., Basmele românilor, Bucureşti, Editura Curtea Veche Publishing, 2010
Pop – Reteganul, I., Basmele românilor, Bucureşti, Editura Curtea Veche Publishing, 2010.

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OBSESSIVE METAPHORS OF THE IMMEDIATE UNREALITY IN
MAX BLECHER’ S PROSE

Anamaria CIOBOTARU (PEFTITI-DOBRE)*

Abstract: This aproach has a starting point in Charles Mauron’ s statement in his Des
métaphores obsédantes au mythe personnel. The obsessive metaphors in Max Blecher’ s novel –
Adventures in Immediate Unreality are cinema, wax status exhibition, theatre, and many other
spaces which give us the idea of artificiality. The paper underlines the idea of how these spaces
become an alternative to real life. Max Blecher suggests a way that investigates, rediscovers life,
and radiates beauty from suffering.
Keywords: Obsessive Metaphors, Immediate Reality, Artificiality, Mimesis.

The metaphors of the immediate unreality, exclusively of this type are the
cinema and the panopticon. To these, the fair, the sculpture workshop and the theatre
are added, in order to satisfy the narrator’s declared need of artificiality, as he is
impressed by “every imitation” (Blecher, 2009: 58).
The narrator-character’s own belief: “after all there is no clear distinction
between our real person and our various imaginary inner characters” (Ibidem: 54)
clearly leads to the idea that Blecher’s character lives as many lives in their
corresponding realities as the imaginary stances projected himself.
Once these spaces become conscious as well as assumed by the character, the
transfer of the existential state and experimenting other realities will begin. “It
sometimes occurs to me, that I get so thoroughly absorbed by the film, that I suddenly
imagine myself walking round the parks on the screen, or leaning against the railings of
the Italian terraces, where Francisca Bertini was pathetically performing, her hair let
loose and her arms waving like scarves”, (Ibidem: 54) or “I believe that if ever the
instinct of any goal in life were born in me and if this drive had to be connected with
something truly profound, essential and unchangeable within myself, then my body
would have to become a wax statue in a panopticon and my life an endless
contemplation of the windows of the panorama” (Ibidem: 56).
Thus, the films, the theatre and the fair create a parallel reality, enriched from
the aesthetic viewpoint and also enlarging it to an overdimension through the artificial
element.
The decadent adage: “the world does not exist, all I can see is all that there is”
can, to some extent, be identified in this first excerpt from Blecher, as well as on those
to follow. The decadents’ schopenhauerian manner of looking at the world as a
representation, still with specific connotations, can also be deciphered in Blecher’s text,
as the narrator-character seems to have the same outlook, namely not seeing what it is,
but what he sees is what really is. This decadent postulate, when properly integrated,
can help us interpret Blecher’s text. However, in his case one does not encounter either
the decadents’ pessimism, who were influenced by Schopenhauer’s will theory, or
discouragement as a result of it. What brings Blecher’s texts close to those of the
decadents is the excellence of imagery, almost paintlike, found in his work.

*
“Ovidius” University of Constanța, ana_c0@yahoo.com

145
 The presence of parallel realities so minutely created by Blecher makes us
think of Aristotle’s theory of imitation, which, according to the Greek philosopher, is no
more than man’s capacity of creating fictitious worlds, having their own order of things.
These “spectacular” and “decorative” worlds invented by Blecher work according to a
simple rule: “in life one should act in a false and ornamental way” (Ibidem:53).
The Blecher cinema hall in Adventures of the Immediate Reality, “long and
dark, like a sunk submarine”, where the front doors were covered with crystal mirrors
reflecting a part of the street”, offering “a free performance to anyone in the hall”,
creating the image of an “amazing screen on which the street appeared in a greenish,
dreamlike light, with people and carriages moving as if moonstruck in its waves“
(Ibidem) reminds of the character, Gavrilescu, in Mircea Eliade’s story With the Gipsy
Girls, who enters a sort of immediate unreality in order to discover his own true
identity.
Gavrilescu experiments passing through the three stages that are between the
two worlds, symbolically represented in the text by the three gipsy women.
The first of these stages is the Chikay-Bardo state, representing the state of
consciousness which a dead man has between the two moments: of death and of
reincarnation. While being in the Chikay state, the dead man experiences the contact
with the dazzling light, which is a reflection of Buddha. If the soul recognizes the light
and is not scared, then it is given the chance to come out of Samsara, to transcend the
phenomenal world and to enter Nirvana (the ether). Hence Gavrilescu’s tragedy of life
is an illusion. If the man who has such an experience does not recognize the light, he
falls into the second state, chanyd, in which he meets his own repressions.
Gavrilescu is one who does not recognize the three deities (the three gipsy
women), because, if he had recognized them, he would have entered a pre-Nirvana
state. Failure to recognize leads to the fall into the third state – sidpa, in which the
deceased gets into a new reincarnation which he chooses himself. Gavrilescu will
remember Hildegard.
Experiencing death is also one of the recurrent themes in Eliade’s prose.
Adrian from In Dionysus Court experiences the encounter with the dazzling light (the
first chikay state), which he does not lose, as it happens with Gavrilescu, the character
in With the Gypsy Girls. However, he will lose the second state, chanyd, because he
looks back.
Of the three states that the dead person’s soul has to pass through, the second
one is the most frightening, because the soul experiences fear, being afraid to confront
its own repressions. Here occurs the tyranny of the forms to which the soul is subjected.
The scene in which Gavrilescu meets his own image in the labyrinth is a
symbolic one. He does not recognize his own illusions: his own feelings (the Greek
woman), his own intellect (the Jewish woman), and his own inertial form (the Gypsy
woman). Both Gavrilescu and Adrian from In Dionysus Court lose this second state of
consciousness, thus failing to enter the pre-Nirvana state.
The moment when Blecher’s character identifies himself with the film
characters could be an equivalent of falling in sidpa, since he simply chooses a
desirable identity. These kinds of choices and searches of the character will also
continue in the other novels of Blecher. André Gide’s writings were definitely known to
Blecher, as the two authors were contemporaries. The attempts of Blecher’s characters
to build their inner self beyond any dependent relationship, overcoming the constraints
and determinations imposed by the illness state, remind of the will showed by Gide’s
character, Theseus. The burning of the cinema does not mean giving up the search; on

146
the contrary, it constitutes a reason for a new attempt to find another identity in the
immediate unreality.
The wax panopticon replaces those in the film, the narrator identifying himself
until becoming one with them, being convinced that this represents: “the only authentic
thing in the world, they were forging live themselves ostentatiously, being part of the
real air of the world, through their strange and artificial immobility” (Ibidem: 56).
The dismal perspective of the world, like a place with wax figures, where the
unimaginable terror of the world is expressed, is also present with George Bacovia.
“Lonely I was watching through spy glasses/ Lost in the deserted museum…/ And in
the world of spy glasses/ I was trapped in dismal thoughts-/ Wax bodies all around me/
With hideous and sad eyes” (Bacovia, 1976: 56).
The wax figures viewed by Blecher’s character “ an Austrian archduke with
pale and sad complexion”, whose face “infinitely more tragic than any true death… a
woman wearing black lace garments, with a pale, shining face… and blue eyes, as clear
as glass” (Blecher, 2009: 56-57) do not induce in Blecher character the same effect that
the wax figures have on Bacovia’s lyrical ego: “And then I ran, totally seized with
fright/ From the somber, terrifying museum” (Bacovia, 1976: 56), on the contrary,
Blecher’s character is convinced that: “in the panopticon and only there, there is no
contradiction between what I was doing and what is happening” (Blecher, 2009: 56).
The nostalgia for the panopticon will be felt like a permanent state by
Blecher’s character, the panorama of the fair will satisfy, at a certain point in his life,
this need for the artificiality: “in the panorama of the fair, I identify the common place
of all these waves of nostalgia, spread throughout the world, which being put together
makes up its particular own essence” (Ibidem). His admiration for one of his childhood
friends – Paul, will also be driven by the same obsession of the narrator-character for
the imitation of existence, an occurrence which this time is present in the image of the
variety show in town: “I still loved Paul for the secret life he was leading, beyond his
daily activities, of which I could only get echoes, being whispered with stupefaction by
the great people around me. Paul would spend all the money he was earning on women,
at the variety show” (Ibidem). Thus, humankind is desirable in the context in which one
relates with its perfect replicas. Life is mirrored in a distorted way within all these
spaces, intending to capture the essence of life.
The attraction for all these places will somehow end the moment when, being
inside the theatre, the narrator-character experiences a strange meeting with another
character, who seems the very personification of the disease he will suffer from. Not
accidentally, this experience was followed by an attempt to suicide and the first attack
felt as “losing a great amount of my own self” (Ibidem:112).
At the end of the novel Adventures in the Immediate Unreality the narrator-
character experiences the first conscious crisis on the one hand, and on the other hand,
he clearly expresses his wish to get rid of the inner self which was given to him: “it
would be great if I could replace that little joyous dummy! In the middle of the books
and balls, surrounded by clean objects, placed properly on a blue sheet of paper. Knock!
Knock! Knock! How nice, how good it feels in the window! Knock! Knock! Knock!
Red, green, blue; balls, books and paints. Knock! Knock! Knock! What a beautiful
autumn day!” (Ibidem:113-114)… This is also the point when the narrator, in a
kirkegaardian manner, becomes aware that h is not meant to be other than what he is,
nothing else: “There is actually a category of things in the world to which I have never
been meant to belong, uncaring and mechanical dummies, strong boys who never have a
headache. Around me, through the trees, in the sunlight a vivid and abundant stream

147
was flowing, full of life and purity. I was meant to stay at its verge for ever, soiled by
darkness and by weakness from fainting fits,” (Ibidem:115) or: “for the first time I felt
my head tightly squeezed in my skull. A terrible and painful imprisonment.”
(Ibidem:122).
The immediate effect of being aware of his state is that his inner self becomes
free to imagine the outer world according to his own perceptions. So, the illusion that he
has, imagining the view of a huge bunch of red dahlias instead of the scarf on the
bedside table, relates with Karl Jesper’s theory, according to which secondary illusions
can be interpreted as being influenced by the person’s background or current situation:
“Those red dahlias, so beautiful…/ -Which dahlias?/ - What do you mean…, which
dahlias? I got up and rushed to the shelf. Thrown over a pile of books, lay a red scarf”
(Ibidem:119).
According to Jesper’s theory, Blecher’s character seems to have two options:
either he falls into desperation, or he takes a step towards what the German philosopher
called Transcendence. Therefore, by choosing the second option the character confronts
his own limitless freedom – his own state of being, finally experiencing the authentic
being. The character experiments what is beyond the space and time of our world.
Also, the end of the text highlights two major problems that Blecher will
develop in his following novels: the character’s “nausea” and awareness of his own
death. “Nausea” brings Blecher’s character close to Antoine Roquentin, Jean Paul
Sartre’s character from the famous novel by the same name, due to the fact that both
heroes experience this feeling, as a result of their own state of being. In addition,
Blecher is heideggerian, as the end of the Adventures in the Immediate Unreality
triggers a long line of interrogations about death – seen from the perspective of someone
being in his full life: “when my hand is trying to write this strange, incomprehensible
and utterly simple thing, it seems to me for a moment, similar to a convict who is aware
for a second, unlike everybody else around him of the death awaiting him (and wishes
his turmoil were different from all the other turmoil in the world, succeeding in turning
him free), that out of all this, something warm and intimate, a new and authentic fact
will emerge, which will clearly bring me down to my essence, like to a name, and will
resound in me like a unique, unprecedented tone, which will be that of the meaning of
my life” (Ibidem:128).

Bibliography
Primary sources
Blecher, Max, The Lit up Burrow. A Sanatorium Diary , Art Publishing House, Bucharest, 2009
Blecher, Max, Adventures in Immediate Unreality, Art Publishing House, Bucharest, 2009
Blecher, Max, Scarred Hearts, Art Publishing House, Bucharest, 2009
Secondary sources
Bacovia George, Panorama in Bacovia, Lead, Yellow Sparks, Anthology, chronology, prefaces,
notes and bibliography by Adriana Mitescu, Bucharest, Albatros Publishing House, 1976
Eliade Mircea, With the Gypsies Girls and the Other Stories, Bucharest, Literature Publishing
House, 1968
Gide Andre, Theseus in autumn file, Bucharest, Univers Publishing House,1970
Sartre Jean Paul, The Words. Nausea, Bucharest, RAO Publishing House,2005

The work of Anamaria Peftiţi - Dobre (Ciobotaru) was supported by the

project "Sustainable performance in doctoral and post-doctoral research - PERFORM" co-funded
from the European Social Fund through the Development of Human Resources Operational
Programme 2007-2013, contract no. POSDRU/159/1.5/S/138963.

148
 ELEMENTS DE L’IMAGINAIRE COMMUNISTE DANS LE
ROMAN « PUPA RUSSA »

Lavinia-Ileana GEAMBEI*

Abstract: Gheorghe Craciun’s novel, Pupa Russa, appeared in Bucharest, Humanitas,

2004, is often characterized by brutal realism, doubled or even competed by the craft of
textualism. Although the writer confesses that he did not propose by Pupa Russa to write a
political novel or to be social panorama of a historical period (Romanian communism), the
leading character of the book, Leontina Guran, the Russian doll depicting the hybrid nature of the
hermaphrodite takes shape in the intimate relationship with the rural reality where she spends
her childhood and Romanian communist regime in Gheorghiu-Dej’s time and Ceausescu’s
„golden age”. Leontina Guran is impressed by the portrait of the Comrade and becomes UCY
secretary (Union of Communist Youth) and activist. Her history is accompanied and fragmented
by the birth and malignancy of communism, its failure in autism, according to the author’s
memory. Gheorghe Craciun’s novel constructs a carnivalesque imaginary which overturns the
official ideology values. Pupa Russa aims at the most important myths of the communist
vocabulary and imaginary: the revolution, the new man, the bourgeoisie criticism, anti-
capitalism, anti-intellectualism and collectivist character. The model built in the novel merges
popular imaginary with fantasies, the utopia of a political regime without connection to reality,
obsessed with rationality and organization. Starting from these premises, the present paper aims
to trace and illustrate how Gheorghe Craciun constructs the communist imaginary in his novel.
Keywords: communist imaginary, language, utopia.

Le roman de Gheorghe Crăciun, Pupa Russa, paru à Bucarest, aux éditions

Humanitas, en 2004, est un livre caractérisé par un réalisme parfois brutal, doublé –
voire concurrencé – par l’artisan du textualisme, l’écrivain devenant ainsi un vrai
« magister ludi, aussi bien sur les grandes surfaces des scènes romanesques, qu’au
niveau de la trame sonore des mots » (Pop, 2007: 857).
Bien que l’écrivain reconnaisse qu’il ne s’est pas proposé, avec Pupa Russa,
d’écrire « un roman politique ou d’être le panorama social d’une époque historique (le
communisme roumain) » (Crăciun, 2007 : 473), le personnage central du livre, Leontina
Guran, La poupée russe, se dessine dans sa relation intime avec l’évocation du milieu
rural où elle passe son enfance et avec les réalités du régime communiste roumain de la
période de Gheorghe Gheorgiu-Dej et celles de « l’époque d’or » de Nicolae Ceausescu.
Par l’intermédiaire de la présentation de l’histoire de Leontina, c’est le caractère
tentaculaire du système communiste qui nous est présenté. Dans la création de Leontina,
le personnage dans lequel on devine la nature hybride de l’androgyne, l’écrivain est
parti de l’idée du bovarysme de la femme en tant que « sécrétion d’un monde
fondamentalement malade » (Crăciun, 2006 : 25), comme il l’affirme dans le Journal au
roman Pupa Russa, journal tenu entre 1993 et 2000, et par l’intermédiaire duquel nous
pénétrons dans le laboratoire de création de Gheorghe Crăciun, apprenant ainsi ses
recherches, ses inquiétudes, ses interrogations et ses certitudes, l’effort créateur.
L’existence d’un « produit » de la société communiste est une certitude pour l’écrivain
qui ne trouve pas encore la force ou le courage d’écrire ce « roman détestable », comme
il l’appelait à l’époque :

*
Université de Pitesti, geambeilavinia@yahoo.com

149
 De toute façon, il y a une chose dont je suis sûr : il y a une Emma Bovary de la
province roumaine de ces dernières cinquante années, il ya cette poupée du
sort, qui fait des efforts désespérés pour changer continuellement de dessous,
de robes et d’ identités, ayant toujours le sentiment d’un échec perpétuel et
l’illusion d’un salut minimum, il y a cette femme précaire, frivole, instable,
vivante, effrayée par le fait que son simulacre de vie lui file entre les doigts,
écrasée finalement par l’avalanche de ses propres trahisons auxquelles elle s’est
sentie obligée par la sensation claire que l’amour doit être autre chose, comme
dans les films occidentaux. Il y a ce prototype féminin du trompeur trompé, que
le communisme a produit (Crăciun, 2006: 26).

Cette confession de l’auteur démontre le fait que Leontina n’est pas un

personnage typique dans le sens des personnages qui appartiennent à l’esthétique
réaliste (de Balzac ou de Flaubert, par exemple), mais comme le montre Caius
Dobrescu, dans la préface à la deuxième édition du roman, « une fiction statistique, un
modèle théorique, une sorte de « portrait-robot », mettant en évidence les lignes de force
de l’expérience, des mentalités et des fantasmes collectifs, qui font qu’un personnage
ayant de telles caractéristiques personnelles et biographiques est ressenti comme
représentatif » (Dobrescu, 2007 : 7).
Donc, l’histoire de Leontina Guran, la petite fille impressionnée par le portrait
du Camarade, devenue secrétaire de l’UTC – Uniunea Tineretului Comuniste (Union de
la Jeunesse Communiste) et activiste de l’UTC, est accompagnée et entrecoupée par
l’histoire de la naissance et de l’acutisation du communisme, tout cela ayant comme
base la mémoire auctoriale. Partant de l’idée que la mémoire de Proust est un espace
imaginaire, constitué par le texte, une valeur conditionnée syntaxiquement et non pas
sensoriellement, l’écrivain, qui va arriver à déclarer, dans le discours romanesque-
même, de manière flaubertienne, « Leontina c’est moi-même »1 (p. 391), imagine le
roman comme un livre « de la mémoire », un discours destiné à sa propre mémoire :

Si j’arrive à commencer vraiment La poupée russe, m’arrêtant à l’enfance de

Leontina, je ne dois pas agir de la même manière. Vu le fait que j’ai vécu dans
un monde pauvre, mensonger, dominé par la peur et les interdictions, mesquin
et philistin. Oui, pouvoir reconstituer le philistinisme du monde communiste
seulement de mes propres souvenirs, comme dans un puzzle avec des pièces
inappropriées (Crăciun, 2006: 14).

Comme on le sait, l’imaginaire collectif se nourrit d’un réservoir de souvenirs

profondément inscrits dans la mémoire sociale.
Le roman de Gheorghe Craciun construit un imaginaire carnavalesque qui
renverse les valeurs de l’idéologie officielle. Pupa Russa vise les mythes les plus
importants qui peuplent le vocabulaire et l’imaginaire communiste, tels que la
révolution, l’homme nouveau, la critique de la bourgeoisie, l’anticapitalisme, le
caractère collectiviste. Dans le modèle construit dans le roman, l’imaginaire populaire
épouse les fantasmes, l’utopie d’un régime politique sans adhérence à la réalité, qui est
obsédé de rationaliser et d’organiser.
Leontina Guran, le personnage de Gheorghe Craciun, est créé lui-même à
partir de stéréotypies sociales négatives. Comme le montre toujours Caius Dobrescu,

1
Nous précisons que toutes les citations qui apparaissent dans notre travail, et qui sont extraites
du roman Pupa Russa, font partie de la deuxième édition, augmentée, notée dans la Bibliographie.

150
 l’image du personnage se précise en fonction de l’allergie populaire au discours
communiste de la « promotion des femmes dans des postes de direction ». […]
Leontina est précédée d’un modèle abstrait de la « demande », négatif cette
fois, démonisé, celui de la « pute du parti », personnage immanquable du
panoptique qui codifie imaginairement la société de l’Ancien Régime
(Dobrescu, op.cit. : 8).

Leontina est, évidemment, l’adolescente pleine de sensualité, qui ne recule pas

devant les rituels obscènes qui se déroulent dans le grenier du foyer du lycée de la ville
de S.[ighisoara], les scènes de lesbianisme non plus, celle qui vit une histoire d’amour
avec le professeur de microbiologie Horaţiu Mălinaş, ensuite celle qui a plusieurs
aventures érotiques pendant la faculté et après, même avec Paraschiv, l’officier chargé
de la surveiller. Leontina est donc un « produit » des inerties et des déterminations
mécaniques de la mentalité collective :

une femme athlétique, ayant un sens aigu de l’indépendance, est,

nécessairement, une « pute », donc une « délatrice », donc avare et rusée, donc
prête à se prostituer pour une place au chaud dans l’appareil de propagande du
parti, mais, évidemment, suffisamment inintelligente pour se vendre pour des
privilèges assez menus (Ibidem : 8).

Cet être dilemmatique, multiforme, finit tragiquement. Après qu’elle s’installe

dans la maison du docteur Hristu Darvari, avec qui elle a une petite fille, Berta,
Leontina a des névroses répétées, sentant sa vie menacée par la routine et l’usure,
arrivant pour la deuxième fois dans le sanatorium du docteur Minea, où elle connaît
plusieurs personnes qui complotent contre Ceauşescu et auxquelles elle se rallie. Après
sa sortie du sanatorium, sa relation avec Darvari devient toujours plus fragile et
Leontina décide de retourner dans les bras d’un activiste du parti, Dorin Marteş,
planifiant sa « fuite » en Amérique, d’après l’exemple de la « marraine ». Mais à l’hôtel
où elle s’installe avec Berta, pour attendre Dorin Marteş, Leontina est frappée dans la
tête et tuée par une personne dont l’identité lui est inconnue : « Nimeni nu văzuse
nimic. Tot ce se ştie e că înainte de gestul crimei în aerul acelei incinte meschine de
hotel s-a auzit o voce care şuiera aceste cuvinte: ˮNa, curva dracului, să te saturi!” » (p.
401). [Personne n’avait rien vu. Tout ce que l’on sait, c’est qu’avant le geste criminel,
dans l’air de cette enceinte mesquine de l’hôtel on a entendu une voix qui sifflait ces
mots : ˮ Voilà, espèce de pute du diable, voilà pour que ça te serve de leçonˮ] (notre
traduction, L.I.G). Cette fin ambigüe est interprété par Caius Dobrescu toujours en
rapport avec l’imaginaire collectif :

Le meurtre final de Leontina, par un agent inconnu, qui devient ainsi une
instance impersonnelle, frise le sacrifice rituel et ouvre la perspective d’un
déclanchement des forces régénératives de l’imaginaire collectif. […] le
sacrifice suggère la volonté collective de la société roumaine sortie du
communisme d’oublier sa profonde, son essentielle lâcheté, de refouler sa
propre conscience de la culpabilité, de sa propre misère morale. Mais, presque
inévitablement, le symbolisme de la mort entraîne celui de la résurrection : le
personnage de Leontina transmet aussi la sensation du courage aveugle d’être,
de survivre dans n’importe quelles conditions, malgré toutes les conditions »
(Dobrescu, op.cit. : 14).

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 Le personnage qui essaie de se connaître en se rapportant à son nom,
lorsqu’elle était enfant, apprend que son nom lui a été donné par sa marraine Leontina,
« enfuie au-delà de la frontière ». On introduit ainsi une image qui est en rapport avec la
mentalité collective du communisme, celle du transfuge, que les autres regardent à la
fois avec méfiance, mais avec envie et méchanceté aussi. L’Amérique où la marraine
s’était enfuie crée des confusions dans la tête de l’enfant, parce qu’il y a deux images
différentes de l’Amérique qui se superposent, de sorte que cette hétéro-image, qui tient
de l’imagologie, devient une sorte de monnaie à deux faces. D’une part, il y a l’image
officielle, celle cultivée par les communistes, celle créée dans la presse, apprise à l’école
et acceptée docilement par tous, celle qui tient du mythe de l’anticapitalisme : « Despre
America învăţase apoi la şcoală şi America era o ţară pe care trebuia să o urăşti. O ţară
de bancheri bandiţi poliţişti capitalişti călăi. Aşa spunea tovarăşa învăţătoare când le
citea din ziar la ora de compunere» (p. 24). [De l’Amérique elle avait appris ensuite à
l’école et l’Amérique était un pays qu’il fallait haïr. Un pays de banquiers bandits
policiers capitalistes bourreaux. C’est ainsi que leur disait la camarade maîtresse
lorsqu’elle leur lisait du journal pendant la classe de rédaction ] (notre traduction,
L.I.G). (On observe comment l’écrivain, préoccupé par la réalité linguistique, choisit
l’abolition de la ponctuation quand il construit des images imposée par le
communisme). D’autres part, l’Amérique de l’imaginaire populaire représente une
image opposée, qui a une fonction compensatoire, car cette Amérique signifie un lieu du
bien, de l’élégance, de l’abondance, c’est-à-dire tout ce qui leur manquait, aux
Roumains, à ceux qui vivent dans un milieu affecté par les décompositions : « Deşi în
ţara asta naşa ei n-o ducea rău deloc. ˮAre de toate acolo, maşină, magazine, mâncare,
pantofi cu toc înalt, bluze de nailon, trai pe vătrai! ˮ. Aşa spuneau părinţii ei, mai ales
mama» (p. 24). [Bien que dans ce pays sa marraine ne vécût pas mal du tout. ˮElle a
tout ce qu’elle veut là-bas, voiture, magasins, nourriture, chaussures à haut talon,
blouses en nylon, la belle vie !ˮ C’est ainsi que disaient ses parents, surtout sa mère]
(notre traduction, L.I.G.). Pour Leontina, comme en fait pour toute la communauté,
« c’était comme si deux réalités totalement différentes avaient eu le même nom » (p.
24).
L’imaginaire communiste est refait surtout dans les fragments écrits avec des
caractères différents par rapport au reste du discours romanesque, introduits de temps en
temps, et qui représentent des textes-rédactions scolaires, des résumés parodiques de la
langue de bois des médias communistes, des (pseudo)articles de journal, des fragments
de la rhétorique des divers « organes » du pouvoir dictatorial. Tout cela refait le
discours totalitaire, dogmatique, fondamentalement faux, proposant un monde de
simulacres, spectacle verbal tragi-comique, derrière lequel se cache le drame collectif.
La liaison étroite entre le vécu immédiat et le vécu verbal, à travers ce discours, devenu
une forme de manipulation de la société, de mutilation de l’être, démontre, pourtant, une
prise de conscience de la part du personnage et de la communauté en général, de la farce
grotesque à laquelle oblige le discours.
Le premier fragment d’un tel discours est celui qui surprend, sur une note
amèrement ironique, avec des renvois au discours dogmatique de l’époque, mais aussi
avec les ambiguïtés truculentes de l’humour populaire, l’installation du communisme.
Comme on le sait bien, le communisme insiste sur l’amplification de la xénophobie et
sur la responsabilisation des « étrangers » pour les échecs de la Roumanie. Comme il
apparaît dans le fragment mentionné, dans l’imaginaire social communiste, s’impose,
par exemple, l’image du roi « étranger », comblé de richesses, qui ne s’identifie en rien

152
avec le roumanisme, en opposition avec le dirigent prosoviétique du gouvernement. Et
tout cela, bien évidemment, dans un vrai spectacle linguistique « carnavalesque » :

Iar regele avea moşii întinse, coteţe cu păuni, tablouri în ulei, avioane şi cai,
lacuri cu peşte gras, castele, bărci cu motor, butoaie cu vin, fabrici şi bani de
aur în care-ţi rupeai dinţii. […] Purta costume englezeşti, călătorea cu maşina,
nu se spăla pe dinţi decât dimineaţa şi seara. Nu cânta la caval, nu cosea, nu
grebla, nu mânca seminţe pe şanţ. El nu lovea cu pumnul în masă. […] Regele
era o hienă şi un şacal. Petru Groza era un bărbat elegant, cu pălărie de fetru. El
ţinea în mână hârtia cu abdicarea şi aştepta semnătura. Fuma o ţigară de foi (p.
27-28). [Et le roi avait des domaines étendus, des volières pour les paons, des
tableaux à huile sur toile, des avions et des chevaux, des étangs avec de gros
poissons, des châteaux, des bateaux à moteur, des tonneaux de vin, des
fabriques et des pièces de monnaie en or à s’y casser les dents. […] Il portait
des costumes anglais, il voyageait en voiture, il ne brossait ses dents que le
matin et le soir. Il ne jouait pas de la flûte champêtre, il ne cousait pas, il ne
ratissait pas, il ne mangeait pas des graines de citrouille ou de tournesol au bord
du fossé. Il ne tapait pas du poing sur la table. […] Le roi était une hyène et un
chacal. Petru Groza était un homme élégant, à chapeau en feutre. Il tenait dans
sa main la lettre d’abdication du roi et il en attendait la signature. Il fumait un
cigare] (notre traduction, L.I.G.).

La radiographie du monde communiste roumain à la limite du subliminal et du

verbal est faite parfois dans des phrases rythmées : « Producţia stârpea corupţia.
Înfăptuirea depăşea închipuirea. Răul era tăiat din rădăcină. Binele era pus în cărţi pe
prima pagină » (p. 28). [La production extirpait la corruption. La réalisation dépassait
l’imagination. Le Mal à la racine était coupé. Le Bien sur la première page des livres
était noté] (notre traduction, L.I.G.). L’imaginaire communiste comprend aussi, comme
on peut le voir toujours dans le même fragment, les figures des militants et des
dignitaires communistes qui avait pris progressivement le contrôle de la vie spirituelle
et politique de Roumanie : « Dar clasa muncitoare lua puterea şi o strângea la piept.
Începea un veac nou, cu puşcării şi canale, viaducte şi arestări, cu Pătrăşcanu şi Luca,
Chişinevski şi Stoica, Apostol şi Răutu » (p. 28). [Mais la classe travailleuse prenait le
pouvoir et le serrait contre sa poitrine. Un nouveau siècle commençait, avec des prisons
et des canaux, des viaducs et des arrestations, avec Pătraşcu et Luca, Chişinevschi et
Stoica, Apostol et Răutu] (notre traduction, L.I.G.).
Le culte de la personnalité a eu pendant le communisme un important rôle de
manipulation au niveau imagologique. Par l’excès d’image et d’hommages à l’adresse
du dirigent, l’imaginaire collectif est soumis à une agression systématique. Pour l’enfant
Leontina, le tableau du camarade devient obsédant, ce tableau omniprésent, « dans la
salle de classe et dans les couloirs, dans la salle des professeurs, et dans le livre de
roumain » (p. 43). Le ridicule et le grotesque de cette situation sont suggérés par la
référence à des espaces totalement inadéquats pour la présence du tableau, des espaces
qui entrent dans la composition de l’imaginaire communiste du village, c’est-à-dire le
magasin universel et le bar, qui, à leur tour, contiennent des objets spécifiques à la
période communiste, liés à la manie des constructions, présentés tous dans une ample
énumération : « … aceeaşi fotografie trona şi deasupra raftului cu cuie, lacăte, cleşti,
ciocane, potcoave, colaci de sârmă, pânze de bomfaier, şuruburi şi piroane din încăperea
magazinului mixt al satului, şi deasupra raftului cu sticle de tescovină şi secărică de la
bufet » (p. 43). [...la même photographie trônait aussi au-dessus du rayon de clous,
cadenas, tenailles, marteaux, fers à cheval, bobines de fil de fer, lames de scie à métaux,

153
vis et gros clous de la salle du magasin universel, et aussi au-dessus du rayon de
bouteilles d’eau-de-vie de marc et d’anisette du bar] (notre traduction, L.I.G.). La
manière dont on voulait construire l’image ineffable du camarade est présentée dans le
texte sur un ton amèrement ironique, où l’on rappelle d’autres éléments du vocabulaire
et de l’imaginaire communiste :

Pe obrazul lui creşteau lumina şi liniştea şi tăcerea şi un fel de aşteptare şi ceva

care venea din cer, o lumină pe care n-o poţi vedea decât sus de tot, deasupra
caselor, deasupra pomilor, o lumină pe care ai putea s-o vezi dacă ai fi undeva
foarte sus, pe o schelă, pe o macara, pe o sondă. Ştia toate cuvintele astea, cu
toate că nu văzuse niciodată în realitate o schelă, o macara, o sondă, le ştia din
cartea de citire, dintr-o poezie, dintr-un desen (p. 44). [Sur sa joue poussaient la
lumière et le calme et silence et une sorte d’attente et quelque chose qui venait
du ciel, une lumière que l’on ne peut voir que très haut, au-dessus des maisons,
au-dessus des arbres fruitiers, une lumière que l’on pourrait voir si l’on était
quelque part très haut, sur un échafaudage, sur une grue, sur une sonde. Il savait
tous ces mots bien qu’il n’ait jamais vu en réalité un échafaudage, une grue,
une sonde, il les savait du livre de lecture, d’une poésie, d’un dessin (notre
traduction, L.I.G.).

On fait allusion ici à une autre réalité de la période communiste, la

manipulation par la littérature devenue objet de propagande, en fait une pseudo-
littérature. En plus, Leontina, l’élève du primaire, qui a assimilé solidement cette
littérature proletcultiste, « promène » souvent dans sa mémoire des vers de ce genre :
« Brazii, schela de ţiţei/ Munţi înalţi, iar peste ei/ Soarele măreţ s-arată./ Ăsta-i chipul
ţării, iată! » (p. 45). [Les sapins, l’exploitation pétrolière/Hautes montagnes, et au-
dessus d’elles/ Le soleil grandiose se montre./Voilà, c’est le visage du pays !] (notre
traduction, L.I.G.).
Cela arrive surtout pendant les moments d’angoisse, par exemple lorsque
Leontina et d’autres camarades de jeu sont enquêtés par l’adjudant de police à cause
d’une distraction innocente. Pendant qu’ils jouaient, les enfants avaient trouvé à la
lisière d’une forêt un parachute abandonné et enterré, ce qui a eu de graves
conséquences. Le père de Leontina a été accusé d’avoir comploté avec les partisans des
montagnes et, à cause de cela, emprisonné. Pendant que les enfants sont interrogés par
l’adjudant Ioviţă, Leontina, en regardant le portrait du camarade, « médite » à l’idée de
peuple, tel qu’il lui a été présenté à l’école. L’image du peuple est présentée de nouveau
en clef amèrement ironique, grâce à la variation des perspectives et du régime
temporel : « Qui étaient-ils ? Des enfants. Les enfants et le policier, les gens menus et le
grand homme, c’est-à-dire – c’est ce que l’on leur a appris à l’école – un peuple. Moi et
toi, vous et nous, eux, le peuple. » (p. 55). Leontina ressent dès l’âge de l’enfance le
dogmatisme rigide et l’opacité du régime communiste. C’est pourquoi de très nombreux
éléments qui reconstruisent l’imaginaire communiste de la période de Dej sont insérés
dans un fragment qui contient des éléments du folklore des enfants :

Un, doi, trei, patru, an-tan-tiki-tan, cinci, şase, şapte, o sută, Sever-căpitan, şi
zece mii de plutonieri, o sută de mii de copii, sute de mii de soldaţi, milioane de
muncitori, anga-rache-banga-rache, treci la loc, puncte şi numere, marşuri şi
aplauze, cântece şi ovaţii, târnăcoape, ciocane, baroase, nicovale şi seceri,
tractoare şi buldozere, turnătorii de fontă şi galerii, puşcării şi combine,
strunguri şi năvoade de pescuit, camioane şi betoniere, cofraje, cărămizi,
chintale de soia şi vagoane de grâu, avioane şi îngrăşăminte, asfalt, petrol,

154
 plumb, piuliţe şi semănători, puşti şi tunuri, ţapine şi hidrocentrale, furnale şi
turnuri de apă. Prin zloată şi furtună, prin ploaie şi noroi, în focul luptei! Leonte
şi Didina se plimbă cu maşina./ Maşina face poc,/ Treci, boule, la loc! (p. 55).
[Un, deux, trois, quatre, an-tan-tiki-tan, cinq, six, sept, cent, Sévère-capitaine,
et dix mille adjudants, cent mille enfants, des centaines de milliers de soldats,
des millions d’ouvriers, anga-rache-banga-rache, va à ta place, des points et
des nombres, des marches et des applaudissements, des chansons et des
ovations, des pioches, des marteaux, des casse-pierres, des enclumes et des
faucilles, des tracteurs et des bulldozers, des fonderies de fonte et des galeries,
des prisons et des moissonneuses-batteuses, des tours et des filets de pêche, des
camions et des bétonnières, des coffrages, des briques, des quintaux de soja et
des wagons de blé, des avions et des engrais, de l’asphalte, du pétrole, du
plomb, des écrous et des semoirs, des fusils et des canons, des pics de flotteur
et des hydrocentrales, des fourneaux et des tours d’eau. Par la giboulée et
l’orage, par la pluie et la boue, au coeur de la lutte ! Leonte et Didina se
promènent en voiture./ La voiture fait poc,/Espèce de bête va à ta place !]
(notre traduction, L.I.G.).

Le mythe de l’homme nouveau et de la vie nouvelle construit pendant le

communisme est présenté dans une rédaction scolaire sur le thème « mon village bien
aimé », dans un vrai spectacle verbal, bondé de clichés de l’époque de Dej, à côté du
registre familier, qui laisse transparaître le drame collectif et l’absurde de ce régime :

Locuitorii satului nostru păşesc voioşi sub îndrumarea partidului. Ei făuresc o

viaţă nouă. [...] De strângerea legăturilor cu masele se ocupă miliţianul cu
cizme de piele şi uniformă albastră, învăţătorul cu ceas Raketa la mână, trimisul
de la centru, care e mereu încruntat pentru că are mari răspunderi, muncitorul
cu bască şi muncitorul cu şapcă, primarul şi un soldat neobosit. Toţi muncesc
neobosit. [...] La noi în sat, Gheorghe Tican şi Vasile Dobre sunt primii care au
intrat în gospodăria colectivă cu tot ce.au avut, adică cu mâinile goale, dar asta
nu e important. Noi ştim că ei sunt însufleţiţi de hotărârea supremă de a nu se
lăsa, chiar dacă unii chiaburi şi unele cozi de topor mârâie şi-şi ascund prin
diferite gropi grâul şi porumbul sau vacile şi bivoliţele prin tot felul de păduri.
(p. 63-65). [Les habitants de notre village marchent avec joie sous la direction
du parti. Ils créent une vie nouvelle. […] Le policier aux bottes de cuir et en
uniforme bleue, le maître d’école qui porte une montre Raketa au poigné,
l’envoyé du centre, qui est toujours sombre parce qu’il a de grosses
responsabilités, l’ouvrier au basque et l’ouvrier à la casquette, le maire et un
soldat infatigable, ils sont tous chargés de rendre plus étroits les rapports avec
les masses. […] Dans notre village, Gheorghe Tican et Vasile Dobre sont les
premiers qui se sont inscrits dans la coopérative agricole avec tout ce qu’ils
possédaient, c’est-à-dire les mains vides, mais ce n’est pas important. Nous
savons qu’ils sont animés par la décision suprême de ne pas renoncer, même si
certains paysans cossus et certains délateurs vocifèrent et cachent dans diverses
fosses leur blé et leur maïs ou leurs vaches et leurs bufflonnes dans toute sorte
de forêts.] (notre traduction, L.I.G.).

L’histoire politique et l’anecdotique se lient organiquement entre eux. Dans

une autre rédaction scolaire sur le thème « ma patrie », c’est la saveur du langage qui
impressionne, le détournement ironique de l’information, les vulgarismes contextualisés
de manière raffinée-ironique :

155
 Tovarăşul apare la tribună şi face cu mâna, fotograful îşi trage pe mâini
mănuşile de azbest şi declanşează, stâlpii de înaltă tensiune stau drepţi, e bine, e
sublim. Printre corcoduşi şi curmali, printre arbori de pâine şi cozi ordonate la
zahăr pe cartelă răzbate cântecul. E energic, e invincibil, e pizdos (p. 83). [Le
camarade apparaît à la tribune et il salue les gens de la main, le photographe
met ses gants d’asbeste et déclenche, les poteaux à haute tension restent debout,
c’est bien, c’est sublime. Parmi les mirabelliers et les dattiers, parmi les arbres
à pain et les queues ordonnées pour le sucre rationnalisé la chanson se fait
entendre. Elle est énergique, elle est invincible, elle a du culot] (notre
traduction, L.I.G.).

En même temps que la transformation de la République populaire en

République Socialiste de Roumanie, avec l’installation du nouveau régime
communiste, celui de Ceausescu, une démocratisation relative, qui se reflète dans
l’imaginaire collectif, s’annonce. Les nouveaux éléments de la vie, qui sont entrés par
la suite dans le vocabulaire et l’imaginaire communiste sous Ceauşescu, sont présentés
dans une très ample énumération d’un fragment évocateur inséré dans la narration
proprement-dite:

Bătea vântul schimbării. Şi vântul acesta cânta cuvinte noi, nume noi: muzică
rock, tehnologie, import, hidrocentrală, blue jeans, Beatles, Havana Club, twist,
tranzistor [...]. Curgeau împreună cu ea scaune tapiţate cu spătar, seminţe de
dovleac şi floarea-soarelui, bretele elastice, aspiratoare Electro Argeş, nasturi
de os, reşouri [...], aparate de ras electrice din RDG, grafice de prezenţă, vitrine
frigorifice, hidrobiciclete (p. 115). [Le vent du changement soufflait. Et ce vent
chantait des mots nouveaux, des noms nouveaux : musique rock, technologie,
importation, hydrocentrale, blue jeans, Beatles, Havana Club, Twist, transistor
[…]. Et avec lui coulaient des chaises tapissées avec dossier, des graines de
citrouille et de tournesol, des bretelles élastiques, des aspirateurs Electro Argeş,
des boutons en os, des réchauds […], des rasoirs électriques de RDA, des
graphiques de présence, des vitrines frigorifiques, des vélos d’eau] (notre
traduction, L.I.G.).

La définition de la nouvelle société communiste roumaine est donnée par un

personnage très intéressant, qui peut être considéré un alter ego de l’écrivain, surtout
qu’il emprunte certains aspects de sa biographie – il était depuis plusieurs années
professeur navetteur de roumain -, mais surtout beaucoup de ses idées. Dans une
discussion avec Leontina, qui a eu lieu un soir autour d’une bouteille de vodka, le
professeur Dan Iacomir lui parle avec cynisme de l’idéal, du monde absurde, de la
dualité de l’être humain, en chacun existant et le criminel et le saint, comme le montre
aussi la littérature de Dostoïevski, qu’il lui recommande à la place « des paperasses qui
puent le mensonge d’une lieue ». A la suite de cette discussion, Leontina, l’activiste du
parti, vit des moments d’angoisse, de remord, mais elle trouve sa consolation en accusant
le système, le communisme qui a annihilé l’idée d’individu et de liberté, en les
transformant tous en opportunistes :

Cine-o făcea de plăcere, ăsta era sistemul şi gata! Toţi fierbeau în acelaşi cazan.
Toţi erau nişte cărtiţe oarbe. Toţi nişte şoricei cuminţi, obişnuiţi să fugă repede,
la aprinderea becului, exact în locul unde strălucea albă şi pură mult visata
bucată de brânză. Toţi aceeaşi tocană, o apă şi-un pământ. Nu cunoştea ea
poezia? Partidul e-n toate, e-n cele ce sunt/ Şi-n cele ce maine vor râde la
soare... (p. 271). [Qui le faisait par plaisir ?! Tel était le système et un point

156
 c’est tout ! Ils bouillaient tous dans la même marmite. Ils étaient tous des
taupes aveugles. Tous de petites souris sages, habituées à s’enfuir vite,
lorsqu’on allume la lumière, exactement à l’endroit où luisait, blanc et pur, le
morceau de fromage. Tous un même ragoût, tous pétris de la même terre. Ne
connaissait-elle pas la poésie ? Le parti est en tout, il est en ce qui existe/Et en
ce qui demain rira au soleil… ] (notre traduction, L.I.G.).

De ce point de vue, des commentateurs de l’œuvre reprochent à Leontina

Guran, le personnage de Gheorghe Crăciun, de vivre une expérience spéciale du
compromis étique, de souffrir de passivité, de conformisme, c’est-à-dire de la
philosophie sommaire de l’homme commun, majoritaire dans la société roumaine du
communisme. Soumettant le roman à une telle grille de lecture, Ion Pop considère que,
peut-être, « l’idée plus subtile qui est à la base du roman Pupa Russa est approximable
à ce niveau de la confrontation/symbiose, voire osmose sur certaines parcelles, entre les
strates du vécu élémentaire, presque exclusivement organiques, « naturelles », du
monde et de ses langages, et les inerties multiples et vite accaparatrices de l’univers
totalitaire, qui mise précisément sur le manque de réaction supérieurement réalisé à
l’action, elle aussi systématique, de réduction de l’homme à la condition de roue dentée
dans un gigantesque mécanisme uniformisant » (Pop, op.cit., p. 856).
Du point de vue de la sémantique du discours, qui démontre l’action de
régénération du langage artistique, Gheorghe Crăciun, celui de Pupa Russa, peut être
rapproché de Ion D. Sârbu, celui de Adieu, l’Europe !. L’ironie est présente dans les
deux romans, elle dynamite le clichée linguistique, le vidant de sens. Le personnage
narrateur du roman de Ion D. Sârbu considère que le procédé adéquat à cet univers
faussé, dans le cas de l’expansion des « mots morts », est la palinodie :

Palinodia este genul literar cel mai apropiat de spiritul Isarlâkului nostru pieziş
şi hoţesc: lăudăm ca să ascundem o scârbă, înjurăm ca să ferim o dragoste,
cântăm gloria şi speranţele când suntem mai la pământ, omagiem trecutul (care
e singurul viitor ce ne-a mai rămas) exact când ne îngrozeşte de moarte
prezentul ăsta ce nu se mai termină (Sârbu, I, 1992: 134). [La palinodie est le
genre littéraire le plus proche de l’esprit de notre Hisarlik faux et malin : nous
louons pour cacher un dégoût, nous jurons pour protéger un amour, nous
chantons la gloire et les espoirs lorsque nous sommes presque à terre, nous
rendons hommage au passé (qui est le seul avenir qui nous reste) exactement au
moment où ce présent qui ne finit plus nous effraie terriblement] (notre
traduction, L.I.G.).

Le narrateur de Pupa Russa, parlant des mots qui dominaient le vocabulaire et

l’imaginaire communiste : parti, patrie, Ceauşescu, peuple, les caractérisent comme
étant « atteints de la maladie d’Alzheimer et du mal de Pott, de l’émeute paysanne de
1907 et de la révolution permanente de l’épluchement de l’intelligence de son sens »
(p. 337). Par exemple, « Cuvântul POPOR înghiţea nesătul şpan şi zgură ţărână şi
cartofi fierţi oase de peşte şi tobă de şorici. Era bătut cu barosul în pagina de ziar în
creierul de gelatină al copiilor de grădiniţă în stâncile de granit ale defileului patriotic »
(p. 337). [Le mot PEUPLE avalait insatiable des copeaux et de la scorie de la
poussière et des pommes de terre bouillies des arêtes de poisson et de la charcuterie. Il
était enfoncé avec le casse-pierres dans la Une du journal dans le cerveau de gélatine
des enfants de l’école maternelle dans les rochers de granit du défilé patriotique] (notre
traduction, L.I.G.).

157
 Pour conclure, dans le roman Pupa Russa, en même temps que la dissection du
phénomène social régressif, Gheorghe Crăciun fore les substrats du langage, mettant en
relief le processus de sa dégradation, minant surtout la langue de bois de l’époque
totalitariste, le lexique mortifié, chargé de slogans et de formules optimisantes. En
reconstituant le discours dogmatique, luisant et aliéné de l’époque, au-delà duquel,
comme nous l’avons déjà affirmé, est mis en évidence le drame collectif, Gheorghe
Crăciun reconstruit tout l’imaginaire communiste, qui se régénère par la mémoire, les
expériences, les fantasmes, les perceptions, les vécus affectifs, par lesquels est configuré
un monde complexe, tout cela étant attribué à la protagoniste Leontina.

Bibliographie
Crăciun, Gheorghe, Trupul ştie mai mult. Fals jurnal la ,,Pupa Russa” (1993-2000), Paralela 45,
Piteşti, 2006.
Crăciun, Gheorghe, Pupa Russa, ediţia a II-a, augmentată, prefaţă Caius Dobrescu, postafaţă
Carmen Muşat, Grupul Editorial Art, Bucureşti, 2007.
Dobrescu, Caius, Un Bertrand Russell de respiraţie wagneriană, în vol. Gheorghe Crăciun, Pupa
Russa, ediţia citată.
Pop, Ion, în Dicţionar analitic de opere literare româneşti, N-Z, ediţie definitivă, coord. Ion Pop,
Casa Cărţii de Ştiinţă, Cluj-Napoca, 2007.
Sârbu, D. Ion, Adio, Europa!, vol. I, Editura Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 1992.

158
 ONTOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE COMMUNION IN DOREL
VIŞAN’S “PSALMS”: THE VERTICAL AND THE HORIZONTAL
OF THE CROSS

Ancuţa GURBAN-DINU

Moto: „Şi-atunci, atuncea îmi dau

seama/ ce la-ndemână-i Taina:/ cum că
Iubirii/ îi e de-ajuns Iubirea//”. (Dorel
Vişan, Psalm 154 [Dă-mi, Doamne,
ochii înapoi – Un alt cântec despre
iubire])

Abstract: In the present article, our aim is to analyze the ontological aspects of the
communion in Dorel Vişan’s “Psalms”, on the one hand, on the vertical of the Cross, through the
perspective of man’s relationship to God, as he is created “after God’s image” (meaning that he
has freely, through creation, received reason, judgement and feelings) and is called to “the
likeness to him” (meaning the holiness he can achieve with the help of the divine grace) and, on
the other, the horizontal of the Cross, through the perspective of his relationship with his peers,
those who share the Creators own face.
Keywords: God, prayer, psalm.

The well-known Romanian intellectual Dorel Vişan 1 made his debut in 1995
with poems in the magazine Steaua. He has up to now published the following books of
poems: De vorbă cu Domnul (Timişoara, Popa’s Art, 1997), Vremea cireşelor amare…
(Cluj-Napoca, Napoca Star, 1998), Voi veni cu fluxul (Timişoara, Popa’s Art, 1998),
Păcate… (Cluj-Napoca, Cartimpex, 2000); Psalmi (Cluj-Napoca, Dacia, 2002). The
latest volume was reedited in 2010, in a special bilingual Romanian-Spanish edition
Psalmi/Salmos2 (translator Christian Tămaş, Iaşi, Ars Longa), în 2011 (Cluj-Napoca,
Dacia XXI) and in 2013, in a special bilingual Romanian-French edition
Psalmi/Psaumes3 (translator Christian Tămaş, Iaşi, Ars Longa). Dorel Vişan’s Psalms
(< gr. Ψαλμοί = songs accompanied by musical instruments; religious hymns) are not
only translated into Spanish and French, but some also into Greek (twelve of them). The
poet has also received requests to have his psalms translated into Hebrew.
Neglected by Romanian critics, he was among the twelve finalists of the 2010
international competition of mistic poetry “Fernando Rielo” with the volume Salmos
(Psalmi). The Romanian poet’s talent is worthy of appreciation as only one more
Romanian had ever taken part in this competition twenty-seven years before: at the
festival’s 3rd edition, in 1983, Marin Sorescu won the “Fernando Rielo” World Prize
with the volume El Ecuador y los Polos (Ecuatorul şi polii).


University of Bucharest, Romania; ancuta_202000@yahoo.fr
1
Available at: http://www.eugeniavoda.ro/ro/emisiuni/arte/dorel-visan (consulted on 15.07.2015)
2
Available at: http://www.amosnews.ro/arhiva/lansare-carte-psalmi-dorel-visan-editie-bilingva-
romana-spaniola-24-05-2010 (consulted on 15.07.2015)
3
Available at: http://jurnalul.ro/cultura/carte/psalmii-lui-dorel-visan-la-paris-653112.html
(consulted on 15.07.2015)

159
 Next we will focus upon his poetic experience and more precisely on his
psalms, because this is, unfortunately, very scarcely known by the Romanian public
and, paradoxically, quite familiar to the European one.

Dorel Vişan, the Psalmist

Dorel Vişan started writing his first psalms in Hungary, after which, having
been abandoned by the muse of divine inspiration for three years, he did not write any
more. The revelation came upon him when he visited the Recea Monastery and had a
prophetic discussion with father Ioan. Here is his own confession:

I started writing psalms when I was in Hungary. I was working there on an

international drama project, I wrote my first three psalms and I was emptied by
inspiration. I did not have any more inspiration. Whatever I tried to write I was
immitating someone else, David, Arghezi, so I stopped writing. I came back to
Romania in a few months and stopped writing for three years. Then I went to
Recea Monastery, near Târgu-Mureş. There I had a discussion with a priest,
father Ioan, who told me only that I would have a revelation. All I knew about
him was that he was a special person. When leaving, I entered the bookshop
near the monastery gates and found a book by Ernest Bernea about Christian
love. As I was browsing the pages of the book I was engulfed by an idea about
what to write, what the psalms should contain. Each had to contain something
from within humanity, about pain, tears, sorrow, joy, alienation. I started
writing and within three years I had finished the rest up to fifty, but I numbered
them from David, from 150 onwards1 (our trans.).

The Metropolitan Bartolomeu Anania explains in “Introduction to the Psalms”

that both the Greek translation and the Hebrew one are made up of 151 psalms:

The Book of Psalms is made up of 150 poems. The number had been
established before the Septuaginta appeared: it contains an 151st psalm that
bears the note “outside of the count”. The same number of Psalms is in the
Vulgata; the Blessed Jerome translated them first after the Septuaginta […], but
the total is identical in the latter translation after the Hebrew text (Bartolomeu,
A., 2011: 902) (our trans.).

In the volume The Psalms we notice that the count starts from number 151 – as
a sequel to those written by King David – from a “song of probation” (Răspunde-mi,
Doamne, dacă poţi) and end with number 200, in an “Revelation” (Ferice de cel care
citeşte…). This count is perfectly legitimate as any devoted soul, like the psalmist
David, has the right to open his soul in front of God and confess in writing what this
commitment means for him. And what can be more beautiful than this?

