CaieteEchinox40 2021 p.369 405

Book Reviews
371
Auto-images et représentations de soi. I. Identités collectives
or solidarities include Nancy Armstrong’s

illuminating analysis, in How Novels Think:
Ros Ballaster, Fictions The Limits of Individualism from 1719 to
of Presence: Theatre 1900 (2005), of the blended dynamic of
and Novel in Eighteenth- self-making and unmaking. This, Arm-
Century Britain, London, strong claims, is a dynamic that recognizes
The Boydell Press, 2020 not only the interplay between the indi-
vidual’s antipodal positions of “narrating
subject” and “object of narration”, but also
B y-now-traditional accounts of the rise

of the English novel, spurred by Ian
Watt’s 1957 seminal foray into the emer-
the “mutually constitutive relationship
between novelists and their protagonists
during the period when […] novels were
gent conventions of formal realism, have acquiring the power to endow their readers
tried to validate the idea that fictional nar- with individuality as well” (3).
ratives authored by Daniel Defoe, Samuel Foremost in this series of fresh ap-
Richardson and Henry Fielding accommo- proaches to the novel is a study that Ros
dated the birth of novelistic subjectivity in Ballaster, Professor of Eighteenth-Century
ways that both grasped and propelled the Studies at Oxford University, published in
surge of individualism in eighteenth-cen- 1998. Her Seductive Forms: Women’s Amato-
tury culture. This model of narrativized ry Fiction from 1684 to 1740 demonstrates
selfhood – whose consistency is partly the obsoleteness and even insufficiency of
derived, as novel theorist Marina MacK- Watt’s explanatory account of the birth of
ay has recently shown, from Watt’s own the novel as a genre committed exclusively
search for patterns of coherent subjectiv- to fulfilling a “realist teleology” (11). Watt’s
ity capable of withstanding the disruptive theory sought to universalize a generically
pull of history in the immediate aftermath male middle-class mindset and sensibility,
of the Second World War (Ian Watt. The but obscured the potential of fantasy or
Novel and the Wartime Critic 2018, 137) – romance fictions to render present female
has nonetheless invited multiple reassess- desire. What this, however, meant was that
ments, not least on account of his credit- it now became the “feminist critic’s job
ing a rather narrow canon of male authors […] to discover and uncover” such a teleo-
with “inventing” the novel, while patently logical model’s “strategies of concealment”
ignoring precursor women writers. (22).
To such feminist critiques – voiced, In Ros Ballaster’s latest study, enti-
for instance, by Jane Spencer in The Rise of tled Fictions of Presence: Theatre and Novel
the Woman Novelist (1986), or by Leah Orr in Eighteenth-Century Britain (2020), the
in Novel Ventures: Fiction and Print Cul- literary historian’s task remains consistent
ture in England, 1690-1730 (2017) – are with this focus on presentification as the
added partial or full-fledged amendments. disclosure of that which is hidden. At stake
Studies that revisit Watt’s idea according is the process of uncovering the effects of
to which the growing tide of individual- presence as a precondition of and medium
ism was disruptive of communal relations for aesthetic experience. Published, like
372
Caietele Echinox, vol. 40, 2021
Watt’s study, at a time of crisis (albeit one the co-presence of self and other, whether
that, because of the enforced lockdowns, one speaks about the mounted performance
has simply exacerbated the need for rela- of a play attended by multitudes or the ex-
tionality by exposing the alienating threat perience of reading its script in solitude, or
of individualism), Ballaster’s examination the reverse, about the solitary immersion of
of the manifold pathways connecting the an individual reader in the fictional world
theatre and the novel in Georgian England of a novel or its publicly performed read-
amounts to nothing short of a tectonic ing. In fact, as the theorist shows, “to feel
shift in eighteenth-century studies. ‘present’ and to feel the ‘presence’ of oth-
The Oxonian scholar draws on the ers are profoundly interconnected” (14). It
so-called affective turn in the humanities, is not a question of the self appropriating
while also capitalizing upon the distribu- otherness, as in Watt’s grand narrative of
tive potential of Deleuzian/Latourian as- the novel’s reinforcement of the premises
semblages and upon the insights of cogni- of individualism, but of otherness opening
tive narratology. Her meticulous attention up to a hospitable self: “The moments of
detects the richly intricate transmedialities presence produced through works of art
that enabled countless intercommuni- […] are not necessarily moments when the
cations between “stage” and “page” in the consumer of that work feels him or herself
eighteenth century. This perspective lithe- to be most alert and conscious of being,
ly expands the investigative aim beyond but rather when others seem to most fully
formalist genealogies of the novel. In fact, occupy that consciousness: when presences
the novel, as Ballaster argues, did not su- are felt” (14). To put it differently, instead
persede the theatre but evolved in tandem of a generic genealogy postulating the
with it, both acting as rival “vehicle[s] for prevalence of the novel over the theatre,
the transmission of story” (3). Ballaster proposes the scenario of an ecol-
Coupled with this emphasis on the in- ogy of cognitive and emotional respons-
terlaced simultaneity of forms, genres and es dispersed across their shared aesthetic
modes of narrative is Ballaster’s critique of space.
the criterion of representation. This, as seen Imparting readers and theatre specta-
above, served as the backbone of Watt’s tors a sense of “being there” while engaging
thesis about the concurrent rise of liber- with a written story or attending a play, the
al subjectivity and the realist framework aesthetics of presence revealed by Ballaster
of novelistic narrative. As rival “spaces of in her study of eighteenth-century modes
literature” (to evoke Maurice Blanchot’s of literature supplements and, ultimately,
term), theatre and novel vied, in Augustan supplants the need for a hermeneutic of
culture, not for representing selves (charac- meaning (19). The study deliberately as-
ters) to others (spectators, readers) but for sumes the thesis outlined by Hans Ulrich
presenting (or, rather, presentifying) others Gumbrecht in The Production of Presence:
to the self as part of the elusive yet vital What Meaning Cannot Convey (2004),
experience of art. according to which “presence-effects” are
In Ballaster’s view, literature houses the result of ceaseless tides of “uncon-
life, it offers hospitality to being. It conjures cealment and withdrawal” (19). Ballaster
373
consequently takes the pulse of eigh- Charlotte Lennox, who is shown to chase a
teenth-century aesthetic beings by distrib- “fantasy of independence” while remaining
uting her gaze at the “novel-theatre nex- trapped within “networks of dependencies”
us” (5) along three interrelated tiers. These on her characters, and Oliver Goldsmith,
correspond to a triad of so-called fictional whose “authorial character” has a penchant
“persons,” comprising authors, characters for “dispersal and distribution along lines
and consumers (such as theatregoers or of kin and kind” (116).
novel readers) (5). The second section, mapping the
The analysis of the presentification of space occupied by stage and novel charac-
author “persons” at the interface between ters (even) beyond the frames of fictional-
dramatic and novelistic forms of fiction is ity, is a comprehensive analysis of the way
magisterially conducted in the first section. in which textual protagonists acquire a life
This part of the study highlights the pro- that is downright hyperreal. Thus, narra-
ductive tensions generated by patterns of tive or dramatic “persons” such as Lady
recognition and disavowal. Based on these Townly in Colley Cibber’s The Provok’d
patterns, writers like Eliza Haywood, Hen- Husband (1728), Pamela in Samuel Rich-
ry Fielding, Charlotte Lennox and Oliver ardson’s epistolary novel of 1740, Rang-
Goldsmith engaged their authorial selves er in Benjamin Hoadly’s The Suspicious
in the pursuit of presence even as this pur- Husband (1747), and Tristram Shandy in
suit was sidetracked through acts of sur- Sterne’s experimental novel of 1759-67
rogacy, spectrality or downright absence. exhibit the sheer “portability of character
To start with, the chapter on Haywood across stage and page” (131). The third and
addresses different modes of “owning and final section, discussing the ways in which
disowning” (116) and showcases the vul- consumers (novel readers and theatre audi-
nerability her authorial presence conveys ences) were “imagined as fictional presenc-
in response to the perils of patriarchy at es at moments of the consumption of art
large. Ontological frame-breaking devic- work” (221), grasps the corrective impulses
es also mark, in Ballaster’s view, Fielding’s behind casting the somewhat anomalous
“recurrent acts of ghosting and puppetry” figures of the “critic” and the mimic” as
(116). Deconstructing the image of an negative examples of art consumption. By
implied author who asserts his authority miscalculating their distance from the fic-
over the fictional text from the position of tional world, both the long-sighted critic
a quasi-omniscient narrator, this chapter and the myopic mimic fell short of acquir-
innovatively speaks about Fielding’s relin- ing sufficient degrees of liveness.
quishment of authorial presence. By and To conclude, in showing how various
large, this presence is threatened with “acts techniques levelled at forging the illusion
of ghosting, excommunication and van- of fictional presence boosted the appeal
ishing by other presences (rivals for power of aesthetic experience in eighteenth-cen-
in the playhouse, characters who refuse to tury British culture, Ros Ballaster’s study
submit to authorial management, inatten- essentially nuances our understanding of
tive or over-attentive audiences” (19). Sim- the novel as the preserve of emergent in-
ilarly exposed to flickering ontologies are dividualism by drawing attention to the
374
fact that the “desire to ‘be there’, if it means muerto. Memoria e inclusion en la comu-
anything, means only this: the desire to be nidad moral,” Bonilla claims that commu-
with others” (282). All in all, this “aesthetic nitarian universal ethics have to replace
of ‘being’” (17) may be said to foreground the actual ethical system which tends to
an all-too-modern impulse to share the preclude some aspects of the reality such
privileged moments of intense conscious- as excluding the dead ones from collec-
ness afforded by works of art. tive memory. Thus, a distinction between
communitarian and communitarianism is
Carmen Borbély required since history has shown us how
the -isms transformed themselves into
extremisms.
Concerning this topic, Jean-Pierre
Hugo Francisco Vernant’s claims are the primary sources
Bauzá, Reflexiones in Bonilla’s assertions. Regardless of the
contemporaneas. medium, the image represents something:
Nuevos aportes desde las besides the form of the image, it also has
humanidades y la ciencia, a function. Soma, or the representations
Centro de Estudios del of the gods of the Greeks marks the be-
Imaginario, Buenos ginning of representation as a form of re-
Aires, 2014 membrance for the no longer alive. In the
meantime, this indicates that idealization
A s the reverse of the last century’s atroc-

ities, the 21st century’s paradigm pro-
poses recovering former values instead of
through anthropomorphizing becomes
the main pillar in excluding the rest of the
people, this leading to compromising the
destroying them (as the 20th century did). It tenets of objective representation.
is also the case of the present study. Edited Later, the way in which the victims of
by Hugo Francisco Bauzá, Reflexiones con- Argentina’s dictatorial regime are perceived
temporaneas-nuevos aportes desde las humani- enhances a relative disaffection regarding
dades y la ciencia is concerned with the study the status of the dead ones in the contem-
of the imaginary regarding a variety of top- porary social imaginary. Bonilla claims that
ics: from the rise and fall of the great powers this exclusion implies the tradition of the
(Patricio Colombo Murúa, Laura Raunch) somas. But, besides that, the contemporary
to finding a place for Romania between theories of the affect show that disaffection
these essential events (Ioan-Aurel Pop); results from living in such an environment.
from attempts to connect the mythological The resemanticization of mythology
imaginary to notable contemporary cultural in Albert Camus seems proximal to the
practices or figures (Alcira A. Bonilla, Meli- contemporary imaginary. Since the human
na A. Varnavoglou, Hugo Francisco Bauzá) is always trapped in existential problems,
to the preresquisite of an interdisciplinary Bauzá’s essays explain how a mythological
approach (Luis A. Vedia, Héctor A. Palma). return represents a solution in Camusian
In the context of classical praxis in thought. Thus, taking archetypal figures
the modern world, in “La imagen del and deconstructing their preestablished
375
meaning has a great effect on under- is an interdisciplinary approach to the

