Anala Lb.Straine 2013 nr.2 - Universitatea din București

ANALELE
UNIVERSITĂŢII
BUCUREŞTI
LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
2013 – Nr. 2
SUMAR • SOMMAIRE • CONTENTS
LITERATURĂ ŞI STUDII CULTURALE /
LITTÉRATURE ET ÉTUDES CULTURELLES /
LITERATURE AND CULTURAL STUDIES
IOANA COSTA, The Hermit and His World ......................................................................
DIANA YUKSEL, Toegye as a Teacher: From Sage Learning to Sagehood ......................
ROXANA UTALE, Itinerari critici danteschi: Francesco de Sanctis ..................................
MARIA SÂRBU, Régime diurne et régime nocturne de l’image dans l’oeuvre
d’Alain-Fournier ......................................................................................................
ANCA PEIU, A Rose for Edith: An Oasis of Poetry in the Citadel of Old New
York Prose ...............................................................................................
IRINA DUBSKÝ, The Gates of the Invisible. Moby Dick as the Hieroglyph of
the Absolute .............................................................................................
ANCA-LUISA VIUSENCO, Sylvia Plath and Zelda Fitzgerald or Madness and
Creativity Intertwined ....................................................................................
IRINA-ANA DROBOT, Modernist and Postmodernist Representations of the World in
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway and in Graham Swift’s The Light of Day .............
HANIBAL STĂNCIULESCU, Strategie de riscrittura nella narrativa italiana postmoderna ......
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11
23
33
45
55
65
75
89
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MIHAI IACOB, La Indistinción ontológica del discurso erótico: Coños de Juan Manuel
de Prada ...................................................................................................................
LAURA SITARU, On Cultural and Political Constants in the Context of Contemporary
Developments in the Arab World ............................................................................
DELIA GRIGORE, School Education and Rroma Ethnic Self-Esteem ..............................
*
Recenzii • Comptes rendus • Reviews ..................................................................................
Contributors ........................................................................................................................
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THE HERMIT AND HIS WORLD
IOANA COSTA∗
Abstract
Hieronymus’ opusculae “Vita Beati Pauli, monachi Thebaei”, “[Vita Malchi] De monacho
captiuo” and “Vita Hilarionis” are parts of a triptych meant to explain his ascetic ideal; its defining
traits are chastity, temperance, generosity, acceptance of models and advices that are of true
Christian spirit. The three “Vitae” are distinct, though in perfect harmony. Hieronymus himself is
part of the three stories, either as narrative link (he once heard a story, while being a young man,
and tells it now, by the end of his life), or as an explicit comment regarding his present work and
the way his previous work was read. His moral annotations are remarkably discreet.
Keywords: Hieronymus, hermits, ascetic life, desert, solitude, trials.
The ascetic ideal of Hieronymus is pictured in three opusculae: Vita Beati
Pauli, monachi Thebaei; [Vita Malchi] De monacho captiuo; Vita Hilarionis. In
his biography, these opusculae equal stages of his inside becoming, succeeding in an
explicit order: dwelling in the desert, in 376, he wrote Vita Pauli, basis of monachal
life. During the exile years, beginning with 385, he settled in Bethlehem, being
followed by Paula, one of the aristocratic women that represented the Aventine
Circle; in Bethlehem, he wrote Vita Malchi, in 388, mirror of the life inside the
community. Some years later, he accomplished, with Vita Hilarionis, what was to be
a well articulated trilogy, with perfect tension. This triple work set the fundaments
of Latin hagiographic literature, designing the paths for the future authors: the
eulogy of virginity and the commendation to embrace it (laudatio, exhortatio),
models and examples (exempla), advices (praecepta, disciplina).
The pieces of this triptych are well individualised, though preserving a
common tone, beyond the story of each protagonist: they are in perfect harmony,
both with each other and with their author. The components belong to
biographic elements, details of the life in desert, including the creatures of the
desert, trials, visions, miracles1.
∗
Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Bucharest, ioanacosta@yahoo.com.
This paper is the written version of the presentation that I gave at the Annual Conference of the
Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Bucharest, 5-6 November 2010.
1
The abbreviations used here are: P. for Vita Beati Pauli, monachi Thebaei, M. for [Vita Malchi]
De monacho captiuo and H. for Vita Hilarionis.
IOANA COSTA
4
1. Biographies
Paulus (P. 4.1), born around 228, lost both his parents while still an
adolescent and, together with his sister (recently married), inherited a fine
wealth; by the age of sixteen, he was already acquainted with Greek and
Egyptian learning, was gentle and loved God dearly. When Decius’ persecution
began, his brother-in-law succumbed to the “accursed hunger for gold” (vide
Vergilius, Aeneis, 3.57: auri sacra fames) and planned to handover the young
man he was supposed to hide. That moment Paulus decided to hide, seeking
refuge in the mountains (P. 5.1), where he found some rocky heights with a
cave, closed by a huge stone. Driven by curiosity, he entered the cave and
discovered an open space, under the sky, well shadowed, due to an old palm
tree. The tree provided Paulus not only with shadow, but also with dates and it
was, from the very beginning, the evidence of good, limpid, water, that seemed
to exist only for the sake of this holly man, as it was immediately swallowed by
the same soil that gave birth to it. There he spent all the rest of his life, in
prayers and solitude (P. 6.1).
Malchus’ biography is revealed in a first-person account, accomplished
by the end of his life to bishop Evagrius, an intimate of Hieronymus; being only
child, Malchus was the offspring of his family and was supposed to inherit the
wealth: this is why he was insistently advised to get married. Reluctant as he
was to this perspective and being overwhelmed by his father’s threats and his
mother’s tears, Malchus decided to leave home, having as unique purpose to
remain chaste (M. 3.1). He headed towards west, finally reaching the Chalcis
desert (M. 3.4-7); there he settled in a monastic community, working and
fasting. Many years later he decided to return to his mother, a widow now, to
sell his property, give the money to the poor and retaining something for him.
He stubbornly resisted the abbot who thought that this plan was a trial of the
devil and warmly and tearfully asked him to stay. The predictions of the wise
abbot were completely accurate and Malchus encountered a turning point in his
life: the group he was travelling with (M. 4.1: “men, women, old men, young
men, children, about seventy persons”) is attacked by Ismaelits; they are
captured and taken as slaves. Malchus became, together with a little woman,
property of a master, but this somehow seemed to be not the most acerbic fate
ever. He had to take care of the sheep and at least was thankful (M. 5.3) for not
seeing too often his master and the other slaves.
Hilarion lived his first years in the desert much earlier than Malchus or
Paulus. He was born (H. 2.1) in a town in Palestine; his parents used to worship
idols, so that Hilarion was “blooming like a rose among thistles”. Just like Malchus,
he felt the need to return to the place of his birth: he did that after the death of
his parents (H. 2.6); he gave some of the wealth to his brothers and offered the
rest to the poor, without keeping anything for himself; he was fifteen (H. 2.7-10).
THE HERMIT AND HIS WORLD
5
Hilarion was chased by fame his whole life: the miracles he accomplished –
unwillingly, barely surrendering the pleas of the people around him, laymen and
hermits – were yelling everything he wanted to keep in silence. Man of the
desert, he always felt overflowed by the people he attracted, no matter how far
away he was travelling and hiding (H. 19.1-3): and so, by the age of sixty three,
looking around and seeing so many brothers and people brought to him by those
who wanted to cure them from illness and bad spirits, he burst into tears and
sadly rememorated his life in solitude. He left (H. 22.1), accompanied by no
more than two brothers, and lived in such restraint, that used to say that only
then began to be the servant of Jesus. Nevertheless, the fame followed and
reached him: he left (M. 23.1) for Sicily, on a ship, together with a disciple,
Zaranus; followed once more by fame, he wanted to head towards Egypt, but
finally settled in Cyprus, in a secluded place found by his disciple, where
humans could hardly climb.
The hermit life Hilarion so greatly desired was also the life of the other
two in Hieronymus’ triptych. Malchus once abandoned it, wanting to see again
his mother, somehow regained it while being a slave, lost it when trying to quit
slavery (M. 7.1).
Antonius, the character that connects the stories in Vita Pauli, also lived
in solitude. He was taken over by the vision of a hermit older than him, who
was Paulus (P. 7.1-3): while being one hundred and thirteen years old, and
Antonius, ninety years old, the latter suddenly thought that there was nobody
else in the desert. Having this thought, he headed towards nowhere, without
knowing why; on the other hand, Paulus was announced that it was to arrive the
man meant to burry him.
2. Life in the Desert: Food, Clothes
To Paulus, the palm-tree (P. 6.1-2) gave food and clothes.
Malchus seems always willing to offer details about his everyday life:
(M. 3.2) “we had some meat, almost raw, and camel milk to drink”; (M. 5.2) “in
some sort of prison, I change my clothes: I learn to be almost naked”; (M. 5.4)
“I was feeding myself with fresh cheese and milk”.
Hilarion is the most amazing of all – and amazing is, quite the same, the
precise description: (H. 3.1) “he only wore a sack to cover his body […]; he ate
fifteen dried dates a day, after the sunset”. Leaving aside the story, Hieronymus
registers details of the everyday life Hilarion lived (H. 4.1-5.7): from sixteen to
twenty, he dwelt in a tiny hut, made of sedge and twigs […]; he only cut his hair
once a year, on Easter day; to the last day of his life, he slept on the ground,
directly on some twigs, without ever washing the sack he was wearing […];
from twenty to twenty three, he ate half a pint of lentils moistened with cold
IOANA COSTA
6
water; from twenty three to twenty seven, he ate dried bread with salt and water;
from twenty seven to thirty, he ate wild herbs and roots; up to thirty five, he ate
six ounces of barley bread and scarcely boiled vegetables, without oil; suffering
from signs of malnutrition, he had to modify his diet: up to sixty three, he ate
six ounces of barley bread and boiled vegetables with oil and, up to eighty, he
added a broth made from flour and crushed herbs – always after sunset.
Probably the most touching episode is described in P. 10.2-3: Antonius
finally found Paulus and they received bread fallen from a raven’s beak; it was
one whole piece, as Paulus for sixty years received every day half a bread from
a raven and now there were two “soldiers of Christ”.
3. Creatures of the Desert
The desert is the place where the creatures get unexpected forms; either
imaginary or common, as the raven that brought in his beak bread for Paulus an
Antonius, they act miraculously.
The journey of Antonius to Paulus is marked by marvellous creatures
(P. 7.4-8.5): a mixed living being, man and horse; a little man, with curved nose,
with horns on his forehead and goat legs; a mortal belonging to Fauni, Satires and
Incubi species. Paulus was guided towards Antonius’ cave by a thirsty she-wolf.
After Paulus’ death, two terrifying lions help Antonius to dig a grave for the
saint (P. 16.2-7) and then asked for blessing.
The story of Malchus has dissimilar creatures in its turning points: ants
and a lioness. The ants (M. 7.2) made him remember the work of the free
communities; the lioness (M. 9.2) was a providential presence, killing the
followers and setting free Malchus and the little woman.
Whenever Hilarion met an animal, some miracle happened, due to his
taming powers and capability of chasing the bad spirits: for instance, in H. 14.1,
a huge Bactrian camel, full of rage, brought to the holly man by thirty men, in
solid ropes, was suddenly disciplined and acted like a gentle creature.
4. Trials
The faith of the hermits is always tested, in numberless ways, specific to
each biography. Regarding Paulus, we know nothing on this matter, probably
just because Hieronymus only told the story of the first and last years of Paulus’
life. The character is described solely through the eyes of Antonius – and this
latter hermit is painfully tested in the desert, by visions and strange creatures.
THE HERMIT AND HIS WORLD
7
Malhus willingly changed the course of his life twice or thrice, and each
of these turnings became a longstanding trial, in itself and in its consequences.
Being among monachs, he decided to return to his mother and resisted the pleas
of his abbot; during the journey, he was caught by thieves and became a slave;
while being a slave, with a life relatively settled, is unpredictably and
repulsively rewarded by his master: he is given a wife that he did not want, and
is on the verge of taking his own life (M. 6.1-9): “nothing is ever certain with
the devil! many and unspeakable are his traps! this is how his envy found me,
no matter how I tried to hide!”
Hilarion, gone to the desert while still very young, in the years of innocent
adolescence, is assaulted by visions that are whipping his senses (H. 3.2):
“What does the devil do? […] The apprentice of Christ was compelled to think
about things that he did not know and to mirror in his soul experiences that he
did not have. Mad at himself, he struck his chest with the fists” and decided not
to feed his body anymore, to keep it in hunger, thirst, cold, heat and misery.
5. Visions
The trials are sometimes difficult to be distinguished from visions. Even
if sublimely meant and leading to meritorious acts, visions are no less than trials
of the soul strength that has to bridle the feeble and frightened body. Antonius
saw, in a night vision (P. 7.2), that deep inside the desert was another hermit,
much better than himself. After meeting Paulus, Antonius saw him among
angels, raised in heaven, radiant, glowing as white as the snow (P. 14.1).
Malhus is closer to simple facts, to real life, and his visions (whenever
appear) are the consequence of tangible elements, such as the ant colony that
brought to his memory the proverbs of Solomon and made him crave for free
life, urged him to run away from slavery.
Hilarion is, as seen above, a tender and delicate personality that grants
large space to visions and, nevertheless, is capable of endless miracles, in a natural
way, adequate to his spirit. While fasting with huge faith, weaken and ill (H. 3.7),
one night he began to hear sheep that were bleating, oxen that were bellowing,
some womanly cries, lions’ roar, armies clanging, impossible voices – and he
was flooded by fear only hearing them, long before even seeing something. He
frequently saw visions of naked women and abundant feasts. Once an impatient
coachman jumped on his shoulders and began spur him with scorning words, as
if he was a lazy, hungry horse.
6. Miracles
Miracles are defining for Hilarion. He accomplished them against his own
will, being repeatedly besought by those in suffering and, nevertheless, by his
IOANA COSTA
8
own disciples. He tried to resist them all, as he felt the need of staying in the
shadow, anonymously. The moment he did the first miracle, he began being
famous, almost chased by fame as a healer and source of blessing for all the
living beings, humans or animals: the people, the huge crowds that are always
looking for him – with only one, miraculous, exception, of the final years –
succeed in finding him (H. 7.1-13.10).
All the miracles are memorable, but some of them seem to be even more
beyond compare, becoming part of the local history, e.g. H. 22.2: there were
already three years since the last rain and everybody was weeping; the people,
with sad faces and weaken bodies, approached Hilarion as servant of Christ and
successor of holy Antonius. Impressed by their lamentations and grieve, he
prayed: immediately the place got wet and the rains went on and on, so that
appeared snakes and poisoned reptiles: again Hilarion had to save the people.
He can never remain hidden, as seen in H. 26.1: landing unknown in Sicily,
Hilarion appeared in a vision a shield maker had in Rome, in St Peter’s Basilica.
Some more stupendous miracles: (H. 28.3) a huge snake laid a region to
waste, swallowing cows, sheep, and people, but Hilarion made the snake enter,
by his own will, into a large pyre and than fire it up; (H. 29.1) a tremendous
earthquake raised the sea, that was about to cover the earth: he made the cross
sign trice on the sand and raised his hands, the sea billow stopped stock-still in
front of him and, boiling and roaring, slowly withdrew.
7. Moral annotations
The moral passages are rare and unobtrusive; they occurre only in the first
two Vitae, lacking in Vita Hilarionis.
One of them (P. 4.2) is worded in classical tradition: auri sacra fames
(vide supra, cap. 1) pushed Paulus’ brother-in-law to act duplicitously and to
plan a betrayal.
More natural in these texts appear notes on faith, as in P. 6.1: the things
he narrated seemed unbelievable only to those that can not understand the
power of faith.
Placing a moral note by the end of an opuscula increases its strong
message (P. 7.1): marble, precious stones and precious clothes, gold and pearls
were not missed by the naked hermit that drank pure water directly from the
spring. Paulus was only covered by earth, but he will be glorified in heaven;
those buried in prized graves will burn in fire, together with their fortunes.
In Vita Malchi, solely the final paragraph suggests a moral teaching: the
story of Malchus was told to Hieronymus while he was still very young; now, as
old man, he tells this story of a pure life and leaves his descendants the legacy
of a chaste model.
THE HERMIT AND HIS WORLD
9
8. Auctorial Approach
The presence of Hieronymus is totally self-effacing in this hagiographic
triptych. The introductory parts are, nevertheless, to be interpreted as a unit, in a
dense network of threads that links the lives of the three hermits.
The first of the Vitae, of Paulus, enlightens the roots of monachal life in
the desert (P. 1.1): many asked themselves who was the first to live in the desert
[…] – said the usual answer is that a certain Paulus of Thebes was the founder
of this institution, and Hieronymus agrees with that opinion.
The presence of Hieronymus is exemplary, without being severe (P. 18.1):
the final paragraph of Vita Pauli is a gentle request toward the reader, to
remember the sinful author that – if possible – would have chosen the poor
tunic of Paulus instead of all the purple of the kings.
The “Life of Malchus” is a writing exercise that, explicitly, was meant to
help Hieronymus in preparing for a huge work (M. 1.1): the history of mankind
from Jesus to his time.
The “Life of Hilarion” becomes, intentionally, the argument of monachal
life, no matter the changes and the relationship with the human world (H. 1.6):
“we do not intend”, he says, “to credit the voices of some malevolent readers
who, after criticizing my beloved Paulus, might criticize now Hilarion”,
slandering one for his loneliness just as slandering the other one for the crowds
that were following him: “for those malevolent, the person that lived in
seclusion did not live, and the person who had been seen by many did not
deserve to be praised”.
In these words we completely recognise Hieronymus, the author, who
defends his writings and, nevertheless, his models. The option belongs completely
to the reader, bringing to our memory a famous passage from Seneca’s letters: he
advises his younger friend, Lucilius (Epistulae morales, 1.1.1) to be jealous of his
own time, to keep it only for himself, saving it from the thieves that – overlooked,
as if their prey was worthless – harass us all, to master his own time: Ita fac, mi
Lucili: uindica te tibi, et tempus quod adhuc aut auferebatur aut subripiebatur
aut excidebat collige et serua. In these three Vitae, time is as precious as it was
for Seneca, but from a different prespective, of the eternity.
REFERENCES
Aigrain, R. (2000), L’ hagiographie: ses sources, ses méthodes, son histoire, Société des
Bollandistes, Brussels.
Cousin, P. (1959), Précis d’histoire monastique, Bloud & Gay, Paris.
Gregoire, R. (1987), Manuale di agiologia. Introduzione alla letteratura agiografica, Monastero
San Silvestro Abate, Fabriano.
Jérôme, Trois vies de moines (Paul, Malchus, Hilarion) (2007), Edgardo M. Morales, Pierre
Leclerc (eds.), Éditions du Cerf, Sources Chrétiennes, Paris.
TOEGYE AS A TEACHER: FROM SAGE LEARNING
TO SAGEHOOD
DIANA YUKSEL*
Abstract
Yi Hwang Toegye is one of the most prominent icons of Korean Confucianism from
Joseon. Dubbed as the promoter of the Korean Confucian orthodoxy, Toegye is renowned for his
comprehension of the Confucian Way. Yet, he formally withdrew from official positions in a time
when scholarly worthiness was closely related to one’s social duty. Then what made a scholar like
Toegye become an icon of Korean Confucianism and moreover what made him more iconic than
some of his contemporaries? These questions have been raised before and have been answered
primarily from either a philosophical or a political perspective. I believe that there has to be more
than that in order to create such a powerful image, something that made Toegye be the
providential Teacher, in the same way Confucius had been centuries before, something that
pertains to the domain of the sacred rather than secular. The aim of this paper is to identify the
elements of spirituality in Toegye’s discourse and to analyze their implications in the shaping of
the iconic image of the Korean Neo-Confucian thinker of the 16th century which acquired an
almost religious significance.
Keywords: Confucian spirituality, Sage-learning, self-cultivation, moral duty,
reverential seriousness.
1. Introduction
Since the beginning of Confucianism, the exemplary Confucian was
meant to play twin roles: reformer and preserver, discoverer and transmitter,
scholar and prophet. His utmost mission was to uphold the Way (Dao 道). In
Korea, Yi Hwang 李滉 (1501-1570) is one of the most prominent beacons of
Korean Confucianism from Joseon. He is one Confucian who took his mission
seriously and became an iconic master of all times in Korea. Yet, he is known to
be “Toegye”1, the one who formally withdrew from public duty, due to the fact
that he had a few attempts to withdraw to a secluded place to dedicate himself
to study, recollection and the perfection of the moral self. He was always called
*
University of Bucharest, Department of Oriental Languages and Literatures, diana.yuksel@g.unibuc.ro.
This paper was presented at the 26th AKSE Conference in Vienna, 6-9 July 2013.
1
退溪 퇴계, “Retreating creek”, Yi Hwang’s pen name.
DIANA YUKSEL
12
back to public duty and to serve the kings until the last years of his life.
Withdrawing from public duty was not something unheard of, Confucius
himself had done so, but in Joseon Korea, scholarly worthiness was almost
institutionalized and was very closely related to one’s social duty, to the point
of recreating the Mencian desideratum of a socially engaged “heroic scholar”
(hogeol ji sa 豪傑之士). Yi Hwang Toegye does not seem to fulfill the role of a
“heroic scholar” and yet he is undoubtedly an icon of Korean Confucianism.
He has been dubbed the unequalled master of the Way, the clarifier of the
Neo-Confucian thought and the one who makes the line of Confucius-Mencius-the
Cheng brothers-Zhu Xi complete, the very “Zhu Xi of Korea”.
What made him an icon and moreover, what made him more iconic than
all of his contemporaries? These questions have been raised before and have
been answered primarily by analyzing Toegye’s contribution as a philosopher,
moralist or adviser in state matters. I believe that the powerful image that
Toegye projected has to be rooted in something else, something that singled him
out and made him the providential Teacher, in the same way Confucius had
been centuries before, something that pertains to the domain of the sacred rather
than the secular. What made Toegye’s teachings transcend the borders of
communitarian ethics and socially engaged metaphysics and acquire an almost
prophetic dimension? Following the theories of Michael C. Kalton and Edward
Y. J. Chung on the nature of Confucian spirituality in Korea, it seems that what
gives Toegye’s teachings an aura of out-of-this-world and of spiritual leadership
is his belief in the power of the self-cultivation, expressed in numerous
occasions and developed in various works.
Taking the thesis of the “sage learning” (seong hak
) as the core of
his teachings, Toegye advocated the power of self-cultivation through moral
practice to restore the social harmony and the Heavenly order. In his most
synthetic work, Ten Diagrams for Sage Learning (Seonghank sipdo
),
Toegye shows that by becoming one with the Heavenly principle (Dao)
(through self-cultivation among other methods) the ordinary self can turn into a
sage, a process that implies an individual effort, but has consequences of global
importance. Confucius said that “Man can make the Way great – it is not the
Way that makes the man great.”2 That is why for Toegye, the self-cultivation is
not only a scholarly task, it is a way of life and a process of spiritual formation
and trans-formation.
Endowed with spiritual implications, the practice of self-cultivation
becomes thus for Toegye the true Confucian Way. One of the key elements in
this process of self-transformation towards sage learning is the practice of
“mindfulness” or “reverent seriousness” (gyeong 敬), which becomes a medium
2
Analects 15:29 人能弘道，非道弘人。
TOEGYE AS A TEACHER: FROM SAGE LEARNING TO SAGEHOOD
13
of reaching the state of sage-learning, an almost beatification if we consider the
fact that for Confucius this was an ideal impossible to reach, reserved only for
the sage kings of the old (the legendary Emperors Yao and Shun, and the Duke
of Zhou). In his efforts to promote practical self-cultivation (often by the power
of self-example), Toegye raised a secular concept like gyeong to a sacred
dimension. His idea of self-cultivation implied an active engagement into a
practice which acquired spiritual span, and which made of him the providential
Teacher. While his moral conduct and active implication in teaching the
Confucian Way and establishing the Confucian orthodoxy in Korea played an
important role in establishing Toegye as one of the iconic figures of Korean
Confucianism, I believe that it was his contribution to Confucian spirituality
that singled him out from among other prominent Confucian scholars and
shaped the final image of the Korean Neo-Confucian thinker who has left a
clear-cut cultural footprint on the scholarly scenery of 16th century Joseon.
2. Confucian Spirituality – “Le pari sur l’homme”
Confucian spirituality can be analyzed by starting from the words of Confucius:
“Man can make the Way great – it is not the Way that makes the man great”. The
Master has made a “bet on man”3, gambled all on the importance of man in the scheme
of the Universe and established a tradition in which the ordinary became the locus of
the extraordinary, immanence acquired a transcendent dimension and the secular
became the sacred4. The master has challenged the simple secular moralism with a sort
of “spiritual nobility”5. But the confidence he placed on the capacity of man to recover
the sacrality of his initial position on the axis of Heaven and Earth is somehow limited.
The ideal of a sage (sheng ren 聖人) is not attainable even for himself.
The paradigm shifted with the rise of the Neo-Confucian thought and the
contributions of Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤 (1017-1073), Cheng Hao 程 (1032-1085),
Cheng Yi 程頤(1033-1107) and most of all for Zhu Xi 朱 (1130-1200). For
the Neo-Confucians, the Heavenly-endowed nature was recoverable by
cultivation of one’s self and the sagehood, no longer a long-lost ideal, was
attainable by self-transformation, an act of constant care for the “luminous
virtue” (明德 ming de) within oneself. The bet was upped. Confucian
spirituality was now aiming at moral cultivation “so that the individuals can
3
Anne Cheng launched the phrase “le pari de Confucius sur l’homme” in Histoire de la
pensée chinoise (1997), referring to the centrality of man in Confucius’ thinking, to the
importance he had in the triad Heaven-Earth-Man and to his capacity of fulfilling his role in this
triad, the matrix of the Universe.
4
Mary Evelyn Tucker, “Introduction” to Confucian Spirituality (2004).
5
Herbert Fingarette, Confucius: The Secular as Sacred, 1998 (reissue).
DIANA YUKSEL
14
realize their full personhood.” 6 Zhu Xi’s synthesis of Neo-Confucian ideas,
recorded in the collection Reflections on Things at Hand (Jinsilu 近思 ),
provided a comprehensive metaphysical basis for Confucian thought and
practice that could rival with the Buddhist metaphysics, and which encompassed
the cosmological element, the ethical and ritual practices, scholarly reflection
and the social participation into a “this-worldly spirituality”7 with the aim of
balancing the inner cultivation with the outer investigation of things.
Yi Hwang Toegye continued this line of thought in Korea by placing the
practice of self-cultivation at the center of Confucian spirituality, since the ultimate
goal of man was to reach the sage’s understanding of things. Toegye believes in
the innate capacity of man to transform the ordinary self into sagehood in unity with
the Heavenly Way (cheon do
), the ideal model, based on the transcendent yet
immanent reality of human goodness. Into this frame of Confucian spirituality
which unites the immanent and the transcendent, the process of self-cultivation offers
a “model of self-transcendence”8 which allows for identifying the transcendent with
what is immanent. The self-cultivation (sugi
) for Toegye encompasses a few
processes such as “expanding knowledge through the investigation of things”
(gyeokmul chiji 格
), “making one’s thoughts sincere” (seong eui
),
“rectifying one’s mind-heart” (jeongsim
) and “cultivating one’s own body”
(susin
). But most of all, as explained in the work that crowned his scholastic
career, Seonghak sipdo, self-cultivation and attainment of sagehood is conditioned
by the practice of “reverential seriousness” (gyeong 敬). The self-cultivation is
also the key element in education for Toegye, which refers primarily to moral
conduct, to which reverential seriousness is vital. This spirituality that Toegye
promotes and which requires a disciplined way of self-transformation through a
constant practice of the processes of self-cultivation has made a valuable
contribution to Neo-Confucian scholarship9. It is very possible that in the end,
this counted more in creating the final image of Toegye than his role in
perpetuating the orthodox line of Confucianism in Korea or his philosophical
debates over the nature and importance of Principle (I ) and Substance (gi ).
6
Ibid., p. 4.
Ibid., p. 10.
8
Edward Y. J. Chung, “A Confucian Spirituality in Yi T’oegye: A Korean Neo-Confucian
Interpretation and Its Implications for Comparative Religion” in Confucian Spirituality, pp. 215-216.
9
JaHyun Kim Haboush, Martina Deuchler (2002): “For Toegye, self-cultivation constituted
the core of a generative process of self that would eventually lead to harmonization of the human
order with the cosmic order. It required intellectual discipline and an ascetic way of life – two premises
that grew out of his rather pessimistic view of human nature – and demanded close interpretation of
the Neo-Confucian textual tradition.” (“Introduction”, Culture and State in Late Choson Korea, p. 3).
7
TOEGYE AS A TEACHER: FROM SAGE LEARNING TO SAGEHOOD
15
3. Toegye as the Teacher
Like a true Confucian master, Yi Hwang Toegye was a teacher. He had
activated in a few educational institutions in an official capacity10 and he had
also dedicated himself to the informal, personal and insightful study of
Confucian values on a few occasions when he retired from public life. He left
public duty and retreated to a quiet place where he could write and refine his
thinking, and where he was followed by an increasing number of disciples.
Consequently, he established the Dosan Academy (Dosan Seowon
)
on the Mountain Do. One of the areas of interest for his own study and for the
instruction of his followers was the study of the mind-heart from the Classic of
Mind-Heart (Xinjing 經), a work he had studied with fervor. This book
offered him guidance in the process of spiritual cultivation, for he was not a
simple scholar, but he proved to be “an engaged man of faith and spiritual
practice”. 11 As a teacher, Toegye had followers who went on becoming
respected Confucian scholars themselves. To his disciples he offered an
inspirational model, not only of a scholar that masters the art of hermeneutics in
Confucian texts, but also as the image itself of self-cultivation and a dedicated
educator: “His zeal in the personal pursuit of learning was matched by his zeal
in teaching others, and his lectures continued up to the month before his death.”
Yun Sasoon (1990: 9) Even as a formal educator, Toegye had emphasized the
importance of balancing the inner transformation with the outer quest, so that the
future officials he was training would be cultivated men with strong Confucian
values (propriety, loyalty, trustworthiness, modesty, reverent seriousness):
[...]Throughout your daily lives you must endeavor to practice propriety. You must
urge one another on to put forth vigorous effort to correct old habits: at home consider the
proper disposition for serving your parents and elder brothers, and in society maintain the proper
propriety in serving elders and seniors. Internally make loyalty and trustworthiness your
focus, and externally practice modesty and deference; thus you may fittingly respond to the
nation’s intent in founding schools, encouraging the literary arts, and fostering literati.12
Toegye again took his mission seriously, not only for transmitting the
Way, but also for creating transmitters of the Way, by means of practicing the
Confucian values13. But his individual mission and personal commitment had
determined changes in the way man related to the universal matrix. He is no longer
a simple educator, he is recreating the tradition of transmitting the Way and becomes
10
He was named, for instance, “head instructor” (Daesaseong 大司 成) of Sungkyunkwan
Academy in 1552.
11
Edward Y. J. Chung, p. 216.
12
Toegye jeonseo, B, Yeonbo, 1.11a, translation found in Yun Sasson (1990), p. 17.
13
For more on Toegye as an educator see Yun Sasoon, pp. 17-21.
DIANA YUKSEL
16
a “prophetic voice”14, the Teacher, who impacts the personal consciousness and
conscience with impact at universal level. He advocated the importance of the
individual moral effort and of the self-cultivation for the harmony of the universe, and
by the self-example showed that this was not an impossible desideratum. This
moral effort is not only necessary, but it is required of man, it is compulsory so
that the man be able to distinguish the moral principle from the selfish desires
and thus reach moral achievement15. Therefore, to do what morally ought to be
so means to “abide in reverential seriousness” (geogyeong 居敬), which is the
“learning of the morally accomplished men” (gunja ji hak 君
), which
Toegye calls the “learning of reverential seriousness” (gyeonghak 敬 )16.
When the student is sincerely able to abide to reverence [gyeong] and makes the
clear distinction between the principle and the desires, his efforts of nourishing and
cultivating [it] will be deep. If the self-examination and correction of the mind-heart is
continued with sincerity for a length of time, one can reach a state of detachment.17
Toegye understood the way of mind cultivation as an inner-directed and
spiritual task of self-transformation. In this regard we may identify his learning
as a “new kind” of Cheng-Zhu school that stresses “spiritual mind cultivation”.
In the Diagram of Heaven’s Imperative Explained (Cheon myong do seol
圖 ), he gives primordial importance to the learning of reverence, which
is the “beginning and the end” of moral education and thus quintessential to
becoming morally accomplished:
When the mind is tranquil, the superior man preserves and nourishes its “substance”
(che ). When feelings and intentions are aroused, one examines and corrects oneselfand rectifies
their usefulness. If one does not take gyeong to be the first principle of learning, how can
one establish the original mind? Hence, before the mind is aroused, the learning of the
superior man is to take gyeong as the first principle and to give full effort to “preserving
and nourishing”. After the mind is aroused, it is to give full effort to self-examination and
self-correction. This is the reason why gyeonghak completes the beginning and the end.18
The moral effort pays off only by constant practice, only if continued “for a
length of time”19. In order to do this, the method of practicing reverence should be
doubled by the discipline of controlling one’s mind-heart (sim beob
).
14
Wm. Theodore de Bary.
Toegye jeonseo 1:205b.
16
Toegye jeonseo, 29:15a, “Letter to Kim Yi Jeong”.
17
Toegye jeonseo, 7:24b, v. 1, p. 205, “Letter to Yi Pyeong Suk”.
18
Toegye jeonseo, v. 3, p. 144, op. cit. in Edward Chung, p. 252.
19
In reference to the method of “quiet-sitting” and thoughtful study explained by the Cheng
brothers and which were also part of the inspirational practice of reverential seriousness.
15
TOEGYE AS A TEACHER: FROM SAGE LEARNING TO SAGEHOOD
17
When the mind-heart is tranquil at night, one must experience Heaven’s principle
(cheon I
) in oneself. One should examine what one has done and work at self-reflection
and self-rectification every day. Once you get used to this practice, you should realize the
truth of learning to become a Sage.20
Toegye revisits the Mencian theory of the inherent goodness of the human
nature. When a human being is born and the germs of the human nature are still
latent, the selfish desires are not manifest. With the growth of the human being
and the coming into contact with the environment, the material desires (fuelled
by the vital energy) dominate and the pure principle of the inherent human
nature is lost. Through the constant moral effort of practicing reverence, the
selfish desires and the emotions triggered by the social environment can be
suppressed. The evil (ak
) is present in the individual just as the good
(seon ) is. The prevalence of the evil is an acquired condition, it is “the failure
of the individual to nurture his human nature inherently good”21. So what one
needs to do is the practice of good nature. Toegye warns against the precarious
balance of power between good and evil in man and shows that the selfish
desires can become manifest with any hesitation from the path of moral
cultivation. Therefore, the one who aims for moral self-accomplishment should
be apprehensive of the selfish desires and guard his mind-heart against them
with the vigilance of a castle guard:
Always cautious and fearful, never venture to slacken. Stop up your mouth like the
opening of a bottle, and guard your intentions as you would a city wall.22
This state of moral vigilance is necessary. The moral anxiety which
makes the human being question his actions can become useful for controlling
the individual selfish desires and preserving the balance and the harmony of the
mind-heart. Once the inner space is in harmony, the outer world will also be in
harmony. In order for the mind to keep the inner balance and thus ensure the
outer harmony, the subtle principle (I) should prevail over the course vital
energy (gi) and the human mind should be one with the principle and unaffected
by the movement of gi. The constant practice of reverence is one way to keep
the unity of the mind-heart and the principle and secure the control of the
ethical virtue over the selfish desires. If the balance is lost, the consequences
acquire ontological dimensions:
If one should falter for a single moment, selfish desire will put forth ten thousand
shoots; one will be hot when there is no fire, cold when there is no ice. If there is a hair's
20
Toegye jeonseo, vol. 4, p. 209, op. cit. in Edward Chung, pp. 205-206.