The Titles and Subtitles of the Psalms

With regards to the psalms’ titles, we notice that it is picked-up in the first
verse and, sometimes, in the next verses, with the exception of the psalms: 151
(Răspunde-mi, Doamne, dacă poţi – Un cântec al încercării), 157 (Durerea adevărului
împuţinat), 158 (Am socotit şi eu, Părinte – Un cântec despre zădărnicie), 171

1
Available at: http://jurnalspiritual.eu/actorul-dorel-visan-acolo-unde-am-copilarit-eu-dumnezeu-
facea-parte-din-familie/ (consulted on 15.07.2015)

160
(Doamne, mă tem pentru Tine… – O cântare a singurătăţii), 187 (it is the only psalm
untitled), 191 (Domnul este scăparea mea – Întâiul jertfelnic), 197 (Dă-mi, Doamne,
bucuria de-a fi plâns – O cântare a lacrimilor). Concerning the subtitles of the psalms,
we can group them as follows:
The psalms of the chant: “of probation”: 151 (Răspunde-mi, Doamne, dacă
poţi – Un cântec al încercării); “of freedom”: 153 (Doamne, adu-Ţi aminte de mine –
Un cântec de laudă pentru libertate); 156 (Cu silnicia mă îmbrac… – Un nou cântec
pentru libertate); “of love”: 154 (Dă-mi, Doamne, ochii înapoi – Un alt cântec despre
iubire)1; “of weakness”: 155 (Sunt pui căzut din cuib… – O cântare a neputinţei); “of
uselessness”: 158 (Am socotit şi eu, Părinte – Un cântec despre zădărnicie); “of
inquiries”: 161 (Oare ce sunt eu, Doamne (?) – O cântare a întrebărilor)2, 173
(Doamne, ne-ai făcut oglindă gata spartă… – A doua cântare a întrebărilor), 198
(Acoperiţi de aceleaşi stele – A treia cântare a întrebărilor); “of those who pray”: 166
(Eu bat în Tine ca-ntr-o poartă – O cântare despre cei care se roagă); “of death”: 167
(Unde mă caută ochii tăi orbi – Un cântec despre moarte); “of fickleness”: 168
(Strigat-am către Tine – O cântare a nestatorniciei); “of the soul”: 170 (Aş da oricât,
Părinte… – O cântare a sufletului), 179 (Înverşunată luptă mă macină, Doamne – Un
cântec al casei sufletului); “of loneliness”: 171 (Doamne, mă tem pentru Tine… – O
cântare a singurătăţii); „of the year 2000”: 172 (Doamne, nu mai am putere nici să
strig… – Un cântec al anului 2000); “of the woman-mother”: 174 (N-am decât vise,
Doamne – O cântare a femeii-mame); “of passing”: 175 (Doamne, ce repede soartă mă
mână – O cântare a trecerii); “of harassment”: 178 (Opreşte-Te, Doamne, din castele
Tale ninsori – O cântare a pustiirii); “of repentance” : 186 (Doamne, sunt Iudă
nevrednică – O cântare a căinţei şi un strigăt); “of wandering”: 189 (Doamne, nu mai
ştim drumul de întoarcere – O cântare a rătăcirilor); “of good and bad luck”: 194
(Norocul, cât mi l-ai lăsat… – O cântare despre noroc şi nenoroc); “of tears”: 197 (Dă-
mi, Doamne, bucuria de-a fi plâns – O cântare a lacrimilor).
The psalms of prayer: 159 (Ajută-mă, Părinte – Întâia rugăciune), 160
(Doamne, cu faţa plânsă… – A doua rugăciune), 164 (Doamne, mă îngrozesc de
semnele Cerului… – A treia rugăciune), 169 (Doamne, nu mă lăsa de batjocură – A
patra rugăciune), 177 (Încearcă-mă, Doamne, prin foc – A cincea rugăciune), 181
(Doamne, dacă ai tăcut… – A şaptea rugăciune), 193 (Am cercetat inima mea, Părinte
– A opta rugăciune), 196 (Doamne, scoate-mi inima de piatră – A noua rugăciune).
After a first reading we might think that a 6th prayer is missing, but, after a closer
inspection, we find it hidden inside the 9th (as 9 is a reversed 6).
The psalms of Jeremiah’s wail: 185 (Mâhnită mi-e inima, Doamne – Întâia
plângere), 188 (Vai mie, vai ţie – A doua plângere), 190 (Doamne, păcatul e mare – A
treia plângere), 195 (Sunt pradă-n voia vremii, Doamne – A patra plângere), 199 (Ia-
mă părtaş, Părinte, la Lucrarea Ta… – A cincea plângere).
The psalms of the scriptural referrals: Song of Solomon: 162 (Asemeni
Elenei în veci… – O altă Cântare a cântărilor), 184 [Domnul şi-a adus aminte de
mine… – Imn păgân (adăugiri la Cântarea Cântărilor)]; The parables of our Saviour
Jesus Christ: 163 (Când cărţile vieţii le-ntorci – O altă pildă a Mântuitorului); The
Psalms of the Saint Prophet David: 165 (Azi-noapte glasul m-a strigat din nou – Un

1
Available at: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gy2i1 [Psalm 154 (Dă-mi, Doamne, ochii
înapoi – Un alt cântec despre iubire)] (consulted on 15.07.2015)
2
Available at: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gxm32 [Psalm 161 (Oare ce sunt eu,
Doamne (?) – O cântare a întrebărilor)] (consulted on 15.07.2015)

161
Cuvânt înainte la Cartea Psalmilor); The Ghetsimani Garden: 183 (Tată, mă cere
răcoarea – Noul Ghetsimani); The Sacrificial: 191 (Domnul este scăparea mea – Întâiul
jertfelnic); The Annunciation: 192 (Din nou speranţele învie – Bună vestire);
Revelation: 200 (Ferice de cel care citeşte… – Apocalipsă). Exempt from this
classification are those psalms which do not have a subtitle: 152 (Doamne, de-o
veşnicie), 176 (Mi-e tot mai greu, Părinte), 180 (Scapă-mă, Doamne, de veşminte), 182
(Doamne, când m-ai zidit) şi 157 (Durerea adevărului împuţinat).
We conclude that the titles and the subtitles of the psalms include within a
divine message which is made up of, as we will discover, both man’s inmost
relationship with God as well as the honest and pure disclosure of man’s soul.

The Scriptural and Literary Mottoes of the Psalms

Some psalms – 179, 184 and 191 – have a scriptural motto, a fact which proves
the psalmist’s passion for the Life giving Word: I Corinthians 3:7: “[…] neither he who
plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth”; Revelation
21:2: “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”; Exodus 17:6: “Behold, I will stand before
you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out
of it, and the people will drink”.
Other psalms – 180, 192 and 194 – have a literary motto, a fact which attests
the psalmist’s propensity for the word which creates an artistic meaning: Pascal,
Pensées (« La grandeur de l’homme est grande en ce qu-il se connaît misérable »);
Tudor Arghezi, Sarcină sacră („Sunt greu cum era grea Fecioara/Din Duhul Sfânt, şi-s
chinuit şi trist”); Honoré de Balzac, Talismanul miraculos (La Peau de chagrin): („[…]
bagajul celui care umblă după noroc trebuie să fie cât mai uşor” ).

Ways of Addressing to God

Dorel Vişan addresses to God in different manners, a fact which proves the
unique connection which he has with Him in the history of his own salvation. Related to
this aspect we can identify two categories of psalms:
The psalms of the avowal of God: „Doamne” – 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 157,
158, 160, 161, 163, 164, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179,
180, 181, 182, 184, 185, 186, 187, 189, 190, 191, 192, 193, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199;
„Domnul” – 165, 184; „Mângâietorul” – 186; „Elohim” – 188. Dorel Vişan addresses
God as a transcedental Being, the Creator of the entire Universe. We can in this case
talk about a dialogue on the vertical between God and the psalmist.
The psalms of the recognition of the twofold paternity (God the Father
and God the Child): „Tată Ceresc” – 152, 184, 185, 193; „Părinte” – 153, 154, 155,
156, 158, 159, 163, 164, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 175, 179, 180, 185, 186, 191, 193,
194, 195, 198, 199, 200; „Cerescule Tată” – 153, 156, 164, 168, 169, 175; „Cerescule
Părinte” – 163; „Tată” – 183, 192, 195; „Părinte ceresc” – 190; „Copil” – 152, 192.
Dorel Vişan perceives God in three hypostases accessible to human comprehension:
“Child”, “Father” and “Parent”. Through these the psalmist undertakes a horizontal
dialogue with Him. Thus the consciously received paternal Godly love helps the
psalmist live inside love.


« […] que léger soit le bagage de qui poursuit la fortune ».

162
 The Hypostases of God or “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
(Matthew 16:13)
Although he can not know God as He is, through divine attributes, the psalmist
notices the presence, the work and the transcendence of God in the world. As His
characteristics can never exhaust His Being, we will focus on the following three:
Natural characteristics: spirituality: „Nici când de înălţimea Ta mă-
nfricoşez/” – 191; „Căci Tu singur eşti curat cu inima/” – 195; omnipresence or
omnispaceness: „De ce zideşti spre a surpa, Părinte,/ Când eşti puternic şi de necuprins
(?)/” – 185; almightyness: „Doamne! Eşti atotputernic şi eşti mare/” – 151; „Atunci îţi
simt mărirea/ şi-atunci cred că Tu, singur, ajungi desăvârşirea./” – 154; „Ce mare şi
puternic eşti, Doamne,/ că pier înainte de a ajunge în calea Ta…// […]/ iar privind
măreţia Lucrărilor Tale/ sunt prizonier ca marea când se închide scoica.//” – 161; „Prin
buzele celor ce se-ntâlnesc/ În marea Ta minune/ La timp de rugăciune.//” – 166; „Tu
eşti piatra stâncii mele/” – 172; „Eşti mare, Doamne,/Şi mare este tăria Ta/” – 173;
„Stânca mea şi scăparea mea, Doamne,/” – 173; „De ce zideşti spre a surpa, Părinte,/
Când eşti puternic şi de necuprins (?)/” – 185; „Judecă-mă, Părinte, numai întru puterea
Ta/” – 186; „Vino, Doamne, şi alungă prin Atotputernicia Ta/” – 186; „[…] de înălţimea
Ta mă-nfricoşez/” – 191; „[…] ca să pot puterea şi mărirea să Ţi-o cânt/ – 192; „Să
măsor mereu Atotputernicia Ta/ Cu neputinţa mea,/Căci de la Tine vine toată puterea,/ –
193;
Intellectual characteristics: total knowledge: „ca să plesnească întru Taina
naşterii/ pe care numai Tu o cunoşti…/” – 160; „Şi priceperea Ta este fără hotare./” –
173; „Umbra Ta cutremurătoare/ Atoateştiutoare/” – 178; total wisdom: „Mă adap din
învăţăturile Tale./” – 196;
Moral characteristics: righteousness: „Am nădăjduit în dreptatea Ta,/” – 158;
„Judecăţile dreptăţii Tale să păzesc,/” – 195; „Căci Tu eşti foc şi-i arzi pe cei
nevrednici/” – 195; truth: „Să aflu adevărurile Tale şi să-ţi fiu pe plac…/” – 177;
„Deschide-mi buzele/ Doar spre lauda adevărului Tău/” – 186; mercy: „[…] îndurarea
Ta e în toate…” – 153; „Căci a Ta este mila şi judecata…” – 164; „Dar eu voi cânta
mereu îndurarea Ta/” – 168; kindness: „Domnul şi-a adus aminte de strigătele mele/ Şi
mi-a trimis ajutor din preaplinul Lui” – 184; „Căci Tu eşti limanul înviforaţilor” – 195;
love: „Iubirea Lui mi-o dă mie./ Ea este mare cât calea soarelui de la răsărit la asfinţit” –
184; „Când iubirea Ţi-o pui cuminecătură/” – 184; „[…] cercetezi şi vindeci neputinţele
mele./” – 186;

Hypostases of the Psalmist in front of God

As in the hypostasis of a psalmist one can find the soul of any man searching
for God, we can uncover six “faces” he takes in front of the divine:
The Amonisher. He reproaches to God all the troubles he receives: „La grea-
ncercare m-ai pus, Doamne,/ Grea cruce mi-ai sortit să car/ Cu suliţă prea aprigă în
coaste m-ai străpuns/ N-ar fi nimic, de-aş fi alesul Tău, măcar…//” – 151; „De ce,
Doamne, când mă cred mai în putere/ Laşi un grăunte de greutate pe inima mea/” – 180;
„Tu mă supravegheai de la distanţă…/Şi îmi trânteai în talgerul opus câte-un necaz…/
[…]/ Mi-ai drămuit amar şi fericire…/Mi-ai ars pe acelaşi rug păcate şi hazard…/” –
194; He considers to have been humiliated by God the Father Who sacrificed His Son
on the Cross so that he can saved: „Ce pildă măiastră/ şi la ce umilinţă m-ai supus/ când
l-ai urcat pe cruce pe Iisus/ ca să mă mântuiască.//” – 154; He quarrels with God
because He lets him persevere in his malice and pride: „De ce mă laşi, Părinte,/ să stărui
în netrebnicie/ şi jertfa ce era menită/ să şteargă răul lumii/ s-o judec cu trufie.//” – 154;

163
He does not understand why God pretends not to hear his wailing and crying: „Zadarnic
în neputinţă mă vaiet şi strig către Tine,/căci nu înţeleg de ce Te prefaci că nu mă auzi
(?)./” – 155; He asks Him not to bring back memories of his youth’s sins: „Doamne, nu-
mi tot pomeni/ de păcatele tinereţilor mele/ şi nu-mi tot pomeni de neştiinţa mea,/” –
155; He confesses to feel when He leaves him: „simt cum Te lepezi şi mă părăseşti/ şi
cum iubirea urii-i lasă rândul…//” – 156; He reproaches Him not to listen to his prayer
and to let him persevere in sin: „Cu buze fără de viclenie m-am rugat/ către Tine,
Doamne, dar nu m-ai ascultat.//” – 158; „Eu bat în Tine ca-ntr-o poartă/ Şi simţurile-mi/
bocănesc în lemn/ Şi nopţi de-a rându-aştept/ Să-mi faci un semn/” – 166; „Strigat-am
către Tine,/ Dar nu mă bagi în seamă/” – 168; „De ce nu-mi răspunzi, când Te chem (?)/
De ce nu mă prinzi/ Când mâna ţi-o-ntind?/ De ce Te fereşti/ Şi mă laşi în restrişti/ Şi
mă laşi în păcat/ Şi-n credinţa neghioabă că nici nu exişti?//” – 171; He reproches Him
to have laid inside him the seeds of many sins: „Mi-ai pus în suflet, Doamne,/ Putere de
năpârcă,/ […]/ Mi-ai pus în suflet, Doamne,/ Tristeţea, o risipită turmă/ […]/ Mi-ai pus
în suflet, Doamne/ Durerea, ca slujbă de vecernie/ […]/ Mi-ai pus în suflet, Doamne,/
Minciuna, ca să mă lumineze/” – 170; He asks Him why can He not erase sin: „Oare de
ce nu poţi să-mi ştergi păcatul/Şi mă obligi să fac şi eu ce-a făcut altul…/” – 198.
The Prayor. He prays on his knees looking towards God: „Şi nu mai ştiu,
genunchiul umil/ Îl plec spre Tine/” – 152; „Îmi rumeg gândul şi urâtul vieţii/ Şi în
genunchi îmi duc tânjala/” – 182; „Stau în genunchi pe prundiş/ Şi nu ştiu, mă rog/ Ori
plâng amar/” – 183; He prays to God to receive freedom, piety and righteousness:
„Lasă-mă liber, Cerescule Tată/ Să-mi caut umilinţa-n mândrie…/ Lasă-mă liber să mă
încaier cu mine/ […]/ Deşteaptă în mine Dreptatea/ […]/Şi să-mi câştig… Libertatea…
(!)//” – 153; He asks from Him light, body and soul cleansing and salvation: „şi seara să
cinez/ şi numai cu lumina/ să mă îndestulez.// Să-mi fie masa un altar curat/ ca tot ce-i
pur/ şi simplu/ şi-n om nevinovat.// Şi toate să-ncolţească/ în trupul meu/ şi inima/
floare de mac să-mi fie/ şi-un cântec pentru Veşnicie.//” – 159; He asks for Him for
patience: „Rabdă-mă, Doamne, să pot nădăjdui/ şi înveseleşte-mi inima…//” – 160; He
asks for Him not to petrify his heart and not to pretend when he is crying: „Doamne,
nu-mi împietri inima/ Şi nu mi-o face tocilă învârtitoare/ […]/ Să pot să nu mai fiu
făţarnic, Părinte,/ Atunci când plâng.//” – 163; He asks for Him to listen to his wailing:
„Pleacă-ţi urechea la strigătul meu/ Căci sufletul mi s-a săturat de făţarnici/” – 168; He
asks for Him not to despise him: „Doamne, ridică-Te – cărbuni aprinşi/ Şi nu mă lasa
de batjocură/” – 169; He asks for Him for forgiveness: „Curăţeşte păcatul meu, că mult
este,/ Să-mi fie sufletul alb” – 169; „Doamne, suspin întru mărturisirea/ Păcatelor
mele,/ Plâng întru rugăciune către Tine,/” – 193; „Ridică-mi poverile, Doamne,/ Ridică-
mi samarul păcatelor mele,/” – 199; He asks for Him to receive tests: „Încearcă-mă,
Doamne, prin foc,/” – 177; He asks for Him to loneliness so that he can understand
himself: „De ce nu mă laşi gol în lume/ Ca să mă pot înţelege singur/” – 180; He asks
for Him to abolish evil and hatred from his path: „Alungă răul şi pizma din calea mea/
Şi lacrima mea va fi luminată/ Iar numele Tău slăvit în veci.//” – 181; He asks for Him
to dismiss the troubles of his life: „Vino, Doamne, şi alungă prin Atotputernicia Ta/
Strigarea şi încercarea/ Şi pârâciunea şi spurcăciunea/” – 186; He asks for Him to
enlighten his entire being: „Iar mie luminează-mi cele dinlăuntru/ Şi toate mădularele,
cu voinţa ta,/ Dă-mi puterea creştină/ […]/ Învaţă-mă, Mângâietorule, să ştiu ierta,/” –
186; He asks for Him to strengthen his faith and his deference to the commandments:
„Întăreşte, Doamne, Credinţa mea,/” – 193; Întăreşte-mă întru poruncile Tale,/” – 196;
He asks for Him to wisdom: „Dă-mi înţelepciune şi putere/ Să sârguiesc la fapta

164
creştinească/ Şi viaţa cea îmbunătăţită…/” – 193; He asks for Him to be kept away
from fervours: „Păzeşte-mă de patima cea întunecată/” – 196;
The Solitary. He cries to God about his loneliness: „Sunt singur, Doamne/
Dar încă nu atât de singur/” – 152; „Caută spre mine când Te strig, Doamne,/ căci sunt
părăsit şi sărac/” – 155; „Şi rabdă-mă, de câte ori sunt singur,/ Să mă întorc spre
Tine.//” – 171; „Dacă mi-ai dat ceva să fiu bogat,/ A fost doar bogăţia lacrimilor în
singurătate.// – 174; „Şi plânge cu lacrimile Tale Dumnezeieşti/ Peste oaza pustiului
meu,/” – 178; „Când mă părăseşti, mă strâng în mine/” – 182;
The Sinner. He asks for God to admit to him his own viciousness: „Slugă
netrebnică şi fără faimă/ […]/ Rabdă-mă, Doamne, pentru dragostea/ Şi ura ce le
nutresc pentru Tine/” – 152; „Rupe un lăstar de virtute din Tine/ Şi altoieşte-l în trupul
meu/ Ce colcăie de păcate…//” – 153; „Doamne, am părăsit Legea Ta/ Şi pe mincinosul
Baal l-am crezut./ – 164; „Cuvintele greşelilor mele sunt departe/ De mântuirea mea,
Părinte,/” – 169; „Aruncă-mi o zdreanţă din veşmântul ceresc,/ Să acopăr goliciunea
sufletului meu/ De care mi-e ruşine/” – 171; „Şi repede buruiana cea rea/ A prins
rădăcină în sufletul meu../” – 175; „Îmi intră urâtul în mine,/” – 176; „Doamne, sunt
Iudă nevrednică/ […]/ Judecă-mă, Părinte, numai întru puterea Ta/ Acum când
cercetezi şi vindeci neputinţele mele./” – 186; „Şi-n trupul meu plin de păcat/” – 192;
„Ia, un căzut în adâncul patimilor nenumărate,/ […]/ Mă osândesc numai pe mine de
păcat/” – 195; He considers himself to lack a noble soul: „Cât de mărunt/ şi ce meschin
sunt, Doamne,/” – 154; He is aware of the fact that freedom has allowed him to sin:
„Când libertatea păcatelor mele/ din pajiştea-nflorită/ spre mlaştini îmi întoarce turma/
şi până la ceruri gura mi-o înalţă/ şi limba-mi încearcă ascunse ţinuturi/ căzută-n
minciună în lene şi-n furturi//” – 156; He carries his cross in good faith: „şi cărându-mi
crucea înainte/”– 158; He asks for forgiveness: „Doamne, păcatul e mare,/ Că nu ne
mai ajung genunchii/ Să ne rugăm de iertare…/” – 190; „Nu mă lua în seamă,
Doamne,/ Când mă buric şi strig ca un smintit/ Că nu te pot vedea/” – 191; „Nu mai
tresar că eşti sau nu mai eşti/”1 2– 192;
The Humbled. He shares his piety with God: „Doamne, cu faţa plânsă/ mă
întorc smerit spre Lăcaşurile Tale/” – 160; „Oare ce sunt eu, Doamne, să-ţi aminteşti de
mine (?)/ oare ce sunt eu, Doamne, ca să mă cercetezi (?)/” – 161; „Mi-e tot mai greu,
Părinte,/” – 176; „Azi îmi mărturisesc fărădelegea/” – 177;
The Grateful. He thanks God for all the beneficences he receives: „şi paşii mi
se poticnesc pe calea dreaptă/ ce duce către Tine,/ în altă parte caut şi străbat/cărările ce
le-ai zidit în mine…//” – 156; „iar Tu neclinit, aproape de mine, continui Lucrarea,/ cu
vântul mă baţi/ şi cu ploaia mă speli ca pe-un prunc,/ cu o mână pe drum mă îndrepţi/ şi
cu alta-mi întuneci cărarea…/” – 161; „Şi numele Tău va fi slăvit în veac,/” – 177;
„Dar eu ştiu că cei ce Te caută pe Tine/ Nu duc lipsă de niciun bine…/” – 180;
„Doamne, Bunătatea îşi are sălaş în inima mea/ Şi ştiu că numai prin ea/ Calc urmele
Tale întru dreptate./” – 181; „Domnul şi-a adus aminte de strigătele mele/ Şi mi-a trimis
ajutor din preaplinul Lui/ Să-mi învioreze sufletul/ Iubirea Lui mi-o dă mie./” – 184;
„Tristeţile şi chinul/ Dispar ca fumul de tămâie,/ Din nou speranţele în mine-nvie.//” –
192;

1
Arghezi, T., 1980: 45 [„Pari când a fi, pari când că nu mai eşti;/” – Psalm (Te drămuiesc în
zgomot şi-n tăcere)]
2
Ibidem: 50 [Eşti ca un gând, şi eşti şi nici nu eşti,/” – Psalm (Pentru că n-a putut să te-
nţeleagă)]

165
 The Hypostases of the Psalmist in front of His Kin
As a man of love, the psalmist asks from God, on the one hand, to hold good
against enemies (persons who are not aware of themselves or of the divine) and, on the
other, to show love for those like him (persons who are aware of themselves or of the
divine) by making acts of bodily and soul beneficence.
Being aware of the existence of one’s enemies: „Mi-ai dat duşmani să-mi
sfâşie-al meu gât.//” – 151; „căci sunt părăsit şi sărac/ iar duşmanii mei sunt fără de
număr…// Sunt pui căzut din cuib în iarba udă,/ zadarnic trupu-mi firav se zbate şi
asudă/ când mă pândesc din tufe, cobe glasuri de iudă./” – 155; „fă-mă să nu fiu ruşinat
şi de râsul vrăjmaşilor mei./ Căci n-am stat pe scaun în adunarea deşertăciunii/ şi nu m-
am cârdăşit cu cei ce viclenesc.//” – 155; „Departe de netrebnici/ să mă apere, Doamne,/
de ură şi de răi/” – 157; „Am păzit căi aspre să mă despartă/ de răii acestei lumi şi de
vrăjmaşi.//” – 158; „Întunecă, Doamne, lumina ochilor/ vrăjmaşilor mei ce nu mai
seacă,/ să nu fiu de batjocura lor/ […]/ Încurcă-le, Doamne, cărările/ bătute de talpa
minciunii deşarte/ să nu mă vadă când mă risipesc/ şi mă simt într-o mie-nzecită de
locuri,/” – 160; „Cei care m-au văzut m-au crezut prost/ Şi m-au batjocorit…/” – 169;
„Scapă-mă cu mâna Ta/ De oamenii lumii acesteia/ Care se îndestulează/ Lingând din
palma străinului/.” – 172; „Le-am împrumutat dragoste în pătrări/ Şi ei mi-au întors ură
în cupele lor – / Le-am întins bine/ Şi ei mi-au măsurat rău./ I-am învăţat să zboare/ Şi ei
mi-au smuls aripile/” – 181; „Părinte, inima mi se întoarce-n mine/ Când văd
cum duşmanul prinde putere/ Când văd pe cei cu care m-am iubit/ Trădându-mă cu
sufletul deschis/” – 185; „Să nu se bucure duşmanii mei/ Şi să râdă de mine./” – 186;
„Îmbărbătează-mi inima, Părinte,/ Prin Tine să-l zdrobesc/ Pe cel prigonitor şi pe
vrăjmaş…//” – 191;
Experiencing love for the kindred souls: „Mai bine vorba,/ În sabie s-o
schimb,/ Şi cu iertarea să-l ucid/” – 163; „Surori ale mele şi fraţi/Învăţaţi să nu
respiraţi/ Şi aburul gurii voastre coclite de ură/ Se va preface-n ofrandă şi fum de
tămâi/” – 167; „Eu, care-am plâns deasupra/ Celui bătut de soartă/ Şi-am suspinat
alături/ Cu orice slăbănog.//” – 168; „M-am smerit înaintea oamenilor,/ Dar ei nu m-au
înţeles./” – 169; „Poftindu-l drept oaspete pe omul spân/ L-am aşezat la masă şi… s-a
făcut stăpân./” – 179; „Dar pe bolnav l-am cercetat,/ Pe cel străin l-am aşezat la masă/
Şi morţii-n cinste mi i-am îngropat,/ L-am învăţat pe cel neştiutor,/ Am dat un sfat celui
în îndoială/ Şi pe-ntristaţi i-am mângâiat./ […]/ Şi cana mi-am întins-o celui însetat…/
[…]/ Şi am tăcut şi am iertat…/” – 195;

Conclusions
After a thorough analysis of the volume Psalmi/Salmos, we have come to the
conclusion that Dorel Vişan is, undoubtedly, a mystic, authentic and original vision
imbued with sacrament, reminding of: Saint John of the Cross, Angelus Silesius, Mihai
Eminescu, Alexandru Macedonski, Tudor Arghezi, Vasile Voiculescu, Nichifor Crainic,
Aron Cotruş, Ion Barbu, Lucian Blaga, Daniil (Sandu) Tudor, B. Fundoianu, Traian
Dorz, Ştefan Augustin Doinaş, Nichita Stănescu, Ioan Alexandru, Paul Aretzu, Marta
Petreu, Aura Christi etc.
Consequently, Dorel Vişan gets to know God cataphatically, by admitting his
almightiness and greatness. This cataphatism is a contrast to apophatism because, no
matter how hard one might try to discover Him, God remains, after all, unknowable and
incomprehensible. However, the psalmist understood the message of the supreme
divinity – Love – „Şi-atunci, atuncea îmi dau seama/ ce la-ndemână-i Taina:/ cum că
Iubirii/ îi e de-ajuns Iubirea.//” (Psalm 154 [Dă-mi, Doamne, ochii înapoi – Un alt

166
cântec despre iubire]) –, that hides in the vertical and the horizontal of the Cross. This
is, in fact, the key to the reading of Dorel Vişan’s psalms.

Bibliography
***, Biblia sau Sfânta Scriptură, tipărită cu binecuvântarea Preafericitului Părinte Daniel,
Patriarhul Bisericii Ortodoxe Române, cu aprobarea Sfântului Sinod, Editura Institutului Biblic şi
de Misiune Ortodoxă, Bucureşti, 2008
***, The Holy Bible, The Classic Reference Edition, English Standard Version (ESV),
Containing the Old and New Testaments, Crossway Bibles, Wheaton, Illinois, 2011
Arghezi, T., Versuri, vol. I, ediţie şi postfaţă de G. Pienescu, prefaţă de Ion Caraion, Cartea
Românească, Bucureşti, 1980
Bartolomeu, A., „Introducere la Psalmi”, în Biblia cu ilustraţii, vol. III: Cartea a doua
Paralipomena, Cărţile Ezdra şi Neemia, Cartea Esterei, Iov, Psalmii, Litera Internaţional,
Bucureşti, 2011, pp. 901-908
Milca, A., „Vişan, Dorel”, în Eugen S. (coord. gen.), Dicţionarul general al literaturii române,
vol. VII (Ţ-Z), Academia Română, Editura Univers Enciclopedic, Bucureşti, 2009, p. 341
Pop-Bistriţeanul, I., „Mai înainte”, în Dorel V., Psalmi/Salmos, Ars Longa, Iaşi, 2010, pp. 6-11
Tuchilă, C., „Chipul singurătăţii”, în Dorel V., Căutător de destine: Puşa Roth în dialog cu Dorel
Vişan, Ars Longa, Iaşi, 2008, pp. 139-146
Vişan, D., Căutător de destine: Puşa Roth în dialog cu Dorel Vişan, biografie artistică şi postfaţă
de Costin Tuchilă, Ars Longa, Iaşi, 2008
Vişan, D., Psalmi/Salmos, traducere în limba spaniolă de Christian Tămaş, cuvânt-înainte de dr.
Irineu Pop-Bistriţeanul, episcop-vicar, „Dă-mi, Doamne, bucuria de-a fi plâns” de Romulus
Vulpescu, Ars Longa, Iaşi, 2010
Vulpescu, R., „Dă-mi, Doamne, bucuria de-a fi plâns”, în Dorel V., Psalmi/Salmos, Ars Longa,
Iaşi, 2010, pp. 202-211
Vulpescu, R., „Dorel Vişan [prezentare]”, în Astra blăjeană, an XIV, nr. 2, iun. 2010, p. 33
Electronic Sources
http://jurnalul.ro/cultura/carte/psalmii-lui-dorel-visan-la-paris-653112.html (consulted on
15.07.2015)
http://jurnalul.ro/cultura/carte/solaritatea-psalmilor-scara-la-cer-557773.html (consulted on
15.07.2015)
http://jurnalspiritual.eu/actorul-dorel-visan-acolo-unde-am-copilarit-eu-dumnezeu-facea-parte-
din-familie/ (consulted on 15.07.2015)
http://www.amosnews.ro/arhiva/lansare-carte-psalmi-dorel-visan-editie-bilingva-romana-
spaniola-24-05-2010 (consulted on 15.07.2015)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gy2i1 [Psalm 154 (Dă-mi, Doamne, ochii înapoi – Un alt
cântec despre iubire)] (consulted on 15.07.2015)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gxm32 [Psalm 161 (Oare ce sunt eu, Doamne (?) – O
cântare a întrebărilor)] (consulted on 15.07.2015)
http://www.eugeniavoda.ro/ro/emisiuni/arte/dorel-visan (consulted on 15.07.2015)

167
 THE FRAGMENTATION AND RECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE
EGO IN MAX BLECHER’S PROSE

Nicoleta HRISTU (HURMUZACHE)*1

Abstract: The present work intends to reveal the identity hypostases of the author Max
Blecher fictionally transposed in his novels, appealing to Jaques Lacan’s grid of psycho-
analytical interpretation. The analytical step is sustained by the graphic representation of the
tridimensional figure, Moebius’ band, in order to approach the theme of the contraries, in the
case of the mentioned writer – the division of the human psychic in superego and the ID. The
fragmentation of the ego has as its leaving point the schizoid sequence of the human being in
« the abstract character » and « my real character », but also the escape of the character in the
cursed areas (the park of the city, the bank of the river) and the well intended ones (the royal
throne, the attic of the house, the castle from Berk and the garden) which cause the double
personality. From the perspective of the reconstruction of the ego, the previously shown dihotomy
proves to be a false opposition, because the multiple facets of the ego co-exist due to their
continuity and remake the complete and complex personality, the way the writing has.
Keywords: Moebius’ band, psychoanalytic, schizoid.

The act of reading entails that convention between writer and reader which
stimulates the propulsion in the universe of ideas, an invasion of the actant in the
literary intimacy of the actor, of the authorial presence. Simona Sora discusses this
concept of literary intimacy in her critical essay, Regăsirea intimităţii [Recapturing
intimacy], tackling the two inherent components of this affective topos: imaginary
intimacy and reading intimacy. As she claims, it triggers
a double antagonist movement, on the one hand, one of internalisation, of descent
into the depths of the discovered self, and simultaneously, one of exteriorisation,
of exposure of the inside, insisting on the lived body, on corporeality, on the
secret of intimacy [Simona Sora, 2008: 13].
This theory of psychic matter applied on literature reminded us of writer Max
Blecher, who frames, in an exclusivist manner, “the bizarre adventure of being a man”
[Max Blecher, 2014 : 40], as confessed by the narrator-character of his debut novel,
Întâmplări în irealitatea imediată [Adventures in Immediate Unreality]. The novelist
provides an unsettling, metaphysical prose, a novel artistic experiment of “the writing of
the self” [Carmen Mușat, 1998 : 45], “a problematic and spectacular case of reception”
[Ada Brăvescu 2011 : 3], a ludic and lucid “against biography” [Doris Mironescu, 2011
: 3], with defining notes of existentialism and surrealism.
As the central theme of his novels is ontological crisis, a true metaphorical
obsession of a soul tormented by disease, we have proposed an analytical approach to
the textualist hermeneutics, in view of identifying the author’s identitary hypostases.
The ontological matter has an obvious psychoanalytical sub-layer, which is the reason
why we have resorted to Jacques Lacan’s interpretation grid, thus placing Blecher’s
works under a lens able to reveal the congruence of the instances of human psyche. An
exegete of Sigmund Freud, individualised by his philosophical, anthropological and

*Dunărea de Jos University of Galați, hristu7nicoleta@yahoo.com

168
linguistic system of thinking, Jacques Lacan discusses the psychology of the ego as
pertaining to discourse, in the sense that the subconscious is structured like a language.
Referring to the ego-superego-id triad, the human psyche will be further
represented graphically by using Möbius strip specific to topology. Lacan resorts to this
three-dimensional figure in order to illustrate the paradigm of opposites, which
eventually proves to be a false dichotomy. Therefore, at the centre of the imaginary
triangle, we will place the Ego, as centre of conscience, but also comprising a
subconscious component. The empirical, biographical Ego is the writer Max Blecher,
but this hypostasis has no identity, because, in reality, it is the other, the small other
(autre in small initial letter), which is the peer, the projection of the Ego. This apparent
inadvertence of identity is assumed through the presence of the reflected image; in our
case, the mirror is the artistic product, i.e., the book. This explains the placement of the
alter-ego at the level of the narrative discourse, under the guise of the narrator and
characters. The next step is to place the terms superego and id on the sides of the
triangle, in view of completing the profile of the human psyche. Having outlined the
theoretical background, we shall further apply these concepts on the universe of
Blecher’s novels.
Let us remind of the schizoid sequentiality of the being in the incipit of the
novel Întâmplări în irealitatea imediată [Adventures in Immediate Unreality], where
the homodiegetic narrator focuses on a fixed point, as a fad, as critic Nicolae Manolescu
states.
When I gaze for a long while at a fixed point on the wall, I happen sometimes to forget
who I am and where I am. I feel the lack of identity from afar, as if I had become, just for a
moment, a complete stranger. This abstract character and my real person dispute my conviction
with equal forces. [Max Blecher, 2014 : 19]
The abstract character - real person duality is a split of the one who finds
himself in a fragile zone, between sleep and wake, in that doreveille which determines
the suspension of the Ego. In the terms of oneiraut Robert Moss, this is the image of the
active dreamer, a privileged dreamer to whom the world reveals and speaks differently.
It is, a short-term revelation, sufficient, nonetheless, to induce identitary confusion. This
brings us back to identitary multiplication nourished by the wilful trance of the
individual, perceived by the narrator through the two-dimensional image of a
stereoscopic sight, which, by operator error, creates over imposing. Thus, the Superego
is the abstract character, whereas the Id is the real person, both representations finding
applicability in the fictional universe. The deconstruction of the Ego entails soul
confusion, inasmuch as the necessity of plunging in the deepest areas of the psyche. The
super-ego is placed by Jacques Lacan in the symbolic plane of speaking, being at the
same time the law and the destruction thereof. It has “a meaningless, blind character of
sheer imperative and mere tyranny” [Dylan Evans, 2005 : 289]. The super-ego is the
Other, the great Other (Autre with capital initial) which denotes alterity, a locus in
which speaking takes shape. Therefore, this illusory embodiment of the imaginary
orders to subject to rejoice, and the imperative will to rejoice fully assumes “the
supreme being into evil” [Ibidem].
The id represents the complex of unknown forces of the human psyche defined
in linguistic terms by Jacques Lacan. This is construed as an unconscious origin of
speaking, something symbolic, beyond the imaginary Ego, the super-ego. Lacan
reformulates the theory of the German psychiatrist Georg Groddeck, “Man is spoken by
something” [Ibidem.,p.280] and comes to the conclusion that “man is lived by
something/ someone” [Ibidem]. Thus, going back to the identity scheme, we observe

169
that the Ego self-deceives through reflection, the super-ego rejoices and saddens at the
same time, whereas the id speaks, tacitly or deliberately confesses the ontological
experiences that shatter its being.
The sequence of the dissolution of the ego in Blecher’s novel is just an impulse
to break out from an immediate reality, a secondary, artificial, kitschy, prefabricated
reality which proves much more authentic than day-by-day reality. The protagonist
wishes to be assimilated by this “curious underreality”, in Eugene Ionescu’s view, but
the experience is only lived in childhood and in the moments of self-imposed,
intransigent lucidity. The symbolic space explored by the hero belongs to corporeality,
which possesses a physical inwardness which claims prevalence through the act of
evading from himself, in search for regaining inner balance. Nicolae Manolescu speaks
of an affectivity topos: “The eye shut inside wakes up, but not towards the narrator’s
experiences, but towards his chimeras” [Nicolae Manolescu, 1998 : 559]. Access to this
temporary freedom is granted through an attack on the being, through euphoric states
caused by damned spaces and benevolent spaces. In his study dedicated to Blecher, Prin
nişte locuri rele [In some evil spaces], the literary critic makes an apology of the space,
describing places that are apparently antagonistic and, in fact, similar, as they are, at the
same time, “infernal and paradisiac, closed, secret places, overloaded with obsolete
objects forgotten under thick layers of dust, and connected with a certain mystery in the
narrator’s imagination” [Ibidem., p. 569].
Let us begin the inventory of the places considered evil discovered in
childhood, the town’s park, the river banks near the oil factory, and the unknown, closed
rooms. These “invisible traps” [Max Blecher, 2014 : 20] call out the being from its
depths and, once the threshold is reached, the identity crisis is unavoidable and the
super-ego holds prevalence.
The small clearing in the town’s park represents that somewhere in the world
to which nobody has access because no one dares to walk the path at whose end there is
this stark, desolate, wild scenery, with dusty, sunburnt leaves. The sullen, heavy,
canicular air liquefies, turns opalescent and contaminates the new-comer, giving him “a
bizarre sense of uselessness” [Ibidem., p. 21]. The strangeness of the place is all the
more evident through the distorted echo of the trumpets that bring forth sadness. This
halt of the wanderer accentuates the solitude, the definitive and irrevocable imprint of
the id.
The periphery of the Blecherian town conceals a grotesque playground through
olfactory and tactile aggression of the rancid, mildew and humid environment. In the
hollow riverbanks, the refuse of an oil factory were collected, sunflower seeds husks
which, in time, had made a flank which children used as a corridor to go down to the
water. A delirious scenery, of a paranoid, imbruting, typically surrealist fantastic calls
forth and chases away at the same time. Here is an aestheticizing form of the foul-
beautiful imaginary: “the rain had sculpted long streaks of fine cracks like arabesques,
but hideous as some unhealed wounds […] rags of the flesh of the clay […] horrible
scars” [Max Blecher, 2014 : 21]. The olfactory sense induces the hypersensitivity of the
character, creating an identitary split. The aggressive “jelly-like stench of decomposing”
[Ibidem] and the “pleasant, warm, domestic” [Ibidem] smell determine the sensorial
transformation of the being, through “a pleasant, intoxicating faint” [Ibidem, p. 22]
continued with a rush towards a small cave, as terminus point of the induced rapture.
The corporal shudder fights the blood fury, and the return to reality takes place in a
quiet, intimate space, which, this time, gives prevalence to the id. The expulsion of the
ego and the bringing of the super-ego to the surface last just a moment but the

170
inconsistency of this moment throws the being into sadness even more, to stigmatise the
id under the aegis of the tragic.
The hermeticism of the rooms induces a sure, sudden crisis – the welcoming,
reassuring atmosphere gives the sense of beatitude. The tyranny of things is defeated.
The object is bereft of the material and turns into immaterial, with an inert, suspended
image. Levelling takes place – the being assumes the status of the object which has just
gained its freedom. The moment of vital lust is felt as “a hovering outside any world,
pleasant and painful at the same time” [Ibidem., p. 23].
Coincidentally or not, we can see that childhood is under the sign of the
damned spaces, anticipating Pott’s disease. As a paradox of human existence, the
grown-up years are marked by this implacable malady, which also affects Emil, the
protagonist of the novel Inimi cicatrizate [Scarred Hearts], the character-narrator of the
posthumous work Vizuina luminată [The Lighted Den], but also the novelist Max
Blecher himself. In this situation, the hero can only save himself through a break out,
but not to the damned but to the benevolent spaces.
The cinema hall, the panopticon, the fair, Weber house, the den of the window,
the attic, the royal throne cabaret, the Elseneur villa, the wall at the outskirts of the
town, the garden in the dream – all illustrate the immediate unreality recovered by the
character by merging the being and the matter in a much more painful form. Let us
provide of few examples of these defining spaces for the abstract character and real
person and super-ego and id oscillations.
Grandpa Weber’s house resembles the image of a panopticon, with its dusty
rooms stuffed with anachronic objects. The hero’s favourite place is the attic with a
window to the roof, which gives him a panoramic view of the “grey and amorphous”
[Ibidem., p. 56] town. The protagonist experiences the sensation of inner balance which
defines normal life of immediate unreality, but for that the metamorphosis into a
birdman is necessary. The fear of being accidentally shot down is inculcated in his body
like a gangrenous pain which he wishes he could extirpate. The facing his fears is
achieved by making some banal, exact, exaggerated gestures: “to read, to eat or to
sleep” [Max Blecher, 2014 : 57], which give a sensation of “indefinite, undermined”
[Ibidem] due the inconsistency and fragility of the matter. It is here a subtle slide from
super-ego to id, a constant oscillation between up and down, unreality and reality.
Another welcoming space is the town cabaret which gives forth a certain
mystery to the character, his steps walking through a maze of rooms with many doors,
long corridors which lead to the attic, halls with small rooms and a stair to the stage,
with a doorway to the basement stuffed with used objects which guard the prompter’s
cage and the royal throne. This “solemn armchair” [Ibidem., p.70] gives “the most
pleasant sentiment of solitude” [Ibidem], as the hero knows that he is far from the
world, in a place in which the deafening silence stirs happiness, beatitude. The objects’
chaos builds walls for this centre of the world – “it was the common place for all my
dreams” [Ibidem]. The infectious nostalgia of this hiding makes him come back to this
place every day, as in a ritual climaxing with the supreme happiness of solitude, a
recurrent exercise of the definitive settlement of the super-ego to the detriment of the id
by breaking out into unreality. However, “these daily trips” [Ibidem., p. 71] end as
oddly as they began: with the meeting of a sick woman in the cinema cabin, which
saddens him. And again the super-ego is abandoned, allowing the id to assimilate all the
sadness of of the world “beyond the skin” [Ibidem., p. 231].
Going beyond the local universe of the Adventures, we will find the same
welcoming spaces in the following novels, even though the affective register is more

171
nuanced – solitude persists, but suffering is postponed by the moment of balance, of the
serene peace. It is possible that the exercises of Adventures left behind the definitive
imprint of pain, and now the character is in search for happiness, as the super-ego has
fulfilled its duty as a tyrant and redeemer of emotions. Thus, in Berk town, on the
shores of the ocean, a town which accumulates the entire human melancholy, the pain,
suffering and atrocities induced by the scarred hearts infiltrate into the soul like a germ.
The deliverance from the burden of the sanatorium, a wax works museum of
mannequins of “hags and cotton” [Ibidem., p. 135], and from the shell of the plaster
which gave him the paradoxical sensation of “existing and yet not being fully alive”
[Ibidem., p. 125] takes place at Elseneur villa. He takes a difficult, arid road, “with
dunes as tall as house” [Ibidem., p.185], and the wilderness of the places brings
temporary peace to Emanuel, the protagonist of the novel. The character looks in
admiration at the paintings in the villa’s drawing room and recognises himself in the
face of the old man “retired from the world, in an unknown room, calm, alone, amidst
old, obsolete pieces of furniture” [Ibidem., p. 189]. This desert, silent, mortuary setting
possesses all the attributes of a miracle: “the day had completely changed its
appearance, as if it was part of another year and another season, of another reality”
[Ibidem].
Emanuel doubles himself, feeling his being as a stranger, yet safe, far from the
madding crowd of the town he left: “It’s like he switched his identity” [Ibidem]. The
existential fragility of the real person is made aware and analysed with cool, sharp
lucidity, become a river flowing through the veins, the contingent reality being wilfully
expelled by the doreveille state of the super-ego: “how inconsistent was the whole
reality of the days flowing through him like a still river whose flow he felt through him
when he remained inert, with his eyes shut” [Max Blecher, 2014: 191].
Last but not least, there is also the garden, the corner of paradise, which
appears in the premonitory dream as a space of eternal rest. Placed at the edge of a
village of Berk, this mythicized space is placed into timelessness. It hides behind “a belt
of trees, surrounded by thick and tall walls” [Ibidem., p. 250] and has an old, rusty iron
gate covered in wild ivy. It is the privileged place for sheltering sensitive souls. The
terrace covered in flowers, the water basin with an artesian well, the monumental
stairway with large stairs adorned with bizarre plants, the statues embowered in green –
all outline the archetypal space seen in the dream. But this topos will be also abandoned,
bringing with it unhappiness, the unfortunate death of the horse, and everything
crumbled in memories and regrets.
Describing this Eden in which the character feels the closest to the essence of
things, when unreality is ready to take over reality completely, when the super-ego fully
rejoice the oneiric vision of the scenery, the id violently reacts and strongly claims that
it is alive, as Lacan mentioned in his theory.
Reaching the end of this demonstration, we can affirm for certain that the
super-ego and the id are not antonymous, just like life and dream are not clearly
differentiated in the mind of the protagonist. If every symbolic place is sufficient in
itself to trigger the split of the being in the abstract character and the real person, in
super-ego and id, the inconsistency of these identitary hypostases has been proved for
the most part, as the ego lives through dream and dreams though living: “It is the same
thing to live or a dream an adventure” [Ibidem., p. 241].
We cannot equate the identities of the super-ego and the id, but we can observe
their contiguity. Assimilated by the ego at the centre of the Möbius strip, the two

172
recompose the complete and complex personality of the author, as outlined by the
writing.
Let us conclude by asserting that, in Max Blecher’s case, there is no
antagonism of the identitary hypostases. Placing them on the sides of Möbius’s triangle,
we have emphasised the presence of the super-ego and the id as an extension of one
another. Thus, resorting to deconstruction, we have reached the depths of human
conscious, and through the reconstruction of the human psyche, we have outlined the
being in its completeness, which eventually proves to be “an opening towards a closed
world” [Constantin Noica, 2010 : 201].

Bibliography
Blecher, M., Întâmplări în irealitatea imediată, Aius, Craiova, 2014
Brăvescu, A., Un caz de receptare problematic şi spectaculos,Tracus Arte, Bucureşti, 2011
Evans, D., Dicţionar introductiv de psihanaliză lacaniană, Paralela 45, Piteşti, 2005
Manolescu, N., Arca lui Noe, 1001 GRAMAR, Bucureşti, 1998
Mironescu, D., Viaţa lui M. Blecher. Împotriva biografiei, Timpul, Iaşi, 2011
Muşat, C., Perspective asupra romanului românesc postmodern şi alte ficţiuni teoretice, Paralela
45, Piteşti, 1998
Noica, C., Spre un model neoclasic de gândire, Academia Românească, Bucureşti, 2010
Sora, S., Regăsirea intimităţii, Cartea Românească, Bucureşti, 2008.

173
 LA MALADIE COMME STIGMATE DE LA DÉCADENCE DANS
LE CYCLE DE LA FAMILLE HALLIPA

Simona LIUTIEV*

Abstract: The richest medical terminology penetrates Romanian literature with

Hortensia Papadat Bengescu’s novels, each physical suffering being first of all a moral suffering,
somehow anticipating the New Age theories. The last novel, “The Foreigner”, renders the most
serious of all the diseases, that is the historical one. In a world doomed to extinction by all the
physical, moral, social, esthetic expressions, the perpetuation of the species resides only two
generations, the individuals are no longer productive and prepare themselves to ascend to a
higher level, maybe that of life after death. All five novels of Hallipa’s cycle begin under the
auspices of sickness and death, a leitmotiv continuously and obsessively reiterated, leitmotiv that
leads to the disappearing of the entire generation. None of the characters who vanished arouses
remorse, on the contrary, they live the anguish of personal deliverance and that of others. It is an
incredible yet authentic universe, because sickness is the only way to ascend to being. Life as it is.
Keywords: Sickness, Hortensiei Papadat Bengescu, Hallipa.

Pro ou contre la corporalité dans la littérature. Le corps-matrice de la

zone littéraire humaniste entre deux guerres

La récupération de l’intimité, de la désinhibition se produit officiellement dans

l’écriture roumaine le 12 décembre 1932, sur Lipscani, suite au procès littéraire à
propos du livre de D.H. Lawrence, L’Amant de Lady Chaterley. À cette occasion, Felix
Aderca (juré avec L. Rebreanu, Camil Petrescu et Ion Petrovici) énumère trois
catégories de pudibonds qui ne doivent pas faire partie des écrivains ou critiques
littéraires. Après 1933 suit un boom littéraire de ce point de vue qui dépêchera la
connexion de notre littérature à celle européenne. L’accent est déplacé sur l’intime, le
privé, l’autonomie interne des personnages» (Pompiliu Constantinescu, 1928, no. 2). La
perturbation des états anatomiques a été mise au début sur le nouvel ordre installé après
la guerre, à propos de laquelle Mihail Sebastian ne se décidait pas si «c’était une
perturbation pathologique d’un état éternellement normal ou c’était une autre vie avec
de nouvelles lois, de nouvelles fonctions, de nouveaux besoins, une température propre
ou une circulation du sang rythmée autrement?» (Mihail Sebastian, 1927, p. 1). Si pour
Mihail Dragomirescu le roman moderne apporte sur le premier plan le corps et «la
pornographie ensemble avec l’analyse» (Mihail Dragomirescu, 1936, pp. 4-5), pour
Mircea Eliade, «la biologie signifie liberté, variété, aventure, risque, improvisation,
initiative; elle signifie un million de formes et de faits» (Mircea Eliade, 1934, p. 1), en
concluant que la suppression de la biologie fait les gens se ressembler, les neutralise.
La maladie est une forme de manifestation/ un aspect propre à la vie, soit qu’on
la possède dès le stade embryonnaire, soit qu’on l’attire ou l’acquiert au fil du temps,
soit que ce soit une probabilité, un auspice sous la menace duquel on vit, soit qu’on
l’accepte ou la refuse, elle appartient à l’homme qui vit, c’est «une appréhension
naturelle» (Hortensia Papadat Bengescu dans Dan Petrașincu, 1935, p. 9), et lorsque
l’homme est l’essence de la vie et de la littérature, pourquoi la maladie ne pourrait-elle

*
Université de Pitești, greenserene13@yahoo.com

174
pas être littérature ? Malgré l’obsessif leitmotiv, l’auteur a utilisé des pathologies, pas
comme des parties divisées, mais avec leur liaison «le corps émotionnel» pour imiter la
réalité, ce qui lui a garanti l’approbation entre les modèles littéraires. Pendant toute cette
période la critique a conclu que «les états pathologiques forment le secteur préféré de
l’écrivaine» (Vladimir Streinu, 1968, pp. 189-190), provoquant des opinions
discordantes sur l’idée de beau/laid, spécificité, authenticité/objectivité masquée,
naturalisme mécaniste, refus idéologiquement justifié ou générant des interprétations
forcées féministes, ethno-littéraires, socio-économiques, politiques, idéologiques,
jusqu’à celles de précurseur de modernité, le résultat étant cependant un des plus rares
faits littéraires, c’est-à-dire que la «littérature de Mme Bengescu a été critiquée et
appréciée par presque toute l’unanimité des jeunes critiques roumains» (Perpessicius,
1989, pp. 264-265).
Cependant, à cause de l’intertextualité, peu voit l’hyper-textualité et personne
n’a le courage de donner encore une interprétation par rapport aux théories New Age
(flux magnétique, exotérisme, fond ouvert de l’être), qui apportent en premier plan la
spiritualité, de sorte que les maladies ont longtemps avant la manifestation, une période
d’installation psycho-spirituelle (voir dr. Dumitru Constantin Dulcan, Serghei Lazarev,
Anatol Basarab, Louise Hay), elles semblent et peuvent être «une forme
d’autodestruction commandée» (Carmen Georgeta Ardelean, 2013, p. 94). Par
conséquent, on peut facilement assembler une anamnèse de chaque maladie, avec sa
fiche clinique, et même psychologique et spirituelle, en vertu de la trinité humaine
constituante: corps, âme, esprit. Notre critique mentionne et salue l’objet principal de
l’étude de l’observation psychologique (cachée dans une souffrance physique) à travers
le cycle de la famille Hallipa, celle «maison de sentiments» avec des noms tels que «le
corps spirituel», esprit du corps, «âme éthique/ psychologique» (Nicolae Manolescu,
2000, p. 316), ces deux dimensions de l’être, soit qu’on les regarde d’une manière
illimitée cartésienne, soit d’une manière non séparée, représentent un des aspects qui
font la différence par rapport aux naturalistes (voir le grand changement nietzschéen - le
corps est l’âme, pas l’inverse). Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu est la première écrivaine
roumaine qui parle de la logique des sentiments, plus précisément de la relation
affection-intelligence, la soi-disant intelligence émotionnelle, «la logique affective»
(Th. Ribot, http:/www.persee.fr).

La maladie – personnage ou leitmotiv?

De nombreuses études ont comme point de repère l’évolution du concept de

pathologie (du corps et de l’intimité), mais la plupart se résume aux parallélismes,
influences, modelés, fonctions sociales ou culturelles, l’histoire de la corporalité avec
ses changements de paradigme au passé, autrement dit, même si l’inadéquation de
certaines théories dans l’interprétation littéraire est déjà prouvée. La première écrivaine
qui traite du physique et ses ressources par rapport à la chronobiologie, neurobiologie
(flux magnétique), Hortensia Papadat Bengescu choisit de chercher dans ce monde,
comme un cri de désespoir de l’humanité perdue, «le signal tragique d’une impasse de
l’être» (Florin Mihăilescu, 1975, p. 230); la maladie (c’est-à-dire la psychologie de la
maladie) reste la seule liaison avec le monde, développée en chronotropes selon la
disponibilité psychique et sociale du personnage, le roman et la médecine la prolongent
plus que sa propre nature (dirait Proust). Plus le personnage essaie de vivre corps uni à
l’âme, plus l’échec est dramatique. Mais, en traitant un tel sujet à l’époque, à Hortensia
Papadat Bengescu est arrivé ce que Cioran appelait «des problèmes une fois traités,

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t’isolent dans la vie et t’abolissent» (Emil Cioran, 1989, p. 39). C’est une sorte de
«résurrection baroque» (Carmen Georgeta Ardelean, 2013, p. 124) cette prédilection
pour le grotesque, cette passion pour les souffrances physiques, pour les impulsions
animalières, pour la chair, un œuvre qui «a plus à voir avec la vie qu’avec les
classifications grammaticales» (Simona Sora, 2008, p. 95).
De même, chez Hortensia Papadat Bengescu, la destruction a quelque chose de
cathartique en elle, tous portent le stigmate de la maladie avant même la conception,
«des malades à prédestination» (Pompiliu Constantinescu, 1957, p.77), le supplice de la
maladie, ce «privilège de classe de la souffrance» (G. Călinescu, 1985, p. 739), est
offert à tous ceux qui souffrent déjà d’un «colossal déficit d’existence» (Andreia
Roman, p. 100), cela leur donne un but, une préoccupation, ils sont punis ab initio,
avant de faire leur connaissance, on parle même d’une noblesse de la maladie, de la
préoccupation de mourir bien/beau, de réintégration de la personnalité frustrée
consciemment en route vers la mort, l’agonie physique dans laquelle «les héros
s’assoient confortablement comme dans une chambre de mort» (Perpessicius P, 1989, p.
270), un «problème d’échecs sans vie» (Mihail Sebastian, 1985, p. 109), la maladie-état
de grâce (chez Maxentiu), une forme déviante de narcissisme qui donne sens à la vie, un
bonheur inexplicable (chez Aneta Pascu), le corps n’est qu’un «récipient fade des
phénomènes physiologiques qui décomposent lentement les chairs du personnage»
(Carmen Georgeta Ardelean, 2013, p. 124). Le corps sensible perd le support matériel,
les corps rejettent la solution de l’harmonisation. (Simona Sora, 2008, p. 95).
Dans ce cycle, les hommes sont présentés comme une succession de
phénomènes physiologiques et spirituels, ayant comme date limite la mort dans «une
étude complète du désaccord de la santé» (Liviu Petrescu, 1965, p. 96). Par rapport à
l’univers dévoilé par la maladie, l’homme est libre. La liberté ne peut être acquise que
par la libération de l’aspect métaphysique. Aucun personnage décédé ne laisse la place
aux regrets ou aux remords, mais attire au moins l’élimination des fardeaux des
consanguines. Selon le principe «Seulement les morts ne sont pas malades», les décédés
se libèrent et libèrent les autres des fardeaux portés longtemps, parfois intolérables par
le physique ou psychique. Ainsi, on suit la ligne de Socrate et Pythagore: «Pendant que
nous vivons, nous serions le plus proche de la connaissance autant de fois que nous
n’aurons aucune liaison et mélange avec le corps» (Platon, 1994, p. 46). Les autres sont
pathétiques, faibles, incapables de supporter les contraintes. Par conséquent les grandes
maladies seront étudiées indépendamment de la médecine curative et dépendamment de
la psychologie du personnage, «le corps spirituel» étant la liaison, la théorie qui garantit
«l’authenticité unificatrice» (Simona Sora, 2008, p. 95). Malgré le nouveau
individualisme et les préoccupations excessives pour le corps dans notre société, une
corporalité littéraire est encore évitée parce que «écrire sur le corps signifie toujours
écrire sur son propre corps, cela implique l’exégète aussi d’une manière tangible»
(Simona Sora, 2008, p. 95). Cela peut être un obstacle ou un perturbateur, mais c’est
une constante de la prose du début du XXème siècle, et «la maladie a une double
fonction, sociale et culturelle» (Odile Marcel, 1993, p. 19). Pour que le malade devienne
personnage sa maladie devrait recevoir un nom car «en tout cas le moral et la
dégénérescence vont de pair» (C-tin Ciopraga, 1973, p. 155).
À l’époque, après la parution des théories de Freud, l’intérêt pour la vie
spirituelle devient une mode et une occasion de fierté, une preuve de plus pour le
sérieux de la profession de romancier. Les vrais personnages du livre sont des anomalies
qui «donnent à l’être le mystère et la monumentalité de la nature elle-même» (Radu
Petrescu, 1982, p. 148). Rebreanu se demandait si Mme Bengescu n’est pas plus proche

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du vrai visage de la vie, car ni même Dostoievski n’a pas analysé un tel cumul de
maladies et déviations pour un seul personnage, ce qui garantit au cycle de la famille
Hallipa, une place dans le top «des plus tristes livres de la littérature de l’époque entre
les deux guerres» (Tudor Vianu, 1986, p. 174).