standing the 20th -century imaginary. For imaginary. The last essays explaining and
Bauzá, the Promethean figure in Camus’s exemplifying some epistemological met-
version is symptomatic. One can surpass aphors are illustrative in this way. Since
their condition, but fundamentalisms must the autonomy that literature has assumed
be avoided since those may lead to uto- throughout times expands the discrepancy
pianisms like those of the totalitarian re- between its discipline and that of others,
gime which sacrificed a whole century in it may be difficult to add literature to this
order to accomplish their utopian ideas. interdisciplinary approach, but as the au-
But, since one has to face the context of thors of these essays demonstrate, it is not
a dismantled Europe, Camusian vitalism, impossible. However, it does not seem that
exposed by the figure of Sisyphus might literature will be released from its marginal
provide solutions: what might appear as status, at least not yet.
a nonsense, like Sisyphus’s punishment, is
actually a model standing for how human Adnana Hales
should take over their own destiny to expe-
rience their freedom. These reflections on
morality as a common ground cannot be
classified under a single defining paradigm, Bianca Bican, Ioana
these are neither wholly existentialist, nor Bican, Ștefan Oltean,
wholly agnostic. This consolidates the Falii, rupturi,
protean dimension of Camusian thought. discontinuități,
Nevertheless, as Bauzá accurately claims, Cluj-Napoca, Presa
Camus is an organic intellectual, which is Universitară Clujeană,
why before reading Camus and after read- 2019
ing Camus are opposite instances, an as-
pect which asserts his status of as great a
thinker as Dostoyevsky or Shakespeare.
The study also provides an outlook
on the evolution of great cultural powers.
F issures, Ruptures, Discontinuities is a
book that brings together the articles of
doctoral students who participated in the
Colombo Murúa’s commemorative essay: interdisciplinary conference organized by
“Maquiavelo a través de los siglos. A 500 the doctoral school of Babeș-Bolyai Uni-
años de la escritura de El Principe” focus- versity on May 12-13, 2017. The book is
es on the evolution of the Roman Empire structured in two parts, the first including
from the Fall of Constantinople to the language studies and the second, literary
cultural climax of Florentine Renaissance. approaches. Various topics are debated in
Since the Renaissance is fundamentally a this collective book, from the birth of met-
renaissance of ancient Greek values, the aphor and the first translations into Roma-
importance of reflection on the matrix of nian, to theories about Performance and
the Renaissance’s culture is self-evident. philosophies related to time and memory.
Besides the return to the ancient Among the studies of linguistics and
Greek values, what this study proposes grammar written in the first part of the
376
book, Simona Pop’s work stands out due nilor” [The Peasant’s Episode from the Dan-
to its polemical and innovative character. ube from the Lord’s Clock) and its translation
In the text “Relația dintre predicat și sub- by Nicolae Costin, made by Andrei Iulian
iect” [The relation between predicate and Din. The text mentioned above represents
subject], the doctoral student from Cluj a hybrid that the scholar and philosopher
addresses an extremely discussed issue, the Antonio de Guevara made, combining the
answer to which varies depending on the texts from the life of Mark Antony with the
focus of each researcher. In this article, Si- Clock of Lords. The old document serves as a
mona Pop states that the subject is more moral doctrine (Christian, with humanistic
important than the predicate, because it nuances) applicable in various circumstances
is the superordinate term. This is justified of life, therefore, a textbook that can be used
by the desinences of person and number as a “guide in everyday life.”
that the subject imposes on the predicate. What interests Andrei Iulian Din is
Arguing her position, the doctoral student the way in which the old scholar, Nicolae
appeals to several grammars, with which Costin, manages to translate and adapt the
she argues, bringing her own counter-ar- text, the document being the first literary
guments. Combating Valeria Guţu Roma- and cult work translated into Romanian.
lo’s theory that states that there is a relation Faced with a difficult task, the translator
of interdependence between the two terms, ends up changing the form and content of
because both the subject and the predicate the text in order to successfully render its
impose particularities of expression on meaning. Costin uses literary techniques,
each other and the subjective sentence is making the text easier to read and elimi-
clearly subordinated, Simona Pop delimits nating elements that could harm the society
the subject from subjective and argues that in which he lives. Many exclamatory state-
the subject is a part of the sentence that ments were translated in such a way that
shapes the essence of the statement and there was no need to use the exclamation
that in the case of subjective subordinates, mark. Words like “senate” or “law” are taken
their failure to fit into a clear type was not over into Romanian, and thus the scholar
achieved, thus leading to a compromise has enriched the vocabulary. Andrei Iulian
solution. As in this case, Simona Pop does Din states that the approach taken by Nico-
not agree with the statement of Corneliu lae Costin contributed to the first stage of
Dumitriu, who sees the relation between modernization of the Romanian language.
the two terms as a relation of inertia, for Another interesting text, from the sec-
example the statement “rains”, in which ond part of the book, is Marius Popa’s analy-
the subject is completely missing. The doc- sis of the collection of short stories Frumoa-
toral student states that this is a subject 0, sele străine [Beautiful Foreigners] by Mircea
which exists and which imposes, in this Cărtărescu. The doctoral student states that
case as well, particularities of the predicate. the volume is full of irony, which gives it a
Another text from the first part of the comic character. Marius Popa sees this nu-
volume which stands out for its historical ance as a revisitation of Caragiale. According
and analytical character is the work “Episod- to the doctoral student from Cluj, Cărtăres-
ul Ţăranului de la Dunăre din Ceasornicul Dom- cu combines a high, intellectual lexicon with
377
an everyday language, and thus a playful images of the library as chronotope-gofer.

dimension is created, full of ironies. In this This spatial metaphor reveals a way to rep-
sense, Cărtărescu uses antiphrasis, playful resent the idea of a primary space divid-
translations, ironic oxymorons, hyperboles, ed into the so-called “chronotopic units”
etc. Sometimes the comic derives from the that include events, characters, feelings,
wrong pronunciation of the author’s name, dreams, objects, decorative elements and
Cărtănescu. Also through these techniques, so on. Thus, the Library (with capital let-
Cărtărescu brings a critique to the Roma- ters) could become, through various (non)
nian cultural institutions and to the critics canonical texts, “when the main character,
who are not able to understand his work. when the secondary one, when simply an
Fissures, Ruptures, Discontinuities is a object that centres the interest of some
collective volume that captures the doc- characters” (13).
toral students’ various fields of interest and Most studies published in the volume
the current research directions in linguis- represent, in fact, close readings (in Ge-
tics and literature. As the title suggests, the rard Genette’s sense) applied to some texts
book is a mosaic of themes that do not in- (usually novels translated into Romanian,
tersect at all, the transition between them but not only) that are more or less known.
being a passage over fissures and ruptures, In this sense, the author emphasizes some
in an approach full of discontinuities. aspects, scenes or simply ideas from these
works that other interpretations ignore.
Gheorghe Andreica Thus, he reveals “the library of fakes” or
non-existent books from Gargantua and
Pantagruel, the ambiguous sense of the li-
brary in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World
Mircea Braga, Biblioteca (its association with the safe box, a symbol
și irealul din real. of secrecy and treasury at the same time),
Cronotopologie literară, or the role and the hallucinogenic function
București, Editura Ideea that the library receives in Don Quixote’s
Europeană, 2020 story. This one plays an essential role, be-
cause it represents a kind of “birth certifi-
cate” for literary critics. Of course, not only
T he most recent study published by

Mircea Braga, Biblioteca și irealul din
real. Cronotopologie literară [The Library and
canonical works are taken into consider-
ation. An impressive “catalogue” of books
from different spaces and periods com-
the Unreality of Reality. Literary Chronoto- pletes the list of “fames” in order to under-
pology], continues the ideas that Ultima stand the movements of the literary field.
frontieră [The Last Frontier] outlined. To That is what happens, for example, in texts
be more precise, the book is interested in such as Mikkel Birkegaard’s The Library
reading, objectifying it through the image of Shadows, Allison Hoover Bartlett’s The
of the library. Starting from Mikhail Bakh- Man who Loved Books Too Much, Markus
tin’s concept of chronotope, Mircea Braga Zusak’s The Book Thief, Rabih Alameddine’s
discusses in more than twenty chapters, the An Unnecessary Woman, Andrei Codrescu’s
378
The Poetry Lesson, Elias Canetti’s The the right to be a collection of books, of
Blinding, Carlos María Domínguez’s The volumes (what a word!), of manuscripts,
House of Paper, Borges’s The Congress, Sal- therefore of highly specialized paper ob-
man Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Sto- jects (parchments, papyrus). Again, spaces
ries, Vintilă Horia’s short stories (Aventură in space” (21).
sub lună [Adventure under the Moon] or In conclusion, in the most recent
Salvarea de ostrogoți [The Escape from Os- study Mircea Braga has published, the au-
trogoths]) and others. thor believes that “humanity structures a
Beyond all these examples of literary part of its sense through the library” (222).
hermeneutics, the study evokes some es- Overall, his work is a demonstration of the
sential aspects or moments in the cultural ontological sense of reading. Even if the
and “institutionalized” history of libraries author intended to catch a few glimpses
and, obviously, books. Without approach- from a huge gallery of libraries, he ended
ing the events diachronically, because this up outlining a portrait of the Library.
is not the author’s purpose, he restitutes
and integrates in his work the birth and Ioana Pavel
the dynamics of the library as cultural es-
tablishment, starting from translations and
the circulation of texts in Muslim world, to
the imitation of this model by Europe later,
and up to poor mechanism of the library Mircea Braga, Ultima
as an institution, especially in Romanian frontieră. Elemente
culture, due to the fact that, metaphorically de teoria lecturii,
or not, it represents the (concrete and ab- București, Editura
stract) idea of partialism. Moreover, Mir- Ideea Europeană, 2018
cea Braga mentions and also pays attention
to the effervescence of the religions of the
book, namely the idea of writing in Ju-
deo-Christian culture and its reinterpreta-
tions in the Cabbala, but also some Greek,
C onstantly interested in dynamics of
cultural and literary ideas, Mircea
Braga’s book Ultima frontieră. Elemente
Roman or Egyptian patron deities of the de teoria lecturii [The Last Frontier. Aspects
Arts, being associated at the same time on Theory of Reading] (2018) confirms his
with Logos. concern in literary theory or hermeneutics.
All these arguments allow the author These two directions could be seen in all
to form some definitions of the library, his works, starting from studies dedicat-
depending on the context and the point ed to Romanian literature in the interwar
of view of the reader/ historian. He starts period to the (more recent) books focused
from the etymological meaning (namely on literary and philosophical ideas: Sincro-
the furniture dedicated to books) and fin- nism și tradiție [Synchronism and Tradition]
ishes with the historical perspective that (1972), Vasile Voiculescu (2002), Geografii
emphasizes its dependence from space. In instabile [Unstable Geographies] (2010) – to
Mircea Braga’s words, “the library claims name but a few.
379
The study is divided into three sec- illustrated by historical works, travel notes,
tions, following the introduction that memories, diaries, correspondence), the
emphasizes five types of “reading codes”: generational approach in Romanian liter-
ordinary reading, expert’s reading (always ary history, the absence of reading in the
methodologically oriented), adequacy to postmodern era or the demarcations of the
object by history and literary critics, the new generation of Romanian writers.
encyclopaedic code and, last but not least, The last section, entitled “The Reading
the ontological code (including ethics or Code – Suggestion of Cultural Meeting”,
religious nuances). This last code seems analyses Romanian authors through dif-
to be the most important one, because it ferent, previously invoked reading codes.
involves not only the perception of the In the first five subchapters of this part,
world, but also knowledge as educational the author’s main interests are the Roma-
support. The first chapter, “On dynamic of nian literature before the mid twentieth
theoretical alignment”, investigates some century, discussing the idea of numerical
authors (Immanuel Kant, Theodor Ador- identity in Mihai Eminescu’s work, the
no, H.R. Jauss, Wolfgang Iser, Umberto “shadow” understood as social and mental
Eco and Matei Călinescu), permanently behaviour in I.L. Caragiale’s texts, the rela-
connected to the theory of reading. Thus, tion between mythology, religion and truth
some of their most well-known texts (such in Vasile Voiculescu’s poetry, the mythical
as Aesthetic Theory – Adorno, Aesthetic expe- structure of Mateiu Caragiale’s novel Craii
rience and literary hermeneutics – Jauss, The de Curtea-Veche [The Old Court Rakes] and
Act of Reading – Iser, Rereading – Matei the cultural code of reading, identified in
Călinescu and so on) shape a theoretical Liliana Danciu’s work Romanul din roman.
background that may enable a reconstruc- Noaptea de Sânziene de Mircea Eliade [The
tion of different aspects strongly connected Novel in the Novel. The Forbidden Forest by
to reading, namely the reader and his role Mircea Eliade]. The last six subsections are
in interpretation, the (phenomenological) mostly dedicated to literature during the
effect of reading, the Model Reader, re- communist period. In this sense, Mircea
reading as a function of cultural man, etc. Braga develops an anagogic reading prac-
The second part, “On the Diagram tised in Vintilă Horia’s novel O femeie pent-
of Actuality or the Panorama of Vanities,” ru Apocalips [A Woman for Apocalypse], pub-
contains the author’s perspectives on ques- lished in 1968 in France and translated into
tions that have destabilized the Romanian Romanian in 2007. The author also inves-
literary field. In this chapter, Mircea Bra- tigates the aphoristic dimensions of Ștefan
ga investigates subjects such as national Augustin Doinaș’s poetry, the problem of
identity, the connection between literature truth and entropy in D.R. Popescu’s short
and ideology (including political correct- stories and especially in his novel Călugărul
ness blamed for the “weak thought” meta- Filippo Lippi și călugărița Lucrezia Buti
morphosed into “sick thought”) during [The Monk Filippo Lippi and the Nun Lu-
the communist and contemporary period, crezia Buti], Mircea Ivănescu and Ileana
interferences between genres and species Mălăncioiu’s poetry and, not least, Geniul
(an example of exceeding borders, in fact, inimii [Genius of the Heart], Aura Christi’s
380
so-called “novel in verse”. This subchapter imaginary literature and social sciences.
about the intersections of the worlds in What this specific study articulates is that
her work represents, in fact, Mircea Braga’s there is not only one side of utopia, since it
preface of the novel published in 2017. is a much broader concept that we some-
All in all, Mircea Braga’s study re- times care to realise. The interdisciplinarity
mains a compulsory reference for re- of this book is given by the distinct fields
searchers interested in Romanian literature in which its authors operate and it implies
and different kinds of debates on literary that “the structure of this volume is meant
themes. It could also be a main point of to reflect clearly both logical configura-
interest for the specialists dedicated to the tions of the problems arising when one
theories of reading. tries to discover modern utopianism” (p.
10). The diversity of theoretical approach-
Ioana Pavel es in this volume manage to explain what
utopianism is, both literally and politically.
The study is split into two parts, each
dedicated to one aspect of theoretical ap-
Zsolt Czigányik (ed.), proaches. Part one of the volume, Uto-
Utopian Horizons: pia with a Political Focus, draws attention
Ideology, Politics, to ideology and social studies, where the
Literature, Budapest, authors discuss the relationship between
New York, Central utopia and ideology, the mechanism that
European University turns utopia into dystopia, the bridge be-
Press, 2017 tween political utopia and the philosoph-
ical one, anarcho-democratic and liberal
socialist ideas in Central Europe, and a
T he timing of this skilfully put togeth-