Chai-sik Chung, “Between Principle and Situation: Contrasting Styles in the Japanese and
Korean Traditions of Moral Culture”, in Philosophy East and West, p. 262.
22
Diagram of the Admonition for Mindfulness Studio, translated by Michael C. Kalton, p. 178.
21
DIANA YUKSEL
18
breadth disparity [from what is right] Heaven and Earth will change their places; the Three
Guidelines will perish and the Nine Laws will be wiped out.23
The cultivation of the mind-heart through reverence and seriousness
implies respecting a set of rules of proper conduct that Toegye suggests to
everyone, including the king, rules which constantly remind the individual of
him moral duty: attention paid to protocol, proper situational conduct, solemn
silence, respect for the hierarchy, obedience in front of authority and most
importantly, an ascetic attitude and repression of selfish desires and emotions:
When you go abroad, behave to everyone as if you were meeting an important
guest; preside over affairs as if presiding at a sacrifice.24
The aura of dignity and seriousness projected over the one who abides by the
practice of reverence mirrors the tranquility and the harmony of the mind-heart. For
Toegye, the harmony reflects also through the unity of the inner world and the
outer one. The sacrality of the ritual involves an almost magical element: by
understanding the Way, respecting the rules of proper conduct and setting one’s
mind-heart in a state of balance, everything falls in place effortlessly, as
foreseen by Confucius: “With correct manners, no commands are necessary and
affairs move forth.” 25 The social adequacy, the respect for hierarchy and
etiquette, the reverence in conduct and the cultivation of the mind-heart become
for Toegye valuable virtues:
Properly order your clothing and cap and make your gaze reverent; recollect your
mind and make it abide, as if you were present before the Lord on High. The appearance
of the feet must be as if they were heavy, the disposition of the hands respectful. First
select the ground and then tread; twist and turn [your way] through the ant mounds.26
The practice of reverence for achieving and preserving the harmony and
the balance of the mind-heart and its unity with the transcendental principle
through morally oriented actions should be doubled by a mental state of
detachment. In other words, the active exterior should be balanced with an inner
state of tranquility and they should mutually correct and control. Toegye’s
understanding of gyeong becomes in a way more spiritual than that of the
previous Neo-Confucian scholars. He adds a personal dimension to the moral
self-accomplishment not only through emphasizing the importance of the
process towards going closer to the Buddhist idea of illumination than to that of
the Confucian sage (seong in
), a status virtually impossible to attain. The
23
24
25
26
Ibid.
Ibid.
Analects 13:6 其身正，不令而行.
Diagram of the Admonition for Mindfulness Studio, translated by Michael C. Kalton, p. 178.
TOEGYE AS A TEACHER: FROM SAGE LEARNING TO SAGEHOOD
19
inner self-transformation cannot be though separated from the outer moral
accomplishment of the individual as a social being. The self-cultivation through
the practice of reverence has as ultimate goal an interior illumination, but not
restricted to the inner individual world (like the Buddhist total detachment from
the outer world), but an illumination of the self for the greater good of the other,
according to the universal law of harmony, which encompasses “the nature of
interaction, of flowing, of rising and falling, of action and non-action.”27.
4. Toegye’s Cultural Footprint
Appreciated as the synthesizer of Korean Confucianism, Toegye recreated
a world defined by the unity of Heaven and man (cheon in hab il
)
where man has an all-important and central position. His decisions and actions
determine the course of events and the harmony of the triad Heaven- Earth-man.
His mission of correctly transmitting the Way may be seen as prophetic, in that
it is also doubled by practice of the values taught and by the power of selfexample. Naturally, he was appreciated by his ideological followers and
disciples as an unequalled master of the Way, as the providential Teacher. Jo
Mok 趙 , Kim Seongil 金誠一, Jeong Yuil 鄭惟一 and others praised him in
their writings as the One (il in 一人) true teacher of the Confucian Way. Even
his renowned opponent, Yi I Yulgok 李珥 栗谷 (1536-1584), finds him the
most achieved scholar in his understanding of the Way, even more than the
martyr-master Jo Gwangjo 趙光 (1482-1519):
Since Cho Kwangjo [1482-1519], there is no one who can compare with T’oegye
as the leading Confucian of his time. It might be said that he did not quite equal Cho
Kwangjo in pure native ability, but in the investigation of principle Cho could not match
his precision and subtlety. 28
In the second half of the 19th century, there is another wave of recognition
for Toegye’s work. Two scholars, particularly, underlined in their studies the
unicity of Toegye’s grasp of Confucian teachings and the image of exemplary
Teacher that he projected. One of them was Jang Ji Yeon 張志淵 (1864-1921)
who compiled a history of Korean Confucianism and appreciated that Toegye
“is the one and only who clarified true learning and guided aright the scholars
who succeeded him, clearly making shine again here the Tao (Way) of
27
Zhang Zai, “Siku qianshu” in Zhang Dainian, Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy, p. 275
"선생은 세상의 유종(儒宗)으로서, 조정암 뒤로는 서로 비견할 사람이 없다.
그 재주와 기국(器局)은 혹 정암에 못 미칠지 모르겠으나, 의리(義理)를 탐구하여
정미한 것까지 드러내는 데서는 정암이 미치지 못하는 것". See also Toegye jeonseo, B,
Toedo eonhaeng tongnok, 1.27a in Yun Sasoon, p. 1.
28
DIANA YUKSEL
20
Confucius, Mencius, the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi.”29 Mun Ilpyeong 文一平
(1888-1939) sees in Toegye the paradigmatic image of Korean Confucianism:
[...] before Toegye Confucianism [in Korea] did not go beyond the conventional political
and literary pursuits, and only with the appearance of Toegye on the scene does it first
attain the status of a full philosophy, and the development of theory in the area of
propriety and ritual also comes only with him, so it would be fitting to take Toegye as this
peninsula’s paradigmatic Confucian figure.30
Through his teachings Toegye seems to have skillfully created not only an
important and relevant Confucian legacy, but a heritage of cultural resources
and universal values that he promoted in necessary relation to the individual
practice of self-cultivation with the aim of acquiring sage learning. His cultural
footprint outlines an exemplary Teacher, the true image of a sage scholar, one
that continues the line of Confucius, Mencius and Zhu Xi.
REFERENCES
Primary Sources
Confucius, Lun yu (Analects), internet database: http://ctext.org/analects, accessed on 18.06.2013.
Yi Hwang, Toegye Jeonseo (The Complete Works of Toegye), Seoul, Seonkyungwan University
Press, compiled in 1986.
(Yi Hwang).
道 (Seonghak sibdo), microfilm, Academy of Korean Studies, compiled
in 1999.
Secondary Sources
Ames, Roger T. & Rosemont, Henry Jr. (1998), The Analects of Confucius: A Philosophical
Translation, Ballantine Books, New York.
Chan, Wing-tsit ed. (1986), Chu Hsi and Neo-Confucianism, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.
Chan, Wing-tsit (1963), A Sourcebook in Chinese Philosophy, Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
Chen, Yong-jie (1986), "How T'oegye Understood Chu Hsi" in T'oegye hakpo, no. 49, pp. 66-90.
Cheng, Anne (2001), Istoria gândirii chineze, translated from French by Florentina Vişan şi
Viorel Vişan, Editura Polirom, Iaşi.
Chung, Edward Y. J. (1995), The Korean Neo-Confucianism of Yi Toegye and Yi Yulgok: A
Reappraisal of the "Four-Seven Thesis" and Its Practical Implications for Self-Cultivation,
Suny Series in Korean Studies, State University of New York, New York.
29
"그 정학(正學)을 천명하고 후생을 개도함으로서 '공맹 정주(孔孟程朱)의 도'를 환히
우리 동방에 다시 밝힌 사람은 오직 선생 한 분뿐이라"
30
“퇴계 이전까지는 유교가 오히려 정치나 사장(詞章)의 여습(餘習)에서 벗어나지
못하던 것이, 퇴계의 출현을 기다려 완전한 철학의 성립을 보게 되었으며, 예론의 발달도
또한 퇴계 이후에 있었은즉 퇴계로써 반도 유종(儒宗)을 삼는 것이 당연한 일이다.” See
also Yun Sasoon (1990), p. 2.
TOEGYE AS A TEACHER: FROM SAGE LEARNING TO SAGEHOOD
21
Chung, Edward Y. J. (1992), "Yi T'oegye on the Learning of Reverential Seriousness (Kyonghak): A
Korean Neo-Confucian Spirituality?" in Korea Journal, volume 32, no. 1 / Spring, pp. 61-71.
Chung, Edward Y. J. (1992), "Yi T'oegye on the Neo-confucian Learning of Principle and Mind:
A 'Religious' Way of Self-Cultivation.", in Asian Profile, vol. 20, no. 5 / October, pp. 353-365.
De Bary, Wm. Theodore (1991), Learning for One's Self: Essays on the Individual in the
Neo-Confucian Thought, Columbia University Press, New York.
Deuchler, Martina (1992), The Confucian Transformation of Korea,. A study of Society and
Ideology, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London.
Fingarette, Herbert (1972), Confucius: The Secular as Sacred, Harper Torchbooks, New York.
Gardner, Daniel K. (1990), Chu Hsi-Learning to Be a Sage. Selections from the Conversations of
Master Chu, Arranged Topically, University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles.
Haboush, JaHyun Kim, Martina Deuchler (eds.) (1999), Culture and State in Late Chosôn Korea,
Volume 182 of Harvard East Asian Monographs, Harvard University Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts and London.
Hwang Joon-yon (2001), "Neo-Confucian Scholars of Chosun Dynasty and the Problems of
Spiritual Cultivation in Case of the Four-Seven Debate" in Tongyang cholhak yongu
vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 217-234.
Kalton, Michael C. (1988), Yi Hwang, To Become a Sage: The Ten Diagrams on Sage Learning,
Columbia University Press, New York.
Kim, Young-doo (2005), Toegye and Gobong Write Letters, translated by Louis Choi, Jain Pub.
Co., Fremont, California.
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Crossroad Publishing Company, New York.
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Haboush, (eds.), Columbia University Press, New York.
Yun, Sa-soon (1988), "T'oegye's Social Thought", in T'oegye hakpo, no. 57, pp. 91-80.
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University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu.
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University Press, New Haven and London & Foreign Languages Press, Beijing.
ITINERARI CRITICI DANTESCHI: FRANCESCO DE SANCTIS
ROXANA UTALE*
DANTESQUES CRITICAL ITINERARIES: FRANCESCO DE SANCTIS
Abstract
After the nearly complete disappearance of the Dantesque exegesis in the Italian Baroque
period, as early as the first decades of the 19th century, Alighieri returns (slowly, but surely) to the
attention of literary critics and historians. One of the most well-founded voices on the subject
belonged to Francesco De Sanctis, who dedicated long years to the study of Dante’s works
(Lezioni e saggi su Dante, 1842-73, but also, more importantly, pages of Storia della letteratura
italiana, 1870-1871), and who actually laid the groundwork for the modern interpretation of the
Florentine. De Sanctis is the first to identify the nucleus of Dante’s poems to be none other than
the universal and human motif, the first to hear in Alighieri the voice of mankind and not just of man.
This gives way to a personal, human-to-human level of reading, without intermediaries and filters.
Keywords: Italian literature, Dantesques studies, history of criticism, Francesco de Sanctis,
the voice of mankind.
Ad onta della sua impressionante attività (soprattutto se pensiamo
all’epoca in cui pubblicò e alle difficoltà collegate allora all’editoria e al
mercato del libro culturale), Francesco De Sanctis non riuscì a portare a
compimento un caro progetto: un libro su Dante, anche se questo fu l’obiettivo
costante di ben più quindici anni della carriera del critico napoletano. Sin dai
suoi inizi didattici (particolarmente precoci) aveva desiderato scrivere un’opera
in cui, in un secolo che già si era concluso sotto i fertilissimi auspici dello
studio di Dante in Italia e non solo (scriveva: “oggi è l’era di Dante”1 oppure
“Dante e Shakesperare i due idoli della critica odierna” 2 ), mettere le cose a
punto ma anche porre fine alla vertigine di misteri e sinuose interpretazioni che
il povero Fiorentino riceveva ormai da centinaia di anni. Distratto però
* Università di Bucarest, Dipartimento di Linguistica Romanza, di Lingue e Letterature
Iberoromanze e Italiano, roxut@yahoo.com.
1
Francesco De Sanctis, Lezioni e saggi su Dante, a c. di Sergio Romagnoli, Giulio Einaudi
Editore, Torino, 1955, p. 243.
2
Ibid., p. 19.
ROXANA UTALE
24
dall’attività didattica ma anche dall’attivismo politico rimandò sempre il suo
ambizioso progetto3. E nel 1850 venne pure incarcerato a Castel dell’Ovo con
l’accusa di essere mazziniano. Seguirono tre anni in cui tradusse 4 parte di
Goethe, scrisse due drammi5 ma soprattutto studiò seriamente Hegel, il filosofo
con i cui concetti avrebbe confrontato d’allora in poi il proprio pensiero anche
se le sue posizioni nei confronti del tedesco sarebbero mutate rapidamente:
dall’approvazione, alla riformulazione, al rigetto.
Nel 1853 venne imbarcato su una nave diretta in America ma riuscì a
sbarcare a Malta e rifugiarsi da esule a Torino. Oltre al lavoro di insegnante in
una scuola femminile, dal 1854 pro bono, cominciò a presentare in un’aula del
Collegio San Francesco di Paola corsi serali su Dante6.
Purtroppo le memorie che avrebbe dettato verso la fine della vita si
fermano agli eventi del 1848, così che non si hanno impressioni e testimonianze
dirette degli anni trascorsi a Torino oppure dei progetti che si andavano
disegnando nella mente continuamente desta di De Sanctis.
Non possiamo essere d’accordo con Benedetto Croce quando afferma che
“De Sanctis non concepì il proposito di scrivere la Storia della letteratura
italiana prima dell’estate del 1868” 7 . Se si analizzano cronologicamente gli
interessi letterari di De Sanctis si può quasi rifare un diario del suo interesse per
lo studio di Dante, soprattutto della Divina Commedia. Anche se le principali
idee e la struttura portante dell’analisi di Dante furono presentate già nel saggio
Esposizione critica della “Divina Commedia”, databile 1853-54, quindi prima
dell’inizio delle lezioni torinesi, è certo che De Sanctis concepiva le sue
relazioni pensando allo stesso progetto di un’opera dedicata esclusivamente a
Dante oppure a una serie di monografie dedicate alle grandi personalità della
letteratura italiana. Queste lezioni – di certo le prime (di 34) – ebbero il ruolo di
chiarire all’autore stesso le principali questioni relative al metodo critico da
applicare a Dante, una specie di propedeutica a quello che il letterato aveva già
in mente. De Santis infatti, continuando a parlare su quest’argomento, chiariva e
compiva la propria interpretazione. Affermava al finale delle lezioni torinesi:
”vi confesso che non sarei giunto a colorire il mio disegno, se non fossi stato
3
Nel 1868 pensava di comporre un’opera articolata in tre volumi, uno all’anno. Intervenne
però il contratto con Morano per la stesura della Storia della letteratura italiana che gli avrebbe
rapito più tempo di quanto si era immaginato. Il progetto di un libro su Dante fu abbandonato.
4
Traduce Handbuch einer allgemeinen Geschichte der Poesie (Manuale di storia generale
della poesia), apparso a Napoli, nel 1853, incompleto ed anonimo.
5
Cristofo Colombo (oggi perduta) e Torquato Tasso.
6
Sarebbe interessante precisare che in quel periodo egli non era l’unico a tenere a Torino corsi su
Dante. Oltre alle voci istituzionali (Pier Alessandro Paravia, all’università, tanto per fare un nome),
c’erano tanti altri che presentavano delle lezioni interpretative soprattutto sulla Divina Commedia.
7
Benedetto Croce, Storia della letteratura italiana. Nota bibliografica, in Scritti su Francesco
De Sanctis, a c. di Teodoro Tagliaferri e Fulvio Tessitore, Giannini editore, Napoli, 2007, p. 225.
ITINERARI CRITICI DANTESCHI: FRANCESCO DE SANCTIS
25
aiutato da voi” 8 , diceva a chi aveva assistito con tanto entusiasmo alle sue
lezioni 9 . E il suo “disegno” era stato dal principio quello di una percezione
realistica dell’arte ma anche di una argomentazione metodologica che nasceva
dalla necessità di un’esegesi esaustiva, che avrebbe permesso la spiegazione del
mondo dantesco nel suo contesto storico, culturale, politico.
Il secondo corso torinese iniziò con l’ampia analisi del XIII canto
dell’Inferno (la cantica prediletta di De Sanctis) e del personaggio di Pier delle
Vigne. Il relatore proponeva il concetto di “situazione” – particolarmente
importante nel suo pensiero – perché analizzava la contraddizione tra le
intenzioni dell’autore e il mondo poetico, compiuto. Nelle sue pagine era
sempre attento a identificare il movente culturale e illustrare le correnti
antagoniche10, così che ciascuno degli scrittori fosse fortemente connesso alla
sua epoca (e nel caso di Dante il contesto è determinante, la sua opera è il
riflesso di una società e di un contesto ben documentabili) ma che anche il
critico potesse stabilire e dimostrare la storicità di ogni manifestazione artistica.
Su proposta dei corsisti questa lezione fu pubblicata sullo Spettatore di
Firenze nel 1855; più tardi sarebbe entrata a far parte del volume Saggi critici11.
È probabile che intorno al 3 giugno De Sanctis abbia concluso anche il secondo
corso di Torino, senza però poter concludere la presentazione della Divina
Commedia: dovette fermarsi al Purgatorio.
A Torino fece lezioni, scrisse, pubblicò12, si fece un’eccellente fama nei
circoli culturali. Purtroppo nella capitale del Piemonte 13 l’esule napoletano
trovava a stento il poco necessario al sostentamento e le prospettive di una
cattedra universitaria erano inesistenti vista l’avversità dell’ambiente accademico
torinese. Così che quando gli fu proposto (infatti gli era stato già proposto a
gennaio) di occupare la cattedra di letteratura italiana dell’appena fondata
Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule di Zurigo accettò senza indugi. Qui
sarebbe entrato in un ancora più fervido clima culturale, a lato di altri emigrati
di sinistra, amici d’eccezione (Burckhardt, Vischer), sarebbe tornato su autori
importanti (Quinet, Heine, Schopenhauer) e tutto questo avrebbe contribuito al
compimento dei suoi principi di poetica realista.
A Zurigo iniziò le sue conferenze con una introduzione ai primi secoli di
letteratura italiana (“Io voglio, o, signori, presentarvi la letteratura nel secolo
ch’ella è letteratura, cioè nel secolo XIV, quando la lingua e il pensiero
8
Francesco De Sanctis, Lezioni e saggi, cit., p. 349.
Sembra che nel pubblico si sia trovato un paio di volte Umberto di Savoia stesso, il futuro re.
10
V. anche Giuseppe Petronio, L’attività letteraria in Italia. Storia della letteratura, Palumbo,
Palermo, 1984, p. 667 e Carlo Muscetta, Francesco De Sanctis, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 1978, p. 101.
11
Morano, Napoli, 1869.
12
Anche da Zurigo continuerà a pubblicare sulle gazzette di Torino.
13
O almeno di Genova.
9
ROXANA UTALE
26
acquistano una forma fissa”14; un altro materiale che più tardi avrebbe adoperato
nella redazione dei primi capitoli della Storia) ma nei primi due semestri(dei
nove che avrebbe trascorso a Zurigo) la sua intera attenzione andò a Dante,
perché in De Sanctis si era risvegliato l’intento di scrivere alla fine il libro sul
Fiorentino. A quell’epoca risalgono i saggi apparsi su La rivista contemporanea
di Torino: Dell’argomento della “Divina Commedia” e Carattere di Dante e
della sua utopia, che avrebbero dovuto costituire i primi capitoli del libro su
Dante. Purtroppo la terza lezione non è stata pubblicata e l’originale si è perso.
Ci sono rinvenute però le tormentate e tormentanti redazioni della quarta e
quinta. Nell’epistolario con l’amico Camillo De Meis il critico dichiarava: “No,
Dante non ancora l’ho afferrato; è un’ombra che mi sfugge sempre, e non posso
fissarla” 15 . Quindi abbandonò la “maledetta quarta lezione” 16 confessando di
farlo per svogliatezza. Dicendo ciò De Sanctis era onestissimo. Sergio
Romagnoli17 pubblicò per la prima volta questi manoscritti in possesso della
Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli e ne esce la misura dello stress dell’autore di
questi due testi: li scriveva e riscriveva semplicemente ricopiando da una
stesura all’altra intere pagine, ne sbagliava la numerazione ecc.18
Era il 1858 e senza rendersene conto De Sanctis così lasciava Dante. Si
sarebbero reincontrati solo nella rielaborazione di materiali più vecchi per la
Storia della letteratura italiana 19 oppure in occasione della pubblicazione di
volumi contenenti scritti ancora più vecchi, Saggi critici oppure Francesca da
Rimini secondo i suoi critici e secondo l’arte, Il Farinata di Dante, L’Ugolino
di Dante (1869 in Nuova Antologia, poi in Nuovi saggi critici, 1873).
Tornando però alle lezioni di Zurigo (48 in tutto) va detto che anche a
causa del periodo molto lungo oltreché della composizione del pubblico, De
Sanctis sì, riprese i materiali di Torino ma li ritagliò diversamente, ridusse la
loro tematica e la concentrò, rinunciò alla parte teorica introduttiva.
Questa decisione era, al di là del suo aspetto, anche di natura personale: a
Torino non aveva fatto in tempo a presentare tutto, il Paradiso non l’aveva
neanche iniziato. Così che gli giovò fare un ripasso dei suoi appunti sulle due
14
Francesco De Sanctis, Lezioni e saggi, cit., p. 526.
Francesco De Sanctis, Lettere dall’esilio (1853-1860), a c. di Benedetto Croce, Laterza,
Bari, 1938, p. 179.
16
Idem.
17
Francesco De Sanctis, Lezioni e saggi, cit., pp. 563-630.
18
Niente è però più emblematico dello stato di scontentezza di De Sanctis per il mancato
progresso dei suoi lavori che il finale della prima redazione della quinta lezione: “La poesia è
rappresentazione, e come tale, non può attin…”; în Lezioni e saggi, cit., p. 591.
19
Solo che per il capitolo della Storia ..., come una ulteriore prova che, man mano che gli
anni passavano, le sue opinioni critiche ed estetiche si saldavano, De Sanctis sceglie di inversare
l’ordine delle lezioni di Zurigo: parla prima dell’allegoria e della poesia, dell’opposizione tra il
monod dell’allegoria e quello poetico, dell’ideale morale del poeta e solo dopo attacca la genesi
della Divina Commedia.
15
ITINERARI CRITICI DANTESCHI: FRANCESCO DE SANCTIS
27
cantiche. È così che ritroviamo quasi immutate metà delle tematiche. Per altre
invece sentì il bisogno, da un lato, di concettualizzare di più e di partire da
Dante per allargare poi il discorso verso la letteratura universale, verso la teoria
letteraria (perché egli non si limitò alla stretta trattazione di Dante ma si era
anche proposto di seguire le caratteristiche di una vera sperimentazione di un
criterio generale di interpretazione). Dall’altro, rinunciare sempre di più alla
forma didattica delle presentazioni, all’analisi testuale (ad esempio, all’analisi di
ognuno dei canti) nell’intento di trovare l’equilibrio tra l’analisi estetica e le
questioni collegate alla critica.
De Sanctis aveva tentato questo approccio anche a Napoli, a scala ridotta
certo, perché era stato da sempre contrario alla “critica a spizzico e a bocconi”20.
Però nei testi del 1842-43, così come sono stati ricomposti dagli appunti di
svariati corsisti e dai ricordi dettati dal critico (nel 1882) nell’ultimo capitolo di
La giovinezza di Francesco de Sanctis 21 , a quella data sembra che il suo
tentativo di mantenere un equilibrio interpretativo nella polemica tra il
Classicismo e il Romanticismo non gli abbia permesso di svolgere pienamente
le sue abilità critiche e i tentativi di dare un’interpretazione teorica alla sua
critica non l’abbiano soddisfatto. Solo quando, ormai più maturo e più sicuro
sulle sue doti interpretative, permise che l’incontro tra l’autore e il critico
avvenisse all’interno dell’opera poetica, giunse a “rivive[re] con lui la genesi
della poesia e le passioni del suo animo e del suo tempo”22.
Nella quarta lezione di Torino rispettivamente terza di Zurigo stabilì quali
erano le caratteristiche di ciascuno dei generi e provò ad applicarle successivamente
alla Divina. Tutte le volte però c’era qualcosa che … traboccava. E ciò non
poteva significare che: “Di tal fatta è la Divina Commedia, che per vastità di
contenuto entra a tutte innanzi, o, per dir meglio, essa è il contenuto universale,
di cui tutte le poesie non sono che frammenti (...) Essa non è dunque questo o
quel genere di poesia, ma tutta la poesia in tutte le sue forme essenziali.”23
Il concetto di forma sta infatti non solo al centro degli scritti su Dante ma
di tutte le sue analisi letterarie. Superata l’accezione hegeliana di forma
(Il sistema sospingeva Hegel a cercare nella forma l’idea; ma il sistema non lo
sospinse sino a disconoscere l’unità organica dell’idea e della forma, anzi la sua maggior
gloria è di avere altamente proclamata la contemporaneità dei due termini nello spirito del
poeta, e di aver posta l’eccellenza dell’arte nell’unità personale in cui l’idea sta involuta e
come smemorata24),
20
Francesco De Sanctis, Lezioni e saggi, cit., p.381.
Francesco De Sanctis, La giovinezza di Francesco De Santis, a c. di Pasquale Villari,
Morano, Napoli, 1889; apud Sergio Romagnoli, în Lezioni e saggi, cit., pp. XVI-XVIII.
22
Francesco De Sanctis, Lezioni e saggi, cit., p. XIX.
23
Ibid., pp. 99-100.
24
Ibid., p. 604.
21
ROXANA UTALE
28
De Sanctis cercò a lungo il proprio linguaggio, così che non raramente è
finito in imprecisioni, inconguenze di natura terminologica notate da tanti dei
suoi commentatori25. Però una volta definito ed esplicitato, esso apparve nella
sua piena pertinenza:
La forma vive nel seno stesso della materia; ciascun argomento ha in sé la sua
poetica, cioè le sue leggi organiche, le sue condizioni vitali, in cui è posta la sua
personalità, quello per il quale esso è sé e non altro: e quel lavoro è perfetto che è come un
individuo compiuto, proprio ed incomunicabile26;
cioè la forma è compiuta allorquando gli elementi obiettivi e soggettivi si
fondono perfettamente.
In seguito De Sanctis volle chiarire ai suoi corsisti di Torino oppure di
Zurigo ma anche ai lettori di tutte le sue opere su Dante quanto fosse gigantesca la
confusione in cui i commentatori – indifferentemente della loro origine27 – avevano
affondato Dante facendo della Divina Commedia un testo quasi illeggibile, nel
quale il lettore avrebbe dovuto trovarsi perennemente in uno stato di allerta,
pronto in qualsiasi momento a scoprire il senso celato di un’immagine. Partendo
proprio da un’affermazione dal valore assiomatico, che la Divina è un poema
allegorico, De Sanctis presentò alcune delle proposte più strambe di
decodificazione del testo: dalle interpretazioni mistico-religiose a quelle sociopolitiche, a quelle filosofiche ecc., per trovare poi anche una possibile
motivazione a questa fioritura delle interpretazioni:
Ebbene, l’allegoria fu una specie di salvacondotto, per il quale la poesia poté avere
il suo diritto di cittadinanza e ricevere il battesimo nel mondo cristiano. Così il Boccaccio
nel suo commento sopra Dante prova lungamente che poesia e teologia solo lo stesso (...).
L’interpretazione allegorica è necessaria per gustare e apprezzare una poesia? (...) È tempo
che nella grande poesia si cerchi la poesia, quella sola per cui Dante è immortale28.
Ed è per questo che avverte i suoi studenti che “il Dante che io vi spiego me
lo foggio io”29. Una posizione alla quale rimase sempre fedele, tanto da riformularla
con maggiore autorità e allargandole l’area di azione in Nuovi saggi critici 30: “Gittate
25
Infatti l’imprecisione non colpisce solo il concetto di forma ma, almeno nel caso presente,
cioè Dante, De Sanctis non è particolarmente costante né con quello di artista, né con quello di
Risorgimento (che adopera per Rinascimento; v. şi Dante Della Terza, Francesco De Sanctis e il
Medioevo, în D. Della Terza, M. D’Ambrosio, G. Scognamiglio, Tradizione e innovazione. Studi
su De Sanctis, Croce e Pirandello, Liguori editore, Napoli, 1999, pp. 5-13) oppure di Medioevo.
26
Francesco De Sanctis, Lezioni e saggi, cit., p. 82.
27
I tedeschi si trovano però tra i suoi bersagli prediletti.
28
Francesco De Sanctis, Lezioni e saggi, cit., pp. 408-409.
29
Ibid., p. 305.
30
Il volume raccoglie scritti del periodo 1868-1869, ma è stato pubblicato con la Morano,
Napoli, în 1872.
ITINERARI CRITICI DANTESCHI: FRANCESCO DE SANCTIS
29
via i commenti e avvezzatevi a leggere gli autori tra voi e loro solamente. Ciò
che non capite, non vale la pena che sia capito: quello solo è bello che è chiaro”.31
Si è già capito che una delle costanti di lavoro di De Sanctis era la
sistematica demolizione dei pregiudizi letterari. Quasi tutti gli studi danteschi
precedenti a lui non lo soddisfacevano e anche le loro pretese di offrire al
pubblico diverse versioni romanzate della vita di Dante. Quindi non poteva
lasciarsi scappare l’opportunità di fare luce anche su ciò. Quasi ironicamente
(anche se De Sanctis pure quando criticava i più maldestri commentatori lo
faceva gentilmente) abbozzò anche egli dieci righe di vita dell’autore: qual’era
il suo nome, come si era innamorato di Beatrice, come aveva sofferto alla morte
di lei, come era entrato in politica, come “fu odiato ed odiò, fu offeso ed
offese”32 ecc., per poi dimostrare quanto potesse essere errata la convinzione
che i dati biografici potrebbero spiegare la complessità dell’opera di un artista:
la vera vita di Dante, che rimane a fare, è la storia della sua anima, è il
determinare del suo ingegno, il suo carattere, le sue passioni”33.
E nelle lezioni immediatamente seguenti mostrò come lo stesso processo
di filtrazione della realtà attraverso la mente e l’anima dell’artista avviene anche
nel caso della trasformazione del suo personaggio e applicò il tutto a Beatrice.
Lei è una nella Vita nuova ed un’altra nella Divina; nella mente di Dante lei ha subito
le naturali modifiche presupposte dallo scivolamento dalla realtà verso l’arte:
Così la nuova Beatrice contiene in sé l’antica, ed è ancora qualcosa di più: è il
primo e il secondo amore, la donna, la santa e l’idea, il passato e il presente di Dante, non
figura l’uno dell’altro, ma fusi insieme, il fantasma del passato trasformato dal tempo e
trasfigurato dalla poesia (...). La poesia è trasfigurazione, è la realtà innalzata a verità34.
Ma anche
Dante, come Beatrice, è un personaggio non operante, ma contemplante, è un
essere allegorico, l’uomo o l’anima nella storia della sua redenzione: è un’idea, non è un
carattere. Ma in seno a questo Dante ascetico e teologico, venuto dalla scuola e dai libri, è
rimasto vivo l’altro Dante, quale la storia ce lo dipinge e quale lo abbiamo veduto dianzi:
il partigiano, il patriota, l’esule, lo sdegnoso e vendicativo Dante, tutto “umano” e
“carnale”, in flagrante contraddizione con quello35.
Tutto in una perfetta coerenza con il concetto di forma che De Sanctis proponeva:
“Per me, l’essenza dell’arte è la forma (...) ma la forma, in cui l’idea è già passata,
ed a cui l’individuo si è già innalzato: qui è la vera unità organica dell’arte”36.
31
32
33
34
35
36
Francesco De Sanctis, Lezioni e saggi, cit., p. 635.
Ibid., p. 125.
Ibid., p. 377.
Ibid., pp. 144-145.
Ibid., p. 656.
Ibid., p. 609.
ROXANA UTALE
30
All’esperienza personale e sentimentale, Dante aggiunse anche quella
intellettuale: “Dante è stato dottissimo: abbracciò quasi tutto lo scibile (...):
teologia, filosofia, storia, mitologia, giurisprudenza, astronomia, fisica, matematica,
rettorica, poetica, fece suo tutto il mondo intellettuale di quel tempo”37. E, per
spiegare lo spessore di informazione dell’universo dantesco, De Sanctis provò a
scrivere quelle insoddisfacenti quarta e quinta lezioni del pensato libro su
Dante. Infatti consideriamo si possa affermare che la massima profondità
dell’analisi dantesca fu raggiunta appunto in questi testi. Come già detto, gli
studi anteriori, quelli di Napoli oppure di Torino (con l’estensione di Zurigo)
non erano che “il cantiere” del pensiero del critico e i capitoli della Storia della
letteratura italiana – l’ultimo sguardo di De Sanctis a Dante – dovevano
rispettare certi canoni: inizialmente la Storia ... doveva essere un manuale ad uso dei
licei, doveva avere una certa dimensione (duramente negoziata dall’autore con il
suo editore) ecc.38 Erano quindi l’esposizione delle conclusioni alle quali era
giunto De Sanctis dopo tre lustri di analisi. Però i saggi Dell’argomento della
“Divina Commedia” e Carattere di Dante e sua utopia, da un lato, e le due
lezioni incompiute, dall’altro, danno la vera misura di quello che sarebbe
dovuto essere il libro su Dante.
Soprattutto “la maledetta quarta lezione” in cui De Sanctis provava e
riprovava a sorprendere la chiave dell’interpretazione di Dante. In essa si
discuteva della maniera in cui l’autore incorpora il volume delle conoscenze
assimilate ma anche il ruolo che esse occupano nella realizzazione dell’allegoria
generale del poema. Pensando all’attaccamento così insistentemente
manifestato per Dante, il lettore potrebbe trovare sorprendenti i brani in cui De
Sanctis espone gli errori commessi nella composizione della Divina:
Il poeta ha voluto innalzarsi in una regione trascendente la poesia, nella regione
della scienza; ha fatto di essa scienza lo scopo della poesia; ha voluto far servire la materia
poetica a questo scopo. Ha voluto tre cose assurde, contradditorie; Omero non ci ha voluto
mettere un secondo senso, e Dante ce l’ha messo. Tanto peggio per Dante. Si è voluto dare
una pena infinita per giustificare le sue finzioni, e questo gli è forse costato più fatica che
tutto il resto. Ond’è che la sua storia non è né sì chiara, né sì intelligibile, né sì compiuta,
come la storia omerica, e non fa lo stesso piacere39,
paradossalmente però l’esito si rivelò molto più interessante dell’intento. Se
Dante ci fosse rimasto coerente – dice De Sanctis –, non avrebbe ottenuto che
un facsimile dell’opera del suo maestro, Brunetto Latini. Allontanandosi però
dagli obiettivi stabiliti in partenza, Dante avrebbe cominciato a provare un
37
Ibid., p. 554.