L’anamnese des maladies

On peut même faire une radiographie des maladies dans les romans, une
«pathologie en progrès» (Andreia Roman, op. cit., p. 104), à laquelle on a même
proposé une fonction métaphorique révélatrice des différents types de relations
humaines à travers la chronique, à partir d’une simple diversion, à un renversement du
rapport normalité/pathologie, aux comportements anormaux excessifs et exclusifs,
jusqu’à la plus grave maladie (dans le roman reconstitué L’étrangère) de l’histoire elle-
même.
Soit qu’on parle «des maladies personnalisées» (Cezar Petrescu, 1961, p. 24)
ou du facteur héréditaire, qui «se traduit par la maladie» (Paul Cornea, 1982), dans le
cycle de la famille Hallipa il n’y a pas de bons ou de mauvais gens, il y a des gens qui
sont soit sains, soit malades, on peut même parler d’une normalité du pathologique.
Seulement sous le sceau de l’hérédité, cette dégradation biologique est pertinente pour
le social (des body-bizz de ces substituts d’intimidation sociale). Il n’y a aucun malade
avec des filiations saines, comme si on suivrait la purification des racines de la vie. Ne
doute pas que tout ce que tu vis, sens, penses à propos de la lecture est authentique, car
c’est le seul moment où l’homme est authentique. Sans doute, les destins étant tellement
vrais, nous ne pouvons que nous immerger dans leur complexité, vivre leurs états, être
sympathétiques ou au moins empathiques car, vraiment, «UNE DES RARES ROUTES
D’ACCÈS VERS L’ÊTRE RESTE LA MALADIE» (Thomas Mann dans Perpessicius,
op. cit., pp. 264-265). Par l’intermédiaire des œuvres de Hortensia Papadat Bengescu
entre dans la littérature roumaine la plus riche terminologie médicale, l’homme
physiologique est présenté avec une compétence peu technique, du point de vue d’un
biologiste et d’un clinicien, qui sait que toute souffrance du corps est à l’avance une
maladie de l’âme.
Cette étude clinique de diverses maladies n’est pas du tout gratuite, c’est un
refus critique, car les perturbations de la civilisation sont réverbérées dans ces troubles
individuels. Quels que soient les points de vue critiques, le fait est que personne n’a
détecté plus finement, avec une compréhension plus profonde les états des malades,
dans un monde destiné à disparaître par tout ce qui s’exprime physiquement,
socialement, moralement, esthétiquement. Leur filiation ne dépasse pas deux
générations, ils ne sont pas de créateurs, la destruction attire après soi, conformément à
la règle de la cyclicité, une nouvelle étape, supérieure, pourquoi pas de la vie après la
mort, beaucoup mieux que tout ce qu’ils ont vécu et ils ont essayé dans cette vie créée
par l’écrivaine. Si on était habitué à voir le héros puni par la maladie, la mort ou un
autre trouble, à la fin, les romans du cycle de la famille Hallipa commencent sous cet
auspice et mènent, avec chaque couple détruit, à la chute inévitable de l’entière
génération, mais sans le fardeau de la tristesse, comme une libération. Ceux qui
n’aiment pas ce sujet, qui refusent de penser comme les enfants «sont corps et âme»,
reçoivent une réponse de Nietzsche «les contempteurs du corps sont ceux pour lesquels
il n’y a pas d’avenir dans le monde. Les hypocrites, les inconscients, les infantiles. Je ne

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voudrais pas qu’ils changent leur doctrine, mais seulement qu’ils nient leur corps,
quelque chose qui puisse les rendre muets» (Friedrich Nietzsche, 1994, p. 89).
La physiologie, avec ses caprices, fait entretenir dans tous les cas, une
permanence psychique aussi. La maladie, toujours autre, toujours grave, jamais guérie,
source d’angoisses, occasion d’auto- observation et la psychologie de la maladie, sont
presque les principales liaisons avec le monde. Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu enregistre
toute la misère physiologique des corps qui appellent du secours. La feuille
d’observation fait que les vrais personnages du livre deviennent les anomalies
(n’importe quel type), un catalogue d’absurdités au bout desquelles le personnage,
médusé par elles, entre dans un état de mécanicité, de somnolence, de paralysie, une
réduction de mécanisme typique pour toute la littérature naturaliste qui lui suit jusqu’à
nos jours. La mobilité réduite de l’esprit et du corps, gagnée par la somnolence, la bêtise
et la paralysie transposées par le romancier en matière épique, donne à l’être »la
monumentalité et le mystère de la nature elle-même» (Radu Petrescu, 1982, p. 148). On
vehicule l’idée qu’on pouvait vivre entre ces hommes auxquels le malheur leur fait
surgir «le morceau d’humanité d’eux-mêmes» (Ov. S. Crohmălniceanu, 1967, p. 449).
Chaque personnage, à sa façon, aspire tragiquement à une vie commune, qui
est refusée par leur normalité, soit psychologique, soit physiologique. L’homme de
Hortensia Papadat Bengescu se définit par rapport à un univers social. Les Hallipa,
Drăgănescu, Valter sont montés, mais ils ont grimpé aussi sur l’échelle sociale et ils ont
eu des rayures, s’il faut paraphraser le critique Ovid. S. Crohmălniceanu. Autrement dit,
leur essai de dominer cet univers social a comme résultat une falsification psychique et
la maladie n’est autre chose que ,,la solution’’ trouvée par l’auteur pour la
«réintégration» de la personnalité frustrante dans son chemin conscient vers la mort. On
véhicule (par Nory) même l’idée d’un privilège de classe de la souffrance. Par rapport à
l’univers créé par la maladie, l’homme est libre. La liberté ou l’illusion de la liberté ne
pouvait pas être obtenue que par la libération de l’abstract. Comme il y a deux types de
cette libération, on aura aussi deux types de maladies et de malades. Certains, plus
«chanceux», qui connaissent une libération absolue de l’univers. Il s’agit ici des
maladies incurables, comme la phtisie de Maxențiu. Dans l’autre cas, la maladie est
seulement un signe de faiblesse, d’impossibilité psychique à supporter encore la
contrainte sociale, une modalité d’évasion pathétique. Lenora, Drăgănescu sont les
représentants les plus importants pour lesquels l’hôpital Walter est un lieu de refuge. Le
seul sentiment humain ressenti toujours par les malades se traduit par la pitié pour eux-
mêmes.
Quand l’écrivaine s’est mis le problème des possibilités de se libérer et quand
elle a cherché une solution de réintégration des personnages, le choix de la maladie ou
de la mort comme réponse est tragique, parce que, dans son chemin conscient vers la
mort, la maladie ne peut pas être une solution, «au plus» une vague mystique de la
purification morale par la souffrance» (Ibidem). L’échappement ne peut plus venir ni
même au moins de la part des docteurs. Le malade doit les rares retours caméléonesques
(en fait, les angoisses d’avant la mort) à son propre psychique, qui fait ses derniers
efforts. Les médecins sont, dans le cycle Hallipa, «les grands malades imaginés par
l’écrivaine» (Roxana Sorescu, 1979, p. 208). Soit qu’ils sont imposteurs en médecine
(dr. Rim, les médecins jumeaux bactériologiques Hallipa, le professeur G.), soit qu’ils
sont des cliniciens éminents dans son domaine par l’excellence ambiguë-psychiatrie (dr.
Walter şi Cojan), soit qu’ils ont une spécialisation claire (dr. Răut-T. B. C. et dr. Caro-
infectieuses), ils accomplissent leur propre guérison. Les uns résolvent leurs propres
complexes d’infériorité (Rim şi Caro), les autres ceux de frustration.

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 La radiographie des maladies dans les romans

Avec la série de cinq romans du cycle (Les vierges aux cheveux détachées,
Concert de musique de Bach, La route cachée, Racines, L’étrangère) prend naissance
une fresque de la société roumaine, regardée au niveau de la classe dominante, la
bourgeoisie, dans laquelle on suit spécialement la désagrégation physique et morale
d’un monde au début du déclin, un tronc malade pour lequel la maladie a une fonction
métaphorique. On décrit toujours des hommes malades: rongés par la tuberculose, le
cancer, les maladies de coeur, les maladies de l’appareil génital, les anomalies
psychiques des plus variées, des destins touchés par un amour malade et la malédiction
du sang, cumul de maladies et de déviations morales, un univers qui «se dégrade
toujours soit socialement, soit biologiquement» (Ion Negoițescu, 2002, p. 300). Le cycle
Hallipa est une monographie des maladies, névroses, passions, processus moraux et
états de coeur.
Dans Les vierges aux cheveux détachés se trouvent, à peine nées, toutes les
relations fondamentales entre les personnages, relations qui se dérouleront dans les
romans ultérieurs du cycle: le snobisme dans ses formes de manifestations sociales et
artistiques, la maladie comme réflexe du déséquilibre de l’âme et la guérison des
complexes par le sacrifice psychique d’un homme proche. Par exemple, Lenora doit
sacrifier Doru pour sa guérison du complexe de l’adultère. Ultérieurement, Lina va
sacrifier Sia par la même raison. «Le cycle entier se trouve sous le signe d’un érotisme
qui parait diriger les choses avec une force inépuisable» (Nicolae Manolescu, op. cit., p.
316) et elle commence sous le signe du déclin. Les vierges aux cheveux détachés est le
roman des conséquences de la naissance illégitime de certains enfants, conséquences
ressenties différemment par les deux adultérines, Lenora et Lina qui tracent le destin de
leurs enfants.
Dans Concert de musique de Bach on étudie «l’amour» dans toutes les formes
manifestations sociales, mais l’écrivaine ignore son rôle curatif. On étudie la réaction
d’un type humain qui passe par de différentes relations successives ou simultanées.
Chaque personnage passe tour à tour au premier plan. Dans chaque famille apparaît un
élément de dissolution avec le rôle social d’amant: Marcian, Sia Petrescu, Lică
Trubadurul. Le concert est le symbole de cette solide alliance qui est la famille. «Le
tribut a été payé par la mort de Sia, mais les individus se montreront encore une fois
respectueux envers le firmament de la famille qu’on ne doit pas salir» (Ibidem, p. 331)
dans l’hypnose collective dans laquelle tous sont pris à l’enterrement.
La route cachée est le plus «objectivé tableau de la série des écrits de
Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu» (Pompiliu Constantinescu, 1977, p. 78). L’action se
transfère de la maison de Elena vers le sanatorium congelé de Walter. Il continue la
série des secrets infamants désavoués. Les héros cachent sous le masque officiel des
drames honteux. Personne n’est sincère avec l’autre, ce qui imprime les relations
d’hypocrisie. Derrière un mécanisme social moderne, fourmillent les instincts primaires
ignobles. «Claustré et ténébreux, ce monde est amené à la disparition par tout ce qu’il
entreprend, par tout ce qu’il exprime physiquement, socialement, moralement et
esthétiquement.» (Marin Manu Bădescu, op. cit., p. 104).
Si dans les romans antérieurs toutes les actions étaient pour une vie décente, ici
les ambitions sont «de bien mourir» (Al. Piru, 1981, p. 331). La route cachée suit
minutieusement la fin lente de Lenora et le roman est dédié tout premièrement au
ménage Walter-Lenora, par excellence protocolaire. Thomas Mann disait: «pour
beaucoup de gens la vie commenceraient de la même façon, ils s’égarent par nécessité

179
parce que pour eux il ne s’agit pas de vrais chemins» (Thomas Mann, dans Perpessicius,
op. cit., p. 271).
Par Racines, Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu propose une pure utopie. «Les
racines malades ou faibles constituent pour les héros du roman la cause d’un final
sombre, les raisons de sa décadence étant, à la fois pathologiques, psychiques ou
sociales». (C-tin Ciopraga, op. cit., p. 174) Dans Racines tous sont malades, et l’intérêt
pour le décodage des comportements anormaux devient dans ce roman excessif et
exclusif. La féministe Nory du premier roman, mène une guerre tacite avec tout le
monde, sa conduite n’étant autre chose que le signe d’une hérédité hybride d’enfant
créée au feu d’une grande combustion, c’est-à-dire bâtard; tandis que sa soeur, Dia
Baldovin, a un caractère passif et suit le chemin de sa classe. «C’est ici une curieuse
légitimation de la vie devant l’art» (Ion Negoițescu, op. cit., p. 302). Nory est une
femme de trente ans, pour laquelle la vie sexuelle est encore seulement imaginée. La
critique l’a cataloguée frigide, mais Vladimir Streinu dit que c’est «une femme
conformée défectueusement, la déviation de sa nature est d’ordre physiologique»
(Vladimir Streinu, 1968, p. 191). Roxana Sorescu voyait dans Racines «la monographie
complète de la jalousie» (Roxana Sorescu, op. cit., p. 175) mais, Racines reste «le
roman des crises intimes des femmes» (G. Călinescu, 1985, p. 742).
Des maladies comme la frigidité, la libido, la ménopause, l’hémophilie,
l’anémie, la sénilité, l’érotomanie, la mythomanie, la schizophrénie, la syphilis,
l’homosexualité, le souffle asystolique, la malaria, la paralysie, l’androgynisme, la crise
d’adolescence, la jalousie, même le péché de l’inceste, sont traitées dans ce roman, en se
rencontrant en conglomérat parfois même trois diagnostics dans la feuille clinique d’un
seul personnage. Même l’installation du cancer est présentée comme forme commandée
d’autodestruction. La galerie des maladives s’enrichit avec un personnage mémorable,
Aneta Pascu et avec le dégénéré Ghighi Drăgănescu.
Dans Racines il y a trop de femmes seules, parce que la frustration est une
expression de la solitude érotique spécialement. On peut expliquer les racines par les
«harpons que chaque personnage essaye d’infliger dans l’âme de l’autre, dans lequel il
doit se fixer et duquel il veut extraire la sève vitale» (Roxana Sorescu, op. cit., p. 193).
Apres être condamnés dans des milliers de pages, les personnages sont conduits vers
leur fin implacable.
Le roman L’ Étrangère, pendant la période de sa récente reconstitution, a été
perçu même par la coordinatrice Gabriela Omăt, comme un roman-synthèse, dans
lequel «l’écrivaine veut résumer et finir le destin des personnages du cycle épique
entier» (Eugen Simion, 2012, p. LVIII). Tour à tour, les personnages délivrent par la
mort l’espace épique «le roman semble conçu comme une cérémonie d’adieu, toutes les
personnages meurent, tour à tour dans cette vaste construction baroque» (Ibidem, p.
LXXIII), laissant place aux réflexions /méditations de l’auteur, elles réussissent à
définir une complication de l’esprit dans le monde des sensations, l’espace favori
d’analyse de l’écrivaine, qui les disciplinent finalement sous le contrôle de la ration,
laissant apparaître seulement de faibles soupçons qu’il refuse d’élucider.
Je finis l’étude par la confession de croyance de l’auteur dans l’interview
accordé à I. Valerian: “Je considère que le roman proprement-dit signifie la réalisation
de la vie, donc de la vérité, par conséquence, comme quelque chose de rigoureux et
grave. Je ne soumets personne, mais je ne couvre pas. Parce que je me suis proposé la
vérité. J’ai l’impression que dans les faits les plus habituels on peut trouver beaucoup de
caractère et de relief dans les caractères les plus usuels» (I .Valerian, 1967, p. 145).

180
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Mihăilescu, F., Introduction dans l’œuvre de Hortensia Papadat Bengescu, Ed. Minerva,
București, 1975
Negoițescu, I., L’histoire de la littérature roumaine, (1800-1945), IIe édition, Ed. Dacia, Cluj-
Napoca, 2002
Nietzsche, F., Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra. Un livre pour tous et personne, Ed. Humanitas,
București, 1994
Perpessicius, P., Ecrivains roumains, vol. III, B.P.T, Ed. Minerva, București, 1989
Petrescu, C., La ville patriarcale, E.P.L, București, 1961
Petrescu, L., Réalité et romanesque, Ed. Tineretului, București, 1965
Petrescu, R., Météorologie de la lecture, Ed. Cartea Românească, București, 1982
Piru, Al., Histoire de la littérature roumaine dès le début jusqu’à nos jours, Ed. Univers,
București, 1981
Platon, Phaidon /ou De l’âme: dialogue étique, trad. Petru Creția, Ed Humanitas, București, 1994
Ribot, Th., La psychologie des sentiments, http:/www.persee.fr
Roman, A., Hortensia Papadat Bengescu. La vocation et les styles de la modernité, Ed. Paralela
45, Pitești
Sebastian, M., Considérations sur le roman moderne. Panlyrisme, dans „Cuvântul”, année III, n.
895, 14 oct. 1927
Sebastian, M., Hortensia Papadat Bengescu- - La route cachée, dans Nae Antonescu, Revues
littéraires dirigées par Liviu Rebreanu, Ed. Minerva, București, 1985
Simion, E., Etude introductive à Hortensia Papadat Bengescu. Oeuvres, texte établit et notes par
Gabriela Omăt, L’Académie Roumaine, Fundația Națională pentru Știință și Artă, București,
2012,
Sora, S., La récupération de l’intimité, Ed. Cartea Românească, București, 2008
Sorescu, R., Interprétations. Hortensia Papadat Bengescu ou une version du roman
psychologique, Ed. Cartea Românească, București, 1979
Streinu, V., Pages de critique littéraire- Marginalia. Essais, vol.II, E.P.L, București, 1968,
Valerian, I., Les écrivains de ce siècle, en parlant avec Hortensia Papadat Bengescu, E.P.L,
București, 1967
Vianu, T., Les écrivains roumains du XXe siècle, Ed. Minerva, București, 1986

181
 THE IMAGISTIC SUPPORT OF SINCERITY IN GEO BOGZA’S
POETRY

Aurelia Mihaela NĂSTASE1

Abstract: Geo Bogza, a representative poet of the Romanian avant-garde, contributed

to the reneval of the Romanian poetry by lyrics full of complex meanings and symbols. The
contemporary poet makes his mark like a rebel against the traditional ideas since the firt phase of
the rebellions creation. In the ostentation and moralizing period the poet of creative exasperation
proves to be a craftsman in the overlap of legendary and historical vital plan.
Keywords: effects, imagery concept, words, exasperation, dream

Ioana Maria, a simple love story, with many romantic walks in the streets,
turns into a solemn, magnificent story. It is a poem that has "the vigor, realism and
energy of Mayakovsky’s poems" (Constantinescu, Cadran, nr. 3:1939).
Ioana Maria is the poem of youth that the poet relives and remembers, a poem
of longing, of love and unfulfilled destiny. The poem is built around the core symbol of
the ship. With the help of calendar reportage, the poet turns from the wet February
evening when the love story begins to a spring morning, bitter and sad. Ioana Maria is a
poem of remembrance, of reliving, of absence and separation, of removal, of unfulfilled
longing and love.
"Ioana Maria we were only two ships / that meet in the morning / and on top
of the fleeting waves / see and greet each other." (Ioana Maria XVII)
Ioana Maria is the seductive heroine who embodies both life joy and despair.
In addition to this, there is the obsession of unrepeated things:
"Ioana Maria there are happenings / Taking place in the world once / And that
morning autumn / when you were holding two roses / and we were climbing the stairs
of the city / will never happen again." (Ioana Maria XVI)
Speech does not have the scale of the gesturing of the previous volumes
retaining only the solemn side. The crucial event between the two heroes is carried out
on a February evening: "It was an evening of February / the beginning of a fantastic
story [...] / when I went for the first time alongside you" (Ioana Maria II)
Resembling the first poems, Ioana Maria is a poem of youth tormented by
despair. As in the menacing phase, the poet still felt the sublime taste of nights filled
with insomnia: "Ioana Maria,... those nights were nights / when I wanted the city with
all the people / sleeping between its walls to blow"(Ioana Maria IV)
On bitter nights thinking about the beauty of his beloved made him feel again
"as seventeen" and stay awake till "dawn". One poetic image that emerges throughout
the poem is "the red flower" that Ioana Maria holds in her hand. Augmenting
femininity, beauty and tenderness of the female character, both the red flower, the lilac
and the rose, considered symbols of love, are to be found alongside Ioana Maria
throughout the entire poem, such as the couple in love traverses the city:
"Often with a flower in hand" (Ioana Maria IX)
"And that flower in her hand was red" (Ioana Maria II)
"And you were holding a large bouquet of roses (Ioana Maria V)

1
The Technological High-School of Topoloveni, nastaseaura@yahoo.com

182
 "And you were holding a rose" (Ioana Maria VII)
The flowers that Ioana Maria had in her hand at the beginning of this story of
love symbolize happiness, love and eternity. The two young lovers wanted a strong
steady relationship. This beautiful love story continues one May morning, when the
grass receives those "two convalescent lovers" who stood quietly by the lake. Shrouded
by the scents of rose petals that she had in her hand, Ioana Maria looked thoughtfully:
"It was a spring morning / you looked in front of you thoughtfully / and ate
one after another the rose petals. (Ioana Maria VII)
In terms of symbology, the rose petals "express the beauty and they signal the
achievement of perfection, the flawless perfection, the cup of life, the soul, the heart, the
love [...] the heavenly Salvation [...] the image of the soul. It is a symbol of resurrection
and immortality [...] of regeneration and initiation [...] of love, especially love that
gives, pure love" (Chevalier,J Gherbrant,A: 1994:176) . In the sacred texts, the rose was
most of the times associated with green and in the Golden Ass by Apuleius, it was the
flower of goddess Isis.
The poet describes in a journalistic manner, the natural environment where
moments of tenderness consume between the two young people: the city is full of
darkness and has wide quiet streets with statues, poor forests on the outskirts, the lake
and the sea filled with ships. Contrary to serene and quiet love, the natural setting was
dreary, tired and wet:
"The city, that night, was gloomy" (Ioana Maria II)
"The city was then covered with snow / streets were white and soft" (Ioana
Maria III)
"Ioana Maria there are murky mornings / when something bad must have
happened in the world / tired and dirty clouds covering the sky / and the birds passing
through wet "(Ioana Maria V)
The forests on the outskirts, the lake, the grass, the harbor, the streets, are
constituents of the landscape:
"Forests on the outskirts / where we used to walk sometimes" (Ioana Maria
VIII)
We sat quietly on the lake bank "in tall and tender grass" (Ioana Maria VI)
"And stood on the steps of the port" (Ioana Maria XVI)
The idea “the poet subtly implies and which constitutes the lyricism
underpinning this poem is the uniqueness of moments:"(Pop.I, Steaua nr 1:1968).
"She will never be again / the rain pouring down the forest[...]
And the day I told you …shall never repeat again[...] (Ioana Maria XVI)
The innocent love story between the two young people takes a magnificent
solemn size. The honest beloved one, who is seventeen, Ioana Maria, is seen as a
mysterious star:
"It is an unknown and alone star / not seen by all people / I solely in the whole
world / know that it is your star" (Ioana Maria X) or she is compared to a ship taking
him overseas:
"You were beautiful Ioana Maria / Like a ship brought by wind from remote
unknown islands" (Ioana Maria XII)
Even the usual scenery seems fantastic to the lovers. Beyond the hill that they
never walked on was another realm of life:
"They were poor forests as on the outskirts / but my longing for you was great /
and we saw them fantastic."(Ioana Maria VIII)

183
 Geo Bogza chose the ‘hill’ as an element separating ordinary daily life from
life ennobled with pure love. The hill with its gently-sloping lines marks the beginning
of this emergency and a distinction between the sacred beyond our world and the
profane world. With the coming of autumn, the evenings became the saddest evenings
of the world. Sadness and melancholy given by long heavy autumn rain foretell the
separation for a long time.
The name "Ioana Maria", used 50 times throughout the poem, generates a
powerful repetitive effect, Ioana Maria embodies the ideal of beauty, tenderness and
feminine elegance:
Everything that happens with the character "Ioana Maria" is unique,
unrepeatable, and this impression is reinforced by the expression "once" and the adverb
"never":
Solemnity is necessary and it reaches a peak by using the noun "grandeur" and
the verbs "wake up" and "rising". Throughout the poem it is presented the cyclical
nature where the girl integrates. The love story begins in a wet evening in February
("Ioana Maria is a wet February evening", Ioana Maria II), continues into a spring
morning in May, and ends in an autumn evening:
"It was a spring morning" (Ioana Maria VII)
"the tall tender grass / at the beginning of March (Ioana Maria VI)
"That fall, Ioana Maria, / I knew the saddest evenings of the world." (Ioana
Maria XIII)
A strong syllogistic effect is achieved by using the adjective "pale" in its
proper sense, as well as alluding to the mood:
The fleeting happiness is suggested by the noun "boat". The beauty of the
lovers’ meetings lasted just a bitter and sad moment, "Ioana Maria we were only two
ships / who meet one morning [...] (Ioana Maria XVII)
Ioana Maria cycle consists of seventeen poems grouped under three
subheadings: Ioana Maria is an old boat (I, II, III, IV, V); The forests on the outskirts
(VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI), and The seas take us far away (XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI,
XVII). The volume consists of 473 nouns ( 37% of the total number of words in the
poem), 262 verbs (representing a rate of 37%), a total of 185 pronouns (representing a
rate of 15%), a number of 13 numbers (representing a 1% ), 133 adjectives (representing
10%), 25 temporal indices (representing a rate of 2%), 11 spatial indices (representing a
rate of 1%), a total of 36 modal indices (representing a rate 3%). (see Annex no.3)
The poet uses mostly verbs in the first person singular in the past tense. The first
person singular pronoun that accompanies verbs emphasizes the involvement of self in
this love story.

Bibliography
Chevalier, Jean; Gherbrant, Alain, Dicţionar de simboluri, Artemis, Bucureşti 1994
Constantinescu, Miron, Noul realism românesc, Cadran nr. 3:1939
Pop, Ion, Geo Bogza, poet al revoltei, Steaua XIX, nr. 1:1968

184
 EXPRESSIVE MEANS OF ACHIEVING FLORAL AVATAR IN
DIMITRIE ANGHEL’S POETRY

Cosmina Andreea ROŞU1

Abstract: Dimitrie Anghel is remarkable in Romanian symbolism for his special

approach of the flower universe, especially for his frequent identification with the floral element
considered to be the avatar of the poetic. The escape in the garden – as a space of withdrawal in
ideality – is achieved through dream, in a symbolic way, abundant in expressive images. A
representation of an identity discourse, the dream suggests the space of human being originating
retrieval through continuous metamorphoses, a space of the human souls’ transmigration.
Keywords: symbol, flower, imaginary.

In his diversity, the symbolist poetry’s theme expresses a nonconformist and an

inadequate attitude, an incompatibility with a prosaic, mercantile and philistine world.
The symbolist poets reveal the spleen, the solitude the neurosis sustained by a full props
specific to Symbolism, which fades the immediate support of these states arising from
the poets’ objection of the world.
The loneliness motif descends from Romanticism and is enriched with the
melancholy of silence, with undecided and uncertain gestures, with heavy sadness
especially in Dimitrie Anghel’s poetry in which we can see his refuge in the garden.
Love, as a literary theme, is not framed in the context of nature by the
symbolists, although the poets will find a connection in communicating their feelings
through their predilection for fragrances and music. The intimate side of love poetry is
underlined by the presence of the objects in the literary works of Al. Macedonski and
then cultivated by D. Anghel, N. Davidescu, Ion Pillat, Ion Minulescu. It appears here
the chamber, the paintings, the buffets and the library.
A well known floral universe we can see in D. Anghel’s volume: “In the
Garden” (“În grădină”), where the flowers remind us of the dead, of the love constancy,
and the garden is an idealistic refuge of man’s frustrated consciousness. Named by
Mihai Moșandrei “the gardener of our spirituality flowers” (M. Moșandrei, 1938: 8),
Dimitrie Anghel is framed in the autochthonous Symbolism (Lucia Bote Marino, 1966:
329).
Dimitrie Anghel is remarkable in Romanian Symbolism context through his
special approach of the flower universe. He considers the chosen flowers’ garden as a
space of withdrawal in ideality and he frequently identifies himself with the floral
element which he transforms in an avatar – interpreted exclusively as a metamorphosis,
devoid of any negative connotation. D. Anghel’s imaginary is symbolically,
conventionally and analogous represented through the reality transfiguration after the
poet’s terror in front of the constraining reality and the common concreteness.
The escape is achieved by means of flowers’ fragrance using the poet’s
emotional memory (as M. Proust does) which explain his predilection for the world of
flowers in a page of prose in “The Story of the Troubled” – “Povestea celor necăjiți”
(Iulian Boldea, 2011: 19):

1
University of Pitești, racosmina@yahoo.com

185
 Eu mi-alesesem lumea florilor, căci în lumea lor mi-am petrecut copilăria. Mi-
aduceam aminte de grădina minunată unde am trăit, de murmurul sonor al
șipotului, de freamătul arborilor, de toată risipa de petale de o împrăștie necurmat
vântul. Imi aminteam simpatiile pe care le aveam pentru unele flori și antipatiile
nejudecate pentru altele. Pentru mine miresmele erau gândurile lor tainice, felul
lor de a vorbi, și eu aș putea ghici pe întuneric, noapte, când e mai puternic
mirosul lor, ce floare anume mi-l trimite, și mai târziu toate amintirile acestea s -au
redeșteptat și m-au chinuit, și asemuirea strălucirii lor am căutat-o în cuvinte, în
alcătuirea minunată a petalelor ce formează o roză, ori un crin, am căutat s-o
redau în strofe. (D. Anghel, 1989: 97).
The poet is so close to nature that he frequently identifies himself with its
elements – usually with the aristocratic spirit of the white lily and, at a certain point,
with the oak through an allegory – “The Oak and the Mistletoe” (“Stejarul și vâscul”),
dedicated to a critic. The oak is the symbol of steadfastness and persistence over time,
of power, of masculinity, of immortality and it was dedicated to Hera in ancient times;
the Dryads were oak nymphs. The oak’s heavy wood was compared to incorruptibility.
Associated to the potential to live long, it symbolizes power and eternal life.
However, the floral avatar motif is significant in a text whose title is intriguing
and seems to anticipate it: “Metamorphosis” (“Metamorfoză”), a poetry from the
volume named “Fantasies” (“Fantazii”, 1909) and also in the poetry named “In the
Garden” (“În grădină”) from the homonymous volume (1905). Instead, in the “Death of
Narcissus” (“Moartea lui Narcis”) the poet finds his human avatar.
I, now, submit “Metamorphosis” (“Metamorfoză”) for analysis (Anghel, 1989:
51). In this text, the imaginary transposition is achieved by an impersonal verb used to
imply the detachment desire “Și se făcea că fără voie trăiam acum o viață nouă” (p. 51).
A modal phrase – “fără voie” is added to this in order to emphasize the irresistible force
of floral narcosis, followed by apocope – “făr’ de veste”.
The dream motif involves the escape from the real space, the refuge in a
permitted, deliberate way by placing, in the first verse, the verb in mai-mult-ca-perfect
“lăsasem să m-adoarmă crinii...” (p. 51) – assuming some causative idea for what is to
come through the intervention of the olfactory: “seară dulce” in which the lily’s
fragrance emphasizes its narcotic power.
The parallel, imaginary universe fancied by the poet in which everything is
possible is represented by a nominal group “o viață nouă”. We easily identify here the
floral avatar by the chosen flower – that is superior and aristocratic. It is a symbol of
purity, perfection, mercy and majesty in most cultures; the lily, once symbolized light
and male principle, it is the flower of glory and death also. The flower description
focuses on an interesting visual contrasting image: the pure, superlative white –
emphasised at a morphematic level by tmesis: “atât de alb eram subt lună” – “abia
scriam o umbră” (p. 51), promoting, at the same time, the desire to be eternal according
to the scripta manent dictum and the inability to detach from the previous life’s calling
– writing.
The dream begins in the first verse with the expression of desire (“voind”) and
it is enhanced by repeating a verb in gerund in the beginning of the second stanza:
“Visând trăiam cu ei acuma” (p. 51) – suggesting the anchoring in the present moment
and the inclusion in the vegetable kingdom through the comparison: “și eu un crin ca
dânșii”. We identify the lily’s preciousness in the final verse of the first quatrain which
contains both an epithet and a metaphor: “Îmi întindeam voios potirul să prind o lacrimă
de rouă” (p. 51).

186
 In the dark, calm atmosphere, under the guardianship star of the night and
reverie (“subt lună”), playfulness comes through a personified epithet: “m-alinta
șăgalnic vântul” (p. 51), and also the reconciliation with itself: “tihnă se făcuse-n mine
și caldă inima și bună” (p. 51).
The metamorphoses idea is reiterated – “sub altă formă, să-mpodobesc și eu
pământul” (p. 51) – as an aesthetification, utility, attractiveness way, forgetting the
overwhelming feeling of rejection, of loneliness, of futility.
The temporal coordination, by reference to context, is achieved by a relative
adverb, “when”, introducing the following indication: “o mână pală […]/ S-a-ntins
vrăjmașă să mă frângă” (p. 52). Instinctively, such an inferior human being: “the pale
hand” (“mână pală”) – in visual contrast with its shadow (“umbra sa”) – descends above
the lily (representing a part of the whole – “grămadă”) anticipating the thanatic: “Ca
subt imboldul unei forțe necunoscute și fatale,/ S-a-ntins vrăjmașă să mă frângă”. The
mild extinction (“Muream tihnit de-a doua oară în liniștea odăii tale”, p. 52) is achieved
in a favourable and comfortable environment (“cu fața calmă între perne”, p. 52) in
which the poet had taken refuge – his lover’s chamber. As in dream and as in reality, the
soul’s extinction involves the detachment of flesh/body and its subsequent
materialization in “another perfect and eternal form” – “altă formă desăvârșită și eternă”
(p. 52) preserving the notable essence at a lexical-semantic level by synecdoche.
The superior man is searching for the perfect form to identify to until merger
and which form to reflect his essence of his aspiring to the transcendent - “Eu ca o
pulbere de aur m-am ridicat ușor subt l ună” (p. 52). The identification is often made by
explicit comparisons and metaphors. The reiteration of the process, of the agony is
achieved through the repetition of the indicative verb – “muream” (“I was dying”) – thet
gives a durative note reflecting the manner of experiencing, of feeling the agony. We
can easily observe the abundance of the indicative verbs in the first person singular in
each verse of the first two stanzas – they constitute the poetic marks.
The semantic context of the stylistic figures, especially of the comparisons and
personifications, includes specific elements of Dimitrie Anghel’s Symbolism: nature
(“m-alinta șăgalnic vântul”, “alb ca o zăpadă”), the vegetal element (“Eram și eu un
crin ca dânșii”), the human element (“făcându -ți brațele cunună”), the abstract element
(“Muream tihnit”, “mișcându-și umbra.../Ca subt imboldul unei forțe”), the intertwining
of the human and the vegetal elements until identification (“Eu ca o pulbere de aur”).
The common element of the comparisons that have vegetal elements imply the
idea of purity by colour (the adjective alb – white, the noun zăpadă – snow – which
emphasize by contrast the night’s chromatic) to which the human being embodied in lily
is associated to. In comparisons the noun is predominant and it is also part of another
stylistic figure, which is a metaphor: “Eu |crinul| ca o pulbere de aur”.
There are obvious, at the prosody level, the equal measure of the syllables – 18
syllables, the cross rhyme and the iambic rhythm. The phonological level has the
apocope – “făr’ de veste” and the paronomasia – “fatale – tale” (p. 52), alongside of the
usual flow that gives the poetry an elegiac tone.
In an extensive analysis of Dimitrie Anghl’s style, G. Călinescu wrote down:
Simbolist, în fond, Dimitrie Anghel este mai autentic decât alții, cu toate acele
contrasturi și amestecuri ce constituie o personalitate. […] Pentru că Anghel și -a
intitulat o culegere de versuri Fantazii, a rămas un fel de clișeu critic că poetul
este fantezist. Fantazia lui Anghel e fabulosul alegoric, însă din ea a derivat și un
imagism. (G. Călinescu, 2003: 608, 610).

187
 Thus, the dream represents the immersion in the continuous metamorphoses
space, a souls’ transmigration space, a metempsychosis space, but, especially a space of
human being retrieval of originary self. The returning to real space through ritual
extinction of the lily requires openness to new metamorphoses but it also has the
significance of trauma because of the ideality and originating painful rupture. The
anchoring in the past, in the archetypal times, is performed by Dimitrie Anghel using
the symbols with mythological reference: Vestals, Hera, Oedipus, Narcissus, Midas etc.
Through connections (correspondances) the author manages to fully express
the relation between the poetic – representing the micro and the world – as a
macrocosmic universe which are interpreted by symbols at the receptiveness level.

Bibliography
Anghel, D., Versuri și proză , Ed. Albatros, București, 1989;
Boldea, I., De la modernism la postmodernism, Ed. Universității „Petru Maior”, Târgu -Mureș,
2011;
Bordeianu, M., Versificația românescă , Ed. Junimea, Iași, 1974;
Bote Marino, L., Simbolismul românesc, Ed. pentru Literatură, București, 1966;
Călinescu, G., Istoria literaturii române, Ed. Semne, București, 2003;
Coteanu, I., Stilistica funcțională a limbii române , Ed. Academiei, București, 1973;
Moșandrei, M ., Dimitrie Anghel, poet al florilor, Universul literar, Anul XLVII, Nr. 44, 17
Decembrie 1938.

188
 THE IMAGE OF THE MOTHER IN HORTENSIA
PAPADAT-BENGESCU’S PROSE

Mihaela STANCIU VRAJA

Abstract: Although in men’s literature mothers are memorable characters, in the

feminine one they are far from being given the same status, at least in the works of Hortensia
Papadat-Bengescu, a reference writer of Romanian literature. The author caused the critique to
record the existence of the feminine literature and, thanks to her, a mental pattern of the works
written by women was formed. Going back to the mothers in Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s
prose, we notice that they are not seen in a positive light, nor are they marked by the biological
custom of maternity, but they are rather governed by various obsessions, among which that of the
bastard is worth mentioning. Therefore, children are unwanted not only by society, but also by
their own mothers, who prove to be downright miserable and odious – mothers that lack the
maternal instinct.
Keywords: image of the mother, maternity, feminine literature.

In Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s short prose the mother-character is almost

non-existent. The children-characters haven’t caught the author’s interest too much
either; when in her short prose she briefly talks about “the human baby”, his portrait is
not necessarily sketched in a positive way, as it appears to be a burdening image rather
than a pleasant one:
Generally, she didn’t love children. Of all the creatures, the human baby seemed
to her to be the ugliest. Powerless, dirty, whimpered, he presented the inferiority
of the mature human being. On their dirty cheek, on their filthy fingers, she could
see all the stains that would later be imprinted on the inside of their soul. The
baby bird, the puppies, the lambs, even the little green frogs are more beautiful,
more sturdy. No one carries them, no one waists his or her life caring for their
helplessness.1 (Femeia în fața oglinzei – The Woman in front of the Mirror).
Still, there are also situations in which the author smiles remembering her own
childhood – a happy one too –, when she makes use of the image of a little boy playing
on the beach:
Only one little child was left – who was playing with the ball. He was tiny, very
tiny, he might have been four years old – it was a little boy. […] His face was fat,
rosy, round, childish and naughty, bold and naïve; he had a small mouth with ends
that would voluntarily rise or that would go down, ready for a cry. He was playing
with a ball, pushing it with his foot, throwing it, and it was hard for him to throw
it with his small hands, concentrated to catch it. […] It took my breath away and
my soul was running also. What a heart throb all of a sudden! (Marea – The Sea).

Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, e-mail: mihsta2@gmail.com

1
All the excerpts from the author’s works are taken from the volumes Opere (Works), vol. I,
edition and notes by Eugenia Tudor Anton, foreword by Constantin Ciopraga, Minerva,
București, 1972, Opere (Works), vol. II, edition and notes by Eugenia Tudor Anton, Minerva,
București, 1975, Opere (Works), vol. III, edition and notes by Eugenia Tudor Anton, Minerva,
București, 1979, and Opere (Works), vol. IV, anthology and notes by Eugenia Tudor Anton,
selected text by Viviana Șerbănescu, Minerva, București, 1980.

189
 We can also see the same image of the beautiful child in the prose Vision
(Viziune): “I like beautiful children!... Just now the child was playing by himself; now,
next to him, kneeling on the sand, a white shadow was leaning down. […] When the
glitter of the ray that envelops it became more vivid, the one that was caressing the child
1
seemed to resemble me […]ˮ
An entirely atypical and unique image for all the bengescian prose results in
the character Mrs. DaVoineamian from The Dragon (Balaurul), who opposes the other
mothers in the author’s novels. She experiences a dramatic situation when her little girl
Mioara (The Little Lamb) dies on a refugee train and the people in the wagon decide to
throw her body out of the train for fear they might be contaminated:
Laura would avoid the mother with dexterity, as if she were some peril. She felt
she couldn’t be touched yet. It was like a bad bruise. Slower, much slower, that
shaken mechanism would straighten its pieces. She was still standing on the edge
of the chair of the mind, staggering, ready to freak out. (Balaurul – The Dragon).
Mrs. Damian inscribes in the category of a unique mother in Hortensia
Papadat-Bengescu’s works, the mother that loves her child and is hurting for him. The
tragedy of the child’s death combines with that of his little brother Dorel’s death,
leading to suicide, a gesture seen by the character as an act of salvation:
Hostile towards everyone, maybe she wanted to keep only him; she would wait
for him as if he were the only one she could finally talk to, in front of who she
could come out of the sinister grip and free her mind of all troubles. He was not
only the beloved little brother – he was the one that was supposed to execute
judgment, to lift the curse, to bring the acceptance of the ill fate in the house of
hatred; he was the ally with the support of whom Mrs. Damian could give up her
hostility towards the close ones. Dorel was Mioara’s godfather! Dorel had the
right to forgive! And Dorel had died. (Balaurul – The Dragon).
The path of the mothers from Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s novels is a
sinuous one, since the feminine character experiences tangled situations, morally
doubtful; the roles rapidly follow one another, from mothers with illegitimate children
to women that marry and remarry, and then they become mistresses-wives in love with
or just eager for fortunes. No matter the masks they wear,
Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s characters impress right from the start in two
apparently contradictory ways: by their unity and by their variety. Especially for
the period of the first works, the unity was ensured by the quasi-singularity of the
perspective. Most of the times the story-teller identifies with the author herself.
The external realities were fully related to one single conscience. (Mihăilescu, F.,
1975: 54)
In Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s view, the woman is seen as a sick animal
that experiences cyclic situations (birth, menstruation, miscarriage). The author herself
had a failed intimate life, which probably led to the apparition of some errors in the
evaluation of life, of people, of love and understanding. Therefore, the woman with
desires is looked at almost as if she were a prostitute. The keystone in the path of the
women from the bengescian prose is represented by maternity and miscarriage, with
the suitable extensions: midwives, gynecologists, bastard children.

1
The text was published in Viața Românea scă, Year VII, No. 1, the 1st of January 1913, p. 44,
and it was not introduced by the author in the volume Ape adânci (Deep Waters).

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 The woman in the bengescian novel is negatively marked by her biological
aspects of maternity, living in promiscuous conditions, suffering from the lack of
control on her sexual life or being tormented by the obsession of the bastard, of the
unwanted child in society. As a matter of fact, the condition of the mother is annulled
because the women in Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu’s novels deny their maternity, thus
becoming miserable, terrible, almost odious mothers.
It’s only natural for the questions to arise: “Why are these mothers like this?
Why don’t these mothers live with the regret of not having children, but rather with the
regret of having them?” This regret is probably due to a biographical detail: Hortensia
Papadat-Bengescu, mother of five children, cannot find allies in the feminine characters
because they don’t believe that “every wife must one day become a mother” (Adler, L.,
2003: 97).
Another type of mother present in the author’s novels is represented by the
woman that brings into the world a child outside a marriage – a woman seen by society
as a disheveled maiden. This is the case of Ancuța, daughter of Priest Cristea, who “had
no idea about Christ... He would mechanically mutter the Gospels, which had no
meaning for him. He only knew the dogmas of priestly conduct for the gain of his
domesticities.” (Balaurul – The Dragon). The child she gives birth to doesn’t live much
time, and then she is forced by her parents to marry a German surgeon-assistant.
Pregnant again, Ancuța feels as if bad spirits are coming over her:
For some time, Ancuța’s pace had slowed down, her waist became larger and she
had fallen to disgrace with the priest’s blessing. […] Laura could not comprehend,
she could not understand that way of living, one that roughens the hands, abases
the body, decreasing her value and her defense. She could not attain the
knowledge of what promiscuity means; she could not weigh well enough the
brutal sufferings of Ancuța ’s life, in which all her virtue could barely save the
soul... She knew that Ancuța loves faithfully, profoundly, to the point of suffering
and death... (Balaurul – The Dragon)
Ancuța is not moved by the death of any of her children, but when she finds
out that her lover died on the battle-front “she stands still... It was terrible! The stillness
is the most desperate form of pain. How could she shake her to stop the pain from
thickening inside of her?” (Balaurul – The Dragon).
Another type of mother who refuses this role is that of “kind Linaˮ; living in
fear of losing her condition as the wife of “Professor Rimˮ, stumpy Lina sacrifices her
own daughter (Sia) refusing to hospitalize her when her life is in danger after an
abortion. She had also refused to raise her, developing a true hatred towards her. Still,
she brings her into her home as a nurse for Rim, her husband. Lina’s portrait is the least
attractive:
Her shape as a nice whisk, her short and thick neck, her short and large bosom,
her plump waist, her ugly face, of course, with her small and shortsighted eyes,
colorless, with deteriorated skin, a good nose, a little flattened at the top, and the
wide mouth hiding some teeth that were not visible, although durable when
cracking peanuts – this whole was not just as imposing.
In the end, the woman who didn’t know how to be a good mother will become
a bad person:
Kind Lina, by a terrible overthrow of values, becomes evil. The wickedness of the
kind ones, fresh, tireless, thoughtless, always susceptible, always aggressive. Like
someone trapped in an unknown house, mistrustfully trying to open the doors and

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 the windows, with the eyes of an assassin; lurking at the corners ready to strike,
with confused, intemperate movements, groping in the dark – that’s how Lina’s
wickedness was like. (Fecioarele despletite – The Disheveled Maidens).
The image of the mother is generally sketched, as we have noticed, in relation
to the daughter: Mrs. Damian – Mioara’s mother, Lina Rim – Sia’s mother, then “the
Madame Midwife”, the mother of a little girl. “Madame Midwife” is a widow who
doesn’t allow herself to be troubled by her social status at all. Dressed “with her white
apron, with the head kerchief tied in her own personal way, as she always wears it and
as it looked good on her..., she never misses an opportunity that could remind her she
was funny and a widowˮ (Balaurul – The Dragon). There are also situations in which
the image of the mother is shaped in relation to a son. The feminine character
illustrated by Elena Drăgănescu Hallipa doesn’t succeed in being a good mother this
time either; she is doing more harm than good to her son, Ghighi, not out of
wickedness, but out of a selfishness she doesn’t even notice. Elena experiences a
frantically joy at the general rehearsal of the concert:
She hadn’t noticed the precise succession of the items on the programme, nor the
assistants’ behavior during the breaks. A rustling of silk and delight enveloped her
in its satisfactory signification. It was the soft throb of the ladies reverberated by
the taffeta and crepe of China dresses. […] The applauses gave her an impression
similar to the blade of a sea wave that is formed somewhere unexpected and that
breaks against your shoulders that bend under the joy’s threat. […] As in the
auditorium there was a murmur of admiration, Elena looks around, surprised that
the others are joyful too. She knew she hadn’t overthrown anything out of the
shells in which the melody would accumulate for her alone (Concert din muzică
de Bach – A Concert of Bach’s Music).
Because her son commits suicide, Elena bears the guilt all her life, even if at some time
she had considered that “it’s a crime to give birth to a baby that has the vulgarity and the
slyness of the father insideˮ. Elena Drăgănescu Hallipa had had a shaky relationship
with her mother, but she didn’t consider herself a good mother, which at some point
makes her manage her flaws:
How clumsy she had been and still was in her role as a mother! […] Maybe not so
much as a wife, a lover, a daughter. […] The man she had been in love with in her
youth years, Prince Maxențiu, she had thrown far away, to her luck. […] She had
kept Drăgănescu, her husband, kilometers of cold, compressed air away. […] She
had loved her mother so little that one could say she hated her […]. She had loved
her father with distinction and measure, but now she loathed him. […] She liked
her sister Aimée and she couldn’t tolerate Mika-Lé. […]
After Ghighi’s suicide, Elena is “cramped, frozen, left in the cold so many times
because of the pain, of the humiliation, of the defeat. Also, it is only natural for the
question to arise: why are there such children? The author regards her own childhood
nostalgically and affectionately:
I stopped here for a long time during my childhood. It’s the era that shows the
clearest expression of the decisive nature and conditions of my literary formation.
I thought it was what was required of me... Whenever I look at my picture from
back then, I feel sorry for the terrible burden of thought and soul that I placed on
this poor child. (Papadat-Bengescu, H., 1937: 6)
To her parents she dedicates fragments that are full of gratitude:

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 [...] The only daughter of a brave soldier, General Dumitru Bengescu, and of a
devoted and gentle Moldavian mother, drawing her roots from the elders of Iaşi,
with teacher studies. Both of them intellectuals, they encouraged my
predisposition towards study, taking care, at the same time, of the formation of my
nature... My mother was the kindest being; she patiently taught me the letters,
then reading in our sweet language, as well as in French, for she used to say: ‘If
you don’t start learning a new language in your early years, you’ll find it more
difficult later’… Although very busy, my father still found time to talk to me
about the Romanian and French writers and poets he knew, encouraging my
inclination towards literary composition...” (Baltazar, C., 1962: 63 ).
Hortensia Papadat-Bengescu will write too and when she comes to publish her
first book, Deep Waters (Ape adânci), she dedicates it to her father, not necessarily
because she felt in debt with him, but rather because she regarded the image of the
father as a happy island in her life:
Much later, when my first book was published, my father confessed to me his
secret desire, which was now fulfilled; he confessed this with a joy mixed with a
moving deception (in his voice, in pauses between words) – opposed to my empty
thoughts. But I do not know if his torment was greater than mine, because of the
same strange bashfulness. It would have been impossible for me not to dedicate to
him – who I cherished so highly – this first book. (Papadat-Bengescu, H., 1937: 5)
The only trace of reproach noticeable in the memories she has of her parents is
that they had resisted letting her go on with her studies:
[...] Yes, my sweet and educated parents had decidedly refused to let me continue
my studies at universities, in the country or (as I had the opportunity) abroad. I
was their only child, mother was suffering from the heart and her weapons were
enormous; she wouldn’t confess the pain of seeing me leave abroad, but she
would suffer from heart attacks, serious ones (for this reason, no doubt), and
father was pensive. (Baltazar, C., 1962: 72-73).
Still, the children-characters from the author’s novels are not inspired from her
own childhood; so, we are witnessing the image of the bastard-children: “the hideous
Mika-Léˮ who troubles Lenora’s memories and causes her neurotic states (she sets the
bed on fire, she tears the lace of her house gown) because she doesn’t find the courage
to confess her sin. Another bastard is “the feminist Noryˮ, conceived by the landlord
Baldovin with bailiff Vasiliu’s daughter, Cornelia. Nory is contemptuous towards her
own mother and, although she militates for women’s rights, she lacks femininity,
assuming a manly behavior: “Here she would perorate, there she would inspect, she
liked to stir, to impose her will on others, to always be among many people, or even be
indispensable; to change place, to see, to hear, to be seen and to be listened to.ˮ
(Rădăcini – Roots) Precisely because she’s a bastard child Nory sums up many negative
traits (pride, sarcasm, distrust, harshness, doubt) in contrast with those of Dia,
Baldovin’s legitimate daughter. Unable to bear being told what to do or depending on
someone else, Nory Baldovin juggles between two professions:
After obtaining her degree in Letters, she discovered she doesn’t like being a
teacher: ‘– You make others dull and they make you dull’. Then she studies Law;
she wasn’t planning to plead, but she couldn’t bear being deceived by others. ‘–
Better them than me!’ Lucky as she was, she easily found an opening on both
diplomas towards social cooperatives, where her initiative and organizing skills,
her talent to improvise speeches had served her wonderfully. (Rădăcini – Roots)

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 With her soul emptied of any kind of feelings, Nory Baldovin is not capable of
resurrecting biographical episodes; as their reception regards quantity, and not quality,
she can take an account of them, but she can’t feel them: “For them to be memories,
they lacked something essential, namely the feeling, no matter what that was: cheerful,
sad, comical, endearing... They were just photographical frames under the eyes of a
neutral beholderˮ (Rădăcini – Roots).
In the same way, the relationship mother-child is scanty because the
bengescian feminine character doesn’t usually see the child as an ideal; sometimes, the
author creates contempt scenes for her feminine characters that she doesn’t look at in a
positive light; mothers are wretched, devoid of maternal instinct, and neither their
children, bastards or legitimate, fit in the category of exemplary children.

Bibliography
Mihăilescu, Florin, Introducere în opera Hortensiei Papadat-Bengescu, Minerva, București,
1975.
Adler, Laure, Secrete de alcov. Istoria cuplului între 1830 şi 1930, translated by Narcisa
Șerbănescu, Corint, București, 2003.
Baltazar, Camil, Contemporan cu ei: amintiri si portrete, Editra pentru Literatură, București,
1962.
Papadat-Bengescu, Hortensia, “Autobiografie”, in Adevărul literar şi artistic, Year XVIII, No.
866, the 11th of July 1937 and No. 867, the 18th of July 1937.
Papadat-Bengescu, Hortensia, Opere, vol. I, edition and notes by Eugenia Tudor Anton, foreword
by Constantin Ciopraga, Minerva, București, 1972.
Papadat-Bengescu, Hortensia, Opere, vol. II, edition and notes by Eugenia Tudor Anton,
Minerva, București, 1975.
Papadat-Bengescu, Hortensia, Opere, vol. III, edition and notes by Eugenia Tudor Anton,
Minerva, București, 1979.
Papadat-Bengescu, Hortensia, Opere, vol. IV, anthology and notes by Eugenia Tudor Anton,
selected text by Viviana Șerbănescu, Minerva, București, 1980.