er volume on utopianism and utopian
studies, edited by Zsolt Czigányik, is great
very interesting case study on George Or-
well and Soviet Studies. The second part
of the book, Utopia with a Literary Focus,
considering the scholars’ growing interest targets the implications of utopianism in
in the subject. Utopian Horizons: Ideology, literature, treating subject matters such
Politics, Literature, was published in 2017, as: Marxist utopianism and Modern Irish
just a year after the five-hundred anniver- Drama, civil religion as utopian ideology,
sary of Thomas More’s Utopia (1516). This negative Utopia in Central Europe, Hux-
text, which represents the starting point of ley’s Peace Pamphlet in pre-war Hungary,
a fascinating quest for finding and over- representations of cataclysmic New York in
coming the limits of human intellect and film and a political-theoretical reading of A
imagination, has nowadays acquired the song of Ice and Fire. All those approach-
value of an archetypal concept that en- es regarding the subject of utopianism,
deavours to explain the ability of alterna- found in literature, politics and ideology,
tively rethinking humanity. showcase the fact that this specific volume
This whole system of thinking was “concerns itself primarily with the interac-
always situated at the fine line between tions of the literary element and utopian
381
political theory, which focuses on the so-

cial, political and economic aspects of how
human life could be better” (p. 5) David Damrosch,
Even if the book is structured in two Comparing the Literatures.
parts, each dedicated to one branch of Literary Studies in a
utopian studies, it does not mean that one Global Age, Princeton
deals exclusively with matters of political University Press, 2020
and ideological concern and the other fo-
cuses only on literary utopianism. Rather,
what we see in this study is how the two
theoretical sides of the concept communi-
cate and depend on each other, because, as
N o other discipline thrived under a state
of permanent crisis as comparative
literature has. Since its first manifestations,
the reader will notice while pursuing the comparative literature could not really find
text, even if the author begins his statement a room of its own, torn between the many
from one position, he will slowly migrate subfields of national literary studies and
and have to incorporate in the discourse literary theory, always borrowing methods
concepts claimed by the other theoretical and adapting to the fast pace of cultural,
approach. ideological, and industrial developments
What makes this study such a unique across countries and continents. Few crit-
reading on the subject of utopia is estab- ical inquires have managed to present the
lished in its purpose of reuniting the two troubled, yet highly productive relation be-
perspectives, aiming, as the editor informs tween comparative literature as a discipline
us, at “taking a step further on the road to in its own right and related discourses of
understanding the complex and contro- humanities (such as cultural studies, post-
versial nature of utopia” (p. 15). It brings colonial studies, or various literary theories)
together innovative theoretical approaches as engagingly as American professor David
and practical applications of the utopian Damrosch has in his latest contribution to
studies on neglected Central European the field of comparative and world litera-
ideologies and texts, in order to show the ture – Comparing the Literatures. Literary
complexity of the fascinating genre and its Studies in a Global Age, published by Princ-
infinite possibility of envisioning, through eton University Press in 2020.
both literary and political lenses, improved The aforementioned volume is a man-
realities. ifold, erudite study on the old and the new
challenges of comparative literature. Dam-
Diana Capotă rosch’s book is as much a matured and
homogenous result of his later research
and teaching activity (his many projects,
lectures, and academic papers offer a good
testimony of what a complex and multilay-
ered work these kinds of inquiries rely on),
as it is a compelling new approach to an al-
ready hyper-discussed topic – the strained
382
condition of comparative literature. The should scholars of this discipline further

volume is built around one overarching do or do better: “Given the many varieties
question: what is the actual role of compar- of theory, what each of us need to know is
ative literature in the global age? or, in Da- not a set theoretical canon but how best to
vid Damrosch’s own words: “how should use whichever theories are most suited for
we go about plying the comparatist’s trade the question we want to ask. Used badly,
today? (…) what tools do we need to have a theoretical lens may distort as much as
in our toolboxes today?” it reveals”. His rereading of theorists such
Organized in a very accessible man- as Paul de Man represent much-needed
ner, the book consists of eight well-indi- enlargements of the alternative discourses
vidualized chapters completed by a stim- about this kind of international stars that
ulating introduction and some even more dominated the arena in the past decades.
thought-provoking conclusions that target The last part of the book makes nu-
the multifaceted aspects of this particular merous arguments on how comparatists
discipline’s evolution, from its origins to need to recalibrate their ways of compar-
the present day. The author places comparing. Focusing on problems such as trans-
ative literature’s origins in the works and lation and untranslatability, location and
lives of humanists such as Johann Gottfried dislocations of literatures and related meta-
Herder, Germaine de Staël, Hutcheson discourses, canonicity and postcanonicity,
Macaulay Posnett, Hugo Meltzl and some David Damrosch, in his quest of rendering
others. In the very first chapter of his book, “an anatomy of comparison, a disciplinary
Damrosch offers a panoramic, yet critical poetics”, invites all scholars invested in this
view of both the biography and the works particular field to further, more productive,
of these authors and activists in the field of more engaged collaborations that shall
literatures and arts. Another topic that the trespass ideological, national and method-
authors addresses in the early part of this ological boundaries (yet preserving each
book refers to the contributions of exiles, one’s specificity and utility) that could ben-
tracing back some figures that changed, efit both their micro-specialization and the
whether willingly and unwillingly, the very broader discourse of comparative literature.
dynamics between national literatures and
the broader space of international, even Daiana Gârdan
global, market (as is the case of Hu Shih,
for instance). A bridge between the first
part of the book (the first four chapters),
that has a rather descriptive, pedagogical
character, and the second part (the last four
chapters) where Damrosch’s voice is more
actively engaged, the fourth chapter targets
the relation between comparative literature
and literary theory over the time and brings
insightful considerations on what went
both well and wrong and what could and
383
of the Stonewall riots in 1969 and the first

chapter goes on to argue the multidimen-
sionality of the event and of the gay liber-
Roderick A. Ferguson, ation attempts in the sixties and seventies.
One-Dimensional Queer, First, I will analyse chapter one in order to
Cambridge, Polity Press, assert the diversity which defined the gay
2018 liberation movement at its inception. This
will be the stepping stone towards the bet-
ter understanding of the following chap-
P ublished in 2018, One-Dimension-