Per più informazioni, v. Benedetto Croce, Come fu scritta “La storia della letteratura
italiana”, in Una famiglia di patrioti ed altri saggi, Bari, 1949, pp. 267-76, ma anche Storia della
letteratura italiana. Nota bibliografica, cit., pp. 223-239.
39
Ibid., p. 630.
38
ITINERARI CRITICI DANTESCHI: FRANCESCO DE SANCTIS
31
sentimento di inquietudine: la sua finzione non poteva essere credibile, non
aveva un senso; cioè tutto quanto le avrebbe conferito valore e l’avrebbe
giustificata. Di conseguenza avrebbe cominciato ad aggiungerci epiteti,
circostanze il cui ruolo sarebbe stato di tenere desta l’attenzione del lettore per
poter afferrare quel senso secondo. “Così traviato da una falsa poetica guasta la
poesia e non giova alla scienza. Questo è il difetto della poesia dantesca; questo
fa che la non sia schietta poesia; il difetto è generato da quella torta concezione;
dallo stare ostinato in sulle idee”40.
In assenza di una conclusione del libro su Dante non ci possiamo affidare
che all’ultima, cioè quella messa in conclusione al VII capitolo della Storia...,
dedicato alla Commedia: “In quelle profondità [del mondo di Dante] scavano i
secoli, e vi trovano sempre nuove ispirazioni e nuovi pensieri. Là vive involto
ancora e nodoso e pregno di misteri quel mondo, che (...) si chiama oggi
letteratura moderna41.
Purtroppo De Sanctis ha avuto, come Dante stesso, i suoi limiti e i suoi
intenti falliti. Non ha capito quanto fosse avanti la critica che praticava e perciò
non ha elaborato una definizione filosofico-sistemica42. E questo ha condotto a
mende nella sua opera: non ha potuto proprorre una terminologia coerente, né è
riuscito a superare le posizioni romantiche ed idealistico-hegeliane. Inoltre
aveva ragione – almeno in parte – Gabriele D’Annunzio, così attento all’
“abito” di uno scritto, quando diceva che l’opera di De Sanctis, “essendo priva
di quella resistente virtù che è lo stile, dovrà in breve perire”43. I suoi scritti non
sono necessariamente periti – prova sta che, tanto tempo dopo l’affermazione di
D’Annunzio, cioè negli anni ’60-’70 del Novecento, la sua opera ha conosciuto
una seconda fortuna, ulteriore a quella procuratale dall’attività di editore di
Croce – ma rendono difficile la lettura e alcuni dei giudizie oggi fanno proprio ridere.
Sin dai tempi di Croce era nata la domanda “cosa resta tuttora della critica di De
Sanctis?”, qualunque fosse quel tuttora. Di sicuro un metodo che i posteri hanno
adattato, che ha fatto storia e che ancora non ha smesso di essere appetibile ai
critici. Ma anche un atteggiamento di “patriota e (…) educatore etico-politico44.
40
Ibid., p. 627.
Francesco De Sanctis, Storia della letteratura italiana, cit., p. 287.
42
Cfr. anche Gennaro Savarese, Leggere De Sanctis oggi, in Francesco De Sanctis. Recenti
ricerche, Atti del convegno di studi organizzato dall’Istituto per gli Studi Filosofici e dalla
Provincia di Avellino, Avellino, 1-2- marzo 1985, Edizioni Quattroventi, Urbino,1989, p. 40:
“Quello che invecchia più rapidamente in uno storico e critic letetrario come De Sanctis [è] la
parte sistemica”.
43
Gabriele D’Annunzio, Prose di ricera, di lotta, di comando, di conquista, di tormento,
d’indovinamento, di rinnovamento, di celebrazione, di rivendicazione, di liberazione, di favole, di
giuochi, di baleni, a c. di E. Bianchetti, Mondadori, Milano, 1956, vol. III, p. 341.
44
Paolo Jachia, Introduzione a Francesco De Sanctis, Laterza Editori, Roma-Bari, 1996, p. 68.
41
ROXANA UTALE
32
BIBLIOGRAFIA
De Sanctis, Francesco (1955), Lezioni e saggi su Dante, a c. di Sergio Romagnoli, Giulio Einaudi, Torino.
De Sanctis, Francesco (1889), La giovinezza di Francesco De Sanctis, a c. di Pasquale Villari,
Morano, Napoli.
De Sanctis, Francesco (1968), Storia della letteratura italiana, U.T.E.T., Torino.
Croce, Benedetto (1949), Come fu scritta “La storia della letetratura italiana”, in Una famiglia
di patrioti ed altri saggi, Bari.
Croce, Benedetto (2007), Storia della letteratura italiana. Nota bibliografica, in Scritti su Francesco
De Sanctis, a c. do Teodoro Tagliaferri e Fulvio Tessitore, Giannini editore, Napoli.
D’Annuzio, Gabriele (1956), Prose di ricera, di lotta, di comando, di conquista, di tormento,
d’indovinamento, di rinnovamento, di celebrazione, di rivendicazione, di liberazione, di
favole, di giuochi, di baleni, a c. di Egidio Bianchetti, Mondadori, Milano.
Della Terza, Dante (1999), “Francesco De Sanctis e il Medioevo”, in Dante Della Terza, Matteo
D’Ambrosio, Giuseppina Scognamiglio (eds.), Tradizione e innovazione. Studi su De
Sanctis, Croce e Pirandello, Liguori, Napoli, pp. 5-13.
Jachia, Paolo (1996), Introduzione a Francesco De Sanctis, Laterza Editori, Roma-Bari.
Muscetta, Carlo (1978), Francesco De Sanctis, Laterza, Roma-Bari.
Petronio, Giuseppe (1984), L’attività letteraria in Italia. Storia della letteratura, Palumbo, Palermo.
Savarese, Gennaro (1989), “Leggere De Sanctis oggi”, in Francesco De Sanctis. Recenti ricerche,
Atti del convegno di studi organizzato dall’Istituto per gli Studi Filosofici e dalla
Provincia di Avellino, Avellino, 1-2 marzo 1985, Edizioni Quattroventi, Urbino.
RÉGIME DIURNE ET RÉGIME NOCTURNE DE L’IMAGE
DANS L’ŒUVRE D’ALAIN-FOURNIER
MARIA SÂRBU*
DIURNAL ORDER AND NOCTURNAL ORDER OF THE IMAGE
IN ALAIN-FOURNIER’S WORK
Abstract
Our study aims to identify, in Alain-Fournier’s work, the symbolic values of the two
orders analyzed by Durand. We found that the significant images cluster around the discovery of
the Lost Estate. The moral height and purity required by the diurnal set of symbols are essential
conditions to access the Estate. These characteristics of the Lost Estate are fulfilled by Yvonne.
The same image can combine symbolic values of the diurnal and nocturnal order, but it is the
nocturnal order that dominates Fournier’s work. The discovery of the mysterious Domain, land of
the privacy dreamed by Meaulnes, supposes an initiatory journey, placed by Durand among the
cyclic symbols of the nocturnal order. Meaulnes’ existential quest is presented in terms of an
optimism that overcomes any difficulty.
Keywords: orders of the image, Alain-Fournier, quest, discovery, elevation.
Gilbert Durand regroupe les images en deux régimes : le régime diurne de
la hauteur, de la pureté et de l’antithèse, et le régime nocturne de l’inversion, de
l’intimité et des euphémismes. Il comprend par « régime » un groupe de
structures sémantiques définies comme des formes transformables, jouant le
rôle de protocole motivateur pour tout un groupement d’images. Il définit le
régime diurne comme un régime de l’antithèse – en soulignant que, si la nuit a
une existence symbolique autonome, la lumière, par contre, ne peut pas exister
sans les ténèbres – et le régime nocturne comme un régime de la conversion et
de l’euphémisme. Selon Durand, il y a, d’une part, des symboles du régime
nocturne qui se caractérisent par une inversion de la valeur affective attribuée
aux visages du temps, de sorte qu’au sein de la nuit l’esprit pressent la lumière,
la chute devient descente, l’abîme prend la forme d’une coupe, l’être entrevoit
un espace intime et protecteur. D’autre part, il y a les symboles du retour ou les
*
Université « Alexandru Ioan Cuza » de Iasi, Roumanie, bleu_mariaa@yahoo.com.
MARIA SÂRBU
34
symboles cycliques qui visent à rechercher et à découvrir un facteur de stabilité
à l’intérieur du temps et à synthétiser les aspirations à un monde au-delà de la
transcendance et des intuitions immanentes du devenir. A l’intérieur de ce
groupe, la nuit par exemple n’est qu’une promesse de l’aube. Durand (1977 : 70,
77, 80, 243-244)
L’univers imaginaire d’Alain-Fournier pourrait être décrit par des
symboles du régime diurne – des symboles thériomorphes (les symboles
prenant une forme animale), ascensionnels (les symboles de l’élévation) et
diaïrétiques (les symboles qui exigent un procédé dialectique, où ils affrontent
leur contraire) –, aussi bien que par des symboles du régime nocturne – des
symboles de l’inversion et de l’intimité et des symboles cycliques.
1. Régime diurne
La découverte du Domaine sans nom – événement essentiel du Grand
Meaulnes – qui exige une âme pure au voyageur subissant les épreuves de
l’initiation, est précédée par l’apparition d’une tourelle grise qui ressemble à un
vieux pigeonnier. Le renvoi indirect au pigeon – oiseau rangé par Durand parmi
les symboles thériomorphes de la pureté – suggère l’état d’âme de l’étudiant
égaré. Longtemps après, Meaulnes avoue qu’il est arrivé au Domaine lorsqu’il était
à un degré de pureté qu’il n’atteindrait jamais plus. Alain-Fournier (2000 : 160)
La pureté, mais aussi l’instinct d’élévation et de sublimation se rattachent aux
figures féminines (Yvonne de Galais, Valentine et leurs inspiratrices) associées
à la présence d’oiseaux : hirondelle, tourterelle, pigeon ou colombe. Yvonne de Galais
lui semble « toute frémissante, comme une hirondelle un instant posée à terre et
qui déjà tremble du désir de reprendre son vol. » Alain-Fournier (2000 : 72-73) ;
Colombe Blanchet est une « chaste jeune fille admirable » Alain-Fournier
(1990 : 31-32) Fournier se voit lui-même « le veilleur aux colombes, la vieille
âme très pure » Alain-Fournier et Jacques Rivière (1926-1928, tome IV : 153)
ou bien il imagine, dans « A travers les étés », un après-midi à « la Maison des
Tourterelles » – Alain-Fournier (1986c : 130) – avec la jeune fille qu’il aime.
L’ascension fascine Fournier au moins autant que la pureté. Un extrait
d’Ibsen de Solness le Constructeur, où le mouvement vertical est attribué à une
tour est retenu par l’avide chercheur de significations qu’il est :
Ibsen. Solness le Constructeur. Beau. – Grand symbole.
− Une tour… ? Que voulez-vous dire ?
− Je songe à quelque chose qui s’élève…
− Qui s’élève librement dans les airs ! … Alain-Fournier (1930 :100)
Son enthousiasme pour les images d’élévation se manifeste sous plusieurs
formes. Action réalisée par des personnages, attribut des objets ou des forces
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35
émotionnelles, l’ascension est arborée aussi bien dans le roman que dans les
lettres. Un jour, Fournier aperçoit des montagnes qui « paraissent émerger d’un
gouffre immense dont la ligne d’horizon serait un bord » ; un autre, lors des
manœuvres militaires, il éprouve la grande et furtive satisfaction d’avoir
encouragé réellement ses soldats, sentiment qu’il sent « monter » sous lui et qui
est, dans son opinion, peut-être plus précieux qu’une grande passion ou un
grand amour. Son livre même est projeté comme une gradation ascensionnelle ;
son point terminus aboutit au sommet de la pureté et du sacrifice, c’est-à-dire à
la joie : « Et puis, il y aura une troisième partie, où le personnage de la première
(de l’enfance) reviendra et cela montera plus haut que la pureté, plus haut que le
sacrifice, plus haut que toute la désolation – à la joie » Alain-Fournier (1930 :
269, 268) ; Alain-Fournier et Jacques Rivière (1926-1928, tome IV : 244). Le
séjour au Domaine suppose non seulement un certain état spirituel (la pureté),
mais aussi l’ascension vers une région chaste où règnent les enfants. Avant
d’entrer dans « sa » chambre du vieux château, Meaulnes doit franchir le mur
moussu qui se trouve entre la lisière du bois et la cour du domaine. Une fois le
mur surmonté, l’ascension continue. Le mur et les voitures qui remplissent la
cour représentent les marches d’un escalier imaginaire, appuyé sur la terre pour
figurer le monde mortel en tant que « support » à partir duquel toute ascension
doit commencer. Meaulnes passe d’une voiture à l’autre, du siège d’un char à
bancs au toit d’une berline pour arriver à une fenêtre des annexes. La dernière
marche avant la fenêtre est le « siège d’un haut char à bancs » ; de là, il arrive
« à la hauteur de la fenêtre », qu’il pousse « sans bruit comme une porte »
Alain-Fournier (2000 : 55). La dernière voiture et la fenêtre portent visiblement
la marque de la hauteur.
Cependant, selon Durand, les escaliers descendent toujours; monter dans
le grenier ou dans le chambres situés à l’étage c’est toujours descendre dans le
cœur du mystère, un mystère nuancé par l’isolement et l’intimité. Durand
(1977 : 304) L’endroit caché dans le bois, la fête et ses participants sont
étranges pour Meaulnes, et le simple fait d’être près de Meaulnes et d’écouter
l’histoire de ces aventures plonge Seurel dans le mystère. Le grenier de la
maison de Sainte-Agathe est le lieu propice des confessions. C’est là que
Meaulnes raconte à Seurel son étrange aventure qu’il avait si longtemps gardée
pour lui et qui chassait son sommeil, de sorte que, vers une heure du matin,
Seurel était réveillé par le bruit de ses pas et le trouvait déambulant vers la
chambre et les greniers. C’est toujours aux greniers que Seurel trouve la vielle
malle d’écolier de Meaulnes. Elle renferme des cahiers et des livres de SainteAgathe, mais aussi le journal de Meaulnes. Le grenier est un musée des ancêtres
et un lieu du retour. Durand (1977 : 304) Seurel avoue que l’image des greniers
appelle toute une série de souvenirs :
36
MARIA SÂRBU
… si j’essaie d’imaginer la première nuit que je dus passer dans ma mansarde, au milieu
des greniers du premier étage, déjà ce sont d’autres nuits que je me rappelle ; je ne suis
plus seul dans cette chambre ; une grande ombre inquiète et amie passe le long des murs
et se promène. Alain-Fournier (2000 :14)
Dans une lettre à Jacques Rivière (3 mars 1909), Alain-Fournier se rappelle
que, pendant son enfance, il associait les chambres du haut avec le mystère :
Je savais que monter dans les chambres du haut, pour coucher dans la grande
maison inconnue, ne me serait plus, comme autrefois, tant de douceur et de mystère.
Alain-Fournier et Jacques Rivière (1926-1928, tome IV : 82)
Augustin n’échappe pas à cette attirance pour le mystère des greniers. Sa
première apparition dans le roman le présente descendant du grenier des Seurel
qu’il vient d’explorer. « Je n’ai su que plus tard quel royaume il s’y était
découvert » Alain-Fournier (1986a :422), précise François dans les esquisses du
roman. Les deux camarades sont attirés par les greniers à cause de la hauteur
singulière qu’y prend la maison. Une lucarne suffit pour que la maison s’ouvre
sur l’infini. Et suscite le désir d’aventure des deux garçons. Un fragment des
brouillons est significatif : « C’était un des grands désirs de François, je le sais,
d’aller un jour à cette chapelle. (…) Il l’avait, comme Meaulnes à sa lucarne,
découverte un soir d’été entre les arbres lointains ». Alain-Fournier (1986a :444)
Les greniers ou les chambres du haut peuvent être intégrés aussi dans le
groupe des symboles diaïrétiques, guidés par une intention polémique qui les
confronte avec leur opposé. Durand (1977 :196) Selon Durand, une maison est
un être terrestre qui enregistre les appels célestes du régime diurne de
l’imaginaire. Ces valeurs symboliques sont mises en évidence par la branche à
la portée du vent et le grenier en proie à tous les courants d’air. D’une part, la
maison sépare et défend ses habitants de l’extériorité, d’autre part, elle
prédispose à des rêveries de l’intimité. Durand (1977 : 208) (Les parents de
François cherchent toujours à renforcer le pouvoir sécurisant des logements
successifs de la famille du narrateur. Les efforts de sa mère visent à rendre
« habitables » les maisons en condamnant les portes et en bloquant les courants
d’air pour créer ainsi un espace clos, où elle peut se retirer pour coudre. Son
père, quant à lui, ferme les volets de bois aux portes vitrées sur l’intimité
profonde de la maison.) Dans Le Grand Meaulnes, les branches secouées par le
vent caractérisent le Domaine mystérieux lors de la fête étrange – « bâtiments
confus où le vent secouait des branches devant les ouvertures roses, vertes et
bleues des fenêtres » Alain-Fournier (2000 : 60) – ou lors des noces d’Augustin
et Yvonne : « Aucun bruit du dehors n’arrive plus maintenant jusqu’aux jeunes
gens. Il y a tout juste une branche de rosier sans feuilles qui cogne la vitre ».
Alain-Fournier (2000 : 181)
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37
La valeur défensive de la maison est renforcée par sa forme carrée. La
maison de Meaulnes, par exemple, est une construction carrée et, en outre, les
fenêtres du rez-de-chaussée qui donnent sur la rue sont si hautes que personne
n’y regarde jamais. La forme carrée met l’accent symbolique sur la défense de
l’intégrité intérieure. Meaulnes s’y retire pendant les longues vacances ou
lorsqu’il veut réfléchir avant de prendre une décision. L’image de cette maison
apparaît seulement lors de la visite de Seurel. Au rôle symbolique de la figure
carrée correspond l’attitude de Meaulnes pendant la discussion avec son ancien
camarade. Il ne tend pas la main à Seurel, il le regarde sans le voir, il écoute en
silence, « la tête un peu rentrée, dans l’attitude de quelqu’un qu’on a surpris et
qui ne sait comment se défendre, se cacher ou s’enfuir » Alain-Fournier
(2000 :161), cherchant à justifier sa conduite et le désespoir où il avait sombré.
2. Régime nocturne
L’intention polémique du régime diurne est estompée par l’euphémisme
qui caractérise le régime nocturne. La mélodie, par exemple, est un euphémisme
par rapport au bruit. Selon Durand, la musique est le double euphémisant de la
durée existentielle. La musique retrouve en nous la racine de tous les souvenirs
et la transforme, pour un instant, en centre d’un monde féerique. Durand
(1977 :277) Dans la chambre de Wellington, Meaulnes entend « le son d’une
musique perdue » apporté par le vent. Le son lui-même est comparé avec un
souvenir « plein de charme ». Ensuite c’est le souvenir même qui arrive. Il se
rappelle le temps où sa mère, jeune encore, jouait du piano l’après-midi dans le
salon, et lui, en silence, derrière la porte, l’écoutait jusqu’à la nuit. AlainFournier (2000 : 56)
La musique nocturne caresse aussi les amoureux, de sorte qu’ils pensent
en « tendres sonorités », comme Ludwig Tieck l’a dit. Dans la partie la plus
paisible et la plus obscure de la demeure, Meaulnes entend jouer du piano et se
dirige vers le son. La musique l’attire et il s’arrête dans la chambre où une jeune
fille joue « très doucement » du piano, entourée de petits enfants. La musique
mélodieuse le plonge « dans le bonheur le plus calme du monde » et lui rappelle
un rêve de jadis. La jeune fille qui avait ensoleillé les rêves de Meaulnes pendant
son enfance apparaît pour la première fois devant lui lors de la fête étrange. Il
imagine, comme autrefois, qu’il est dans sa propre maison, marié, un beau soir,
et que la jeune inconnue jouant du piano c’est sa femme. Alain-Fournier (2000 :
66-67) Par l’euphémisme de la musique, le temps est réhabilité et l’angoisse
disparaît (Meaulnes était « angoissé » avant de se réfugier dans la pièce
silencieuse), car le jeune homme oublie sa condition d’intrus à la fête étrange, il
se sent chez lui au Domaine mystérieux, près de la belle jeune fille.
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MARIA SÂRBU
Le logement (le Domaine mystérieux), la bien-aimée et la mort (la tombe)
sont isomorphes dans le cadre du symbolisme de l’intimité. En apprenant que la
jeune fille s’est mariée, Meaulnes associe la mort au bien-être de son aventure
de jadis : « Peut-être quand nous mourrons, peut-être la mort seule nous
donnera la clef et la suite et la fin de cette aventure manquée » Alain-Fournier
(2000 :134) ; « Dans la mort seulement […] je retrouverai peut-être la beauté de
ce temps-là… » Alain-Fournier (2000 :160)
L’association des valeurs mortuaires avec le repos et l’intimité se retrouve
dans le folklore. Les chambres secrètes cachent les belles au bois dormant des
contes. Durand (1977 :295) Augustin trouve la fille de ses rêves dans la pièce la
plus paisible et la plus obscure de la demeure. L’intimité du château est
renforcée par la dernière chambre, plus mystérieuse que les autres. Seurel a bien
compris la signification du château. Il sait qu’il cherche
… le passage dont il est question dans les livres, l’ancien chemin obstrué, celui
dont le prince harassé de fatigue n’a pu trouver l’entrée. […] Et soudain, en écartant,
dans le feuillage profond, les branches, avec ce geste hésitant des mains à hauteur du
visage inégalement écartées, on l’aperçoit comme une longue avenue sombre dont la
sortie est un rond de lumière tout petit. Alain-Fournier (2000 :120)
La joie d’être parfaitement enfermé est symbolisée aussi par le logement
sur l’eau, c’est-à-dire par la barque. En dépit du froid de l’hiver, Meaulnes se
croit au cœur de l’été et se sent chez soi, car, sans savoir comment, il se trouve
dans le même yacht que la jeune châtelaine. Il peut la regarder à l’aise et être
regardé par elle dans ce lieu clos, île en miniature où le temps cesse de voler.
Dans Le miracle des trois dames de village, un conte du recueil Miracles,
les trois jeunes femmes se trouvent d’abord « dans leur salon fermé, comme
dans une barque amarrée au milieu du courant » (1986c : 175). Elles se sentent
si tranquilles dans le salon, qu’elles ne peuvent distinguer aucun bruit, pas
même le tic-tac de la pendule.
La barque, symbolisant le récipient protecteur, est remplacée ensuite par
la roulotte et le char, d’autres véhicules servant de refuge, d’abri.
Le char apparaît non seulement comme un facteur de sécurité, mais aussi
comme un ambassadeur symbolique du monde de l’au-delà, lorsque le cercueil
d’Yvonne est amené dans une charrette à bœufs. Un autre char, la vieille voiture
de Mme Meaulnes, qui conduit Augustin à la fin de son séjour à Sainte-Agathe,
symbolise la fin de l’adolescence de François : « … je me trouvai, pour la première
fois depuis de longs mois, seul en face d’une longue soirée de jeudi – avec
l’impression que, dans cette vieille voiture, mon adolescence venait de s’en aller
pour toujours ». Alain-Fournier (2000 :126)
Selon Durand, la notion de récipient est solidaire avec celle de contenu,
généralement un fluide intégré au symbolisme aquatique de l’intimité. Durand
(1977 :318) Dans l’œuvre d’Alain-Fournier, le lait est associé aux instants
RÉGIME DIURNE ET RÉGIME NOCTURNE DE L’IMAGE DANS L’ŒUVRE D’ALAIN-FOURNIER
39
heureux de repos dans des logements qui inspirent un sentiment de sécurité.
L’hospitalité des gens de campagne les fait offrir à Meaulnes, qui s’était égaré,
un bol de lait avec du pain. Dans le poème Dans le chemin qui s’enfonce, la
promenade au pays de l’enfance des deux amoureux se passe comme s’ils
étaient arrivés au soir, dans la salle basse d’une ferme inconnue où on leur offre
du lait. Dans un fragment du texte Les Gens du Domaine, les jeunes amoureux
se trouvent dans leur propre ferme ; elle trait les vaches, lui, il donne du foin
aux vaches. Leur vie heureuse devient l’objet des songes d’une demoiselle qui
vient, le soir, chercher du lait chez eux. Fournier imagine le bien-être comme
une série de voyages interminables pendent lesquels il s’arrêterait chez des
paysans isolés qui lui offriraient du lait : « D’ici là, je voudrais ne me nourrir
que de kilomètres, de lait pris dans des fermes ignorées, et de paysages ».
Alain-Fournier (1986b :33)
Pour parvenir à l’intimité avec soi-même qu’il recherche et qu’il défend,
et pour retrouver en soi-même le primitif, le primordial, Meaulnes doit affronter
l’inconnu et faire preuve d’un courage spécifique surtout aux voyages sur la
mer. Comme Fabrice, le personnage de la Chartreuse de Parme, Meaulnes doit
passer d’un régime héroïque de l’image et de l’action à un régime mystique régi
par les valeurs et les images de l’intimité, donc du rouge au noir. Maintes fois,
dans le roman, les aventures de Meaulnes sont associées aux vagues
dangereuses : « je regardais avec les autres cet attelage perdu qui nous revenait,
telle une épave qu’eût ramenée la haute mer – la première épave et la dernière,
peut-être, de l’aventure de Meaulnes » ; « demeure d’où partirent et où revinrent
se briser, comme des vagues sur un rocher désert, nos aventures » ; « la
première vague de cette aventure dont nous ne reparlions pas arriva jusqu’à
nous ». Alain-Fournier (2000 : 13, 32, 86)
Mais la découverte de l’amour et de la mort est le destin de tous les
hommes, depuis la création du monde. Les aventures de Meaulnes sont, en
grandes lignes, les épreuves subies par tous les mortels. Dans une lettre à
Jacques Rivière (4 avril 1910), Alain-Fournier insiste sur le côté humain de
l’histoire de Meaulnes : « … pour l’instant c’est l’histoire de l’homme-sur-latour, mais descendu sur terre. C’est le pays sans nom, mais aussi le pays de tout
le monde. Ce sera bien plus humainement beau ainsi ». Alain-Fournier et
Jacques Rivière (1926-1928, tome IV : 197)
Toute expérience initiatique aboutit à un recommencement. On entre ainsi
dans la sphère des symboles cycliques, qui répètent à l’infini les rythmes
temporaux, tout en les maîtrisant. Durand (1977 :349)
L’arrivée de Meaulnes est, pour Seurel, « le commencement d’une vie
nouvelle » – Alain-Fournier (2000 :20), et même un recommencement de la vie,
car elle coïncide avec sa guérison, une vraie inclusion dans le groupe des
écoliers, le renoncement aux heures de solitude et la participation à des
événements inédits. Ce début est marqué par un symbole cyclique, la roue. Dès
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MARIA SÂRBU
le premier soir à Sainte-Agathe, Meaulnes aide Seurel à quitter sa condition
d’enfant solitaire pour connaître une enfance plus mouvementée. Poussé par
Meaulnes, Seurel sort sans demander la permission et commence à transgresser
les règles de l’école. De plus, cette conduite se développe même sous les yeux
de l’institutrice. L’émancipation porte l’emblème de la petite roue qui avait été
le soleil ou la lune au feu d’artifice d’un Quatorze Juillet. Dès lors, la mère de
François ne retient plus son fils à sortir, elle ne lui fait plus de reproches.
L’anthropologue de l’imaginaire affirme que les cérémonies initiatiques
sont des répétitions du drame temporel. Durand (1977 : 380) Elles comportent
tout un rituel de révélations successives, elles s’exécutent lentement, par étapes :
sacrifice, mort, tombe, résurrection symbolique. L’initiation suppose presque
toujours une preuve mutilante ou sacrificielle, matérialisée pour Meaulnes en la
blessure au genou. Il est important de souligner que la blessure est produite par
la roue de la voiture. La roue, symbole cyclique, vient renforcer la signification
des cérémonies initiatiques. En continuant son chemin, Meaulnes avance
lentement, car son genou enflé lui fait mal. La douleur est tellement vive qu’il
doit s’arrêter et s’asseoir à chaque moment. Arrivé au Domaine mystérieux, il
franchit le mur péniblement, à cause de son genou blessé, mais après s’être
reposé, son genou semble guéri. Meaulnes n’est pas le seul qui subit l’initiation
à l’amour et à la mort. Seurel et Frantz connaissent, eux-mêmes, l’étape de la
« mutilation ». Seurel souffre d’une coxalgie qui le rend craintif et malheureux.
L’arrivée d’Augustin Meaulnes coïncide avec sa guérison et son genou cesse
définitivement de lui faire mal à partir du soir où il commence à chercher tout
seul le Domaine mystérieux. Quant à Frantz, en se tirant une balle de pistolet, il
se fait une blessure à la tempe.
La souffrance physique semble passer d’un personnage masculin à l’autre.
L’apparition d’Augustin apaise la coxalgie de François, mais, pendant son
aventure, Augustin se fait lui-même mal au genou. Lorsque le genou d’Augustin
paraît guéri, Frantz se tire une balle de pistolet qui le blesse à la tempe.
Augustin et François se confrontent à la mort d’Yvonne, dont le Domaine des
Sablonnières sera la tombe. François doit porter lui-même le corps inanimé vers
le cercueil, ensuite il recommence sa vie en prenant soin de la fille de ses amis.
Augustin apprend d’abord qu’Yvonne est morte, et seulement après cela, qu’il a
une fille, promesse de renouveau pour l’avenir. Pour lui, retrouver sa fillette
c’est la dernière étape de son parcours initiatique, la phase récapitulative des
épreuves qui ont confronté le jeune homme avec l’altérité de l’amour et de la
mort. L’épilogue du roman (l’épisode du retour de Meaulnes) pourrait porter le
titre « Le temps retrouvé », car Meaulnes y est le sujet d’une transmutation
initiatique née du conflit entre identité et altérité.
La petite fille est une nouvelle Yvonne, qui rend la joie de vivre aux trois
jeunes hommes. La petite Yvonne est le nœud du passé et du présent, la
résurrection du passé. Le petit enfant aide les trois grandes personnes à
RÉGIME DIURNE ET RÉGIME NOCTURNE DE L’IMAGE DANS L’ŒUVRE D’ALAIN-FOURNIER
41
découvrir du futur dans le passé même. Au-delà des événements de la mémoire
objective, ils liront les souvenirs comme ceux d’une enfance réelle qui vit en
eux, devenant un avenir de perpétuel recommencement, une création continuelle.
Jean-Gilles et Meaulnes partagent cette nostalgie de l’enfance. Selon
Alain-Fournier, le héros du Grand Meaulnes eut une enfance trop belle qu’il
traîne après lui pendant toute son adolescence. Par instants, il semble que « tout
ce paradis imaginaire qui fut le monde de son enfance » va faire son apparition
à la fin de ses aventures ou par la suite d’un de ses gestes. C’est par exemple, le
cas du matin d’hiver où, après s’être absenté à son cours pendant trois jours, il y
rentre comme « un jeune dieu mystérieux et insolent ». Lettre du 4 avril 1910,
Alain-Fournier et Jacques Rivière (1926-1928, tome IV : 193-196)
Quelques années auparavant, Alain-Fournier écrivait à Jacques Rivière
que sa vie même est une quête sans cesse renouvelée : « Derrière chaque instant de
la vie, je cherche la vie de mon paradis ; derrière chaque paysage, je sens le paysage
de mon paradis. Je suis satisfait. » Lettre à Jacques Rivière, 26 janvier 1907
Alain-Fournier (1926-1928, tome III : 27).
Pour Alain-Fournier, chaque instant est une quête initiatique renouvelée,
une euphémisation du temps qui aboutit à la joie humaine. Il exprime sa soif
d’un paradis de lettre en lettre.
On peut rapprocher le parcours initiatique de Meaulnes du « rite du
centre », étudié par Mircea Eliade. Eliade (2008 : 60) Le rite du centre suppose
une ascension jusqu’au Centre du Monde pour transcender l’espace profane et
pénétrer dans une « région pure ». Le voyage de Meaulnes finit par l’arrivée au
Domaine mystérieux, qui deviendra le centre du monde de Meaulnes. Pour
entrer dans le cœur du domaine, le néophyte a dû se confronter à un vrai
labyrinthe végétal – l’étroit chemin défoncé, les herbes, les marais, les fausses
pistes – aux ténèbres et aux problèmes de communication avec les gens qu’il
croise pendant son voyage. La présence du labyrinthe est une exigence du
voyage en soi-même à la suite du « rite du centre ». Elément nécessaire au rituel
d’initiation, le labyrinthe a la fonction de défendre le néophyte devant toute
force extérieure nocive, et l’aider en même temps à se concentrer, à trouver son
propre « centre ». En dépit de l’obscurité et de la fatigue croissantes, le voyage
de Meaulnes lui a offert aussi un peu de soulagement : la halte et le bol de lait
dans la maison isolée, le souvenir de la vision qu’il avait eue tout enfant – donnant
lieu à des rêveries d’intimité.