194
 LE RAPPORT ENTRE LA LITTÉRATURE ET LE FILM
CHEZ RODICA OJOG-BRAŞOVEANU

Dorina Nela TRIFU

Abstract: My research will have two distinct parts. My first aim is to produce a book
study on the novel "The man at the other end" by Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu, the second purpose
being to produce a film chronicle for the adaptation of the above-mentioned novel screened under
the name "Blackmail". The study will show why the book is worth reading, analyzing all the
strengths that have made the novel to be turned into a film. In addition, I will try a dissociation of
the report literature, film, highlighting the clear distinction between literary and cinematic
images. It will be interesting to see how the film helps to represent the fictional universe of the
world of books. Both film and literature are some syncretic arts that contribute to the
development of each other. In conclusion, my study will be a trans-disciplinary one, the report
will address real - fictional work of art, with the two meanings mentioned: from literarity (literary
aspect) to the cinema in order to illustrate the same point.
Keywords: literary chronicle, blackmail, cinema.

Introduction

Mon étude fait la distinction entre le roman Omul de la capătul firului

(L’Homme du bout du fil), paru en 1973, et la mise en scène du même sujet dans le film
Şantaj (Chantage), en 1981, les deux étant réalisés par Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu. Mon
étude démontre les raisons pour lesquelles le livre mérite d’être lu. Il est intéressant
d’observer la façon dont le film aide à la représentation de l’univers fictionnel du monde
des livres. La littérature et le film sont des arts sincrétiques, qui contribuent
réciproquement l’un au développement de l’autre. Le même sujet est illustré par le
même auteur dans un roman et dans un film.

Le roman L’Homme au bout du fil

L’auteur dédie ce roman policier à ceux qui ont lutté sur «le front invisible du
contre-espionnage» (Ojog-Braşoveanu, Rodica, 2014 : 5). Ce livre suit la règle
fondamentale d’un roman policier: au début il se produit un crime, puis on commence le
plan de l’enquête. C’est à dire que l’ordre chronologique, donc logique, n’est plus
réspecté.
L’assassinat de l’ingénieur Mihai Pascu déclenche des événements du passé,
révélés par l’enquête. Donc, l’enquête a le point de départ suivant: quelqu’un délivre de
faux diplômes, puis leurs possesseurs sont embauchés comme ingénieurs, mais après
quelque temps ils seront victimes du chantage, et, s’ils en réfusent, ils seront tués. Après
l’ingénieur Mihai Pascu, il s’ensuit un autre, dans la personne de l’ingénieur Mihăilă,
puis on croit que Marie Dumitrescu s’est suicidée. Il s’agit d’un enquêteur inédit,
Minerva Tutovan, qui est prête à éliminer les fausses pistes, pour trouver le meurtrier.
Pour Minerva Tutovan, l’enquête est une pièce en deux actes: la découverte de
ceux qui détenaient des faux diplômes, puis la découverte de ceux qui pratiquaient du


Université de Bucarest, nsddorina@yahoo.com

195
chantage. Ce sont les deux de l’enquête, qui suppose parcourir quelques pas
fondamentaux: prendre en filature de trois suspects Necula, Dincă, Luca, puis leurs
enquête; le dépassement de fausses pistes; sur la piste du professeur qui donnait des
répétitions en facilitant la délivrance de faux diplômes; le déguisement de Minerva et
de Dobrescu; la découverte de l’identité des personnes qui possédaient de faux
diplômes. À la fin de l’histoire, le coupable est la personne la plus inattendue, le docteur
Vlase. Conan Doyle a construit Sherlock Holmes comme s’il était acteur, avec tous les
détails, tous les tics et manies, et non pas comme un personnage. Tout ce qui s’était
passé, le personnage des romans Un étude en rouge ou Le signe des quattre ou Le chien
de Baskerville ou le conte Le problème final a été mis en scène dans le film Sherlock
Holmes contre Moriatry. On croit que Minerva, personnage de Rodica Ojog-
Braşoveanu est construit de la même manière, son portrait fécond résultant de la série de
romans où elle est au centre de l’action.
Le suspens, le trait dominant des romans de Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu, la
tension maximale, répétée dans des courts intervalles dans ce roman, peuvent être
illustrés par quelques séquences. Quand Minerva les file dans un bar, ils partent tous –
Necula, Dincă, Luca - pour donner un coup de fil, en secret, sans que les autres le
sachent. Puis, ils traversent, d’une manière suspecte, pendant la nuit, au cimétière de
leur son ami défunt, Tase, qui leur avait légué un héritage, à condition de le dépenser en
buvant ensemble jusqu’au dernier sou. De nouveau, le lecteur se demande que
cherchent les trois pendant la nuit, en allant du bar au cimétière. Quelle liaison il y a
entre Dora, l’amoureuse du défunt Pascu, et ces trois hommes qui nient l’existence
d’une rélation avec cette femme ? Même l’agent de police, comme instance
intratextuelle, même le lecteur, commme instance extratextuelle, ne peuvent
comprendre d’aucune manière pour quelle raison le certificat de Pascu est caché dans le
cadre du tableau de Luca, le personnage qui nie aussi qu’il ait connu Pascu. Pourquoi
les trois ont donné un coup en secret de fil à Dora l’un après l’autre? Qu’est ce qu’ils
ont parlé avec elle? Puis Minerva se plonge dans ses pensées, en se demandant ce que
cherche la signature de Pascu dans le livre de Monsieur Dincă. Les titres des chapitres,
qui prennent la forme des questions déroutantes, destinées en même temps à guider la
pensée du lecteur et qui donnent l’apparence de l’innocence du narrateur, qui, quoiqu’il
soit omniscient, laisse cependant faire semblant qu’il devoilerait lui-même les détails
au parcours, ont la même fonction incitante. Ainsi, le neuvième chapitre s’appelle
symboliquement «Qu’est ce que Luca chercherait dans la rue Ilenelor?» (Ojog-
Braşoveanu, Rodica, op.cit. : 101) (notre traduction, D.N.T).
Un épisode important pour l’enquête dévoile que Necula ment qu’il ne
connaissait Dora Ioachim. Il vient de se trahir, en racontant qu’il avait reçu d’elle une
bouteille de whisky. Minerva observe des événements simultanés bizarres: tandis que
Dora s’enfuit inopinément de chez elle, Necula manque le spectacle. Elle reproche à son
suspect de lui avoir toujours menti:
Tu m’as menti de notre première entrevue, tu m’as caché toujours quelque chose;
c’est cette quelque chose-là qui m’intéresse!/ Le figurant prit la tête entre ses
mains. Ses paroles éclatèrent incohérentes, dans un éclat de rire: / - Je ne peux...
je ne peux pas vous le dire. ( ibidem : 135) (notre traduction, D.N.T).
Par sa réponse, Necula maintient un atmosphère de suspicion.
Un autre détail frappe dans le quatorzième chapitre, intitulé Minerva consulte
le miroir (ibidem : 151) où, en tant qu’espionne, elle se déguise pour prendre des cours
privés du professeur soupçonné. Elle voit qu’une femme est cachée dans la maison du

196
professeur. Les personnages sont dynamiques. «Le roman policier vit; il met en scène
des personnages poussés par des passions, soumis à des épreuves, dominés par le
destin.» (Narcejac Thomas, 1975 : 239). À la fin de l’histoire, après avoir épuisé toutes
les variantes possibles à propos de cette femme et de son rôle, le lecteur goûte la
surprise, en apprennant qu’elle était la fille débile du celui-ci. Donc, elle n’avait aucune
liaison avec le crime, comme on a été tenté de croire.
Un autre élément qui éblouit est que la maison d’ingénieur Maria Dumitrescu
semble avec celle de Mihăilă, les deux étants morts. Ce sont certaines questions qui
attirent l’attention: Quelle en était la raison? Quelle était la rélation entre ces deux? Une
chose mystérieuse se passe tandis que Minerva inspecte le logis de Marie Dumitrescu:
quelqu’un vole la bréloque qui représentait un doigt opalin, mais le commandant
observe son absence.
Au centre du roman, l’auteur crée des situations pleines de mystère qui font le
lecteur adhérer au coupable suggéré, puis le narrateur démontre que c’étaient de fausses
pistes, avec la fonction d’amplifier le mystère et elles contreviennent à la situation finale
qui présente le vrai meurtrier.

Le film Chantage

Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu a mis en scène avec Geo Saizescu son roman

L’Homme du bout du fil après neuf ans de sa parution, dans le film Chantage. C’est une
production de la Maison de Films Un, réalisée par le Centre de Production
Cinematographique de Bucarest. Ce film a des acteurs célèbres dans les rôles
principaux: Sebastian Papaiani, Amza Pellea, la participation extraordinaire de Tamara
Buciuceanu Botez et Dem Rădulescu. La colonne sonore a été bien réalisée par
l’ingénieur Mihai Orăşanu, la musique – par Temistocle Popa; les décors ont été
changés par Mircea Ribinschi; Lidia Lulumea a assuré les costumes; Margareta Anescu
s’est occupé du montage. Ce film est parmi les premiers du genre chez nous:
On a à ajouter encore que, en commençant des années ‘50 du siècle passé, le
cinéma et la télévision ont accordé une attention spéciale au genre policier. Par
leurs nature éminemment visuelle, il est difficile pour ces milieux de présenter
des procédés mentaux, qui devraient, bien sûr, être transposés dans une action
physique, perceptible du point de vue visuel et/ ou auditif. Une modalité est la
transposition de ces mécanismes de pensée en dialogue (des questions, des
communications, de l’echange des opinions etc.). D’autre part, il est d’autant plus
facile de cacher aux yeux certains parties de l’histoire de l’élucidation. Pour le
spectateur, l’image d’un détectif qui ne fait que réfléchir sur les choses, constitue
une information plus que suffisante. Mais le film de ce genre rate le codage de
l’histoire de l’élucidation. C’est pourquoi les films policiers vraiment bons
peuvent être comptés sur les doigts, d’autant plus que dans le film la tendance de
présenter, à coté de l’histoire de l’élucidation, l’histoire entière de l’infraction,
s’est généralisée. ( Zeca, Daniela, 2005 : 139) (notre traduction, D.N.T).

Dans le film mis en scène par l’auteur du roman lui-même, la tenue des acteurs
est importante. Le rôle de Dobrescu est joué par une personne attirante, tandis que le
rôle de Minerva revient à une personne très sérieuse et sobre. Nicula devient suspect
par sa tenue, sa bande noire portée autour de la tête en attirant l’attention. Dans une
colonne sonore d’une calme tonalité, en usant du genre classique de la musique,
Minerva pose des questions directes, exactes. Elle demande des details, pour en extraire

197
rapidement la conclusion juste que Necula est le menteur parfait. Les éléments qui
restent surprenante dans le film sont la rapidité avec laquelle les gestes se succèdent, le
froncement de l’un des suspects ou les regards tensionnés, la mise de la main sur le
visage signifiant la crainte de ne pas être découvert. Bref, les acteurs entrent bien dans
la peau des personnages, comme c’est le cas de Necula, qui semble un carotteur, mais
une personne vivace qui n’a rien à craindre.
Le film a aussi d’autres modalités de maintenir le suspense. Par exemple, la
scène du début est dure: un inconnu met un revolver au front d’un autre inconnu et le
menace. En plus, la voix du téléphone est chuchotée pour rendre le public plus attentif,
en annonçant que dans le message transmis il y a quelque chose de grave, secret et
codifié. Au-delà de toute expression écrite, ce sont les images qui parlent. Quand il
quitte sa place du restaurant, l’un des amis regarde avec peur autour, comme s’il avait
voulu ne pas être surpris au téléphone. La tension croît en intensité et on est plus attentif
à ce qui va se passer, parce que l’homme court avec peur, mais de l’ombre, dans une
grave colonne sonore, on entrevoit quelqu’un avec un pistolet. Dans la pensée du public
naissent et restent les questions: Pourquoi cette personne s’enfuit? Qui est la personne
qui détient un pistolet? Se produira-t-il un crime? Quel serait le mobile du crime?
Après ces questions tendues, le metteur en scène sait relâcher le public, en lui
offrant l’illusion des indices graves. C’est pourquoi madame Cătănoiu dévoile à
Minerva et au colonel le contenu de l’appel telephonique entre l’ingénieur Pascu, défunt
au moment du temoignage, et un inconnu qui lui avait reproché d’avoir été un ingénieur
fabriqué.
Monsieur Pascu, dit-il, tu n’es pas le seul ingénieur que j’aie fabriqué. Je suis
intéressé par les travaux de l’ingénieur John, mais il en garde le secret, il en garde
le secret, il en garde le secret ! Donnez un coup de fil demain à 575757 et
demandez si on met en vente un piano Goldenberg. C’est un mot de passe! (le
film Chantage) (notre traduction, D.N.T).
dit l’actrice avec une voix grave, fait qui accentue qu’il s’agissait d’un mot de passe. Le
comique est généré par cette alternance tragi-comique, car après cet instant de tension
au maximum, une scène comique suit, lorsque madame Cătănoiu récite des vers au
poste de police pour se vanter de sa mémoire admirable. Les agents de police n’en sont
guère enchantés et ils ne savent pas quel moyen trouver pour l’interrompre.

L’association entre la littérature et le film

Les deux, la littérature et le film, sont des arts séparés, mais leur association est
bénéfique pour les deux. Il a été intéressant pour nous de suivre le même sujet dans un
roman policier à suspens et dans un film policier. Nous croyons que l’écrivain a rédigé
cette oeuvre littéraire avec l’intention de la mettre en scène. La raison pourrait être
qu’un bon film détermine le public à faire appel à la source primaire - le livre. On sait
tous que Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu avait écrit plusieurs romans policiers en suivant les
conseils de Cosma Braşoveanu, son époux. Il l’avait stimulée d’écrire des romans de ce
genre pour rester dans la mémoire du public roumain récent, mais aussi dans la mémoire
de la postérité. Nous considérons qu’elle a atteint cet objectif, parce que le livre et le
film sont bien réalisés, considération pour laquelle l’auteur reste dans notre mémoire. Il
y a trente-trois ans, respectivément quarante-deux années, ni la littérature policière ni le
film policier n’était bien réprésentés en Roumanie. Donc, Madame a su où mettre

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l’accent pour que certains critiques la considèrent un précurseur dans le domaine du
policier.
Il y avait schématiquement des tentatives de policier dans la littérature
roumaine à l’époque de Liviu Rebreanu, avec le roman Les Deux. George Arion, Horia
Tecuceanu, Haralamb Zincă, Cornel Călugăru sont des successeurs. Rodica Ojog-
Braşoveanu a été passionnée du genre policier, mais elle a contribué à son
développement, tout en respectant les clichés proposés par le roman policier de
l’étranger, avec de nombreux représentants, en commençant par Arthur Conan Doyle
(1859-1930) pour finir avec Agathe Christie (1890-1976). Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu
(1939-2002) a, au contraire, respecté dans ses romans policiers la mentalité et la
géographie roumaine; elle a péint l’espace urbain, symbolique, Bucarest, le topos
répresentatif, devenu locus mundi, mais un monde avec des infracteurs, des meurtriers,
des espions, des brigands, des imposteurs.
Dans l’un de ses chapitres d’un livre de théorie de la littérature, le critique
Gabriela Duda, en parlant du genre épique, mentionne le polymorphisme du roman, tout
en y incluant une multitude d’espèces comme le roman picaresque, le roman historique,
le roman psychologique, le roman-parabole, le Bildungsroman, le roman épistolaire, le
roman des moeurs, le roman- fresque, à coté du roman policer, le roman d’espionnage,
le thriller contemporaine, avec les représentants principaux, en démontrant:
[…] la capacité de l’espèce de renaître de ses cendres, lorsque toutes les formes
littéraires semblaient épuisées, la capacité que la nouvelle ou le conte, plus liés au
modèle narratif originaire, detiennent beaucoup moins et qui représente, au fond,
sa condition de survivance. On écrit encore des romans et probablement on en
écrira encore, tant que le besoin des gens de lire des story existera. Tout cela
même dans les conditions de prolifération de séries télévisées, qui sont une
réplique du roman-feuilleton du siècle antérieur, dans une époque technologique
en plein affirmation. (Duda, Gabriela, 2006 : 195) (notre traduction, D.N.T).
Un nouveau type de roman qui se développe chez nous en même temps que l’art
cinématographique est le roman policier, qui est centré sur la découverte des inculpés à
la suite d’une enquête. La police occupe la place centrale comme personnage collectif,
elle a le rôle de rédempteur.
Il y a un rapport entre la littérature policière et le film chez Rodica Ojog-
Braşoveanu, fait remarqué par la critique littéraire. Dans l’interprétation de Roger
Caillois, le roman policier «semble un film projété à l’inverse» (Caillois, Roger,
1942:141) à cause du manque du principe chronologique dans le déroulement des faits.
Les images cinétiques, auditives et visuelles du roman sont rendues dans le
film par la musique de fond à grave tonalité ayant deux raisons: pour maintenir le
suspens et pour anticiper les choses graves qui vont se passer. Bien sûr, le film
Chantage est plus attirant par rapport au livre, parce que dans le film il est plus facile de
comprendre l’information, il est plus clair la relation entre les personnages.
Les policiers sur ecran ne représentent pas de genre différent des autres,
spécifique au septième art. Les mises en scène sont faites à l’aide des scénarios
inspirés des romans, mais dans les rares cas, ils sont inspirés de la réalité. [...]
Donc il est normal qu’entre les policiers peints dans les romans et leur image
vivante, de film il n’y ait pas de différences essentielles. On affirme cela si on se
réfère à leur façon d’agir, qui doit rester la même. ( Ştefănescu, Paul, 1995 : 262)
(notre traduction, D.N.T).

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 Un sujet policier attribue au lecteur le rôle d’enquêteur, à la différence de la
personne qui regarde un film à suspens qui devient le victime des images dures et
mystérieuses. On trouve cette idée chez Daniela Zéca, par l’opinion insérée dans son
livre, de Jéan Douchet:
A l’inverse du héros dont il suit les aventures, le spectateur d’un film à suspens est
incapable de s’enfuir. Plongé dans son fauteuil, non seulement qu’il goûte
l’angoisse du personnage qu’il observait, mais il assume son angoisse, comme
victime de sa propre fascination. Quoi qu’il ressente une indisposition viscérale,
son caractère douloureux lui procure, même par sa durée, une sensation de plaisir.
( Jean Douchet, apud Zeca, Daniela, op.cit. : 160) (notre traduction, D.N.T).
Une lecture de qualité du roman L’Homme du bout du fil supposerait un plus
d’imagination. Regarder un film est une activité préférée, facile et plus plaisante par
comparaison à la lecture du livre.

Quelques conclusions

Le sujet du film est plus facile à retenir que le sujet du livre. Le public
commun préfère le film au détriment du livre, mais un homme de lettres est intéressé
d’abord par la lecture, il fait appel tant à la littérature, mais aussi au film pour bien
comprendre la logique de l’action dans ce genre policier.
Un parallèle entre littérature policière et film met en évidence les avantages des
deux arts séparés, mais aussi le bénefice de leurs intéraction: la littérature développe
l’imagination, le film à suspens du genre policier este facile à suivre, mais la
conjugaison des deux nous aide à bien comprendre les raisons de l’écrivain par le
transfert du mot écrit à l’image du cinéma.
Bréf, la correspondence entre littérature policière et film, entre L’Homme du
bout du fil et Chantage est étroite chez Rodica Ojog-Braşoveanu. En grandes lignes, le
film respecte aussi les détails du livre, les noms des personnages, leur fonction, le
paysage et l’atmosphère.

Bibliographie
Caillois, R., Puissance du roman, Edition Sagittaire, Marseille, 1942.
Duda, G., Introducere în teoria literaturii. Ediþia a II-a, Bucureºti, Editura All, 2006.
Cornea, P., Introducere în TEORIA LECTURII, Polirom, Iaşi,1988.
Narcejac, T., Une machine à lire: Le roman policer, Bibliothèque Médiations, Dënoel/Gonthier,
1975.
Ojog-Braşoveanu, R., Omul de la capătul firului, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 2014.
Ştefănescu, P., Afaceri criminale celebre, Editura All, Bucureşti, 1995.
Zeca, D., Melonul domnului comisar:Repere într-o nouă poetică a romanului poliţist clasic,
Editura Curtea Veche, 2005.

Ressources Électroniques
Filmul Şantaj , pe site-ul https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VubeX6tfewA , accesat în 11 iunie
2015.

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 NATURE AND MYTH IN THE WORK OF
CALISTRAT HOGAŞ

Maria VOINEA

Abstract: The present work has been carried out based on the desire to return to
Calistrat Hogaş’s work, an authentic one, of a unique style in the Romanian literature,
rediscovering, thus, a writer risking to fall in undeserved obscurity. Therefore, the present study
aims at revealing the ways Calistrat Hogaş used in managing to turn memorialistic literature into
great art. The fine sense of beauty and artistic virtuosity in the field of figurative speech, on the
one hand, and the eternal, majestic thrill of nature and its projection in the universal culture, up
to the great myths of humanity, on the other hand, joined to this purpose. This work underlines,
once again, the fact that Hogaş’s work depicts a world open to anyone wanting to know it, he
himself being the guide, in a real space and in mythical times.
Keywords: hyperbole, myth, nature.

Calistrat Hogaş is known to have promoted the memorialistic literature,

perhaps in the most vivid way, by writing down all his travel experiences, identifying
himself with each part of the explored nature. Being fond of hiking, he writes down, at
each step and in detail, everything he hears and sees, intensely enjoying the satisfaction
of discovering “virgin” nature. He is, according to Vladimir Streinu, the writer that
remained in everybody’s conscious as the author of the two travel volumes that he
wrote, as he himself confessed, “far from the fine literature”, “aiming at shoving the
travel literature from the objective, didactic and almost geographic path it has followed
so far to the subjective path, that this kind of literature should take, as far as I know”
(Hogaş, C., 1912, Preface).
Hogaş’s work can be considered as a very hard tried one, with a sinuous path
along time, determined by circumstances and events that led to delaying the editorial
debut of the writer. Initially, his travel memories and impressions appeared only in
serial-story columns, in various publications of that time (e.g., Arhiva (The Archive), in
Iaşi), where the writer worked as a contributor and, only posthumously, they were
published in a single volume. Unfortunately, although the writer wished and tried to
unite them in a single volume, during his lifetime, he didn’t succeeded, first, because of
the unacceptable printing mistakes, then, because the World War broke out and of a fire
to the book deposit of the magazine Viaţa românească (The Romanian Life).
As if all these were not enough in order to prove the tumultuous evolution of
Hogaş’s work, critical considerations on it appeared very soon, sometimes expressing
contradictory opinions of critics (G. Călinescu, Vladimir Streinu, Octav Botez, Şerban
Cioculescu, Tudor Vianu etc.). However, all these critical interpretations are supported
by a profound, objective analysis and outline the idea of a mixture of languages and
styles (classic, romantic, modern, popular) that confer uniqueness to Hogaş’s literary
style.
In the book written in the memory of her father, Daddy. Memories of the life of
Calistrat Hogaş, Sidonia Hogaş, the youngest daughter of the writer born in Tecuci,
confirms his passion for mountain travels. Underlining the importance of these travels,


University of Piteşti, marica_voinea@yahoo.com

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Hogaş himself considers that “any trip made by other means than on foot, is [...] a trip
made on somebody else’s foot; being carried by a train couch, the wheels of a carriage
or the feet of a horse is travelling sitting and seeing only what it is allowed by these
handy means, not what the traveller would want” (Hogaş, C., 1988: 7).
Since he has always been interested in and attracted by nature, with its
sublimity and grandeur, Hogaş defined himself as the “incorrigible lover of nature’s
great landscapes” (ibidem: 92), the image of the writer as a traveller remaining
memorable, from all the perspectives he was known for (writer, teacher, traveller): “I
don’t know how others will be like; as for me, I know this, that I lose track of time
when I abandon myself to my wild instincts, that is when, invaded by the unbridled
love of solitude, I disappear from people and I merge, drawn by it, with the unknown
nature, like a leaf driven by the fickleness of the wind” (ibidem: 162).
At a first literary analysis, the theme of Hogaş’s work appears to be the travel,
and the central literary motif of his work is the traveller, delicate observer of nature.
But, analyzing more profoundly Hogaş’s work, it is observed that its main theme is
nature and the travel becomes a reason, for the writer-traveller, to discover everything
sublime and magnificent in nature.
Octav Botez emphasized the indissoluble connection between the Moldavian
writer and the nature, that “he feels through every pore” and whose charm possesses
him, outlining, at the same time, the complex talents of the memorialist, those of a
painter, of a poet of nature, but also of a story-teller, “of creator of vivid situations and
types” (Botez, O., 1915: 72-74).
Indeed, Calistrat Hogaş lives intensely the Moldavia’s nature “with its majestic
aspects”, managing, in an objective way, with an infinite artistic talent, to achieve in the
pages of his travel chronicle true paintings depicting, in well-defined colours, both
“Neamţ mountains with their spectacular centuries-old forests, with their wild
densities”, and “sunrises, sunsets, afternoons, storms and moonlit nights” (ibidem). To
this regard, the following passage is eloquent: “We were now on the heights of Hălăuca.
In the distance, the huge sun rising was burning in the fire waves of the dawn, and the
sun, like a distinct huge eyebrow of gold, was rising from behind the dark wavy line of
the aerial mountains. The shadows were piling in the sunset still in twilight and they
jumped quickly in the chaos of other worlds. From the valleys, sleeping mist began to
rise, awoken by the first sunrays of the morning; here and there, from the depths, grey
columns of smoke were heading towards the sky, melting their heads in the clear bright
horizon” (ibidem: 56-57).
Besides this objective vision, the writer’s romantic vision on nature is also
remarkable, “pouring melancholy and dreams into the soul” (ibidem: 17). Constantin
Ciopraga emphasized the fact that Hogaş presents the forest both “in a pictorial way, as
an expression of vitality”, but also “ethically, like an image of total freedom”
(Ciopraga, C., 1970: 458-461): “the forests have souls and, into their soul, the love of a
mother for all the creatures sheltering in their protective shadow” (ibidem: 199). In the
following passage, for example, the forest is truly alive:
The grey standing fir-trees, with smooth bare trunks, rose still and straight up to
dizzying heights; and from the vault penetrated by the black-green shadow,
made up of their branches embraced above all, drops of blue sky sifted in the
stillness of the forest, like through a fine sieve; and fickle flakes of golden light
were falling over me from everywhere. [...]. The little black redstarts, red-green
collared, slipped quietly in silent and fast spirals up the tree trunks; black and
red squirrels, with bushy long tails, calculated, from a tall branch, their jump to

202
 the tree nearby; woodpeckers with steel beaks knocked trees and the large
forest sounded hollow... Over the high crown of fir-trees the wind slipped like
an invisible river and, hitting their sharp leaves, sent far into the distance
plaintive long sounds of organ. From all parts, solemn silence, from all over
holy silence...(Hogaş, C., op.cit.: 168).
Emphasizing the lyrical force of Hogaş’s work, Octav Botez finds suitable to
compare his talent, in terms of travel literature, with that of Mihail Sadoveanu, in
another kind of literature: “if in the short stories of Sadoveanu, the writer gives life to
the nature of Moldavia, with its mild aspects, silver waters, looping on large plains, with
wheat fields swaying in the sun, in Hogaş’s pages, the same nature with its majestic
aspects is depicted [...]” (Botez, O., op.cit.: 72-74).
Referring to the same lyrical talent of Hogaş, Garabet Ibrăileanu stated that the
nature lover “put in his pages only light and life, only sun and joy – he put all the
mountain’s mysteries and the blue Moldavian sky, the murmuring springs [...]” (Opera
lui C. Hogaş (C. Hogaş’s Work), in Viaţa românească (The Romanian Life), Iaşi, no.2,
1922), and Liviu Rebreanu is convinced that Hogaş is the only Romanian writer who
had the gift to include, in his work, “nature and all its life [...] the great life where sky,
man, insect, flower, rock have the same life, in a divine harmony” (Însemnări şi dări de
seamă privind Societatea Scriitorilor Români (Notes and Reports on The Romanian
Writers Union), 1922: 63-64).
According to Hogaş’s vision, nature is sublime regardless of its state. Be it
calm, or undertaking apocalyptic storms, it offers to the traveller an original nondirected
show. For example, a storm in the mountains, with dreadful roars, becomes a real flood.
Thus, “nature unleashed in all its fullness reminds, in Hogaş’s works, of the Homeric
epic grandeur”, as George Ivaşcu stated, in the magazine Însemnări ieşene (Notes from
Iaşi) (II, vol. IV, no. 17-18, 15 sept. 1937):
And, within the four borders of the infinity, the blind space was flickering
alternating brief intervals of darkness and blue light under the quick glimpses
of the heavenly fire... The air and the sky were boiling under the staggering
thunders, and the frightened land vibrated helpless, down to its deepest
foundations, under the burst of thunders deafening into the darkness, like huge
bombs of flames, and crumbling, as if blowing into dust, the brave crests of
cliffs of the bravest mountains... (ibidem: 225-226).
Trying to temporally frame Hogaş’s work into literature, Eugen Lovinescu, in
volume IV of Istoria literaturii române contemporane (The History of Contemporary
Romanian Literature), thinks that it “floats over the race and time...”, dating “at least
three thousands years ago, since the age of Homeric epic poems” or even “from the age
of great Indian epic”. The same literary critic characterizes the writer traveller “on
mountain roads” as “a bard of the world, when the sun was a real divinity and its rise a
universal transfiguration, when all nature’s phenomena were concrete expressions of a
heavenly force, when human and divine were mingled, when everything was a myth
[…]” (Lovinescu, E., op.cit.).
Calistrat Hogaş’s work abounds in figures of speech and artistic images
whose chaining leads to real representations of “living” nature and a multitude of
sensations (colour, sound, smell), revealing the traveller’s direct contact with the matter.
He was said to be “a stylist of a rare virtuosity”, with a very rich vocabulary, which “he
masters with rare certainty” (O. Botez, op cit.: 81). It is to be noted, however, that the
main artistic device used by Hogaş is hyperbola. The reader permanently feels the

203
writer’s tendency to exaggerate the characteristics of things, places, natural phenomena,
but also of people he meets, as well as the situations and feelings he lives.
Hogaş’s writings are peppered with mythological references, entitling the
reader, but also the literary criticism, to compare this work with the great epics of
universal literature. For example, the storm, that actually evokes the clash of titans at
the beginning of the world, “the wolf hunger”, making the traveller “jump” from
“heterogeneous polenta” or the mushrooms scattered on the huge towel, resembling to
“a flock of tired sheep, resting, on the yellowish and dusty road [...]” (Hogaş, C., op.cit.:
174; 193) create stylistic registers and effects similar to those of epics. That is why, it
was spoken about Hogaş’s “homerism”, that, according to G. Călinescu, is of romantic
essence, such as that of Victor Hugo, “with the same exaggerations, fantastic realisms
and monstrosities” (Istoria literaturii române de la origini până în prezent (The History
of Romanian Literature from its origins till present day), 1941: 593-596).
In the same study, Călinescu notices the same legend aura surrounding
Hogaş’s work, in which we can easily identify the mixture of real and fantastic, as well
as the constant reference to mythology.
Surely, whoever reads Hogaş shares Dumitru Micu’s opinion, referring to the
image of a fabulous world achieved “through exaggeration”, by “amplifying the
proportions of reality”, a world that is somewhere between reality and fairytale
(Calistrat Hogaş, in Istoria literaturii române (The History of Contemporary Romanian
Literature), vol.2 [1900-1918], 1965: 4-18). For example, the travellers find that the two
dogs coming towards them are two ferocious beasts, while the shepherd chasing them
away seems to have in his hand a “heavy endless long mace” (ibidem: 231). The
similarities between the characters Hogaş meets in his travels and the fantastic
characters from fairytales or from Romanian mythology are obvious. Thus, Ovidiu
Papadima, in number 8 of the magazine Revista Fundaţiilor Regale (Royal Foundations
Magazine), published in August, 1942, makes a comparison between the world depicted
by Hogaş, in his work, and the fairytale world, noticing, rightfully, the resemblance of
the writer’s travel companions, on the way to Tazlău, Huţan and Sgribincea, with
Păsări-Lăţi-Lungilă, from Povestea lui Harap-Alb (The Story of Harap-Alb), by
Creangă. The comparison of Ion Rusu with the hero Sfarmă-Piatră or of the hideous old
woman from the forest with Muma Pădurii is also right.
Besides this mythical vision, the writer’s references to the Romanian folklore
are also obvious, entitling the literary criticism to talk about Hogaş’s animism, seen by
Ovidiu Papadima as a sign of the Romanian peasant’s respect to the tiniest element of
the world, in which he does not see a piece of divinity, but simply a soul” (ibidem: 425).
Vladimir Streinu, in number 3 of Revista Fundaţiilor Regale (Royal
Foundations Magazine), published in March, 1941, emphasized the importance of the
education and professional training of Hogaş, revealed by the fact that, in addition to the
aspect of common man, “with the soul of the primitive man”, and the aspect of
intellectual, able to analyze the architectural style of the monasteries he visits, the writer
appears, in his own work, as a “literate with knowledge of mythology”, the “humanist
reminiscence” seeming to occupy the forefront of his literature.
About his writing style, Hogaş himself confessed, in Prefaţa (Preface) for
1912-edition of his book Pe drumuri de munte (On Mountain Roads): “[...] I have never
done and I have no intention to ever write easy literature for high society, I rendered
people and things just as they are in their great wilderness”, considering himself, thus,
uninterested by the expectations of a certain “subtle aesthete X” or of a “sensitive
decadent Y”.

204
 Keeping alive the attention of critics on the writings of Hogaş which are not
voluminous but impressive, gives the impression of a work at least interesting, which,
such as its author, seems not to find its peace. Considering that, during his lifetime, “his
work has not found its place”, in 1922, Liviu Rebreanu proposes, as a sign of
appreciation, the award of the first literary prize of the Romanian Writers Union, being,
at the same time, “pleased to have made an act of piety towards a great and still to be
valued writer of our country.” (Rebreanu, L., op.cit.: 64)

Bibliography
Botez, O., Romanian Life, 1915, X, no. 10-11-12, (Oct.-Nov.-Dec);
Călinescu, G., The History of Romanian Literature from its origins till present day, Foundation
for Literature and Art, Bucureşti, 1941;
Ciopraga, C., Romanian Literature between 1900 and 1918, Junimea Publishing House, Iaşi,
1970;
Hogaş, C., On Mountain Roads, Minerva Publishing House, Bucureşti, 1988;
Hogaş, S. C., Daddy. Memories of the life of Calistrat Hogaş, Crigarux Publishing House, Piatra
Neamţ, 2000;
Ivaşcu, G.: Notes from Iaşi, 1937, II, no.17-18, vol.IV;
Lovinescu, E., The History of Contemporary Romanian Literature, vol. IV, Ancora Publishing
House, Bucureşti, 1928;
Micu, D., Calistrat Hogaş: The History of Romanian Literature, vol.2 [1900-1918], Didactical
and Pedagogical Publishing House, Bucureşti, 1965;
Papadima, O., Royal Foundations Magazine, August 1942, IX, no.8;
Rebreanu, L., Notes and Reports on The Romanian Writers Union, Bucureşti, 1922;
Streinu, V., Royal Foundations Magazine, March 1941, no. 3.

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 HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC IDENTITY IN ROMANIAN
PAMPHLETS

Odette ARHIP
Cristian ARHIP

Abstract: Having its origin in Antiquity (Aristophanes, ancient orators), the pamphlet is
a border- genre. Paradoxically, it is not acknowledged even by the authors of journalism
textbooks as belonging to their specific field. The pamphlet pictures the meddling of literature,
social context and individual thinking. The present contribution focuses on different kinds of
definitions in the world literature and Romanian literature as well, trying to outline this specific
manner of writing. The principal aims of this paper is to highlight the means used to render also
the identity of the epoch from a historical, social and political point of view. The journalistic
pamphlets have definitely literary bonds especially when Tudor Arghezi or N. D. Cocea are
representatives. Their authors act for the new literary and political Romanian consciousness at
the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. One of the main intents is to
discuss upon text and pre-text (several empiric events re-designed in the discourse). The authors′
personalities and visions are reflected in vocabulary, figures of speech and the syntactic topics.
Due to these two already mentioned writers, the pamphlet is devoted to a literary genre, winning
the right of being a constant presence in the Romanian literature. It has also preserved its artistic
actuality re-emerging with new valences and it has an irrefutable documentary value.
Keywords: pamphlet, identity, epoch, style, feature.

Difficulties to define the literary genre of the pamphlet

The first pamphlet-savour appeared in diverse historical periods of Romanian

literature being considered minor gossips, forms of defamation or misleading accusation
(D. Cantemir, Heliade-Rădulescu, N. Bălcescu, Cezar Bolliac, M. Kogălniceanu, C.
Negruzzi, N. T. Orăşanu, etc.). We owe the modern pamphlet with moral and social
function, revealing the truth, to Paul-Louis Courier (1824). The first Romanian
pamphlet as a whole text came out in journalist writings (Munteanu, 1999: 12). Each
critic and each writer offered different definitions. However, etymology is clear – as
Voltaire stated first, the others also agree with the Greek root phégo, meaning “to burn”.
It reflects upon the warlike and polemic human nature.
In Romanian literature, the pamphlet remains a hybrid form combining
features of two functional styles: literature and journalism or even philosophy. The
constancy of this literary specie does not help to determine its autonomy. It observes the
principle of trans-textuality (Genette, 1982). Even Romanian literature may offer
meaningful examples of poem-pamphlet, novel-pamphlet, literary tablets and essay-
pamphlet like all the other foreign literatures. The critics’ point of view is quite different
as they notice a theatrical implication and ludic attitude (Ghitoi, 2005, 57). From the
point of view of pragmatic semantics, pamphlet aims at one of the fundamental
functions of language: debate and an encounter of subjectiveness (Ducrot, apud
Munteanu, op. cit.: 117). The pamphlet rejects lies covered by euphemisms, general


Ecological University of Bucharest, Romania, arodette@live.com.

“Gr. T. Popa” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Iasi, Romania.

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terms or „cuvinte care servesc ca văl pentru aparenţe mai ageabile” (Dumistrăcel, 2011:
45). The pamphleteers are militants for various causes.

Theatrical implication in Romanian pamphlet

Tudor Arghezi is one of the most important Romanian writer approaching all
kinds of literary genres. He also exceled in pamphlets involving a theatrical aspect,
which is not a common feature. Many times he uses interesting and subtle linguistic
tools of the stagecraft. Probably one of the best examples is a pamphlet dedicated to Ion
Kalinderu, member of the Romanian Academy: „Sunt figuri care joacă, în viu, rolul
statuilor sau al palatelor – şi pentru care simţi o suferinţă când, în timpul unei absenţe,
au dispărut. Golul acesta este, fără pricină studenţească” (Arghezi, 2003: 1344). Satire
exists in similes, but mostly in gesture-suggestions. They expose the mediocrity of the
character. The false pretentions are also criticized due to motions and signs which are
obviously covered by masks: „Pretenţiile şi ifosul, la cei care nu au statutul să le poarte,
trebuie lovite peste nas. Sunt măşti pe care e milostiv să le laşi să zacă pe unii
ochi...”(Ibidem).
Being aware of the use of the second person as an antique legacy of rhetoric,
we highlight another consequence. It involves a direct approach and the reader becomes
a spectator. This is the case of N. D. Cocea’s pamphlets. He was a writer of the
beginning of the 20th century, deeply engaged in leftist political actions. An artistic
sample is the text pointing to the most respected person in that epoch, Titu Maiorescu.
The cultural and political personality, a national symbol of progress and balance, is
depicted in a burlesque manner. Maiorescu became a character in Cocea’s stage-act. He
is slow, over ritualistic, and even the deafness, understandable at his age, turns to irony.
Cocea wishes to point out his individualism, but his grounds are mainly political ones.
This picture of a mechanical reason speaking like a barrel organ is fortunately dimmed
by the presence of Mrs. Maiorescu, always next to her husband.
Tudor Arghezi impresses deeply with his histrionism being able to change his
language any time. He appeals for phonetic comic connotations, a proof that his text
must be better heard, not read. One good example is the portrait of a dramatic author in
that epoch, I. Locusteanu. First of all, he mocked at his name replacing letters and
imposing Lăcusteanu, a patronymic very closed to the Romanian noun for hopper – a
waster insect affecting crops. The victim is depicted with a streak of irony discovered in
embarrassing alliteration and cacophonies: „Iată un om cam cumsecade, negustor cu
parale, cu cavou construit din vreme, cu case în Bucureşti” (Arghezi, 2003: 771). The
sentence seems to be a phonetic whip with a clear dysphoric effect upon the public.
Next to others, of course, both mentioned authors seem to be familiar with few
concepts related to modern times: “total theatre”, “pure theatre” (Ubersfeld, 1999: 89).

Fabulous in pamphlets

Under the influence of folklore and fairy stories, Romanian pamphleteers uses
standard beginning-formulae like “Once upon a time” in order to overpass time and
space. Another solid explanation is linked to ethos. There is also an anthropological
explanation as the essence and artistry of human being prevail in “fabulation man” (Eco,
2002).
The pamphlet „Povestea prinţilor saşi/ The fairy tale of the Saxon princes”,
written by Arghezi, ironizes a reality by narrating the story of a king with 22 spoiled,

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invalid children. The main function of fabulous dimension is the ancient desire to
change the world into a better one. The realm of “Cultural Lice”, omnipresent in
Romanian society, especially at the political level, must disappear according to the wish
of the author and of the people (Arhezi, 1979, 144). At the same time, the readers can
realize the act of creation and a kind of mise en abyme of the author. The biography is
sublimed and reality is transcended (Sasu, 1976, 246).
Traditionally, the mentality of Romanian people do not perceive a very clear
difference between good and evil, preferring an intermediate area – the fabulous and
traditional realm of “not so bad”. Rhetoric questions, simile and hyperbola emphasize
the criticized aspects – The Man with Black Eyes (Ibidem: 132). The onomatology
resembles the one in fairy stories – each character receives long, pertinent names
frequently including alliteration “Konon Arămescul Donici Băcăoanul”. The stiff name
connotes an archaic creature which is depicted by fairy-hyperbola of an ogre – “Kanon,
the Bishop”: „…uriaş cărnos al cărui nume sună atât de gros” (Ibidem: 34). Other names
are provided with onomatopoeic sonority: Grigore Trancu Iaşi (Arghezi, 2005: 1416).
The force of imagination diminishes the vulgar, too strong expressions or the
cliché. Tudor Arghezi and N. D. Cocea use irony and satire mainly in order to bring out
new stylistic bonds in which the novelty of ideas, themes and rules of the society is
highlighted. They borrow from the traditional fairy stories the verbal magic and
enchantments: „Pe planul întâi nori de aur, la dreapta pilaf cu zahăr, la stânga un pârâu
cu lapte, şi, paralel, un altul cu cafea. Banane atârnă din azur pînă în gură...” (Ibidem:
101). This succulent landscape proves to be only a theatrical façade for mediocrity and
stupidity. The world is reinterpreted according to personal parameters.
Sometimes the authors like to play the part of heroes. This is N. D. Cocea’s
case who defended the cause of Romanian army before the WWII. Romania was
supposed to buy gas-mask made by the business-man Malaxa and the German Emil
Ochs. The journalistic campaign lead by Cocea in his magazine Facla foiled those
plans. The Romanian poet Ion Vinea, using the nickname the observer, helped Cocea
and wrote most of the pamphlets against the devilish intent. Romania army received
1
good and efficient masks made in Poland. Corruption/evil was defeated.
The usual fairy tales use storms, high winds and other surprising forces of
nature in order to attend to Good. The pamphleteers dispose verbal storms, punishing
tornadoes of words which demolish infamous persons; naturalism might be noticed in
many phrases: „…se caută adânc între fese sau în nas şi scot cu două degete, elegant,
fiinţa procreată de insul lor, un vierme lung, melancolic şi moale, pe care ţi-l aruncă ca
un fir de fidea puturos” (Arghezi, 2004: 921).

Taxonomy in pamphlets

All the pamphleteers demolish idols and personalities. These Romanian

authors uses either gigantic images through hyperbola or tinny representations for
depicting the gutter-world. The latter, a kind of Lilliput-pamphlet, consists of small,
insignificant people, objects, facts. This is a more original and not so common way to
approach a satiric broadsheet.
The authors, Tudor Arghezi and N. D. Cocea, see the world as an elvish sight
in novels, poems, etc. or as a dwarfish, ugly, evil place in pamphlets. All the characters

1
http://www.dailycotcodac.ro/2013/10/santajul-de-presa-marii-ziaristi-si-marile-lor-portofele-2/
read on 15.08.2015.

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might be included in a kind of Uriah Heep paradigm: stutters, earless, idiots, softheads,
all the infamous persons are present in the political fair-ground. The political world is
parallel to the normal one. „…mişună găinarii cu diplomă şi ghiozdane” (Arghezi, op.
cit.: 1342).
Sometimes, the characters in pamphlets became ancient heroes not with
overpowers, but having mocked capacities. For example, this is the case of the great
Romanian historian Nicolae Iorga facing a cartooned appearance. He is compared to
Noah lacking the biblical wisdom and coming out not on the volcanic land of Mount
Ararat, but on the mud of two commercial streets in Bucharest – Calea Griviţei and
Matache Măcelaru (Arghezi, 2004: 1054). A giant is turned into a midget aiming at
readers’ surprise. Other foreign worthy personalities (Louis XVI of France, Nicholas II
of Russia) become ridiculous and hammer-heads: „nenorocită făptură omenească, o
paiaţă încoronată fără voinţă şi fără cap” (Cocea, 1949: 63); „biet cretin, abrutizat de
alcool” (Ibidem). In other cases, the charcater falls into another category, ironically
more fit for satirical comments. For example, in Arghezi’s pamphlets, the nickname of
the historian Nicolae Iorga, the cock/cocoşul, becomes the turkey/curcanul:
„Pseudonimul Cocoş nu-i mai era de ajuns marelui curcan, care s-a văzut obligat să
cheltuiască şi cântec personal” (Arghezi, 1972: 254).
Arghezi enriched taxonomy by adding a new kind of journalistic publication.
In 1928, he issued a tinny satirical magazine called Bilete de papagal/ Parrot’s Cards.
This title referes to an ancient form of fortune-telling. It was first of all a daily leftwing
newspaper, and afterwards a literary magazine. The first issues were entirely written by
Arghezi, and after that he asked his fellow-writers to do the same thing: Otilia Cazimir,
Ionel Teodoreanu, Felix Aderca, George Topârceanu, Urmuz. This small-sized
magazine, containing many pamphlets, appeared until 1945.
These are three innovative features of the pamphlet in Romanian literature.

Bibliography
Arghezi, T., Opere, III, Editura Fundaţiei Naţionale pentru Ştiinţă şi Artă şi Editura Univers
enciclopedic, Bucureşti, 2003
Arghezi, T., Opere, V, Editura Fundaţiei Naţionale pentru Ştiinţă şi Artă, Bucureşti, 2004
Cocea, N. D., Pamflete antidinastice, Editura de Stat, Bucureşti, 1949
Dumistrăcel, S., Eufemismul subversiv de legitimare, in Ipostaze ale variaţiei lingvistice .
pragmatică şi stilistică, Editura Universităţii Bucureşti, Bucureşti, 2011
Eco, U., Marginalii şi note la Numele trandafirului, Editura Trei, Bucureşti, 2002.
Genette, G., Palimpsestes, Seuil, Paris, 1982
Ghiţoi, A., Caragiale publicist, Editura Tritonic, Bucureşti, 2005
Mihuleac, C., Pamfletul şi tablet. Journalism sau literature?Editura Universităţii „Al. I. Cuza”,
Iaşi, 2009
Munteanu, C., Pamfletul ca discurs literar, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1999
Sasu, A., Retorica literară românească, Editura Minerva, Bucureşti, 1976
Ubersfel, A., Termenii cheie ai analizei teatrului, Editura Institutul European, Iaşi, 1999

209
 RELATIONS INTEGRATIVES POUR QUATRE FONCTIONS
DU LANGAGE POETIQUE

Violeta BERCARU ONEAŢĂ

Abstract: The dynamics of metaphorism in modernity entails a free development

presented under the shape of an increasing field followed by a diminishing one, a phenomenon
which configures four functions of the poetical language: the Intransitive with a hermetic
metaphor integrating a Reflexivity with a revelatory/vivid metaphor up to an Indirect Transitive
function bearing a metaphor included in the sequence, the latter integrating a Direct Transitivity
which cultivates a zero metaphor or the anti-symbol. An extension of the grammar on the stylistic
level, generating the double intention of transitivity as functions of the poetical language in
modern poetry, as well as the idea of neutralisation of opposites in terms of linguistics entailing
the stylistic level, that of synthesis and the dichotomy of a distributive/integrative relationship
between similar/dissimilar units of language or functions, are the landmarks of this study.
Keywords: metaphorism, demetaphorisation, function.

Ce qu’on observe c’est la double intention de la transitivité dans la poésie moderne

engendrée par l’extension de la grammaire au niveau stylistique et fondée sur le procédé
des relations intégratives du point de vue linguistique/ stylistique qui met en évidence
ľidée de synhèse combinatoire, opposition, neutralisation. D’ici résulte un
éclaircissement de ce que représente la fluence progressive de la sémiose, dont le
contenu est illustré par le phénomène complexe et lent, en étapes, de la dépoétisation
dans la poésie moderne. Lié enfin de compte, aussi, au processus de la
démétaphorisation qui, on se rappelle, tend vers le point zéro tandis que le
métaphorisme, particulièrement celui révélateur, tendait vers l’infini. On a pu mesurer la
distance entre réflexivité intransitive et la transitivité directe, phénomène qui ouvre la
porte pour mesurer la distance entre plusieurs poètes se trouvant dans l’esprit de ce
repérage stylistique linguistique -Mallarmé ou Valéry par rapport à Jacques Prévert par
exemple, entre Bacovia, N. Stănescu et les poètes réalistes ďaujourd ’hui, un autre
exemple – et, ce qui paraît plus intéressant, pour appliquer cette grille aux
interprétations traditionnelles.
La fonction poétique, telle qu’elle a été configurée par Jakobson, retourne
ďune manière enrichie par ľidée que la poéticité comme invariant universel
paradigmatique et sélectif s’appuie non seulement sur les formes révélatrices, mais aussi
sur ce processus de dépoétisation lente influencé par des opérateurs de changement
linguistique liants internes ( A. M. Houdebine, 2010 ) comme le trope implicitatif (C. K.
Orecchioni, 1986 ) interposant entre réflexivité et transitivité qui devient directe, une
transitivité indirecte, d’où la double intention de la transitivité stylistique. Utilisant le
modèle formel, linguistique, aussi, de la transitivité grammaticale du verbe. Système
dans lequel le rôle du complément indirect et direct est remplacé par le trope implicitatif
et, respectivement, par la cohérence sémantique ou par ľantisymbole. La récurrence de
la métaphore crée une transitivité indirecte, phénomène qui apparaît dans ľhistoire et
qui, se chargeant en opérateur de changement linguistique liant interne, entraîne celle
directe. De même après Michel Riffaterre, la métaphore est une matrice structurale


University of Bucharest, violetabercaru@yahoo.com

210
(1978) qui influence le texte comme entier. En tant que matrice, on considère qu’elle
engendre une fonction intermédiaire capable de flexibiliser la fonction poétique
réflexive correspondante à la métaphore révélatrice (L. Blaga, 1937)/vive (P. Ricoeur,
1975) avec la fonction référentielle correspondante à ľantisymbole. L’opposition
réflexivité/transitivité connait un processus de neutralisation, qui est la transitivité
indirecte à valeur intégrative pour la transitivité directe.
D’autre part, Paul Ricoeur qui considère que la sémantique du discours ne se
réduit pas à la sémiotique des unités lexicales (1975), trouve une connection avec la
théorie ďĒmile Benveniste qui décèle ďune manière nuancée la notion de discours par
rapport à celle de signe ou de mot. Benveniste montre que les unités de la langue, par
rapport au discours, se trouvent dans une différence de niveau, dans la synthèse qui
constitue l’architecture proprement-dite du langage. Plus clairement, les mots comme
signes, configurent un puzzle dépourvu de signification littéraire, ceux-ci prenant forme
littéraire seulement dans la cohésion de la phrase, et cette dernière dans ľarchitecture du
langage, la liaison étant représentée par la notion de niveau, qui remplit le rôle
ďopérateur (1966). Ľopérateur nommé niveau assure la progression de la signification,
en général, qui n’est pas linéaire. Paul Ricoeur, à son tour, montre que la progression
n’est pas linéaire parce qu’elle est fondée sur des propriétés nouvelles qui apparaissent à
la suite de la connexion de certaines unités ayant un statut différent :Tandis que les
unités du même statut ont des relations distributives, les éléments de niveau différent
entretiennent des relations integratives. ( P. Ricoeur, Metafora vie, 1984 : 112)
De la sorte la fabrication du poème comme univers autonome peut être définie
aussi par la configuration ďune dimension de correspondance, de la dénotation avec la
connotation à travers ľimplicitation, capable ďétablir des relations intégratives.
Traditionnellement antinomyques ou alternantes, par correspondance, degré
ďinclination de ľune envers ľautre, elles peuvent former et donner naissance à une
signification beaucoup plus riche. Dans la mesure dans laquelle la tension métaphorique
peut s’imprégner de réel et, ďautre part, le langage poétique perd de ľintensité de
l’imaginaire, la dénotation et la connotation anéantissent la linéarité et entrent dans une
correspondance, le concret et ľabstrait quittent ľalternance pour entrer en synthèse, par
un degré ďinclination de ľun envers ľautre, ce qui en résulte étant une nouvelle
contingence, une nouvelle possibilité de combinaison dans la poésie moderne, une
correspondance des champs sémantiques-poétiques. Le cas étant celui de Jacques
Prévert et de Nichita Stănescu qui cultivent la métaphore incluse dans la séquence ou le
trope implicitatif. On considère ce phénomène de la dépoétisation graduelle de la
métaphore en faveur de la poésie, en liaison avec le concepte de néomodernisme (I. B.
Lefter, 2000) présent dans le livre Recapitularea modernității (La révision de la
modernité ) - et l’auteur d’encadrer Nichita Stănescu dans le courant néomoderniste-
phénomène qui met en évidence ďautant plus l’anéantissement de la figure en général
en faveur du réel, le culte de ľantisymbole spécifique pour les postmodernistes. Comme
notre thèse focalise sur la liaison étroite entre métaphore/discours – démétaphorisation
du discours, la double intention de la transitivité poétique indirecte et directe apparaît
comme phénomène complexe de la modernité, dans le cadre plus général de
ľautotélisme du langage poétique dans la modernité. L’intransitivité poétique de type
mallarméen et la réflexivité profonde ďun poète comme Lucian Blaga restent loin, de
type différent mais, également, à ľintérieur de ce que représente ľautotélisme du langage
poétique dans la modernité. En somme, quatre fonctions du langage poétique,
ľintransitivité, la réflexivité, la transitivité indirecte et la transitivité directe. Si le
théoricien Tudor Vianu définissait en 1941 dans Arta prozatorilor români (Ľart des

211
prosateurs roumains) deux fonctions du langage poétique– la réflexivité et la transitivité
– on focalise de nos jours sur quatre, compte tenant de la transitivisation graduelle
fondée sur la démétaphorisation graduelle du discours poétique dans un monde où les
liaisons avec le transcendent lui ont été arrachées et anéanties, et, également sur ľidée
de correspondance pour les fonctions qui, à travers l’influence de la figure sur le
discours comme entier, est capable d’engendrer des relations intégratives de ces
fonctions.