al Queer is a study that explores the
multi-layered and complex nature of the
ters, which clarify how the movement’s
efforts were impaired over time through its
absorption by neoliberalism.
Gay Liberation movement, focusing on The Stonewall rebellion is considered
the relation between its development and one of the pivotal events of the 20th cen-
the neoliberal system’s responses that often tury American history that helped define
fails to acknowledge the depth of the un- the gay rights movement. Yet, according to
derlying issues of black queers, lower social Ferguson, it was and continues to be inter-
class queers, drag queens or transgender preted through a homogenous approach.
people. The riots were a phenomenon common-
Queer studies or LGBT studies is an ly understood as a series of spontaneous
academic field which focuses on sexuality, demonstrations by members of the gay
gender, and identity issues, as well as on (LGBT) community in response to a po-
the history of queer people, from sociolog- lice raid, but the author argues that per-
ical, economic, and political points of view. ceiving the events as a unidirectional mat-
The author of this volume is a Professor of ter obscures their intersectional aspect. He
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies brings up the writings of Sylvia Rivera, a
at Yale University, Connecticut and has Latinx transgender rights activist, who re-
previously published several works in the ports that on that night, the crowd did not
domain of queer studies and queer theo- consist of gay rights activists alone, as there
ry. In an earlier book, titled Aberrations in were also anti-capitalistic, anti-racist and
Black: Toward a Queer of Colour Critique feminist movements that were involved.
(2004), Ferguson explores the concept of Merle Woo, an Asian American lesbi-
queer of colour critique, including it in an an activist who states that the Stonewall
intersectional framework and challenging confrontations did not stand exclusively
the homogenous regulation of race, gender against sexual discrimination, supports her
and class by the state. In One-Dimensional claim – they challenged the oppression of
Queer, he continues his research, but this women, of the working class – they con-
time, however, he directs his critiques spe- tested the patriarchal system.
cifically to the homogeneity of thought The author continues to elaborate his
forced upon the gay liberation movement argument by reviewing articles and speech-
through its incorporation into the main- es made by several activists or political par-
stream. The book starts with the recalling ties in the sixties and seventies. The Black
384
Panther party, an anti-racist political orga- advance an argument of singularity and the
nization founded in 1966, has served as a uniformity of queer struggles, it had to dis-
fundamental model for fighting against the appear trans and queer of colour activism
oppressive, discriminatory system. Fergu- as linchpins between a variety of political
son then mentions a perfect example to il- struggles” (p. 57). This quote implies that in
lustrate the argument – the Weinstein Hall a system in which patriarchal, heteronor-
protests. At that time, the New York Uni- mative, cisgender values are in power, a gay
versity was hosting a large community of emancipation that would consist of “alter-
queer and transgender people, hence when ities”, of anything other than a white, male
the University questioned the “morality” of person would not be accepted. The gay lib-
homosexuality, those concerned were nat- eration groups started criticizing and dis-
urally revolted. They ended up occupying engaging themselves from other organiza-
Weinstein Hall for three days as a form of tions such as the Black Panthers, accusing
protest, only to become victims of a violent them of homophobia. Quarrels relating
police raid. This event, the author states, is to transphobia, lesbophobia and discrim-
highly reminiscent of the anti-racist fash- ination of drag queens started inside the
ion of rebelling against institutional injus- groups as well, leading to their dissolution,
tice. Thus, the American academic succeeds i.e. STAR in 1973. Such demoralizing con-
to tear down the false conception accord- flicts rendered the queer community more
ing to which queer history is separate from vulnerable and more desperate in its fight
black activism, class struggles, and feminist for gay rights. Liberal capitalism stepped in
issues. He proceeds to strengthen his case to grant them this wish. Several gay activ-
as he affirms that the homogenization of ists were asserting the idea that capitalism
the gay rights movement does not only is the only way that queerness can obtain
ignore the implication of other discrimi- its liberation. The author explains that by
nated groups, but fails to recognize certain successfully integrating queerness into the
members of its own community, i.e. peo- free market, the capitalist agenda proceed-
ple of colour, queer women, drag queens, ed to make harmful changes into the urban
transgender, intersex, lower-class people. areas. In Chapter three, the reader learns
Instead, as it becomes mainstream and con- about the gentrification and of the city, of
forms to the requirements of capitalism, it the areas that were previously dominat-
weakens other voices, other point of views, ed by diverse groups of people (LGBTQ,
and highlights only the white, male queer working class, people of colour). The state
experience. Ferguson opposes this tradition started destroying the “spaces of contact”
and urges the reader to assume an intersec- in an attempt to disperse them, to create a
tional approach. In the following chapter, division between discriminated groups so
he demonstrates the ways in which queer that intersectional activism would not be
politics entered a process of de-politiciza- possible.
tion and ended up as a singular, separate A quotation of Walter Benjamin is
construct of the neoliberal market. the figure that opens up the fourth chap-
Roderick Ferguson argues at the ter, which is arguably the most poignant
end of chapter one that “for gay rights to one in this book, arguing that the “states
385
of emergency” are not really an exception is relevant to the European and, especial-
to the norm, but rather the rule. Fergu- ly, the East-Central European territory
son further builds on Benjamin’s ideas as well. Ferguson’s study can be read as a
and explores and the context of state and guidebook for understanding transnational
institutional systematic violence against political and sociological struggles. Given
minorities and socially-vulnerable people, the rise in power of several far-right parties
as violence became a usual, unexception- across East-Central Europe in the past few
al phenomenon in the United States of years, One-Dimensional Queer serves as an
America (racial, sexual, class exploitation). inclusive, welcoming form of escapism and
The scholar ties this idea with the previous wisdom.
critique of the one-dimensional politics as-
sumed by political bodies by bringing the Mihaela Ceban
example of DeGraffenreid v General Motors:
Five black women sued General Motors
only to be revealed later that the company
has not hired any black women until 1964, Imago critica. Revista
and fired all of them in 1970. However, de Antropología y
this case received a superficial treatment, as Comunicación, no. 6,
the court was debating whether the cause The Crisis of Europe,
was related to race or gender discrimina- the Crisis of an Imaginary,
tion, blatantly affirming that they will not 2017
be considering both.
Roderick Ferguson’s One-Dimension-
al Queer is a work that warns its readers
against limiting their thoughts to unidi-
mensional ideas, which can lead to extrem-
T he idea put forth in this issue of the
Imago critica journal is that, through-
out history, the European idea-image has
ism, nationalism, and even fascism. It is a not ceased to play the role of an important
great introductory book to queer studies political project whenever an established
due to its clear and accessible style. The au- power aimed to create a transnational
thor does not only provide a history of the union or federation incorporating various
gay liberation movement, but manages to territories and institutions. Begun after
give pertinent, insightful observations and 1945, the creation of a unity or a great Eu-
examples to support his arguments. How- ropean community is nowadays a chaotic
ever, this study is relevant not only to the evolution, punctuated by disappointments,
queer theory field, but to cultural studies in drifts or blockages. Thus, the European
general, as it does not fail to draw attention construction risks remaining a project that
towards the importance of more conscious is perhaps too rational, too institutional-
politics, that pays attention to every group ized, much too procedural.
of people. To solve this crisis, the European
Although the author researches the construction needs to demand and set in
history of queerness in the American motion imaginaries that involve certain
space only, it can be argued that his study forms of adhesion. The hypothesis debated
386
in this study involves updating the issue representation. Any kind of political unity
of political imaginaries, which are psychic, is based on a cartography that ensures well-
individual and collective matrices that in- drawn boundaries. One of the weaknesses
volve processes of transformation of some of Europe’s representation stems from the
institutions and representations. fact that Europe does not correspond to a
In its form of mythical storytelling, clearly delimited space. In a way, the spatial
the imaginary acts as a performative tool imaginary prevents Europe from having its
that encourages and legitimizes various own identity.
changes in society. In the absence of a uni- Even if today’s Europe suffers from
fying and justifying political image, any a deficit of geographical imaginary, it still
political project remains an elitist initia- has, well embedded in its memory, an over-
tive, disconnected from the reality of the determined political and historical myth.
nations involved. Still, paradoxically, its symbolic and myth-
In order to develop, any political con- ical consistency shatters expectations and
struction needs both rational (legal) argu- inhibits adhesion.
ments and the adherence of its members, The current situation of Europe, as a
determined by the use of the imaginary. unit made up of several nation-states, is
The political adventure of Europe, this inseparable, in terms of collective memory,
entity that is still difficult to define, in turn from the recognition of the great mythi-
needs an imaginary, like any nation-state. cal constructs illustrated by the successive
Through the imaginary, Europe builds its monarchies and empires of Europe. From
own identity. Also, the mythical narrative is several points of view, these regimes main-
called to provide answers to questions re- tain adhesion forces, which is the necessary
lated to forms of power, its origin and col- mold for the establishment of political im-
lective purposes that simply evade objective ages. Therefore, the Empire has a complex
and rational determinations. Thus, at least political form that allows original con-
two consistent and functional mythical phy- figurations, efficient and strongly imbued
la are outlined, that of territoriality, which with the imaginary. Imperial imaginary
draws the identity cartography of a people, could allow the unblocking of images or
and that of sovereignty, relating to the birth symbolic schemes that could draw a new
of power and its expression. Both find in horizon. Despite these fragile signs and
the mythical imaginary a fruitful matrix, at credible reasons, we can believe, however,
least in the case of all pre-democratic soci- that the imperial imaginary remains far too
eties. In the case of Europe, these two forms laden with painful memories and can only
available to the imaginary, one is typical for be marginally reevaluated by some sup-
a deficit and the other typical for a saturated porters of the critical currents of European
and overloaded form. In short, the people of democracies.
Europe inherit two imaginary matrices that In conclusion, the current crisis in
turn out to be out of sync with their needs Europe could come, among other things,
and expectations, at least for now. from a maladaptation of the imagination
One of the founding myths of a po- of the peoples of Europe. On the one hand,
litical entity concerns its territory and its it lacks a minimal spatial imaginary, due to
387
a political geography outlined from several of the book “We have conceptual tools to
incomplete and uncertain points of view. help understand these changes.”
On the other hand, it is marked and haunt- The volume is split into two long es-
ed, historically, by a hypertrophied myth of says instead of chapters: “Documentary Vi-
imperial sovereignty that could serve as a sion” and “Real Life”. In order to trace this
performative matrix for a new suprana- ambitious act of going against the grain of
tional configuration, but whose past leaves theories which claim that social media de-
nations, in this democratic era, prey to hes- graded photography, in the first essay, the
itations and fear. In short, Europe is still author contextualizes amateur photogra-
evolving between too little geographical phy, the selfie and the day to day photos
imagery and too much historical imagery. that we take with our smartphones instead
of cameras, within the bigger picture of the
Ioana Lung history of photography, while in the sec-
ond essay, the social photo (and especially
the selfie) is framed within the area of cur-
rent media theory. By touching on various
subjects, such as: the link between vintage
Nathan Jurgenson, filters and nostalgia, the evolution of the
The Social Photo: On object of photography, the marginalization
Photography and Social of amateur photography in the academia,
Media, London, Verso the difference between the subject of tradi-
Books, 2019 tional photography and the subject of the
current, social photography, the shaping of
our identity and privacy, and other topics;
N athan Jurgenson is a young theorist

and sociolologist engaged in theo-
ries about social media and the internet.
Jurgenson draws a few main conclusions.
First of all, the ephemerality of pho-
tography and its basic or minor character is
As it can be found on his official website, seen as a quality, not a critique. The photog-
one of Jurgenson’s main aims is to demon- raphy present on social media is not aimed
strate how the internet is not a “separate at documenting only special moments or,
virtual sphere or cyber space”, but a place drawing from Roland Barthes, at freezing
which is “embodied, material, and real”. In a moment in time and contemplating its
The Social Photo: On Photography and So- death. With the rise of applications such
cial Media, the author pursues this task by as Snapchat, photography becomes much
demonstrating how the “social photo”, or more ephemeral, we now take an image,
the photography present on social media, but tomorrow it might be gone forever
is not a perversion of the art of photogra- and this is not something to mourn, but a
phy as many contemporary accounts would symptom of a change that needs to be un-
suggest, but a completely new and valid derstood, according to the author. Jurgen-
medium, with its own logic and reasoning, son admits that the social media images
a part of the activity of photographing. As are mostly amateurish and do not capture
Jurgenson himself states at the beginning anything important or relevant at all, but,
388
he argues, the act itself of taking a photo- understand how this type of image func-
graph has become much more important tions, but also to legitimize my own use of
than the subject of the image, or, to put it it. As stated even from the beginning, Jur-
in other words, image becomes a type of genson goes against the dismissal of this
speech, we communicate through images type of photography and makes many valid
and it is not relevant if they preserve any- points to sustain his perspective, as it can
thing or not. “Thinking about ephemeral be seen in the two examples above. Despite
photography and social media more gen- the fact that there are many references to a
erally lead quickly to the basic conceptu- vast area of theorists and philosophers such
al work in this book, describing a style of as Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin, Jean
image-making and circulation as a social Baudrillard, and Michel Foucault, among
photography that is more like speaking many others, the language used in the
than recording.” When taking about the two essays is fairly easy to understand and
selfie, Jurgenson ventures to argue how it makes for a quick read.
is shaping our identity and the view about Although there are a lot of valid
oneself, but also how it interacts with pri- points to consider and further investigate,
vacy, for example. “To see through the logic the volume is nowhere near perfect and
of images, to consider how we speak with fails in some areas. One of the primary
them and build the self through the audi- concerns that stuck me was the fact that
ence they garner and the status they can Jurgenson spends much too little time to
afford, is also to describe digital connection show how we are used and controlled by
as something potentially intimate and as the social photo in the form of advertise-
real as writing instead of as a venture into ment campaigns, corporate propaganda,
some virtual plane.” Of course, there are fake news and such topics. It can be argued
many more interesting points made along that the author had to praise his subject to
the book, the two mentioned here being be able to go against the theories that dis-
just a little more present than the others in miss it, but the dangers that are surround-
my opinion. ing the “social photo” are too many and too
In my life up to this point, the oc- relevant for our present to be ignored. At
casions when I managed to take a pho- times, I also found the topics addressed to
tograph by using something else than a be too many and too vast, and because of
smartphone were sparse. Not much of a this the book loses some of its coherence
selfie person, there was a time when I used and might seem disorganized or sketchy. I
to have a kind of personal journal on In- believe it would have made for a slightly
stagram and the images varied and were better volume overall if there were less top-
connected by elements only known to me, ics addressed, but in further detail and with
but subject to the view of the public in the the dangers they imply discussed as well.
form of followers. Coming from this back- This being said, I would still recom-
ground, it can be said that I am more an- mend the volume to anyone interested
chored in the “social photo” than any other in better understanding what happens
type of photography, therefore, this volume with photography in our age and why it
quickly attracted me in order to better is still relevant in this form. After all, we
389
all contribute to the “social photo” in one chapter, which targets Romanian artists,
way or another. Even if Nathan Jurgenson Lascu exhibits the works of Romanian art-
is maybe a little too praiseful, the book is ists such as Victor Brauner, Marcel Iancu,
worth reading at least for its challenging Corneliu Mihăiescu, Arthur Segal or M.H.
premise and for the interesting insights Maxy, but also the great poems of Ilarie
that can be taken while wandering among Voronca, Ion Vinea and Tristan Tzara, who
the too many for its own good themes and laid the foundations of the Romanian Dada
subjects. Movement. The presentation of the West-
ern predecessors from whose art the Roma-
Raul Starcz nian avant-garde was inspired has special
significance. An additional argument would
be the fact that a large part of those who
would become top Romanian avant-garde
artists spent years studying abroad or un-
dertaking initiatory journeys in the western
Mădălina Lascu, Imaginea space. Thus, it is understood as a natural
orașului în avangarda phenomenon of the adaptation of the Ro-
românească, București, manian avant-garde to the European mo-
Editura Tracus Arte, 2020 dernity of that period. One can observe the
writer’s selective choosing of the paintings
pertaining to the avant-garde of the first
M ădălina Lascu, a bibliographer with