Selon Eliade, la contradiction entre les obstacles et le soulagement
supposés par le labyrinthe n’est qu’apparente. Il y a toute une série de mythes,
de symboles et de rituels qui soulignent la difficulté qu’il y a à pénétrer dans un
Centre, et d’autre part, il y a un ensemble de mythes et de rites qui témoignent
de l’accessibilité de ce Centre. Un des exemples offerts par Eliade est celui du
pèlerinage aux Lieux Saints. Il souligne que c’est un itinéraire difficile, mais
toute visite à une église est un pèlerinage. Un château à demi ruiné peut, lui
42
MARIA SÂRBU
aussi, être situé au Centre du monde. Ne sachant pas comment rentrer au
Domaine, Meaulnes recherche longtemps le chemin perdu, sans résultat. La clé
du labyrinthe est révélée par un des élèves qui avaient été les camarades de
classe de Meaulnes et Seurel. C’est le rustre Jasmin Delouche qui décrit le
château des Sablonnières comme s’il y a passé sa vie et ouvre la voie vers le
domaine perdu. Le chemin s’ouvre « net et facile comme une route familière »,
loin de tout espoir. Yvonne a raison de dire que le bonheur est tout près, bien
qu’il n’en ait pas l’air :
…il y a peut-être quelque grand jeune homme fou qui me cherche au bout du monde,
pendant que je suis ici dans le magasin de madame Florentin, sous cette lampe, et que
mon vieux cheval m’attend à la porte. Si ce jeune homme me voyait, il ne voudrait pas y
croire, sans doute ?... Alain-Fournier (2000 : 148)
Arrivé au Pays sans nom, Meaulnes abandonne la perspective de celui qui
est « en chemin » vers le Centre ou du « voyageur » pour s’approprier l’état de
celui qui y est déjà parvenu ou du « sédentaire ». Guénon (2008 : 52)
En oubliant le temps historique, Meaulnes connaît au Domaine le présent
éternel, surtout lorsqu’il se trouve auprès d’Yvonne. Il rencontre la beauté et la
jeunesse, pour tout dire en un seul mot – l’amour. Il nous semble lire entre les
lignes : « Arrête-toi, instant, tu es si beau ! » Il suffit à Meaulnes de désirer
revoir la jeune fille ou de penser à elle pour la rencontrer tout de suite, pour que
l’instant merveilleux revienne :
… sans savoir comment, Meaulnes se trouva dans le même yacht que la jeune châtelaine ;
A terre, tout s’arrangea comme dans un rêve. ;
Il errait au hasard, persuadé qu’il ne reverrait plus cette gracieuse créature,
lorsqu’il l’aperçut soudain venant à sa rencontre et forcée de passer près de lui dans
l’étroit sentier. (C’est nous qui soulignons) Alain-Fournier (2000 : 70-71)
Nous remarquons la présence du verbe « apercevoir » dans le dernier
exemple ; il a la plus élevée occurrence (60 occurrences) après « regarder » (138)
et « voir » (118). En nous appuyant sur la topographie des verbes de vision
établie par Pierre Ouellet dans sa Poétique du regard – Ouellet (2000 :114-131),
nous pourrions caractériser l’événement perceptif chez Alain-Fournier en
fonction des mesures de l’espace-temps (l’espace étant tourné vers le monde des
objets et le temps vers les actes du sujet) concernant son champ conceptuel de
vision. Ainsi, l’acte d’apercevoir vise « un objet individué et délimité » et se
localise dans l’instant, ayant « des frontières temporelles bien précises ». La
plupart des occurrences significatives de ce verbe s’enregistrent dans les trois
chapitres de la fête étrange, le sujet de l’acte de perception étant toujours
Meaulnes et l’objet principal – Yvonne. La brièveté de l’expérience perceptive
correspond à la représentation que Meaulnes se fait du temps lors de son séjour
au Domaine. Un autre verbe vient la renforcer : « entrevoir » : Seurel
RÉGIME DIURNE ET RÉGIME NOCTURNE DE L’IMAGE DANS L’ŒUVRE D’ALAIN-FOURNIER
43
perçoit l’aventure de Meaulnes de la même manière : « ce bonheur mystérieux
que Meaulnes a entrevu un jour. » (C’est nous qui soulignons) C’est un verbe
qui s’applique, tout comme « apercevoir », à un objet perçu comme entité
unique dans un intervalle de temps bref correspondant à l’instant.
A la lumière des symboles du régime diurne et du régime nocturne, le
cheminement vers le Domaine mystérieux est une invitation à une ascension qui
témoigne de l’optimisme d’Alain-Fournier. Au-delà de tous les chagrins, son
univers imaginaire a une destinée heureuse.
BIBLIOGRAPHIE
Alain-Fournier, Jacques Rivière (1926-1928), Correspondance 1905-1914, Gallimard, Paris.
Alain-Fournier (1990), Colombe Blanchet. Esquisse d’un second roman, Le cherche-midi éditeur, Paris.
Alain-Fournier (2000), Le Grand Meaulnes, Librairie Générale Française, Paris.
Alain-Fournier (1986a), Le Grand Meaulnes, Miracles. Le dossier du Grand Meaulnes,
Ed. Garnier, Paris.
Alain-Fournier (1930), Lettres à sa famille, Ed. Plon, Paris.
Alain-Fournier (1986b), Lettres au petit B., Ed. Fayard, Paris.
Alain-Fournier (1986c), Miracles, Fayard, Paris.
Bachelard, Gaston (2003), Poetica spaţiului, Ed. Paralela 45, Bucureşti.
Durand, Gilbert (1977), Structurile antropologice ale imaginarului, Univers, Bucureşti.
Eliade, Mircea (2008), Images et symboles, Ed. Gallimard, Paris.
Guenon, René (2008), Scurtă privire asupra iniţierii, Ed. Herald, Bucureşti.
Ouellet, Pierre (2000), Poétique du regard : littérature, perception, identité, Presses
Universitaires de Limoges.
A ROSE FOR EDITH: AN OASIS OF POETRY IN THE CITADEL
OF OLD NEW YORK PROSE
ANCA PEIU∗
Abstract
My essay discusses three issues: the (possible) influence of Edith Wharton – the first
woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, in 1921 – upon young William Faulkner,
making his early literary apprenticeship in New York, right then, in 1922-1923; the revelation of
Wharton’s gift as a poet; last but not least, the polarity major-minor writers/ writings in a literary
canon always bound to change.
Keywords: old-new, minor-major, romantic-modern, fiction-poetry, urban-rural, literary
canon, trains in (Old) New York.
It has been my intention to write here about one of Edith Wharton’s much
acclaimed pieces of shorter fiction, “The Old Maid: The ’Fifties,” the second
one of the four novellas of her volume Old New York (1924). I still believe an
echo of this particular story is detectable in William Faulkner’s celebrated
novella “A Rose for Emily” (1930), for all its Southern Gothic gloomy humor.
And the link between the two extremities of this modern American fiction
polarity is Faulkner’s story “Miss Zilphia Gant” (1928/ 1932).
William Faulkner did complete his young writer’s apprenticeship in New
York between 1922 and 1923, as a shop assistant in a bookstore, where his
manager was Elizabeth Prall, just before she married Sherwood Anderson.
Anderson would encourage Faulkner in his career, playing a decisive part in his
further artistic development in New Orleans. Still before all that, as a young
Southern writer employed at a bookshop in New York, Faulkner must have read
as voraciously as ever, with a keen eye for the best writers of the day. Edith
Wharton was unmistakably one of them, being the first woman to win the
Pulitzer Prize in 1921 for her novel The Age of Innocence (1920). Faulkner
cannot have been unaware of that.
∗
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Department of
English, apeiu2001@yahoo.co.uk.
46
ANCA PEIU
Failed motherhood coincides with a sense of void, a kind of barrenness of
the soul, in all these three stories: Edith Wharton’s “The Old Maid” – on the one
hand; William Faulkner’s “Miss Zilphia Gant” and “A Rose for Emily” – on the
other hand. The possibility that the young William Faulkner may have found
not only some affinity with Edith Wharton’s sharp wit and twisted turns of
irony, but also some strain of despair and waste of affective energy, the essential
frustration and repression, both of which make of such protagonists as Delia
Ralston and Chatty Lovell two masks of the same image of utter feminine
defeat, appears to me stronger than ever now, that I have studied both these
writers with the ever growing admiration of a fan.
As it shows from between the lines of Wharton’s novella, conventional
(failed) motherhood can play the classic quid-pro-quo game with conventional
(failed) spinsterhood any time: as a solitude persona, none of the two versions
of selfhood is any safer; they are made to appear incomplete without each other.
If Aunt Chatty is no more of a spinster than young Tina’s (foster) mother Delia,
the fictive kaleidoscope has worked its trick.
Chatty must give up a happy secure marriage to Joe Ralston for the sake
of Tina, her daughter with Clem Spender. Her cousin Delia had once given up
Clem himself, who was genuinely in love with her, for the sake of a safe
conventional marriage to Jim Ralston. That their own daughter Delia should
bear the mother’s name is an ironic mise en abyme: the story is very likely to go
on for ever. Instead, for the sake of her lost lover, mother Delia adopts Tina,
who rounds up the story by a successful marriage. The 1939 American film
made after this brilliant short story features Bette Davies as passionate Chatty
Lovell – the right actress in the right role.
Likewise, Faulkner’s rural Miss Zilphia Gant grotesquely driven by
insane jealousy to conceive a baby(girl) without any sexual partner, just on her
own, focusing hard on her job, imagining herself to follow Virgin Mary, as she
vainly hopes – cannot be too far from the perverted game of quid-pro-quo
played by Wharton’s Old New York ladies.
To me, it is all the more significant that out of the four mid-nineteenth
century decades ascribed in turn to the novellas which make up the book Old
New York, it is “the ’Fifties” that should correspond to “The Old Maid.” 1850 is
the year when Nathaniel Hawthorne outraged his readers publishing his
romance The Scarlet Letter. Adulterous motherhood in some Puritan illo
tempore Boston, the tense relationship between Hester Prynne as the mother
and Pearl as her daughter foreshadow Wharton’s jeweler’s diegesis.
As for William Faulkner, he reacted to this overpowering inspiration by
one of his best experiments in novelistic style: As I Lay Dying (1930).
Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne is echoed there by Addie Bundren, the poor white
trash Yoknapatawpha school teacher, a perfect alien to all the passers by within
her life, who decides to quit when she reckons her (marital and maternal)
A ROSE FOR EDITH: AN OASIS OF POETRY IN THE CITADEL OF OLD NEW YORK PROSE
47
double duty has been done. The key to her allegorical character is a sarcastic
piece of home-truth:
My father said that the reason for living is getting ready to stay dead. I knew at
last what he meant and that he could not have known what he meant himself, because a
man cannot know anything about cleaning up the house afterward. And so I have cleaned
my house. (Faulkner, 175-176; my emphasis)
Just as passionate in her solitude as Wharton’s Chatty Lovell,
Faulkner’s Addie Bundren has no patience with grand words when it comes to
conventional family life, and especially mock-heroic motherhood:
And so, when Cora Tull would tell me I was not a true mother, I would think how
words go straight up in a thin line, quick and harmless, and how terribly doing goes along
the earth, clinging to it, so that after a while the two lines are too far apart for the same
person to straddle from one to the other; and that sin and love and fear are just sounds that
people who never sinned nor loved nor feared have for what they never had and cannot have
until they forget the words. Like Cora, who could not even cook. (173-174; my emphasis)
Addie repeats in her only monologue, placed by Faulkner just after she
has died, that “words are no good.” Which is also true for Wharton’s Chatty
Lovell, the so-called “old maid.” Words are not to be trusted: they stand for
convention, for conformity: they hardly correspond to slant truth. Addie’s own
last words in Faulkner’s book are:
One day I was talking to Cora. She prayed for me because she believed I was blind
to sin, wanting me to kneel and pray too, because people to whom sin is just a matter of
words, to them salvation is just words too. (176; my emphasis)
Wharton’s Chatty Lovell could have put it that way, too: the same
rebellious spirit of a failed mother bearing her cross with tight lips gives life to
Wharton’s character.
And then Faulkner’s Miss Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily” his
famous Southern Gothic story is just the murderous version of the same
feminine cast of mind, describing possessiveness as quite a frequent flaw of our
gender. The story was published in the same year with As I Lay Dying, 1930.
As for today, I have another Miss Emily on my mind to re(dis)cover in
terms of Edith Wharton: Emily Dickinson, the exquisite American poet of an
implausible 19th century, who can only “see/ New Englandly.” The recluse rebel
of Amherst, Massachusetts held within her self-imposed withdrawal from the
world the same gift for introspection and (self)irony that would (not much) later
distinguish worldly Edith Wharton of New York, New York.
If Edith Wharton is often classified as a minor writer, then should her
poetry be regarded as the even more minor expression of her literary talent, I
ANCA PEIU
48
wonder? The minor poet within the major mind of a gifted writer corresponds to
the old world of a city for ever new, like New York. The cityscape is allegorical.
Yet the formerly so busy High Line trains could only have crossed “the city that
never sleeps,” as classic Liza Minelli sings in an old famous song about New
York. And as for today, it is likewise subway trains that build the most reliable
transport network all over New York.
Ghostly impersonal trains cross this poem, likewise, which is and is not
about New York, whether old or new. Whether the poem be “minor” or not, let
us still read it here.
Therefore, meet Edith Wharton, the poet:
Terminus
Wonderful was the long secret night you gave me, my Lover,
Palm to palm, breast to breast in the gloom. The faint red lamp
Flushing with magical shadows the common-place room of the inn,
With its dull impersonal furniture, kindled a mystic flame
In the heart of the swinging mirror, the glass that has seen
Faces innumerous and vague of the endless travelling automata
Whirled down the ways of the world like dust-eddies swept through a street,
Faces indifferent or weary, frowns of impatience or pain,
Smiles (if such they were ever) like your smile and mine when they met
Here, in this self-same glass, while you helped me to loosen my dress,
And the shadow-mouths melted to one, like sea-birds that meet in a wave –
Such smiles, yes, such smiles the mirror perhaps has reflected;
And the low wide bed, as rutted and worn as a high road,
The bed with its soot-sodden chintz, the grime of its brasses,
That has born the weight of fagged bodies, dust-stained, averted in sleep,
The hurried, the restless, the aimless – perchance it has also thrilled
With the pressure of bodies ecstatic, bodies like ours,
Seeking each other’s souls in the depths of unfathomed caresses,
And through the long windings of passion emerging again to the stars…
Yes, all this through the room, the passive and featureless room,
Must have flowed with the rise and fall of the human unceasing current,
And lying there hushed in your arms, as the waves of rapture receded,
And far down the margin of being we heard the low beat of the soul,
I was glad as I thought of those others, the nameless, the many,
Who perhaps thus had lain and loved for an hour on the brink of the world,
Secret and fast in the heart of the whirlwind of travel,
The shaking and shrieking of trains, the night-long shudder of traffic;
Thus, like us they have lain and felt, breast to breast in the dark,
The fiery rain of possession descend to their limbs while outside
The black rain of midnight pelted the roof of the station;
And thus some woman like me waking alone before dawn,
While her lover slept, as I woke and heard the calm stir of your breathing,
Some woman has heard as I heard the farewell shriek of the trains
Crying good-bye to the city and staggering into darkness,
And shaken at heart has thought: “So must we forth in the darkness,
Speed down the fixed rail of habit by the hand of implacable fate –”
So shall we issue to life, and the rain, and the dull dark dawning;
A ROSE FOR EDITH: AN OASIS OF POETRY IN THE CITADEL OF OLD NEW YORK PROSE
49
You to the wide flair of cities, with windy garlands and shouting,
Carrying to populous places the freight of holiday throngs;
I, by waste land and stretches of low-skied marsh,
To a harbourless wind-bitten shore, where a dull town moulders and shrinks,
And its roofs fall in, and the sluggish feet of the hours
Are printed in grass in its streets; and between the featureless houses
Languid the town-folk glide to stare at the entering train,
The train from which no one descends till one pale evening of winter,
When it halts on the edge of the town, see, the houses have turned into grave-stones,
The streets are the grassy paths between the low roofs of the dead;
And as the train glides in ghosts stand by the doors of the carriages;
And scarcely the difference is felt – yes, such is the life I return to…!
Thus may another have thought; thus, as I turned, may have turned
To the sleeping lips at her side, to drink, as I drank there, oblivion.
(American Poetry, 19-21; my emphasis)
“To have an eye for resemblances” is the first classic condition for
becoming a poet – ever since Aristotle. Metaphor implies a keen eye, as
the devil dwells in details.
Edith Wharton was a professional visionary, not only as a writer,
but also as a designer, with an architect’s self-assured refined taste. She
could and she did build her own houses: she was quite particular about
her places, whether in her beloved Old New York, or anywhere else in
the world, especially on the Old Continent. For she was just as passionate
a traveler. Yet at the back of her skeptical mind there may have always
lingered an echo of Emerson’s warning in “Self-Reliance:”
Traveling is a fool’s paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of
places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty and lose
my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up
in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I
fled from. I seek the Vatican and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sighs and
suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go. (Emerson,
167; my emphasis)
Emerson1 was a good friend of Henry James Sr., the novelist’s father. The
Concord Sage was actually William James’s godfather; so Henry James the
novelist may have been himself no stranger to such Emersonian paradoxes, as a
1
An allusion to Emerson is not at all far-fetched here; in fact, he is quite present at the back
of Wharton’s mind, just as he is there for any American author emerging after Transcendentalism.
What Harold Bloom calles “the anxiety of influence” is discernible here, too. And moreover, it is
Harold Bloom himself who, in a relatively recent study of Edith Wharton’s narrative art, points to
her affinity with R. W. Emerson: “It is not a “combination of obstacles” that hindered the flight of
Ethan Frome, but a terrible fatalism which is a crucial part of Edith Whrton’s Emersonian
heritage.” (Bloom 2007: 226; my emphasis)
50
ANCA PEIU
gifted traveler himself and one of the best friends Edith Wharton ever had. This
polarity home–exile haunts the canonical novels and stories of both James and
Wharton, as an acknowledged autobiographical projection on both sides (of the
Atlantic, too). Their protagonists driven by their unquenchable Wanderlust are
perfectly adaptable, yet they belong nowhere: exquisitely rich homeless
wanderers, both. There is no running away from what Emerson calls “the sad
self:” that personal “giant” that cannot and would not be left home – wherever
that might be.
Yet here, in the above poem of the accomplished story-teller, the deeper
voice perceptible in this apparent monologue, the one that transforms it into a
refreshing poetic dialogue, is that of Emily Dickinson. And of course the poems
I am thinking of here are among her best known: 712 – “Because I could not
stop for Death”; 449 – “I died for Beauty.” Both Dickensonian poems represent
Death as some chivalrous good company.
“Death is the mother of beauty” (7) – says Wallace Stevens’s feminine
lyrical persona, reluctant to give up her “complacencies of the peignoir” on a
“Sunday Morning” that she wants all to herself, instead of conforming to the
dull pattern of self-righteous puritan churchgoers.
Like these, many characters of Wharton’s Old New York cling to social
appearances above anything else, “pursuit of happiness” included. Like this
anonymous Stevensian rebel, Wharton’s (and likewise James’s) protagonists
prefer beauty to bigotry. They can all rely on Emily Dickinson in their
propensity for poetry and the arts, rather than for any social rule (read “dogma”)
that has spent its energy irretrievably.
Edith Wharton poem “Terminus” is a modern “valediction forbidding
mourning,” and seeking instead “oblivion,” as in Emily Dickinson’s poem 536
“The Heart asks Pleasure – first –” and then ever humbler favors (like “to go to
sleep,” and finally “the privilege to die”).
Wharton’s title “Terminus” points to a characteristically ironic double
meaning: the metaphysical “end of the road,” plus the ending of an illicit love
affair. The trip implies the classic intercourse between Eros and Thanatos: quite
likely, an ultimate (i.e. consummate) amorous escapade. Gentlemanly Mr Death
is a tender “Lover,” gratefully appreciated for the “wonderful,” “long secret
night,” offered to his secret lady, the lyrical I–speaker. Despite the sordid
atmosphere of the inn which has hosted them, it has been worthwhile. They
have shared an anonymous affair, and the delicious ultimate reward cannot be
too far now: “oblivion.”
The callous cynical “Unreal City” (as we seem to be haunted by symbolist
reminiscences from Baudelaire via T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land) is not too far,
though. Returning to it signifies resuming everyday existence, meaningless,
ghostly, worse than Death himself, her accomplice in the lyrical persona’s
A ROSE FOR EDITH: AN OASIS OF POETRY IN THE CITADEL OF OLD NEW YORK PROSE
51
escapade. Going home is the dreadful duty, inescapable even after the fatal date
with the dark prince of the world out yonder.
Whether old or new, the lyrical persona’s home city is characteristically
cold and dirty, as in symbolist poetry, but also as in the naturalist cityscapes of
Stephen Crane, or Theodore Dreiser. It comes as a surprise that Edith Wharton,
who suffuses her novels and stories with minutest details of luxurious luminous
settings, should in this poem choose the sordid setting of the inn room,
sheltering the two lovers’ meeting “in the gloom.” Gloom points both to the
obscurity of this anonymous place and to their hopelessness.
Then perhaps the most important elements of this lyrical setting are the
mirror and the (red) lamp. In other words: the mirror as a classic instrument of
mise en abyme (an infinite self-portrait, gathering contours of former women
having assumed the speaker’s role in the story, making these contours melt into
one only empty mask); and “the faint red lamp” as a late romantic/naturalist
symbol of (failed, faded, futile) introspection.
The “dull impersonal furniture” of this cheap inn room is a sharp contrast
to most of Edith Wharton’s elegant indoors settings, in both her writings and
her designing.
The anaphoric insistence on the empty masks of (other) faces, just as
common and neutral as her own, turns this lyrical persona into an echo of Ezra
Pound’s shortest poem, “In a Station of the Metro:”
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
(American Poetry, 514; my emphasis)
At least, in Pound’s haiku there is this final image of spring, refreshing
and restoring hope. Whereas in Wharton’s poem, “faces innumerous and vague
of the endless automata,” “faces indifferent or weary, frowns of impatience or
pain” signal an infernal “Terminus” of no return. The sense of the allencompassing nothingness is a sound literary message of American literature
masters, from Melville to Hemingway. We find it here, again, in this (minor?2)
poem by Edith Wharton.
Then the anaphoric sequence of “smiles (if such they were ever)” (almost)
brings some life into this fateful mirror:
2
It is Harold Bloom again, as the foremost American critical authority in matters of the
(fluid) universal literary canon, who (indirectly) teaches us that there can be actually no standard
classification of the valuable writers. It is risky therefore to assume that Edith Wharton were a
“minor” author. In his generous approach of her (better known) output as a novelist, Bloom
remarks: “R. W. B. Lewis, Wharton’s biographer, regards The Age of Innocence as a minor
masterpiece. Time so far has confirmed Lewis’s judgement, but we now suffer through an age of
ideology, and I am uncertain as to whether The Age of Innocence will be strong enough to
endure.” (Bloom 2007: 220; my emphasis)
ANCA PEIU
52
Smiles (if such they were ever) like your smile and mine when they met
Here, in this self-same glass, while you helped me loosen my dress,
And the shadow-mouths melted to one, like sea-birds that meet in a waveSuch smiles, yes, such smiles the mirror perhaps has reflected;
(19; my emphasis)
The poem is exquisitely modern in point of atmosphere, reminding
readers of T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock:”
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question.
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.
(American Poetry, 728; my emphasis)
The soothing sweet accomplices’ dialogue of nameless “you and I” in
both poems speaks volumes about their shared solitude. It is this dreary setting
that suggests that what actually matters for this couple has nothing to do with
material satisfaction:
Seeking each other’s souls in the depth of unfathomed caresses,
And through the long windings of passion emerging again to the stars…
(19; my emphasis)
Then the speaker says “yes” again:
Such smiles, yes, such smiles the mirror perhaps had reflected
[…]
Yes, all this through the room, the passive and featureless room,
Must have flowed with the rise and fall of the human unceasing current…
(19; my emphasis)
The word “Yes” is intimate and familiar from an emblematic modern
monologue closing James Joyce’s Ulysses (1922). Promiscuous Molly Bloom
expresses herself just as overwhelmingly in a flow of lively poetic images linked
by the stream-of-consciousness technique. She culminates in an all-embracing
and candidly affirmative “Yes.” Whereas Edith Wharton’s nameless womanpersona here speaking would be content with just as much as “oblivion:”
A ROSE FOR EDITH: AN OASIS OF POETRY IN THE CITADEL OF OLD NEW YORK PROSE
53
And scarcely the difference is felt – yes, such is the life I return to…!
Thus may another have thought; thus, as I turned, may have turned
To the sleeping lips at her side, to drink, as I drank there, oblivion.
(21; my emphasis)
The contingency of life-experience so intensely rendered makes all these
poets communicate, whether by their poetry, or by their prose. To me, this final
image of Edith Wharton’s poem “Terminus” vibrates in (under)tones of Emily
Dickinson’s poem 536:
The Heart asks Pleasure – first –
And then – Excuse from Pain –
And then – those little Anodynes
That deaden suffering –
And then – to go to sleep –
And then – if it should be
The will of its Inquisitor
The privilege to die –
(Dickinson, 50)
Edith Wharton’s poem “Terminus” has been a wonderful surprise to a
reader like me, believing herself rather well acquainted with this would-be
“minor” fiction lady writer of Old New York. It can only prove one should
never take one’s writers for granted, whether “major” or “minor.” They may
surprise us most when we think we have learned our lesson well.
REFERENCES
Works Cited
Bloom, Harold (2007), Novels and Novelists: A Collection of Critical Essays, Checkmark ooks,
An Imprint of Infobase Publishing, New York, NY.
Dickinson, Emily (1997), Selected Poems, Edited by Helen McNeil, University of East Anglia,
Everyman, J. M. Dent, London, UK.
Eliot, T. S., 1966 (1954), Selected Poems, Faber and Faber Limited, 24 Russell Square, London, UK.
Emerson, R. W. (1990), Selected Essays, Lectures, and Poems, Edited and with a Foreword by
Robert D. Richardson, Jr., A Bantam Classic, Bantam Books, New York, NY.
Faulkner, William, 2000 (1930), As I Lay Dying, Modern Library, New York.
Stevens, Wallace (1972), The Palm at the End of the Mind, Selected Poems and a Play, Edited
by Holly Stevens, Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, New York, NY.
Wharton, Edith, 2002 (1924), Old New York: Four Novellas, Pocket Books, Enriched Classics,
New York.
*** (2000), American Poetry, The Twentieth Century, Volume One, Henry Adams to Dorothy
Parker, The Library of America, Compilation, notes, biographies copyright, and editing
by Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., New York, NY.
54
ANCA PEIU
Selective References
Wharton, Edith (1985), Novels: The House of Mirth, The Reef, The Custom of the Country, The
Age of Innocence, The Library of America, Volume compilation, notes, and chronology,
Copyright by Literary Classics of the United States, Inc., New York, N.Y.
Wharton, Edith (2008), “The Other Two”; “Roman Fever,” in The Norton Anthology of American
Literature, Shorter Seventh Edition, Volume 2, 1865 to the Present, W.W. Norton &
Company, New York, pp. 521-533; 534-543.
THE GATES OF THE INVISIBLE MOBY DICK
AS THE HIEROGLYPH OF THE ABSOLUTE
IRINA DUBSKÝ∗
Abstract
The present study tries to reveal how Melville artistically articulates his intuition of the
hieroglyphic nature of the Absolute and the hierarchical structure of the Universe encapsulated in
Ahab’s vision of “the pasteboard masks”. Central to the projection of the world structure in the
whaling epos is the functional similarity displayed by the whale and the mask, both of them being
interpreted, in the light of the Swedenborgian theory of correspondences, as the isthmus between
the sensible and the intelligible.
Another key-element in the structure of the novel is Ahab’s hunt which is meant to open
the gates of the invisible, thus assuming the dimension of an initiatory quest. The interconnection
between the levels of being is further explored by reference to the esoteric significance of a
graphic sign – the letter nun – and to the symbolism of the cosmic form to which René Guénon
devotes an in-depth analysis in “Symboles Fondamentaux de la Science Sacrée”. The overarching
idea of the study is that the world projected in the Melvillean epos is articulated through an
interplay of meanings of cosmic laws which generate a multifarious configuration.
Keywords: hieroglyph, correspondence, whale, invisible, cosmic.
“A wondrous work in one volume” – a phrase by means of which
Ishmael, the narrator, captures the essence of one of his fellow-travelers, a
phrase which also captures the essence of Moby Dick as a book. The readers are
warned that “the mystic – marked whale remains undecipherable” (chapter lxvi)
safeguarding its secret by means of an inscrutable mask. Melville artistically
articulates his intuition of what is beyond the mask in the monologs and
dramatic exchanges of his characters: when Starbuck overtly condemns Ahab
for his hatred of “a dumb brute” (161), the latter gives him a remarkable answer
which testifies to his advanced level of awareness and knowledge of the
Invisible realm:
∗
“Spiru Haret” University, Bucharest, e-mail: irinadubsky@yahoo.com. This paper is the
written version of the presentation that I gave at the Annual Conference of the Faculty of Foreign
Languages and Literatures, University of Bucharest, 5-6 November 2010.
56
IRINA DUBSKÝ
All visible objects are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event – in the living
act, the undoubted deed – there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the
moldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask (…). That inscrutable thing is
chiefly what I hate (161).
Ahab’s words seem to echo Emerson’s initiatory adage which is, in fact, a
faithful illustration of the Swedenborgian theory of correspondences: “Every
natural fact is a symbol of some spiritual fact” (28).
The unfolding of the dynamic core of the novel articulates a multi-tiered
world structure, the construction of which corresponds to the spiritual progress
or regress of the protagonist. Spiritual ascent, that is, attainment of illumination,
has as counterpart the access to a higher order of being which parallels the
upward movement in the cosmic order. Conversely, the negative drives entail a
sliding down the cosmic hierarchy.
Ahab possesses knowledge of a superior level of being, yet, the supernatural,
which has laid hold of him, does not activate in him any upward-tending
impulse but quite the reverse.
The captain’s vision of the “pasteboard masks” encapsulates a depiction
of the hierarchical structure of the Universe. What is generally defined as “the
supernatural” is not to be mistaken for something operating outside or beyond
the rules of the Universe; the supernatural” – or the “unknown but still
reasoning thing” as Ahab calls it – is something above our plane of existence
which is one of the indefinite planes. Owing to the hierarchical order of being,
the superior levels are in a relation of causality to the inferior ones, conditioning
them in this way.
Ahab is fully aware of the mythical, symbolic quality of the world. He
knows that nothing in this world is self-sufficient or autonomous; everything
has its roots in the level of existence immediately superior to its own. The
autonomy is precluded by the lack of common measure between the Principle
and the manifest.
The mask functions as an intermediary between the visible and the
invisible, half shadow and half apparition, an ambiguous vehicle of the
messages between the two realms. It is the herald of the Unseen, turning it into
something compatible with the sensible world.
Ahab’s dark mastery of “the inscrutable” surfaces in his ability to
recognize the whale as the isthmus between the sensible and the intelligible. He
realizes that Moby Dick is a point of contact between two states, a narrow gate
through which the Principle communicates with the manifest.
Ahab glimpses the secrets of the Universe when the similarity between
the whale and the mask is revealed to him. Nevertheless, this revelation does
not lead him to a state of illumination because he approaches the mystery
through hatred, which precludes enlightenment.
THE GATES OF THE INVISIBLE MOBY DICK AS THE HIEROGLYPH OF THE ABSOLUTE
57
The ultimate effect of Ahab’s hunt is the opening of the gates of the
invisible, which is a prerequisite of any initiatory process, yet, this opening is
not towards a superior state.
In the memorable scene of the oath Ahab asks his “mates” to “cross” their
lances “full” in front of him so that he can “touch the axis”(163-164). “The
axis” is emblematic of Axis Mundi linking the three worlds - the underworld,
the Earth and Heaven - thus establishing the cosmic hierarchy. Ahab’s gesture is
symbolic of his reaching the core of being. It is a ritualistic gesture laden with
mystical value: by touching the axis, he places himself in the center of the world
which marks the opening of the tangible into the invisible. This point is where
two opposite states of existence meet. The human being, placed midway
between the high and the low, can embark either on an upward-tending or a
downward-tending quest. Upon touching the axis, Ahab announces his choice
by swearing “death to Moby Dick” (164).
Two central mythical aspects of water symbolism are illuminating for the
analysis of Ahab’s inverse initiation.
One such facet of water symbolism is represented by the ocean as an
emblem of “the truth above”, of “divine reality, potentially replete with all”
(Gaskell 544). Another symbol relevant to Ahab’s quest is that of the “limited
sea” standing for “the illusion below” (Gaskell 661).
Ahab’s esoteric pronouncement that “truth hath no confines” (162)
unmistakably refers to the unlimited “ocean of truth” above. His rhetorical
question “Who’s over me?” (162) establishes his position in the Universe, for it
is the infinite ocean of the “truth-reality” that is “over” him while he is floating
on the “limited sea” of desires and passions. Ahab’s “fiery emotion” and
“magnetic life” (164) confine him to the mystic “water below”, that is, to the
deceptive quality of the inferior planes of existence which contain the inverted
or distorted reflections of truth. He identifies the level of being to which he
belongs as the one where “all visible objects are but as pasteboard masks” of
“unknown, reasoning thing[s]” (161). These reasoning, ungraspable entities are
placed on a plane superior to Ahab’s. Their distorted reflections form the
“visible objects”, masks of the unknown, which the hero strives to tear off.
His rage is not directed against the “dumb brute”- as Starbuck thinks - but
at the “inscrutable thing” for which the whale is only a mask. He is aware of the
existence of “the beyond” of which Moby Dick is a signifier.
Ahab’s satanic error lies in his inability to perceive the quality of this
“beyond” which results in his fighting the Mystery by “strik[ing]” and “hat[ing]”.
At the foundation of his grim failure lies his overpowering desire not only to
unravel an enigma but to annihilate it for its inscrutability drives him mad.
Intricately connected with the whale’s function in the cosmic
configuration are “the mysteries of the letter nun” to which René Guénon
58
IRINA DUBSKÝ
devotes an in-depth analysis in his seminal, thought-provoking book Symboles
fondamentaux de la science sacrée (Chapter XXIII).
Guénon points out that in the Islamic tradition this letter represents the
whale, a fact which dovetails perfectly with the original meaning of the word
nun which means “whale” as well as “fish”. This double significance may be
related to the vaster context of the symbolism of the fish as Savior both in the
Christian faith and the Hindu tradition.
Traditionally, the two zodiacal gates corresponding to the summer
solstice and to the winter solstice, respectively, represent the entrance into and
the exit out of “the cosmic grotto” (Guénon, Symboles 161). The whale
corresponds to the zodiacal sign of the Capricorn where the solstice gate which
leads up to the “ascending way”, also known as “the gate of the gods” is located
(Guénon, Man and His Becoming 28). “The cosmic grotto” stands for the place
where the human beings dwell and unfold their temporary existence. After
completing their sojourn in “the cosmic grotto”, the human beings exit through
one of these two gates, according to the degree of their spiritual realization. The
two ways of the manifested world are “the bright” way and the “dark” way.
Those following the bright path progress from the manifest to the non-manifest.
The bright path corresponds to the process of spiritual realization while the dark
way leads back to the visible dimension of being.
Projecting this symbolism into the story of Moby-Dick, it becomes
apparent that the whale functions as the Savior-Fish, the Redeemer, opening the
path to a higher dimension. Nevertheless, Ahab, the dark quester, is blind to this
supreme spiritual quality of the white whale. Thus, he chooses the descending
way, along which he heads to the inferior cosmic levels. The failure of Ahab’s
symbolic hunt stems from the mad gesture through which he sets up a relation
of binary opposition between him and the whale, casting himself in the role of
subject and assigning the role of object to Moby Dick. But this duality, this
schizophrenic division, pertains to the periphery of existence, to what the
Scripture calls “outer darkness” (Matthew 8:12).
In the Kabbalah, nun is associated with the idea of birth which may be
placed in the vaster context of rebirth as regeneration of the individual or
cosmic being (Guénon, Symboles 162). This interpretation is suggested by the
shape of this letter in Arabic: it consists of the lower half of a circumference and
its center. This graphical representation may also be construed as an image of
the esoteric Ark and its precious contents: the seed of immortality, or Luz as it is
called in Hebrew. These aspects of traditional symbolism deepen the
perspective and make possible the identification of the whale with the matrix in
which the transition between two modes of being is effected.
Ahab’s consuming obsession with the whale, the apocalyptic proportion
of his hatred stand for his imprisonment in the Leviathan which, in its turn,
THE GATES OF THE INVISIBLE MOBY DICK AS THE HIEROGLYPH OF THE ABSOLUTE
59
typifies the period of darkness and death preceding the resurrection. The whale,
an emblem of the matrix, thus becomes an illustration of the ritualistic cave.