Résultats escomptés.
La dynamique du métaphorisme à travers la modernité entraîne une sémiose
libre qui présente un champ ascendant suivi d’un autre descendent, sémiose qui
configure quatre fonctions du langage poétique, de l’intransitivité à métaphore
hermétique qui intègre une réflexivité à métaphore révélatrice/vive jusqu’à la
transitivité indirecte à trope implicitatif, qui également intègre une transitivité directe,
celle-ci cultivant la métaphore zéro ou bien ľantisymbole.
Les relations intégratives des fonctions du langage poétique sont fondées sur la
neutralisation, l’équivalence, la synthèse combinatoire apportée par ľinfluence du
métaphorisme ou de la démétaphorisation dans le discours, et pour cela on prend en
considération le fait que:
Les énoncés différents et successifs deviennent équivalents à travers la
métaphore comme matrice structurale, créant le principe de la simultanéité et de la
convergence, c’est à dire la structuration ďune densité lyrique qui s’áppuie sur la
métaphore ( M. Riffaterre, 1978).
Paul Ricoeur considérait la sémantique du discours comme ne pouvant pas être
réduite à la sémiotique des unités lexicales (Ricoeur, 1975).
La notion stylistique – linguistique de fonction, du point de vue de la
linguistique glossématique et mathématique représente
le quantum variable y nommée fonction du quantum variable x, si pour chaque
valeur du quantum x correspond une valeur uniquement déterminée du quantum
y. (Solomon Marcus, 1966: 63, apud Maria Manoliu Manea, 1973: 245)
Autrement dit, la valeur uniquement déterminée c’est le trope qui est présente dans la
valeur de matrice structurale du texte.
La notion stylistique-linguistique ďopposition désigne la relation entre deux termes
qui ont des traits communs – la base de l’opposition – et des traits réels différents,
la caractéristique de l’opposition (Ľ Ecole de Prague) et qui peuvent entrer, de
même, dans un rapport de neutralisation (E. Coșeriu, 1964 apud Maria Manoliu
Manea, 1973 : 248 )
La neutralisation renvoie au principe de la synthèse combinatoire (la TI) et,
ďautre part à l ’opposition isolée (la TD), par rapport à RI, dans laquelle
TI c’est la transitivité indirecte
RI c’est la réflexivité intransitive
TD c’est la transitivité directe
Dans son livre Structuralismul lingvistic (Le structuralisme linguistique),
Maria Manoliu Manea parle de la neutralisation, ďaprès Hjelmslev, Emilio Alarcos
Llorach, A. Reformatski, Sanchez Ruiperez, Eugen Coșeriu, Em. Vasiliu, P.
Diaconescu, Maria Manoliu, Liliana Ionescu Ruxăndoiu, auteurs qui définissent ce
phénomène linguistique comme – une forme de suspension de ľopposition à travers la
fusion, le synchétisme et ľimplicitation (Maria Manoliu Manea, op.cit, 1973:136 ). On a

212
trouvé chez le linguiste Cesare Segre, dans ses conférences des années soixantes, ľidée
de synthèse dans le processus linguistique-stylistique.
G. Genette, dans son livre Figures, parle du blocage de la dénotation qui
métamorphose en connotation (1966) dans le langage poétique, en donnant un exemple
de Mallarmé, – angelus bleu qui puisse être aussi bien un angelus paisible.
Ľâncrage indirect, ďaprès C. K. Orecchioni, qui dévoile le niveau profond de
ľimplicite linguistique qui, à travers le trope implicitatif, transgresse dans ľimplicite
sémantique-poétique.
A tous ces principes qui rendent possible la correspondance pour quatre
fonctions du langage poétique, s’ajoute: Ce phénomène de la flexibilisation qui se
rapporte, il paraît, au relativisme moderne, mais du point de vue stylistique-linguistique
à travers opposition-neutralisation qui crée une nouvelle fonction, nous donne la
possibilité d’observer la transitivisation graduelle, par son corollaire de la métaphore
incluse dans la séquence, suivie ďune radicalisation de la transitivité dans la
postmodernité – la TD- à travers le champ metaphorique fermé et le fonctionnement de
la poéticité par la cohérence de plus sémantique, champ nouvel à l’intérieur duquel se
développe ľantisymbole, l’allégorie, le langage primitif même. Cohérence qui configure
un imaginaire linguistique désacralisé, ayant une déviation et une non-isotopie minimes,
dépourvu de règles et de proportions, anéantissant le discours oraculaire et le triomphe
transfiguratif, en démétaphorisant, parfois faisant usage de l’allégorie. Dans la thèse on
a placé ce tableau sous ľemblême de la prévalence de ce que Gh. Crăciun a nommé le
corps par rapport à la lettre ou ľanéantissement de la forme artistique élaborée en faveur
de l’intensité existentielle. La dépoétisation en faveur de la poésie par transitivité
indirecte, la dépoétisation de la poésie en faveur du réel, par transitivité directe.

+Intransitivité Réflexivité -Transitivité

(imaginaire) (contingent)

transitivité directe transitivité indirecte

explicite sémantique implicite sémantique explicite

sémantique

champ métaphorique fermé métaphore incluse

dans la séquence

ľallégorie
(ex. de la mort , de la vie, de la liberté, de ľ absurde )

213
 On peut conclure que sous ľinfluence des principes linguistiques de la
neutralisation, de ľopposition, de ľimplicitation, de la synthèse combinatoires, ainsi que
sous ľinfluence du principe stylistique de l’équivalence, compte tenant aussi du
phénomène de la croissance et de la diminution du métaphorisme, apparaît une sémiose
libre dans la modernité, fondée sur des relations intégratives capables de flexibiliser les
fonctions classiques du langage poétique.

Bibliographie
Benveniste, Ēmile, Problèmes de linguistique générale, Gallimard, Paris, 1966
Blaga, Lucian, Geneza metaforei și sensul culturii în Trilogia culturii, Opere, Editura Minerva,
București, 1975, Editura Regală pentru Literatură și Artă, București, 1937
Crăciun, Gheorghe, Pactul somatografic, ediție îngrijită și prefațată de I. B. Lefter, Editura
Paralela 45, Pitești, 2009
Genette, Gérard, Figuri, selecție, traducere și prefață de Angela Ion și Irina MavrodinEditura
Univers, București,1978, Figures, I, II, III, Editions du Seuil, Paris, 1966,1969, 1972
Houdebine, Anne, Marie, Sémiologie actuelle, De ľimaginaire linguistique à ľimaginaire culturel ,
étude du cercle de ľUuniversité Paris Descartes, Faculté des Sciences Humaines et Sociales -
Sorbonne, sous la direction ďAnne-Marie Houdebine, professeure émérite à ľUniversité Paris
Descartes, Semeion, Hors Série, ISSN-0005, 2010
Lefter, Ion, Bogdan, Recapitularea modernității , Editura Paralela 45, Pitești, 2000
Manoliu Manea, Maria, Structuralismul lingvistic, ( lecturi critice ), cu o prefață de Iorgu Iordan,
Editura Didactică și Pedagogică, București, 1973
Orecchioni, Catherine, Kerbratt, Ľimplicite, Editions Armand Colin, Paris, 1986,
Ricoeur, Paul, Metafora vie, traducere și prefață de Irina Mavrodin, Editura Univers, Bu curești,
1984, La métaphore vive, Editions du Seuil, Paris, 1975
Riffaterre, Michel, Semiotics of Poetry, Bloomington, London, 1978
Vianu, Tudor, Arta prozatorilor români, Editura Albatros, București, 1977, Editura
Contemporană, București, 1941
Zafiu, Rodica, Narațiune și poezie, Editura ALL, București, 2000

214
 THE SYMBOLIC IMAGINARY OF THE ROMANIAN CROSSES
(TROIȚE)

Gabriela BOANGIU

Abstract: Romanian Crosses (Troiţe) impress through colours and archaic

significances. They are the elements of an old mentality, but they still alive in the symbolic
imaginary of the Romanian people. The study presents the results of a research project
“Contemporary evaluation of Romanian Crosses (troiţe) in Oltenia and in a multiethnic context
in Timoc and Voivodina” financed by AFCN (National Administration of the Cultural Fond). The
study highlights the way of religious communication supposed by the presence of Crosses in
Romanian rituals. Here will be analysed certain symbolical representations specific to Romanian
identity. There will be also presented several fragments of interviews with painters of crosses
from Oltenia with the goal to highlight the symbolic imaginary of the painters.
Keywords: Romanian crosses, identity, collective memory.

The importance of rationality had brought forward certitudes that later proved
to be doubtful, and disarmingly imperfect. A human-like aspect, too much human,
which both estranged us in our own world and accustomed – sometimes comfortably
damaging – with its own rules and inventions. Initially, we used to consider possible the
approaching of the customs of the road side crucifixes and crosses, only in the
Romanian identity areas from Oltenia, Timoc and Voivodina, and only as a practice
with implications rather social than religious. On the way, the differentiation has been
proved to be limitative, on addressing both the used concepts and their applicability.
The phenomenon can still be studied in vivo, and the field experience has gained the
signification of an interior journey as well. The approach, or the research, was one of
identification of the cultural landmarks that defeated the time on a pre-established path,
meaning that the challenge is still present –that to continue and extend the journey-
research in other fields too, including the symbolic imaginary one that accompanies
these traditional artefacts. The similarity to the sacred, funerary horizon from nowadays
is accomplished through the meaning of the premise-question: “what is the awake world
dreaming?”
The social sciences – ethnology, anthropology, sociology etc. – have conferred
an ample space for debating the practices of memory, cultural identity, collective
memory. In all these equations there is a space for decanting, for noticing the
metamorphoses or the functional mutations. How and what do we forget and, especially,
how do we remember? If these questions can be generously approached in the broad
area of the social concepts, particularised in the theme of our research, they can trigger a
dialogue on different levels, in the context of fragmentising our recent present. On one
side, the analysed phenomenon belongs to the horizon of the traditional culture,
nowadays incorporated mostly into the identifications of the immaterial patrimony,
which imply efforts to research, preserve and revaluate; on the other side, the erecting of
roadside crucifixes, as a living cultural phenomenon, encompasses remembering,
reaffirmation of the religious identity in the wider and exterior space of the village –


“C.S. Nicolăescu-Plopşor” Socio-Human Research Institute of the Romanian Academy, Craiova,
boangiu_g@yahoo.com

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open for the unknown and for the journeys towards everywhere, sacralisation of the
space, commemoration/’non-oblivion’.
We can see the crosses “at graves, at wells, crossroads or deserted places, for
purifying the place (…); places where assumed wonders took place, the halting places
where one can have a rest, next to the main roads etc.” or where there is marked the
honoring “of a civilizing, salvation or eponym hero’s memory, [fixing] in the collective
memory a remarkable event of this hero’s life (a donation, a fight etc.)” (Vulcănescu,
1972: 144-145). Adela Toplean, analysing representations of death in the antique
Greece, said that “through the heroes’ cult, death becomes naturalised. It enters for the
first time into the polis, it subjects to, and even generates rules (symbolic living rules).
Some exceptional dead, whose remaining has magical-religious powers, would not have
probably enjoyed the same glorious existence, outside the city. These dead people are
now being called to talk not only about a spiritual continuity, but about political and
cultural one too. Briefly, they seem to be the «pretext» for inventing the social memory”
(Toplean, 2006: 192-193).
Nevertheless, the individual commemoration or memory gains particular
attributes in the Romanian cultural space, “the personal success or failure, regardless
their nature, would become edifying pretexts. The burying of a family member, the last
will on the deathbed about the commemoration, the taking of an oath for a certain diet,
the so-called prophetic dreams, the occasional predictions, the reading of the old laws,
the forgiveness in front of the community etc., represented an inalienable side within the
endless individual reasons that triggered edification. Once the pretext of edification
crystallised in the reader’s conscience, it would become an impetus of artistic creation”
(Vulcănescu, op. cit.: 145-146). The roadside crucifixes, the crosses and the entire
religious-symbolic arsenal that accompanies them, cannot be reduced to a linear
process, finalised through an artistic creation, although the aesthetic significance of it is
implicit, but only secondary, and more as an ulterior perception.
Grigorescu I. Nicolae, from the village of Polovragi, Gorj County, told us that
“the last will of a person, by word of mouth is: «I want a wooden cross when I’ll pass
away», if anyone listens to the wish…, if not, they will have a marble cross on the other
side world”1. It is impressive that the expression “by word of mouth” is still being used
in the quotidian language of the place and the actual context for respecting this type of
wish – in the traditional culture, being said that the wooden cross is lighter, but the
contemporary alternative of the marble cross is more widely spread used – a practice
that is borrowed from the urban area. In Bulgaria, at Pocraina, a Romanian village,
Lozana Ivanova Djangolvska told us about the tradition of installing the cross at the
dead person’s tomb: “They have to install one, otherwise it is a sin to not have one, the
dead have no shade, no shelter from the rain, and they face cold and wind on the other
side”2.

1
Grigorescu I. Nicolae, field informer, 46 years old, village of Polovragi, Gorj County, interview
realised by Associate Prof. Gabriela Rusu-Păsărin, PhD, University from Craiova, in 2009, during
the project Revalorizarea contemporana a troiţelor....(The contemporary revaluation of the
crosses…)
2
Lozana Ivanova Djangolvska, 67 years old, the village of Pocraina, Bulgaria, interview realised
by Associate Prof. Gabriela Rusu-Păsărin, PhD, University from Craiova, in 2009, during the
project Revalorizarea contemporana a troiţelor....(The contemporary revaluation of the
crosses…)

216
 The administration of the collective memory and, implicitly of the cultural
identity, is organised as a spiral, involving cultural and particular institutional
structures, on independent levels: family, community, society.
We underline that “the identity” is understood, in the present thesis, as a
“relational manifestation”, surpassing in this way the objectivism/subjectivism
alternatives. The identity is not an immutable “”given fact”, but it “is constantly built
and rebuilt inside the social changes” ( Cuche, 2003: 127). Therefore, it is awarded a
highly important share to the relational situation and the actor who confers signification,
the identification being, consequently, at the same level with the differentiation. The
correlation with the collective memory and its practices of re-actualisation is,
nevertheless, implicit. Ethnology and anthropology come across new requests in the
identification and revaluation of the cultural patrimony, the area of the social
application has been extended, involving a continuous reflexive approach and realising
an open dialogue with the representatives of the investigated culture. A special attention
has to be granted to the configuration of the ethnological field and the problems
emerging from its input. The investigation of the roadside crucifixes in Bulgaria and
Serbia involved a visual component of the research, doubled by the instant observations,
along with those that appeared on the way. The traveller passes especially through an
interior space when he steps inside a cemetery; the invasive camera creates a subtly
tensioned interception: he deals with the feeling of respect for a sacred space, with the
deciphering of a code, with the desire to notice the coherence of a ritual.
The cemetery is as an imago templi in which «the eyes of the sky» are open,
and caress visually each presence-absence that lies in anonymity, the cross becomes an
icon, each detail gains unexpressed valences, which you can feel coming from a sacred
horizon: from the mourning cloth that fastens the cross (called “gulerele-collar” in the
area of Ponoare), tamed by the rain and the wind, to the blackened marks left by the
burning candles for commemoration, to the photographs on the crosses, which describe
the everyday life, to the traces of the burial ritual – basil, woollen thread, red thread…
The representation of the field research combines the images and the text; the
visual discourse that it is added is meant to create closeness to the investigated
traditional artefacts, the sensation of presence and of their intrinsic verticality. There are
established instant visual correspondences between the stoned crosses from the
cemeteries of the Romanians from Bulgaria – the village of Florentin, and the old
cemetery from Isverna, where the crosses are covered by the ground, but which can still
be discovered if one passes patiently from one side of the village to the other,
accompanied by a wise guide, as in our case Mr.Cornel Boteanu, the author of
numerous ethnographic and folkloric works, among which we mention Cântecul zorilor
din Plaiul Cloşani – epos funerar mehedinţean(The song of the dawn from Cloşani field
– a funerary epos from Mehedinți) (Boteanu, 2008:45).
The crosses, and moreover the groups of crosses, because the wooden crosses
are often accompanied by the new ones – made of marble or metal, allow the
unravelling of a coherence for the pious, ritual and creational gesture from the moment
it was created. The physical space – the vegetal space, the chaos of forgiveness is
counteracted by the function played by the orientation of the icon on the cross – the
contour icon, the scratched icon, the painted icon… Jesus Christ, Virgin Mary, Saint
Parascheva, Saint George or the Last Supper and the Cherubs met in the iconography of
the crosses from Salcia.
The cross is a bridge between the sacredness of the space in different stages:
from the indistinct space outside the village to the community space – the church, the

217
cemetery; therefore, we can meet the roadside crucifix at a crossroads or in a «marked
place», we met well-crucifix, the chapel-crucifix, the church yard crucifix. The erection
of the church itself is supported by “an element of stability, a steadfast fundament: it is
the square stone, marked through a cross (our note), settled on the place of the future
altar; it symbolises the Christian stone endowed with the power to sustain a new world,
the restored world of ecclesia” (Manolescu, 2002: 90-91).Moreover, Anca Monolescu
noticed in her work Locul călătorului(The place of the traveller):
Symbolically, the foundation stone assures the function of the principle that
“supports”, but also “destines”, confers the last purpose of what will be built on
that spot. «The stability» represented by it signifies the certitude of accomplishing
a unifying project. The stone – unapparent, but essential – from the basis and the
Pantocrator from the vault represent two hypostases of the Logos that
symbolically include the sanctuary in the metabolism of the Christed corpus
(Ibidem: 92).
Therefore, we come to understand why the space of the cemetery can be
perceived as imago templi.
The profession of crosses-making, specific for the area Pietriş-Olt unravels
gradually throughout the investigation carried out in the cemetery of the village, the
deterioration of the crosses ‘telling’ stories about the construction details. The vegetal
ornaments specific for the crosses from this area, is doubled by the real vegetation that
already frames organically the funerary monuments of commemoration. The
documentary details mention: “as regarding the art of phytomorphic ornamentation, the
artists from Pietrişu, or those from Salcia excel in it, being more skilful in representing
the faces of the saints: «we are better than them at painting saints, and they are better
than us at painting flowers » (field information from Ion Mustaţă, Salcia)” (Iordache,
Popilian et alli, 1970: 164)
The iconography of the roadside crucifixes is surprising even nowadays; it is
known that “in Pietrişu, a man’s crucifix has usually imprinted on it the figure of a
male-saint: either Jesus Christ or Saint George. On a woman’s crucifix there is the face
of a female-saint, usually Pious Paraschiva or The Mother of God. On such a crucifix, it
can also appear the crucified Jesus Christ. On a man’s crucifix we can preponderantly
meet the crucified Jesus Christ and the ridding Saint George.”Other times, Saint George
is replaced by Saint Demeter. On the woman’s crucifix can also be painted two female
saints: on the upper side of the crucifix, there is Virgin Mary, and on the lower side,
Pious Paraschiva. Saint Mary holding the Baby, appears as an exception on the men’s
crucifixes, but the image is accompanied by that of Saint George, in order to show the
gender of the deceased (Ibidem: 162). Under the circular or four-sided roofs, made of
wood or tin, there are hidden fragments of this iconography, the elements contributing
to the final image that we can meet today, to such extent that the grave preserves only
the marks saved by the cross maker: a man or a woman’s crucifix, on the places where
the paint is still visible. Thus, the anonymity allows only the simple recognition of a
Human being. These cases of anonymity – specific for the villages – can be understood
as gestures of the serene departure into the belief of resurrection.
The tomb crosses, specific for the area of Pietriş, can also be met nowadays in
other villages from Dolj (for example Motoci), Olt County. At Călui-Olt, we meet them
painted in anti-corrosion paint (minimum of lead) – except for the space of the specific
iconography, which is accompanied by wooden crosses, carved by the local artists. The
spreading area is certainly wider, being known the fact that “the spreading area of the

218
wooden crosses encompasses especially the field regions and only a part of the hill
region, from the south of Turnu-Severin, Strehaia, Filiaşi, Bălceşti, Drăgăşani. Towards
the north side, from the mentioned region, in pre-mountain and mountain areas, there
can be met especially the stone crosses” (Ibidem: 165).
Going upwards to the Counties of Mehedinţi and Gorj, one can notice the
roadside crucifixes, the commemoration crosses or those from the wells – mixture of
spaces and sacred offerings for the use of a traveller. And the only thing that we should
do is to recollect the Pure White Traveller from The song of the Dawn, specific for the
area of Mehedinţi and Gorj, in order to try to understand the symbolic horizon of the
old-times customs. The signs of verticality accompany the graves from Ponoare (the
smoke-darkened symbol that still keeps the rhombus representations), or Polovragi,
where we can meet the spear – incised or smoke-darkened fir-tree bearing the same
marks of the sacred geometry.
The real traveller is permanently greeted by the reaffirmations of the sacred, by
simple village constructions, many times anonymous or accompanied by a diptych. The
foreign travellers in the Romanian Principalities often mentioned the meeting with such
village monuments (Vulcanescu, op.cit.: 118-130). Other times, the Romanian village
employed photographers or engravers to preserve the memory of such artefacts. Among
these, we mention Anton Kaindl, a well-known painter of engravings with subjects from
Oltenia (110 engravings signed Anton Kaindl, made in the aqua fortis technique, with
subjects almost exclusively from Oltenia). These engravings were purchased in 1970 by
the Museum of Art from Craiova, and have a special documentary and patrimonial
value. Anton Kaindl was, starting with 1921, the official engraver of the princely court
of Ferdinand I and his wife, Queen Mary. Travelling in Romania for almost 30 years, he
realised an impressive documentary material through his works, which often
represented Romanian crucifixes. His itinerary was especially along Oltenia, and it can
be reconstituted through the created images.
Kurt Hielscher takes 5 000 photographs after his journeys in Romania, between
1931 and 1932, among which he publishes only 304 in his album, being impressed with
“the love and the natural sense of art [that] the Romanian peasants use to embellish their
houses and the last resting place: the crosses from the tombs, wells and roads”,
considering them “signs of a deep interiorisation of their naive feelings” (Hielscher,
1997: 32). Hielscher was aware of the documentary value of his work: “for me, it is as if
I would preserve my book over the further times, when everything will be ceased to a
lent and continuous disappearance” (Ibidem: 33).
An aesthetic revalorisation inside the Romanian culture is also proposed by the
plastic artist Vasile Buz, a member of the Plastic Artists Union from Romania, the
branch from Craiova, preoccupied for over 30 years by the theme of the Romanian
crucifixes, which he has exploited in numerous works. Another type of visual discourse
is unravelled, mediated by the plastic art, but also accompanied by a rigorous and
passionate ethnographic documentation, another bridge towards the collective memory,
towards new segments of a public interested in the reserves of the popular
culture,revalued by the contemporary art. One of his works caught our attention
thorough novelty – a gate-crucifix, by the wooden belfry of a church, the meanings of a
Christian horizon, a colourful presence of symbols, reintegrated in the cultural circuit of
a world.
The reflexive-subjective component of the research integrated the exploratory
mark of this experience: the researcher has become temporary a traveller, who has
found support in the Christian sign of the cross, who has discovered the passing through

219
this world of the Man along with the mark of the wooden cross – his shelter cross, who
has wondered with serenity in front of the zigzag-shaped crucifix, carved by the artisan
from Călui, and who looks over this artist’s shoulder towards the village, the same way
the anonymous forefathers before that protected silently the community.

Bibliography
Barth, Frederik, „Les groupes ethniques et leurs frontieres” in Poutignat Ph. and Streiff-Fenart J.
(ed.), Theories de l’ethnicite, PUF, collection „Le sociologue”, Paris, 1995, p. 203-249 apud
Cuche, Denis, Noţiunea de cultură în ştiinţele sociale(The notion of culture in the social
sciences), The European Institute Publishing House, Iaşi, 2003.
Cuche, Denis, Noţiunea de cultură în ştiinţele sociale(The notion of culture in the social
sciences), The European Institute Publishing House, Iaşi, 2003.
Hielscher, Kurt, România (Romania), Scrisul Românesc Publishing House, Craiova, 1997.
Iordache, G., N. Niţu, M. Popilian, “Câteva observaţii asupra cruceritului în lemn din Oltenia”
(Few observations on wooden cross-making in Oltenia), 1970, in Historica, Romanian Academy
Publishing House, Bucharest.
Manolescu, Anca, Locul călătorului(The place of the traveller), Paideia Publishing House,
Colecţia Spaţii Imaginate (Imagined Spaces Collection), Bucharest, 2002.
Panea, Nicolae, Gramatica funerarului (The Grammar of the Funerary), “Scrisul Românesc”
Publishing House, Craiova, 2003.
Papahagi, Tache, „Images d’ethnographie roumaine”, vol. III – Banat et Olténie, 1934.
Toplean, Adela, Pragul şi neantul(The threshold and the nothingness), PoliromPublishing House,
Iaşi, 2006.
Vulcănescu, Romulus, Coloana Cerului (The sky column), Romanian Academy Publishing
House, Bucharest, 1972.

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 RELAZIONI ROMENO-ITALIANE NEI PERIODICI DI CLUJ

Cosmina-Alina COSMA

Abstract: The paper, focused on our area of interest, is included in one exposure
developed over five volumes. It being included in the scientific plan of the Romance Language
and Literature Department from Cluj-Napoca and in collaboration with Dante Alighieri Society,
whose funding implies quality co-workers, Studi italo-romeni(1997-2006) intends to be an EICR
project, representing the review of a century of researches involved on this camp of activity.
Definitely, inside the dialogue between these two cultures, a primordial influence had the
manager of this paper, Marian Papahagi, that reintroduced, otherwise, Italian Language as a
specialisation to the Faculty of Letters from the same city in which appears the present volume.
Also, he contributes with a lot of studies regarding literary italianistic critics or being called
director of the Romanian Academy from Rome (on the same year in which appear the first paper
with which we are dealing). The intentions of the present volume can be felted even from the title
with the aim to facilitate the Romanian-Italian cultural interchanges by emphasizing the
importance of Italian culture for us and vice versa. Marian Papahagi affirmed once that is no
periodical publication dedicated of this type of reports. However, we have founded Venetian
papers which he remembers at a certain time, that represents more than a simple initiative. The
other proposals came, simultaneously, from the Italian Departments from Bucharest, Iaşi,
Craiova, Piteşti Universities or from Italian Cultural Institute from Bucharest, while in Italy
should be mentioned Romania Orientale (dir. Luisa Valmarin, Roma, 1998-1999) and Bolletino
novità (dir. Bianca Valota-Cavalotti, Milano, s.a).
Keywords: Periodicals, latinity, cultural approach.

Capitolo 1: Gli inizi

Occupando il primo posto nello svolgimento cronologico dei periodici della

Cattedra di Lingue e Letterature Romanze di Cluj-Napoca, Studi italo-romeni (vol. I-IV,
1997-2006) ricopre un ruolo di primo piano anche in ciò che riguarda la sua qualità, in
confronto agli altri quattro volumi tra i quali è incluso, avendo tre di questi lo stesso
nome. Certo che nel dialogo tra le due culture, un’influenza originale l’ha avuta anche il
direttore di questo periodico, Marian Papahagi, il quale ha reintrodotto, peraltro, Lingua
italiana come specialità della Facoltà di Lettere della stessa città a cui appartiene il
presente volume, contribuendo con numerosi studi in ciò che riguarda la critica
letteraria dell’italianistica ed essendo noto ad un momento come direttore
dell’Accademia Romena di Roma (nello stesso anno in cui appare il primo dei periodici
di cui ci occupiamo).
Le intenzioni del volume possono essere intuite anche dal titolo, essendo il suo
scopo quello di facilitare gli interscambi culturali italo-romeni, tramite la rivelazione
dell’importanza della cultura italiana per lo sviluppo della nostra cultura e viceversa.
Marian Papahagi afferma che non esiste alcuna pubblicazione periodica dedicata a
questi tipi di rapporti. Noi abbiamo trovato, però, i periodici di Venezia, di cui lui
ricorda, al tempo, che rappresentano più di una semplice iniziativaa . Le altre proposte
vengono, simultaneamente, da parte delle cattedre di Bucharest, Iași, Craiova, Pitești e
dall’Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Bucharest, mentre in Italia da menzionare sarebbe


Universita’ Babeş-Bolyai, Facolta’ Di Lettere, cosma_cosmina_alina@yahoo.com

221
Romania Orientale (dir. Luisa Valmarin, Roma, 1998-1999) o Bollettino novità (dir.
Bianca Valota-Cavalotti, Milano, s.a).

Capitolo 2: Ricevimento sul mercato

2.1. Studi Italo-Romeni vs volumi di grande ampiezza
Comparando questo periodico consistente, come numero di pagine con altri
due periodici di stessa struttura: Quaderni di studi italiani e romeni (vol. I-VI) e
Anuarul Institutului Italo-Român de Studii Istorice (vol. I-III, VI-IX), osserviamo lo
stesso contenuto tematico, diviso in diverse categorie. Così, Quaderni ha parti tematiche
divise nelle sezioni come Scrin (in cui, di solito, si presenta un autore, ma anche
l’impatto che ha sul proprio periodo), Articoli (con un numero di pagine ridotto, come
dimensione, in confronto alle altre sezioni) o Varia (in cui si presentano diversi studi,
inquadrati nell’area tematica di ogni volume). Ciò che è rimarchevole è il fatto che
questi volumi offrono la possibilità di accedere all’informazione sia in lingua romena,
sia in italiano.
Prendendo come esempio il secondo volume della serie degli Anuari,
osserviamo un’inquadratura diversa dei temi, però organizzata lo stesso: Studii, Întâlniri
(in cui si passano in rassegna diversi dibattiti), Teze de doctorat (con gli estratti dalle
ricerche che appartengono ad alcune persone di cultura importanti per questo ambito),
Recenzii o note di lettura e, alla fine, la sezione Varia.

2.2. Studi Italo-Romeni vs i volumi di piccola ampiezza

Anche i volumi che non appaiono in modo costante, ma che hanno come
oggetto di studio la relazione tra Romania e Italia, hanno manifestato interesse per noi.
Abbiamo preso, così, come punto di riferimento, i lavori della sessione italo-romena del
2008, pubblicati in un volume che porta il nome di Imagine reflectată. Momente de
istorie comparată e gli studi coordinati di Alexandru Balaci in Columna, continuati
nella rivista con delle apparizioni sporadiche, intitolata Siamo di nuovo insieme. Non
insisteremo troppo sul primo volume, che manifesta una tendenza storicista anche dal
titolo, ma menzioneremo che questo ci è stato di un reale beneficio, il legame con la
storia, dal punto di vista linguistico, essendo che ogni lingua appare come risultato di un
corso evolutivo ed essendo questa evoluzione interpretata come frutto di un processo di
trasformazione, sempre qualitativo. Perciò, i fenomeni come l’evoluzione del latino
volgare nell’idioma romanico o la formazione delle lingue letterarie non si possono
capire nella loro complessità, senza tenere conto della storia. Altresì, il legame della
Romania con l’Italia si realizza tra l’influenza catalitica, formativa, tra i contesti socio-
politici similari (Italia Postbellica, rispettivamente Romania Postcoloniale), ma anche
tra la parentela stilistica profonda.
Columna, in cambio, è concretizzata in un volume molto concentrato, che offre
una moltitudine di informazioni utili per la nostra sfera di ricerca: si fanno dei
parallelismi tra la cultura dei nostri tempi e quello che era nel passato (es. l’articolo La
romanizzazione della Dacia1), si mettono in considerazione la presenza romena sul
territorio italiano, ma anche la presenza degli italiani in Romania (ex. George
Lăzărescu, personalità che ha influenzato la Transilvania, dal punto di vista letterario o
Pipo Spano Fiorentino, al quale si offre una parte del territorio della Transilvania, come
segno di riconoscimento per i grandi successi contro i turchi) o semplicemente si notano

1
La romanizzazione della Dacia, in Colvmna. Annuario dell’Accademia di Romania in Roma (dir.
Alexandru Balaci), Redazione delle Pubblicazioni per l’Estero, Roma, 1972.

222
le idee nel quadro di alcuni incontri tematici (es. il Congresso Mondiale di Latinità, che
è stato a Bucharest, nel 1970).
Inferiori, dal punto di vista qualitativo, sono i periodici messi sotto la tutela
ASIR1 e riuniti sotto il titolo Siamo di nuovo insieme. Questi contengono dei soggetti
vari, divisi in tre categorie: Evenimente (in cui si susseguono, di solito, presentazioni di
libri, preceduti dal motto intitolato, suggestivamente, Vă invităm să citiți), Cultură (con
la presentazione dei più importanti atti culturali che avvengono in quel periodo) e Social
(come è, ad esempio, il Festival di musica balcanica, che in 2012 portava il nome
Dimitrie Cantemir la Carnavalul de la Veneția (Grosarru, 2012:12).

2.3. Studi Italo-Romeni e lo spazio virtuale

Anche nello spazio virtuale esistono dei periodici che si occupano della
relazione romeno-italiana. Quaderni della Casa Romena di Venezia (vol.V-IX) o gli
Anuari (vol.IX-XII), che, sfortunatamente, non hanno la continuità per il presente, sono
gestite dall’Istituto Romeno di Culturae Ricerca Umanistica di Venezia (fondato nel
1930, sotto l’egida di Nicolae Iorga) e si mettono a disposizione i contenuti online2. La
varietà, almeno nel caso dei Quaderni, varia a seconda del materiale ricevuto: nel 2010
abbiamo a che fare con due volumi, da 145 pagine ciascuno, nel 2012 disponiamo di un
solo volume e dal 2012 al presente rimaniamo con la speranza che questi quaderni
trovino la loro continuità. Comunque, l’idea presente in questi periodici consiste in
scelte di una certa tematica, in base alla quale si raccolgono i materiali e si scrive, nel
corso di un anno (anche se dopo, come abbiamo osservato anteriormente, questo
periodo varia).
Tutte e due le riviste sono indirizzate ad un pubblico specializzato, essendo
estremamente organizzate. Incontriamo, così, delle categorie come: studi storici, studi
umanistici (divisi, a loro volta, in studi religiosi, sociali o politici), letterari o linguistici,
categorizzazione che offre la possibilità di accedere solo all’argomento di interesse
corrispondente per ogni ricercatore, senza perdersi nell’amalgama di informazioni di cui
dispongono questi periodici. Nel nostro ambito di attività, di un reale beneficio è stato
lo studio di Silvia Madineea Pașcu, che pone l’attenzione sulla sostituzione dell’infinito
italiano con il congiuntivo, nella lingua romena e dove i verbi di aspetto giocano un
ruolo decisivo a questo proposito (es. Giovanni cominciò a parlare vs Giovanni începu
să vorbească).
Vincolato a questo istituto, in partenariato con l’Associazione Italiana di
Romanistica, appare la rivista Orizonturi,3giornale che, in realtà, non si alza al livello
dei periodici anteriormente menzionati, che però punta sulla stessa idea dei Quaderni
dell’Università di Craiova: il preferire alcune vie di accesso sia in romeno che in
italiano, essendo evidente l’estensione dell’informazione in ambi gli spazi culturali.
Con una struttura simile a quella dell’Istituto Romeno di Cultura e Ricerca
Umanistica di Venezia si presenta l’Accademia Romena di Roma (1920, Vasile
Pârvan)4, che, a sua volta, beneficia di due periodici: Ephemeris Dacoromana (vol.I-
XVI) e Diplomatarium Italicum (vol.I-IV).Nel quadro di queste, una analisi online è
possibile solo in ciò che riguarda la tabella delle materie, potendo essere consultata, su
richiesta, dai desiderosi. Degno di essere menzionato è lo statuto importante che ha la

1
ASIR (oppure RO.AS.IT.)= l’Associazione dei Romeni d’Italia.
2
http://www.icr.ro/venetia.
3
www.orizonturiculturale.ro.
4
http://www.accadromania.it.

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biblioteca dell’Accademia, essendo conosciuta come una che dispone di più di 35000
volumi che si occupano di questa area, alcuni di questi volumi essendo disponibili
anche sul sito dell’Accademia.

Capitolo 3: La superiorità del volume I nel ciclo Studi Italo-Romeni

3.1. Forma
Spostandoci dal profilo tecnologico a quello classico, il periodico che
rappresentala nostra sfera di interesse fa parte di una trattazione svolta nel percorso di
cinque volumi. Inclusa nel piano scientifico della Cattedra di Lingue e Letterature
Romanze di Cluj-Napoca e in collaborazione con la società Dante Alighieri, da cui il
finanziamento comporta anche i collaboratori di alta qualità, il primo volume di Studi
italo-romeni intende essere un progetto EICR1, rappresentando il bilancio di un secolo
di ricerche sviluppate in questo campo di attività.
Uno dei motivi che ci fanno credere nella superiorità del presente volume è la
forma ben delimitata che possiede. Anche se non abbiamo a che fare con
un’organizzazione cosiddetta tematica, gli autori presenti nel volume seguono un
percorso, a seconda del quale si possono inquadrare in una delle sezioni rispettive:
Premessa (che riflette le intenzioni del presente volume; questa categoria è inesistente
nel caso degli altri quattro volumi, della stessa serie), Studi e ricerche (prodotti che
appaiono come risultato di alcune ricerche, sessioni, incontri), Interferenze (tra un
autore e un altro o tra un autore e un altro paese), Rassegna (lavori che hanno come
scopo la messa in primo piano di alcuni autori), ma anche le sezioni, mai senza
importanza, delle categorie Manoscritto e Varia. È interessante da osservare il fatto che
questa delimitazione scade, nel prosieguo, così che nel terzo volume non abbiamo a che
fare con alcun tipo di divisione.
3.2. Struttura linguistica
La lingua in cui è scritto il presente volume presenta, rispetto ad altri volumi,
un’uniformità, nell’idea in cui non abbiamo delle variazioni linguistiche, ma l’ambito
lessicale scelto all’inizio si mantiene con accuratezza, anche nei casi in cui gli autori
non sono familiari al lessico italiano. L’esempio che ci sostiene è, propriamente, lo
studio di Ion Pop (Pop, 1997: 73), tradotto da Monica Fekete, contributo, peraltro,
consistente, per ciò che riguarda il movimento romeno di avanguardia.

Capitolo 4: volume II – di più di somiglianza cromatica

4.1. Interferenze storiche

In ciò che prevede il secondo volume, questo mantiene una struttura simile con
il volume I: è sufficiente dare uno sguardo al sommario, dove abbiamo le sezioni
Interferenze, Manoscritto, Recensioni e note. All’interno alla sezione Interferenze,
abbiamo scelto l’articolo Tra oblio e memoria: alcuni momenti dei rapporti culturali
italo-romeni dell’esilio romeno in Italia nel secondo dopoguerra, in cui Roberto Scagno
tiene conto dei rapporti storici, ponendo l’attenzione su tre caratteristiche: naturalezza
(che hanno in comune queste due lingue, origini, tradizioni, radici religiosi) 2, estinzione

1
EICR= Enciclopedia della Relazioni Culturali Italo-Romene.
2
Disponiamo, a questo proposito, di una bilancia critica, attraverso i riferimenti bibliografici che
il presente articolo mette a disposizione: R. Ortiz Per una storia della cultura italiana in

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(tratta sia la modernizzazione urbanistica, all’interno del processo di emigrazione-
immigrazione, sia il livello alto: umanistico-erudito, artistico-letterario, religioso-
missionario, politico-diplomatico), tenacità (riguarda il processo di mondializzazione,
dovuto al rapporto uomo-cultura, tramite la conservazione, approfondimento, la
reintegrazione di questi rapporti).

4.2. Bruno Mazzoni – un’idea innovativa

Categoria Recensioni e note propone un articolo interessante1 riferito alla
proiezione di un giornale internazionale che vuole vidimare gli studi romeni. Gli
elementi comuni con l’Italia, fino in quel periodo, erano la patria della romanità, quei
cinque lettorati di cambio tra questi due paesi, il più grande numero di professori attivi
in Italia e una comunità scientifica che dimostra il suo interesse per la romanistica.
Gli incontri culturali di Roma, ad esempio, costituiscono un’occasione propizia
per discutere gli numerevoli aspetti riguardo l’evoluzione del lessico romeno
contemporaneo (mass media). Possiamo usare, come esempio, il Congresso Lessico,
lessicografia e insegnamento linguistico, svolto nel 1994, grazie all’incontro avvenuto
tra il Dipartimento di Studi Romanzi dell’Università di Roma e l’Istituto di Linguistica
Sextil Pușcariu di Cluj-Napoca.
Alla fine di questo congresso, si svolgono due tavole rotonde dove partecipa
anche Bruno Mazzoni, con il progetto Bollettino internazionale di studi romeni, con
l’intenzione di costruire un archivio internazionale concreto di studi romeni. Avendo
paura di non classare troppo, sbilanciando così il rapporto finanziario-umano, il lancio
della rivista si fa online (1998), realizzandosi, così, l’accesso veloce alle informazioni e
ovviando anche ai costi tipografici.

Capitolo 5: Abbassamento qualitativo– conseguenza della mancanza di

Marian Papahagi?

5.1. In memoriam Marian Papahagi

Segnato della scomparsa di Marian Papahagi (personalità che porta il più
consistente corpus della presenza italiana nell’area transilvana), il volume III ci presenta
una serie di articoli dedicati a questo. Sicché, Helga Tepperberg, il capo della cattedra di
Lingue e Letterature Romanze dell’Università Babeș-Bolyai è anche la guida di una
discussione riguardo la presenza della cultura italiana sulle terre di Ardeal, in Omagiu
lui Marian Papahagi. Un altro articolo rappresentativo potrebbe essere quello scritto da
Ion Pop: Marian Papahagi - Filologie și critică, però non possiamo abbandonare
nemmeno l’iniziativa di Gabriela Molcsan, la quale si propone di riassumere nel 2000
tutti i lavori dell’Accademia Romena, insieme a quelli del Dipartimento di Studi
Umanistici di Roma, in un solo volume chiamato „Il piacere della ricerca” – Atti delle
giornate di studio in onore di Marian Papahagi.

5.2. Il rapporto italo-romeno vissuto dall’esterno

5.2.1. Italia e Peregrinul transilvan
Anche se modesto, come dimensioni, il contributo dello scrittore di Ardeal, Ion
Codru Drăgușanu deve essere considerato come un cardine per il rapporto romeno-

Romania, Istituto per l’Europa Orientale, Bucharest, 1942 o L. Renzi, S. Bianchini, La Romania
nella coscienza intellettuale italiana. XIX-XX secolo, Unicopli, Milano, 1986.
1
Proposta per un „Bollettino internazionale di studi romeni”.

225
italiano, nel vasto ambito culturale. In Peregrinul transilvan, Drăgușanu racconta come
nei porti di Napoli incontra delle belle donne vestite simile con le ragazze ardelene, ba
chiar și limbajul aduce bine cu cel românesc. Aice auzii chiar expresiile mamă-ta, soră-
ta, care nu-s uzitate de ceilalți italieni (Pop, 2001: 22).
All’interno dello stesso articolo (Pop, 2001: passim), Dumitru Pop invoca
l’idea della latinità del popolo romeno anche riferendosi agli altri nomi: Alexandru cel
Bun (sec. al XV-lea), Petru Șchiopul (sec. al XVI-lea), Radu Mihnea (sec. al XVII-lea)
o gli altri ex-boiari e righelli, come Constantin Brâncoveanu o il capo della sua
cancelleria, Constantin Cantacuzino. Tra i nomi più nuovi, non possiamo non ricordare
il nome di Ramiro Ortiz (sec.XX) o Mario Ruffini (sec.XXI).

5.2.2. Romania in Ricordi rumeni…

Basata sulle note di viaggio del giornalista italiano Roberto Fava, Ricordi
rumeni. Note di un viaggio in Transilvania e Romania risulta essere una fonte per
etnografi, sociologi, storici epolitologi; il periodo è intorno al 1880 e tratta di un
episodio pieno di arrovellamenti, in cui si sviluppa la lotta tra la civiltà latina
(rappresentata dei discendenti di Traiano) e gli oppressi del tempo (quelli perseguitati
nazionalmente e socialmente). Oltre questi aspetti comportamentali, i problemi della
traduzione oppure i processi rituali che appartengono ai romeni, Roberto Fava osserva
anche alcuni aspetti linguistici, osservando la parentela col latino, inclusi gli elementi di
comunicazione riguardo i linguaggi culturali oppure gli elementi di toponomastica (da
cui sottolinea, attraverso le etimologie latine, le origini che tradiscono i nostri legami
millenari con la Civiltà Romana, vedendo anche una rete logica di processi di
diffusione).

Capitolo 6: Aceeaşi Mărie, cu o altă pălărie1

6.1. Il rapporto innovazione-conservazione

Il quarto volume, al contrario, non è ben organizzato. Oltre la mancanza di una
prefazione (con cui eravamo abituati, nel quadro dei primi tre volumi), siamo introdotti
direttamente nel contenuto, senza beneficiare di un sommario tematico o di alcuna
delimitazione sistematica. Dall’amalgama di studi presenti (un totale di 12 studi),
abbiamo scelto di parlare dell’articolo Viaggio in diacronia. Al di là dei toponimi,
momenti di storia della lingua italiana, in cui Mariana Istrate sceglie di fare un viaggio
immaginario, ideale, occupandosi del periodo precedente all’arrivo dei Latini nella
Peninsula Italica. I principali problemi affrontati (l’evoluzione del latino volgare nel
nuovo idioma romanico, la formazione della lingua letteraria), fanno vedere che
esistono delle diversità linguistiche nel substrato latino, piuttosto in ciò che prevedono
le condizioni di evoluzione, particolari per ogni lingua. Tuttavia, il latino può spiegare
la varietà dialettale, essendo il rigore dei dialetti valutato come una conseguenza delle
realtà storiche e linguistiche del passato (es. la Sicilia conservatrice vs l’innovativa
Lombardia).

6.3. Claudiu Isopescu – vita e attività

Un apporto importante ci fornisce anche l’articolo di Otilia-Ștefania Pop
Damian(Pop, 2006:93-110), mettendo a nostra disposizione la bibliografia intera di

1
Proverbio romeno, prendendo il senso di una stessa cosa, con lo stesso contenuto, ma con
un’altra forma e che fa riferimento al quarto volume dalla seria Studi italo-romeni.

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Claudiu Isopescu, di cui ho scelto come punti di riferimento i seguenti: Romanità e
italianità in Romania (Pop, 2006: 98), Testimonianze italiane della latinità dei
Romeni(Pop, 2006:106), Il movimento latinista in Romania(Pop, 2006:106) ed Elementi
italiani della lingua romena(Pop, 2006:108), l’enumerazione risulta organizzata
secondo la loro apparizione.

Capitolo 7: Struttura diversa, contenuto diverso

7.1. Italo Svevo – una crocevia tra passato e futuro

Più voluminoso del volume IV, l’ultimo periodico della nostra lista è
atipico non solo perché porta un altro nome in confronto ad altri periodici della stessa
serie, ma anche perché inizialmente è stato concepito come un supplemento al quarto
volume. Nonché, al livello tematico, Tutti gli anni di Svevo (così come è noto) ha una
struttura a parte, essendo l’intero volume focalizzato sulla figura di Italo Svevo –il più
europeo degli scrittori italiani. Perciò non ci proponiamo di insistere troppo su questo,
però vogliamo portare l’attenzione sul fatto che, almeno a livello strutturale, il volume
che chiude il ciclo di Studi mantiene lo stesso disordine come il periodico per il quale si
è voluto il supplemento: se guardiamo al sommario, tra i primi nomi che appaiono c’è
quello di Norberto Cacciaglia, che ci presenta1 il concetto di Bildungsroman su uno dei
romanzi di Italo Svevo, la stessa cosa che farà Stefano Lazarin, con l’articolo Una vita -
crocevia tra passato e futuro, articolo presente alla fine del volume.
Tutti gli anni di Svevo beneficia anche di una prefazione che spiega i motivi
della scelta di questa tematica, ma anche il contenuto del volume: una serie di saggi che
hanno come argomento Italo Svevo, che sta balzando tramite la concezione della vita
borghese centro-europea2 e diventa conosciuto in Romania solo nel XX secolo, tramite
articoli di giornali.3
Senz’altro, anche gli altri articoli qui non menzionati rappresentano un piacere
per gli studiosi dell’ambito della lingua e letteratura, ma anche un buon punto di
partenza per i giovani ricercatori. Mantenendo quest’idea, il quarto volume, questa
volta, ci sostiene pienamente: il ricercatore non deve essere soltanto un bravo linguista,
ma deve conoscere anche la storia, la geografia, l’archeologia, l’antropologia, il
folklore, la mentalità di un popolo che ha vissuto e occupato una volta un certo
territorio4 (Istrate, 2006: 170).

1
Senilità, tra Bildungsromane romanzo indirizzario.
2
Il conflitto individo-società, ma anche la variazione social-psichologica sono riflesse per bene
nel suo romanzo di maturità, La coscienza di Zeno.
3
Da vedersi, a questo senso, l’articolo La coscienza romena „alle prese” con Italo Svevo ovvero
la fortuna di Italo Svevo in Romania.

227
Bibliografia
Anuaul Institutului Italo-Român de Studii Istorie, vol. I, Cosma H. (dir.), Ed. Presa Universitară
Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca, 2004.
Ibidem, vol. II, Cosma H.(dir.), Ed. Accent, Cluj-Napoca, 2005.
Ibidem, vol. III, 2007.
Ibidem, vol. VI, Sălăcean C.(dir.), Cluj-Napoca- Roma: Ed. Presa UniversitarăClujeană, 2010.
Ibidem, vol. VII, 2011.
Ibidem, vol. VIII, 2012.
Ibidem, vol. IX, 2013.
Colvmna. Annuario dell’Accademia di Romania in Roma, Balaci A.(dir.), Redazione delle
Pubblicazioni per l’Estero, Roma,1972.
Imagine reflectată. Momente de istorie comparată. Lucrările sesiunii italo-române, Cluj-Napoca
– Alba-Iulia, 8-9 septembrie 2008, Mândrescu G. şi Altarozzi G.(coord.), Ed. Accent, Cluj-
Napoca,2008.
Quaderni di studi italiani e romeni, vol. I-VI, Mattioda M., Pîrvu E. (dir.), Edizioni dell’Orso,
Alessandria, 2003-2011.
Siamo di nuovo insieme, Grosaru M.(coord.), nr.1,2,3,4 (2007), nr.1,2 (2012) , Ed. RO.AS.IT,
Bucureşti .
Studi italo-romeni,vol.I, Papahagi M. (coord.), Ed. Echinox, Cluj-Napoca, 1997.
Ibidem. , vol. II, Papahagi M.(coord.), Ed. Echinox, Cluj-Napoca, 1998.
Ibidem, vol.III, Cosma H.(dir.), Ed. Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca, 2001.
Ibidem, vol. IV, Damian Ş. (dir.), Ed. IDC Press, Cluj-Napoca, 2006.
Tutti gli anni di Svevo, (dir. Ștefan Damian), Ed. IDC Press, Cluj-Napoca, 2004.
Grosarru, M., „Dimitrie Cantemir la Carnavalul de la Veneția” in Grosaru M. (coord.), Siamo di
nuovo insieme, nr. 2, Ed. RO.AS.IT, Bucureşti, 2012.
Istrate, M. ”Viaggio in diacronia. Al di là dei toponimi, momenti di storia della lingua italiana”, in
Ștefan Damian (dir.), Studi italo-romeni, vol. IV, Ed. IDC Press, Cluj-Napoca, 2006.

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 LA CITOYENNETE EUROPEENNE ACTIVE ET LA
PRESERVATION DE L’IDENTITE NATIONALE

Mădălina CUCEANU ȚIBRIAN*

Abstract: Citizenship is a complex and multidimensional concept, which consists of

legal, cultural, social and political elements which confers citizens certain rights and obligations,
a sense of identity and social interaction as well as an expression of belonging to a political
community. European citizenship was defined by the Treaty on European Union signed in
Maastricht in 1992, representing a major conceptual innovation, constituting, as some theorists
rightly states, the first «constitutionalisation» official EU citizenship. Therefore, according to
TEU (new art. 17 (eg. Art. 8 TEC)) stipulates that Union citizen is any person holding the
nationality of a Member State, under the laws in force in the State. Immitating the concept of
national citizenship, union citizenship describes the relationship that unites national citizenship
with one of a Member State of the European Union.
Keywords: citizenship, identity, national.

La citoyenneté européenne et la citoyenneté nationale

À partir de l’année 2007, lorsque la Roumanie est devenue un état membre de

l’Union Européenne, nous, les roumains, avons essayé de définir et de comprendre le
concept de citoyenneté européenne active et l’importance de l’appartenance à l’Union
Européenne. L’une des principales craintes concernant l’intégration est qu’on va perdre
notre identité nationale et, qu’en adoptant les coutumes des autres européens, on va
oublier nos traditions et notre histoire.
La notion de citoyenneté européenne implique le fait que les citoyens de
l’Union Européenne bénéficient, en cette qualité, des mêmes droits qui sont accordés
traditionnellement à ses citoyens dans l’ordre juridique interne. La citoyenneté
européenne est distincte par rapport à celle nationale que, conformément à la
formulation du traité d’Amsterdam, «elle complète» […] et ne remplace pas» (Dascălu,
Iancu, 2010: 94-100).
Ainsi, la citoyenneté européenne ne peut se confondre avec la citoyenneté
nationale et ne peut l’exclure non plus.
La citoyenneté européenne présente les caractéristiques suivantes (Vâlcu,
2010: 14) :
 La citoyenneté européenne est distincte de celle nationale, qu’elle complète …
et qu’elle ne remplace pas, ainsi on peut se permettre d’affirmer que tout
citoyen d’un état membre de l’Union Européenne a une double citoyenneté.
 La citoyenneté européenne ne supprime aucun des droits conférés par la
citoyenneté nationale, mais accorde des droits supplémentaires, qui s’exercent
soit au niveau de l’Union Européenne (le droit d’être élu dans le Parlement
Européen) soit au niveau des états membres (le droit d’élire et d’être élu dans
les élections municipales).
 La citoyenneté européenne est un corollaire de la nationalité du citoyen de
l’état membre. Le fait d’acquérir la qualité de citoyen de l’Union Européenne

*
Université de Pitesti, madalinacuceanu@yahoo.com

229
 dépend essentiellement de la possession de la qualité de citoyen d’un état
membre.
Le traite de Lisbonne a relancé le concept de citoyenneté européenne dans
l’article 8 qui prévoit que: «toute personne qui a la citoyenneté d’un état membre a
la citoyenneté de l’Union. La citoyenneté de l’Union s’ajoute à la citoyenneté
nationale et ne la remplace pas».