the Rare Books and Manuscripts
Department of the Romanian Academy
half of the twentieth century, especially the
interwar period, until the end of 1947.
Mădălina Lascu’s book refers to one of
Library, has carried out numerous research- the preferred topoi of artists belonging to
es in the field of the historical avant-garde, this trend: the urban space, the avant-gar-
as well as on M. Blecher or Tristan Tzara de artistic universe being a metropolitan
(Tristan Tzara – Corespondență de familie, one, accommodating a new cosmopolitan
2019). The Image of the City in Romanian modernity, and offering a broad vision of
Avant-Garde, her latest volume, is dedicat- the features of the futuristic city. In this
ed to the relations between the visual arts, way, the old themes of art, inspired by rural
especially the painting from the Romanian life, such as plows, oxen, fields and forests,
area, but not only, and the avant-garde lit- are replaced by modern city themes such
erary text. as buildings, boulevards, train stations,
The author reviews 230 works by great cars, locomotives, trams, elements that
Italian artists such as Umberto Boccioni, give some dynamism to the urban setting.
Luigi Rusolo, and Gino Severini, French The analysis goes beyond the title, provid-
artists like Georges Braque, Albert Gle- ing a consistent investigation of European
izes, and Robert Delaunay, Czech artists avant-garde productions. In addition, it
like Vincenc Beneš and Borhumil Kubišta, contextualizes the subject, offering a syn-
Germans such as Ludwig Meidner, E. L. thesis of the entire avant-garde movement
Kirchner and the list goes on. In the last and its manifestation in Romania.
390
The first chapter of the work examines In this way, Mădălina Lascu demon-
the representation of the metropolis in the strates her valuable knowledge of the
European avant-garde – in Futurism, Cub- avant-garde movement and captures the
ism, Expressionism, Dadaism and Surreal- urban reality of the avant-gardes with
ism - focusing on the three urban centers great irony, the metropolis representing an
which had a major impact on these artistic aspiration of the artist that is nonetheless
movements: Paris, New York and Berlin. contradicted by the still patriarchal aspect
The second chapter considers the program- of the city.
matic texts of the Romanian avant-garde,
analyzing not only their vision of the city’s Tamara Sas
representation, but also the Romanian
context and the authors’ artworks, includ-
ing their sources of inspiration: the Futur-
ist and especially the Dadaist manifestos.
The third chapter, the most consistent, ad- Mircea Muthu, Liviu
dresses the theme stated in the title, refer- Rebreanu sau paradoxul
ring to the way in which urban elements organicului,Cluj-Napoca,
are represented in avant-garde poetry and Editura Școala
painting in Romania. Ardeleană, 2020
The main merit of the book lies in the
interpretation of the literary text in rela-
tion to the other arts, thus following the
synthetic spirit of the artistic image. The
muse city is humanized by the geometry of
F or Liviu Rebreanu, “the novel gives life
a pattern which contains its dynamism
and fluidity”. The organic, as an ontolog-
the sidewalks and pavements, “the inflexi- ically central and life structuring energy,
ble syntax of the city, the symmetrical and translated as the “relationship between
hard intervention of the engineer” and by man and land”, is equally central in Liviu
poetry which, as shown by Ilarie Voronca, Rebreanu’s thought and lifework: for him,
becomes “universally human, poetry-poet- it is the existential and aesthetic mode of
ry, poetry-cement, poetry drawing, creative being, a qvasi-mythical and inevitable life-
engineer, living organism simply integrated force. It is no surprise then, that the main
between natural phenomena.” In the same or healthy aesthetic project would be im-
vein, Lascu also talks about the phenom- itating this élan vital in literature. There
enon of pictopoetry, an invention of the is however a highly intriguing paradox
painter Victor Brauner and the poet Ila- buried beneath his pages: Mircea Muthu,
rie Voronca, defined by a curt expression: in his new and definitive edition of Liv-
“Pictopoetry is not poetry / Pictopoetry iu Rebreanu, or the paradox of the organic, a
is not painting / Pictopoetry is pictopoet- collection of interwoven essays discussing
ry”. Thus, the literary text is compared, in the main overarching ideas of the writer’s
multiple hypostases, with the sound arts, in corpus, shows us that “the prose of Re-
relation to film and drawing, to sculpture breanu, as well as his theory, illustrates the
and, especially, to painting. the paradox of the organic felt and wanted
391
as something eternal, yet mined by a dra- Rebreanu shows us instead the ideal pro-
ma which belongs to the modern society totype/type, like the character Ion. The
itself ”. prototype transforms the expressions of
Mircea Muthu sets out a mission, the absolute in art, and concretizes the or-
one of explaining and synthetising the ganic in a specific (aesthetic) way. Rebrea-
thought of Rebreanu in a clear and con- nu’s realism then is the “realism of the es-
cise manner (which is well achieved, only sences”: not the realism of a cold or distant
within 12 chapters). This is admittedly rationality, but the realism of the mode of
not a monoton, linear task of processing being, the realism of certain “great collec-
his texts, since Rebreanu, as Muthu writes tively lived experiences”. Mircea Muthu
it, „was not a theorist in a strict sense”. writes “Rebreanu does not have opinions,
Though, we can identify certain implicit but general ideas, which covers life in ev-
and explicit trajectories of thought, and ery dimension” – in his work Răscoala each
follow them through. From the outlining and every hero is right in their own way. In
of the above mentioned aesthetic pro- order to achieve grasping being in its total
gram, for Muthu it logically follows that form, Rebreanu applies a totalizing com-
Rebreanu’s theory is a mimetic one, imi- position in his works: that means styliza-
tating the life structuring and equally on- tion and high concentration (as his writing
tological, biologic and aesthetic organic: process), but more importantly the usage of
it is life thematized by the movements of a loop-like, cyclical architecture. The birth
the soul, by the famous “Voice of the land”, of the novel Ion was embodied by a process
the land which contains one’s destiny, and with two acts: the alienation of the self, and
by which one defines themselves, and its the reintegration of the self. Rebreanu as-
imitation of being in its totality. It is not cends and descends the individual, writing
a task of grasping the “extensive totality” them into a dramatic “wheel of life”.
of being, but (borrowing György Lukács’ Here, we can see the parallels with
term) its “intensive totality”. The medium Lukács’ thought: if we imagine the every-
of each specific form of art establishes cer- day life like big river, then science and art
tain strict laws that allow the work of art are like the superior forms of reception
to adequately present the whole world of and reproduction of reality. The reader of
humanity from a specific standpoint. For the novels Ion and Răscoală then leaves
this reason, such works of art allow us to from the world of fiction and enters into
comprehend the universal aspects of our the real world. Fiction enters in reality
existence and to consciously participate in and vice-versa – it works as a metronome,
the collective life of humanity. Transferred writes Mircea Muthu, and like loop: “the
to fiction, reality (organicity) shapes liter- novel, like spheroid body, ends just like how
ature after the attributes of the live organ- it began” – we can talk about two partial-
ism, which evolves by the virtue of charac- ly overlapping dimensions, the biographic
teristic laws. Literature means the creation of and the mythical, where the latter absorbs
real humans and real life. the former, without cancelling it, without
For it can’t attempt to reach the lon- making it a mythical time. We can bet-
gitude of extensive totality (an epos), ter describe the novel as horizontality’s
392
meeting point with verticality: the partial Thus we arrive at the end of the book,
superposition of epical symmetries above where after the synthesis of theoretical un-
the abyssal structures. As Muthu writes, derpinnings, which consist the book’s core,
“the characters of Rebreanu go forward we arrive to a humbler, yet just as import-
with their backs ahead”. ant part. In the closing chapters, Mircea
Death and love are important and Muthu enumerates the critical editions and
interwoven categories in the writings of studies of Rebreanu’s work and life. What
Rebreanu, which tie together the unity of is his importance today? How should we
the Universe, its circular nature, and the relate to him? What is he to the future? In
individual. Love is a vital instinct which this book very much worth reading we get
governs humanity – it’s an Erdgeist, so to to know that his opus is not strictly about
speak. Love “is a transfigurating experience literature. “It has without a doubt a moral,
by which the unity of the Universe reveals civic, maybe even an ethico-philosophic
itself ”. It can be substituted with faith. exemplarity”, Muthu quotes Mihai Sin.
Death, on the other hand is a complete “Liviu Rebreanu repeats the destiny of our
closure. In the shadow of such eerie end, in great classics, for that he remains our contem-
the face of uncertainty, Rebreanu embraces porary” is how Mircea Muthu finishes his
withdrawal into the self. Man is but a point project. As a man who saw his own poetic
without a goal. Man is isolated and alone: descend, Liviu Rebreanu and the destiny
when the unity of the universe is lost with of the paradoxical organic concept may
death, the unity of the self is reassured. show us how we too will relate with art
The paradox of the organic is similar: against the fast disintegrating world. This
due to the advancement of capitalism, its book opens up an original point of view
abstract-instrumental language, the rise of engaging with regards to engaging with
the “new man” and the surge of “tomorrow’s Rebreanu.
world”, the wars and crises of the modern
society, the writer retreats once again and János Tamás
reaffirms on the theoretic level the validity
of the organic – in the age of a great loss
of equilibrium, societal disintegration, Re-
breanu can only return in theorem to the Adrian Papahagi, Providence
concept of totality, through the organic. and Grace. Lectures on
Petre Petre or Miron Iuga can no longer Shakespeare’s Problem Plays
endure the decentralized movements of the and Romances, Ed. Presa
crowd. The gestures, words and eveniments Universitară Clujeană,
are circling around an Event and a collec- Cluj-Napoca, 2020
tive destiny. In chapter 9 of Răscoală we
meet with the central Voice of the Land,
as well as the anarchic social explosion. In
Gorilă, the man-land relation is countered,
progressively neutralized by the emerging
A s a year which heralded an extended
period in which websites were to be-
come the predominant medium for art and
“world of tomorrow”. culture, 2020 has already garnered the grim
393
reputation of a moment that many might follow both the archetypal imagery of the
deem “dystopian”. Providence and Grace. “damned character” typology (Angelo and
Lectures on Shakespeare’s Problem Plays and Caliban) and that of the “savior” (Vicentio
Romances (Cluj-Napoca, Presa Universitară and Prospero). The symbolic abundance of
Clujeană, 2020), the latest volume written the book is also emboldened through the
by Adrian Papahagi, casts a more luminous author’s supplementary use of various criti-
veneer over this generalized ontological cal sources that have discussed and dissect-
“murk”. A large-scale project, the book has ed Shakespeare’s comedies over the years
its conceptual roots in the online lectures (among which are counted the more pres-
delivered by the author at the Faculty of tigious names of Northrop Frye, Howard
Letters of Babeș-Bolyai University be- Felperin, Philip Edwards, W.B. Thorne,
tween the months of March and June 2020. Harold Bloom and many others).
Centered around the two concepts put A chapter which stands apart is the
forward by the title, providence and grace, one which discusses Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
the chapters all coalesce as an interwoven The author’s theorization that birth, death
system of analytical theorizations based on and rebirth are symbols whose function
seven Shakespearean comedies and prob- is always structured around antinomies is
lem plays: Troilus and Cressida, All’s Well outlined in this segment. In addition to his
That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Peri- statement, the author inserts a “blueprint”
cles, Prince of Tyre, Cymbelyne, The Winter’s that approaches the theme of the play
Tale and The Tempest. From the outset, it through the prism of a quest (p. 115). The
should be noted that our main focus will labyrinthine interpretation he proposes be-
lie with the outlining of some of the stylis- gins with a so-called initial quest (whose
tic artifices which bedeck the volume, rath- roots start from a dichotomy of vice and
er than with an analysis of its conceptual virtue), that is then transmuted into a quest
infrastructure. of maturity – determined by the antithesis
Adrian Papahagi transforms the of life and death – and which eventually
plodding tempo of a university semester evolves into yet another typology of quest,
into that of a veritable bildungsroman, in- characterized by rediscovery, atonement,
tertwining the thematic strand of Shake- resurrection. The author states that, com-
spearean theater with its inherent lifelike pared to other plays, Pericles, Prince of Tyre
sharpness. Thus, the volume implicitly cul- is not impeccable (neither in content, nor
tivates the inner framework of a meta-sto- in style), but what impresses is the demon-
ry. Building upon this tangent, a unique stration that such a work, possessing a
element that could have enhanced the seemingly simple story at its base, can re-
veracity of the volume’s attempted tone veal many redeeming idiosyncrasies when
would have been the sequential addition of put under the magnifying glass of a critical
the transcribed debates between the pro- approach.
fessor and his students, along with some Adrian Papahagi’s volume is not lim-
screenshots. ited to ruminations on the themes of the
Overall, the volume is a themat- seven pieces, but is articulated following
ic potpourri, whose central arguments the same conceptual vein – for example,
394
when discussing the divergent concept of in Finland, discussed in an article entitled