Corroborated with the mystical dimension of the whale is its “whiteness”
interpreted as something “ineffable”, “elusive”, “indefinite” and “inscrutable”
suggestive of “the heartless voids and immensities of the Universe”(193). The
narrator establishes some striking correspondences. He equates the whiteness of
the whale with “the great principle of light [which] forever remains white or
colorless in itself” while the hues of “the deified nature” are likened to “subtle
deceits, not actually inherent in substances but only laid out from without”
(193). In other words, the whale is equated with the Principle, the One and the
Potential as opposed to the manifest world of generation and destruction.
The “mystical” and “elusive” quality of the whale is suggestive of the
ineffable character of the divine. Hence, the incomprehensibility of the whale
makes itself manifest in “the pasteboard masks” which Ahab aims at striking
through. By allowing these destructive, vengeful drives to take dominion over
his entire being, Ahab cuts off his roots from the Causal Plane simultaneously
stifling the mythical nature of the world. Therefore, he is left to wander on the
lower waters, symbolic of the astral plane of passions, in this way losing the
faintest chance of redemption. Ahab’s journey is the epitome of counterinitiation since to be an initiate means “finding roots in this world while living
in the invisible” (Nataf 127). His condition is diametrically opposed to a state of
enlightenment for his existence is rooted in his tormenting determination to take
vengeance on the “inscrutable”.
The elusiveness of the whale is suggestive of a fundamental cosmic law,
namely, the qualitative character of distance, be it in time or space: the ineffable
can be sensed only through motionless contemplation; if one tries to grasp it, it
vanishes. At the core of any process of initiation lies a secret that cannot be put
into words. “The head of this Leviathan is an entire delusion” (346) declares the
narrating voice; this amounts to saying that the Leviathan is a hieroglyph
between the visible and the invisible, an expression of the Absolute. Its intensity
consists in its inaccessibility: the more fiery Ahab’s passion is, the farther the
ineffable retreats beyond the horizon.
Moby-Dick’s elusiveness is enhanced by its hieroglyphic character. The
inexpressible veils itself in its inaccessibility: “The whale, like all things that are
mighty, wears a false brow to the common world” (346) writes the “unlettered”
Ishmael. He testifies to the “pyramidical silence” (345) and “the blankness full
of meaning” (193) of the whale. Moreover, what triggers the quest for meaning
is “the forehead pleated with riddles” (345) of the Leviathan.
The “pyramidical silence”, as well as the richness of enciphered
significance, are the defining attributes of the Supreme Center, Agarttha
(Guénon, Le Roi du Monde 15) which in Sanskrit means “the Inviolate”. Even if
the Center is inexpugnable, it becomes accessible for those who qualify, for
60
IRINA DUBSKÝ
those who strive towards it in order to achieve the state of serene balance
beyond the strife of passions. Even if Ahab fights to reach the Center, he is
disqualified because of his demonic drives.
Moby Dick’s color or “visible absence of color” (193) is the very
synthesis of the colors of the rainbow. White is associated with the supreme
spiritual authority, with the immutability of the Center, which is the same as the
White Island or the White Mountain upon which all the positive spiritual efforts
are focused.
The function of the White Whale is that of the Center, traditionally
defined and interpreted as “the seventh region of space” (Guénon, Symboles 225)
which coincides with the Principle.
Ishmael’s insightful remarks on “the whiteness of the whale” (185) invite
a closer analysis of the attributes of this so-called color and its esoteric
significance. René Guénon advances a subtle discussion of the symbol of the
rainbow exploring its hidden facets. He reveals that the rainbow contains six
colors only - an idea which runs counter to the commonly held seven-color
theory: three fundamental and three complementary colors. The other elements
of the chromatic spectrum, inappropriately referred to as “colors”, are only
intermediary shades - as is the case of indigo. Besides, introducing an extra
color in the chromatic set would completely ruin their harmonious distribution
which is usually represented according to a very simple geometrical figure
which is laden with dense esoteric significance: each fundamental color can be
placed in each angle of a triangle while each complementary can be placed in
each angle of another triangle inversely positioned in relation to the
“fundamental” triangle so that each color and its complementary are
diametrically opposed. This display yields the six-pointed figure known as
“Solomon’s Seal” (Symboles 338).
The seventh term of the color septenary can be identified by referring to
the geometrical construction of the seventh ray. This can be derived from the
symbolic representation of the three-dimension cosmic cross made up of the six
directions of space and their center taken together.
The seventh element of the rainbow can be revealed by analogically
superposing the color septenary represented in Solomon’s Seal and the cross of
space. The function of the seventh chromatic term in relation to the other six
colors will be similar to the role of the center related to the six space directions.
The seventh color will be positioned at the center of the six-pointed star, namely,
the point where all apparent oppositions, which are in fact complementary to each
other, fuse together and merge into oneness. In other words, the seventh term is
not properly a color just as the center is not a direction per se. The center is the
very origin of the six space directions. Therefore, the seventh color must be the
principle out of which the six are generated and in which they are synthetically
contained. This is none other than white itself which is “colorless” – to quote
THE GATES OF THE INVISIBLE MOBY DICK AS THE HIEROGLYPH OF THE ABSOLUTE
61
Ishmael – just as the point is a-dimensional. Or, to quote Ishmael once more,
“whiteness is not so much a color as the visible absence of color and at the same
time the concrete of all colors” (193).
White is not made manifest in the rainbow just as the seventh ray is not
represented geometrically. The six colors are the result of the refraction of white
light just as the six directions stand for the unfolding of the potentialities
comprised in the primordial point.
Therefore, René Guénon concludes, each septenary consists of an
indivisible foundational unit accompanied by another six elements generated
out of it, the unit corresponding to the un-manifested principle while the six
terms represent the totality of the manifest. The seventh ray, the counterpart of
whiteness, represents the way along which a being returns to the non-manifest
after completing a journey in the visible dimension of existence.
In the light of this analysis, Moby Dick emerges as the symbol of the
liberating way, corresponding to the ritualistic straight path at the end of which
illumination awaits.
The symbolism of the whale is intricately connected with that of the
mythical monster, which generally performs the role of the guardian of a
treasure. The treasure Moby Dick guards is its whiteness which stands for the
invisible, the transcendent order of being, the Causal Plane. However, what
Ahab strives for is not access to the Causal Plane but “the blankness” of the
whale and its wall-like quality. These attributes fuel Ahab’s passion and trigger
off his counter-initiatory quest. The Guardian of the Threshold, of which Moby
Dick is emblematic, marks the passage to a superior level of spiritual
development. After the encounter with this terrible figure one can either be
successful and accede to the treasure – as is the case of those who qualify – or
be devoured by the monster. Ahab was confronted by the white monster and
found wanting: his portion then was to meet his doom.
Ahab’s consuming obsession took roots in the wake of his first encounter
with Moby Dick, when his bodily dismemberment occurred. This clash has as
its Biblical counterpart the fight between Jacob and the Angel of God during
which Jacob is wounded. These two exemplary stories typify the encounter with
the Absolute, an existential adventure which sets the stage and arouses the
desire for similar pivotal experiences.
Symbolically, to mutilate or to maim is tantamount to a displacement
from the diurnal, normal, common order – the order of the even – followed by a
transfer to the order of the odd which is the same as the nocturnal, occult or
transcendent domain (Cirlot 145).
It was Moby Dick that operated this mutation in Ahab’s existential
position: it crippled him and so it inflicted a symbolic wound on him thus
effecting a transition in his ontological status:
62
IRINA DUBSKÝ
It was only then, after the (…) encounter, that the final monomania seized him (182).
At this very moment, Ahab sets out on a voyage which unfolds in a space
that lacks the qualitative aspect characteristic of a sacred space. His voyage
turned from a progress into an aimless wandering over a watery mirror which
represents the common dimension of being. The prerequisite of spiritual
realization is to be able to reflect one’s image in this mirror without being
absorbed in it. Some postulants, such as Ahab, end up drowning in their own
image: he “at last came to identify with Moby Dick not only all his bodily woes
but all his intellectual and spiritual exasperations” (181).
Ahab opens the channel of communication between his world and the
Causal Plane the herald of which is Moby Dick itself. He tries to initiate an
exchange of values between the visible and the invisible:
Do you see this Spanish ounce of gold? (…) It is a sixteen-dollar piece, men - a
doubloon. Whosoever of ye raises me the white whale, he shall have this gold ounce, my
boys! (159)
For Ahab, the gold coin is a master-key to the gates of the intelligible:
The mariners revered it as the white whale’s talisman(…). It was set apart and
sanctified (427).
This doubloon, of “the purest, virgin gold” (427) nailed to the main mast
“amid the rustiness of iron bolts, yet untouchable and immaculate to any
foulness” (427) is an emblem of the Lapis, the Philosopher’s Stone, the
Quintessence in exile in a world subjected to corruption and destruction. It is
the emissary of “a country planted in the middle of the world” (428) which is
another name for the inviolate Center-Agarttha.
On one of these facets, among other emblematic images, is shown a sun
“entering the equinoctial point at Libra” (428). The autumn equinox is
suggestive of the equilibrium between the solar world and the planetary
existence. Ahab interferes with this state of balance and upsets the universal
order through his demonic hatred. Starting from Libra, the sun sets out on a
journey toward janua coeli symbolized by the winter solstice. Ahab’s progress
corresponds to the segment of the solar itinerary limited by the autumn equinox
and the winter solstice. In his sinister hunt, Ahab rushes towards the gates of
death as he is doomed to never step through the gate of Heaven.
The symbolism of the doubloon is linked to the significance of the
solstice gates. The coin is suggestive of Janus Bifrons, the Master of Time and
the holder of two keys; these two keys correspond to the two solstice gates –
janua coeli – the winter solstice – and janua inferni – the summer solstice
(Guénon, Symboles 241).
THE GATES OF THE INVISIBLE MOBY DICK AS THE HIEROGLYPH OF THE ABSOLUTE
63
The double-faced god is also a janitor, the one who opens and
respectively closes an interval. Moreover, Janus discharged the function of
performer of initiation into mysteries. “Initiatio” derives from in-ire (“to go in”),
being intricately connected with the symbolism of the gate. According to Cicero,
the name of “Janus” has the same root as the verb “ire” (“to go” or “to walk”).
In the light of this analysis, the symbolism of the doubloon acquires new
dimensions. The coin abides simultaneously in two different realities,
functioning as the gate between two worlds.
The fact that the sun represented on the doubloon is in Libra – midway
between the two solstice gates – has rich esoteric significance. This solar
position is evocative of Ahab’s status: he stands on the threshold separating two
states – a dark and a bright one, emblematic of spiritual destruction and spiritual
enlightenment, respectively. But the indomitable quester asserts his ultimate
choice: “From storm to storm! So be it, then!” (428).
Moby Dick, though abiding in a superior dimension of being, makes itself
manifest on the watery surface which is emblematic of our plane of existence.
As Ishmael solemnly states in his affidavit, Moby Dick is one of “the plainest
and most palpable wonders of the world”( 203) even if it might appear to the
“ignorant” as a “monstrous fable” or “an intolerable allegory”(203).
The “fables and genealogies” (Gaskell 509) are emblems of sacred stories
regarded as literally true instead of symbolically true in a deep sense. The story
of the whale is just like a sacred writing veiled in mystery and obscurity
because of the human inability to apprehend subjective truths.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, Eric W. Carlson (1979), “Beauty”, 1836, Emerson's Literary Criticism,
University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE.
Melville, Herman (1952), Moby Dick: Or, the Whale, Luther S. Mansfield & Howard P. Vincent
(eds.), Hendricks House, New York.
Secondary Sources
Gaskell, G.A. (1981), The Dictionary of All Scriptures and Myths, Gramercy Books, New Jersey.
Guénon, René (1958), Le Roi du Monde, 1927, Gallimard, Paris.
*** (1958), Man and His Becoming According to the Vedanta, trans. Richard Nicholson, Noon
Day Press, New York.
*** (1962), Symboles fondamentaux de la science sacrée, Gallimard, Paris.
Nataf, André (1994), The Dictionary of the Occult, Wordsworth Editions Ltd., Hertfordshire.
Sten, Christopher (1996), The Weaver-God, He Weaves: Melville and the Poetics of the Novel,
Kent State University Press, Kent, OH.
SYLVIA PLATH AND ZELDA FITZGERALD ORMADNESS
AND CREATIVITY INTERTWINED
ANCA-LUISA VIUSENCO*
Abstract
Since the dawn of time, human beings have been fascinated with the mysterious
phenomenon called “madness”/ “insanity”/“lunacy,” its sources and its effects. As a result, more
often than not, those deemed “mad”/“insane”/“lunatic” have been either feared as demonic or
hailed as prophetic. One interesting approach to madness, however, is that linking mental
disturbance to heightened creativity, an approach which dates back to Antiquity and which has
spurred such a deep controversy, involving humanists and scientists alike, that analyzing it
satisfactorily (from the ideas of the ancient Greeks, through Romanticism and up to current
neurological research)would require a lifetime of arduous study.
The present paper¸ part of a wider research project dedicated to the relationship between
mental instability, the creative act and its potential healing power, therefore one in desperate need
of a proper context, is the product of an attempt, carried out through a case-study-like integrated
analysis of biographical data, letters, diaries, as well as literary works, to shed light on the
interaction between creativity and “madness” (the term lacks any pejorative connotations; when
chosen over more politically-correct phrases, it is due to its great symbolic charge) in the lives of
two American figures of the twentieth century – Sylvia Plath and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald1. Within
the paper, each will be afforded a sub-section benefiting from a title which anticipates the two
main poles of the discussion that follows, and incorporating its own conclusions.
Keywords: madness, creativity, biography, interaction, case study.
1. Introduction
The reasoning behind my decision to pair Sylvia Plath and Zelda
Fitzgeraldas subjects of the present paper is, I believe, fairly transparent: apart
from their having led lives equally marked by great inner turmoil and a constant
strive for artistic recognition (within tumultuous marriages to highly successful
writers), having died tragically, and having been almost mythicized over the
course of the following decades, what brings the two remarkable women
* University “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, Iaşi, Romania, anca.viusenco@yahoo.com.
1
Throughout the present paper, I will most often refer to the two writers using their first
name, since I feel I have reached a level of intimacy with them that can only derive from such a
courageous act as inviting readers (and, implicitly, critics) into a troubled existence.
ANCA-LUISA VIUSENCO
66
aboveeven further together (and is truly significant for a (novice) literary critic
as myself) is the fact that they have both channeled their personal experience
with mental disturbance into a novel, more precisely Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar
(1963) and Zelda Fitzgerald’s Save Me the Waltz (1932).
However, before delving into an in-depth analysis of any of these
autobiographical literary products and its likely cathartic role, I find it
responsible to try to comprehend how each author regards the creative process
as such and, if possible, to answer (strictly at an individual level, for the issue of
the relationship between madness and creativity is so complex and so sensitive,
that generalizations simply cannot be made) the difficult question of whether
creativity is enhanced by mental instability, inhibited by it, an escape from it, or,
maybe, even a major factor in its onset.
What needs to be mentioned at this point is the fact that, as a non-specialist, I
have neither the ability to diagnose the writers my research is based on (I rely on the
informed opinion of psychiatric professionals in this respect), nor such a diagnosis
as one of my focus points. However, although I admit that establishing a psychiatric
diagnosis is a process which tends to equate the person with the disease, I do
believe that having at least a basic notion of the conditions the writers in question
were afflicted by is vital in understanding both their life and their work.
Freud (quoted in Flaherty 2005: 50) stated that “Before the problem of the
creative artist, analysis must, alas, lay down its arms.” Let us, nevertheless,
undiscouraged,try to unravel the dynamics of the madness – writer – work triad
as reflected in the case of two exceptional individuals, not accidentally women.
2. Madness and Creativity au féminin
2.1. Sylvia Plath: Creativity, between Catharsis and Catalyst
“And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”2 (Friedrich Nietzsche)
On February 11th, 1963, in a cold apartment in London, a young mother
gassed herself to death while her babies were asleep in the next room, and gave
birth to a legend. The world was finally truly discovering Sylvia Plath. A
whirlwind followed: the first Pulitzer Prize ever awarded posthumously, The
Bell Jar, met with reservation by critics at the time of its publicationin the
United Kingdom3, turned into the madness narrative, biographies, biopics and
adaptations, letters and journals published in the midst of controversy etc.
Sylvia Plath became a double symbol: the writer tortured by inner demons, and
2
In Friedrich Nietzsche (1966), Between Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the
Future, trans. W. Kauffman, Random House, New York, p. 89.
3
The novel was first published shortly before Sylvia’s death, in January 1963, in
London,under the pen name Victoria Lucas. In 1967, it was published in the United Kingdom
under Sylvia's name, while 1971 was the year of its publication in the United States.
SYLVIA PLATH AND ZELDA FITZGERALD ORMADNESS AND CREATIVITY INTERTWINED
67
the woman driven to a tragic death by a society in which her aspirations were
still premature. As a result, she was appropriated by the mental health
movement and the feminist movement alike. But who was, in fact, Sylvia Plath?
What drove her mad and what role did her writing play in her madness?
Sylvia Plath was, first and foremost, from a young age, an overachiever.
She studied at prestigious institutions and had outstanding results. She
published her first poem at the age of eight in the Boston Sunday Herald, and,
by the age of thirty, had been so prolific as to have written a total of two
hundred and fifty poems, around seventy short stories, several magazine articles,
a verse play, a children’s book, a novel, and at least one draft of a second novel.
Yet, she never felt she was receiving the recognition she yearned for, a
recognition that would have somehow pleased the ghost of a domineering father
who died before his time due to a refusal to receive proper medical care that Sylvia
equated with a traitorous suicide and towards whom Sylvia felt, consequently,
great ambivalence, and a mother who transferred her own unfulfilled ambitions
onto her children, a “much-loved yet ultimately resented mother, whose double
she [Sylvia] had to be, for reasons of guilt or ego weakness, and to whom she
was tied by a psychic umbilicus too nourishing to sever,” as biographer Anne
Stevenson (quoted in Piette 2010: 63) describes Aurelia Plath.
The frustration at her inability to gain such acknowledgement led to
Sylvia’s first mental breakdown and subsequent suicide attempt at the age of
twenty (both fictionalized later on in The Bell Jar), and it intensified to an
unbearable extent during her marriage to British poet Ted Hughes. Sylvia
bitterly discovered that she had to subordinate her literary goals both to her
duties as a wife and a mother, and to the career of her husband, the very man
she had described as the only one in the presence of whom she, the woman who,
in a bout of self-confidence, had envisaged herself as “the Poetess of America”
(quoted in Wurst 2004: 18), would “never have to restrain [her own] little gift,
but could push it and strain it to the outmost, and still feel him ahead” (quoted in
Wurst 2004: 18), the brilliant poet who saw her works as “sweating, heaving poems
born out of the way words should be said” (Plath, quoted in Wurst 2004: 18).
How did Sylvia cope with the failures in her private life, as well as her
inability to live up to her own image of herself? She wrote, for writing acted as
an outlet for all the negative emotions that were consuming her, as proven by
the following entry in her journal:
In polite society, a lady doesn’t punch or spit. So I turn to my work… I am
justifiably outraged. Spite. Meanness. What else. How I am exorcising them from my
system… Like bile. Threw you, book, down, punch with fist. Kicked, punched. Violence
seethed. Joy to murder someone, pure scapegoat.But pacified during necessity to work.
Work redeems. (Hughes and McCullough 1982: 184-185)
In the winter of 1963, while separated from her husband, who was
involved in a relationship with another woman, Sylvia, the woman who asked
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herself “How to express anger creatively?” (Hughes & McCullough 1982: 272),
was overcome by a writing frenzy: sleep-deprived and manic, she wrote nearly
a poem a day, “poems breaking open my real experience of life in the last five
years” (Hughes & McCullough 1982: 209), as she called them. They would
later be included in the volume Ariel, “a fascinating and somewhat horrifying
portrait of a woman on the brink of suicide” (Agarwal 2003: 55), which “reads
like a haunting diary” (Agarwal 2003: 55).
There are, however, critics who see this episode of hypergraphia4 at this
stage in Sylvia’s life as counterproductive, acting as an accelerant in her mental
decline, rather than a means of depressurizing emotionally. Another entry in
Sylvia’s journal reads as follows:
Fury jams the gullet and spreads poison, but, as soon as I start to write, dissipates,
flows into the figure of the letters; writing as therapy? (Hughes & McCullough 1982: 255)
In a way, writing was Sylvia’s talking cure. However, this delving into
the very depth of her soul that transpires from her poetry and that she is so
highly acclaimed for proved dangerous, for she became so immersed in what
she was experiencing, that, at a certain point, there was no escape from the
feeling of utter futility and, as a result, she committed suicide. It was her third
attempt, after the one at age twenty, and a second one, close to her death, which
involved her purposefully running her car off the road apparently as a reaction
to her marriage coming apart.
In his preface to Sylvia Plath: Method and Madness, Edward Butscher
(2003: XII) talks about the lyric poet having “the ability to stand back from the
cauldron of his own life, as if from a canvas, and impose the objective values of
an edifice, forging finished products from the very fires of emotional
entanglements that are still scalding him.” Indeed, Sylvia is said to have been
“strategically intimate and deliberately intense because she understood the
meaning and the effect of these choices on her readers” (Nelson 2006: 22),
which involves a type of reasoning highly atypical for a person in a state of
extreme emotional distress. Yet, the association of a confessional poet such as
Plath with the idea of “ruthless remoteness” (Butscher 2003: XII) is
contradicted by both the tragic biographical truth (her accelerated mental
disintegration, ending in suicide, in the context of heightened self-scrutinizing
and self-revelatory creativity – which is not to say that writing should be
reduced to the level of a symptom in mentally unstable individuals), and her
poems themselves (the level of involvement is simply too great).
4
Hypergraphia, although not a condition in itself, is recognized by neurologists as an
overpowering desire to write which can accompany the manic episodes of individuals suffering
from bipolar disorder.
SYLVIA PLATH AND ZELDA FITZGERALD ORMADNESS AND CREATIVITY INTERTWINED
69
The same level of involvement is visible in The Bell Jar, in relation to
which Sylvia stated, however, the following in a letter to her mother which was
later included in the “Bibliographical Note” to the novel:
What I’ve done is to throw together events from my own life, fictionalizing to add
color – it’s a pot boiler really, but I think it will show how isolated a person feels when he
is suffering a breakdown.… I’ve tried to picture my world and the people in it as seen
through the distorting lens of a bell jar.… My second book will show the same world as
seen through the eyes of health. (Quoted in Harris 1988: 107)
One needs to understand, however, that Sylvia’s relationship with her
mother was a problematic one, and that The Bell Jar was a thinly disguised
account of persons and events in its author’s life. Sylvia poured her soul into her
only novel just as she poured it into her poems, with all the beauty and darkness
it had to offer.
In the end, one may choose to see Sylvia as one of the writers who
“strove with all their creative might to mend the ravages and disorder of broken
brains” (Vaillant 1995:232), as a mind trying to right itself through writing. I,
for one, believe that the introspection that her poetry occasioned forced her to
confront even the demons that had previously lain hidden within her and, as
aesthetically pleasing (in a voyeuristic kind of way, as in the case of any literary
product authoredby an individual with a disintegrating psyche, I must add) as
we find her arresting poems today, they cost her the very little that was left of her
sanity. My heart aches for her, for I agree with biographer Lynne Ferguson Chapman:
Sylvia Plath […] had all the prerequisites for happiness: she was brilliant,
talented and beautiful. […] But Sylvia Plath was also frequently – and ultimately
fatally – depressed. (1994: I)
2.2. Zelda Fitzgerald: Creativity, between Repression and Quest
“I wish I could write a beautiful book to break those hearts that are soon to cease
to exist: a book of faith and small neat worlds and of people who live by the philosophies
of popular songs.”5 (Zelda Fitzgerald)
Distinguishing between Zelda Fitzgerald, the woman, and Zelda
Fitzgerald, the myth, has become virtually impossible, for, by now, the aura of
legend has obscured the flesh-and-blood woman almost completely. To most,
Zelda is the quintessential willful, but charming, Southern belle, “gifted with
beauty, grace, high spirits, […] expert skills of flirtation” (Bryers & Barks 2003: XXV)
and an army of suitors, turned icon of the Roaring Twenties – the flapper, “the
5
Quoted in Nancy Milford (1970), Zelda: A Biography, Harper & Row, New York, p. 351.
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ANCA-LUISA VIUSENCO
audacious young woman who danced and drank; smoked chic cigarettes;
bobbed her hair and showed her shins; and shook and shimmied in jazz halls
and clubs of uncertain reputation” (Sagert 2010: 11), turned madwoman.
When it comes to the source of her madness, however, opinions are
divided. Many (including biographers Nancy Milford, Kendall Taylor and Sally
Cline) blame it on her marriage to famous novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. The
latter apparently transformed the “wild, pleasure loving girl” (Bryers & Barks
2003: 8) into “a reckless and decorative wife” (Bryers & Barks 2003: XXVII)
(Zelda herself had stated in one of her letters to her then fiancé that she wanted
to be worn by him “like a watch-chain or button-hole bouquet – to the world”
(Kurth 1996: 21), either misappropriating or stifling her literary talent in the
process, and, consequently, turning her mad. The author of Zelda Fitzgerald
and the Failure of the American Dream for Women, Koula Svokos Hartnett
(quoted in Bryers & Barks 2003: XIV), for instance, stated the following:
As his appendage, [Zelda] was to become the victim of [Scott’s] self-destructive
urge. In denying her the right to be her own person…, by refusing to permit her the use of
her own material…, by rebuking her for attempting to create a life of her own – he
gradually causes her to emotionally wither and die.
According to the supporters of this view, if the glamorous polish is peeled
off, the “youthful, fun-loving, free-spending, hardworking, and innovative”
couple, as granddaughter Eleanor Lanahan (2003: XXVI) claims they wished to
be (and were) perceived, whose very mentioning “can summon taxis at dusk,
conjure gleaming hotel lobbies and smoky speakeasies, flappers, yellow phaetons,
white suits, large tips, expatriates, and nostalgia for the Lost Generation” (Lanahan
2003: XXIII) were, in fact, engaged in the unhealthiest of relationships, one
marked by alcoholism, mental illness, financial troubles and infidelity.
Scott is portrayed as the authoritative husband who did not allow Zelda to
become her own woman and her own writer. Zelda was, indeed, the perfect
muse. The words in her diaries and her letters could easily become the wittiest
lines for a novelist’s heroines, already made in her image (and what a
compelling image it was!). She was, thus, also an abused, drained muse, who
came to see madness as an escape:
She [Zelda] had used up her life providing material for a writer who to this day is
considered one of America’s greatest, yet as a man and husband was cunningly controlling.
When she finally tried to make a life for herself, apart from the marriage, it was too late.
She had scant resources left. The only way out was through the insanity to which her
family was prone. (Kendall Taylor, quoted in Bryers & Barks 2003: XIV)
Indeed, Zelda was not particularly comfortable with this state of affairs,
as expressed, albeit in her usual playful manner, in the review she wrote for The
Beautiful and Damned in the New York Tribune:
SYLVIA PLATH AND ZELDA FITZGERALD ORMADNESS AND CREATIVITY INTERTWINED
71
It seems to me that on one page I recognized a portion of an old diary of mine
which mysteriously disappeared shortly after my marriage and also scraps of letters which,
though considerably edited, sound to me vaguely familiar. Mr. Fitzgerald – I believe that
is how he spells his name – seems to believe that plagiarism begins at home. (Quoted in
Lanahan 2003: XXVIII)
Yet, to claim that Zelda did not find the success she longed for
exclusively because of her husband’s own insecurities as a writer, however, and
that the support he did provide by editing some of her work or publishing texts
penned by her under his name could only be catalogued as the result of these
insecurities, coupled with a competitive and domineering nature, is an exaggeration.
Eleanor Lanahan (2003: XXX) is understandably outraged by the idea:
Perfect strangers have volunteered with straight faces that Zelda had all the talent
and Scott simply stole her ideas – an injustice that, of course, drove her crazy!
That Scott was an egotistic man and not particularly pleased with his wife
entering a territory he saw as his own is obvious. That he believed his wife was
merely an amateur and that her texts could potentially embarrass him in front of
the world is, again, undeniable. Yet, turning him into a scapegoat fails to take
into account vital aspects such as the age in which the couple lived (one that
still required women to be content with their domestic roles and not seek selffulfillment outside the home), the fact that Scott had already reached both a
level of experience that allowed him to be able to act as editor for his wife, and
a level of notoriety that increased the chances of publication of any text signed
by him, or, more importantly, Zelda’s long history of mental instability.
Her first mental breakdown occurred in 1930, after three years of intense,
physically and mentally exhausting ballet training begun rather late in life, at
the age of twenty-seven, in an attempt to fulfill a life-long dream. Zelda was in
the end diagnosed with schizophrenia, a new disease at the time, and several
hospitalizations (during some of which she underwent versions of the rest cure
that only worsened her condition) marked the rest of her life, which ended
tragically in 1948, eight years after the death of her (then estranged) husband, in
the fire that engulfed the mental institution where she was a patient.
Prior to her death, however, after being no longer allowed to dance, Zelda
had sought a new way of expressing herself. In 1932, during her stay in a clinic
in Baltimore, she wrote a semi-autobiographical novel titled Save Me the Waltz
and sent it to her husband’s publisher without previously consulting him. Scott
was furious: not only had she fictionalized their story, but she had also managed
to do so before him (he had been working on a novel drawing on the same
material – their marriage, her obsession with ballet, her breakdown – for years;
it would be published in 1934 as Tender Is the Night). Today, Save Me the
Waltz, significantly revised so as not to be plagiaristic, as Scott saw it, is largely
regarded as a companion to Tender Is the Night, rather than a novel in its own
right. Zelda had, it seems, failed once more: Save Me the Waltzwas not well-
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received by critics, and it was only in the final years of her life that she began
working on another novel, which was never completed.
Most of her time during these final years was dedicated, however, to
painting, which she started pursuing as both a form of therapy and yet another
outlet (one that did not conflict in any way with Scott’s) for the creativity that
was broiling inside her. Zelda’s canvasses range from biblical tableaux, to
dance scenes, to fairytale paintings, and their dramatic nature does make them
captivating, but, although Scott financed an exhibition in New York in 1934,
they were largely labeled as the products of a troubled psyche, as symptoms
rather than art, and, hence, despite a recent revival of critical interest, no real
value has been attributed to them.
All evidence seems, thus, to suggest, on the one hand, that Zelda’s
greatest bouts of creativity had her mental instability as a background, and, on
the other hand, that she was more or less unsuccessful in every one of the
endeavors through which she sought to carve an artistic identity of her own. In
offering her view on her parents’ marriage and Zelda’s attempts at being
recognized as an artist, Scottie Fitzgerald, however, stated the following:
It is my impression that my father greatly appreciated and encouraged his wife’s
unusual talents and ebullient imagination….It was my mother’s misfortune to be born with
the ability to write, to dance, and to paint, and then never to have acquired the discipline
to make her talent work for, rather than against, her. (Quoted in Kurth 1996: 28)
Although she was a direct witness to events that biographers only have
access to through written documents, it is a known fact that children feel torn
when basically asked to choose between their parents, especially if they are no
longer alive. Nevertheless, as unreliable as Scottie may be, I do agree with her:
Zelda was a talented woman who, despite the mask of confidence she put on,
simply could not find peace. A dysfunctional marriage to a man who was
talented and troubled as well did by no means help.
I believe, nevertheless, that her accomplishments, who fade in the face of
Scott’s, it is true, are, however, remarkable for the age in which she lived and
for a person afflicted by mental illness and torn between dependency and the
desire for independence, and that both her writing and her art deserve an
objective reevaluation, one that does not start from the premise that she was just
a victim, a woman of many talents forced to live in the shadow of her famous
husband. For all intents and purposes, Zelda and Scott, the couple who “danced
and drank and loved and fought” (Sagert 2010: 23) inspired and drove each
other mad in equal measure (Scott (quoted in Kurth 1996: 22) famously said:
“Liquor on my breath is sweet to her. I cherish her most extravagant
hallucinations.”), and, as fascinatingly and intricately bound as their lives may
have been, the work each left behind should be judged on its own terms.
SYLVIA PLATH AND ZELDA FITZGERALD ORMADNESS AND CREATIVITY INTERTWINED
73
3. Conclusions
What the two case studies that the present paper is based on seem to
prove is that, irrespective of whether or not we accept the idea of a relationship
of causality between them, to a certain extent, these two complex sums of
psychic phenomena – madness and creativity – do appear to overlap, in other
words, that, indeed, “the delusions of the madman, the fervor of those under the
grip of strong emotions and of the creations of the artist [seemingly] spring
from a common source” (Nettle 2001: 2). Yet, mental illness, independent of
the creativity it may or may not trigger (either in the form of writing, “the
supreme achievement, […] by turns exhilarating and arduous” (Flaherty 2005: 1),
or painting, dancing etc.), is a horrific experience, which requires immense
inner resources to overcome, and this should never be glossed over through a
romanticization of madness.
As a result, at the end of the present paper, I find myself in awe of the two
women I have analyzed, for their work, which, as emphasized above, would be
a great accomplishment for any individual who has not had to struggle with
mental illness, becomes extraordinary in the context of their emotional
instability. In Madness in Literature, Lillian Feder pointed out the following:
The varieties of communication among the mad include muteness, violence, and
suicide, as well as verbal and pictorial symbols, all of which convey inner experience of
enormous range and complexity. […] One discovers […] a symbolic language that
discloses the intricate ways in which the mad incorporate the very conflict and suffering
into the world from which they have withdrawn. (1983: 33)
Indeed, the attempts at communicating of the mentally ill are very
complex, as are the causes and effects of their illnesses, but reaching the level
of beautifully-crafted, yet true-to-the-suffering literary pieces (or any other
artistic product) is not, in my view, a feat that many can accomplish. As a result,
Sylvia Plath and Zelda Fitzgerald, along with writers such as Charlotte Perkins
Gilman, Shirley Jackson, Emily Holmes Coleman, Joanne Greenberg or Mary
Jane Ward, should be celebrated for it. The present paper has, in the end,
intended to do just that.
REFERENCES
Agarwal, Suman (2003), Sylvia Plath, Northern Book Centre, New Delhi.
Bryers, Jackson R. and Cathy W. Barks (Eds.) (2003), Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love
Letters of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald,2nd Edition, Bloomsbury, London.
Butscher, Edward (2003), Sylvia Plath: Method and Madness, 2nd Edition, Schaffner Press, Tucson.
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Chapman, Lynne Ferguson (1994), Sylvia Plath, The Creative Company, Madison.
Feder, Lilian (1983), Madness in Literature, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Flaherty, Alice W. (2005), The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the
Creative Brain, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York.
Harris, Mason (1973), “The Bell Jar, West Coast Review,” in Linda Wagner-Martin (Ed.) (1988),
Sylvia Plath, the Critical Heritage,Routledge, London/ New York, pp. 107-113.
Hughes, Ted and Frances Mccullough (Eds.) (1982), The Journals of Sylvia Plath (abridged
edition), Dial Press, New York.