Le statut du citoyen européen

a) Le droit à la libre circulation et au séjour sur le territoire des états

membres
Les prévisions insérées dans le cadre du titre «La citoyenneté de l’Union» dans
la deuxième part de TCE servent de repère pour l’étude du statut de citoyen de l’Union.
L’art. 18 (l’ancien article 8A TCE) du Traite sur l’Union Européenne institue
le droit à la libre circulation et le droit de séjour reconnu à tout citoyen de l’Union se
trouvant sur le territoire d’un état membre. La manière de concevoir le texte de l’art.18
de TUE confère la recognition de l’applicabilité de ce droit à toutes les catégories
sociales qui ont le droit à circulation et au séjour, respectivement les ouvriers, les
personnes qui déroulent une activité indépendante, les personnes à la recherche d’un
poste de travail, les destinataires des services, les étudiants et les personnes qui prouvent
qu’elles disposent des moyens suffisants pour s’entretenir.
Antérieurement au moment de l’élaboration du Traité de Maastricht, la
situation juridique de diverses catégories sociales était réglementée d’une manière
distincte par des directives, comme il suit : La Directive du Conseil 90/364/CEE du 28
juin 1990 concernant le droit de séjour; La Directive du Conseil 90/365/CEE du 28 juin
1990 concernant le droit de séjour des personnes salariées et non salariées qui ont cessé
leur activité professionnelle et la Directive du Conseil 90/366/CEE du 28 juin 1990
concernant le droit de séjour des personnes qui étudient, qui a été ultérieurement
remplacée par la Directive 93/96/CE.
La Directive 2004/38/CE du Parlement Européen et du Conseil du 29 avril
2004 concernant le droit à la libre circulation et au séjour sur le territoire des états
membres pour les citoyens de l’Union et les membres de leurs familles, réunit toute la
législation existante dans le domaine de la libre circulation, en abrogeant la législation
antérieure, y compris les trois directives délivrées en 1990 concernant le droit au séjour.
En plus, la Directive 2004/38/CE implémente un droit fondamental de résidence des
citoyens qui a le fondement juridique dans le Traité, sans créer un tel droit sur la voie de
la législation secondaire (comme dans le Cas de la Directive 90/364/CEE concernant le
droit de séjour).
La directive s’applique à tout citoyen de l’Union qui se déplace ou qui a la
résidence dans un état membre, différent de celui dont il est ressortissant, ainsi qu’aux
membres de sa famille.
Les états membres permettent l’entrée sur leur territoire des citoyens de
l’Union qui possèdent des cartes d’identité valables ou des passeports valides, ainsi que
des membres de leurs familles qui n’ont pas la citoyenneté d’un état membre et qui
détiennent des passeports valides.
b) Le droit de voter et d’être élu pour le Parlement Européen et dans les
élections municipales de l’état membre où il habite, dans les mêmes conditions que
les citoyens de cet état-là (art. 19.1. et art. 19.2. TCE inclus en TUE; la Directive
93/109/CE du Conseil du 6 décembre 1993 qui établit les normes d’exercice du droit

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d’élection et d’être élu pour le Parlement Européen pour les citoyens de l’Union qui ont
la résidence dans un état membre où ils ne sont pas de ressortissants et la Directive de
94/80/CE du Conseil du 19 décembre 1994 qui établit les normes pour exercer le droit
d’élection et d’être élu aux élections locales pour les citoyens de l’Union qui ont la
résidence dans un état membre dont la citoyenneté n’est pas modifiée par la Directive
96/80 du 19 décembre 1994).
Jusqu’à l’élaboration et l’entrée en vigueur du Traité de Maastricht, les
citoyens de l’Union qui avaient leur résidence à l’extérieur du pays dont ils étaient les
citoyens nationaux n’avaient pas la possibilité de participer aux élections pour le
Parlement Européen ou de voter dans le cadre des élections municipales dans l’état de
résidence (à l’exception de l’Italie).
Le droit de voter et d’être élu pour le Parlement Européen
Conformément à l’art. 19.2. (l’ancien art. 8B TCE) du Traité sur l’Union
Européenne, «tout citoyen de l’Union ayant la résidence dans un état membre dont il
n’est pas le citoyen a le droit de voter et d’être élu aux élections pour le Parlement
Européen dans l’état membre où il a la résidences, dans les mêmes conditions que les
citoyens de l’état respectif».
La norme communautaire de reconnaissance du droit d’élection et d’être élu
dans le Parlement Européen est devenue opérationnelle à partir des élections pour le
Parlement Européen de juin 1994. Conforment à l’Acte de 20 septembre 1976, «Les
élections pour le Parlement Européen» représentent les élections par vote universel
direct des représentants dans le Parlement Européen.
Conformément à l’art. 4 alinéa (1) de la Directive 93/109/CE l’électeur
communautaire exerce le droit d’élire soit dans l’état membre de résidence, soit dans
l’état membre d’origine. Personne ne peut voter plus d’une fois durant les mêmes
élections. De même, aucune personne ne peut être un candidat dans plus d’un état
membre durant les mêmes élections.
Le droit d’élire. Pour être inscrit sur la liste électorale, l’électeur
communautaire a l’obligation d’emmener les mémés preuves qu’un électeur
ressortissant.
Dans ce sens, il a l’obligation de donner une déclaration officielle où on
mentionne :
- la citoyenneté et l’adresse sur le territoire électoral de l’état membre de
résidence;
- selon le cas, en quelle collectivité locale ou circonscription de l’état membre
d’origine a été inscrit sur la liste électorale la dernière fois;
- qu’il exercera le droit d’élection uniquement dans l’état membre de résidence.
De même, l’état membre de résidence peut imposer à l’électeur communautaire
de:
- mentionner dans une déclaration qu’il n’est pas déchu du droit d’élire dans
l’état membre d’origine;
- présenter un document d’identité valable;
- de mentionner la date à partir de laquelle il est résident dans cet état ou dans
un autre état membre.
Le droit d’être élu. À la soumission de la déclaration de candidature, chaque
personne éligible du point de vue communautaire a l’obligation d’amener les mêmes
preuves qu’un candidat ressortissant. De mémé, celle-ci donne une déclaration officielle
où on doit mentionner:

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 - la citoyenneté et l’adresse sur le territoire électoral de l’état membre de
résidence;
- qu’il n’est pas, simultanément, un candidat aux élections pour le Parlement
Européen dans un autre état membre;
- en quelle collectivité locale ou circonscription de l’état membre d’origine il a
été inscrit sur la liste électorale la dernière fois, selon le cas.
De même, la personne éligible du point de vue communautaire a l’obligation
de présenter en même temps avec la soumission de sa candidature, un certificat délivré
par les autorités administratives compétentes de l’état membre d’origine qui certifie
qu’elle n’est pas déchue du droit d’être élue ou qu’une telle déchéance n’est pas connue
par ces autorités. La candidature de tout citoyen de l’Union aux élections pour le
Parlement Européen dans l’état membre de résidence est déclarée inadmissible au cas
où ce citoyen ne peut pas présenter le certificat délivré par les autorités administratives
compétentes de l’état membre d’origine qui certifie qu’une telle déchéance n’est pas
connue par ces autorités.
Le droit de voter et d’être élu dans les élections municipales de l’état membre
où il habite, dans les mêmes conditions que les citoyens de cet état-là (art. 19.1. TCE).
Le droit de voter pour les élections municipales dans l’état où ils ont al
résidence est reconnu aux citoyens de l’Union, bien qu’ils n’aient pas la nationalité
respective.
Malgré tout cela, on confère à l’état de résidence la possibilité d’établir de
certaines conditions qui sont liées à la durée du séjour sur le territoire de l’état hôte où
les élections sont organisées, en fait, la durée égale à la durée du mandat, afin de
pouvoir choisir aussi le double de la durée du mandat, pour être élu (par exemple, en
France on sollicite une résidence de 6 ans pour élire et de 12 ans pour être élu, et en
Luxembourg on exige 5 ans de résidence pour élire et 10 ans pour être élu).
Dans l’acception de la Directive 94/80/CE «élections locales» signifient les
élections manifestées par vote universel direct qui a comme but de designer les
membres de l’assemblée représentative et, selon le cas, conformément à la législation de
chaque état membre, le chef et les membres de l’exécutif d’une unité de base de
l’administration publique locale.
Les états membres de résidence peuvent décider que tout citoyen de l’Union
qui, par l’effet d’une décision de la court en matière civile ou d’une décision pénale de
la court est déchu du droit d’être élu conformément au droit de l’état membre d’origine,
soit exclu de l’exercice de ce droit dans la période des élections locales.
Le droit d’être élu. Les états membres peuvent décider que uniquement leurs
ressortissants sont éligibles pour les positons de chef, adjoint, suppléant ou membre du
collège directeur de l’exécutif d’une unité de base de l’administration publique locale, si
ces personnes sont élues pour exercer ces fonctions durant le mandat. Les états membres
peuvent prévoir que détenir la qualité d’élu local est, de même, incompatible avec les
fonctions exercées dans d’autres états membres similaires à ceux qui engendrent une
incompatibilité dans l’état membre de résidence.
c) Le droit qu’on lui assure la protection par les autorités diplomatiques ou
consulaires d’un autre état membre lorsqu’il se trouve sur le territoire d’un pays où
son pays n’est pas représenté, dans les mêmes conditions qu’un citoyen du respectif
état membre (la Décision 95/553/CE concernant la protection des citoyens de l’Union
Européenne par les représentations diplomatiques et consulaires).
Dans ce sens l’art. 1 de la Décision 95/553/CE dispose que tout citoyen de
l’Union Européenne a le droit à la protection consulaire de la part de toute

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représentation diplomatique ou consulaire d’un état membre si, dans l’endroit où il se
trouve, son propre état membre ou un autre état membre qui représente son état membre
d’une manière permanente ne détient pas de représentation permanente accessible ou de
consulat honorifique accessible et compétent dans de tels problèmes.
Les représentations diplomatiques et consulaires abordées répondent à la
sollicitation de protection adressée par la personne respective, à condition que celle-ci
prouve par l’intermédiaire d’un passeport ou carte d’identité qu’elle a la citoyenneté
d’un état membre de l’Union. Au cas où les documents mentionnes ci-dessus ont été
perdus ou volés, on peut accepter n’importe quelle autre preuve de la citoyenneté,
éventuellement après l’avoir vérifiée chez les autorités centrales de l’état membre dont
le citoyen se déclare la personne respective ou chez la plus proche représentation
diplomatique ou consulaire de l’état respectif.
Les représentations diplomatiques et consulaires qui offrent protection traitent
la personne qui sollicite l’aide comme un citoyen de l’état membre qu’il représente.
La protection prévue dans l’article 1 inclut:
- assistance en cas de décès;
- assistance en cas d’accidents ou de maladie grave;
- assistance en cas d’arrestation ou de détention ;
- assistance accordée aux victimes des actes de violence;
- l’aide et le rapatriement des citoyens de l’Union se trouvant en difficulté.
On ne peut accorder aucune aide ou avance financière et on ne peut effectuer
aucune dépense au bénéfice d’un citoyen de l’Union Européenne sans la permission des
autorités compétentes de l’état membre dont la personne respective a la citoyenneté, la
permission étant accordée soit par le Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, soit par la plus
proche mission diplomatique de celui-ci.
À l’exception du cas où les autorités de l’état membre dont le requérant a la
citoyenneté renoncent explicitement à cette exigence, le requérant doit s’engager à
rembourser l’entière valeur de l’aide ou de l’avance financière et des frais supportés
ainsi que, selon le cas, de payer la taxe consulaire notifiée par les autorités compétentes.
L’engagement de remboursement prend la forme de restituer au gouvernement de l’état
membre dont il a la citoyenneté tous les coûts supportés en son nom ou n’importe quelle
somme qu’on lui a accordée, à laquelle s’ajoutent les taxes afférentes.
Le Gouvernement de l’état membre dont le requérant a la citoyenneté
rembourse tous les coûts, à la demande, au Gouvernement de l’état membre qui a
accordé l’assistance consulaire.
d) Le droit de s’adresser avec des plaintes au Parlement Européen (art. 21
(l’ancien article 8D de TCE)).
D’une manière concrète, la Commission de pétitions du Parlement créée le 21
janvier 1987 a des attributions concernant l’analyse de l’admissibilité et l’analyse en
substance de la pétition. On admet les pétitions qui parviennent à un député, à une
commission du Parlement ainsi qu’au Président du Parlement à condition qu’elles soient
rédigées en écrit, en l’une des langues officielles de l’Union et signées par chaque
requérant tout en indiquant le nom, la qualité, la citoyenneté et le domicile, pour les
personnes physiques, respectivement le nom, le siège statutaire, le domaine d’activité
pour les personnes juridiques.
Le droit d’adresser des pétitions n’est pas un attribut appartenant éminemment
au citoyen de l’Union, ainsi la qualité de présenter des pétitions est reconnue «à chaque
citoyen de l’Union et à chaque personne physique ou juridique, ayant la résidence ou le
siège statutaire dans un état membre» (art. 194 l’ancien art. 138 D du TCE),

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respectivement aux personnes étrangères à l’Union Européenne et qui n’ont pas la
résidence dans un état membre, comme par exemple : la formulation d’une pétition
ayant comme sujet la protection des droits des estrangers.
Quant au sujet de la pétition, celle-ci doit concerner directement le
pétitionnaire (ne suppose un intérêt personnel de celui-ci) et, de même, doit faire partie
des «domaines d’activité de l’Union» (Voicu, 2007: 125).
Afin d’établir les faits mentionnés dans la plainte, la Commission pour les
pétitions peut procéder à des auditions, à des enquêtes sur place ou peut transmettre la
pétition pour information, autorisation ou même attribution à d’autres commissions du
Parlement.
Dans ce contexte, la commission peut adopter l’une des positions suivantes:
- déclarer la sollicitation inadmissible et, par conséquent, elle sera classée par
l’intermédiaire d’une décision motivée, qui sera communiquée au requérant. La
Commission peut suggérer, dans ce cas, à la personne concernée, de s’adresser à
d’autres autorités qu’elle indique dans ce sens;
- soumettre le problème à l’analyse du Médiateur;
- déclarer la sollicitation inadmissible et passer à son analyse en substance.
Concernant le dernier aspect, l’activité de la commission est très diversifiée. Ainsi, elle
peut solliciter la certification d’une autre commission, au cas où les pétitions visent la
modification de certaines prévisions législatives, pour constater les faits. En plus, la
commission va se prononcer concernant les requêtes par l’intermédiaire d’un rapport ou
«d’une toute autre manière», étant obligée d’informer semestriellement le Parlement
concernant ses délibérations.
Une caractéristique importante des pétitions est la publicité. Ainsi, les requêtes
enregistrées et les décisions plus importantes concernant la procédure d’analyse sont
annoncées en séance publique, étant mentionnées dans le procès-verbal de la séance. Le
texte de la pétition et l’autorisation de la commission seront déposés à l’archive du
Parlement Européen, où elles pourront être consultées par tout député.
e) Le droit de faire appel à l’Ombusdan européen (le Médiateur Européen)
pour l’analyse des cas d’administration défectueuse de la part des institutions et des
organismes communautaires (le nouveau art. 21 de TCE introduit par TUE (l’ancien
article 8D)).
Les mêmes personnes qui peuvent formuler des pétitions au Parlement
Européen peuvent s’adresser avec des plaintes au Médiateur. La plainte peut être
adressée soit directement au Médiateur, soit par l’intermédiaire d’un membre du
Parlement Européen.
Concernant la compétence ratione materiae du Médiateur, son aire
d’intervention est limitée par rapport à celle du Parlement Européen, dans le sens que
«Le Médiateur est compétent pour statuer en ce qui est des plaintes … relatives au cas
d’administration défectueuse dans l’activité des institutions et des organismes
communautaires…» tout en excluant ainsi l’implication des états membres, des
personnes privées ou des tierce états. Il est certain que le Médiateur ne peut intervenir
dans une procédure juridictionnelle.
La plainte doit être introduite dans un délai de 2 ans après la date où le
requérant a été informé sur les faits incriminés, mais uniquement après que,
préalablement, on a entrepris les démarches administratives auprès les institutions et les
organismes impliqués (Vâlcu, op. cit. : 25).
Au cas où on considère la plainte admissible dans le sens de l’existence d’une
administration défectueuse, le Médiateur peut solliciter des informations aux états

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membres respectifs et peut coopérer avec les médiateurs nationaux. Dans ce sens, le
Médiateur cherche une solution amiable en vue de l’élimination de l’administration
défectueuse et, contrairement, il informe l’institution ou l’organisme respectif, tout en
formulant un projet de recommandation. L’institution ou l’organisme respectif doit
répondre dans un délai de 3 mois par l’intermédiaire d’un «avis circonstancié». Par
rapport à cela, le Médiateur dresse le rapport avec les possibles recommandations qu’il
envoie autant à l’institution visée qu’au Parlement Européen.

L’identité nationale

Les centres EUROPE DIRECT de Roumanie sont parmi les institutions qui
contribuent sensiblement à la promotion et à la sauvegarde de l’identité nationale. Dans
les communautés qu’ils desservent, ils ont la mission d’informer les membres de la
communauté concernant l’Union Européenne et d’éduquer les jeune dans le sens de leur
éveiller le respect pour l’histoire, la culture et la tradition des roumains.
L’une des plus fortes identités, autant au niveau individuel qu’au niveau du
groupe ou de la communauté, reste l’identité nationale. Les données par lesquelles les
membres d’une communauté s’identifient avec la nation définissent un ensemble de
similarités d’intérêts, de fois ou de normes de vie, partagés par toutes les personnes qui
appartiennent à ce groupe-là. L’identité peut devenir stéréotype dans le discours
quotidien, bien que l’identité nationale présente des difficultés de conceptualisation
(Ştefănescu, Velicu, 2006: 16-17).
Le problème de l’identité personnelle et collective est fondamentale pour tout
essai de comprendre la dynamique du nationalisme. Pour Anthony D. Smith, le
nationalisme, en tant qu’idéologie et mouvement, doit être associé avec l’identité
nationale, réalité multidimensionnelle, composée d’une langue, des sentiments et d’une
certaine symbolistique. Le sociologue anglais délimite entre le modèle occidental et le
modèle non occidental de nation. Les composantes du modèle occidental de nation sont
le territoire politique, la communauté légale-politique, l’égalité légale-politique des
membres, ainsi qu’une culture civique et une idéologie commune. Etant donnée
l’influence de l’Occident dans le monde moderne, les composantes des nations
d’Apuseni sont restées des éléments vitaux, même dans des formes altérées, dans le
cadre des conceptions sur l’identité nationale de la plupart des pays non occidentaux
(Smith, 1991: 11).
Ayant comme point de départ la théorie des groupes, une série d’études
conçoivent la qualité de membre d’une nation par le sentiment d’appartenance et non
par l’identité. La reconnaissance par d’autres de l’appartenance à un groupe est une
condition pour la délimitation des frontières entre interne et externe, nous et eux, des
limites qui définissent l’espace d’affirmation du sentiment nationaliste. Connaitre
l’identité nationale se réfère davantage à l’élucidation et à l’analyse du concept de
nation, de ses limites, qu’à la description de l’identité proprement dite. L’identité
nationale est une catégorie analytique, utilisée par les théoriciens du nationalisme, sans
qu’on accorde assez d’attention à l’analyse de la manière dont les identités sont
modelées et reproduites en temps et espaces, par des actes culturels, comme, par
exemple, la mémoire collective (Duncan, 2003:64).
L’identité nationale exprime des attitudes, des mentalités et des conduites
collectives resautées de l’appartenance des individus à un état national. Les doctrines
modernistes et postmodernistes mettent en discussion l’opportunité de l’état national,

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tout en partant de la prémisse de l’intégration des collectivités nationales dans des
structures supranationales, telle, par exemple, l’Union Européenne.
L’identité nationale est liée au patriotisme, comme sentiment d’amour et de
dévouement envers la patrie et le peuple. Et cela implique, par exemple, que défendre
le territoire peut être une expression de la fidélité envers le pays, synonyme avec la
défense de l’identité nationale. L’invasion du territoire mène à des conflits, parfois
dramatiques par les possibles conséquences.
De même, la lutte pour l’identité nationale a représenté une idée forte, suivie
par de différents peuples, dans les moments historiques de leur constitution en tant que
nations. Leur lutte ainsi que l’idée pour laquelle ils luttaient étaient liées à un profond
sentiment patriotique.
Le patriotisme comme sentiment d’amour et de dévouement envers la patrie et
le peuple n’est pas affecté dans un sens négatif (dans le sens de la diminution ou de son
dégradation), par l’option d’un pays d’intégration européenne, au moins pour les
suivantes raisons :
 Le principe de la souveraineté nationale n’est pas du tout affecté;
 L’intégration ne représente pas pour un état l’acceptation d’une situation de
considération aux standards européens de qualité, avec les pays qui se sont déjà
intégrés ;
 L’intégration ouvre pour un pays la possibilité de la participation, dans le cadre
de certaines structures, à la résolution de problèmes globaux de l’humanité.
En guise de conclusion, on peut affirmer que, s’intégrer dans un système est un
grand avantage, mais garder son identité n’est pas uniquement une obligation, mais
l’unique chance de survie de l’individualité.

Bibliographie
La Décision 95/553/CE concernant la protection des citoyens de l’Union Européenne par les
représentations diplomatiques et consulaires.
La Directive 2004/38/CE du Parlement Européen et du Conseil du 29 avril 2004 concernant le
droit à la libre circulation et séjour sur le territoire des états membres pour les citoyens de l’Union
et les membres de leurs familles.
La Directive 94/80/CE du Conseil du 19 décembre 1994 qui établit les normes d’exercice du droit
d’élire et d’être élu dans les elections locales pour les citoyens de l’Union qui ont la résidence
dans un état membre dont ils ne possèdent pas la citoyenneté modifiée par la Directive 96/80 du
19 décembre 1994.
Dascălu, Andra, Iancu, Daniela, National and european citizenship, en Agora International
Journal of Juridical Sciences no II, 2010, pp. 94-100.
Duncan S.A. Bell, Mythscapes: Memory, mythology, and National Identity, en „British Journal of
Sociology”, 2003, March, 54 Issue, No. 1, p. 64.
Smith Anthony D., National Identity, Penguin Books, London, 1991.
Ştefănescu, Simona, Velicu, Anca, Naţional şi / sau european ? reprezentări sociale ale
identităţii în societatea românească actual (National et/ou européen? représentations sociales de
l’identité dans la société roumaine actuelle), Editura Expert, Bucureşti 2006.
Vâlcu, Elise, Nicoleta, Introducere în dreptul comunitar material (Introduction au droit
communautaire matériel ), Editura Sitech, Craiova, 2010.
Voicu, Marin, Introducere în dreptul european (Introduction au droit européen), Editura
Universul Juridic, București, 2007.

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 AUCTORIAL IMAGE AND REPRESENTATION AS FORMS OF
IDENTITY IN RENAISSANCE TIME

Carmen DOMINTE*

Abstract: Starting with Dante’s “Vita nuova” or with Petrarca’s autobiographical

writings, a new type of literature began. It was the literature of self-representation, whose most
important reference, at the end of Renaissance, was Montaigne’s “Essais”. The autobiographic
text uses the technique of introspection in the same way the self-portrait plays with the limits of
visual representation, having a key function within the Renaissance aesthetics as a symbol of
cultural authority. Continuing Ghiberti’s artistic ideology, Giorgio Vasari, in his “Le vite de’ piú
eccelenti pittori, scultori e architettori”, developed a magnificent history of Italian art,
introducing as a model of analysis, the allegory of the three artistic stages. The auctorial images
and representations, in both literature and painting, could be considered as forms of identity,
belonging to the same forma mentis and cultural paradigm, influencing each other on the basis of
artistic conscience.
Keywords: auctorial representation, identity, Renaissance.

Auctorial Image and Representation

Before starting it is necessary to pencil down the relationship between the work
of art and its author. There could not be imaged such a work without taking into account
the auctorial discourse that develops inside the artistic piece. But what is an author? The
same question was asked by Michele Foucault in his lecture given in 1969 at the French
Society of Philosophy. Although there is no clear answer, for Michele Foucault this
relationship functions as a discursive figure generated by the author who places himself
between the real person and the fictive locator. The auctorial function that is to be found
in any art work may be realised through this dissociation and in the space that was
created between the two sides of the author. The auctorial representation as the image of
the author in his own work of art, shapes itself in relation with the author and with the
art work created by the same author, it could be attributed the value of a formative
function. At the first glimpse the auctorial ego presupposes a discourse in the first
person but this does not happen all the time. Most of the authors prefer to express their
inner personality in different ways, using masks or subterfuges or even elements
belonging to other types of discourses, confusing the receiver of their artistic pieces.
From one artistic current to another there could be identified different ways of artistic
representation of the auctorial image and discourse specific to each art and to each
author. The auctorial representations are to be discovered beyond the psychological
dimension that is supposed by any type of auctorial discourse of any artistic piece. More
than that, the auctorial representation reflects the author’s explicit way of self-defining.
The purpose of this study is to analyse the specific manners used by
Renaissance painters for self representation both in literature and painting. The analysis
will focus on the evolution of the auctorial image as a specific manner of artistic self-
representation from embedded to autonomous. Thus, the image of the artist will be
interpreted as an artistic identity constructed both pictorially and literally.

*
Hyperion University, Bucharest, carmendominte@yahoo.com

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 The auctorial representation uses a mixture of different approaches that,
simultaneously, belong to the visual and textual self-perception and then self-portrayal.
The same author has a distinct manner of perceiving himself but his auctorial image is
reproduced differently when it takes a visual or a literal form. First of all, the
autobiographic text needs what Philippe Lejeune called the autobiographic pact based
on the formal coincidence between the narrator’s name and the author’s name. In his
opinion, the proper name links the author with his discourse (Lejeune, 1989: 220).
Secondly, it shapes itself according to a figure, the space which contains the auctorial
image related to the historical and artistic context seen as a locus (Marin, 1999: 117).
The self-portrait also needs a name, a signature which functions as an identification text,
and a manner for introducing the temporal dimension inside the space of the tableau.
The auctorial representation may be considered the explicit image of the author
displayed in his own work of art, being it literal or visual. The relationship between the
two forms of creating the auctorial identity is related to a larger context which develops
a history of representing the auctorial self-conscience. As seen in a mirror, the textual
and visual representations are nothing but reflections of the auctorial conscience.
According to art history, Renaissance was the period when the auctorial
representations developed and diversified. Although Montaigne’s Essais from 1580
were considered an inaugural work, the self representations, in textual or visual version,
were already under the painters’ interest. During Renaissance the auctorial
representation was related to the social, religious, aesthetic and psychological
implications which were involved in the process of transposing the auctorial self in an
artistic form. Such a form gave another meaning to the self representations, the meaning
1
of auctoritas .
The Renaissance artistic revolution imposed the new status of the art and the
artist on theoretical and scientific basis, introducing the concept of artistic identity and
authority. During Renaissance time, the auctorial representations were better and much
more displayed in the visual form than in the textual one. The self-portraits could
capture the intensity of the author’s introspection with all the aesthetic implications. The
author became his own model. He invested himself with the authority based on studium
2
(study of the artistic techniques) and ingenium (personal talent) . He created an artistic
image of his own self in order to be the particular self-portrait that functioned as a
symbol not only of his cultural authority but also of his social statute. That was the time
when the self-portrait was imposed as the auctorial representation par excellence and as
a manner of systematizing the idea of art. The same intensity of introspection was not to
be found in the textual version of the auctorial representation, not even in the
3
autobiographies of the late Renaissance .
The new manner of creating the self image in a textual form started with
Petrarca’s autobiographical notes and with Dante’s Vita nouva. Unfortunately, these
writings as textual approaches of auctorial representations did not stand for a crucial
point concerning their originality of content and of form. The further development of

1
The term auctoritas is used here to express the relationship between the artistic form of
representation and the author’s ego. This type of relationship is made possible because of the fact
that the author perceives his self image as an auctorial self exposed representation in a particular
art work.
2
Maybe this is the moment when the modern relationship between the author and his work of art
is beginning to be sensed.
3
It is the case of the autobiographies written by Cellini and Cardano.

238
the literary self representation took different aspects, from embedded inscriptions inside
the paintings to the personal journals and to the autobiographies that belonged to the
late Renaissance. The self-portrait, in general, represents the artist’s image about the
self. It also stands for the particular facets of his identity that the author intends to make
visible (Woodall-Marsden, 1997: 9). The meaning of the term could be related to the
Italian word ritratto which originally indicated a visual reproduction of any specific
item under scrutiny and it was used to designate a person or a place or a building. The
Italian term is very close to the meaning generated by the English word portrayal. In
Renaissance time, the understanding of the word did not carry a precise sense of an
“individual’s individuality” (ibidem 17). It suggested the artistic rendering of any
specific object. The autonomy of the author was not recognized as much as it is in
modern times. Generally speaking, a portrait represents a likeliness made by an artist of
a living or once living human being having the purpose to be recognizably the
individual portrayed (Brilliant, 1991: 8). The portrait is generated by the oscillation
between the art object and the human subject. The intended reference is based on the
significance that a representation of an individual may be developed by the author in his
attempt of creating an artistic work. The portrait’s allusion to a particular individual
generates the function of that work of art and constitutes the cause of its coming into
being (ibidem).
Each cultural context proposed a prevalent formality of the portraits as a code
of right behaviour, meant to reflect the constraints imposed by the conventions that
1
govern that society. The same formality was imposed to the self-portrait too . The
Renaissance portrait is intended to resemble the subject’s outward appearance and to
reveal some aspects of his/her character or identity. At this point, the resemblance must
take into account most of the characteristics of the subject in order to deep into his/her
2
identity . By extension, the self-portrait is first a portrait which was created by the
person it portrays, having the same purpose. The portrayal created by the author who
also is the subject becomes a reflective surface of the physical aspect and of his
character and identity. In a metaphorical sense, the self-portrait becomes a mirror
casting the reflections of the soul, providing insight into the character (Brown, 2000:
50). According the Brown, the physical limitations associated with the painting the self-
image which most of the times, was represented by the positioning of the body in
relation to the reflective surface and to the medium of depiction (ibidem 52). The result
was a three-quarter view with both eyes intently focused to one side. That was the most
common pictorial representation for (self) portrait in Renaissance.
For a further analysis it is needed to examine the difference between the self-
portraiture and the embedded self-portraiture. According to the Renaissance artistic
context, the first one, the embedded self-portraiture, represented a single element within
a larger context. The focus was not on a particular item but on the event that composed
the historical or religious narrative. The image of the author belonged to the narrative in

1
There could be said that portraits reflect social realities and their imaginary combines the
conventions for behaviour and appearance which were appropriate to a certain society at a
particular period of time. These conventions were defined by the categories of age, gender,
occupation, social status, social class and physical beauty.
2
This type of resemblance depends on the memory that can raise the images of the subjects’ past
perceptions, because memory discovers the identity that hides beneath the surface of a physical
aspect. It does not produce but reveal the personal identity by showing the relation between cause
and effect among the various perceptions that a particular artistic representation may generate.

239
the same proportion as other elements. Sometimes the features of the author’s
representation inside the narrative may be imposed by the nature of the event, by the
purpose of the representation or by the time when the event took place. There are other
cases when the author might have portrayed himself as a witness or a non-participant
1
character. As opposed to the participant portrait , the non-participant portrait reveals
the figure of an individual among other individuals, or among other elements such as
buildings, objects, nature. In a narrative in which several images of figures identified as
self-portraits could not be said to participate in the narrative, instead they seem to be
removed from the action either by their placement or scale or by their inattention to the
event (Meller, 1963: 55-67).
During the Quattrocento period, there were several cycles, including Benzo
Gozzoli’s Chapel, which display large groups of individuals who appear as witnesses at
an event whose subject is the focus on the scene and not on themselves or on a
particular individual. These grouping of figures were intended to represent very well-
known individuals in meaningful relationships to each other (ibidem). The origin of the
embedded self-portraiture was given by the narrative itself; this kind of self-
representation cannot exist outside the context. The other type of self-portraiture is the
autonomous one in which the figure of the author, most of the times, can be easily
recognized. In this case, the focus is on the subject, there are no other elements
included. The autonomous self-portrait is intended to function as a possibility of
introspection, as a technique of visual self representation exposing the author’s identity.
The autonomous type of self-portrait is not the case of the participant portrait because
there is no event which supposes to integrate the figure of the author and there is no
active role that the author has to take. It is only the self-image displayed on a reflective
surface. The autonomous self representation becomes an image of an image, the one
that the author is conscious about. Both, the embedded self-portrait and the autonomous
self-portraiture represent created likenesses of the artist’s self intended to express the
author’s identity but also designed specifically for the affirmation of the artist rather
than of his patron because now is the time when the artist’s autonomy begin to affirm
more and more (Woodall-Marsden, 1997: 5).

Visual Auctorial Representation

The embedded self-portraits could be considered the precursors of the

autonomous self representation and even more than that.
The image of the artist as a possibility of expressing the auctorial identity
began to concern several writers even from 14th century. Among them there could be
mentioned Filippo Villani, the author of Le vite d’uomini illustri Fiorentini, dated about
1382-96. In his work, he stated that artists too could bring distinction to their cities as
well as to themselves. A bit later, Leon Battista Alberti, in his De pictura from 1435,
made clear that the contemporary practice, meaning the Renaissance practice, consists
of including portraits in the history of paintings as representations of the important
artists. Even Giorgio Vasari, in his Le vite de’ piú eccellenti pittori, scultori e
architettori, specified that the Italian Renaissance painters used to place their patrons
and sometimes themselves or their peers or assistants in narrative paintings. Thus, the
image of the artist started to be reproduced and recognized as such, laying the basis for

1
The participant portrait implies a central figure who is supposed to take an active role in a
scene.

240
the autonomous representations. In Quattrocento period, the place where the embedded
portraiture and self-portraiture were mostly to be found were the chapels and not the
domestic or private spaces of the painters or of their patrons. At that time, the chapel
became an important locus, a place that belonged to historic families, who developed
their own identity and who passed through generations their heritage. In such a chapel,
one of the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance, Tommaso di ser Giovanni
di Monte Cassai, called Massacio, placed his self-image in a narrative painting entitled
The Tribute Money, dated 1426-27 and displayed in the Brancacci chapel whose patron
was, at that time, Felice Brancacci.

Massacio: The Tribute Money Massacio: The Tribute Money-detail

Source: www.artble.com
http://www.google.ro/search?q=massacio+the+tribute+money&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=675&tbm=isch&tbo
=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CIsB

The narrative presents the story of Peter and the tax collector. The event is
divided in three main parts: the central part, which is the most important one because it
correlates the other two, is marked by the image of Christ who was asked by the tax
collector to pay a tribute for the Temple; on the left side it is Peter who was getting a
coin from the mouth of a fish and on the right side, the same Peter is paying the taxes.
Among other witnesses of the event, there could be seen the author’s image. His
1
appearance was very accurate, looking absolutely alive , but the focus was not intended
to be on him but on Christ and the event itself. Most of the embedded self-portraits,
belonging to Quattrocento period, are introduced into the narrative settings together
with the images of other contemporaries as recognizable witnesses of the event. Later,
the image of the artist was extracted from such narrative paintings and placed in a more
autonomous position. The idea of autonomous self representation is evident in a work
by Pietro Perugino, who painted his self image in 1500, in Sala delle Udineze inside the
Collegio de Cambio in Perugia. His self-portrait appeared on a fresco that was included
in a fictively autonomous panel. The author’s name was written explicitly on an
inscription under the self-portrait. The artist’s image was hung between two lunettes,
each featuring a pair of personifications. The four allegories that were impersonated
were Fortitude and Temperance for one side and Prudence and Justice for the other.
Placed in a symmetrical position, the lunettes contain their own inscriptions: Forteza e
Temperanza sopra sei eroi antichi and Prudenza e Giustizia sopra sei savi antichi.
Floating above the six classical heroes displayed for each lunette, the allegories were
represented sitting while the heroes were placed in a standing position in front of a
foreground of a beautiful landscape.

1
According to Vasari’s history, the image representing Massacio was very similar to the figure of
one of the apostles, presumably St. Thomas. This was also Massacio’s name-saint.

241
 Fortitude and Temperance Prudence and Justice
Source: settemuse.it
http://www.google.ro/search?q=perugino+pietro+images&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=675&tbm=isch&tbo=u&s
ource=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCEQsAR

Containing the rectangular panels, the lunettes were intended to serve for the
integration of the autonomous self-portrait together with the epigram that was beneath
it. The epigram was written in Latin and it was composed by Maturanzio: Petrus
Perusinus Egregius/Pictor/Perdita si Fuerat Pingedi/Hic Rettulit Artem/Si Nusquam
Imenta Est/Hactemus Ipse Dedit (Pietro Perugino, celebrated painter. If art of painting
become lost, he would restore it. If it had never been invented, he alone could bring it to
this point). The placement and the wording of this epigram proved that the author was
very proud of his accomplishments and he wanted to be remembered as a famous man
himself. His artistic identity was related to the historical and artistic context
emphasizing the importance of the author’s figure. Being surrounded by antique
important figures fitting a historicized context, the artist’s self-portrait is the only true
portrait of a “living person” (Lewis, 2002: 218).
The true autonomous image of an artist did not exist as a genre during the
Italian Renaissance. In fact, the self-portraits of the artists did not refer to themselves as
artists but as important men, emphasizing their social role more than their image as
1
artists . When the intellectual and social status of the visual arts escalated enough, then
the artists could portray themselves as practitioners and creators of the autonomous self-
portraits, embracing their palettes and brushes (Lewis, 2002: 220). The self
representation of Perugino, and later Pintoricchio, could only be related to the concept
of autonomous panel portraying the artist who, by the nature of the depiction together
with the context, is identified as the artist of the work in which his image appears
(Lewis, 2002: 221). Although the artists continued to create embedded self-portraits
included within the general imagery, prior to the end of Cinquecento, the artists also
represented themselves as gentlemen in autonomous panels that make no claims
concerning their creation of another specific work of art.
Perugino’s Self Portrait Source: Web Gallery of Art
http://www.wga.hu/html_m/p/perugino/cambio/2selfpo1.html

1
The image of the artist which is supposed to be recognized as such means directly revealing the
artist’s identity and autonomy by the display of the tools of his trade around him.

242
 Textual Auctorial Representation

As a literary genre, the autobiography developed at the end of the 18th century,
but the term was recorded in different dictionaries beginning with the second part of the
19th century. On a general overview, it could be said that there were few
autobiographical writings from the antique period that were conserved, because, at that
1
time, history and autobiography meant the same thing . Although Marcus Aurelius
preferred to write his Meditations, dated from the 2nd century A.D., in an
autobiographical nuance, his text did not represent a true autobiography, but a historical
writing. Only later, the Renaissance artist, the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti, elaborated an
autobiographical text which was included at the end of the second book of his
Commentaries written between 1445 and 1448. This new type of writing was developed
by Giorgio Vasari in his huge project Le vite de’ piú eccellenti pittori, scultori e
architettori which was partly a historical writing mixed with a memorable collection of
the artists’ lives and textual portraits. This impressive work was influenced by an
aesthetic thinking, meaning the author’s aesthetic judgement, and by the principle of an
art history, a history that presents the evolution of art in relation to the artists’ lives.
What is particular for Vasari’s work is the fact that he mingled his own life with the life
2
of the artists .
There were two manners according to which Vasari realized the textual
portraits. The first one is used for placing the image of the artist in a relevant context
which guaranteed the authority that could be sustained by a group or by society. It was
the case of artists such as Filippo Lippi, Paolo Uccello, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Agnolo
Gaddi, Rafael, etc. The second manner presupposed the representation of the artist’s
textual portrait as a living image in a more general context. This type of textual framing
was based on temporal, spatial and aesthetic coordinates that facilitated the importance
of the artistic conscience. This manner was used for the artists as Pietro Perugino,
Parmigianino, Pinturicchio, Annibale Carracci, etc. Vasari’s work was the moment
when the representations of the artists began to be understood as reflections of their
artistic conscience which the will of self representation would depend on.
Autobiography becomes a distinct genre in the moment when the human being receives
its importance, when the autobiographical search becomes an instrument through which
the self becomes intelligible for the self, when the awareness of the self could
emphasize the conscience of the self. Gusdorf uses the three dimension definition for
the autobiography: l’autos (the self-consciousness), le bios (the organic existence of the
self) and le graphein (the writing) (Gusdorf, 1990: 10-14). The autobiography stands for
the synthesis of the triple dimension concepts which need to inter-relate, in the form of a
retrospective prose narrative. But in the beginning, the autobiography took different
other shapes, less complex.
Before Cellini’s writing, the textual self representations were written by artists
who did not focus on their life history meant for the public. Their autobiographical
notes corresponded to their aesthetic and artistic studies. None of these early
autobiographical writings fit into the form of the autobiography as a mixture of those

1
This fact could be easily noticed in Herodotus’ Histories, in Caesar’s Commentaries or in
Xenophon’s Anabasis.
2
In the first edition of his writing, Vasari referred to his life in relation to Michelangelo’s, but in
the second edition of the same work, he placed many references about his autobiography in many
other presentations of most of the artists.

243
three principles. Analyzing Dürer’s travel journal or Pontormo’s last three year journal
and Leonardo’s few autobiographical notes included in his notebooks, all belonging to
Renaissance period, it would be impossible not to observe the fact that they are very
different from the self-portraits of the same authors. In the visual self representations,
these artists used a more contemplative or even melancholic version, while in the textual
self representations, they were more objective. They placed themselves in a more
neutral position referring more to the art, dreams or exceptional events than to their
introspections. The common character of these writings is the realistic way of
presenting the context, introducing drawings or artistic illustrations in order to render
the whole picture. There are few differences among these autobiographical
representations but nothing to link the text to the particular way of self contemplation.
In Dürer’s writing it could be noticed the very objective style, while in Pontormo’s case
1
what shocks is the concision. Leonardo’s autobiographic fragment is full of oscillations
between a real and a possible version. These textual self representations lacked any
form of introspection or self contemplation but they created the opportunity for the
autobiography to be later developed. The only purpose of these autobiographical notes
was to create the author’s history for himself focusing on their aesthetic and artistic
2
legacy rather than on their textual self-portraiture . The first autobiography was
Cellini’s work, Vita di Benvenuto Cellini scritta da lui medesimo, written between 1558
and 1566.
This writing represented an autobiography in the full understanding of the
term. Based on a diary, the autobiographical writing was an act of introspection, having
a revealing function, within the meaning of discovering the personal self. Although the
same oscillation between objective and subjective is to be found, the text was
consciously elaborated for the public. In his discourse, the author was addressing not
only to the contemporary readers but also to a future audience who might become the
real evaluator of his artistic works. Knowing that, Cellini tended to romanticize the real
events, presenting his subjective perspective. That is why sometimes the real history
seemed a bit improbable, mostly the fragments which presented the traumatic
3
experiences . Even so the author stuck to the history of his life, not distancing from the
truth. Having a moral and social motivation, Cellini approached the discourse of a uomo
virtuoso who narrated his adventures and described his artistic accomplishments.
Revealed from a retrospective perspective, this autobiography focused on an individual
life, proving the existence of the author’s self consciousness as an artist. These early
textual auctorial representations, from the autobiographical notes, very objective and
concise, to the subjective version of Cellini’s autobiography, represented only the
starting point for the subsequent evolution of the genre.

1
It is needless to mention Leonardo’s peculiar handwriting which requires considerable practice
to read. He wrote backwards, with his left hand and in rude characters, using no punctuation and,
sometimes constraining several short words into a long one.
2
All three artists made excellent self-portraits in which the self-contemplation is the main feature
and the introspection helps the author to expose his self as his own double.
3
Cellini’s autobiographical writing was supposed to have been started with the fragment entitled
Capitolo which was written during his incarceration inside Sant’ Angelo castle.

244
 Conclusion

Being visual or textual, the auctorial representation during Renaissance was

understood as a moment when the artistic identity and authority begin to develop. All
the self representations, pictorial or literary, represented artistic constructions which
were meant to mediate between the creators’ artistic self and the Renaissance audience,
emphasizing the role of the artist in that particular society and later in history. The
visual and the textual forms are considered to be mutually reflective of visuality as a
shared understanding of how human beings perceive their relationship to the world in
both physical and metaphysical terms (Hendrix, 2012: 94). Given in two different
forms, visual and textual, the auctorial representation developed the auctorial
conscience. Even so the category of the artist together with the idea of the self had a
slow evolution over many centuries and it was always in close relation to the
contemporary social history. Being recognized as the image of an image, the visual and
textual portraiture was cultivated as the fizione (illusion) or the inganno (deception) just
because it was a form of artistic representation (Woodall-Marsden, 1997: 27). In self-
portraiture, where author and model represent the same individual, the dialogue took
places between the self and the self. The auctorial representation as a form of artistic
identity, starting with Renaissance, became a symbol for artistic authority representing
first the social and later the historical importance of the artist.

Bibliography
Brilliant, Richard, Portraiture, Reaktion Books, London, 1991
Brown, K., The Painter’s Reflection: Self-Portraiture in Renaissance, Michigan UP, Michigan,
2000
Gusdorf, Georges, Auto-bio-graphie, Lignes de vie 2, Odile Jacob (ed.), Paris, 1990
Hendrix, J., Carman, Ch. (ed.), Renaissance Theories of Vision, Ashgate Publishing Ltd., Surrey,
2012
Lejeune, Philippe, On Autobiography, translated by Katherine Leary, Minnesota UP, Minnesota,
1989
Lewis, Francis, The Intellectual Life of the Early Renaissance Artist, Yale UP, Yale, 2002
Marin, Louis, L’écriture de soi, PUF Paris, 1999
Meller, Peter, “Physiognomic Theory in Renaissance Heroic Portraits” in Ida E. Rubin (ed.),
Studies in Western Art: The Renaissance and Mannerism, Princeton UP, Princeton, 1963
Woodall-Marsden, Joanna, Portraiture: Facing the Subject, Manchester UP, Manchester, 1997

245
 PETRONIUS’ SATYRICON AND ITS CINEMATOGRAPHIC
TRANSPOSITION

Cristina IRIDON*
Diana PRESADĂ

Abstract: Petronius’ ancient text, The Satyricon, is a literary masterpiece famous for its
imagery and complex significances, despite its fragmentary form. When Frederico Fellini
directed Petronius’ Satyricon in 1969, he attempted to recreate the burlesque imagery of the
Latin novel by means of his distinctive visual style. The aim of our paper is to highlight the
modernity of the Latin novel and the originality of Fellini’s cinematographic vision which is as
memorable as the classical text.
Keywords: visual, burlesque, surrealism

Two great masterpieces remote in time, The Satyricon of Petronius and

Fellini’s Satyricon, question human nature revealing its quest for an ideal within a
rotten and corrupt society that leaves no chance for spiritual survival.
Although the present analysis is concerned with two works representing
different art forms, a series of common elements may justify a comparative approach to
these creations. In this sense, it may be worth considering that Fellini depicts the
tribulations of the characters that form the first love triangle in Petronius’ novel, that is,
a tumultuous love affair involving homosexual characters: Encolpius, his boyfriend
Giton and Encolpius’ rival, Ascyltos. The film also illustrates Petronius’ classical ideal
of beauty and youth, the Italian director choosing actors such as Martin Potter
(Encolpius), Hiram Keller (Ascyltos) and Max Born (Giton), whose appearance
incarnates the ancient representation of physical beauty: harmonious features, perfection
of proportions, and slim sculptural bodies. For instance, Fellini’s Giton is a replica of
Petronius’ hero, the ancient writer describing him as “a boy about sixteen years of age,
curly headed, a minion, handsome” (Sat., XCVII). As to the other characters, the film-
maker reinforces the contrast between Encolpius and Ascyltos conceiving the former as
an angelic hero and the latter as a diabolical nature, whose malevolent intentions are
indicated by his permanent mocking smile (Ascyltos betrays Encolpius’ trust and hurts
his feelings when he steals Giton and sells him to Vernacchio, the actor; then he
competes with Encolpius for Giton, asking the boy to choose between them).
Another significant similarity between the film and the book resides in their
fragmentariness. The structure of the novel consisting of small, disconnected and
incomplete parts lies at the basis of Fellini’s conception of structuring its own film,
which displays a sequence of powerfully evocative frescoes whose unifying element is
Encolpius, the protagonist. Many of these sequences render key episodes from the novel
into outstanding filmic images such as, for instance, the brothel scene. The film-director
finds in Petronius’ brief, but vivid, description of the brothel a powerful source of
inspiration:

*
Petroleum and Gas University of Ploieşti, cristinairidon@yahoo.com
Petroleum and Gas University of Ploieşti, dianapresada@yahoo.com

246
 While Ascyltos was telling me of his bad luck, who should come up again but this
same very respectable looking person, in company with a woman not at all bad looking,
and, looking at Ascyltos, he requested him to enter the house, assuring him that there was
nothing to fear, and, since he was unwilling to take the passive part, he should have the
active. The woman, on her part, urged me very persistently to accompany her, so we
followed the couple, at last, and were conducted between the rows of name-boards, where
we saw, in cells, many persons of each sex amusing themselves in such a manner) that it
seemed to me that every one of them must have been drinking satyrion. On catching sight
of us, they attempted to seduce us with paederastic wantonness, and one wretch, with his
clothes girded up, assaulted Ascyltos, and, having thrown him down upon a couch,
attempted to gore him from above. I succored the sufferer immediately, however, and
having joined forces, we defied the troublesome wretch. (Sat., VIII)
By painting a memorable picture of debauchery, physical deformity, and
decrepitude in body and soul, Fellini’s vision of the brothel stands out in sharp relief.
The rich imagery characterizing the scene (make-up on faces, strange sounds, nude
bodies, and figures in close-up) suggests voluptuousness and decadence in a multitude
of grotesque forms, bearing the mark of the film director’s unique style.
The brothel scene is anticipated by remakable shots in which the surrealistic
placement of colour spots and symbolic objects within the frame attracts the viewer’s
attention: Brâncuși’s monument (The Gate of the Kiss) seems to be suspended in the air,
being doubled by a red door signalling the entrance to the brothel, while, in the bottom
right-hand corner of the frame, two old people (a man and a woman) serve as guides to
the realm of carnal pleasures. Symbolically speaking, The Gate of the Kiss and the
elderly couple may evoke the contrast between art and life, beauty and ugliness, youth
and senescence. Equally significant is the fact that the characters, Encolpius and Giton,
are outside observers of the world, their wanderings being suggested by the slow
movement of the camera first to the right, and then to the left of the frame. As Joanna
Paul states, “the camera tracks Encolpio and Giton walking along, rather than through,
the city, passing a series of weird and wonderful sights that allows us to look at but
never to enter into the scene” (2009: 213).
As in the novel, the characters continue their odyssey together until Giton
leaves Encolpius for good preferring Ascyltos’ company. Giton’s choice is a crucial plot
element because it leads to the break-up of the first love triangle. Broken-hearted,
Encolpius finds refuge in an art gallery where he encounters Eumolpus, another major
character in the book. In contrast to the previous scene showing Encolpius and Giton as
spectators of erotic depravity in the brothel, the art gallery bears great significance in
both works. By placing Encolpius in an elevated environment, Petronius skilfully shifts
from reality to the symbolic level of art, plunging his hero into a fascinating world of
mythological representations of unhappy love, the portraits beeing painted “so skilfully
that one could think that they were alive” (Sat., LXXXIII). In keeping with Petronius’
vision, Fellini creates impressive images which suggest that art has the power to purify
feelings and clean the mind.
As far as Eumolpus is concerned, he plays the role of a lucid commentator on
different aspects of the age. Fellini keeps the characteristic features of the ancient hero
who, in the novel, is described through the eyes of Encolpius, the narrator:
a white-haired old man entered the picture-gallery; his face was care-worn, and he
seemed, I know not why, to give promise of something great, although he bestowed so

247
 little care upon his dress that it was easily apparent that he belonged to that class of literati
which the wealthy hold in contempt. (Sat., LXXXVII)

In Eumolpus’ speech, the society of the time is condemned from the position of
a cynical wanderer, with no fixed roots, who considers poverty a moral virtue and a
geniune basis for artistic creation. As he embodies critical consciousness, Fellini prefers
using the character’s words ad litteram, his statements having the value of universal
truths: “love or art never yet made anyone rich” or “Poverty is the sister of Genius.”
(Sat., LXXXVIII)
Resorting to contrasting techniques for character delineation as Petronius did,
Fellini portrays Trimalchio, another memorable charater in the novel and in the film, as
a negative counterpart of Eumolpus in the famous dinner scene which, as in the case of
the ancient text, represents a grotesque exposure of moral decay, vain appearances and
decadence. Eumolpus symbolizes the genuine poet and thinker, whereas Trimalchio, a
former freed slave who became enormously rich, arrogates to himself the status of man
of letters feeling entitled to call Eumolpus his “brother and colleague”. The comic
reaches its peak when his intellectual pretentions are obviously contradicted by errors
revealing his poor knowledge about philosophy and literature. The authors’ satirical
arrows are evident in both works, but they differ according to their artistic views. If in
Petronius’ book Trimalchio is described as “a bald-headed old fellow” (Sat., XXII),
baldness being a distinguishing sign of freed slaves, in Fellini’s version the character no
longer bears this social stigma as the film-maker’s focus is on exaggerating his
delusions of grandeur. Thus, Fellini replaces the descriptive details from the text, such
as “the scarlet mantle” and the “napkin having a broad purple stripe and a fringe that
hung down all around” (Sat., XXXII), with an imperial crown and a golden fibula to
turn Trimalchio’s emperor-like affectations into ridicule.
The two artists’ satirical intentions meet again in the hyperbolic scene
presenting Trimalchio’s dinner. Both of them mock vulgarity, falsehood and
ostentatious display of wealth by treating the event in a comic manner which mingles
excess with caricature, and the grotesque with the burlesque. Fellini creates a mosaic of
remarkable sequences in which the superabundance of food and drink evokes satiety up
to nausea. The same focus on insatiable appetite and fleshliness can be noticed in
Petronius’ description of the dinner:
A tray followed them, upon which was served a wild boar of immense size,
wearing a liberty cap upon its head, and from its tusks hung two little baskets of woven
palm fibre, one of which contained Syrian dates, the other, Theban. Around it hung little
suckling pigs made from pastry, signifying that this was a brood-sow with her pigs at
suck. It turned out that these were souvenirs intended to be taken home. When it came to
carving the boar, our old friend Carver, who had carved the capons, did not appear, but in
his place a great bearded giant, with bands around his legs, and wearing a short hunting
cape in which a design was woven. Drawing his hunting- knife, he plunged it fiercely into
the boar’s side, and some thrushes flew out of the gash. fowlers, ready with their rods,
caught them in a moment, as they fluttered around the room and Trimalchio ordered one
to each guest, remarking, “Notice what fine acorns this forest-bred boar fed on”, and as
he spoke, some slaves removed the little baskets from the tusks and divided the Syrian
and Theban dates equally among the diners. (Sat., XL)
It should also be noted that both the novel and its cinematographic version
intend to parody Plato’s Banquet if we take into consideration the fact that, instead of

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Plato’s philosophical debates on beauty and androgyne love, Trimalchio delivers an
insubstancial ridiculous speech in the presence of low-status guests, whereas the
genuine scholars, Eumolpus and Encolpius, are mute observers of his performance. The
key moment of the dinner is the mock funeral which changes the guests’ mood as
Trimalchio forces them to take part in his imaginary death, an opportunity for the two
authors to remarkably make use of the motif of the play within a story/film. The
gigantic dimensions of Trimalchio’s funeral monument tastelessly decorated with rich
bas-reliefs, or the guests’ mourning signalled by melodramatic gestures and strident
lamentations stand as proof that their art of exaggeration reaches its climax. In Fellini’s
version, which emphasizes human greed, the custom of offering freedom to slaves
becomes a grotesque scene in which the domestic participants struggle hard to grab the
valuable objects that their master offers them as gifts.
Other major narrative sequences that Fellini shares with Petronius refer to
several important stages of Encolpius’ journey, namely the episode presenting his
embarkation on Lichas’ boat, his traumatic experience of losing virility after having
sexual intercourse with a nymphomaniac and particularly the cannibalistic scene that
follows Eumolpus’ death and the reading of his will. The cinematographic transposition
of these events sheds light not only on the ancient writer’s critical view of life, but also
on the artistic creed of the Italian director who, seeing humanity as degraded to its basic
instincts, describes it in baroque and surrealist images that create the atmosphere “of a
dream world” (Winkler, 2001: 260)
In order to express his personal vision of the world, Fellini reused Petronius’
novel as well as many other old sources. As numerous commentators on his work have
stated, such assimilation constitutes “a melange of ancient texts – and images, ideas,
people, events (Winkler, 2001: 207), which the film director “invents, blends, reworks,
and borrows” (Dick, 1981: 151). The composite material of the film is mostly based on
the following ancient literary works: from Juvenal’s Satires (3.193 – 196), he borrowed
the description of the collapse of the tenement block; Martialis’ report on “the
executions and mutilation on stage in mythological and historical playlets” (Sullivan,
2001: 262) was employed in the mutilation scene performed during Vernacchio’s show;
and in Martialis’ Epigrams (1.21), he found “the motif of Mucius Scaevola, the Roman
hero who defied the besieging Etruscan king Porsenna by burning his right hand in a
blazing fire” (Winkler, 2001: 270). Moreover, Fellini drew inspiration from Apuleius’
Metamorphoses for the battle between Encolpius and the Minotaur in front of a
laughing crowd during the Festival of Mirth, this scene being a filmic reinterpretation of
Lucius’ magical fight against imaginary foes. On the other hand, Fellini made use of
historical events that became emblematic images in his film. Thus, “the haunting
sequences of the suicides of the handsome upper-class couple in their ornate villa” are
related to “the deaths of Thrasea Paetus, the Stoic opponent of Nero, and his wife”
(Sullivan, 2001: 262), whereas the image showing “a monstrous effigy of an emperor’s
head dragged through the streets is based on the death of Vitellius in A.D. 69”
(Sullivan, 2001: 262), or it may as well refer to a new political change symbolized by
the figure of “Caesar, dignified and soldierly, marching on Rome” (Sullivan, 2001:
263). Another notable sequence refers to the marriage of Lichas to Encolpius, the
episode being based on “certain anecdotes about Nero’s mock marriages to his
freedmen Doryphorus and Pythagoras, pruriently detailed by the imperial biographer
Suetonius and also by the historian Tacitus” (Sullivan, 2001: 263). Encolpius’
submissive and humble attitude during the matrimonial ritual turns the ceremony itself
into ridicule emphasizing the idea of desacralization of matrimony. But, in spite of the

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borrowings mentioned above, it is Petronius’ text that forms the basis of Fellini’s
complex and impressive images.
Apart from the similarities between the novel and the film, a series of episodes
and several characters underwent adaptations to become part of “a cinematic flight of
fantasy” (Paul, 2009: 199). For instance, Eumolpus, who is a prominent figure in the
third part of the novel, accompanies Encolpius and Giton on their journey. Instead,
Fellini brings Ascyltos to the fore by turning him into Encolpius’ permanent
companion, while Giton becomes an episodic character who vanishes at some point in
the story. Another significant change regards the embarkation scene. In Petronius’
novel, Encolpius and Giton board the ship voluntarily and disguise themselves as slaves
of Eumolpus so as not to be recognized by Lichas and Tryphaena, whereas in Fellini’s
film, after being arrested, Encolpius and Ascyltos are forcefully taken to Lichas’ ship.
The alterations made to the ancient text enabled Fellini to create a new story according
to his own vision by combining neo-realism with fantasy and dream. As Solomon
argues, the Italian film director offers the viewers “one of the cinema’s most
provocatively individual approaches to the ancient world” (Solomon, 2001: 274).
Moreover, the female characters that Encolpius encounters on his journey
suggest significant differences between the two works. If in the novel it is Circe who
plays the part of the nymphomaniac that causes Encolpius’ impotence, in the film she is
replaced by “Ariadne”, who seems to be a kind of carnal reward for the hero after his
humiliating fight in a walled arena at the Festival of Mirth. The hero’s desperate
attempts to escape the Minotaur while the audience is making fun of him, his
ignominious defeat as well as the fact that he discovers his impotence while forced to
have intercourse with Ariadne in full view of the cheering people reveal Fellini’s
intention to lay stress on the non-heroic side of the protagonist’s adventures, an aspect
which is characteristic of the novel, too. To overcome his physical weakness, Encolpius
leaves for the Temple of Pleasures, a realm of sensual experience where ritual mingles
with symbolism in remarkable images. As the hero’s new experiences in the Temple
have no curative effect, the last chance for him is to find the sorceress Oenothea, the
Earth Mother who stands for the power to resurrect bodily instincts. In contrast to the
novel where she is depicted as an ugly old woman that forces the hero into a state of
drunkenness to prepare him for the orgiastic ritual, the Italian director transforms her
into an unstable figure that connotes the Priapic fire able to regenerate the hero’s
manliness. These mythological reinterpretations are “free adaptations of Petronius’
classic” (Zapponi, 1970: 34) that Fellini employs skilfully to paint his own picture of
the world.
Numerous scenes contributing to the complex architecture of the film are
worthy of our attention. One of them is “the graffiti-covered wall that opens the film”
(Dick, 1981: 146), a memorable image that provides the background for the monologue
of Encolpius who is angry and disappointed by Giton’s betrayal. The chaotic drawings
spread all over the wall may suggest either a blurred reconstruction of the ancient world,
which can be perceived only as bits, fragments and unclear inscriptions on ruins, or a
glimpse into the new adventures that the future has in store for the hero. Other
sequences, such as those presenting Vernacchio’s show or the brothel visited by
Encolpius and Giton, stand out as they offer Fellini the opportunity to depict, by means
of various filmic techniques, a broad picture of the ancient world: manners, beliefs,
rituals, customs, social and political attitudes. Masks, thick make-up on faces, lascivious
bodies and obscene gestures accompanied by discordant sounds convey the film

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director’s vision of a past in which the viewer may recognize the signs of vanity of his
own time.
The set, which is greatly evocative, should be taken into consideration too. The
abstract geometrical forms of an ancient bathroom, which often looks strange due to
some symbolic oversized objects, serve as a suggestive environment for Encolpius’
confrontation with Ascyltos over Giton. The contrast between light and dark, and the
chromatic variation from neutral grey to vivid colours create a dream-like atmosphere as
seen, for example, in the subsequent episode in which Encolpius looks for Vernacchio
to claim his right over his young lover, Giton. In these scenes, and in many others, the
film director proves to be a skilled painter of an artificial, even unearthly, interior space,
populated by “grotesque characters or «freaks»” (Stubbs, 1993: 62) that challenge the
viewer’s expectations. Such an artistic approach represents, as Stubbs points out,
Fellini’s particular way of “illustrating his belief that life is «mysterious and ineffable»
by «defamiliarizing the material presented and […] exceeding boundaries»” (1993: 62).
In addition, the exterior world with its bizarre sunsets and landscapes acquires
a symbolic value. When associated with Encolpius’ arrival at Crotona, the set becomes
a vast barren land representing a visual metaphor for sterility and absence of life, which,
once again, demonstrates that Fellini’s insertion is an ingenious rewriting of the ancient
story. Unlike Petronius’ dramatic change of set (after Lichas’ ship is wrecked because
of a terrible storm, the heroes safely reach the shore of Crotona), the film director places
his protagonists, Encolpius and Ascyltos, in a strange, indefinite environment that
seems to be a kind of desert or an arid rocky-like stretch of land. Enduring thirst and
exhaustion, they struggle hard to cross it while carrying the dying hermaphrodite oracle
that they kidnapped from the temple, the entire sequence being in fact another
interesting insertion into the ancient storyline. As to the inhabitants of Crotona, the
legacy-hunters, Petronius regards them as a product of the acute moral decay of society
leading inevitably to biological extinction and spiritual death. In Fellini’s film, the
people and the space they live in stand not only for the extinction of the pagan world but
also for “a progressive dissolution of the modern world” (Zanelli, 1970: 43). Thus, his
poignant images constitute the director’s particular warning addressed to humanity.
It is also significant to mention that in both works the tragedy of human
eschatology leaves room for the grotesque cannibalism in the final scene which,
according to J.P. Sullivan, serves as a parody of the Last Supper (2001: 264). Being
based on an old belief and ritual, the satire reaches its climax at the end of Encolpius’
odyssey, because, after Eumolpus’ will is read, the legacy-hunters, with the exception of
Encolpius, overcome their disgust and devour pieces of Eumolpus’ corpse, hoping to
become beneficiaries of his fortune.
Nevertheless, the open ending of Fellini’s film suggests that his protagonist,
Encolpius, may begin a new journey towars self-knowledge. Leaving Crotona and the
fortune hunters behind, he is ready to go out to sea in the company of a group of young
people. This optimistic tone is visually emphasized by the immense serene sky and blue
sea as well as by the hero’s wish to reach a remote green island. The fact that the
characters of the film become part of an old story is remarkably conveyed in the final
frames which show them as figures in a fresco on the wall of a ruin. As Winkler states,
they represent “the last glimpse of his anti-heroes frozen in a framed faded fresco of
Pompeian colours.” (2001: 213).
In conclusion, by recreating Petronius’ world according to his particular view
of humanity, Fellini completes “the fragmentary state of our knowledge of antiquity”
(Wyke, 1997: 189) and makes us ponder over man, society and history.