so-called “sexual nausea”, which the author Mumminspråk or The Moomins’ Language.
identifies as a scourge that first emerges in But why would you name an article after
Hamlet. Extrapolating this analogy in the a cartoon?
context which saw the publication of the The Moomins are fictional characters
volume, we can afford to speculate that in with hippopotamus-like aspects, created by
the midst of our own contemporary time Tove Jansson, a Swedish-speaking Finn-
of “contagion”, eventual solace might yet be ish author. These little trolls as they were
found through the twin remedy proposed originally created, played a very important
by Shakespearean drama, namely that of role for the author, who supposedly tried
providence and grace. If Shakespeare can to picture the whole family, living a bohe-
be interpreted through a post-modernist mian life in a utopia, a world open to fu-
lens, while keeping intact the symbols of ture change. Yet again, this takes us back
Greek tragedy which underline his works, to the past during the Nordic Crusades,
then it is also certain that the “virtual / real” where the Swedes, alongside the Danes,
antinomy embedded in a course dedicated conquered every land which they thought
to his figure can constitute the bulk of a was filled with heathens, one of which was
precise and erudite tome - a protean feasi- Finland. In the early 20th century Finland
bility which the present volume assuredly was under the reign of the Russian Tsarist
validates. Empire, a period when Tove Jansson spent
her life. The Moomins appeared in the late
Ana-Maria Parasca 1940s as a book and a comic book series,
which portrayed a perfect place (utopia)
where the author sought refuge, because
in that world there were no wars and no
conflicts.
At present, Finland has Swedish as
PoliFemo, no. 7-8, a compulsory language in schools. Af-
Immagini delle lingue e ter the 1950s, Tove fought for her Swed-
delle identità minoritarie, ish language to survive. The Finns took
Liguori Editore, 2014 the Moomin as their own, even though
the characters speak Swedish. This shows
some kind of acceptance for the existence
of those people who represent only a small
T his issue of the PoliFemo Journal, ed-

ited by the International Association
of Comparative Literature, tackles mar-
percentage.
Another interesting article in this
journal is the article about the Irish lan-
ginalized languages in Europe. The first guage, focusing on how it slowly got mar-
language that caught my attention and ginalized in its own country, even though it
brought me back when I was a student at is a UNESCO treasure. This article has the
the Faculty of Letters, studying Norwe- role of an epilogue because it is written in
gian, was the Swedish spoken by people a different pattern, unlike the other ones. It
395
debates the main theme of this magazine,

the minority of a language.
To begin with a little bit of history,
presented by the author in the article, the
Gaelic language (the mother tongue of the PoliFemo, no.11-12,
Irish) was first formed after the Viking and Letteratura e arti,
Norman invasion during the 9th and 12th Liguori Editore, 2016
centuries, later in history the English lan-
guage slowly starting to displace Irish in
Ireland, because Gaelic was considered the
language of the illiterate. In today’s world,
fewer people can read, write or even speak
T he PoliFemo journal, a publication
born under the patronage of the In-
ternational Association of Comparative
Irish. The author says that only a few chil- Literature, proposes in this issue (11-
dren can read and write in Irish, whether 12/2016) a series of articles focused on
it’s in school or at home. Irish used to be the osmotic relationship between liter-
a romantic language with Nordic influenc- ature and art. I will be dwelling on three
es, even though the English writers have out of those ten articles written in English,
a different opinion due to the ongoing French and Italian.
conflict between the two nations. It is sug- The first is Barbara Miceli’s “Sylvia
gested and strongly recommended by the Plath beyond the Confessional Poetry: A
government that the Irish people should Close Reading of the Poem On the Decline
start studying their mother tongue again, of Oracles”. The poems of Sylvia Plath are
but even the Irish author says, indirectly, usually classified as confessional poetry,
that it is pointless. As a conclusion, on one a genre characterized by the use of the
hand, I believe that if we look everywhere first-person, with a given narrative structure
around the globe, at any country, we can and centered on the poet’s personal experi-
see that conflicts between (two or more) ences. However, as noted by the author of
different nations and cultures may always this essay, this categorization is rather re-
bring sudden changes in society. strictive. After an attentive and detail-ori-
ented reading of the poem “On the Decline
Titus-Dumitru Cozma of Oracles”, Barbara Miceli attempts and
succeeds at demonstrating that a part of
Sylvia Plath’s creations extends itself to the
realm of the ekphrasis. According to the
definition given by Murray Krieger in his
book Ekphrasis – The Illusion of the Natural
Sign, we can define ekphrasis as an emula-
tion of the verbal components, generated
by the visual component. In other words,
it “is the act of speaking to, about, or for a
work of visual or plastic art”. Plath’s poem
“On the Decline of Oracles” is, in fact, an
396
ekphrasis of Giorgio De Chirico’s paint- the feeling of retrieving one’s own identi-
ing L’Enigma dell’oracolo ornamented in ty. Akram Khan, born and raised in UK by
baroque style, with references taken from his parents, both immigrants from Ban-
Greek mythology and elements from the gladesh, presents himself as a citizen of
American culture, but, at the same time, it an intercultural world, a world that has its
manages to keep a tight connection with own dynamics, “a collaborative space where
her own biography. Grounded in a typical contact of cultures involves conflict, en-
confessional theme – her father’s death –, counter and negotiation of new fluid iden-
the poem acquires new facets when placed tities constantly in the making”. Sanchez
in this complex context, the emphasis being sees in this artistic endeavor a detachment
shifted to the subjective pain experienced from the neocolonial stereotypes that lead
by Sylvia Plath after her father’s demise, somehow to a derisory representation of
as well as to the marks that this event has South Asian art in our Europe-centric cul-
carved in her deeper self. This relationship ture, and he highlights the lack of studies
between the poem and the painting is not about the artistic possibilities of dance in
a perfect reflection. Instead, it represents a the sphere of social studies.
mere departure point in this path towards In his essay “Early American Litera-
self-knowing. In fact, the relationship be- ture meets Classic Hollywood: The Scarlet
tween Plath’s poetry and the confession- Letter”, John Price attempts to display the
al movement is not a perfect overlap, but relation between Classic Hollywood and
rather an extension and a fluidization of Early American Literature, and the way
the genre. in which these movements influenced the
The theme of Jorge Diego Sanchez’s later development of cinematography and,
essay “Ahkram Khan’s DESH: Tales of respectively, of the typical American liter-
Fluidity and Resistance beyond Britain ary voices. Although these two currents are
and Bangladesh” revolves around iden- not temporarily overlapping, they share a
tity. Akram Khan, in his first solo show number of similarities. None of them can
“DESH”, aims at expressing his cultural be placed in strict temporal limits, but
identity and proposes an honest speech both can be defined as two innovative eras.
towards a better understanding for inter- Classic Hollywood has boosted the birth
cultural relations. The essay offers, in the of a universal cinematic speech, whereas
first place, a theoretical perspective about Early American Literature represents the
the “concept of identity in the space of birth of American voices in literature. Still,
the diaspora”, seen from the perspective these differences are somewhat external
of the postcolonial cultural studies and, and, apart from a few stylistic similarities, I
secondly, it provides examples of the met- believe that they do not overlap, regardless
aphorical elements used by Akram Khan of the author’s efforts to prove otherwise.
in his DESH choreography. These ances- On one hand, we have Emerson, Thoreau,
tral elements, water, earth, fire and air, are Whitman, Melville and Hawthorne, and
the ones establishing the connection be- on the other, Edwin Porter, G.W. Griffith
tween the artist and his origins, obviously and Josef von Sternberg (to list only those
having as well a cathartic effect created by mentioned by John Pierce). The difference
397
could not be any greater! Moreover, this peint sur les édifices religieux roumains.
moment of supposed junction chosen by Les signataires exploitent toutes les caté-
the author – the 1937 screening of Haw- gories de documents qui ont contribué à
thorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter (directed by l’horizon de création de cette iconographie
Robert G. Vignola) –, as can be observed et construisent une perspective typolo-
after a more attentive analysis, does not gique de la sorcellerie. La démarche couvre
even seem to be part of the Classic Hol- les représentations des peintres roumains
lywood, not by means of a retrospective entre les XVII-XIXe siècles et dégage les
glance, but rather by placing it in the very structures imaginaires de l’enfer dans 182
context in which it appeared, in relation occurrences visuelles analysées.
to the remaining Hollywood productions L’approche commence par une analyse
from the same period. Besides this, anoth- des représentations collectives sur la justice
er problem of this essay lies on the follow- divine. Le volume met en exergue un exa-
ing question: What’s the good of creating men critique interdisciplinaire qui décon-
a theoretical proximity between these two struit les stéréotypes culturels concernant
currents? Especially by juxtaposing those la stigmatisation de la sorcellerie. Cette
two examples? If we consider these two analyse repose sur les matrices narratives
periods as processes per se, we can observe des récits qui ont influencé la création des
that the relations are far more complex fresques et surtout sur les biographies des
than the ones John Price indicates. muralistes. Allant dans les détails, Ștefana
et Ioan Pop-Curșeu dégagent dans les pre-
Cezar Brașoveanu miers chapitres le schéma des catégories
des vices de la morale chrétienne utili-
sant comme angle d’approche les douanes
du Jugement dernier. Ensuite, les auteurs
Ioan Pop-Curșeu, démontrent qu’autant les sources textuelles
Ștefana Pop-Curșeu, et celles judiciaires ont créé un horizon de
Iconografia vrăjitoriei perception commun, adapté au contexte
în arta religioasă des commanditaires. La biographie des
românească. Eseu de peintres s’avère donc essentielle, car les
antropologie vizuală, muralistes roumains ont introduit dans
Cluj-Napoca, Școala leurs œuvres des innovations paradoxales,
Ardeleană, 2020 choquantes, donnant une image de ce
qu’étaient les méfaits dans l’éthique chré-
L’ iconographie de la sorcellerie dans l’art