Kurth, Peter (1996), Zelda, an Illustrated Life: The Private World of Zelda Fitzgerald, Harry
Abrams, New York.
Lanahan, Eleanor (2003). “Introduction” to Jackson R. Bryers and Cathy W. Barks (Eds.), Dear
Scott, Dearest Zelda: The Love Letters of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald,2nd Edition,
Bloomsbury, London, pp. XXIII-XXXI.
Nelson, Deborah (2006), “Plath, History and Politics,” in Jo Gill (Ed.), The Cambridge
Companion to Sylvia Plath, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 21-35.
Nettle, Daniel (2001), Strong Imagination.Madness, Creativity and Human Nature, Oxford
University Press, Oxford.
Piette, Adam (2010), “Mothers, Mirrors, Doubles: Anne Stevenson’s Elegies for Sylvia Plath,” in
Angela Leighton (Ed.), Voyages over Voices: Critical Essays on Anne Stevenson,
Liverpool University Press, Liverpool, pp. 55-70.
Sagert, Kelly Boyer (2010), Flappers: A Guide to an American Subculture, ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara.
Vaillant, George E. (1995), “Creativity and Psychotic Defenses,” inGeorge E. Vaillant, The
Wisdom of the Ego, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp. 231-247.
Wurst, Gayle (2004), “Words to ‘Patch the Havoc’: The Imagination of Ted Hughes in the Poetry
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London, pp. 17-28.
MODERNIST AND POSTMODERNIST REPRESENTATIONS
OF THE WORLD IN VIRGINIA WOOLF’S MRS DALLOWAY
AND IN GRAHAM SWIFT’S THE LIGHT OF DAY
IRINA-ANA DROBOT∗
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to find Modernist and Postmodernist features in Virginia Woolf’s
Mrs Dalloway and in Graham Swift’s The Light of Day which are used to represent the world for
their characters. Features shared by both trends or used by both writers will be pointed out, as
well as inner and outside representations of the world. Similar elements, such as the lyricism used
by both authors, the same one-day duration of the novel, interweaving of past and present, use of
language (ordinary speech, linguistic effects) as well as other features related to the literary trends
they belong to (for instance, parody in Swift) will be considered in the analysis of the
representation of the world in these novels. How does Swift rewrite the stream of consciousness
used by Woolf and what is its effect on the representation of the world?
Keywords: Modernism, Postmodernism, Woolf, Swift, representation.
1. Introduction
What is common (and what can be noticed right from the start) in
Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway and in Graham Swift’s The Light of Day is the
use of language, which shares several common aspects: stream of consciousness,
lyricism, ordinary speech, linguistic effects. Modernists are known for
switching the interest of their novels from the social world to language. This is
true for the novels of both authors, in fact. The inner world of their characters
becomes more important than outside reality. Other aspects include various
themes echoing one another in the contents of the two novels, such as war,
death, love, travelling and even aspects related to the same one-day duration of
the action and thoughts described in the novel, the interweaving of past and
present, the same setting, but during a different time: the city of London.
∗
Department of Foreign Languages and Communication, Technical University of Civil
Engineering, Bucharest, e-mail: anadrobot@yahoo.com. This paper is the written version of the
presentation that I gave at the Annual Conference of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and
Literatures, University of Bucharest, 5-6 November 2010.
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What is common with both Modernism and Postmodernism is the
rejection of boundaries between genres, a feature to be found in both Woolf and
Swift. In both novels there are quotations from poems or various allusions to
other types of stories. Even the novels themselves are not examples of ordinary
prose. They combine prose with lyricism.
The fragmented view of the world is also a common feature of
Modernism and Postmodernism. Generally, while for modernists such a
fragmented view of life is regarded as negative, as tragic, it is an acceptable
representation of reality for the postmodernists. Ambiguity and thus
simultaneous views are generally associated with Postmodernism. According to
Postmodernism, simultaneous views are not seen as contradictory, “but as an
integral part of the complex patterning of reality.” With Postmodernism, world
views, among others, are questioned.
How much of these characteristics (and others) belonging to Modernism
and Postmodernism hold for Mrs Dalloway and for The Light of Day? To what
extent does the poetic or the language games aspects of the novels contribute to
the representation of the world? How do characters view the world in the two
novels? To what extent do the two novels belong to Modernism or
Postmodernism, not chronologically speaking but judging on certain features?
2. Use of language
It is said that language not only describes certain experiences of reality, it
also shapes it, it creates a certain perception of the world. In the case of Woolf
and Swift’s novels, language contributes to the representation of the world as
perceived by characters.
With Modernists, language is very important, while with Postmodernists
it has a contradictory role. Karen Kaivola (1963: 103) notices that, according to
Linda Hutcheon, “postmodernism responds to a crisis in representation, a
recognition of language’s mimetic failure, while it acknowledges the necessity
of using language to represent the world, subjectivity and experience.”
Virginia Woolf had her reasons for choosing the stream of consciousness
to illustrate experiences of reality in her novels, as reflected by the characters’
consciousness. How does Swift describe his views on writing a novel and how
does the stream of consciousness he uses contribute to his depiction of a certain
representation of reality?
2.1. Poetic Language. Illustrating Reality
Poetic language is a common feature in both Mrs Dalloway and The
Light of Day.
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According to Freedman (1963), “[…] lyrical novels can […] emerge from
situations in which the author’s point of view is the aesthetic key to a formal
representation, […] primarily of the world on which his vision has been
trained.” Freedman also notices, with reference to Woolf, that “Worlds in time
and space are not precisely reproduced but are rearranged in aesthetic designs
which become universal and symbolic.”
Graham Swift rewrites the modernist stream-of-consciousness novel, as
practiced by Virginia Woolf and James Joyce (Draga 242). The stream-ofconsciousness is a mixture of all the levels of awareness, an unending flow of
sensations, thoughts, memories, associations, and reflections (Norman, Rose,
Stream-of-consciousness).
Modernism focuses on language and on interior reality. According to
Genevieve Lloyd, a distinctive preoccupation of the modern novel is
represented by the concern with the inner contents of consciousness. Alcaraz
Varo claims that, in Mrs. Dalloway, “there is virtually no plot: what matters is
the emotions, sensations and recollections of the characters [...]”. The plot is
actually there, yet the focus is on the characters’ inner world, expressed by
means of a language which is often lyrical. This holds for Woolf’s novel Mrs
Dalloway but also for The Light of Day, Swift’s novel, which, chronologically
speaking, would be situated as belonging to Postmodernism.
With Postmodernism one would expect a more ironic use of language and
more language games rather than lyricism. The two trends, however, may be
regarded not as opposed, not as reacting against one another, but also as
continuing one another. As we have seen, there are features which are common to
both trends. Moreover, Postmodernists try to surprise their readers by being different.
Emotion is a significant aspects in Graham Swift’s fiction. As Jakob
Winnberg states, this is opposed to ‘the waning of affect’ which characterizes
postmodernism (Fredric Jameson 1998). Winnberg's claim is that Swift's work
reflects a movement from modernism to limited modernism to postmodernism.
Daniel Lea (2005) presents Swift as a writer “who has consistently defied
simple categorisation.” Presenting him as a writer belonging to Postmodernism
is an inadequate interpretation.
Fabbri points out that “Graham Swift is among those few writers who not
only give semantic thickness to each particular word and thought, but also know
how to deal with feeling.” Swift himself states in an interview: "Whatever else
one can do with a novel, I think the most important is to provoke feeling, one
does write from the heart. The head does a lot on top of that, but the core of the
book is feeling." (Amanda Smith).
Stef Craps, in Trauma and Ethics in the Novels of Graham Swift, notices
that Swift’s style of writing is “[...] characterized by its attempts to improvise a
fugitive lyricism out of the patterns of 'ordinary' speech [...]”. In another
interview (October 2006), Swift says that “He feels the words should flow
musically, creating an underlying rhythm.”
78
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Thus, Swift’s writing is similar to Woolf’s. An exception regarding form
is that Swift’s sentences are shorter than the majority of Woolf’s.
Joanna Russ calls Virginia Woolf a lyric novelist in To Write Like a
Woman. In the same book she gives a definition of the lyric mode. According to
her, this mode is without chronology or causation, its principle of connection
being associative. The lyric mode consists of the organization of discrete
elements (images, events, scenes, passages, words) around an unspoken
thematic or emotional center. In her view, no piece of writing can exist purely
in any one mode, but there is a predominance of ‘one element, perhaps two.’
The task of the writer, for Woolf, was to express life as it is in reality. For
this, language should be flexible, it should be able to give enough freedom of
expression. She uses language in a poetic way; her stream of consciousness was
supposed to describe “what it felt like to be alive” (Jensen 122), or “the myriad
impressions of an ordinary mind on an ordinary day’ (Lloyd 147).
Freedman (1963) notices that, for Woolf, a “poetic” “picture of the world
[…] allowed her to reject pedantic realism yet to insist on facts as the
components of an ultimate symbolic vision.”
The lyrical type of writing has a role in shaping experience, as Kaivola
also notices. The lyrical novel focuses on subjective perception and “registers
ambivalence through antithetical impulses”. The reconciliation of antithetical
impulses is also seen by Ralph Freedman as one defining feature of the lyrical
novel. It is not just lyrical passages that lead to defining a novel as lyrical, as
lyrical passages are to be found in most novels, together with certain rhythmic
features. According to Kaivola, lyrical prose could allow Woolf to write about
dangerous subjects, such as the force of the unconscious, while she could retreat
into an “aestheticizing diffuseness” (59).
Woolf presents in Mrs Dalloway the case of a suicide. The atmosphere of
the novel, although dark, is built by means of lyricism. In
Graham
Swift,
lyricism helps deal with a murder and the reasons for it. We begin to understand
Sarah and we don’t feel about to condemn her. If we don’t take her murder into
account we see her as a good person. She helps Kristina and then she begins to
love George. The whole story is expressed lyrically.
As Liesl M. Olson notices in Modernism and the Ordinary (Chapter 2,
Virginia Woolf's 'cotton wool of daily life') (Olson 64), Woolf’s distinction
between moments of being and non-being shows her awareness that ‘the
modern novel cannot represent only heightened moments of self-consciousness,
but must be made up of more mundane moments that make up one’s life.’
Woolf’s writings thus record the subjective mind, or heightened experience, but
they also represent the ordinary. In this consists her ambivalence.
Freedman claims that “Within this moment, the mind reflects upon its
own activity as it lights up the world and constructs it as a distinct pattern of
existence, only to see it fall apart at the point of its clearest insight.”
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All of Graham Swift's novels deal with the extraordinary in the ordinary
(Cora Lindsay 2002). His novels are about ordinary events in the lives of
ordinary men. However, in their voices Swift ponders some of the bigger issues
of life – such as death, birth, marriage and sex - as well as the everyday politics
of relationships and friendships.
2.2. Language Games. Linguistic Effects
George Webb, from the novel The Light of Day, will have the opportunity
to improve his language skills.
His language is both lyrical and filled with language games. As Wood
notices, George’s language is “full of subtle linguistic effects, and even a
‘fugitive lyricism’”. (Lea)
The Modernist and Postmodernist concern with language is illustrated in
the contents of The Light of Day, in the motif of the teacher. Both Rachel, the
former wife of George Webb, and Sarah are teachers. Sarah is a lecturer in
Modern Languages and also a translator. It is from her that George learns how
to improve his language skills. He visits Sarah in prison and he gives her what
the prison wardens call his “homework”, which consists of his impressions of
the outside world. He is thus “furnishing her with an imaginary world of which
she can have no perception.” (Lea 2005).
George, as a narrator, begins many chapters in the middle of the events or
in the middle of thought, which are not completely rendered. The reader is left
to gradually come to understand their meaning, their significance. This is an
instance of Postmodernist playing with the reader, of allowing the reader to
make an effort while reading.
In an interview (October 2006), Swift admits that he intends to leave
certain details to the reader’s imagination, not to precisely put them into words.
Before he improves his language skills and maybe even some times afterwards,
George’s “grasp on language” is “limited and imaginatively circumscribed by
set patterns of thinking and viewing the world” (Lea 2005: 194). Lea also
mentions that George repeatedly uses terms such as ‘cold’ or ‘beautiful’ when
he describes the day; this “suggests a restricted and somewhat inflexible
intelligence”. However, that may be only one side of George’s personality. He
also changes under Sarah’s influence and with him his view of the world.
3. Echoes of Mrs Dalloway in The Light of Day
Aside from aspects such as those related to poetic language, or a
presentation of the inner world, there are similarities between the two novels
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related to their contents. The very structure of the two novels is similar, together
with other aspects related to plot, images, along with characters’ perception of
the world related to language, as previously seen.
3.1. One-Day Duration
Both novels take place during one day, which includes, however, going
back to the past on certain occasions.
In Mrs Dalloway, the action takes place during a single day in post World
War I England, and we are presented with an inter-war social structure. The
Light of Day covers the events happening during one day in 1997.
The events, or better put, what goes on in the consciousness of characters
in a one-day narrative are carefully chosen. According to Lea, “Swift chooses a
day which is emotionally highly charged and symbolically weighted [...]”. Lea
contrasts this with Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway. While the events in The Light of Day
occur on “a special day”, a Thursday, and not any Thursday, but November 20
(George Webb goes to visit his former client, Sarah, in prison and the grave of
the husband she murdered two years ago.), in Mrs Dalloway, we are introduced
to a day which reminds Clarissa of her youth. From there, we are offered
instances of what happened in the past, and we are also given the opportunity to
experience the perception of other characters, such as Septimus, whom Clarissa
doesn’t even meet personally.
Catherine Pesso-Miquel notices about Swift and literary trends the
following: “Long considered as a quintessentially postmodernist writer, for
instance by Linda Hutcheon, who used Waterland to define the aesthetics of
“historiographic metafiction,” Swift seems recently to have preferred modernist
forms, or even a straightforward fictitious narrative eschewing metafiction,
intertextuality and historiography, as if he agreed with recent critics who have
been begging for a “return to stories” in the British novel.”
3.2. Past and Present
What is immediately noticeable about the organization of narrative in
Graham Swift’s novels is that his narrators never tell their story chronologically,
although there is an overall linear progression. There is always a movement
backward and forward between the narrator’s present and the past events which
are told. This organization of narrative indicates that the past weighs heavily on
the present. In Graham Swift’s novels, characters try to deal with and
understand the past. Characters try to reconcile past selves with present selves
into a continuous, coherent identity. The past has had its influence on George
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Webb’s present and on his identity. We can see this from the meditation of the
past (on his childhood, his failed marriage and career as a policeman) which is
found in his interior monologue.
In Mrs. Dalloway, Clarissa remembers what she experienced in the past
and she herself reflects on those events. Similar reflections belong to other
characters, for instance to Septimus and to his wife Rezia or to Peter. They
think a lot about the choices they did in the past and their effect on their present.
Clarissa thinks about her decision to choose to marry Richard instead of Peter.
Moreover, she reflects on her present life. Septimus and Rezia think about their
past decision to get married. Each of them has their story and their present feelings
involved when thinking about the way their past choice affects their present.
Both authors see identity in their novels as flexible, fluid, always in the
process of becoming. This was the modernist perception of identity, but it is
present in Swift’s works as well, together with an oscillation between past and
present, between past selves and present selves, which are united by memory.
The ‘double awareness’ of memory Woolf takes over from Wordsworth and the
Romantic tradition is also visible with Swift.
3.3. Setting
The image of the town of London is present in both novels. Walking on
the streets of London is usually an occasion to explore. It gives characters a
feeling of freedom. The setting is identifiable in real life. The motif of travel is
visible both in the exploration of the outside, urban space as well as with respect
to the mind, which travels across many layers of memory.
As Megan Tiegan (2006-2007: 32) notices, in Mrs Dalloway, the characters
“explore the streets of a rapidly modernizing London.” The streets are represented
as “highly aesthetic”, infused with vitality”, with “appealing crowds”. Characters
“rejoice in the crowd’s vitality” as they walk on the streets. Clarissa Dalloway
feels a strong “bond” to the city. She is “overcome by the vitality of a summer
morning in London”. Characters “mingle with the city’s crowds” (Tiegan 20062007: 31) and “their identities merge with those of the Londoners they
encounter on the streets through of shared perceptions and echoed thoughts.”
However, “connectedness” is found together with isolation, the “ambivalence
towards the city” being “rooted in the ambivalence of modern identity”. A
fragmentation of identity is an effect of “the city’s rapid modernization”. This
includes a feeling of loss of self, of unstable relations between characters,
mainly due to a feeling of “the city’s perpetual instability”. “Simultaneous
absorption in multiple identities” ends in isolation (Tiegan 2006-2007: 35).
Focus in The Light of Day is on inner reality, but at the same time we notice
that George Webb pays lots of attention to details related to his surroundings
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(names of streets, street numbers). The reader may visualise every street named,
“the wilderness of Wimbledon Common and the bleak vastness of Putney Vale
cemetery” (Malcolm 2003). Place setting is seen as local and rendered with a
particular meticulous observation, by Taylor, who calls this ‘cab-driver accuracy’.
In The Light of Day, we are presented with names of streets and also with
specific directions:
(1)
[...] on the other side of Broadway [...]
[...] From Wimbledon’s lower end [...]
[...] Past Worple Road [...]
[...] the first option for Wimbledon, via Kew Bridge [...]
Names of streets and town areas are also present in Woolf’s novel, with
similar directions:
(2)
[...] walking towards Bond Street, from the middle of Bond Street to Oxford Street [...]
[...] Clarissa was suspended on one side of Brook Street [...]
[...] Gliding across Piccadilly, the car turned down St. James’s Street. [...]
[...] And Richard Dalloway and Hugh Whitbread hesitated at the corner of Conduit Street [...]
These details contribute to the creation of a fictional world. The borders
between the real world of London and the fictional image of London are blurred.
Beatrice Berna, in Vanessa Guignery’s book (Re-)mapping London:
Visions of the Metropolis in the Contemporary Novel in English (2008), notices
that Graham Swift in his novel The Light of Day presents us with a Modernist
view of the world. “London […] works as a palimpsest, revealing an
international history of war and tragic personal stories in an organicist way.”
George’s “driving through London mirrors his work on memory and his quest
to make sense out of the chaos of existence.”
As Vanessa Guignery (2008) claims, the areas of London presented in the
two novels differ, in the sense that Woolf presents a “modern metropolis […]
with its crowded thoroughfare in which the artist is the stroller […]”. Swift
presents another side of London, the South-West, including Wimbledon and its
surroundings. Walking and driving through London becomes a journey of selfdiscovery and transformation, according to Guignery. The journey echoes
George’s thoughts. The same goes on in Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.
3.4. Common Themes and Images
Reflecting on the past is common for Woolf and Swift’s novels. George
Webb reflects on his childhood, his marriage, his relationship with his daughter.
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Clarissa Dalloway too reflects on her youth, her marriage and the relationship
with her own daughter.
While Clarissa remains rather unhappy in her marriage, George Webb is
given a chance for a redemptive love (with Sarah).
Isolation comes from being involved in distant relationships, from feeling
misunderstood. This happens in the relationship between Lucrezia and Septimus,
and is echoed at least during some moments in the relationship between Clarissa
and Richard. This in turn is echoed in George’s failed marriage.
Death is another common theme. However, while in Mrs Dalloway there is
a suicide, in The Light of Day there is a murder. There are more deaths than that,
however, in both novels. In Mrs. Dalloway death runs as a theme throughout the
novel, creating a dark atmosphere witjh the help of Shakespeare’s lines: “Fear no
more the heat o’ the sun/ Nor the furious winter’s rages.” In The Light of Day,
Kristina’s family was killed during the war. “Love and death are intimately
associated around and through the ambiguous drama of the murder […]” (Lea
2005: 193). There in an imprecision in the representation of the murder. Sarah’s
behaviour seems unexplainable, according to Lea and even Swift writes in his
novel that “Life happens outside the law.” What Swift says may suggest “an
admission of the permeable boundaries between the subject and the social framework
in which his/her subjectivity is couched” and also “an acknowledgement of that
which exists outside the acceptable” (Lea 2005: 194).
The image of the war is found in both novels, together with the way it
may affect certain characters’ lives. Septimus suffers from shell-shock while
Kristina is a refugee whose family has been killed. The war, according to
Freedman, “has created the significant abyss in Septimus’ world”.
Characters who travel are again common in the two novels.
Tropes of travel and movement are present throughout Virginia Woolf’s
novel Mrs Dalloway. Travel is a central trope or thematic feature of modernist texts.
Movement, travelling are contrasted to a domestic stasis. Clarissa understands the
importance of movement in her life: she experiences the fear of social exile,
when she is not invited by Lady Bruton to lunch. Characters in this novel are
related, explicitly or implicitly, to a foreign place. Peter Walsh, a self-described
solitary traveller, comes from an Anglo-Indian family. Sally Seton has French
origins. Miss Kilman is of German descent. Septimus himself is an immigrant,
the same goes for his wife. In the novel there are mentioned various Irish
characters, like Moll Pratt and Mrs. Walker, or other immigrants, like a young
woman coming from Edinburgh, or the presence of Americans (the stereotype
of the bargain-hunting, gullible American tourist) is to be noticed. Woolf's
novel reveals the hybridity of a cosmopolitan center like London long before
the term was used among postmodernist scholars.
Travel is also present in Swift’s novels. To illustrate dislocated self-alienation,
he uses the exile of two rich refugees, Emperor Napoleon III and Princess Eugenie
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in a lodge in Chistlehurst. They reveal the provisionality of fixity, as their house
later became part of a golf course, while Eugenie outlived him.
‘Travel’ is usually associated with modernism, while ‘displacement’ is
connected to postmodernism. Yet, the two terms are not just binary categories,
there may be continuities between them just as with the two trends. Caren
Kaplan, in her book Questions of Travel: Postmodern Discourses of Displacement,
defines these terms as follows: “Travel is very much a modern concept,
signifying both commercial and leisure movement in an era of expanding
Western Capitalism, while displacement refers us to the more mass migrations
that modernity has engendered.” (Kaplan 1996: 3)
Situations from the present that bring back memories occur in both
novels, together with these common themes and images.
4. Fragmentation
Both Woolf’s and Swift’s characters live in a chaotic, fragmented world.
The world becomes fragmented due to the characters’ feelings of not
feeling understood. They may feel imprisoned in their relationships, for instance.
The idea of feeling imprisoned is felt during Swift’s novel as an equivalent for
isolation in Woolf’s novel. He is imprisoned with Sarah in a relationship of
mutual dependency, each clinging to the other as an embodiment of desires for
different lives, as if in an echo of the relationship between Lucrezia and
Septimus. Kristina feels imprisoned in the Nashes’ home on her arrival, or at
least perceived by Sarah as such.
Characters feel insecure, as if they were living in a chaotic world, a world
without meaning because of the happenings in their lives. For Septimus, it is the
death of Evans during the war that makes the world appear meaningless to him.
For Rezia, it is her husband’s behaviour, which is strange, uncaring towards her
that makes life and the world seem chaotic and then his suicide changes
completely what she imagined that her life would be like. The war is also the
cause for Kristina’s wanderings. She finds herself in a different world, in a
different country and then she goes back to an empty home (as her family was
killed during the war in Croatia). However, the reader will not know what
Kristina’s reactions will be.
War brings change. It transforms the world and characters’ representations
of the world.
The stream of consciousness reflects a fragmented representation of the
world in the fragmented thoughts. Thoughts are presented in the novels as they
occur to the characters, and time is not chronological, in the sense that
characters move in their thoughts and memories between past and present.
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Karen Kaivola (1991: 30) notices in Woolf that the “refusal to maintain a
clear boundary between oneself and the world is a radical view of the
relationship between self and other where the mingling of self and other is not
just death and annihilation of the self but a restorative wholeness and lifeaffirming intimacy.” Clarissa feels at times part of people she never met. This
feeling is expressed in a lyrical language and may be regarded as what Woolf
called a “moment of being”. A similar situation happens with George Webb,
when he imagines various situations and feelings of other characters in order to
“picture the scene”.
Irreconcilable feelings are part of Clarissa. For instance, “She felt very
young” and “at the same time unspeakably aged.” She feels alone (“She had a
perpetual sense... of being out, far out and alone; she always had the feeling that
it was very, very dangerous to live even one day.”) yet she likes to organize
parties. In this way she gains approval, admiration from her guests. At times she
has doubts about her self-worth, for instance: “But often now this body she
wore... this body, with all its capacities, seemed nothing – nothing at all”.
Lyrical moments, aside from expressing opposed feelings, offer
characters a sense of order at times. Walking or driving on the streets of London
also have this effect, as we have previously seen. Woolf’s characters experience
“moments of being”, while Swift’s characters experience similar moments,
revelations. All these are intensely felt moments.
According to Berna, the epiphany at the end of Swift’s novel shows “what
it is like to be a human being”.
Characters make other efforts to make order and bring peace into their
lives. Self-analysis is used by characters in both authors. Their analysis of past
events is such an attempt. Another attempt may be seen in Clarissa’s wish to
make her house perfect, to be the “perfect hostess” in order to have a good
social position and thus a high self-esteem. The chaotic world is seen in the
characters’ lives. Clarissa has her own insecurities. Swift’s character, George,
sees his life change for the worst and his existence becomes chaotic. He loses
his job, then his wife leaves him. Afterwards he gets a hobby, cooking. He finds
another job and redemption by means of his love for Sarah.
5. Simultaneous Views
Swift represents “primarily a personal rather than a factual reality […]”
(Lindsay 2002). The “looking inward” (Wordsworth) in Woolf shows her
favouring subjective experience in her writings (Güneş 2003). Both authors
favour inner experience, which leads to more views on reality. Every character
may perceive the world differently. In Mrs Dalloway, for instance, Clarissa has
her own view on reality, different from that of Peter, Sally, Richard Dalloway
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while Septimus interprets it differently than the rest of the world. Septimus
seems to live in a world of his own until he can no longer make the difference
between reality and fantasy. His inner world of thought and feelings, however,
is something normal for what he has gone through and yet nobody understand
him. Other people cannot perceive the world as he does and they don’t even try
to. As Freedman (1963) notices, Septimus’ world is “wholly internal”.
In The Light of Day, we are given only one point of view, George’s. Yet
he himself has his own way of perceiving the world. What is more, George tries to
understand how the others have seen various events, to see through their perspective.
He doesn’t find his own view the only possible and correct view of reality.
In Mrs Dalloway there are also characters who try to perceive the world
through other characters’ eyes. Clarissa imagines the death of Septimus, being
helped by the fact that she has a “fear of and simultaneous urge toward death”
(Leaska 1977: 89). Peter imagines Clarissa’s future as “the perfect hostess”.
According to Freedman (1963), “The process of awareness registers the
impact of the external world upon the inner life.”
As for the stream of consciousness, Freedman (1963) sees it as “filtering
life through inner experience”; “it serves to lay bare many hearts within a
panorama of life.”
6. Conclusions
In these two novels, two worlds are represented: the outside world and the
inner world. The inner world is influenced by the outside world and also plays a
part in perceiving the outside world.
The stream of consciousness as well as common images, themes, the
same one-day duration bring the two novels close to one another. The one-day
duration is associated with Modernism and the break with traditional narratives
may be associated with both Modernism and Postmodernism. Such features
play an important part in representing the fictional worlds. Another important
element is the setting.
The two novels have Modernist features judging by their approach to the
role of the city of London in allowing the characters to explore not only its
streets but also their memories, their inner worlds. The geographical side of
London may stand for a wish to order a chaotic world in which the characters
feel at times that they live in. Epiphanies or moments of being give characters a
sense of order to their representation of the world. In Mrs Dalloway, the
atmosphere seems darker than in The Light of Day. The theme of death,
represented by Shakespeare’s lines is different than the images of light and the
optimistic epiphany at the end of Swift’s novel. This may show that the
fragmented view of life is associated with something negative in Woolf and
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accepted in Swift, although none of the two novels may be associated exclusively
with features of one single trend. Features of the trends too are debatable.
REFERENCES
Primary Sources
Swift, Graham (2004), The Light of Day, Penguin Books, England.
Woolf, Virginia (1981), Mrs Dalloway, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York.
Secondary Sources
Beja, Morris (1971), Epiphany in the Modern Novel, University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Freedman, Ralph (1963), The Lyrical Novel: Studies in Hermann Hesse, Andre Gide, and
Virginia Woolf, Princeton University Press, New Jersey.
Guignery, Vanessa (2008), (Re-)mapping London: visions of the metropolis in the contemporary
novel in English, Editions Publibook Université, Paris.
Güneş, Ali (2003), “William Wordsworth’s ‘Double Awareness’ of Memory in Virginia Woolf’s
‘Mrs Dalloway’”, Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi 4 (2), 183-196.
Kaivola, Karen (1991), All Contraries Confounded: The Lyrical Fiction of Virginia Woolf, Djuna
Barnes and Marguerite Duras, University of Iowa Press.
Malcolm, David (2003), Understanding Graham Swift, University of South Carolina Press, South Carolina.
Mchale, Brian (1992), Constructing Postmodernism, Routledge, London and New York.
Mchale, Brian (1987), Postmodernist Fiction, Routledge, London and New York.
Pesso-Miquel, Catherine (2007), From historiographic metafictions to bedtime stories: The
changing contours of Graham Swift’s novels, http://www.cairn.info/revue-etudesanglaises-2007-2-p-135.htm
Roe, Sue, Susan, Sellers, eds. (2000), The Cambridge Companion to Virginia Woolf, Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge.
Winnberg, Jakob (2003), An Aesthetic of Vulnerability: The Sentimentum and the Novels of
Graham Swift, Goteborg University Department of English, Goteborg.
STRATEGIE DI RISCRITTURA NELLA NARRATIVA
ITALIANA POSTMODERNA
HANIBAL STĂNCIULESCU∗
THE REWRITING STRATEGIES IN THE POSTMODERN
ITALIAN LITERATURE
Abstract
In Italy the postmodernist literature is not regarded by the critics as a viable experiment as
it is thought to be a late development of the avantgarde. Many Italian writers have adopted some
of the strategies which clearly can be considered as pertaining to this precise tendency of
development of the modern novel. Among the most important strategies one can count the
rewriting. It resides in rewriting the past and recompose it in accordance with the understanding
and the codes of the contemporary reader. Thus the past becomes some kind of reservoir of
subjects and ways of expression which now can be used in new narrative structures. For the
Italian novelists, the best model remains Italo Calvino, an author of modern allegories, a puzzler
who has enriched Italian literature with intricated meta-fictions. His followers, whether they
admitted it or not, authors as Umberto Eco, Antonio Tabucchi or Alessandro Baricco, in spite of
adopting for non-literary reasons some simplifications, have still managed to find new values for
the rewriting technique.
Keywords: Postmodernism, avantgarde, rewriting, metafiction, irony, possible world.
1. Essere o non essere postmoderni
Lo scontro fertile tra modernismo e postmodernismo divenne in Italia,
negli ultimi decenni, e sopratutto e paradossalmente negli ambienti letterari,
un’esperienza di refrattarietà. Non sono gli scrittori ad opporsi a questa nuova
tendenza felicemente sfruttata dalla cultura statunitense sin dagli anni Cinquanta
del secolo scorso e molto ben accolta in paesi come Germania, Francia o Gran
Bretagna. Di converso, loro – Umberto Eco, Antonio Tabucchi oppure il più
giovane Alessandro Baricco, per fare solo alcuni esempi – hanno arricchito il
∗
Dipartimento di Linguistica Romanza, Lingue e Letterature Iberoromanze e Italiano,
Universitá di Bucarest, hanibal.stanciulescu@yahoo.com.
HANIBAL STĂNCIULESCU
90
paradigma della narrativa contemporanea producendo romanzi prettamente
postmoderni in cui la storia culturale viene letta come se fosse un palinsesto da
raschiare e ricoprire poi di nuovi ‘segni’. L’impostazione ludica di questi testi è
già diventata canonica e i loro autori sono in genere pronti ad ammettere che la
strada di una letteratura che non sia più al rimorchio della realtà è stata
certamente aperta da un insigne precursore e cioè da Italo Calvino, maestro
incontestabile della riscrittura. Tra le creazioni in cui Calvino sottopone a
riciclaggio il materiale offerto dalla tradizione letteraria e che costituiscono
prove indiscutibili della sua raffinata abilità combinatoria, si annoverano il
racconto Il conte di Montecristo, lo strano libretto Le città invisibili e il
romanzo Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore.
1.2. Dalla confutazione al giudizio ironico
Però, in modo abbastanza bizzarro, come osserva Remo Ceserani, gli
intellettuali e i critici letterari italiani sono da molti anni rimasti “inflessibili nel
respingere le nuove tendenze e si sono rifiutati di dar loro un minimo di credito
o semplicemente descriverle”1. Così, si possono segnalare confutazioni recise
che vanno spesse volte fino alla negazione assoluta del fenomeno come tale,
oppure rifiuti ben mascherati sotto ironiche analisi le cui conclusioni si
articolano sempre in giudizi severi che annullano completamente la fisionomia
del postmoderno. Illustra bene il primo tipo di atteggiamento un apprezzamento
alquanto pugnace del fu Giuseppe Petronio che constata la mancanza di
spessore del progetto postmoderno percepito come fenomeno di cui molti
parlano senza poter accertarne l’esistenza vera:
Un saggio che ho letto in questi giorni, e non dell’ultimo venuto, di un romanziere
americano di buona fama, stiva in una pagina critici e romanzieri, che dice postmoderni, e
c’è di tutto: lui e i suoi amici, Beckett, Borges, Alain Robbe-Grillet e Gabriel García
Márquez, Eliot e Calvino, Thomas Mann e Musil, risalendo fino a Flaubert, Baudelaire,
Sterne, Cervantes...
Egualmente, per mesi, ho letto saggi e libri di letteratura, cinema, architettura e
urbanistica, economia e politologia, storici di tutte le storie, di tutti i paesi e di tutti i livelli,
e, lo confesso, più leggevo più le idee mi si annebbiavano, e l’impressione ultima la posso
condensare in un verso di Dante: il poeta latino Stazio vuole abbracciare Virgilio, ma
questi sorridendo lo ammonisce: “sbagli trattando l’ombra come cosa salda”: scambi
inconsistevoli ombre per cose reali2.
1
R. Ceserani, Raccontare il postmoderno, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino 1997, p. 146.
G. Petronio, “Postmoderno? ”, in Atti dell’incontro di studio “Postmoderno?”,
28-29 novembre 1998, a.c. di G. Petronio e M. Spanu, Trieste, Gamberetti 1999, pp. 17-18.