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References
Dick, B. F., “Adaptation as Archaeology: Fellini-Satyricon 1969, from the ‘novel’ by Petroniusˮ.
In A. S. Horton and J. Magretta (eds), Modern European Filmmakers and the Art of Adaptation,
Ungar, New York, 1981, 145 – 167
Paul, J., “Fellini – Satyricon, Petronius and the Filmˮ. In J. Prag and I. Repath (eds.), Petronius. A
Handbook, Wiley-Blackwell, Publishing, Oxford, UK, 2009, 198 – 217
Petronius, Satyricon, Univers, București, 1995
Solomon, J., The Ancient World in the Cinema, Revised and expanded edition, Yale
University Press, New Haven, CT and London, 2001
Stubbs, J. C., “The Fellini Manner: Open Form and Visual Excessˮ, 1993, Cinema
Journal 32(4), 49–64
Sullivan J.P., “The Social Ambience of Petronius’ Satyricon and Fellini Satyriconˮ. In M. M.
Winkler (ed.), Classical Myth & Culture in the Cinema, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001,
258 – 272
Winkler, M. M., Classical Myth Culture in the Cinema, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2001.
Wyke, M., Projecting the Past: Ancient Rome, Cinema and History, Routlege, New York and
London, 1997
Zanelli, D., “Prefaceˮ. In Zanelli (ed.), Fellini’s Satyricon, Ballantine Books, New York, 1970.
Zapponi, B., The Strange Journey. In Zanelli (ed.), Fellini’s Satyricon, Ballantine Books, New
York, 1970, 33 – 39.
Website:
Petronius https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/5611/pg5611.html, consulted on 26 May, 2015.

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 MIKHAÏL BAKHTINE : LES VISAGES DU DIALOGISME

Ilie MOISUC

Abstract : In this article we are analyzing some particular meanings of the concept of
dialogism in the writings of Mikhail Bakhtin, distinguishing between the specific meanings and
values which this concept acquires when it’s used for describing the novel’s text to a thematic
level, to a narrative structure level and to its inherent cultural dimension. Distinguishing between
the thematic dialogism, narrative dialogism and cultural-aesthetic dialogism, we prove both the
epistemological amplitude of this concept and Mikhail Bakhtin’s depth of thought.
Keywords: Dialogism, Bakhtin, literary communication.

Introduction
Le dialogisme est l’une des notions les plus importantes dans le discours
scientifique contemporain, surtout dans la sphère des humanités, étant liée à un
paradigme qui convient, à la fois, autant à la modernité, qu’à la postmodernité.
L’amplitude de l’horizon de récurrence de cette notion se trouve dans un rapport de
proportion inverse avec sa clarté et sa précision référentielle ; appliquée à plusieurs
champs épistémologiques assez éloignés, tels que la psychologie, la sociologie, la
philosophie et la linguistique, cette notion risque de devenir trop vague pour rester
fonctionnelle de point de vue épistémologique. Même si le plus souvent, les chercheurs
prennent appui sur un consensus en ce qui concerne les valeurs et les significations du
dialogisme, pour que la communication scientifique soit vraiment efficace, il nous
semble nécessaire d’accompagner cette notion des précisions supplémentaires.
Dans notre recherche doctorale nous avons réalisé une systématisation des
champs épistémologiques et des « réalités » auxquels Mikhaïl Bakhtine applique le
concept de dialogisme. Nous avons ainsi découvert, malgré la multiplicité déroutante
des occurrences de ce terme dans les écrits du penseur russe, une vision cohérente sur le
dialogisme. A ce temps-là, nous avons fait une distinction entre le dialogisme
communicatif, opérant au niveau de la communication et de la compréhension et le
dialogisme littéraire, visant la dynamique identité-altérité au niveau de la
« communication littéraire », nous appuyant sur les écrits le plus connus de Mikhaïl
Bakhtine (La poétique de Dostoïevski et Esthétique et théorie du roman), mais aussi sur
des œuvres moins connues, telles que Le marxisme et la philosophie du langage et
Esthétique de la création verbale.
Dans le plan de la communication, nous avons distingué entre un dialogisme
réactif, actualisé par la paire message – contre message, et un dialogisme constitutif, qui
se manifeste dans le plan de profondeur de la relation réciproquement enrichissante
entre l’identité et l’altérité, sur une direction rétrospective – comme évocation-vécu du
déjà-dit et sur une direction prospective – comme anticipation-vécu des mots autres à
venir.
Dans le plan du discours littéraire narratif, nous avons délimité trois formes de
dialogisme, en fonction des niveaux auxquels se place l’analyse : le dialogisme
thématique (au niveau de la relation entre les personnages), le dialogisme narratif (dans


Université „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, Iaşi; ilie_moisuc@yahoo.com

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l’horizon de la relation entre les instances textuelles appartenant à des niveaux
diégétiques différents) et le dialogisme culturel-esthétique (au niveau de la relation de
l’auteur avec la tradition et l’espace socio-idéologique où il se situe). Toutes ces
distinctions peuvent être représentées par ce schéma (Moisuc, 2012 : 125) :

Le dialogisme réactif
Le dialogisme communicatif
Le dialogisme constitutif
Le dialogisme
Le dialogisme thématique
Le dialogisme littéraire Le dialogisme narratif
Le dialogisme culturel-esthétique

Parce que le premier niveau épistémologique concerne plutôt la psychologie

et/ou la linguistique, nous allons nous occuper des visages du dialogisme au niveau de
l’articulation et du fonctionnement du texte littéraire ayant comme point de départ les
observations du critique russe à l’égard du « mot à deux voix », l’une des notion
associées le plus souvent au dialogisme et à sa variante littéraire qu’est, dans Problèmes
La poétique de Dostoïevski, la polyphonie. Les objectifs de notre investigation sont
d’attirer l’attention sur quelques aspects discutables et/ou confus de la vision de
Bakhtine sur la polyphonie et le dialogisme romanesque et de souligner l’importance de
la délimitation des nuances et des valeurs de la notion qui nous intéresse, afin d’éviter
des confusions ou des simplifications embarrassantes.

Les visages du dialogisme

Le point de départ de notre investigation est la manière dans laquelle Bakhtine
décrit les formes du dialogisme dans Le Double de Dostoïevski. En parlant du
personnage principal, Bakhtine analyse avec beaucoup de subtilité « la crise dramatisée
de la conscience de soi » de ce personnage :
L’action ne dépasse pas les limites de la conscience de soi : tous les
personnages ne sont que des éléments particuliers de cette conscience. La partition
musicale, si on peut dire, est tenue par trois voix nées de la décomposition de la voix et de
la conscience de Goliadkine : son ‘moi pour moi’ incapable de se passer d’autrui, de son
approbation ; son ‘moi pour les autres’ imaginaire (le reflet dans l’autre), c’est-à-dire la
seconde voix substitut d’autrui ; et enfin la voix étrangère qui le repousse mais qui
toutefois n’est pas représentée réellement à l’extérieur de Goliadkine (Bakhtine, 1970 :
298).
Dans ce cas, on a à faire à une conscience dialogisée, le discours intérieur du
personnage étant, en fait, construit par l’entrecroisement de plusieurs voix qui reflètent
et, en même temps, articulent la position du personnage par rapport aux autres
personnages peuplant le monde du texte. La voix et la conscience de Goliadkine ne sont
pas autonomes mais fonctionnent animées du dedans de l’altérité, réelle ou imaginée.
La première forme de dialogisme (visant ce qui se passe dans la vie et dans la
conscience du personnage) appartient à l’univers fictif en tant que monde possible

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peuplé avec des « égo expérimentaux »1 dont les voix s’entrecroisent sur le plan
extérieur comme dialogues explicites, mais aussi au niveau de la psyché. Lorsque
Bakhtine parle du dialogisme et de la dramatisation de la conscience du protagoniste, il
arrive à ce qu’on appelle le dialogisme constitutif, « coextensif à des structures
profondes du discours » comme le dit Kristeva (1969 : 94), mais aussi coextensif aux
structures profondes du psychisme humain. Du point de vue de ce type d’interaction
dialogique, la conscience de soi et le discours à soi ne se situent pas en face de la
conscience de l’autre et du discours d’autrui, sur des positions autonomes, mais se
trouvent dans un rapport d’interaction dramatique par lequel les consciences et les
discours gagneront ensemble leur autonomie :
Nous pourrions résumer tout cela de la façon suivante : dans la conscience du
héros pénètre la conscience qu’autrui à de lui : l’auto-expression du héros se double ainsi
d’un mot d’autrui ; ces deux intrusion ‘étrangères’ provoquent des phénomènes
spécifiques qui déterminent premièrement l’évolution thématique de la conscience de soi :
ses cassures, ses faux-fuyants, ses protestations, etc. ; deuxièmement le discours du héros
avec ses chevauchements accentuels, sa syntaxe brisée, ses répétitions, ses digressions et
ses longueurs (Bakhtine, op. cit. : 288).
Au moment où le critique passe du niveau psycho-thématique de la structure
polyphonique de la conscience de Goliadkine à celui de l’énonciation narrative, il
observe, toujours avec justesse, que le narrateur en tant que voix (intra)textuelle est
subordonné fonctionnellement à la conscience aliénée du personnage :
Dans cette œuvre, nous ne trouverons pas un seul moment qui sorte de la
conscience de soi de Goliadkine, pas un mot, pas une note qui n’aurait déjà fait partie
d’un dialogue intérieur avec soi-même ou d’un dialogue avec son double. Le narrateur
s’empare des mots et des pensées de Goliadkine, des mots de sa seconde voix, renforce les
notes moqueuses, railleuses qui s’y trouvent déjà, et décrit, dans ce ton, chaque action,
chaque geste chaque moment du héros. Nous avons vu que la seconde voix de Goliadkine
pouvait se fondre imperceptiblement avec celle du narrateur : on en recueille l’impression
que le récit est dialogiquement tourné vers Goliadkine lui-même (…), quoique du point de
vue formel le récit soit adressé au lecteur (Ibidem : 299).
La deuxième forme de dialogisme prise en compte par Bakhtine n’appartient
plus au niveau psycho-thématique, mais au niveau de la textualisation ; elle ne se
circonscrit plus à l’énoncé, mais à l’énonciation. La bivocalité, dans ce cas, ne concerne
plus la relation infraconsciente et intratextuelle, mais un rapport dialogique (par
accentuation et éthos discursif) entre le discours du narrateur et la voix du personnage.
Le narrateur n’a pas, dans ce texte, une position neutre mais évaluative ; c’est pour cela
qu’on peut le caractériser comme sarcastique, ironique, cynique, ayant, en tout cas, une
attitude active à l’égard du héros : « Le récit est parsemé de mots de Goliadkine lui-
même […] Cependant, le narrateur leur imprime une intonation railleuse et en partie
réprobatrice, composée de façon à atteindre le héros au plus vif et à le provoquer »
(Ibidem : 300).
Les effets de cette rencontre polyphonique entre la voix narrative et la voix du
personnage ou « entre le récit et le mot du héros » comme le dit Bakhtine lui-même

1
Cf. la définition du roman proposée par Milan Kundera dans ses Soixante-treize mots :
« Roman. La grande forme de prose où l’auteur, à travers des ego expérimentaux (personnages),
examine jusqu’au bout quelques thèmes de l’existence » (Kundera, 1986 : 175).

255
(Ibidem : 301), sont donc décelables sur le plan de l’élaboration discursive du texte, et
non pas sur le plan de la construction du personnage.
Ainsi, malgré les similarités des relations dialogiques, ces deux phénomènes
d’intersection de voix décrites, même s’ils sont complémentaires au niveau de la
compréhension du texte dostoïevskien, ne sont pas situables sur un même plan
euristique et analytique ; le premier concerne la psychologie du héros et appartient à
l’histoire (dans le sens que Genette donne à ce terme), tandis que le deuxième appartient
à la technique narrative (le narrateur décrit, renforce, etc.), donc à ce que Genette
désigne par narration1.
La distance entre les plans euristiques sur lesquels Bakhtine situe le dialogisme
romanesque est encore plus visible lorsqu’il arrive à l’analyse de la bivocalité des
structures parodiques ; vers la fin de l’analyse du Double, Bakhtine découvre une autre
forme d’interaction dialogique :
Mais revenons une dernière fois à la narration dans Le Double. A côté de ses
rapports avec le discours du héros, nous y remarquons encore une autre orientation. Dans
le récit du Double, comme dans les lettres de Diévouchkine, se manifestent des éléments
de parodie littéraire. (…) La voix du narrateur, dans Le Double, stylise la ‘langue noble’
des Ames mortes ; et d’une manière générale, toute la nouvelle est parsemée2 de
réminiscences parodiques et sémiparodiques de différentes œuvres de Gogol. Il faut
remarquer que ces notes parodiques du récit s’enchevêtrent étroitement avec le persiflage
de Goliadkine. L’élément parodique et polémique rend plus multivocal et plus discordant
le récit qui, de ce fait, se suffit moins encore à lui-même et à son objet (Ibidem : 311).
Même si Bakhtine inclut ce phénomène dans la même classe des mots à deux
voix, à côté de l’interaction polyphonique à l’intérieur de la conscience du protagoniste
et à côté de la rencontre tendue entre le mot du narrateur et le mot du personnage, il faut
remarquer qu’il s’agit d’un aspect différent du point de vue structurel et fonctionnel, qui
vise la relation bivocale entre des perspectives discursives et esthétiques dans l’horizon
de la culture, et non plus dans le champ des procédés de l’articulation narrative du texte.
A ce niveau socio-idéologique, le discours narratif et les personnages deviennent des
instruments par lesquels l’écrivain entre en dialogue avec la tradition.
Vu toutes ces différences de niveaux épistémologiques dans l’analyse de
Bakhtine, il nous semble nécessaire de systématiser les phénomènes dont il parle, pour
saisir les différentes formes du dialogisme dans le discours romanesque. Selon nous, ce
que Bakhtine inclut dans la troisième catégorie du mot romanesque, à savoir le mot à
deux voix pourrait être reparti dans trois catégories distinctes selon le niveau
épistémologique où se situent les aspects pris en considération.
On pourrait ainsi parler d’un dialogisme thématique qui décrirait les relations
entre les personnages et la structure de leurs discours et de leurs consciences, les
rapports interactifs et constitutifs entre le moi et (la parole de) l’autre. L’autre doit être
compris dans ce cas en double dimension : en tant que personnage proprement dit qui
joue le rôle du tu (altérité interlocutive) pour le protagoniste, mais aussi en tant que
parole non-liée, c’est-à-dire en tant que structure discursive hétérogène par rapport au
héros, mais en tant que structure qu’on ne peut pas attribuer à un actant précis et qui
pourrait être associée à la voix publique, à la doxa sociale, aux discours intériorisés par
le protagoniste et qui représentent pour lui soit une « parole autoritaire » soit « une

1
Pour la distinction histoire-récit-narration, cf. Genette, 2007 : 13-20.
2
On a déjà rencontré ce participe dans la description du discours du narrateur : « Le récit est
parsemé de mots de Goliadkine lui-même ».

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parole intérieurement persuasive » (Bakhtine, 1978 : 161). Quelle que soit la forme sous
laquelle se manifeste l’autre au niveau du dialogisme thématique, son rôle est de briser
l’unité monologique du personnage (au niveau de son discours et au niveau de sa
pensée). A ce niveau analytique on se rapporte au « personnage comme personne »,
comme « un autre vivant » (Jouve, 1992 : 108) et les formes dialogiques récurrentes
appartiennent à ce qu’on a appelé le dialogisme communicatif avec ses deux
déclinaisons (dialogisme réactif et dialogisme constitutif).
Le deuxième volet fonctionnel du dialogisme romanesque se situe sur le plan
de l’énonciation narrative et vise les rapports entre « la parole du récit », comme le dit
Bakhtine, et le mot du personnage. Dans ce cas on pourrait parler d’un dialogisme
narratif où le personnage est, avant tout, une structure discursive et « un point de vue
spécial sur le monde » (Bakhtine, 1978 : 153) qui est pris en compte en tant qu’élément
structural de l’œuvre. Située au niveau de la poétique du texte, l’interaction dialogique
entre narrateur et personnage détermine une configuration syntactique-sémantique et
stylistique particulière. Les caractéristiques de cette forme de dialogisme ne peuvent
être situées dans le champ du dialogisme communicatif parce qu’il ne s’agit pas d’un
rapport entre deux personnes, mais d’une relation entre deux principes constructifs,
deux éléments structuraux du texte narratif.
Enfin, un troisième type de dialogisme romanesque décrit les relations entre
l’écrivain et le système idéologique et esthétique où il se manifeste en tant qu’artiste.
On pourrait parler, dans ce cas, d’un dialogisme culturel-esthétique parce que ce qui
compte, en premier lieu, dans ce type d’interaction n’est pas l’auteur qui met en forme
une œuvre littéraire, mais l’artiste qui participe, par son œuvre, au grand dialogue de
l’art. Dans les structures parodiques, par exemple, l’autre n’est plus le personnage qui
contamine le discours du narrateur, mais les autres textes, les autres styles qui touchent
d’une manière ou d’une autre au discours esthétique d’un auteur. Dans cette dernière
variante du dialogisme romanesque ni la voix du personnage, ni la voix du narrateur ne
sont pris en considération pour elles-mêmes mais seulement dans la mesure où elles
sont pertinentes pour la détermination/la spécification de la position idéologique et
largement culturelle de l’auteur. La valeur instrumentale du narrateur et du personnage
dans cet horizon épistémologique est mise en évidence par une isotopie de la
subordination fonctionnelle à laquelle appartiennent des verbes comme (se) servir,
utiliser, réfracter, etc. et les prépositions par et pour : « Dans Les Pauvres Gens,
l’auteur se servait déjà de la voix de son héros pour y réfracter ses propres intentions
parodiques » (Bakhtine, 1970 : 310).

Conclusions
Même si dans le plan de la réception de l’œuvre tous ces rapports dialogiques
(personnage-personnage, narrateur-personnage, auteur/œuvre-tradition) sont perçus
simultanément, il nous a paru nécessaire de les distinguer parce qu’elles se développent
sur des niveaux épistémologiques différents et engendrent des effets de lecture variés.
Notre systématisation actuelle n’est que le prolongement des analyses bakhtiniennes des
rapports dialogiques dans l’œuvre de Dostoïevski. Le fait que Bakhtine n’a pas
distingué les divers niveaux auxquels appartenaient les phénomènes discutés ne met pas
du tout en doute la validité de ses descriptions et la profondeur et la finesse de ses
observations.
Nous considérons nécessaire une telle délimitation des nuances et des fonctions
du concept de dialogisme parce qu’elle nous épargne des simplifications abusives et des
généralisations discutables de cette notion, simplifications et généralisations qui sont en

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fait étrangères à la vision de Bakhtine lui-même. A la fin de notre parcours nous
exemplifierons ce type de simplifications, évoquant les positions théoriques de Julia
Kristeva et de Tzvetan Todorov.
Ainsi, au moment où l’on distingue, ayant comme point de départ les analyses
de Bakhtine, entre dialogisme narratif et culturel esthétique ne peut-on plus accepter la
manière réductive de comprendre le dialogisme seulement comme intertextualité,
comme le fait Julia Kristeva :
Ainsi le dialogisme bakhtinien désigne l’écriture à la fois comme subjectivité et
comme communicativité ou, pour mieux dire comme intertextualité ; face à ce
dialogisme, la notion de ‘personne-sujet de l’écriture’ commence à s’estomper pour céder
la place à une autre, celle de ‘l’ambivalence de l’écriture’ (Kristeva, 1969 : 88).
Dans le même contexte polémique, l’option terminologique de Todorov de
donner le nom d’intertextualité aux formes littéraires ou largement textuelles (écrites)
du dialogisme nous semble tout à fait discutable :
II n’est pas, et c’est essentiel, d’énoncé sans relation aux autres énoncés. La
théorie générale de l’énoncé n’est pour Bakhtine qu’une sorte de détour inévitable, qui
doit lui permettre l’étude de cet aspect-là. Le terme qu’il emploie, pour désigner cette
relation de chaque énoncé aux autres énoncés, est dialogisme ; mais ce terme central est,
comme on peut s’y attendre, chargé d’une pluralité de sens parfois embarrassante ; un peu
comme j’ai transposé ‘métalinguistique’ en ‘translinguistique’, j’emploierai donc ici de
préférence, pour le sens le plus inclusif, le terme d’intertextualité, introduit par Julia
Kristeva dans sa présentation de Bakhtine, réservant l’appellation dialogique pour certains
cas particuliers de l’intertextualité, tels l’échange de répliques entre deux interlocuteurs,
ou la conception élaborée par Bakhtine de la personnalité humaine (Todorov, 1981 : 95).
Nous ne sommes pas d’accord avec cette substitution terminologique pour
deux raisons : i. parce qu’elle élude la dimension interpersonnelle et intersubjective qui
caractérise les formes littéraires du dialogisme, pour hypertrophier le côté formel de la
rencontre des textes (conséquences stylistiques, sémantiques et syntaxiques, effets,
etc.) ; ii. parce que cette substitution détermine une fâcheuse homonymie avec
l’intertextualité en tant que notion appartenant au champ spécifique des recherches de
théorie littéraire, notion qui, malgré les affinités avec les points de vue bakhtiniens,
garde un profil sémantique et fonctionnel particulier.
Selon nous, la richesse et la valeur de la notion de dialogisme sont étroitement
liées à ses racines anthropologiques : avant de caractériser la « communication
littéraire », le dialogisme décrit d’une manière particulière l’existence et la
communication humaines, en tant que rencontre mutuellement enrichissante du moi et
de l’autre. Transposée sur le plan du texte littéraire, conçu dans sa double dimension,
énoncé et énonciation, cette notion évoque toujours le coté « personnel » de la rencontre
des « voix », des « intentions » et des « points de vue », même si cette rencontre est
décelable seulement dans ses échos « formels ». L’estompage de « la notion de
‘personne-sujet de l’écriture’ » en faveur de « ’l’ambivalence de l’écriture’ », explicable
dans le contexte idéologique des années ‘70, reste pourtant, éloignée de la vision de
Bakhtine. En plus, substituer dialogisme par intertextualité risque d’annuler aussi la
dimension axiologique ou, dans les termes de Bakhtine, « évaluative », du dialogisme
en tant que rencontre et confrontation des valeurs et des visions sur le monde, pour ne
garder que les conséquences « techniques » de cette rencontre.

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Bibliographie
Bakhtine, M., La poétique de Dostoïevski, traduction de Isabelle Kolitcheff, préface de Julia
Kristeva, Seuil, Paris, 1970.
Idem, Esthétique et théorie du roman, traduit du russe par Daria Olivier, préface de Michel
Aucouturier, Gallimard, Paris, 1978.
Genette, G., Discours du récit, Seuil, Paris, 2007.
Jouve, V., L’effet personnage dans le roman, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1992.
Kundera, M., L’art du roman, Gallimard, Paris, 1986.
Kristeva, J., Σημειωτιχὴ. Recherches pour une sémanalyse, Seuil, Paris, 1969.
Moisuc, I., Dialogisme et lecture. Polyphonie et sens dans le discours romanesque, Editions
Universitaires Européennes, Berlin, 2012.
Todorov, T., 1981, Mikhaïl Bakhtine: le principe dialogique, suivi de Ecrits du Cercle du
Bakhtine, Seuil, Paris, 1981

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 CHANGING FASHION

Dan–Niculae PODARU

Abstract:The essay intends to identify and to deepen the study of progressive elements
and mutations existent in the logic of contemporary fashion, as well as changes in discourse or
path occurring within the fashion phenomenon in the last decades. Taking into account the fact
that the fashion domain represents a challenging theme for analysis from the socio-semiotic
perspective, as well as from the historic or anthropologic perspective, I believe the object of
discussion is topical and obviously of great interest in the academic environment. This essay
draws upon the investigations and research conducted on a centre-stage yet general topic, more
specifically the realm of fashion and particularly the analysis of gender mutations that are to be
seen in contemporary fashion, the research being concluded through the publishing of the volume
“Fashion Semiotics – Gender transformation in contemporary fashion” with the University of
Bucharest.
Keywords: fashion studies, fashion anthropology, gender identity.

Before anything else, we need to make it clear that this essay draws upon the
investigations and research I have conducted lately on a centre-stage yet general topic,
more specifically the realm of fashion and particularly the analysis of gender mutations
that are to be seen in contemporary fashion.
This paper is actually a possible future topic of research and analysis of the
fashion phenomenon, as well as food for thought over the mutations and
transformations that fashion induces at the social and cultural levels (more specifically
the social uniformisation) or that - why not - the very society may generate in its turn by
expressing needs and fostering consumption.

The current dynamics of fashion

Nowadays, fashion is a bivalent phenomenon, both materially and culturally.

People use fashion to outline or define their own identity. In conceptual terms, even if
we understand that clothing comes with a certain added value that fashion adds to it
(n.b. a material value), we do need to understand that certain values that are attached to
clothing only exist in the imagination and inner beliefs of people (n.b. cultural value).
(Kawamura, 2006: 11)
Fundamentally, fashion is a phenomenon that draws its energy from renewal
and the perpetual movement of shapes, trends, colours, symbolism and – why not – the
message that it sends across. In the absence of these elements, more specifically renewal
and the movement of factors that define the whole process, as far as I am concerned we
are unable to discuss about a fashion phenomenon. Starting from the mid-19th century
(which was the historical moment when fashion as we know it today was born), fashion
has brought fresh cuts and fresh forms in the foreground, plus some innovating
colouring, avant-garde technologies and materials, and the assertion of the individual
identities of people.


University of Bucharest, dan@danpodaru.ro

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 In the spirit of what was asserted above, the way in which Roland Barthes
defines fashion seems to be of relevance to me. This is what he said: “Fashion
postulates an uchrony, a time that does not exist; in the particular case of fashion, the
past is dishonouring and the present is permanently “consumed” by the foreshadowing
fashion.” (Barthes apud Baldini, 2005: 33, translation by the author)
The assumption that I am bringing up here refers to the fact that the way in
which the universe of fashion currently evolves is deviating from its very internal and
natural logic. After a very long while of immobility and lack of innovation in terms of
clothing (see the Ancient days and Middle Ages, which are historical landmarks
speaking of which specialists never mention fashion, but just dressing, which is exactly
why certain types of clothes (e.g. the toga) survived the centuries), we are today at a
time where fashion is defined by a standstill and proposes buyers to recycle some of the
old clothing items that used to be fresh and unheard of a long time ago. In order to
uphold and illustrate this idea, I will also line up in this essay a set of products that have
become classics and that current fashion keeps recycling.
Talking about fashion not being what is used to be anymore because the
clothing industry has been deprived of innovation over some extended historical
periods, writer Gilles Lipovetsky noted that:
Primitive society is hyperconservative: it excludes the emergence of fashion
because fashion goes hand in hand with a relative devaluing of the past. Fashion
always implies the attribution of prestige and superiority to new models and by the
same token entails a certain downgrading of the old order. Completely centered on
respect for the past and the meticulous reproduction of that past, primitive society
cannot permit the consecration of novelty and individual fancy, the aesthetic
autonomy of fashion. In a relation of strict dependence vis-à-vis its mythic past,
primitive society is organized in such a way as to limit and reject the dynamics of
change and history. (Lipovetsky, 2002: 18)
Nowadays, as far as I am concerned, contemporary fashion is frozen in an
alarming immobility (that becomes conspicuous if you look into fashion at granular
level) which forces us to wonder whether fashion is still something up-to-date judging
by the mechanisms that validated it back in the past or whether the history of clothing
has not entered into a new era, the post-fashioning era, which is governed by another set
of rules and is being managed by other internal vectors.
So I wonder: aren’t we today witnessing unknowingly the dawn of a new era
dominated by a new form of history of the costume, which is actually camouflaged
under the appearance of contemporary fashion?

List of uniformisation items

I will shortly review some of the items that have become classics of fashion,
according to a personal theory (their lifecycle and the time when they appeared and
started to suggest the outset of this suggestion), which – by virtue of their very existence
and daily usage – do nothing but validate the afore-mentioned assumption according to
which we are at a time when fashion stands still and people are socially uniformed
(“levelled off”) in terms of clothing.
We need to clarify here that the descriptions of the products and the
chronological periods when they appeared in the foreground of fashion are lined up
based on the clues indicated by the prestigious Dizionario della Moda coordinated by
Guido Vergani and published in 2010:

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 - The polo shirt was launched in 1927;
- The Blue jeans were first used as fashion items in the 1940s, in USA;
- The Converse All-Star sports shoes were designed around 1918;
- Perfecto bikers’ jacket appeared in the 1950s;
- Vans sports shoes were designed and first marketed in 1966 in California;
- The prototype of the Ray-Ban Aviator sun glasses was first launched in
1937 and was first used as a fashion accessory in 1950, while Wayfarer
became a craze in the early 1960s;
- Superga 2750 sports shoes were designed and launched in Italy in 1925;
- Moccasin-type “Car shoe” for drivers, launched in 1963;
- The actual Moccasin, which became a fashion accessory amongst US
students back in the 1920s;
- Stilettos, high-heel classic-shape shoes, designed by Andre Perugia,
became fashionable in 1940 – 1950;
- The Cardigan, a knitted button-tied garment, became fashionable in
1970;
- The flats, flat-sole shoes launched in the movie productions of the 1950s;
- The cotton hoodies, appeared in the 1930s in US;
- The trench coat (taken from the military) in the mid-1940s;
- The slip-ons became cool in the late 1940s;
- The (Hunter) rubber boots – patented in 1955, they originally came in
green.
- The shorts, short-sleeved trousers, that appeared back in the 1930s and
saw their most glorious years in the 1960s – 1970s;
- The training suit, invented in 1919
- The Sperry Top-Sider Boat Shoes, appeared in 1935 and became quite a
fashionable item in the 1960s, they were produced inter alia by
Timberland and Lumberjack.
(Vergani, 2010: pp. 210 – 1209)

This was just a short review of some of the most iconic accessories, which are
no longer indications of an up-to-date fashionista, but rather parts of the same uniform
that our contemporaries wear in their everyday life, and the list can go on and on.

Mutations and transformations

In order to understand more easily and more clearly the implications that such
uniformisation of the clothing habits can generate socially, I consider it necessary to
bring up an essential theoretical idea that writer Massimo Baldini highlighted a while
ago.
While bringing forth Gabriel Tarde’s theories of imitation, Massimo Baldini
explains how a costume will prevail in the closed societies, while open societies foster
the development of fashion. Closed societies stifle the development of fashion because
they are more conservative, more traditional and deprived of dynamism, while open
societies are willing to embrace innovation and change, and broker an ongoing give-
and-take attitude that encourages fashion. (Baldini, 2005: 28)
By randomly lining up all of those clothing items (and the list is still open), one
will note that once fashionable accessories (that used to be new or fresh back in the day)

262
have turned into classic clothing, since they have been used without interruption for 50
to 100 years without any essential change in terms of style or concept.
Since we understand these new transformations that contemporary fashion has
put forth and considering as pertinent those theories according to which fashion and the
evolution of clothing (e.g. Gilles Lipovetsky’s theory described in his volume The
Empire of Fashion and other works too) have even democratised society by breaking
down the identity divide that separated social classes by means of the aristocratic dress
code, it is only too normal to wonder whether this new moment of inertia that is to be
found in the realm of the current fashion and clothing could generate a new social gap, a
new hierarchy and – why not – a new social dynamics.
The transformations and transgressions of the natural logic of fashion which I
can sense and bring up are described below.
First of all, the repetitive promotion of certain clothing items that have become
classic, since they have not been renewed over the past dozens of years (and they are
therefore in an antithesis to the logic and the internal mechanisms that define fashion),
will bring home the normal question whether we can continue talking about fashion
these days or whether we should rather envisage a new levelling type of uniform dress,
and hence about a new era of costume.
Secondly, as far as I am concerned, back in the day, when everything started,
fashion consumers would rather go for a product that exhibited a number of outstanding
and original aesthetic or chromatic features, because it was something new that helped
them better assert their identity (even if their appearance was sometimes shocking).
Nowadays, the fact that people tend to prefer products sold by well-known retailers over
really original items that make them stand out is quite conspicuous.
Given the dog-eat-dog competition amongst retailers and the existence of
global markets, competing networks showcase their similar clothing supply nowadays
more than ever in order to maximise sales and minimise risks. But this phenomenon
may induce a trend of uniformisation of the clothing habits of the mass consumers, a
reality that does nothing but confirm the assumption of a standstill, of a mutation that
fashion is exposed to nowadays. We can even affirm that the logo on the tag is more
important than the product or the quality of the product. Consumers buy the products
proposed by popular retainers (e.g. Zara, H&M, Mango), that sell well globally, a
circumstance that should be considered for purposes whenever analysing the
uniformisation phenomenon.
The globalization and uniformisation of the way in which fashion is distributed
acquire negative connotations, and for that matter Giorgio Riello noted: “For Poiret,
Worth, Chanel, the idea of selling their creations to a heterogeneous clientele within
enormous shopping spaces would have been represented truly a desecration.” (Riello,
2012: 153, translation by the author)
Another influencer of the fashion uniformisation trend is the price-quality ratio
provided by retailers such as the ones mentioned above, and in this context we may note
that it is just a limited number of consumers who are really interested in buying generic
brand products, which are produced by local manufacturers or artists in limited editions.
In order to continue stocktaking the potential drivers of the situation which is
presented in this essay, we also need to consider the uniformisation factor inherent in
the extended circulation of fake products right inside the universe of contemporary
fashion.
We need to clarify that imitation might be one of the drivers that have actually
frozen the aesthetic forms that define contemporary fashion, since the production of

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copies propagate a sort of fashion echo that will still be heard and seen even after the
originals become outdated. Original products that sell well attract massive waves of
imitations that may actually generate the impression that certain fashionable products
continue to be trendy for more time than they actually are, suggesting that certain
fashion accessories (e.g. Ray Ban Aviator and Wayfarer glasses) are used permanently.
In order to outline and understand the level of the imitation and copy
phenomenon as accurately as possible, I will quote Ms. Dana Thomas who recounts
something that happened to her while she was in Shanghai in 2004, in the lobby of a
famous hotel, where forged luxury items (Gucci, Versace, etc) produced from good-
quality materials and almost perfectly finished were on sale for quite affordable prices.
(Thomas, 2008: pp. 10 – 11)
That sort of anecdote confirms the advanced status and rate of penetration of
counterfeit products that are almost impossible to tell from the original products.

Possible effects of clothes becoming too “classic”

Moreover, since the above mentioned characteristics ensure commercial

success, the products to which we refer and that have become classic are produced in
editions by different brands and become genuine international best-sellers.
For example, the polo T-shirt is sold even nowadays (without any major
developments in terms of design and tissues) by both the very first manufacturer who
originally launched it, i.e. Lacoste, but also by Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Diesel,
Armani or Burberry, and the list may continue.
I have realised that the analysis of this very specific example (the polo T-shirt)
is applicable without exception to any other clothing item that is specified in the above-
mentioned list, while generating the same type of social mutations and transformation,
changes in one’s identity discourse, gender discourse or age discourse.
This analysis of the example that refers to the polo T-shirt brings up a number
of relevant issues, which provide social and semiotic details. Originally, this was a
utility product, it was used as a sports outfit (Jean René Lacoste was a tennis player).
The polo T-shirt has survived the decades, unchanged to this day, and has come to be a
unisex and uniage clothing item, that both women and men wear, regardless of their
age. The polo T-shirt, which is considered to be casualwear these days, is manufactured
by various designers, just as I mentioned before. Speaking about that, I need to highlight
that the target public (in terms of its psycho-social structure), but also the values and
philosophy that these brands that are so different from each other would like to send
across are fundamentally different (Diesel vs. Burberry). In spite of all that, the polo T-
shirt is used in a relatively uniform manner by the fans of these designers, a conclusion
which drives home the idea that uniformity also touches upon people’s own identities.
Another important detail to mention in the case of the daily usage of the polo
T-shirt is that – in the case of developed countries, where the industry and consumption
of fashion are well evolved, even if brands and purchasing costs differ – it is not used
exclusively in the urban environment, but it is also to be found in the wardrobes of
provincial users too.
Considering the uniformity issues that I have identified and presented in the
case of the polo T-shirt, I am actually wondering whether the statement of Fred Davis, a
sociologist, which was valid and applicable in 1992, when he published his Fashion,
Culture and Identity, is still valid nowadays:

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 That the clothes we wear make a statement is itself a statement that in this age of
heightened self-consciousness has virtually become a cliché. But what is the
nature of the statements we make with our clothes, cosmetics, perfumes, and
coiffures, not to mention the other material artifacts with which we surround
ourselves? (Davis, 1992: 3)
Starting from what Fred Davis said, we should notice a particular situation and
we should wonder what sort of messages/statements a rebellious young man wearing a
Diesel Jeans (130 $) polo T-shirt can send and what would be the message of a mature
man wearing the same sort of T-shirt manufactured by, say, Burberry, whose price tag is
nearly triple in size (290$), while both are made of the same piqué cotton tissue.
We should also consider that the two manufacturers send identity and social
standing messages that appear to be different (Diesel targets the relatively young
consumers, and sends a message of freedom and originality, while Burberry targets a
more mature and conservative public, suggesting tradition and a British-like poise).
So I wonder whether the fact people having different ages and different social
positions share the same values by using a piece of clothing which is so much similar, is
not a sort of stereotypical and uniforming discourse? Continuing this logical stream, in
addition to all that, we reach the only too natural conclusion according to which it is not
the object per se and its aesthetical features that will sell the merchandise today, but the
way in which archetypal values are being perceived, the underlying philosophies that
drive the brands and that brands symbolically send across to consumers.
Besides, we are also finding ourselves in front of a paradoxical situation where
the very material a pair of jeans-like trousers is made of and its very cut are almost
identical in the case of items that different brands promote. Moreover, for example, due
to the trends imposed by the fashion which is preferred during a certain season, the
prevailing hue for these trousers is indigo, with some discoloured areas. The way in
which certain brands (e.g. Scotch & Soda) have found their place on the market and
have managed to announce the uniqueness of their characteristics on such a uniformed
market is to print on the tags the information that worn-off/random discolouration areas
are done manually and without any industrial tool, which is exactly the sort of nearly
imperceptible detail that makes the product stand out against all others.
On the other hand, this sort of example and the mechanism which I described
above can be extrapolated to other products on the list presented at the beginning of this
essay and to many other products as well.
This is how we arrive to a major conclusion, more specifically that the values
of fashion migrate from the actual object and its inherent values to the producer of that
clothing item and to the iconic values that are created and sent through the philosophy
and marketing policy that are used to promote any brand.
As a consequence, we need to consider yet another potential factor of the
current uniformity trend, more specifically the social pressure, the urge to get integrated
in a certain social group by means of certain clothing items which the collective
conscience endow with magical attributes.
For that matter, we should bring up the position that French semiotician
Roland Barthes, a representative of the French structuralism, had about the
psychological prospect of using clothing. This is what he said: “In this particular case,
the benchmark is no longer represented by style or the spirit of an era, but by the
psychology of the individual that wears the clothes: the personal choice of clothes is
supposed to reveal the psychological depth of an individual.” (Barthes, 2006: 31,
translation by the author)

265
 The words of Roland Barthes may only reinforce our belief that fashion should
fundamentally represent – at psychological level – a personal choice which is
customised to fit a certain culture, education level and social status of every individual.
Nowadays, it is exactly this diversifying feature (i.e. the individualising psychological
decision) that started to wane away inter alia under the pressure of the dress-code
imposed by the professional environment or under the social pressure that one’s
entourage can put up (in the case of youngsters). Under such circumstance, the
individualising psychological feature, the one which should have determined to a certain
extent the diverse choice of clothes, slides into the background nowadays, while a
number of uniforming psychological trends are becoming obvious.

Conclusions

As a consequence, assuming that the presentation of the elements that I have

covered so far is accurate, it becomes obvious that fashion is being crippled by a
creative paralysis. There is a huge amount of clothing products that were designed
decades ago and that are still around, which fundamentally contradicts the main
characteristic of fashion, i.e. the ongoing renewal, while breaking away from the past
and promoting novelties.
On the other hand, at a fundamental level, but also visually and aesthetically,
fashion should bring fresh avant-garde elements in the foreground, while what it
actually does is just recycling classic items (e.g. the polo T-shirt, the Converse sports
shoes, the Ray Ban Aviator sun glasses, etc). Under such circumstances, fashion is no
longer designed by putting together colours, novelties, impactful and shocking visual
elements, unparalleled creativity and style of the fashion designers, while showcasing
the quality and value of the embedded materials and accessories, but by tapping on the
symbolic value that buyers attach out of their own will or that were educated to attach to
a certain clothing item. Today’s fashion preserves and recycles clothing items whose
shapes and materials have remained unchanged, that are uniform and that are just being
reinterpreted (maybe just chromatically) and included as symbolic elements that support
the construction of the visual and identity discourse.
We can say that fashion, strictly as an aesthetic phenomenon and as an
unrestricted and ideology-free form of self-expression, is on the brink of extinction. For
that matter, writer Tim Edwards believes that fashion used to be an apolitical
phenomenon for a quite a long while, while today fashion has become an ideological
tool which is employed by race-based social movements, civil rights movements,
women activists or gay pride movements or even by the urban guerrillas that young
people are putting forth to fight back against some prevailing models which society
imposed upon them. (Edwards, 2012: 153-154)
I truly believe that the next evolutions of the fashion phenomenon will come
up with other sorts of transgressions and mutations deviating from the natural and
fundamental logic of fashion, because fashion is a live phenomenon that is closely
interconnected with society, while the contemporary society is at a time where values
and traditional beliefs are getting reorganised, a trend that will surely influence the way
in which fashion will continue to evolve.

Bibliography
Baldini, M., L’invenzione della moda - Le teorie gli stilisti la storia, Armando Editore Milano,
2005

266
Barthes, R., Il senso della moda, Giulio Einaudi editore, Torino, 2006
Barthes, R. in Baldini, M. (ed.), Semiotica della moda, p. 33, Armando Editore, Milano, 2005
Davis, F., Fashion, Culture and Identity, The University Chicago Press SUA, 1992
Edwards, T., La moda – Concetti, pratiche, politica, Giulio Einaudi editore, Torino 2012
Kawamura, Y., La Moda, Ed. Il Mulino, Bologna, 2006
Lipovetsky, G., The Empire of Fashion, Princeton Paper Backs, Chicago, 2002
Riello, G., La Moda Una Storia dal Medioevo a oggi, Editori Laterza, Bari, 2012
Thomas, D., Deluxe – Come i grandi marchi hanno spento il lusso, De Agostini, Novara, 2008

Dictionaries
Vergani, G., Dizionario della moda, Baldini Castoldi Dalai Editore, Milano, 2010

267
 REFLECTING ON THE EXPERIENCE - A REQUIREMENT OF
ACTUAL TEACHING PROFESSIONALISM

Georgiana DUMITRU

Abstract: The contemporary models of professional development based on the role of

experience considering it a relevant subject in learning. But experience alone is not enough.
Experience has to be adopted in order to obtain a specific improvement. (Skovolt and Jennings,
2004). The key component of these actual concepts concerning experience is the practice of
reflection on experience (Strasser and Gruber, 2006; Neufeld, Karno, Nelson,1996; Rønnestad
and Skovholt, 2001). Through reflexive practice over his own activity, the teacher can realize his
weak and strong points; he can adjust his own didactic style in order for him to attain his
objectives. A teacher must have reflexive teaching skills to support and motivate students to
reflect on how they can perform the learning activity in order to improve its, to build appropriate
perspective on the group of students, to assess objectively their performance, to determine and
analyse scientific educational situations, to train and develop the metacognitive skills. The
reflexive approach has been incorporated among pedagogical competences: reflexive teaching
appeared as an indispensable competence in teaching and it had a contribution in improving the
efficiency of the educational activity. The present article stresses mainly this type of competence
associated to the educator’s profile of competences and it offers a useful work instrument in his
teaching activity.
Keywords: quality in education, professionalism, reflexive practice, reflexive teaching,
reflexive teacher.

Introduction
When we imagine and choose our career most of us desire to be recognized as
good professionals and the first condition in order for this to be realized is to be indeed
good professionals. What makes a professional to be really good? An amount of factors,
but among these is also the fact that one should be a reflexive practitioner.
What does it mean to be a reflective teacher? To reflect first, during and after teaching,
taking into consideration the ways in which the teacher (the set of personal beliefs,
knowledge, experiences, attitudes) and the context in which learning takes place (the
compulsions generated by the social context) influence his personal learning and that of
his students.
Teachers’ professionalism is an intrinsic condition for the success of the school
actions. The teacher who acts in a professional way must be a practitioner and a
reflective researcher; professionalism supposes among other attitudes and aptitudes
(self) reflection, exercised competences of investigation and reinterpretation of
educational practices with the aim to improve, permanent interest for the quality of his
didactic acts.
Many researchers have been interested in the problem of “reflection” within
the educational process. They took different approaches of this problem, as a proof
being the amount of terms used: “reflective practice”, “reflective teaching”, “reflective
critics”, “reflective thinking”.


University of Pitesti, geo_dumitru81@yahoo.co.uk

268
 The teacher’s reflective practice represents a cognitive and metacognitive
process, in which he deliberately examines educational practices, has as its aim to
require a profound understanding of the entire educational process in order to improve
it. It supposes adopting some informant and logical decisions and the analysis of the
consequences of this decision. (Weir and Tilney, 2004)

Theoretical models of the reflective practice

In the paper “How We Think: A Restatement of the Relation of Reflective
Thinking to the Educative Process”, John Dewey (1933:89) offers a great amount of
arguments in order to consolidate the idea of reflective practice in education. The author
opposes „reflective action” and „routine action”. If the first supposes responsibility,
intuition and passion, the second is guided mainly by impulses, tradition and authority:
in each schools, explains Dewey, exist one or more predefined ways, taken as they
come, to define reality, exist the so called „collective codes” to treat objectives, to solve
problems („This is how we do it in our school”). As long as these „codes” are respected
without major discrepancies one considers that everything is functioning without
problems, even if this fact limits the acknowledgment and experimentation of some
alternative points of view. But „educators and quality education cannot limit to the
imitation of techniques that functioned in the past, but even more should understand the
principles behind these techniques. Shortly, it is proved the fact that when one reflects
more, the quality of teaching increases”; „unreflective” teachers tend to accept day by
day reality, concentrating on finding those ways that help them finish what they
consider according to their culture to be the objectives; but doing only this, they remain
the slaves of circumstances”.
A more formal and structural approach than „learning by experience” is
„learning based on experience’ or experiential learning. This is based on a circular
model of learning, that is on a succession of many steps that permit keeping continuity
in passing from one step to the other. The model elaborated by David Kolb in 1984, in
his book "Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and
Development” is a significant support in understanding this form of learning. Thus,
Kolb describe the adults learning process in a circle of four steps: experience, reflection,
generalization, application, illustrated in the following figure:

269
 Fig. 1 The circle of learning according to Kolb, 1984

Thus, in his circle, Kolb’s model demonstrates us that the efficiency of learning
depends in the same measure of action and reflection. Having an experience is in a
desirable way followed by a moment of analysis, a kind of “step back” as when we need
a certain distance in order to better understand a picture. Now one can observe what
happened, one can identify he important facts and errors, one can ask questions (like
“Did it work well?” “Why did it function?” “Can we do better?”) and one searches for
answers. On the base of this process of reflection one builds theories, experience
transforming in this step of conceptualization in structured information.
Another important lesson on reflection in education can be taken from the
paper written by Donald Schon: “The reflective practitioner – how professionals think
in action (1995). Taking care of the ways in which professionals think when they act,
Schon brings in the centre of discussions about reflectivity a famous formula, base for
multiple analyses and personal and institutional developments: reflection in action vs.
reflection over action. Schon argues that real professionals, indifferently of their area,
are reflective practitioners and that all their efficient professional acts can be defined as
reflective practices. And thus because they think while they take action and action on
the basis of what they think (reflect-in-action), moreover, complementary to this type of
“thinking in action”, what professionals do requires a “thinking over action” integrated
thus in a complex of multilevel reflexive attitude in order to produce an adequate verbal
description (of this thinking on thinking in action) and is completely something else to
be able to think of the obtained description.
One can separate many elements of a process of reflective practice that we
show in the following figure:

270
 I. The phenomenon that generates This is a fact that took place in daily professional
reflection activity or a special connected fact of this one.

This steps appears naturally when the phenomenon

has a stronger impact, as for the daily professional
II. Reflection with the aim of
activities one thinks that it should be educated and
understanding the phenomenon
create a habit to reflect each day at the end of work
day or at the beginning of the next.

This is the step that requires conscience and critical

thinking capacity understood as the power to separate
III. Reflection on the way in which the
thoughts: those generated by egocentrism, those
process of thinking worked
generated by social pressure and those generated by
the phenomenon in itself.

After all cleaning and interpretations we should exist

something that can reach a manifestation level: we
modify certain behaviours or certain convictions of
IV. Action our behaviours.

Fig. 2 Steps in the process of reflective process

Reflective practice correlates with other pieces of professionalism: the desire
for better, mistrust that one reached the maximum of development, polite scepticism
towards the ideas heard from the others and towards the compliments received for
teaching activity.

Tools of reflection
For a teacher that desires to be a reflective practitioner an instrument that
proves to be helpful and with didactic potential is the diary. The reflective teacher is
curious; ask himself questions in all steps of teaching and searches for answers, not only
in the pre-learning step, but also in the assessment of evaluating the educational activity
and its regulation.
Asking himself questions like: “What is it/does it mean..?”, “Why did we get
these results/did the students/pupils react in this way….?”, “How can one
react/explain….?”,”What were the strong and the weak points of the didactic
strategy/method/means of learning…?”, “With what can one correlate the
idea/result/conclusion….?, “What consequences has…?” the teacher starts investigate
more or less in the direction of finding the most efficient means of organizing learning
experiences.
Among the benefits of a diary we enumerate:
- It documents the professional evolution;
- Keeps at the same place useful examples for the parents’ meeting (real
behaviours of children), special homework done by children, ideas that you can

271
 present at professional meetings, ideas that you can use when you prepare a
presentation for a conference or an article for a publication;
- It is a source of inspiration for thinks better done in class;
- Reduces professional stress. Stress can be generated also by difficult things or
by successes.
On the other hand, the diary can be combined with other forms of professional
development: pedagogical researches, reflective practice groups, lectures, conferences,
courses, etc.

Conclusions
The conclusions of the present article stress out the following aspects:
reflective approach of teaching involves exchanges in the way teachers usually perceive
teaching and their role in the process of learning; teachers who explore their own
teaching through critical reflection develop changes in attitudes and realize that they
contribute to their professional growth, as well as to the improvement of support they
offer to their students; reflective teaching shows the fact that experience alone is
insufficient for professional growth, but experience associated with reflection can be a
strong impulse for teachers’ development.
In the field of profession, beneficent influences for the reflective teacher are
connected to: enlargement of knowledge horizon; intensification of the self-
improvement process by receipting positive didactic experience, by taking, adapting its
creativity and value it in his own educative practices; reporting new data to his own
experience and vice versa, reporting his own teaching experiences to other experiences.