religieux roumain. Essai d’anthropolo-
gie visuelle (Maison d’édition Școala Arde-
tienne de l’époque.
En général, Ștefana et Ioan Pop-
Curșeu analysent judicieusement les effets
leană, 2020) réunit les résultats d’un projet interprétatifs des lectures à travers les
de recherche signé par Ștefana et Ioan Pop- textes, les actes juridiques et les récits thé-
Curșeu. Présenté comme un essai anthro- matiques parcourus. D’abord, la littérature
pologique, le volume présente les significa- sur le thème du Jugement dernier occupe
tions eschatologiques du Jugement dernier une place importante : des chansons,
398
des légendes et des ballades roumaines, multidimensionnelle (MDS) – toutes

concordent avec les correspondances pans- construisent un contexte de recherche à
laves, scandinaves ou bien occidentales. De caractère de patrimoine.
plus, les photographies insérées dans le En conclusion, l’iconographie rou-
volume servent comme support d’accom- maine s’ouvre aux perspectives compara-
pagnement dans la recherche, si méthodi- tistes actuelles. Grâce au volume, ce sujet,
quement structurée. encore en train de se démanteler, s’aligne
Après une série d’images et peintres à la panoplie eschatologique comme un
inventoriés, les auteurs retournent au des- tableau des pratiques antichrétiennes,
sein de leur démarche : l’intérêt hermé- transformant la thématique de la sorcelle-
neutique que la sorcellerie peut avoir dans rie en un partage de savoirs.
la recherche. De multiples dérivés ont
apparues, chacune selon la pratique consa- Ion Pițoiu
crée à l’enchantement. En d’autres termes,
cette complexité de pratiques qui émerge
d’une spiritualité décadente se révèle proli-
fique au niveau terminologique. C’est ainsi Jean-Michel Racault
que maléfices ont déployé toute une série (ed.), Trois récits
de sortilèges: « la personne qui donne en utopiques classiques,
grains », « l›avorteuse », pour n’en citer que Presses Universitaires
quelques-unes. Indianocéaniques,
La sorcellerie trouve, donc, sa place Université de la
principale dans cet hybride des croyances, Réunion, 2020
duquel les auteurs tracent la ligne théo-
rique des topos favorables aux manifesta-
tions. Ainsi, dans les zones montagneuses
les femmes sorcières ont entrepris cette
L e recueil Trois récits utopiques clas-
siques de Jean-Michel Racault (Presses
Universitaires Indianocéaniques, Univer-
activité comme une forme de résistance sité de la Réunion, 2020) a pour objectif
aux rigueurs religieuses. D’autre part, au de « réunir en un seul volume de dimen-
niveau des occurrences, on apprend qu’en sions raisonnables trois œuvres majeures
Roumanie la crédulité archaïque semble de l’histoire de la pensée politique sous
s’être étendue aux plaines et qu’il y avait l’Ancien Régime représentatives de ce que
une activité remarquable dans la région l’on a appelé parfois ‘l’utopie louis-quator-
Oltenia où les statistiques prouvent la zienne’ : La Terre Australe connue de Foigny,
prédilection des événements de ce type. l’Histoire des Sévarambes de Veiras, l’Histoire
Finalement, les recherches linguistiques des Ajaoïens de Fontenelle ». (p. 7)
démontrent une affinité pour concentrer Épreuve d’érudition, l’ouvrage a une
l’attention aux occurrences féminines qui structure très complexe ; il comprend un
surpassent largement celles masculines. « Avant-propos » général intitulé Voyages
En plus de cela, les 35 variétés termino- imaginaires aux Antipodes et fictions théologi-
logiques, les graphiques, les analyses sta- co-politiques de l’Âge Classique et où les lec-
tistiques, notamment la mise à l’échelle teurs retrouvent une synthèse de l’histoire
399
de l’ « utopie narrative » ; il y est question aux conditions psychologiques et anthro-

du schéma qui est à la base de ce genre lit- pologiques de l’exercice du pouvoir ». (p.
téraire, « les invariants littéraires », le lieu 193-194)
auquel les utopies font appel – « la destina- On remarque également le soin
tion doit être infiniment lointaine, presque pour les lecteurs ; à maintes reprises l’au-
inaccessible, mais ‘presque’ seulement, afin teur explique les principes d’édition et la
de respecter la règle de vraisemblance, et variante retenue, les changements apportés
surtout existante ou du moins plausible, au texte d’origine dans le but de le rendre
quoique difficilement vérifiable in situ » (p. plus compréhensif et, en outre, il offre des
11) –, d’un bref rappel des « bases théo- « Mappemondes et cartes » qu’il com-
logico-politiques de l’utopie narrative clas- mente, ainsi que trois index : « Index des
sique » et des « principes généraux d’édi- noms de personnes », « Index des lieux » et
tion des œuvres ». De plus, chaque texte « Index des titres ».
est précédé par une sorte de préface – « La Retraçant l’histoire d’un genre litté-
Terre Australe connue de Gabriel Foigny ou raire, l’utopie narrative classique, le livre
un voyage de l’homme pécheur au pays des de Jean-Michel Racault montre que les
Déistes », « Pouvoir et croyance chez les « trois récits utopiques » qu’il présente
Sévarambes : la religion comme imposture, et commente dépassent les frontières de
l’imposture comme religion », « De leur siècle ; ceux-ci connaissent une large
l’athéisme comme religion d’État (et de réception et participe à la littérature de
certaines conséquences et inconséquences) toutes les époques : « abondamment imi-
: pour une réinterprétation de l’Histoire des tées et traduites, elles ont également été
Ajaoïens » – où l’auteur analyse les particu- des jalons importants dans l’évolution du
larités de chaque utopie tout en établissant roman français et même européen » (p. 7).
une perspective comparatiste entre les trois L’originalité de l’ouvrage Trois récits
récits pris en compte : utopiques classiques de Jean-Michel Racault
« De même que celui de Foigny, le est de démontrer l’actualité des textes de
livre de Veiras se présente non pas comme la fin du XVIIe siècle – début du XVIIIe
un roman, ce qu’il est bien en réalité, siècle puisque notre société ne cesse de
mais comme une relation de voyage, cen- s’interroger sur le meilleur monde possible
sée authentique, offrant la représentation et sur la nature des gens. Le désir de notre
complète d’une société imaginaire ‘autre’, société d’aller à la découverte d’autrui est
symétrique à celles de l’Europe, mais fon- à retrouver dans les utopies classiques où
dée sur des principes opposés tels que autrui constitue à la fois un objectif et une
l’égalité naturelle entre les individus, l’or- illusion.
ganisation collective de la vie quotidienne,
le communisme économique, la confor- Anamaria Lupan
mité à la nature, à la raison et à la justice,
toutes caractéristiques déjà rencontrées
dans l’utopie de Foigny. Toutefois il en
diffère radicalement par l’importance qu’il
accorde à l’Etat […], à la science politique,
400
“Cities and the geography of urban experi-

ence” and “Maps, territories, readings”.
Robert T. Tally Jr., The The first part contains six chapters/es-
Routledge Handbook of says and represents an introduction cover-
Literature and Space, ing the development of literary spatial the-
New York, Routledge, ory since the 1960s. Across these essays, the
2017 authors ground their arguments, in theory,
to present how specific areas have evolved.
Some of the theorists mentioned are Ed-
T he Routledge Handbook of Literature and

Space is a collection of thirty-two es-
says, with an introduction by Robert T. Tal-
ward Soja, Martin Heidegger, Walter Ben-
jamin, Franco Moretti, Henri Lefebvre.
In the first essay, Marc Brosseau, trying
ly Jr. It represents an invaluable resource for new approaches in the field of literary geog-
those coming to consider the field of spatial raphy, suggests that the reader should dis-
studies for the first time due to the multi- tance himself from “the stability and closure
tude of approaches on literature and space. of the written text” and regard the text as an
One of the tenets of this handbook event. He also makes a distinction between
represents the spatial turn. In the introduc- “imaginary geographies”, “imaginative ge-
tion, Tally remarks that “space and spatiality, ographies”, and “geographical imaginaries”.
as time and temporality, have always been In “Critical literary geography”, Andrew
part of literature and literary studies”, but Thacker claims that space and geography
it was not until the mid-twentieth centu- shape literary forms. Thus, textual spaces –
ry that the element of space and geography a combination of literary forms and social
reasserted themselves. The nineteenth-cen- spaces, is seen as a crucial component of the
tury was dominated by a discourse of time practice of critical literary geography be-
and history, while spatiality played a subor- cause it traces issues of representation and
dinate role, but in the last few decades, the power. Neal Alexander argues in “Senses
situation changed, and matters of space, of Place” that the concept refers to “how
place, and mapping were at the forefront of our five senses apprehend and interpret the
critical discussions of literature. physical world of places, people and things”;
The handbook presents a wide range the designation of the place being a result
of spatial literary studies thanks to contri- of the usage of the five senses. The link be-
butions from scholars, belonging to various tween space and philosophy is presented in
fields such as geography, comparative stud- the essay “Invention of space”, as Tom Con-
ies, and spatial theory. Since some of the ley analyses Gilles Deleuze’s Qu’est-ce que la
authors’ articles focus on space, while oth- philosophie. In “Phenomenology, place and
ers on the relationship between text and the spatial turn”, Eric Pietro discusses “the
the spaces of the outside world, Tally tries multiplicity and variety of place represen-
to convey some sense of cohesion between tations in literature” to show that creating
the essays by grouping them into five parts, place is a technique. “Spatializing practices
as follows: “Spatial theory and practice”, at intersections” turns our attention again
“Critical methodologies”, “Worksites”, toward the spatial turn that the author
401
demonstrates it helps us to comprehend with a rich set of themes for analysis. Char-
better where things take place. acterized by “imperialist fantasies and by
The second part comprises seven di- more open-ended explorations of differ-
verse essays, varying from new theoretical ence”, James Kneale considers that the is-
approaches to new methodologies such as lands can be analyzed through three signifi-
“neogeography”, digital literary cartogra- cant characteristics: “possession, separation,
phies, and “sound and rhythm” studies. An and transformation”.
aspect becomes clear in this second part of The six essays in part four focus on the
the handbook; the spatial turn proves ben- investigation of the real and fictional spa-
eficial not only for literary studies but also tialities of London, Johannesburg, Toron-
for geography. to, and Greenwich Village. In the analysis
Balancing between theoretical dis- of urban experience, the reader stumbles
courses and concrete literary examples, the upon the characteristics of the “city-novel”,
articles from the second part, address sev- namely the reference to the real city, spatial
eral different aspects. From Google Maps, distances between places, linguistic differ-
which brought numerous internet-based ences, and various contexts of the time. An
literary maps and data presenting regions analysis on Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Cru-
from all around the world, to the usage of soe and Moll Flanders, centered around the
literary cartography projects to remap and question if Moll Flanders has any chance of
reimagine British Romanticism or to the surviving on Robinson’s island, makes the
genre of survey literature, these articles subject of Emmanuelle Peraldo’s essay. The
prove that combined the study of literature, exploration of West 10th Street in the heart
geography, and space know no boundaries. of Greenwich Village by Tobin Elayne rep-
The third part comprises, yet again, resents a nostalgic scenario due to the inca-
seven essays, but proves to be the soul of this pacity to revive its literary past. In the last
handbook as this section deals with atopias, chapter/ essay, Jean-Francois Duclos draws
heterotopias, dreams and memories, islands, our attention to the individual in the urban
and spatiality of city neighborhoods. In environment and how “the follower” is dif-
“Atopia/ Non-place”, Siobhan Caroll con- ferent from Baudelaire’s flâneur because he
siders that by traversing the earth, humans uses “the crowd to singularize the existence
had put an end to the possibility of finding of one person.”
a utopia, so what remains for exploration The final part, devoted to cartography
are atopias and non-places. Caroll also out- and mapping, is at the same time the least
lines the distinctions between natural and cohesive of the book. In the six articles, the
manmade atopias, considering that further reader comes across a series of themes: the
consideration should be given to the man- evolution from the spatial to the affective
made atopias. Amanda Dennis analyses in (Russel West-Pavlov), the reconsideration
her essay about heterotopies the works of of the historical significance of the environ-
Foucault, Beckett, and Calvino, viewing the mental determinism of the nineteenth and
space of literature as a heterotopia, a world early twentieth-centuries (Rebecca Walsh).
within another where one might find priva- By looking at the works of Spanish explor-
cy. Islands provide the literary geographer ers in the “Indies” in the 1500s, Ricardo
402
Padrón discovered that verbal mapping was the research work undertaken by the PhD
used by those who had no access to world students specializing in Norwegian studies
maps; they could visualize the regions and under the supervision of Professor Sanda
images as recorded by the Spanish travel- Tomescu at the doctoral school of Lin-
ers. Charles Travis returns to James Joyce’s guistic and Literary Studies, the Faculty
Ulysses with a fresh look at its chronoto- of Letters of Babeș-Bolyai University in
pography through Joyce’s interpretations of Cluj-Napoca.
The Odyssey. By examining the works of the The PhD students have written a se-
Latin Americans who visited the People’s ries of scientific papers that address a vari-
Republic of China in the 1950s, Rosario ety of topics, starting with Jan Erik Vold’s
Hubert makes us aware of the new spatial literature and ending with the issue of
perspectives on the Chinese Communist immigrant identity. We will make a brief
Party. There is also a section dedicated to review of the studies, and then we will
Natalie Barney’s literary activism, whose focus our attention specifically on three
purpose was to create a place for “the ex- articles. Raluca-Daniela Răduț defines
pression of female sexuality, a geospace and the concept of nyenkelhet (new simplic-
a literary space for the recognition of female ity). She works on Jan Erik Vold’s poem
literary production” (p. 357). called ”Bo på Briskeky Blues” (”Living in
The Routledge Handbook of Literature Briskeby Blues”). The study highlights the
and Space is a welcomed addition to the way the poet writes about simple things,
field of knowledge, as its valuable insights about everyday life. It is also interesting
can help students learn about the spatial to note how Knut Hamsun’s work was re-
turn, space, and literature. ceived in the Romanian press compared to
the international one. Diana Lățug writes
Maria Chirilă about this comparative analysis. Anamaria
Babiaș Ciobanu makes a close-reading of
Fosse’s And We’ll Never be Parted play. She
interprets its space-time and the insep-
Sanda Tomescu Baciu, arable connections between the charac-
Fartein Th. Øverland, ters. Norwegian literature has undergone
Roxana-Ema Dreve, PhD changes over the years, being influenced by
Studies in Norwegian the social-political context. There has been
Literature, Editura Casa a trend of multicultural rewriting of Norse
Cărții de Știință, Cluj- mythology in contemporary Norwegian
Napoca, 2020 literature. Cristina Vișovan observed the
phenomenon and gives us more details
R ecently, to mark a decade of doctor-