2
STRATEGIE DI RISCRITTURA NELLA NARRATIVA ITALIANA POSTMODERNA
91
Anni fa, prima di aver steso il sopracitato giudizio, il professor Giuseppe
Petronio, ormai novantenne, venne a Bucarest a parlare dinanzi agli studenti
romeni di certi aspetti della letteratura italiana contemporanea. Sorvegliato dallo
sguardo glaciale di Dante il cui imperituro busto in gesso si trovava come al
solito su uno dei banali armadi reperibili nell’aula in cui ha sede la nostra
cattedra e accolto amicalmente da Ramiro Ortiz (il cui nobile ritratto protegge
docenti e discenti amanti della cultura italiana da più di un secolo), Petronio
colse l’occasione per fare una filippica contro gli scrittori postmoderni. La sua
spietata requisitoria s’imperniava sull’idea di valore estetico, dimenticato
secondo lui dai seguaci di questa ‘corrente’. Il loro istinto commerciale veniva
condannato dal vecchio professore che li accusava di pensar soltanto al proprio
“conto in banca” ricorrendo ovviamente a formule di facile successo come
garanzia di vendite stratosferiche dei loro prodotti narrativi. L’episodio può
essere un argomento a favore di una certa coerenza dei punti di vista del nostro
e della serietà del suo impegno critico. Con tutto ciò, gli inaspettati elogi
riservati durante quella breve conferenza ad uno scrittore come Camilleri, la cui
fama mi sembrava a quel tempo e ancor mi sembra del tutto immeritata, mi
avevano allora reso alquanto perplesso. Non c’è ombra di dubbio, il padre del
commissario Montalban potrebbe essere accusato di peccati simili a quelli per i
quali Petronio sentiva il bisogno di condannare al rogo la narrativa postmoderna.
Questa sorta di visione inquisitoria, oltre tutto, riesce sempre a obnubilare la
chiarezza di percezione dei fatti letterari.
1.3. Postmoderno o neoavanguardia?
Un’angolazione più equilibrata troviamo invece in alcuni interventi
relativamente recenti dovuti a Renato Barilli la cui giovinezza intellettuale fu
contraddistinta dalla sua adesione al Gruppo 63, uno dei più interessanti
raggruppamenti neoavanguardisti della seconda metà del Novecento di cui fece
parte per qualche tempo anche Umberto Eco. In un saggio intitolato Il problema
del romanzo nella teoria e nella pratica del Gruppo 63, Barilli sottolinea che a
partire dagli anni Sessanta, varie sperimentazioni narrative, non tutte cresciute
nei confini del gruppo, ma presto cooptate da quella onesta brigata, hanno
imposto una dimensione di letteratura al quadrato, “di letteratura volta a rifare il
verso a se stessa, che in fondo avrebbe costituito un’altra delle possibilità in cui
si sarebbe riconosciuto il postmoderno”3. Il critico pare aver scoperto la magica
fonte da cui scaturì questa nuova ‘eresia’ letteraria che pare aver conservato nel
suo DNA tratti genetici da collegare all’avanguardia e neoavanguardia, pur
3
R. Barilli, “Il problema del romanzo... ”, nel volume I tempi del rinnovamento, Atti del
Convegno Internazionale “Rinnovamento del codice narrativo in Italia”, Bulzoni-Leuven
University Press, Roma-Leuven, 1955, p. 533.
HANIBAL STĂNCIULESCU
92
riconoscendo onestamente che il suo capostipite de facto non appartenne al suo
gruppo: “Tale via sarebbe stata percorsa con sempre maggiore determinazione
da un autore certamente estraneo al Gruppo 63, cui tuttavia i membri di questo
riservarono sempre un’attenzione affascinata, anche se perplessa, Italo Calvino”4.
1.4. Rivisitare il passato
In un suo intervento ulteriore, pervaso dal solito fervore avanguardistico,
Renato Barilli torna all’argomento precisando i lineamenti di una prassi
letteraria che egli vede prolungarsi fertilmente nell’immediata contemporaneità,
nelle sperimentazioni postmoderne. Un “gusto citazionista”, una “tenerezza
verso le memorie”5 scopre il teorico nelle opere di alcuni giovani architetti a
partire dagli anni Settanta, tratti che vede poi manifestarsi pienamente pure in
certi prodotti romanzeschi con lo stesso spirito critico-ironico. Il passato viene
considerato da questi creatori una miniera in cui scavare per far uscir fuori
dimenticate, e non di rado aspramente vituperate dagli oltranzisti del Modernismo
novecentesco, ricchezze. Consapevole dell’inerente eteronomia dell’arte, Barilli
osserva il rapporto sottile tra dinamica sociale ed economica, mutazioni di
mentalità e le nuove tendenze che si articolano in una specie di retromodernismo:
Il passato, invece di dover essere distrutto, demonizzato, diventa un serbatoio di
elementi, di stilemi che può essere utile recuperare perché viviamo, vivevamo già allora,
in una società del benessere, in una società che voleva rilassarsi e quindi non vivere nel
culto dell’economia, della funzionalità, come era quella di mezzo secolo prima, delle
avanguardie pure e dure dei primi del Novecento; era arrivata l’ora di concedersi una
distensione e quindi di scoprire che il passato aveva il suo fascino, nel momento in cui il
passato ritornava grazie a tutte le immagini rese possibili dall’industria culturale...6.
Tornando a punti di vista espressi nella sua giovinezza all’occasione di un
convegno del Gruppo 63, il professore Barilli mette in risalto questo paradosso:
c’è la possibilità di cambiare cammino e, invece che impegnarsi in una ricerca
sempre più accanita dell’originalità, dell’invenzione ad ogni costo, “visto che il
nuovo si sta esaurendo”, al contrario, lo scrittore può optare per un ritorno a
stereotipi letterari codificati da molto tempo e convalidati dalla tradizione: “si
tratterebbe insomma di riscrivere le vecchie storie, di rifare Verne o Dumas...”7.
Riciclare il vecchio diventava così il cardine di tutta una pratica narrativa, ma il
concetto di paternità non veniva affatto negato e forse in questo modo si spiega
la sferzata che Barilli lancia al ex-compagno Eco:
4
Ivi.
R. Barilli, “Tre ipotesi per il Postmoderno”, nel volume Postmoderno? a. c. di G. Petronio
e M. Spanu, cit., p. 84.
6
Ivi, p. 85.
7
Ivi, p. 90.
5
STRATEGIE DI RISCRITTURA NELLA NARRATIVA ITALIANA POSTMODERNA
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Noi infatti aggiungevamo che queste citazioni dal passato devono pur sempre
avere le virgolette, come è buona regola, altrimenti si cade nel plagio, nella copia; così
anche l’autore che ruba al passato dovrebbe mettere le virgolette e lavorare il testo in
modo che sia immediatamente chiaro che la sua è una riscrittura, un riuso, ma improntato
ad un’ «altra» cifra. Questa è l’operazione che Calvino fa in modo sublime, mentre Eco spesso
dimentica le virgolette, cioè non si capisce più dove c’è lui, o invece la ripresa da altri8.
Situandosi sottilmente su posizioni in certo qual senso contrarie, soprattutto
in ciò che riguarda la vitalità del filone di avanguardia che, secondo Barilli, sembra
nutrir sempre la narrativa in Italia e altrove, Ulrich Schulz-Buschhaus parla invece
di “banalizzazione quale conseguenza di successo eccessivo”. Si trattasse infatti di
una specie di “stigma della prevedibilità che l’artista di avanguardia cerca di
superare producendo effetti di choc e di trasgressione”9. Oggi, tutti questi sforzi di
demolizione di regole, di codici, paiono piuttosto futili perché “non c’è più nessuna
norma da combattere e, anzi, la trasgressione stessa si trasforma in una nuova
paradossale sorta di convenzione” 10 . Riprendendo un’idea di Adorno, SchulzBuschhaus afferma che le possibilità espressive degli scrittori moderni si sono
ridotte in seguito alle incessanti spinte innovative: ogni innovazione estetica non
può essere considerata soltanto “un arricchimento aggiunto al repertorio delle
tecniche espressive di cui disponiamo; ogni innnovazione ha, allo stesso tempo,
come conseguenza anche una riduzione del repertorio, perché trasforma altre
tecniche in procedimenti ormai superati”11. Questa censura opera all’interno del
sistema letterario stesso, non viene imposta dalla morale o dalla politica, in base ad un
concetto che Adorno definiva come Kanon des Verbotenen, canone dell’interdetto. Per
uscir da questa situazione di blocco, l’arte radicalmente moderna reagisce avvicinandosi
sempre di più al silenzio e l’opera di Samuel Beckett può costituirne la prova.
Di converso, osserva Schulz-Buschhaus, la Post-avanguardia o l’arte
postmoderna vuol recuperare la comunicatività tornando in sostanza alla
leggibilità che si deve capire senza dubbio anche in termini di referenzialità.
Questo scopo viene ricercato, “e delle volte raggiunto, mediante il riuso del
materiale comunicativo inerente a generi e forme della tradizione letteraria”12.
2. Il modello ‘ontologico’
La presentazione delle principali linee di sviluppo di un dibattito tutt’ora in
corso intorno alle sfaccettature di un fenomeno molto complesso come il
8
Ivi, pp. 90-91.
U. Schulz Buschhaus, “Postmodernismo o Post-avanguardia?” in Postmoderno? a. c. di
G. Petronio, M. Spanu, cit., p. 41.
10
Ivi, pp. 41-42.
11
Ivi, p. 42.
12
Ivi, p. 43.
9
HANIBAL STĂNCIULESCU
94
Postmoderno ci porta alla conclusione che le strategie di riscrittura furono sì una
scelta ispirata da parte di certi prosatori degli ultimi decenni, ma anche un tipo di
poetica derivato dall’evoluzione generale del campo delle lettere. Qualche anno fa,
in un mio libro dedicato ai prodotti romanzeschi di Umberto Eco13 , cercavo di
stabilire le tappe che conobbe nel suo crescere la storia della rappresentazione
letteraria. Proponevo un modello descrittivo basato su tre concetti corrispondenti a
tre grandi epoche dell’avventura narrativa dell’umanità cui vorrei aggiungere in
queste pagine qualche riflessione fresca. Il primo, il Reale ‘primigenio’ (R-p),
sarebbe tipico per un’epoca in cui ‘il non ancora scritto’ mostrava generosamente i
suoi tesori inesplorati. Era quello il Mondo come Testo, ossia il Libro del Mondo
che abbracciava tutto l’Essere, Terra e Cielo, mortali e Dei, invitando gli umani ad
avventurarsi su innumerevoli e appetitosi percorsi cognitivi. Quando accadde tutto
questo? In illo tempore. Possiamo chiamare quell’era pre-omerica, e fu seguita da
un’altra, vigorosamente popolata all’inizio da scrittori che pensavano in universali,
soprattutto greci. È l’epoca in cui regnava il Reale verosimile (R-v), è senza dubbio
un lungo periodo di trionfo della mimesis, prolungatosi fino ai giorni nostri. Nacque
da questo indomabile travaglio il Mondo dei Testi che arricchì straordinariamente
lo scrivibile. In questo spazio, di una vivacità che difficilmente si potrebbe superare,
hanno ottenuto il diritto di eterna cittadinanza gli eroi: Achille, Edipo, Amleto, Don
Quijote, Faust e tantissimi altri, usciti – come nelle antiche storie – dalle teste dei
loro vari creatori e padri. Questo è il paradigma dello Scrittore Demiurgo, di gente
come Manzoni e Balzac, Dostoevskij e Dickens, Joyce e Bulgakov.
Se si accetta questo tipo di periodizzazione, allora si badi anche al fatto
che, verso la fine dell’età del ‘Reale verosimile’, si è verificata una glaciazione
dovuta per un verso alle avanguardie oppure alle neoavanguardie e per l’altro ai
produttori del cosiddetto nouveau roman. Infatti, si trattava di una crisi del
narrare avvenuta in seguito ad una proliferazione di scritti che peccavano di
cerebralismo, di astrattezza. Questa stanchezza, questo esaurimento, questa
sclerosi allontanarono i lettori che vedevano chiudersi per loro il territorio della
letteratura che diventava (come in certi altri momenti del passato) un gioco
destinato soltanto a degli iniziati che avevano perso il gusto della feconda
referenzialità. Così si spiega la reazione postmoderna e l’inizio di una terza età
in cui predomina il Reale ipotetico (R-i).
2.1. Un lauto banchetto di significanti
Gli scrittori e i pensatori postmoderni hanno scoperto che la tesi
abbastanza pessimistica di Adorno va emendata: la tradizione letteraria non
raccoglie detriti di innovazioni obsolete il cui riuso sarebbe vietato in base ai
13
H. Stănciulescu, Repere italiene în romanele lui Umberto Eco, EUB, Bucureşti, 2007, pp. 219-222.
STRATEGIE DI RISCRITTURA NELLA NARRATIVA ITALIANA POSTMODERNA
95
canoni del modernismo esacerbato; questo grande serbatoio contiene mezzi
espressivi, contenuti, tipi di intreccio, costrutti culturali, rappresentazioni varie,
atteggiamenti estetici, generi e specie riciclabili all’infinito. Si registra in tal
modo un’ inebriante espansione del significante che non sarebbe stata possibile
senza che prima esistesse il Mondo dei Testi che è il frutto di una plurisecolare
e indubbiamente illimitata semiosi. Perciò, si può dire con Nietszche che il
mondo è diventato fabula e si può aggiungere che si deve già parlare di un
Reale ipotetico. Per descriverlo, la diegesi postmoderna si appoggia su strategie
nuove tra cui, conseguentemente, basilare rimane la riscrittura. L’originalità non
è più un’ossessione per questi narratori e, come si è visto, per alcuni di loro
neppure la paternità... Si fa di tutto per determinare il consumatore di letteratura
a riscoprirne il fascino e si va spesse volte fino all’eccesso di tipo commerciale
ciò che poi corrisponde pienamente alle regole del gioco. Il genere prediletto è il
romanzo, ma si tratta di un romanzo ibrido dove non di rado s’immischiano
fumetto, western e topoi fatti circolare dalla cinematografia statunitense. In
questo modo procede per esempio Alessandro Baricco quando compone City. Il
famoso Umberto Eco incomincia la sua carriera di romanziere con un giallo
metafisico imbevuto di filosofia, teologia e storia, Il nome della rosa, che
corrisponde ovviamente all’idea di metafinzione storiografica (‘historiographic
metafiction’)14. Un bel romanzo firmato da Antonio Tabucchi porta un titolo
‘canonico’, Sostiene Pereira, frase che si ritrova dappertutto nel romanzo e
suona come un tema musicale e allo stesso tempo filosofico che sottolinea il
carattere probabile, ipotetico della vicenda di un giornalista portoghese, molto
deluso e ormai vecchio, che compie un atto di grande coraggio svelando al
pubblico un orrendo crimine della polizia segreta di Salazar.
2.2. Allegoria e metanarrazione
Tutti questi scrittori sono di solito capaci anche di metabolizzare il
metanarrativo, ma la strada fu aperta dal loro grande capostipite, e cioè da
Calvino con il suo romanzo Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore contenente
dieci possibili incipit corrispondenti a dieci tipi diversi di romanzo. Una cornice
narrativa accentua l’impronta sperimentale del libro: due personaggi, Lettore e
Lettrice, s’impegnano nella ricerca del vero autore di quelle storie senza fine e
man manino, per dirla con Eco, in seguito al loro sforzo inferenziale e
adattandosi permanentemente alle esigenze di un testo che si sta scrivendo,
diventano Lettore Modello e rispettivamente Lettrice Modello. Calvino, da
grande puzzler e trickster, propone un viaggio testuale a sfondo teorico che si
configura poi sorprendentemente come allegoria della lettura vista nella sua
14
Cfr. Linda Hutcheon, The Politics of Postmodernism, Routledge, New York and London, 1989.
HANIBAL STĂNCIULESCU
96
dimensione gnoseologica. Per lui, citare dal passato vuol dire sempre riscriverlo
affinché diventino palesi i suoi moltissimi livelli certo mai tutti; il narratore è
indubbiamente condannato a comportarsi come ri-scrittore e con disinvoltura
egli deve riproporre generi e specie narrative che parevano ‘chiusi’ per i lettori
dell’età moderna. Tant’è che Calvino costruisce un affascinante mondo
possibile nel romanzo parabola Il barone rampante il cui protagonista, Cosimo
Piovasco di Rondò, si rifugia sin dall’adolescenza sugli alberi e non tocca più la
terra neppure quando si trova in fin di vita. ‘Guardare il mondo dall’alto’
diventa l’ideale carico di significati maggiori e di conseguenze sociali del
baronetto ribelle che nega le sue origini e aderisce spontaneamente, visto che le
vicende si svolgono in un mondo settecentesco, ai comandamenti illuministici. Così,
con straordinari e del tutto originali risultati, Calvino fa rivivere il conte philosophique,
il racconto filosofico il cui maestro innegabile è certamente Voltaire.
3. L’eclissi dell’autore
Uno scrittore che usa intelligentemente la proficua e altrettanto rischiosa
tecnica della riscrittura è Alessandro Baricco. Uno dei suoi più interessanti e
seducenti prodotti narrativi è il romanzo Oceano mare , mondo possibile
impossibile o, all’inglese, distopia15. Le storie dei personaggi s’incrociano nella
locanda Almayer, in uno spazio ricettacolo collocato nei pressi dell’oceano e
governato da bambini trasognati con certe abilità telepatiche. Però, alla fine, si
vede che la vera energia diegetica emanava da un solo punto, dalla settima
stanza. D’altronde, questo è il titolo dell’ultimo capitolo del libro, La settima
stanza, ed è da qui che esce l’Autore dopo aver terminato il suo lavoro. Non ci
vien detto il nome di questo umile vate il quale, dopo una terribile tempesta,
raduna intorno a se tutti i bambini e gli racconta la storia del mago che benedice
il mare. Era quella un’epoca in cui gli uomini non avevano perso il senso del
sacro, in cui le parole erano attaccate alla vita, gonfie di significati. L’abitante
misterioso della locanda Almayer è un demiurgus otiosus incapace di grandi
gesti come quelli che sta evocando dinanzi al suo uditorio infantile. Baricco vi
propone, in cifra, la metafora dell’eclissi dell’autore e, non a caso, il romanzo di
questo erede di Calvino contiene alla fine questa bellissima allegoria della Riscrittura:
Così non la vide, la locanda Almayer, staccarsi da terra e disfarsi leggera in mille
pezzi, che sembravano vele e salivano nell’aria, scendevano e salivano, volavano e tutto
portavano con sé, lontano, anche quella terra e quel mare, e le parole, tutto, chissà dove,
nessuno lo sa, forse un giorno qualcuno sarà così stanco che lo scoprirà16.
15
16
A. Baricco, Oceano mare, Rizzoli, Milano, 1993.
Ivi, p. 225.
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97
3.1. Quando Baricco riscrive Omero
Con il bizzarro libretto intitolato semplicemente Omero, Iliade 17 , la cui
undicesima edizione veniva offerta dalla Feltrinelli nel 2011 al mercato letterario,
Baricco, un sottile e convalidato riscrittore ha cercato evidentemente di superare
certi limiti connaturali di questa tecnica o filosofia del comporre che dir si voglia.
Era ben consapevole del fatto che la condizione dell’autore di apocrifi è ingrata, ma
ebbe la baldanza di non lasciar dormir in pace quella buon anima di Aristotele.
Sfruttando una traduzione in prosa di Maria Grazia Ciani (pubblicata dalla casa
editrice Marsilio), si è permesso di manipolarla a fin di farla leggibile per il lettore
di oggi cui accorda la patente di ‘moderno’. Baricco allega al testo ottenuto in
seguito ad alcune operazioni rischiose su cui tornerò una prefazioncina in cui spiega
i suoi intenti e poi colloca un secondo paratesto alla fine del libro. Si tratta di un
discorso puramente giornalistico a finalità militante perché lo scrittore non ama la
guerra e ci dice di essere alla ricerca di qualcosa di diverso: “Costruire un’altra
bellezza è forse l’unica strada verso una pace vera”18.
Prima di tutto è importante osservare che di per sé una traduzione in prosa
dell’Iliade costituisce un violento cambiamento di codice. La sparizione di quel
ritmo ieratico, di quella maestà discorsiva e solenne che l’esametro dattilico riesce a
imprimere al testo omerico è una perdita considerevole. La cultura romena vanta
una traduzione veramente eccezionale del grande poema omerico dovuta a George
Murnu che riuscì a trasporre nella nostra lingua ciò che Aristotele chiamava “metro
eroico” 19 considerandolo il solo adatto all’epopea. Baricco invece preferì di
riplasmare un testo poetico già trasformato dalla traduttrice in una narrazione in
prosa. Dalla prefazione sappiamo la gravità dei suoi interventi:
Per prima cosa ho praticato dei tagli per ricondurre la lettura a una durata
compatibile con la pazienza di un pubblico moderno. Non ho tagliato, quasi mai, delle
scene intere, ma mi sono limitato, per quanto era possibile, a togliere le ripetizioni, che
nell’Iliade sono numerose, e ad asciugare un po’ il testo. Ho cercato di non riassumere mai
e di creare sequenze più stringate usando sezioni originali del poema. Per cui i mattoni
sono quelli omerici, ma il muro risulta più essenziale 20.
3.2. Dove si vede perché piange Achille
Per creare la sua epopea, Baricco ha fatto anche un’operazione
dissacratoria eliminando totalmente le presenze degli dei perché pare consideri
17
A. Baricco, Omero, Iliade, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2011.
Ivi, p. 163.
19
Poetica, studiu introductiv, trad. şi comentariu de D.M. Pippidi, Ed. IRI, Bucureşti,
cap. 24, 1459b, 1998.
20
A. Baricco, cit., p. 7.
18
HANIBAL STĂNCIULESCU
98
che queste non abbiano niente a che fare con la sensibilità certo moderna. Tutto
questo va di pari passo con una sorta di pulizia stilistica: il romanziere si è
accanito contro “gli spigoli arcaici” del testo a dispetto del fatto che esprimevano
una scelta ben motivata della traduttrice. Altri due tipi di interventi di grande
portata sarebbero la riscrittura dell’opera omerica in prima persona e l’inserzione
nel testo di passi ripresi da altre opere: le interpolazioni principali hanno radici
nell’Odissea (libro VIII, la caduta di Troia raccontata da Demòdoco) e in un
breve poema del periodo postomerico intitolato La presa di Ilio (Ilii excidium) il
cui autore è Trifiodoro. Le aggiunte, onestamente, vengono promesse in corsivo,
ma il lettore versato constata che molti passi estratti dallo scritto di Trifiodoro
sono stati integrati nell’Iliade di Baricco senza nessuna indicazione tipografica
e lo stesso accade con le storie cantate dall’aedo Demòdoco. Il centone ricucito
che risulta in seguito a queste aggiunte e asportazioni di tessuto omerico vivo è
decisamente operistico. Un momento decisivo della trama con al centro Achille
è senza dubbio il suo incontro con Priamo venuto a sollecitare la salma di Ettore.
Dopo tanti trattamenti stilistici e rifacimenti, la vitalità degli eroi omerici e la
dignità del famoso ipotesto spariscono del tutto e si ottiene soltanto questo tipo
di narrazione scialba e sdolcinata:
Priamo gli prese le mani, le mani terribili che tanti figli gli avevano ucciso, e se le
portò alle labbra, e le baciò. “Achille, tu mi vedi, sono vecchio ormai. Come tuo padre, ho
passato la soglia della triste vecchiaia. Ma lui almeno sarà nella sua terra a sperare di
rivedere un giorno il figlio, di ritorno da Troia. Immensa è invece la mia sventura:
cinquanta figli avevo per difendere la mia terra, e la guerra me li ha portati via quasi tutti;
non mi era rimasto che Ettore, e tu l’hai ucciso, sotto le mura della città di cui era l’ultimo
ed eroico difensore. Sono venuto fin qui per riportarmelo a casa, in cambio di splendidi
doni. Abbi pietà di me, Achille, nel ricordo di tuo padre: se hai pietà di lui abbi pietà di me
che, unico fra tutti i padri, non ho avuto vergogna di baciare la mano che ha ucciso mio
figlio”. Gli occhi di Achille si riempirono di lacrime. Con un gesto della mano scostò da
sé Priamo, con dolcezza. Piangevano, i due uomini, nel ricordo del padre, del ragazzo
amato, del figlio. Le loro lacrime, in quella tenda, nel silenzio21 .
Ormai è chiaro, Baricco è pienamente riuscito a laicizzare e a smitizzare
Omero ma il pericolo che non sembra intravedere affatto è quello di imporre la
sua versione abbreviata nella coscienza dei giovani lettori come se fosse una
sorta di vulgata, di testo canonico: eccovi, cioè, cari lettori, una cosa vecchia
spolverata e meravigliosamente ammodernata per tutti voi! Per sfortuna, come
l’autore stesso osserva, questo “non è probabilmente un buon sistema per
comprendere la civiltà omerica”22.
21
22
Ivi, p. 144.
Ivi, p. 8.
STRATEGIE DI RISCRITTURA NELLA NARRATIVA ITALIANA POSTMODERNA
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BIBLIOGRAFIA
Aristotel (1998), Poetica, studiu introductiv, traducere şi comentariu de D.M. Pippidi, Ed. IRI,
Bucureşti, cap. 24, 1459b.
Baricco, Alessandro (1993), Oceano mare, Rizzoli, Milano.
Baricco, Alessandro (2011), Omero, Iliade, Feltrinelli, Milano.
Barilli, Renato (1995), “Il problema del romanzo nella teoria e nella pratica del Gruppo 63”, in I
tempi del rinnovamento, Atti del Convegno Internazionale “Rinnovamento del codice
narrativo in Italia”, Bulzoni-Leuven University Press, Roma-Leuven
Barilli, Renato (1999), “Tre ipotesi per il postmoderno”, in Atti dell’incontro di studio “Postmoderno?”,
28-29 novembre 1998, a cura di G. Petronio e M. Spanu, Gamberetti, Trieste..
Ceserani, Remo (1997), Raccontare il postmoderno, Bollati Boringhieri, Torino.
Hutcheon, Linda (1989), The Politics of Postmodernism, Routledge, New York and London.
Petronio, Giuseppe (1999), “Postmoderno? ”, in Atti dell’incontro di studio “Postmoderno?”,
28-29 novembre 1998, a.c. di G. Petronio e M. Spanu, Gamberetti, Trieste.
Schulz-Buschhaus, Ulrich (1999), “Postmodernismo o Post-avanguardia? ” in Postmoderno? a. c.
di G. Petronio, M. Spanu.
Stănciulescu, Hanibal (2007), Repere italiene în romanele lui Umberto Eco, EUB, Bucureşti.
Tryphiodorus (1862), Excidium Ilii, Parisiis, Editore Ambrosio Firmin Didot, MDCCCLXII.
LA INDISTINCIÓN ONTOLÓGICA DEL DISCURSO ERÓTICO:
COÑOS DE JUAN MANUEL DE PRADA
MIHAI IACOB∗
ONTOLOGICAL INDETERMINACY OF THE EROTIC DISCOURSE:
JUAN MANUEL DE PRADA’S COÑOS
Abstract
The article discusses Juan Manuel de Prada’s debut book Coños, departing from Brian
McHale’s approach in Postmodernist Fiction and particularly focusing on the concept of
“ontological indeterminacy”, considered by McHale essential for the study of postmodernism.
The concept covers narrative methods and formulas often attributed to the postmodernist
literature, such as mise en abyme, metalepsis, heterotopia, fragmentarism, transtextuality,
procedural writing, parody, genre hybridity, autofiction etc. The present study emphasises two
general aspects. On the one hand, it focuses on the transformations undergone by the genre
literature (horror, adventure, erotic or crime fiction) which, in its canonical forms, has aimed at
providing an intense verisimilitude effect. The latter has been however seriously relativised,
although not suspended, by the postmodernist approach. On the other hand, as Prada’s erotic
stories anthology is a remake of an avant-garde text by Ramón Gómez de la Serna (Senos), the
analysis of the dialogue between the two discourses refines and corrects to a certain degree the
opposition “epistemological dominant” versus “ontological dominant” used by Brian McHale as a
criterion in distinguishing between modernism and postmodernism.
Keywords: postmodernism, ontological indeterminacy, eroticism, resemantization of
epistemological doubt, genre literature, remake.
Coños, una colección de textos eróticos, homenaje a Senos (1917) de
Ramón Gómez de la Serna, es el primer libro de Juan Manuel de Prada, cuya
versión inicial y más reducida fue publicada en 1994 por Ediciones Virtuales,
para que, un año después, Valdemar se encargara de la edición definitiva.
El presente trabajo propone una lectura en clave postmoderna de Coños,
partiendo de una comparación con Senos, basada en el concepto de “dominante
ontológica”, definido y desarrollado por Brian McHale, primero en Postmodernist
Fiction (1987) y luego en Constructing Postmodernism (1992). Según la distinción
∗
Departamento de Lingüística Románica, Lenguas y Literaturas Iberorománicas e Italiano,
Universidad de Bucarest, mihaiacobus@yahoo.com.
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MIHAI IACOB
propuesta por McHale, el pensamiento y la poética modernistas se centran en la
duda epistemológica (McHale 2004: 8), relacionada con el conocimiento del
mundo y la comunicación de dicho conocimiento, mientras que la visión
típicamente postmodernista gira alrededor de cuestiones ontológicas, que el
teórico norteamericano formula mediante las siguientes preguntas:
Which world is this? What is to be done in it? Which of my selves is to do it? (…)
What is a world?; What kinds of world are there, how are they constituted, and how do
they differ?; What happens when different kinds of world are placed in confrontation, or
when boundaries between worlds are violated?; What is the mode of existence of a text,
and what is the mode of existence of the world (or worlds) it projects?; How is a projected
world structured? (McHale 2004: 10)
Por consiguiente, la incertidumbre de los procesos cognitivos viene
sustituida, en el paradigma teórico postmoderno, por la indeterminación y la
inestabilidad ontológicas (McHale 2004: 25).
Como se verá a continuación, en el libro de Juan Manuel de Prada se
realiza un cuestionamiento de la naturaleza del discurso literario y del mundo
proyectado por éste, a la vez que la voz narrativa reivindica una posición difícil
de localizar, entre el campo textual y el extratextual. Por otra parte, se ponen en
tela de juicio tanto las fórmulas, como los efectos de la literatura erótica tradicional.
Uno de los elementos problemáticos desde el punto de vista ontológico es
el narrador autorreferencial o dramatizado (Booth 1974: 144), personaje
también presente en Senos, pero con menos consistencia que en la obra de Juan
Manuel de Prada, donde se construye como una entidad indeterminada, al
mismo tiempo unitaria y fragmentaria. Por un lado, su discurso se caracteriza –
igual que en el libro de Ramón Gómez de la Serna– por una coherencia
procedente del sexocentrismo (todos los relatos que conforman Coños glosan un
tipo de sexo femenino) y un estilo híbrido, que conjuga algunos giros
coloquiales y muestras de lenguaje sexual explícito con formulaciones
elaboradas y una profusión de alusiones culturales. Al mismo tiempo, en varios
relatos, el narrador dramatizado se refiere a sí mismo y alude a su propio libro
mediante tres clases de mise en abyme: del “enunciado”, de la “enunciación” y
del “código”. De modo que se pueden identificar (auto)referencias al tema del
texto literario o “citas del contenido” (Dällenbach 1991: 73), casos de
“‘presentificación’ diegética del productor” del relato, secuencias que destacan
el proceso de producción literaria y las circunstancias que condicionan dicho
proceso (Dällenbach 1991: 95) y, finalmente, representaciones metatextuales del
mismo relato como una “composición” (Dällenbach 1991: 120): “la espeología del
coño”, “la prospección o introspección del coño” (Prada 1996: 79); “el
coleccionista de coños, el filatélico” (Prada 1996: 23); “yo, tratadista del coño”
(Prada 1996: 116); “el coño de mi novia […] me ha servido como coartada o
excusa o inspiración para otros coños imaginarios” (Prada 1996: 84); “El coño
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103
de mi novia, única vaina en la que envaino mi pluma (quiero decir que sólo
interrumpo la escritura para follar dentro de ese coño), no ha formulado en los
últimos tres días ni una sola queja, a pesar de la abstinencia a que lo someto (y
aún le quedan otros tres, porque me he propuesto redactar en seis días este
catálogo)” (Prada 1996: 85); “tipología de los coños” (Prada 1996: 23); “este
libro, único catálogo verídico que hasta la fecha se ha escrito sobre el
particular” (Prada 1996: 62); “(pero sobre culos hablaré en otro libro)” (Prada
1996: 119). Todas estas secuencias autorreflexivas, por su reiteración y su
carácter explicativo, añaden unidad y coherencia tanto al enunciado, como a la
primera persona del enunciado, que se responsabiliza del mismo1.
Por otro lado, las mises en abyme mencionadas anteriormente, a la vez
que contribuyen a la unidad del narrador, provocan una escisión dentro del
mismo, entre el personaje inmerso en el acto de narrar y participe de las intensas
emociones generadas por el recuerdo, y el personaje que analiza con lucidez,
mientras narra, sus propias actitudes y su propio oficio. De hecho, la escisión
ontológica manifestada dentro de la entidad relatora abarca, en su totalidad, el
discurso de Coños, que se propone como alabanza auténtica de sexos femeninos,
avalada por experiencias directas o ajenas, y, a la vez, se desautoriza como
simple construcción textual, fruto de un proceso de escritura desarrollado en
conformidad con determinadas fórmulas discursivas.
El carácter escindido, fragmentado y múltiple del narrador dramatizado
de Coños se manifiesta también por la movilidad de su perspectiva sobre los
hechos relatados, movilidad que no se limita a la alternancia habitual entre la
homodiégesis y la heterodiégesis, sino que, a veces, provoca una transgresión
de las fronteras entre niveles narrativos que habitualmente no interfieren. Se
trata de lo que, en la teoría postmoderna, se ha denominado “heterotopía”
(McHale 2004: 18). Además, como suele ocurrir en muchas obras postmodernas,
una heterotopía implica una “metalepsis”, es decir la circulación de personajes y
objetos entre los niveles ontológicos o mundos de estructura incompatible, que,
sin embargo, llegan a comunicar (Genette 1989: 298, McHale 2004: 120). En
Coños se dan dos tipos de metalepsis, la descendente y la ascendente. El primer
tipo aparece en “El coño de la solterona”, donde el narrador extradiegético, que
reivindica el estatuto de creador de un universo literario, baja a este universo de
forma brusca e inverosímil:
1
En Senos hay pocas mises en abyme y secuencias autorreflexivas, aparte de los prólogos a
distintas ediciones: un “coleccionista de senos”, referido en tercera persona, aparece en el relato
titulado “El coleccionista”; el narrador habla de sí mismo, al principio de “Los senos llenos de
oro”, en estos términos: “Yo, que soy el escritor de los senos, su crítico de arte, el que formó su
colección y ya no admite ni los duplicados ni las falsificaciones que ofrecen de todos lados, no me
dejo engañar por los senos” (Gómez de la Serna 1992: 100).
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MIHAI IACOB
Qué triste languidece el coño de las solteronas, qué iguales discurren los días de la
espera. Entra por las ventanas un crepúsculo rojo, definitivo como el Apocalipsis, y llora
el coño una lágrima de fuego o impotencia, intuyendo que su amante no volverá. La
solterona se levanta de su sillón de mimbre, se asoma a la ventana y requiere a un hombre
que pasa por la calle. Ha guardado ausencia durante años y años a la memoria del primer
amor, y ahora quiere desahogarse con el primero que pilla. Afortunadamente, yo he sido el
primero (Prada 1996: 72).