Bibliography
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the
educative process. Boston: D. C. Health & Co., p.89
Neufeldt, S. A., Karno, M. P. & Nelson, M. L., (1996). A qualitative study of experts
conceptualization of supervisee reflectivity. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43.
Pollard, A. (2008). Reflective Teaching: evidence-informed professional practice (third edition).
London: Continuum International publishing Group.
Rønnestad, M. H., Skovholt, T. M., (2001). Learning areas for professional development:
Retrospective accounts of senior psychotherapists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice,
32.
Schon, D. (1995), The reflective practitioner – how professionals think in action. Basic Books,
NewYork
Skovolt T. M., Jennings, L., (2004). Master Therapists. Exploring Expertise in Therapy and
Couseling. Boston: Pearson.
Strasser, J. ,Gruber, H., (2006). Learning processes in the professional development of counselors:
The role of illness script formation. (Research Bulletin No. 21). University of Regensburg: Research
Bulletins from the Chair of Educational Science III.
Weir, C., Tilney, K. (2004). Reflective practice for teachers. University of NH.
http://www.iod.unh.edu/EE/presentation/SALT.ppt

272
 THE INITIATION OF THE READER-STUDENT IN DISCOVERING
SELF-IDENTITY BY STUDYING THE LITERARY TEXT
(SECONDARY EDUCATION)

Loredana Eugenia IVAN*

Abstract: Culture is important in setting up human person’s identity, in intellectual,

emotional, spiritual and self-development.
Keywords: discovering self-identity, initiation of the reader-student.

We shall begin this intercession by presenting the historian and literary

reviewer Nicolae Iorga’s opinion about the individual cultural development “A person’s
culture is formed, firstly, through reading. That is why, from early childhood, it is
important to love books, to read them, to keep them with care as we do with our most
valuable possessions” (www.wikipedia.ro)
Cultural competence is an important aim for today’s school curriculum,
especially for its highly significant role in the building of the individual identity, which
is represented by intellectual, affective and moral development. Thus, by reading
literature, by the superior understanding of the values in the literary texts, the reader is
introduced in the spiritual horizon of the community he/she belongs to and the
discovery of one’s identity is made through dialogue with the former generations and
with contemporary authors. For the student reader, but also for the modern man, reading
a book represents an efficient way towards cultural values, offering an essentially
important method of professional growth and permanent cultivation.
Reading introduces us and “maintains us inside the intimacy of literary
creation, in the modernity of scientific and technical texts, representing an essential
method of training, and tends to become an absolutely necessary technique of informing
and documentation” (Șchiopu, 2009, p.58).
The French psycho-pedagogue Gaston Mialaret notes-“reading is an activity of
integrative decrypt of a text, of understanding the studied text, of examination and
appreciation for the quality of the text, opportunity for most efficient intellectual
actions” (Mialaret, 1981, p.110).
In the context under analysis, the literature class must become “a space of
initiation in the reading of the literary text, a space which talks about the actual reading
of the text and the text itself and also a space of initiation in culture” (Pamfil, 2008,
p.140).
In his recent work “A History of Reading”, Alberto Manguel writes an
important idea for the present study –“in ever y literate society, learning to read
represents an initiation, a ritual escape from a state of dependence and rudimentary
communication” (Manguel 2011, p.89). A person able to read has access, due to books,
to collective memory, becoming familiarized with the common past, which is renewed
every time by the student- reader through reading. The cultural competence has an
approximate determination, respectively a list of attributes, being defined as “the
capacity to integrate and rank knowledge and, of course, to use knowledgebase in a

*
No. 1 Secondary-school of Mioarele, Argeș, ivanloredana92@yahoo.com

273
productive way” (Moles, 1974, p. 345). It contains the most important basic knowledge
in several fields of activity; it incorporates the small encyclopedia presented by
obligatory education. Inside the ensemble of basic knowledge we may find “knowledge
related to the truths of the respective society; knowledge belonging to the sapiential
heritage, including proverbs, aphorisms that gather at one place the century-old
experience of the collectivity; a list of revered personalities forming together a
consciousness of the uniqueness and solidarity in the society”(Cornea, 1998, p. 90).
Hereby, we can affirm that, reading the literary texts from the national
literature and not only, represents a direct and complex way of forming and delineation
of cultural competence and of national identity, because cultural and spiritual messages
transmitted by literature are a reflection on human condition, a reflection on the world
and the written testimony of an époque.
Culture is widely understood as a system of values, a system of symbols and
beliefs, a system preserved and permanently developed by the individuals from a
community .These aspects are pursued by the school curriculum, having an important
role for the initialization of students‘ identity, in their intellectual, personal, affective
and moral development.
The school curriculum sets some essential aspects: “In order to form a literary
culture and an affective and coherent universe, it is desirable for the student: (a) to
understand the significance of Romanian language and literature in the delineation of
national identity and the integration in the context of universal culture; (b) to internalize
the cultural values, the national and universal values, values disseminated through
language and literature, as a premise of self development from intellectual, moral and
affective point of view; (c) to structure an axiological coherent system, a foundation for
an autonomous and independent personality, dynamically integrated in the society; (d)
to develop the skills of receiving the written and oral messages, to develop sensibility
and interest for reading literary and non- literary texts; (e) to understand the main
modalities of understanding and interpreting literary and non- literary texts”( National
Curriculum, School Program for 5th to 8th grades, The Language and Communication
Curricular Area,2009.)
Analyzing the school curriculum one can observe the first three objectives that
aim to form essential cultural representations, and the next two objectives express the
idea of the reading act in terms of attitudes, motivations and skills. The Middle School
teacher has a great responsibility ,”to bring to the literary class the remote stakes of the
curriculum , the literary texts being chosen taking into account their relevancy from
cultural, esthetic and congruency to the student’s expectation horizon points of
view”(Pamfil, 2008, p. 22).
In the context under analysis, we must refer to several aims of the Middle
School curriculum that emphasize “the initialization of the students in the horizon of
major culture through the acknowledgement of well known values of Romanian and
universal literature in the lists of suggested texts – creations signed by Mihai
Eminescu, Ion Creangă, I.L. Caragiale, George Cosbuc, Ioan Slavici, Tudor
Arghezi,Vasile Voiculescu, Mihail Sadoveanu, the Novels about king Arthur, Biblical
Parables…”-“expressing feelings and attitudes connected to the problems in the text
(for example, the student will be capable of identifying the ethic and cultural values in a
text, expressing his/her own impressions and preferences)”.
Sketched from the perspective of these essential requirements, the literature
class must become a place of initiation in reading , a place of initiation in the reading
techniques and a place of initiation in culture, a place in which the student analyses and

274
interprets the text itself and the act of reading a literary text. In this way, the literary
creation “contributes to the development of reading competence, offering support for
applying and forming understanding and interpretation strategies, also representing an
aesthetic object recorded in the cultural memory”(Eftenie, 2008, p. 176).
The shaping force of folk literature represented by doina, incantations,
proverbs and sayings (the aphoristic genre)-or the acknowledgements about the social
and spiritual existence of the individual from the Biblical Parables signify together
forms of folk wisdom, moral and religious beliefs.
Literature represents a significant manifestation on the national culture and a
complex way of tracing cultural competence. The books of literature “allow us to speak
with our remote, through the principle of un-remoting”, one of the principles that form
the basis of reading (Liiceanu, 2001, p. 172). All these bring before the student
“principles, values, themes, styles shared by his fellow men, allowing the student to
integrate in a spiritual community, the function of literature having the same value as
socio-human subjects”(Manolescu, 2009, p. 94). However, the difference is due to “the
complexity of imaginary worlds, that bring passions, emotions, happenings and
destinies into the scenery” (Eco, 2004, p.159). The literary text proposes us an
imaginary world that addresses our soul and mind, which implies the existence or
practice of different ways of reading: a participative reading and a reflexive one. Within
participative reading the dialogue with our remote represents “passionate participation
to the intellectual and sensory experience that takes place in the literary text”
(Starobinski, 1985, p. 41).
George Călinescu, in his work The History of Romanian Literature wrote “man
in folk poetry is par excellence a social being and the temporary alienation from his
close human society brings yearning, a complex and indefinable feeling specific to our
language and folk creation: Green leaf from the poplar tree/In the heart of the
woods/Lays the bridge of yearning” (1964, p.142). Impulses and advice coming from
folk wisdom and life experience are found in proverbs and sayings, representing implied
meanings, poetic forms of manifesting folk wisdom discovered by the student reader
with help from the teachers.
Literature constitutes a significant manifestation of national culture and a
complex form of defining cultural competence. A literary work constitutes a stimulating
factor for reading, because it allows the student reader to “integrate in a spiritual
community rooted in history” (Pamfil, 2008, p. 24).
Analysis of text constitutes “a didactic strategy through which students learn
the way in which they can understand, they can interpret and appreciate the literary text
taking into account aesthetic criteria and its particularity”(Goia ,2008, p. 151). Students
must “read the literary text according to several methodological criteria, reading criteria
with formative-informative value” (Eftenie, 2008, p. 193). These methodological
criteria take good account the following guiding principles that teachers must apply:
“the principle of simultaneous analysis of the connections between content and
expressivity; the principle of differentiated analysis of every text, thinking about its
uniqueness (descriptive poetry, social poetry, etc.) ; after analyzing the text, synthesis
must follow; the principle of direct contact with the literary text, researched through a
permanent dialog/heuristic conversation between students and teacher; the principle of
active participation of the students to the analysis of the text’(Conea, 2008, p. 174).
The epic literary text has a decisive shaping force which acts on teenagers and
consists of fulfillment commitments that it offers and the accessibility of its discourse.

275
Even situated in real time and among events, the student has a familiar relationship with
the world of the action and the capacity to give it a meaning:”the world presented in
every narrative work is a temporal world […[ Time becomes human as it is articulated
in a narrative form; the other way around, the story becomes significant as it draws the
traits of temporal experience” (Ricoeur, 1999, p. 17) The epic text contains patterns of
significant articulation of events, models from the perspective of who we can
understand and interpret the real world.
Researchers pointed out the forms of enjoyment that the epic text makes
possible:
-“the joy of knowing and researching new territories, that can be realized through an
important journey which prolongs and fulfills the limited experience of reality;
‘”the joy of seeing known truths being confirmed, of finding evasive thoughts or
indistinct feelings written with clarity”
“the joy of compensating one’s inadequacy in the external world; to forget it by diving
in a different universe or to find corrective solutions by consulting these worlds”
(Dumortier, Plazanet, 1990, pp. 9-18).
It is essential to discuss here the canonic narrative structure, represented by the
short story and called narrative thinking. The concept of narrative thinking was first
introduced by Bruner, and, together with logical and scientific thinking represents “two
ways in which human beings focus knowledge about the world and organize immediate
experience of this world” (Bruner, 1996, p. 50). By the means of logical-scientific
thinking, the student transacts and analyzes the information, by the means of narrative
thinking the student elaborates meaning and significance.
The theory of narrative thinking merges to” activating cultural competence by
focusing on literature and on the development of thinking, the narrative texts being
useful during Middle School, at the forefront of literature classes.” (Crăciun, 2011, p.
185).
Knowledge through literature is a special kind of knowledge, literature
belonging to arts, and this is why “the investigation and analysis of the literary
phenomenon is made by specific means , which are different from those used in
language study, because literature cannot be taught, it is received, using as a specific
means “artistic intuition”(Parfene, 1999, p. 112)
In the last few decades, in the didactics of Romanian language and literature
two directions were developed in the field of literary text study:”one focusing on the
discovery of the structure and the hidden meaning of the text” idea that has resulted in
the use of commonplace analysis, and the other direction, developed from receiving
theories implies using the affective reaction of the student reader, using the meaning
built by the reader while reading” (Pamfil, 2008, p. 71).

Bibliography
***National Curriculum, School Program for 5th to 8th grades, The Language and
Communication Curricular Area,2009.
*** http//.www.wikipedia.ro aceesat în 20.05.2015.
Bruner, Jerome, S, L`education, entrée dans la culture, Rety, Paris, 1996.
Cornea, Paul, Introducere în teoria lecturii, Editura Polirom, București,1998.
Cornea, Paul, Interpretare și raționalitate, Editura Polirom, București, 2008.
Crăciun, Corneliu, Metodica predării limbii şi literaturii române în gimnaziu şi în liceu, Ediţia a
IV-a, Editura Emia, Deva, 2011.
Dumortier, J. L. Plazanet, F., Pour lire le recit, De Boek-Duculot, Paris, 1990.

276
Eco, Umberto, Interpretare şi suprainterpretare. O dezbatere cu Richard Rorty, Jonathan Culler,
Christine Brooke-Rose, sub îngrijirea lui Stefan Collini, Trad. Rom. De Stefania Mincu, Ed.
Pontica, Constanţa, 2004.
Eftenie, Nicolae, Metodica studierii limbii şi literaturii române, Editura Paralela 45, Piteşti,2008.
Goia, Vistian, Didactica limbii şi literaturii române pentru gimnaziu şi liceu. Editura Dacia,
Cluj-Napoca, 2008.
Liiceanu, Gabriel, Declaraţie de iubire, Humanitas, Bucureşti, 2001.
Manguel, Alberto, Istoria lecturii, Editura Nemira, București, 2011.
Manolescu, Nicolae , Lectura pe înţelesul tuturor, Editura Aula, Bucureşti, 2009.
Mialaret, G, Lexique. Education,Paris, PUF, 1981.
Moles, Abraham , Sociodinamica culturii, Traducere I.Pecher, Bucureşti, 1974.
Pamfil, Alina, Limba și literatura română în gimnaziu. Structuri didactice deschise, Editura
Paralela 45, Pitești, 2008.
Parfene, Constantin, Metodica limbii şi literaturii române în şcoală, Ghid teoretico – aplicativ.
Editura Polirom, Iaşi,1999.
Ricoeur, Paul, De la text la acţiune. Eseuri de hermeneutică II. Editura Echinocţiu, Cluj-
Napoca,1999.
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277
 MODERN FICTION FOR PRIMARY AND PRE-PRIMARY
CHILDREN – THE ALBUM AND THE COMIC BOOKS - A
METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

Adriana LAZĂR*

Abstract: The album and the comic strips are the first forms of culture a child learns to
manipulate with great pleasure. The new syllabus for the preparatory class includes them as
instruments for developing the comprehension of a variety of written messages in familiar
communicative contexts. The present paper aims to present a pedagogical approach to these
modern fiction pieces and help preschool and primary school teachers use them as educational
tools to foster children’s development of communicative and cultural competence.
Keywords: comic strips, album, pedagogical tools

Children’s literature – the best tool to start building early cultural

competence in children

In this part of the article we will look at how children’s literature can help
children acquire a rich and varied culture – this is the grounds on which the examples of
educational activities with albums and comic strips will be based in the second part of
our paper.
The primary school curricula in Language and Communication states that, at
the end of the cycle, pupils should be able to read by themselves and listen to literary
texts and whole children’s literary works appropriate for their age. This skill is essential
to validate the mastery of the Romanian language of the general curricula. During our
observations on primary school lessons, we were able to attend Communication in
Romanian classes, based on the exploitation of children’s literature texts, where the
purpose was only to gain knowledge of Romanian language. The pupils had different
tasks, producing written, vocabulary exercises but which all referred to language
proficiency. However, the literary texts are not always a tool for the mastery of
language. Through children’s literature, pupils develop other linking skills and
knowledge with other pillar form the primary school curricula. Techniques such as the
literary networking, meeting the authors, or reading for pleasure go beyond mere
literary work and allow opening other dimensions. We think that the representations that
children get from their readings explain their ability to master literary works more
easily. Schools, parents, librarians and book sellers, they are all responsible for plunging
children into the fascinating world of books, for accompanying the child in the choice of
reading, for the development of their cultural competence.
Children’s literature, which is omnipresent as early as preschool education,
plays a major role in the development of the child: it allows him/her to dream, to
question, to share, etc. Thus, children form an early age should start building a first
literary culture through gradually exploring literary texts appropriate for their age and
level. Teachers pave the children’s way to encounter strong literary works, which are
considered the real classics of the kindergarten. Later, in primary school, the goals are

*
University of Pitești, adriana.lazar@upit.ro

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similar but lay stress on reading networking which can be made possible by exposing
children to a wider variety of literary works. At the end of primary school, children
should be able to explore more rapidly different children’s literary works. The key is to
allow the literary work to register in each child’s memory thorough its various elements:
the characters, the narrative, the text of a strong passage, etc.

The album

The album is one of the first cultural objects a child learns to manipulate. More
than one child develops great joy in reading the album. This leads the child to explore
different themes and imaginary worlds. It seems that the first albums appeared during
the XIXth century, but were perceived to publishers as simple collections of images.
Later on, brief texts were added and the literary genre of the album was born. At first
conceived as a collection of images, it became a story articulating images and texts
altogether. During the first half of the XXth century, the word album started to designate
a book in which images became an essential part of the narrative, along with the text,
offering an open and imaginative reading to children.
There are three main types of articulations between the text and the images of
an album. Firstly, there are those albums displaying a redundancy between text and
images. The story unfolds from the text and the images illustrate the story. It seems that
the text and the images can be explored and understood separately. Then, there are
albums showing a complementarity between text and images. One cannot be explored
without the other as they are both necessary to understanding the story. The text gives
meaning to the pictures. Finally, there are albums with a narrative shift between text and
images. The story told in the text is different from that described in the images.
Paradoxically, the words are somehow present in the images, in most of the
albums; although invisible, they actively participate in its decryption. The text generates
mental images which, in their turn, generate words in children’s minds. This means that
images and text tell the same story – there are two narrators: the textual narrator and the
image narrator, interacting to tell the same story. The double narration is used in the
case where images intersect the text. The narrator is external to the story and tells it to
the child. We can find these features in the images where the book narrator reveals
his/her omnipresence with rather wide plans or even giving further details on the story
that on the text. On the other hand, the narrator can be placed inside the story. He/she is
part of the story, a character addressing the reader.
The authors of this literary genre often play on how they articulate text and
image. Some choose to focus the story on the text, while others will favour the images.
Those parts where the narrator fails to provide certain information to the reader, either
in the text of in the images, are elements that can be found in all types of albums.
Indeed, the authors consider certain parts of their story as unimportant for to the thread
of the story, and will choose not to give details and leave it to the reader to interpret the
passage in a personal manner. There are also implicit passages in the story when
something is only suggested to the reader, but not clearly explained. It is again the
reader who needs to interpret those passages in a personal way.
Finally, the texts of some albums play with intertextuality and inter-iconicity,
in the images. Intertextuality refers to the way a text speaks about a previous generally
known text, and the same can happen with the images. Album characters talk about
classic famous characters in children’s literature, such as Snow White or The three little
pigs.

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 At the first sight, the album appears quite accessible. However, once you take
into account the processes of double narration and the correspondence between the text
and the image, one can notice how complex these pieces of children’s literature can be.
More fragile children can often find it difficult to understand the fictional illustrated
stories. Indeed, not all children have the school culture of the album, the cultural
dimension and the family practice. The linguistic dimension (the reading or listening
text) can be a barrier to understanding. The ability to recognise or decode the images is
not always available to children and they might not always resonate with the world of
the story; there may be no anchorage in their practical experiences and their
interpretation field. The characters’ feelings might not necessarily be within the
children’s reach and the thread of the story of the permanence of the characters is not
self-evident for the youngest ones. That is why some pedagogical work is necessary to
enable them to explore the story with fun and empower children to start building their
literary culture, regardless of their family backgrounds.

Methodological ways of exploring the album in class

There are various ways of exploiting albums in class, with children. The most
common way would be to tackle the albums as part of a ritual, while the teacher s
reading and showing the album to the class. It is neither a decoding, nor a decrypting
exercise for children but a moment of collective listening to a story, without pedagogical
implications. The goal of this activity is to experience together the pleasure of entering a
story, while fully taking into account the text and the specific syntax of the book. An
album reading session, in the morning, when children come to school, can serve as a
bridge between the family world and the school world. In any case, it is important to
save a moment during the school day to read an album to the children. Albums could be
placed within the easy reach of the children, in a reading corner of the class for them to
leaf through, at any time.
Each album has its own specific features which lead to creating and
implementing specific didactic activities in order to achieve various objectives and
develop particular skills. The teachers can diversify the approaches. If they start by
exploring the images of the album, children can then develop their linguistic and
semiotic skills while interpreting the images and discussing on them.
The album networking can also be an excellent way to build a literary culture.
The objective of this type of activity is to comparing and crossing the books and to
establish a problematic. For example, the networking of the works of an author refines
children’s understanding and interpretation of each of the works. The stories they listen
to are stored in the children’s minds and turn into reference works. Children are imbibed
with the linguistic universe of a certain author and better understand his/her writing
intentions. These networking activities can be carried out as a project that culminates
with meeting the author. Here are the stages that can be followed during the teaching
process: album discovery - the children become familiar with the form and the hypertext
of the album, the cover, the name of the author, the name of the illustrator, the
collection, etc. – when children make assumptions about the story (pre-listening);
information about the author that can be searched on the Internet, together with the
children, on the author’s web page; reading of the album performed by the teacher and
then verification of comprehension through questions regarding the text and the images,
finding the morale, where appropriate; group work - children work together on
questions that could be addressed to the writer, at a later stage; networking the works of

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the author; building a poster with titles of albums written by the same author; inviting
the author in class for discussion.
Another way to approach albums in classroom, with older children, may
include the following stages: teacher’s reading and first collective reformulating from
children to create a plan of the main ideas; switching from oral to written activities –
children write after dictation the reformulated text, following the plan of main ideas;
children write the plan on the blackboard, taking into account the chronology of the text;
children are invited to imagine a written text, an episode of the story, taking into
account the logic of the text and using the dialogue. The teacher can also have children
practice vocabulary items, based on the text of the album: names of professions,
onomatopoeia; or grammatical structures.
The albums in which the written text is missing and where there are only
images to unfold the story are also valuable resources for producing oral messages.
Children can be invited to add words to the pictures in the album, exploring one page
per day, at the beginning of the school programme.

The comic books

The comic books designed for children represent a unique way of expression, a
sort of a play between an interesting story and a well done drawing. They are stories,
told in successive images of different shapes, which use of cinema techniques, such as
framing and ellipsis. A specific code is used in comic books and they represent a literary
form of its own, recognised as the 9th art. These modern creations are attractive,
interesting and captivating for any child. The concept is quite simple: an image
summarises a story or a scene, and, above that, a few text lines briefly describe the
action depicted by the image. As the stories of the comic books are told with the help of
the images, they are quite expressive and, therefore, easy to read.
The comic strips tell a story in images that can be read from left to right, in a
chronological order: there is a time dimension inferred by the drawing, there are
movement, portrait and representation. There is also juxtaposition, or, more precisely, a
mixture of text and image.
This particular way of reporting events has long existed but it was not until the
twentieth century before the comic strips took the current shape ruled by a set of
conventional codes.

Methodological ways of exploring the comic books in class

The comic books help children start building their reading autonomy: they read
independently and reading becomes fun and appealing. If children are not used to
reading novels or others forms of literature, they generally know and practice
themselves reading comic books. For those children who still have difficulty with
reading, the comic books represent the easiest form of literature they can practice
reading independently.
When used as a source of literary exploitation, the comic books allow a
networking approach based on characters, genres (science fiction, adventure), authors
and their works, format (strips, gags on a board, short stories, albums deployed on
several pages).
Just as a theatre play, the comic book is a privileged tool for the study of the
dialogue it uses almost exclusively. Through the techniques it uses, those of framing

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and directing of the characters, the comic books are similar to a piece of picture theatre
and can become a pedagogical tool to have children practice their diction while
dramatising the story described in the comic strips.
The comic books can also represent a starting point in writing projects on at
least three levels. One of the didactic activities that can be performed in class would be
the extension on an unfinished story. The best example is the suspense in the images
and lines in the footer of a page, that is to say - when the hero in the last box on a board
is astonished as he/she spots something that the reader has not been able to discover
yet, as it is drawn on the next page. The teacher can ask children to write the story form
that point on. Another didactic activity could be writing dialogues: children are asked
to insert dialogues in the boxes above the images, while taking into account all the
visual information provided in the comic strips (attitudes of the characters, scenery,
time of the action, etc.)
Finally, and more complex but quite comprehensive, teachers could ask
children to write a script. This requires to have studied a script before, where they can
find both the text describing the stage direction and also the presence of dialogues, just
as they appear in a play.
As the comic book primarily describes a story, it can also be used as a tool for
practicing literary interpretation, similarly as analysing a tale.

Conclusions

It is important that all pupils have the opportunity, during their school years, to
come across rich literary works and learn to return to those literary texts, later in life.
This matter leads us to see how children interact with the literary works, how can we
help children start building their cultural competence by using albums and comic strips
as valuable pedagogical tools in early education. Since not all children come to school
with the same cultural capital, exploring children’s literature at an early age is quite
essential. The educational environment should reduce these inequalities between
children. It plays therefore a key role in building this literary culture, but it is not the
only player in this process. School partners, such as libraries or book fairs can play a
similar role in building that culture. The albums and the comic strips have special
features. They can be regarded as useful pedagogical tools to open the children’s minds
to the world and help them build their literary culture. Many didactic activities based on
albums and comic books can be offered to preschool and primary school children.

Bibliography
LaRue, Monique, Écrire pour les enfants: un délicat dosage pédagogique et de littérature, Lurelu,
vol. 2, no. 4 (hiver 1979), p. 4-6; URI: http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/13027ac
Poslaniec Christian, Houyel Christine, Lagarde Hélène, Comment utiliser les albums en classe,
cycle 1, 2, 3, Retz, Paris, 2000;
Schneider, J.-B., Lecture d’images. Clés pour le dessin d’humour. Lire, analyser, produire avec
les enfants de 9 à 15ans, Accès éditions, Strasbourg, 2000.

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 ENSEIGNER LA LITTERATURE : REPRESENTATIONS
ET QUALITE DE L’ACTE DIDACTIQUE

Ilie MOISUC

Abstract : This paper aims to sketch a theoretical frame to analyze the relationship
between the way in which a teacher represents his own discipline and the quality of his
performance as a teacher. Our contribution sits on the interdisciplinary intersection of
psychology, didactics and literary theory and is based on the idea that one of the factors that
affect the development of the pupils reading ability is the teacher’s way of representing his
discipline and the it’s object, the literature itself. To ignore these representations or not being
conscious of their role, may lead to some blockages of the didactic act, altering the quality of the
pupils way of relating to the literary text, both in terms of analysis and interpretation.
Keywords: representation, teaching, literature.

Introduction
Le point de départ de ces considérations sur le rapport entre les représentations
et la qualité de l’acte didactique se situe dans notre activité d’enseignement
universitaire. Au long des années, pendant le séminaire de Théorie de la littérature, nous
avons observé une série d’invariants au niveau des réponses fournies par les étudiants
aux questions concernant les problèmes générales de la littérature (qu’est-ce que la
littérature ?, quelles sont les différences majeures entre les textes littéraires et les textes
non littéraires ?, etc.), mais aussi des parcours interprétatifs standardisés, comme si les
nouveaux étudiants en Lettres commençaient préalablement munis d’un système
d’informations et de compétences qui leur permettent de savoir comment s’y prendre à
la littérature. Ce système de connaissances hétérogènes représente ce qu’on appelle
d’habitude « la culture littéraire » (Pamfil, 2006 : 19, Crinon, Marin et alii, 2006 : 12),
le fruit d’une douzaine d’années de confrontation avec le texte littéraire, d’analyses, de
commentaires, etc. Malheureusement, ces réponses, quoique souvent similaires,
indiquaient parfois des lieux communs trop rigides et assez éloignés de la spécificité
fonctionnelle et structurale de la littérature, construits sur des simplifications et des
polarisations sans nuances qui, au lieu de familiariser les élèves ou les étudiants avec la
spécificité du discours littéraire, transformait la littérature dans un domaine soit trop
ennuyant pour s’en occuper, soit accessible seulement aux « initiés », aux passionnés
des symboles et des significations « cachées ».
Toutes ces simplifications et toutes ces « idées reçues » s’appuient sur des
généralisations abusives qui projettent un ou plusieurs des éléments caractéristiques du
discours littéraire (caractère fictionnel, ambigüité, rythmicité, figuralité, etc.) au niveau
de l’unicité même si, le plus souvent, ces éléments sont communs à toutes les pratiques
discursives qui utilisent le signe linguistique, et/ou à tous les domaines de l’expression
artistique.
Comprendre pourquoi et comment cette vision réductrice prend forme et
oriente les compétences et les performances interprétatives des élèves n’est pourtant
assez simple parce que cette problématique ne se situe pas à un niveau explicite de la


Université „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, Iaşi; ilie_moisuc@yahoo.com

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pratique didactique, mais au niveau de l’implicite, des préjugés et des sous-entendus.
Pendant le gymnase et le lycée, l’étude de la littérature a une valeur « instrumentale »,
par rapport aux objectifs de l’éducation, situables dans cadre du modèle
« communicatif-fonctionnel » (cf. Ilie, 2014 : 21). L’étude « analytique » de la
littérature (Pamfil, op. cit., 11) n’est pas, dans ces conditions, un but en soi, mais une
étape dans le mouvement didactique visant « la réception des textes littéraires et non
littéraires », l’une des compétences générales de l’étude la langue et de la littérature au
gymnase et au lycée, même si, parfois, on a l’impression que l’école voudrait
transformer les lecteurs en petits théoriciens, capables à manier une terminologie
métatextuelle suffisamment touffue pour impressionner les évaluateurs, mais aussi pour
évacuer tout plaisir que la rencontre avec le texte littéraire puisse fournir.
Malgré la difficulté de circonscrire l’espace d’émergence de ce faisceau de
connaissances et de compétences métatextuelles, nous voudrions proposer une piste de
recherche bâtie sur une perspective communicative de l’acte didactique. Le point central
de cette piste de recherche serait la notion de « représentation » vue comme manière
dans laquelle l’un des participants à l’acte de communication « se représente » des
éléments divers de l’interaction communicative1. Notre hypothèse est que la perspective
des élèves sur la littérature et sur l’interprétation du texte littéraire reproduit
partiellement, mais aussi substantiellement, la perspective du professeur, perspective
dont, le plus souvent, le maître n’est pas conscient, mais qui influence d’une manière
considérable l’efficacité et la qualité de l’acte didactique.
L’objectif principal de notre intervention est, donc, l’analyse sommaire de la
liaison entre la manière dans laquelle un professeur de langue et littérature (roumaine)
conçoit sa propre discipline et les résultats de son activité didactique, surtout au niveau
des compétences de lecture et d’interprétation de ses élèves. Cette discussion théorique
touchera à quelques points névralgiques de cette liaison, indiquant quelques pièges et
quelques lieux vulnérables auxquels tout enseignant responsable devrait prêter attention
afin d’éviter des impasses didactiques comme le refus de lire, la lecture mauvaise, la
surinterprétation, etc.

La communication didactique : interactions et représentations

Si l’on se situe dans la logique de la « nouvelle communication » dans laquelle
« on ne peut pas ne pas communiquer, qu’on le veuille ou non » (Watzlawick, Beavin et
alii, 1972 : 46) et dans laquelle comportement et communication se confondent le plus
souvent (Ibidem : 16), il va de soi que l’activité didactique implique toutes sortes
d’interactions communicatives, dont la description dépasserait les limites de notre
démarche. Nous nous bornerons à faire référence au schéma de la communication
élaboré par Jean-Blaise Grize dans Logique naturelle et communications (Grize, 1996 :
57-70). De ce schéma, nous retiendrons l’importance que l’auteur accorde aux
représentations en jeu dans toute interaction communicative et ses observations sur « le
postulat des représentations » (Ibidem : 63-65). Pour résumer le point de vue de Grize,
nous dirons que la communication implique toujours l’élaboration d’une série de
représentations qui visent le sujet locuteur, le destinataire et le thème du discours. A ces
« représentations élémentaires » (Ibidem : 63) s’ajoute une autre série tripartite de

1
Pour les valeurs épistémologiques de la notion de représentation, cf. Bernoussi, Florin, 1995 :
71-78 ; pour une discussion générale sur les représentations en éducation, cf. Cosmovici, Iacob,
coord., 1999 : 264-268.

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représentations concernant la relation (sujet locuteur-thème, sujet locuteur-destinataire,
destinataire-thème).
Ce schéma et ces observations nous semblent très utiles pour toute tentative de
description « réaliste » de la communication didactique, même si l’adaptation
imposerait quelques nuances liées aux particularités socio-discursives et
institutionnelles de l’acte didactique. Pour ce qui nous intéresse, à savoir la relation
entre les représentations et la qualité de l’interaction didactique, nous limiterons la
discussion au professeur en tant que sujet locuteur et en tant que meneur de jeu.
Nous pouvons ainsi discuter des représentations du professeur sur plusieurs
directions : la représentation de l’élève dans la tête du professeur, la représentation de la
nature de la relation qui unit l’élève et le professeur, l’image que celui-ci se fait de sa
propre discipline, du métier de professeur, ou de sa propre personne, etc. Ce faisceau de
représentations fonctionnent comme des réponses implicites (ou préalables) à des
questions concernant quatre aspects de la communication didactique :
1. la représentation du soi : « Qui suis-je ? », « Quelles sont mes valeurs, mes
compétences, mes peurs, mes attentes, mes limites, etc. ? », « Comment suis-je en tant
que professeur de roumain ? »;
2. la représentation du partenaire : « Quelles sont les valeurs, les
compétences, les peurs, les attentes, les limites, etc. de mon (mes) élève(s) ? » ;
3. la représentation de la relation (de l’interaction) : « Qu’est-ce qu’enseigner
veut dire ? », « Quels sont mes objectifs et mes priorités en tant que professeur ? »,
« Comment doit-on enseigner le roumain ? » ;
4. la représentation de l’objet de la communication : « Qu’est-ce que la
littérature ? », « Qu’est-ce que la poésie, le roman, la comédie, etc. ? », « Comment
faut-il analyser un poème ? ».
Bornant notre discussion au dernier point, ce ne sont pas les réponses
standardisées qu’un enseignant peut donner qui nous intéressent, mais les réponses
implicites, dont les professeurs ne sont pas conscients mais qui se traduisent
discrètement dans des actions et dans des comportements en classe et, qui, en dernière
instance, sont subrepticement transférées dans le comportement des élèves. La
représentation de l’objet de la communication étant, dans ce cas, la littérature et/ou le
texte littéraire, il faudrait distinguer entre les connaissances théoriques sur ces
« objets », connaissances facilement formulables en définitions approximatives, et les
opinions, les présupposés et les préjugés sur les mêmes « objets », qui forment une sorte
de doxa métalittéraire où l’on trouve des lieux communs, des idées reçues, des
idiosyncrasies et des projections personnelles, organisés comme une « structure de
croyances » (Cosmovici, Iacob, coord., op. cit. : 264).
Nous l’avons déjà mentionné, cette doxa est difficilement décelable et,
d’habitude, c’est à ce caractère discret qu’elle puise sa force. Cependant, si l’on cherche
à comprendre au moins les mécanismes qui la mettent en marche, on pourrait distinguer
deux espaces d’émergence et d’action de ces représentations : l’espace de ce que les
théoriciens appellent « l’orientation préalable de la lecture » (Dufays, 1994 : 117) et
l’espace d’application des procédés et des procédures d’analyse et d’interprétation.
En ce qui concerne le premier niveau où les représentations du professeur sur
la littérature deviennent actives, il faut observer qu’il est lié au mouvement projectif qui
caractérise toute activité de lecture et d’interprétation :
L’activité à travers laquelle le lecteur projette ses préconceptions et ses préjugés
sur l’œuvre peut se décliner sur au moins trois registres : celui de l’encyclopédie à travers
laquelle le lecteur investit l’œuvre d’un contenu cognitif, celui de la sensibilité affective

285
 qui le conditionnera à sélectionner tels mot plutôt que tels autres en faisant porter sur eux
son attention et sa rétention mémorielle, et celui de la synthétisation configuratrice qui
l’amène à projeter sur le texte une forme anticipée de complétude (une Gestalt), soit une
hypothèse de cohérence d’ensemble et de hiérarchisation des niveaux interprétatifs,
rendant compte de l’œuvre saisie comme un tout (Citton, 2007 : 53)1.
Sur tous ces trois registres, le lecteur active des aspects particuliers de sa
représentation sur la littérature au niveau des hiérarchies personnelles (auteurs, genres,
œuvres, courants, morceaux, etc.) et au niveau de la pertinence subjective (Ibidem : 49)
des aspects à prendre en considération dans la lecture d’un texte littéraire et toutes ces
projections que la lecture d’un professeur explicite seront appropriées telles quelles par
les élèves.
Quant au deuxième horizon d’émergence des représentations qui nous
intéressent, il se situe sur le plan méthodologique de l’analyse et de l’interprétation du
texte littéraire et vise les procédures et les protocoles interprétatives auxquelles le
lecteur-professeur fait subir les textes à enseigner ; nous pensons autant aux méthodes
d’analyse qu’un professeur privilégie (l’analyse stylistique, l’analyse sur les niveaux du
texte, l’approche structuraliste ou socio/psychocritique, etc.), qu’aux habitudes
herméneutiques générales (découvrir « ce que l’auteur veut dire », « la structure de
profondeur du texte », « le sens caché », « la véritable signification », « le symbole qui
se cache derrière une image quelconque », etc.), habitudes fondées sur des à priori tels
que « l’auteur a une intention et le but de l’analyse et de la récupérer », « il y a, dans un
texte, une structure de surface, superficielle et trompeuse, et une structure de profondeur
où se cache la signification véritable du texte, « le texte dit toujours autre chose qu’il
nous laisse entendre le niveau dénotatif de l’expression », « le texte est tissu de
symboles que l’analyse doit traduire », etc.
Même si de tels à priori semblent parfois se trouver au niveau du sens commun
(cf. Compagnon, 1998), une pratique interprétative qui ne prend une distance critique
par rapport à eux risque à aliéner la relation des élèves avec les textes, substituant les
fins par les moyens ou transformant « la relation critique » dans un algorithme quasi
automatique qui ne tient pas compte des particularités des textes concrets, mais en
illustrent des aspects trop généraux, ou pulvérise la signification globale du textes dans
des « traductions » aléatoires des images-symboles parsemées dans le texte.
Le professeur, en tant qu’autorité qui façonne la compétence lectorale des
élèves, avant tout, par le pouvoir de l’exemple, agissant, devant eux comme un lecteur
modèle, doit porter une attention spéciale aux mouvements projectifs que sa lecture
étale et aux habitudes analytiques parce que les élèves seront tentés de les intérioriser et
de les reproduire ensuite.
Prenons, par exemple, le cas d’un professeur qui doit enseigner le poème
Luceafărul de Mihai Eminescu. La sphère des représentations qu’interviendrons dans sa
pratique didactique sera liée à plusieurs aspects dont dépendra la qualité de sa
performance devant les élèves. Ces aspects concernent les différents niveaux du système
littéraire et le professeur devra les assumer consciemment. Dans ce cas, il devra être
conscient de sa représentation par rapport à l’auteur (trop exaltée, trop contestataire,
trop impliquée, trop indifférente, etc.), au texte (un chef-d’œuvre toujours surprenant,
un texte supralicité, qui a épuisé son potentiel de signifiance, etc.), aux méthodes
d’analyse à utiliser (la lecture allégorique, la lecture « éthique », l’approche stylistique,
structuraliste, thématique, etc.), mais aussi aux aspects plus généraux tels que la

1
C’est Yves Citton qui souligne.

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spécificité des genres littéraires (très importante vu le mélange générique du poème), les
particularités du discours poétique (le rapport dénotatif-connotatif dans l’articulation et
le fonctionnement du texte), le rôle des images poétiques et l’attitude que le lecteur
devrait prendre par rapport à elles, etc. Ignorer ou utiliser inconsciemment (qui parfois
signifie la même chose) ces représentations peut conduire à des blocages dans l’activité
didactique au niveau de la qualité de la relation qu’un élève arrive à établir par rapport
au poème étudié.
Imaginons-nous, par exemple, que pour notre professeur, lire des poèmes c’est
gaspiller le temps, que les textes littéraires ne lui procurent aucun plaisir, et que le
poème d’Eminescu n’est qu’un texte à enseigner aux élèves pour qu’ils puissent en
discuter en Baccalauréat. Même si ce système de croyances peut outrager l’image
idéalisée du professeur de vocation, capable à insuffler à ses élèves le plaisir de la
lecture est lié, il est, pourtant, possible et, oserions-nous le dire, souvent rencontré. Il est
facile de continuer l’exercice d’imagination pour penser comment le comportement,
l’attitude et les actions du professeur traduiraient/trahiraient sa représentation de la
littérature et quels comportements et quelles actions cette représentation générait de la
part des élèves.

Conclusions
Comme l’admettent les spécialistes en instruction, les représentations sont « un
facteur déterminant de l’activité éducative » (Cosmovici, Iacob, coord., op. cit. : 264).
Pourtant, le niveau discret auquel elles agissent fait qu’on les prend rarement en
considération dans les études de méthodique et/ou de didactique.
Le but de nos observations est d’attirer l’attention sur l’importance de cet
aspect et d’ouvrir le champ d’une investigation à faire. Cette investigation, à laquelle
notre intervention pourrait constituer un cadre théorique préliminaire, devrait offrir des
réponses précises à des questions ponctuelles comme : « Comment pourrait-on faire
sortir à la lumière les représentations qu’un professeur de roumain se fait à l’égard de sa
discipline et à l’égard de la littérature ? » et « Comment pourrait-on améliorer les
représentations déficitaires, remplaçant les croyances limitatives ou erronées par des
croyances enrichissantes ? ». En ce qui nous concerne, nous voudrions fermer la
discussion soulignant deux mots qui nous semblent très importants dans ce contexte :
lucidité (le consigne antique « connais toi-même ! » doit nourrir les efforts du
professeur de devenir de plus en plus conscient de ce qu’il est et de ce qu’il fait en tant
que professeur) et responsabilité (le professeur doit se souvenir toujours que les
messages qu’il transmet et qui se nourrissent de ses représentations sont des semences
qui se transformeront en fruits dans la vie de ses élèves, et que la qualité de ces fruits
dépend de la qualité de la semence).

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Bibliographie
Bernoussi, M, Florin, A., « La notion de représentation : de la psychologie générale à la
psychologie sociale et la psychologie du développement » en Enfance, no 1/1995, p. 71-87.
Crinon, J., Marin, B. et alii, Enseigner la littérature au cycle 3, Nathan, Paris, 2006.
Citton, Y., Lire, interpréter, actualiser. Pourquoi les études littéraires ?, Editions Amsterdam,
Paris, 2007.
Compagnon, A., Le Démon de la théorie. Littérature et sens commun, Seuil, Paris, 1998.
Cosmovici, A., Iacob, L. (coord.), Psihologie şcolară, Editura Polirom, Iaşi, 1999.
Grize, J.-B., Logique naturelle et communications, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1996.
Ilie, E., Didactica limbii şi literaturii, Editura Polirom, Iaşi, 2014.
Pamfil, A., Limba şi literatura română în gimnaziu. Structuri didactice deschise, ediţia III-a,
Editura Paralela 45, Piteşti, 2006.
Watzlawick, P., Beavin, J. H. et alii, Une logique de la communication, Traduit de l’américain par
Janine Morche, Seuil, Paris, 1972.

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 PLACE AND ROLE OF THE FAIRY TALE IN ALTERNATIVE
PEDAGOGY

Ruxandra-Viorela STAN*

Abstract. The role and the importance of the fairy tales in children’s education have
been well-known for a long time. They bring their very important contribution for children to help
them develop their interest for the process of knowledge, also develop their affective processes,
form their will and character, namely, develop the children’s personality. By their content, the
fairy tales and the stories provide children with the necessary knowledge for the most different
aspects of life and fields of activity, they also accustom them with the environment (the animals,
the plants, the physical phenomena). On the other hand, by the example of their heroes, the fairy
tale educates its auditors (and his readers as well) to grow their fundamental moral virtues such
as love for truth, good and beauty, honour, courage and dignity.
Keywords: fairy tales, training, personality

Fairy tales, stories, and narratives have always represented an efficient

instructional-educational means both in kindergartens and in schools. They contribute to
broaden the children’s sphere of knowledge, to develop their psychic processes (such as
thinking, memory, imagination, and attention), to enrich their language in all its aspects,
and the children’s moral and aesthetic education (Androiu Ioan, 1986: 234).
Throughout practicing the pre-school education (and of the primary one), the
activities called stories are grouped into: the nursery teacher’s story (and the primary
teacher’s) and the retelling of the story (Ibidem, 235). Although the fairy tale
“maintains” a monotypic structure (Vrabie Gheorghe, 1975: 167), it succeeds to find
the method and to give life and reliability as well to the events within each variant. The
instructional-educational valences of the fairy tale are highlighted through the variety of
themes approached by the fairy tales, both by the popular and the cult ones. Among the
most frequent themes from the fairy tales we mention: the fight between the good and
evil, the cult of truth, the cult of justice, the cult of lie, the ambition to broaden the
sphere of knowledge regarding the world (real and imaginary), its aspiration to
immortality, to happiness, to the accomplishment of the world harmony, to the
coexistence of people, to the cult of dignity and of the human greatness, etc., sufficient
intelligence in comparison with elder brothers, enough to find rescue solutions in the
1
exceptional situations they seldom have to face (Călinescu G, 1969:5) .
The fairy tale, as work which specifically reflects the conception of a
community, firstly had an educational purpose, following essentially to point „how life
on earth must be disposed” (Propp V. I., 1970: 306).
Through their content, the narratives provide children with knowledge related
to the most different aspects of life and fields of activity, making them become aware of

*
University of Pitesti, ruxxy_j@yahoo.com
1
„Prâslea chooses a place to hide by the tree, beat two spikes in the ground and stood between
them, so that one in front of him and the other behind him, so that whenever he was sleepy and
might doze, to strike with his beard in the hub in front of him and if he leans his head at the back,
to hit his back head in the spike at his back” (Petre Ispirescu, Mighty Prâslea and the Golden
Apples, Grammar Publishing House, Bucharest, 2005).

289
the surrounding nature (of the animal world, the vegetal world, the world of the physical
phenomena) (Andrei Al, 1973: 47). Without being conscious, the child under the school
age and the young school child remake, generation after generation, the way of this hero
from the fairy tale and suddenly joins the ranks of grown ups. His story has a happy
ending, but, through the serious reality of the deeds which lead him to ignorance and
immaturity, he evolves to the superior age of the grown up. Sole and helpless,
nevertheless dreaming to grow up and to become stout quickly, he „understands” and
learns without realizing, by continuing the development of the fairy tale, that he himself
shall have to face proofs which shall test his wisdom, courage, audacity, power not to
reveal a secret, to impose himself a laws of behaviour, to obey the commands of the
grown ups, not to judge from appearances and not to deceive himself (Andrei Al, op.
cit: 48).
Through the variety, richness and novelty of the ideas comprised in fairy tales,
these contribute to the more profound knowledge of life. The child’s whole psychic
activity is exercised throughout the listening process of a narrative. The child comes out
of passivity and carefully follows the tales, memorizes, compares and analyses the
supplied material, makes certain casual links, settles some connections between facts
and characters. „Thus, the child’s way of thinking is vividly stimulated and makes
possible for him to understand the significance of the heroes’ deeds” (Stoica Cornelia,
Vasilescu Eugenia, 1994: 56). Children accept with equal pleasure both Perrault’s
narratives or of Grimm’s brothers, and the Romanian fairy tales, with specific
equivalents, dominated by Prince Charming and Ileana-Cosânzeana.
Taking advantage of the fairy tales in the instructional-educational process
from the first stages of education has registered a long and fruitful learning experience
as proof of the fact that this literary genre is the children’s favourite.
From a methodological point of view, the most frequent methods to take
advantage of fairy tales are grouped – at kindergarten and in the first primary classes –
based on the story method, respectively in the nursery teacher’s (primary teacher’s)
stories and in the children’s as well in which there are involved also methods of
creativity starting from the basic text of a fairy tale or another.
The nursery teacher’s narratives are activities for oral presentation of certain
narratives, stories, and fairy tales. These are organized either with all the children during
the mandatory activities or outside them during the time allotted for games and funny
activities, or with the entire group, or with less numerous groups of children.
The nursery teacher must choose and plan the accessible stories, with moral
content, with narrative elements to maintain the interest and the children’s attention
vivid. Taking into account that listening and the perception of a story supposes an
intensive effort for children, it is recommended that the respective activity to take place
before the other activities, so that they can follow the ideas in their logical
concatenation with attention. Another important task which belongs to the teacher is to
carefully study the text of the story before presenting it to children, eventually to
arrange it, to adjust it to the children’s possibilities of understanding and of learning.
The children’s narratives. The types and the narrative character of the
narratives in accordance with the material based on which the degree of the children’s
creative participation is also accomplished, are the following (Stoica Cornelia,
Vasilescu Eugenia, op.cit: 59):
a) narrative based on the nursery teacher’s model;
b) narrative based on a given beginning;
c) narrative based on a plan (drawn up with the help of the images or verbally);

290
d) narrative based on a given theme (suggested by a picture or by a toy).
a) The narratives based on the nursery teacher’s model
The most efficient model, for the work at the beginning, is constituted by the
narratives based on the nursery teacher’s model. Offering as model the narratives with
events from personal life, with events from home or from kindergarten, the nursery
teacher updates similar impressions from children’s life, specific events they lived and
awakens them the desire to narrate them. The model provided by the nursery teacher
serves the children as an example, having, as it is known, a beginning, a plot and a
conclusion. Therefore, the nursery teacher intuitively teaches the children to conceive a
narrative.
b) The children’s narratives based on a given beginning
Thus, the beginning provided by the nursery teacher must be conceived so that
it can awaken the children a vivid interest, to stimulate their imagination. The main
condition they must meet at the beginning of the narrative is that to suggest the subject,
to mark the perspective of its development. The nursery teacher must draw up a certain
frame of the work development: the conflict (broadly) and the main character (the
characters) with its characteristic features.
c) The children’s narratives based on a given plan
The children’s stories based o a plan communicated with the help of the
pictures are known under the name of picture based narratives. It is made with the help
of the pictures, in which the children reproduce the contents of a story they know. The
children find themselves in the situation to imagine, to create short stories based on the
already presented plan. This plan is given through a number of 3 – 5 (or more) pictures
which are unknown to the children, which represent successive moments of a narrative.
These reveal to children main characters and main characters of the action. The story
activities following a verbal drawn up plan represent a superior form in comparison
with the picture based stories. They mark the transition to the free stories of the children
and constitute a preliminary exercise for the composition lessons from school. The
narratives based on a verbal plan are more difficult and request more independence and
imagination from children.
d) The children’s narratives based on a given theme
This type of narratives for children are organised both for the upper preschool
group and for the preparatory class based on the syllabus. The theme of the narratives
can be suggested by scenes or toys – which by their real content offers the children the
possibility to take advantage of the mentions, impressions and of their own experience
and stimulates their creation. Based on the nature of the scene, the children’s narratives
can limit strictly to its contents or to exceed it. Other methodical methods in which the
practical application of the fairy tale is engaged in instructional-educational activities, in
didactical games, in additional activities and in extra didactic activities are represented
by:
- the image based reading,
- the conversation or dialogue (about the plot and the characters),
- the conversation or debate regarding the content and the expression form of the
narrative/fairy tale,
- games-exercise,
- literary meetings (meetings with the characters, etc.),
- literary contests (recognise the character, etc.), and so on., which implicitly are
assessment forms, assessment of the fairy tale characteristic. Despite a rich experience
in the kindergarten and in the primary school regarding the practical application and the

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attribute of the fairy tale by children, at present, due to its real-imaginary content which
include a perennial universe, but superseded, the fairy tale tends to be considered an
obsolete literary genre; that is why, approaching the cult fairy tale, certain modern
writers renew it approaching it by the science-fiction literature, by adventures and other
genres. Despite all this, in the syllabus and in the current (alternative) textbooks, the
place and the role of the fairy tale, as well as of the literature was generally restricted in
the stage of the non-literary texts extension which are connected to the programmatic
needs, to the adjustment to the specific reality. Promoting the realistic–scientific spirit
lead to diminish the attention for the role of the imaginary in education. Revealing this
present characteristic of the contents which must be learnt in school, the Romanian
researcher Ştefan Popenici expresses his opinion that ignoring the child’s need for
imaginary throws him in a cruel reality for which he does not have the „key defence”
for the necessary defence. It should be noted that, in comparison with a reality of which
complexity cannot be comprised, the child assures imaginary answers to the problems
he has and he raises, also behavioural solutions based on the appropriation of the human
values promoted in the fictional literary texts.
The application of the imaginary in the literature –Ştefan Popenici suggests -
equates with the configuration of the universe from the archaic chaos (Popenici Ştefan,
2001: 176). By conceiving the universe, man offered himself an essential frame of the
reality that he explained to himself based on which he built his natural environment
with the world and the habits, as well; by adopting, inside the solutions offered by the
fairy tale the solving of the problems with which man faces even imaginarily, by the
application the fight and the victory of good over evil – essential dimension of the fairy
tale – the child morally structures his existence in accordance with the most important
values of the world (the Good, the Beautiful, the Truth, the Justice, the Compassion)
and builds himself as a constructive optimistic personality. In this way, by the
contribution of the artistic image from literature in general, from the fairy tale in
particular where the child is formed as future grown up adjusted and integrated in nature
and society and can be a good citizen. Ştefan Popenici sees in the fairy tale a real „
didactic support” for the civic and moral education so necessary to the democratic
society in continuous change (Popenici Ştefan, op.cit.: 178).
The fairy tale can continuously fulfil its primordial function, that to represent
the reality not only for the dimension „as it is”, but also on the dimension of „how it
must be”, the function of narrative model of the human behaviour in relation to the
nature and society.
We continue to present Ştefan Popenici reasoning concerning the actualization
of the fairy tale (of the imaginary) in education generally in the civic and moral
education in particular. The civic education is an integrated field in the curriculum of
the political education as necessary segment, imposed following the profound changes
of the society. The informational era provoked the training of certain new realities in the
economic, social and politic plan and in the plan of the cultural structures. The necessity
of the nation’s rewriting which defines the citizen of the new socio-politic reality is
given by the difference instituted among the characteristics of the contemporaneous
society and the anomic cultural structures. In this new context, the education has the
purpose to attune its paradigms to the new requests and conditions the individual must
fulfil, especially in the field of ethics and civism. We approach here one of the main
themes of the hereby research: in order to recompose the story of education of the new
millennium, we must have something to tell. Which are the stories, the narratives which
can create a new narrative context for the public education in which the fundamental

292
values of the civic culture must be found? The civic education refers to the acquirement
and practicing of the civic virtues, of a desirable behaviour from a moral point of view.
The moral dimension is focused on the civic education, the philosophers of the Greek
classicism being those who set up a direct connection between the public life and the
ethic dimension of the social existence and between the political area and the field of
ethics. The previous definition can be completed: The civic education also supposes the
introduction and the training of the young in the ethic, politic and legal universe of the
public life. The civic education offers to the pupils the necessary knowledge, values and
aptitudes for an active presence in society. It is a field of the public education found in
connection with the spiritual, ethic, social and cultural development of the pupils, being
the segment responsible to the greatest possible extent for the formation of the social
capital and by its dynamic. What type of educative narrative does the fairy tale provide?
Which are the models and the traces which can be used in this field? As we mention, the
fairy tales has an original educational-initiatic functionality, being narrative forms of
dynamic presentation of the universal values which exceed the immediate context. The
texts can be used in the civic education in the five ways of presentation, in the sense of
rewriting the narrative capital or the stories to which the human individual relates to its
actions. The fairy tale represents a productive and dynamic model to draw up the
educational supports from the field of the ethic-civic education.
The civic education supposes, in the present context of the social and dynamic
development, the support, and the transmission of certain fundamental values which can
be translated in a desirable ethic code at the level of the contemporary imaginary of
education. The narratives of the fairy tales offer the model of a natural educative trace,
which practically applies the necessity of the man to relate to or to imitate the models,
the examples which offer him the landmarks of desirable behaviours. The imitation of
the documents granted to the model constitute, nevertheless, a model of experimentation
of the exceptional events lived by the character which exercise the attraction on the
reader. The exemplary model can be structured and conceived lying on narratives which
can contrive and send the desirable ethic code to which the pupils shall relate to. These
values being part of the ethic code follows to be transposed in behaviours or behavioural
models which are initially presented in an attractive non-coercive form, in a game in
which the individual’s imagination is actively engaged (Popenici Ştefan, op.cit.:179).
School cannot miss the values, but can be situated outside the social dynamic
by building certain parallel models which address to certain inexistent realities or can
register failures which can be more serious than the ones from the past. The fairy tale
offers the possibility to the teachers to highlight the fact that, throughout life, man faces
certain challenges which impose choices.

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293