al studies, the Norwegian Language
and Literature Department published a
about it. Ștefana Popa also talks about an-
other characteristic of recent Norwegian
literature. The author notices the recurrence
volume containing some interesting pa- of the father figure appears in the prose of
pers. The volume entitled Literary Studies the 2000s. It is fascinating how Norwegian
in Norwegian Literature collects a part of writers have managed to givenew meaning
403
to a famous literary motif. The father is no apple and gives it to Nina. She bites the
longer just an authoritarian character. He apple and then Kim and Nina kiss. The ap-
has feelings. As we have seen, the field of ple always reactivates this image of the kiss
literature is full of news. Ovio Olaru’s work with Nina. The places of Oslo are defined
continues in the same direction, presenting in terms of those lived by Kim. Andra Rus
a successful novel subgenre of the late 20th classifies them into protective and alien-
century called Scandinavian Noir. Readers ating places. Kim’s room will always be a
are interested in reading crime fiction nov- protective place, while the asylum in which
els, written from a police detective’s point he had to stay is an alienating place.
of view. We all know Henrik Ibsen’s work,
It takes a lot of courage to leave your but we don’t know how it was received in
homeland and move to a foreign country Romania. Gianina Druță does research
in search of a better future. Immigrants ar- and presents us with relevant information.
riving in a new environment face different For the first time in our country, a play by
problems of adaptation, language culture Ibsen was play in Iași. State Dragomir is
etc. In this context, they wonder what their the one who campaigned for the introduc-
identity is. They do not want to give up tion of Ibsen’s plays in the repertoire of the
their roots, but at the same time they want National Theatre in Iași. He had the most
to integrate in the new places. Ioana-An- important role in promoting Iași as a cul-
dreea Mureșan talks about the multicultur- tural city at the end of the 19th century,
al identity of immigrants. No one under- the beginning of the 20th century. He also
stands the concept of identity better than changes the way actors played, approach-
immigrants. The notion of identity is used ing roles from a philosophical perspective.
to describe the idea of belonging, it is a way The volume published by the mem-
of defining ourselves. We all have different bers of the Norwegian Language and Lit-
cultural backgrounds depending on where erature Department proposes some inno-
we were born, the traditions and customs vative research that is worth reading and
of the environment in which we live, the analyzing in greater depth.
education we received and, of course, we
are influenced by the people we come in Emanuela-Patricia Ardelean
contact with. Identity is not a finite con-
cept, it is constantly evolving. It cannot be
divided, immigrants belong to several cul-
tures. Immigrants belonging to more than
one culture have a complex identity.
Andra Rus proposes another topic:
how the senses and experiences activate
the image of a place, of a person in Lars
Saabye Christensen’s novel entitled Beatles.
The author shows how the smell of apples
triggers the main character Kim Karlsen’s
memories of Nina. One day Kim steals an
404
a well-known art exhibition, Woman, All

Mihaela Ursa, Alexandra Too Woman, which was on display at the
Turcu, Adrian Tătăran Timișoara Museum of Art.
(eds.), Zoe, fii bărbată! In the second chapter, Mihaela Ursa,
Coduri de gen în cultura the volume’s main editor, speaks about
României contemporane, gender codes when it comes to teaching lit-
Pitești, Paralela 45, 2019 erature in Romania. Her research points to
a particular clash between the neo-Liberal
politics of literature and the neo-Marxist
W hen it comes to feminism, the

key-concepts and the debates re-
garding the topic have always been contro-
urgencies deconstructing it in Romania.
The professor also suggests that teenagers,
especially young girls, should start reading
versial, especially in the Eastern European literature from other geographical spaces,
background. Many women and men avoid in order to broaden their horizon when it
declaring themselves as feminists mostly comes to the gender issues in literature.
because they do not want to be considered Ovio Olaru takes a closer look at how
owners of radical points of view. The intel- the gender issues are discussed by the poet-
lectual Romanian woman is still struggling ic generation of the 2000s. His paper aims
with various forms of masculine domination, to analyze how the female body became a
as Pierre Bourdieu would highlight, given highly sexualized object for the performa-
the patriarchal and elitist atmosphere of tive act. The proliferation of misogynistic
the Romanian cultural stage. views, discrimination and sexism are just
Published in 2019 at Paralela 45 Pub- a few aspects that Olaru highlights in his
lishing House, Zoe, be a man! Gender Codes study.
in Contemporary Romanian Culture under- Daiana Gârdan manages to show in
takes a fresh feminist analysis of various her paper the impact of novels written by
topics in the Romanian literary theory women for the evolution of the modern
field. Nine different authors offer a variety Romanian novel. The researcher presents
of interpretative methods and discuss the macroanalytic instruments, such as graphs
feminist paradigm from a practical and ex- and statistics, to expose how the female
plicit point of view. The authors focus not writers are treated in the Romanian space.
only on Romanian literature, but on some Many priceless works are excluded from
other forms of art as well, such as local the canon and from the school’s curricu-
music, plastic art and many more. Thus, lum, which means that their literature is
each study manages to approach the femi- considered unimportant or even inferior.
nist situation in Romania from a different In his paper called “Anarchy and
point of view. Women’s Emancipation,” Adrian Tătăran
Alexandra Turcu focuses on the Ro- discusses the ambiguous approach that the
manian space by trying to reveal the degree classical male anarchists theorists had in
to which the Romanian discourse on art regard to feminism in general and the re-
senses the characteristics of this concept. discovery of anarchism by feminists and its
She examines the reactions concerning re-emergence as a radical feminist practice.
405
“What is being written to children? representations, such as fairies, witches and

A Macroanalysis of Contemporary Ro- other creatures that were portrayed in the
manian Children’s Literature in the Age medieval cultural imaginary. His mytho-
of Political Correctness” is an essential logical approach successfully completes the
part of the book, because Eva Sărășan, volume and brings forward a topic that was
the researcher, presents a microanalysis not discussed in the previous pages.
of Romanian contemporary literature for All these being considered, Zoe, Be a
youngsters, making use of her experience Man! stands out through its fresh approach
as a librarian. She also presents a series of to the feminist problem in the Romanian
statistics, underlining the fact that there space. The diversity of the topics chosen by
are twice as many female writers as male its authors manages to highlight different
writers in the children’s section. perspectives on the debated issue. Thereby,
Emanuel Modoc continues the vol- the book portrays in detail the feminine
ume on the same side of youth literature, figure throughout history and its muta-
taking as an object of his analysis The Girls’ tions, depending on the political regime
Book, published in the communist era. The or social-political events. Moreover, the
volume was dedicated to the civic educa- volume functions as a helpful introduc-
tion of young Romanian girls, which leaves tion to the problematic aspect of being a
space for exploring gender relationships Romanian female writer, in a society that
under the communist system. The essay is dominated by patriarchal elitism. Even
also shows the communist perspective on though some may consider the volume
feminism and how it was taught to young and its theoretical approach too techni-
girls, shaped in perceptions of maternity, cal, intended only for specialized readers,
femininity and gender relations. I believe that it can be read by anyone who
In her paper, “Musical nomadism – wishes to understand how feminism works
from Archaic to Surrealism: Ada Milea in our Eastern European space.
and DakhaBrakha,” Maria Fărîmă anal-
yses two original contemporary musical Maria Bucșea
phenomena from Eastern Europe: Ada
Milea, from Romania, and DakhaBrakha
band, from Ukraine. The research exam-
ines different representations of femininity
through the iconic images of these two art-
ists. Their performative appearance speaks
for itself and highlights the fact that the
visual representation of a female artist can
go beyond vulgarity and consumerism.
Finally yet importantly, Andrei Zam-
firescu ends the volume with his study
called “Demonizations and Idealizations of
Femininity in the European Middle Ages,”
which is an analysis of different feminine

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Book Reviews

or solidarities include Nancy Armstrong’s

B y-now-traditional accounts of the rise

A s the reverse of the last century’s atroc-

meaning has a great effect on under- is an interdisciplinary approach to the

an everyday language, and thus a playful images of the library as chronotope-gofer.

T he most recent study published by

T he timing of this skilfully put togeth-

political theory, which focuses on the so-

condition of comparative literature. The should scholars of this discipline further

of the Stonewall riots in 1969 and the first

P ublished in 2018, One-Dimension-

N athan Jurgenson is a young theorist

M ădălina Lascu, a bibliographer with

when discussing the divergent concept of in Finland, discussed in an article entitled

T his issue of the PoliFemo Journal, ed-

debates the main theme of this magazine,

L’ iconographie de la sorcellerie dans l’art

des légendes et des ballades roumaines, multidimensionnelle (MDS) – toutes

de l’ « utopie narrative » ; il y est question aux conditions psychologiques et anthro-

“Cities and the geography of urban experi-

T he Routledge Handbook of Literature and

R ecently, to mark a decade of doctor-

a well-known art exhibition, Woman, All

W hen it comes to feminism, the

“What is being written to children? representations, such as fairies, witches and

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