Las fronteras ontológicas se pueden infringir también mediante la subida
ficticia de un personaje literario a un nivel superior de ficción, que, en ocasiones,
simula poseer el estatuto de realidad empírica. Esta transgresión de las fronteras
entre el arte y la vida (Hutcheon 2002: 29) se realiza en Coños, a través de una
mise en abyme de la enunciación, que vehicula datos auténticos o susceptibles
de serlo. Pues el narrador extradiegético de “El coño de mi novia” distingue
entre la existencia real del sexo de su novia y los “coños imaginarios” retratados
en los otros textos del libro. Además, este narrador asume el papel de autor,
mencionando la intención de concebir y redactar la colección de textos eróticos
en seis días (Prada 1996: 85). La información en cuestión se confirma
parcialmente en el paratexto editorial, publicado en la segunda solapa de la
edición de Valdemar, donde se mencionan las “cinco intensas jornadas de
primavera” que ha invertido Juan Manuel de Prada en ampliar la primera
edición del libro. Al proporcionar un dato casi auténtico en su obra de ficción,
el autor reta irónicamente al lector a preguntarse por la veracidad de otros datos
susceptibles de ser autobiográficos, comunicados en “El coño de mi novia” y en
otros relatos del volumen. Este reto autorial, característico de lo que se ha
denominado “autoficción”, provoca un “vértigo interpretativo” (Alberca 2007:
132), puesto que:
abre al menos dos posibilidades interpretativas: ¿se trata de una autobiografía sensu latu
con la forma y el estilo de una novela (que bien podría introducir incluso algunos
elementos ficticios)? O, por el contrario, ¿se trata de una ficción (novela del yo), en la que el
autor se convierte en el protagonista de una historia totalmente fabulada? (Alberca 2007: 126).
Mientras que la presencia real o simulada de información auténtica
socava los cimientos de la ficción, otros componentes, formales y temáticos,
provocan el efecto contrario, subvirtiendo la dimensión (pseudo)documental del
discurso. Uno de los elementos temáticos que se inscriben en esta categoría es
la variedad de oficios, condiciones sociales, edades, etnias, gustos, posturas y
experiencias vitales que el narrador dramatizado se atribuye a sí mismo: ruso y
agregado cultural en la embajada rusa en España (“El coño de la siberiana”);
español, residente en una ciudad que podría ser Salamanca (“El coño de las
ahogadas”); recepcionista en un hotel pequeño y asiduo lector de Marcel Proust
(“El coño de las lesbianas”); mayordomo de un marqués y víctima de
vejaciones sexuales, perpetradas por su amo (“Alegorías de salón”); estudiante
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105
en Princetown (“El coño de la comanche”); enfermero que trabaja desde hace
muchos años en un manicomio (“El coño de las momias”); médico que realiza
experimentos con cadáveres (“El coño cataléptico”); casado y adúltero con el
pensamiento (“El coño de las desconocidas”); soltero que convive con su novia
en una buhardilla (“El coño de mi novia”); solterón que vive con su madre (“El
coño de las sonámbulas”); pedófilo entrado en años (“El coño de las niñas”);
lisiado de guerra (“La contorsionista”).
Esta acumulación excesiva pone de manifiesto el carácter, por lo menos
en parte, apócrifo de las historias, contadas por un narrador no fiable. Asimismo,
la condición ficticia se comunica a través de algunos datos en sí mismos
sospechosos, poco verosímiles o claramente fabulosos. Por ejemplo, en “El
coño de las cubanas”, el narrador pretende ser amigo íntimo de Fidel Castro,
mientras que, en “Los coños de Melusina”, asegura haber capturado una sirena
en los mares del Norte, a la que tiene secuestrada en su casa y metida en “una
bañera con termostato que conserva el agua a veintiocho grados centígrados”
(Prada 1996: 88). Otros personajes desconcertantes y cómicos a la vez, como
una ventrílocua que habla con el sexo (de “hendidura horizontal”) y una
faquiresa hindú que posee una vagina dentada, aparecen en “La ventrílocua” y
en “La faquiresa”. En esta galería de freaks se incluye el mismo narrador, que,
en “Cuestión de simetría”, pretende poseer un miembro bífido.
Al fin y al cabo, el estatuto paradójico del narrador –indistintamente
unitario y fragmentario, ficticio y referencial– es una de las consecuencias de la
práctica literaria denominada por Brian McHale “escritura procedural” (McHale
1992: 199). Esta práctica, frecuentemente utilizada en los años 60 del siglo XX
por los integrantes del grupo OuLiPo, consiste en una renuncia parcial, por
parte del autor, del control sobre el texto literario, mediante la aplicación casi
automática de un procedimiento lingüístico o sémico. En el caso que nos ocupa,
Juan Manuel de Prada ha optado –igual que Ramón Gómez de la Serna en
Senos– por cruzar dos fórmulas discursivas, el catálogo y la ficción literaria en
primera persona, lo cual supone, por un lado, una “personalización” del
discurso científico y, por otro, una descentralización inevitable de la voz
narrativa del discurso literario. Puesto que el catálogo registra clases o reseña
únicamente lo antológico, las experiencias eróticas relatadas tienen que
diversificarse y multiplicarse para encajar en este patrón discursivo, a la vez que
el carácter anecdótico de estas experiencias se desvirtúa en beneficio de la
categoría y el exemplum. Con lo cual, el cupo de una biografía individual
verosímil se ve superado tanto cualitativa como cuantitativamente. A esto se
añade la multiplicación del narrador en primera persona, que sigue y no sigue
siendo el mismo personaje, hecho que aumenta la hibridez genérica de Senos y
de Coños como discursos narrativos. Así pues, los textos de Ramón Gómez de
la Serna y Juan Manuel de Prada no se pueden considerar una colección de
relatos cortos propiamente dicha, por su discurso demasiado unitario, pero
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MIHAI IACOB
tampoco una novela corta canónica, por su construcción modular y fragmentaria,
lo que constituye otra inestabilidad ontológica, la de las fronteras genéricas, que
se infringen muy a menudo en la literatura vanguardista y postmoderna2.
Por otra parte, existen recursos estilísticos que exhiben la indeterminación
ontológica del mundo proyectado en Coños. Uno de estos recursos es la
correctio, que consiste en volver sobre lo dicho para matizar o rectificar: “El
coleccionista de coños, el filatélico que ha besado todos los coños para probar el
sabor salobre de su sello de lacre (disculpen la aliteración)” (Prada 1996: 23);
“caballitos de mar, medusas de mar que salen del agua (miento, las medusas y
los caballitos son faunas estrictamente acuáticos)” (Prada 1996: 97); “con la
disculpa de desenterrar la pipa de la paz (¿o lo que se desenterraba era el hacha
de guerra?)” (Prada 1996: 139); “Guardo a Melusina, la sirena que capturé en
los mares del Norte (y no me detendré en detallar su captura, ni en defender su
existencia)” (Prada 1996: 88). Las citas anteriores parecen referirse sólo a una
cuestión epistemológica, señalando las contradicciones de un narrador
mitómano y torpe, que se desautoriza a sí mismo. Sin embargo, este narrador
poco fiable es, como lo hemos comprobado antes, en primer lugar una entidad
inestable e indefinida, con lo cual, la indeterminación ontológica precede,
supedita y engloba la duda epistemológica 3 . De manera que el problema
fundamental que se plantea aquí no es la correspondencia o la falta de
correspondencia entre la realidad y las palabras del narrador, o sea lo que
McHale denomina “degree of certainty” (McHale 1992: 9), sino la naturaleza
ambigua del mundo proyectado por el discurso de Juan Manuel de Prada en su
totalidad, y habitado por este narrador.
Hay que tener en cuenta, además, que, en Coños, la cuestión de la
credibilidad del narrador constituye un préstamo tomado de Senos (donde la
cantidad de pechos glosada resultaba igual de sospechosa y poco verosímil).
Con lo cual, la “duda epistemológica” se reproduce por el filtro de la parodia,
que la relativiza, resemantiza y neutraliza parcialmente. Se trata aquí de la
problemática supervivencia del texto parodiado a través de su réplica paródica,
ya que, como afirma Linda Hutcheon, la parodia asume y rechaza, al mismo
tiempo, su modelo (Hutcheon 2002: 12, 54).
En conclusión, resultaría más adecuado considerar el uso reiterativo de la
correctio una mise en abyme más, que subvierte el realismo, focalizando la
condición material y libresca, casual y rectificable de la proyección literaria. No
es otro el efecto de las letras capitales de la edición de Valdemar, formadas por
unos desnudos femeninos en posturas diversas, unas “mujeres-letra” que
2
Uno de los casos de cruce discursivo, mencionado por Linda Hutcheon en Una poética del
postmodernismo, es precisamente el que se da entre la novela y la colección de relatos (Hutcheon 27).
3
McHale admite la convivencia jerárquica en el mismo texto de las cuestiones ontológicas
y epistemológicas (McHale 2004: 11).
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remiten a la naturaleza literaria de las mujeres comentadas en los textos de la
antología, a través de sus sexos.
Cabe señalar también que la profusión y la ingeniosidad de las figuras
retóricas – seña de identidad de toda la literatura de Juan Manuel de Prada4 –
fomentan la misma función autorreflexiva del discurso y exhiben su condición
de juego lingüístico o de ejercicio literario de tema autoimpuesto, que se
propone emular el texto de juventud de Ramón Gómez de la Serna.
El patrón retórico de Senos, que se reproduce y amplifica en Coños,
comprende los cruces antes mencionados entre la fórmula del relato corto y la
del catálogo, por un lado, la colección de relatos y la novela, por otro; la
construcción lingüística muy elaborada; el uso constante de la exclamación y de
la anáfora retórica, mediante la que se tematiza el término sexual directo; el
insólito contrapunto entre este término y sus espectaculares definiciones
metafóricas; la conversión de una parte de la anatomía femenina en una
sinécdoque, es decir en una representación en pequeño de la mujer: “Tocar tus
senos no es tocar tus senos, es poderte tocar a ti en lo más íntimo” (Gómez de la
Serna 1992: 40); “El coño de las solteronas, capilla silenciosa de esa gran
catedral que es la mujer” (Prada 1996: 71).
Sin embargo, tanto en Senos como en Coños el estatuto de la sinécdoque
como figura retórica queda a menudo en entredicho. Se trata del fenómeno de
literalización o “realización” de los tropos (McHale 2004: 134), cuyo significado
oscila entre lo literal y lo figurado. En primer lugar, la actitud fetichista, la
hipertrofia de los desarrollos metafóricos que glosan partes anatómicas de
distintos tipos de mujeres tienen como efecto final la conversión de la “parte”
(seno o sexo) en una entidad autónoma con respecto al “todo” (la mujer).
A veces, el proceso de autonomización de la sinécdoque es tan intenso,
que desemboca no sólo en un aislamiento del fragmento anatómico con respecto
al conjunto, sino en una oposición entre el primero y el segundo. En un relato
como “El coño cataléptico”, el sexo de una mujer ahogada sigue vivo, pese al
fallecimiento de su posesora:
Empecé la disección inspeccionando ese coño inhóspito y ramificado de pelos, ese
coño que parecía como impostado en el cuerpo de la difunta. Le acerqué un espejo, para
alcanzar con su reflejo los repliegues inaccesibles a la vista y percibí entonces cómo la
superficie bruñida se empañaba con una respiración imposible, un jadeo que procedía del
útero, si es que el útero puede sustituir a los pulmones. Pasé toda la noche en vela, como
aquellos personajes de Edgar Allan Poe, esperando que el coño de la muchacha
abandonase su estado de catalepsia y recobrara su humedad de flujos y menstruaciones. La
luz del quirófano envolvía a la difunta con una delgadez de esqueleto, pero su coño seguía
4
Según Pascual García, para un escritor como Juan Manuel de Prada lo que importa
verdaderamente es “el gusto por la palabra y sus secretos, la aventura del lenguaje y el dominio
del verbo estético, más allá, por supuesto, del contenido, que es tan sólo una excusa
desvergonzada y cínica” (García 2004: 80).
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empañando el espejo, empañándolo y desempañándolo, según expulsaba o inspiraba aire.
El coño cataléptico funcionaba como un fuelle, ajeno al rigor mortis de su dueña, y, al
expeler el aire, pronunciaba algún ronquido, o resoplaba con sus labios menores. […] Yo
me pregunto ahora, tres meses después: ¿despertará algún día este coño cataléptico?
(Prada 1996: 130)
Literalizaciones o distorsiones extremas de la sinécdoque, como la arriba
citada, son difíciles de encontrar en Coños, a diferencia de lo que ocurre en
Senos, donde se plantean a menudo separaciones radicales, inversiones entre la
entidad posesora y la poseída, oposiciones e incluso enfrentamientos entre los
senos y las mujeres que los poseen. En “Senos para soldados”, por ejemplo, se
habla de “la mujer que tienen los senos” (Gómez de la Serna 1992: 66); en “La
temerosa”, una baronesa que siente miedo por sus senos los guarda en una caja
fuerte y los pone únicamente en las fiestas; en “Las que fueron matadas por sus
senos”, se habla, como el mismo título lo indica, de una operación de
exterminio emprendida por los senos en contra del cuerpo entero; en “Los senos
de verdadero Sévres”, una mujer vende sus pechos a un anticuario y luego sale
de la tienda de éste “sin senos, lisa” (Gómez de la Serna 1992: 99). Y los
ejemplos podrían continuar.
El hecho de que este planteamiento ontológico a través de la subversión
de la sinécdoque haya sido desarrollado con más intensidad por Ramón Gómez
de la Serna que por Juan Manuel de Prada parece indicar que la dicotomía entre
epistemología y ontología, mencionada al principio de este trabajo, no sirve
siempre para distinguir entre el vanguardismo de Senos, parte del proyecto
modernista (Călinescu 1995: 232), y el postmodernismo de Coños5.
Tal vez sea necesario que la dicotomía propuesta por McHale entre las
poéticas modernista y postmodernista, se cruce con otros criterios para
conseguir una perspectiva más compleja y matizada sobre el fenómeno literario6.
Uno de estos criterios de distinción, invocado por Umberto Eco, es la “manera
de hacer” de las dos estéticas, que se manifiesta también en el modo de
5
McHale afirma que la “dominante ontológica” acerca el postmodernismo a la vanguardia
(McHale 1992: 56), mientras que otros teóricos, como Umberto Eco o Linda Hutcheon,
distinguen entre la revolución vanguardista y el conservadurismo irónico postmodernista
(Hutcheon 2002: 12, Eco 1983: 102-103). Por su parte, Matei Călinescu, a pesar de considerar
que la vanguardia y el postmodernismo son “caras de la modernidad”, los opone, utilizando los
mismos criterios que Eco y Hutcheon (Vid. Călinescu 1995: 232).
6
Incluso Brian McHale subraya que las perspectivas epistemológica y ontológica son
únicamente “dominantes”, hiperónimos de dos “poéticas”, y no rasgos particulares antitéticos, o
hipónimos (McHale 2004: 7-13). Por tanto, su propuesta teórica se abre, en principio, hacia el
cruce de varios criterios particulares de distinción entre modernismo y postmodernismo. Sin
embargo, es posible que, a veces, los hiperónimos que distinguen entre las dos poéticas, según la
opinión de McHale, resulten menos funcionales en el análisis de textos concretos que los
hipónimos, lo cual pone en tela de juicio la jerarquía categorial de los conceptos que se emplean
como criterios de distinción.
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relacionarse con la tradición. Comparado con la vanguardia que, como punta de
lanza de la estética modernista, busca sistemáticamente la ruptura con las
convenciones consagradas, el postmodernismo tiende a recuperar el pasado,
aunque con ironía. Por consiguiente, se puede considerar que la actitud
típicamente vanguardista es radical y rupturista, mientras que la postmodernista
se caracteriza por la moderación (Eco 1983: 103). De este modo se podría
explicar por qué Ramón Gómez de la Serna prefiere la fisura ontológica,
mientras que Juan Manuel de Prada opta solo por la indeterminación ontológica.
No obstante, la misma cuestión se puede enfocar desde un punto de vista
diferente. Dejando de lado la necesaria discusión –que no entra en el propósito
de este artículo– sobre la solidez de los criterios que incluirían Senos y otras
obras de Ramón Gómez de la Serna dentro de la vanguardia europea
propiamente dicha, la fisura ontológica tematizada en el texto ramoniano se
puede interpretar también como fruto de la visión erótica perturbada o solo
insólita, que tiene el narrador extradiegético sobre el mundo. Así pues,
conforme a esta lectura, todo en Senos se reduciría a un problema
epistemológico, problema que no se plantea –como se ha visto anteriormente, al
comentar el uso de la correctio– de la misma manera en lo que respecta al
narrador de Coños, cuya perspectiva constituye una re-producción de la
perspectiva del narrador de Senos, parcialmente neutralizada y subvertida por la
parodia. Por tanto, en Coños se recoge el vanguardismo de Senos, con una
mezcla de ironía y deferencia, característica del postmodernismo. En este sentido,
se vuelve significativo el primer párrafo de “El coño de la violonchelista”:
Ahora que ya definitivamente las vanguardias han dejado de dar la murga, ahora
que el cubismo ha engrosado el elenco de tendencias clásicas, ahora que el espíritu de
Picasso dormita en algún baúl cerrado con siete llaves, aún nos queda a los nostálgicos del
arte de principios de siglo el consuelo de asistir a un concierto para cuerda y ver a las
violonchelistas en simbiosis con su instrumento, única imagen del cubismo que sobrevive en el
mundo (dejo aparte la jeta de Rossy de Palma, demasiado equina y kitsch) (Prada 1996: 19).
Si la tematización del seno o del sexo femenino y la densidad de las
analogías elaboradas que los definen contribuyen a interrumpir la conexión
entre estos órganos anatómicos y el cuerpo al que pertenecen, el carácter
sumamente insólito y amplificado de las analogías desestabiliza la condición de
los senos en calidad de senos y de los sexos en calidad de sexos. Ramón Gómez
de la Serna y Juan Manuel de Prada no extraen, en ocasiones, sus símiles de la
cercanía física o semántica, sino que el vehículo o el segundo término de la
comparación están tan alejados semánticamente del tenor o del primer término
de la comparación, que los últimos adquieren una condición ontológica
inestable. De manera que difícilmente se puede seguir considerando un seno el
que se abraza con las manos como a “ese niño al que apretujan en las aperturas
de los teatros y de las procesiones” (Gómez de la Serna 1992: 157). Igual que a
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duras penas se puede seguir concibiendo como sexo femenino el de las
sonámbulas: “ese vellocino de plata, tenía un rumor de caracola, y si uno
acercaba el oído, podía llegar a escuchar, entre un fondo marítimo y monocorde,
mensajes emitidos en un lenguaje cifrado, como interferencias de una emisora
de radio con sede en la cara oculta de la luna” (Prada 1996: 39).
La autonomía y la independencia del signo con respecto al referente, o, en
otros términos, la conversión del signo en referente conlleva una relativa
deserotización del discurso erótico, que, en su forma más convencional, busca
provocar sólo una reacción fisiológica en el lector, reacción basada
precisamente en el realismo de un discurso constituido por figuras retóricas
auténticas, transparentes, cuya función primaria es la de comunicar eficazmente
unos episodios sexuales excitantes.
A la deserotización contribuye también el modo en que Juan Manuel de
Prada (inspirado por Gómez de la Serna) construye las definiciones de los sexos
femeninos, empleando un collage estilístico que señala la ironía, una disparidad
de registros que se manifiesta entre el término definido, el más directo y
coloquial para referirse al sexo femenino, y los términos que lo definen, tópicos
de la prosa poética romántica y tardo romántica. El resultado participa, por el
esteticismo, el exceso y la artificiosidad asumidas, de la perspectiva camp,
glosada por Susan Sontag en su famoso ensayo “Notas sobre lo camp” (Sontag
2007: 351-372):
El coño de las solteronas, príncipe de una mansión derruida, rosal silvestre de un
jardín abandonado, sigue floreciendo cada mes, sigue produciendo jugos inútiles, en la
esperanza de preservarse joven para un fantasma de pólvora y lejanías. El coño de las
solteronas, capilla silenciosa de esa gran catedral que es la mujer, mantiene siempre
encendida una llama votiva y ruega a Dios por el regreso del hombre (Prada 1996: 71).
Por consiguiente, a pesar del repetido empleo anafórico de la palabra
“coño”, se podría caracterizar al autor de Coños con las palabras que Brian
McHale usa para retratar a Guy Davenport y a William Burroughs: “a poor
pornographer but a good postmodernist” (McHale 2004: 152). Igual de
adecuado sería para Juan Manuel de Prada el término “poerótico”, cruce léxico
empleado por Maurice Couturier para definir al Vladimir Nabokov de Lolita
(Couturier 2006: 940).
El collage estilístico antes mencionado remite, además, al carácter
heterodoxo del discurso erográfico pradiano, con respecto a los paradigmas de
la pornografía, el erotismo y la novela amorosa, ya que en Coños se encuentran
alternativa y, a veces, simultáneamente, todos los rasgos definitorios – según
Gaétan Brulotte (Brulotte 1991: 13-15) – de los tres subgéneros de la literatura
erótica latu sensu, subgéneros que se afirman y se desautorizan mutuamente. En
primer lugar, la repetición constante del término sexual directo y la estructura
adicional, basada en una aglomeración de estampas eróticas, provocan un efecto
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de saturación, típico de la pornografía. Al mismo tiempo, los relatos de Juan
Manuel de Prada emplean el lenguaje connotativo y velado del erotismo
propiamente dicho y, asimismo, privilegian las manifestaciones sentimentales
de la novela amorosa.
Otro tópico sobre la literatura erótica, que se deconstruye en Senos y en
Coños, es el de la clandestinidad y la marginalidad de esta literatura. Este lugar
común justifica el uso de procedimientos elusivos a través de los que se intenta
evitar la identificación del narrador erográfico con el autor empírico: a veces,
por medio de un relato neutro, no focalizado (Genette 1989: 244), como ocurre
en Las once mil vergas de Apollinaire, o, en otras ocasiones, recurriendo al
anonimato (Teresa filósofa). Una tercera posibilidad, empleada por el Marqués
de Sade en Justine o los infortunios de la virtud y por Vladimir Nabokov en
Lolita, es acudir a narradores intra o extradiegéticos muy dramatizados e
individualizados, incluso por sus nombres (Justine, Humbert Humbert), en los
que los autores delegan la “culpa” de vivir y relatar experiencias eróticas que
trasgreden la moral socialmente aceptada. En ocasiones, incluso se añade un
contrapunto ideológico entre un narrador intradiegético y un narrador
extradiegético (que sí podría considerarse un trasunto del autor empírico, sin
desprestigiarlo), para que el segundo tome el partido de la virtud consagrada
socialmente y vitupere el vicio (Justine). A diferencia de lo que acontece en los
casos anteriores, en Senos y en Coños no se señala, ni explícita, ni
implícitamente la diferencia entre la visión del autor empírico y la del narrador
extradiegético, que asume sin reparos tanto las vivencias sexuales como la
perspectiva heterodoxa sobre estas vivencias, siguiendo el ejemplo de algunos
narradores de finales del siglo XIX y principios del XX, como, por ejemplo, el
Marqués de Bradomín de las Sonatas de Valle-Inclán. Es más, como hemos
comprobado antes, el narrador de Juan Manuel de Prada llega incluso a tomar
prestados biografemas o pseudobiografemas del autor empírico (la condición de
escritor, el haber redactado el texto en cinco días), que fomentan en lugar de
evitar la identificación narrador-autor. Esta característica del narrador tiene una
doble implicación. Por una parte, el narrador constituye una entidad
intermediaria que sale parcialmente del texto, interfiriendo, aunque mínima y
cuestionablemente, con la biografía de Juan Manuel de Prada. Por otra parte, sin
embargo, la primera persona erográfica da más muestras de confinamiento al
espacio de la literatura que su correspondiente ramoniano, debido a un grado
superior de dramatización y, sobre todo, al hecho de que el que relata en Coños
es una réplica del que relata en Senos, es decir una entidad literaria al cuadrado.
Una consecuencia más de la reivindicación de la dignidad del discurso
erótico son las características epidícticas (Aristóteles 1998: 63-66) que adquiere
este discurso en los textos comentados. Es decir, en lugar de argumentar a favor
de la excelencia de ciertas partes de la anatomía femenina y de las experiencias
eróticas relacionadas con éstas, lo que encontramos en Senos y en Coños es más
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bien un encomio transmitido directamente y sin reservas, como si expresara una
opinión mayoritaria y oficial, que no necesitara ninguna justificación. Una de
las marcas epidícticas es la enálage de la persona, o sea la sustitución de la
primera persona del singular por la primera del plural, figura mediante la que se
atribuye abusivamente (petitio principii) una visión infrecuente, particular y
negociable sobre los senos y los sexos a un “nosotros”, referente a la totalidad
de los hombres: “Todos tendremos ese gesto reflexible y final. Un día
tomaremos en nuestras manos los senos con ese escepticismo postrero” (Gómez
de la Serna 1992: 45); “Queremos imaginarnos el coño de esa mujer y no
podemos (necesitaríamos el talento de Juan Gris), queremos asistir a la lucha
que se desarrolla por detrás de la madera (Prada 1996: 20).
Parecido a lo que ocurre con otros aspectos de los dos libros analizados,
el discurso epidíctico antes mencionado tampoco está exento de contradicciones.
Por debajo del desenfado de un orador que simula comunicar con un público ya
convencido, cuando éste no lo está necesariamente, se perciben implícitas
intenciones exhortativas y disuasivas. Así se explican el léxico exquisito, las
metáforas muy elaboradas y las referencias a la cultura alta, que apoyan y
dignifican indirectamente el panegírico sexual. Igual que Humbert Humbert en
Lolita, los narradores de Senos y Coños intentan ganar la “aprobación estética”
del conocedor de literatura (Couturier 2006: 941).
Al mismo tiempo, el elogio al sexo femenino se autosubvierte mediante el
collage de registros antes comentado, que exhibe el desajuste, por lo menos
desde el punto de vista de las expectativas del lector común, entre el objeto y el
estilo del encomio. Epícteto Díaz Navarro identifica esta disparidad, junto a su
función (auto)irónica, en otros textos de Juan Manuel de Prada, donde se puede
comprobar la misma “exhibición de figuras retóricas” que en Coños: “En La
tempestad y en otros textos encontramos a veces un uso irónico de este estilo,
una inadecuación entre el contexto y el lenguaje que se utiliza” (Díaz Navarro
2006: 203). En consecuencia, las construcciones retóricas ampulosas de Senos y,
sobre todo, de Coños –su réplica paródica– ostentan, por su desproporción con
respecto al tema del discurso, un carácter intencionadamente artificial y hueco,
de mero espectáculo lingüístico, desligado del mensaje o la ideología 7 . Tal
como apunta Pascual García: “Es verdad que Coños no contaba nada, que no
subyacía a la obra ninguna idea antropológica, que no contenía una tesis ni
inauguraba un territorio mítico” (García 2004: 80). Este escepticismo ante los
“grandes temas” y ante la dimensión sapiencial de la literatura es definitorio de
la visión postmoderna.
7
Se trata de una de las características de la sensibilidad camp: “Cargar el acento en el
estilo es menospreciar el contenido, o introducir una actitud neutral respecto del contenido. Ni
que decir tiene que la sensibilidad camp es no comprometida y despolitizada; al menos, apolítica”
(Sontag 2007: 353).
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Es preciso destacar que la deconstrucción de los paradigmas erográficos,
la deserotización y la relativización del patos amoroso a través de la ironía y de
la “literalización” de los tropos no conllevan una suspensión total de la
comunicación de los impulsos instintivos y de las vivencias auténticas, en
beneficio de una perspectiva exclusivamente fría y cerebral. Igual que en otros
textos postmodernos, en Coños reina el inclusivismo, la paradoja, la
cohabitación de tendencias contrarias. De modo que, a pesar de la vehiculación
consciente e irónica del lenguaje ramoniano (ya de por sí irónico), se percibe
una actitud nostálgica y deferente hacia el modelo. De la misma manera que la
autorreflexividad y la socarronería no impiden la comunicación de una visión
auténticamente idealizadora o tortuosa sobre la mujer y el sexo. “La comunión
de un estilo suntuoso y de un asunto procaz –observa Pascual García,
insistiendo en la misma condición paradójica del libro– es en este tomo un
acierto, como si la densidad poética rebajara la manifiesta impudicia del
contenido, sin que por ello perdiera la obra su frescura y su morbo” (García
2004: 80). No es otra la opinión expresada por Umberto Eco en Apostillas a “El
nombre de la rosa”, donde se afirma que, aunque se preocupe por evitar la
inocencia y asumir la inevitabilidad de los tópicos, el autor postmoderno sigue
hablando de amor y -se podría añadir aquí- de sexo (Vid. Eco 1983: 103).
Como se ha constatado a lo largo de este trabajo, en Coños se pueden
identificar una serie de rasgos que varios teóricos vienen atribuyendo, desde
hace más de medio siglo, a la poética postmodernista, regida, según Brian
McHale, por el principio de la “inestabilidad ontológica”: heterotopía y
metalepsis, autorreferencialidad, parodia, literalización de las figuras,
sensibilidad camp, mixtura y subversión de los géneros. A pesar de que para
todos estos rasgos existen marcas textuales, la condición postmodernista del
primer libro de Juan Manuel de Prada se ve a veces cuestionada por la similitud
con su modelo, una obra modernista de Ramón Gómez de la Serna. Esta
dificultad de categorización, en cierta medida inherente a cualquier intento de
aplicar un paradigma teórico a manifestaciones literarias concretas, se puede
resolver satisfactoriamente considerando al menos dos aspectos. En primer
lugar, los planteamientos aparentemente epistemológicos de Coños no son más
que réplicas paródicas de los planteamientos de Senos. En segundo lugar, la
“dominante ontológica” no es el único criterio útil para identificar discursos
postmodernos. La teoría del postmodernismo destaca también la distinción,
operativa en el caso que nos ocupa, entre la moderación de la subversión
postmodernista y la radicalidad de la revolución modernista.
Por otra parte, la meta de este artículo no ha sido solucionar
definitivamente la cuestión de la diferencia entre la poética modernista y la
postmodernista, sino instrumentalizar conceptos funcionales y fértiles en el
análisis de texto, para ofrecer una interpretación coherente y sostenible del
primer libro de Juan Manuel de Prada. Además, el mismo espíritu contradictorio
MIHAI IACOB
114
del discurso postmoderno, tantas veces invocado, obliga a un uso flexible y
relativizante de los instrumentos interpretativos de la literatura.
BIBLIOGRAFÍA
Alberca, Manuel (2007), El pacto ambiguo. De la novela autobiográfica a la autoficción,
Biblioteca Nueva, Madrid.
Aristóteles (1998), Retórica, Alianza Editorial, Madrid.
Booth, Wayne (1974), Retórica de la ficción, Bosch, Barcelona.
Brulotte, Gaétan (1991), “Petite narratologie du récit dit érotique”, en Poétique 85, pp. 3-15.
Călinescu, Matei (1995), Cinci feţe ale modernităţii, Univers, București.
Couturier, Maurice (2006), “Nabokov, Vladimir”, en G. Brulotte y J. Phillips (eds.), Encyclopedia
of Erotic Literature, Routledge, Londres, pp. 939-942.
Dällenbach, Lucien (1991), El relato especular, Visor, Madrid.
Díaz Navarro, Epícteto (2006), “Las máscaras del escritor: Las primeras novelas de Juan Manuel
de Prada” en Á. Encinar y K. M. Gleen (coord.), La pluralidad narrativa. Escritores
españoles contemporáneos (1984-2004), Biblioteca Nueva, Madrid, pp. 203-218.
Eco, Umberto (1983), “Marginalii şi glose la Numele Rozei”, en Secolul XX 8-9-10, pp. 87-106.
García, Pascual (2004), El lugar de la escritura. Lectura personal de autores contemporáneos,
Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia, Murcia.
Genette, Gérard (1989), Figuras III, Lumen, Barcelona.
Gómez de la Serna, Ramón (1992), Senos, Libertarias/Prodhufi, Madrid.
Hutcheon, Linda (2002), Poetica postmodernismului, Univers, Bucarest.
Mchale, Brian (1992), Constructing Postmodernism, Routledge, Londres.
(2004), Postmodernist Fiction, Routledge, Londres.
Prada, Juan Manuel de (1996), Coños, Valdemar, Madrid.
Sontag, Susan (2007), “Notas sobre lo camp”, en Contra la interpretación y otros ensayos,
Debolsillo, Madrid, pp. 351-372.
ON CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CONSTANTS IN THE CONTEXT
OF CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD
LAURA SITARU*
Abstract
During the recent revolutionary process, the classic pyramid describing the distribution of
the power in Islamic traditional politic thought which have as basis the umma has been reversed.
This mutation is calling other reformulations inside the conceptual field which commonly
characterize the Arab Islamic political systems. Thus, concepts such “people”, “revolution”,
“liberty”, “democracy” and “state” are reshaped within a new political meaning of political
participation. The old traditional referents are replaced by a new schema of understanding the
power. The current research’s purpose is to explain the reshaping of a classical politic paradigm,
and to identify cultural continuities within this process, if any.
Keywords: archeology of concepts, cultural continuities, al-cāmma, al-h~ās{s{a, popular
culture, Arab street.
1. Introduction
The fall of the authoritarian regimes in the Arab countries, mainly in
Egypt and Tunisia, besides the surprise caused by the political gesture per se,
has brought back to the public attention an older issue about the specificity of
the political system/ systems in the Arab-Islamic space. “Break or continuity” is
the key question for the commentators of the historical moment called “The
Arab Spring”. Traditional categories that set up the political systems in the
Arab-Islamic world are easily identified, and also identifiable, in the contemporary
development of events. This study, which resorts to the archaeology of concepts,
is trying to look into realities and conceptual frameworks which are said to
condition the current political developments in the Arab space.
The cases presented in this analysis refer to several social and political
aspects related to the events that led to the toppling of the regimes in Tunisia
and Egypt, among which the return to the forefront of the Arab street’s public
life of religious forces and also the return to the role which the army continues
*
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Department of
Arabic, lauramariana.sitaru@g.unibuc.ro.
116
LAURA SITARU
to have in Egypt, perpetuating, as certain researchers believe, a classical
tradition related to the organisation of the state in the cultural space defined by
Islam, or simply defending its own interests as a caste or group to the detriment
of another well known category of classical Islam, namely the al-mas{lah{atu
l-cāmma (the general interest), that has been described by the authors of the
medieval political treaties. A continuous polarization of social forces,
accompanied by a biased redefinition of political options are other descriptions
which commentators use especially when referring to the situation in Egypt,
which has a great potential for unpredictable development.
Speaking in terms of the cultural and political heritage, the analysis can
be extended, in order to strengthen the general framework of the research,
towards the developments following the Libyan revolution, with recrudescing
fragmentations of the tribal type, or towards the mainly denominational
revolutionary conflicts in Bahrain or Syria. For each of the abovementioned
situations one can provide reasons or conditionings of the “culturalist” type, as
often occurs in studies and commentaries, just as they can be accounted for by a
game of local and regional1 political forces that are abruptly faced with a new
social and political reality, with an often unpredictable evolution.
2. Excluding the Community (umma) from the Exertion of Power
Equation. A Constant of Political Life in the Arab-Islamic World?
Talking about the modern history of the Islamic space, historians such as
Mohammed Arkoun draw at least one continuity line between past and present.
He says that one of the constants of the framework in which the political life in
the Islamic space developed / is developing is the permanent exclusion of the
community, umma, from the exertion of power2 equation. It has always been
marginalized, submitted to pressure and tyrannies of all kinds, left to the whims
of the local power mechanisms, which, in time, led to a regeneration of preIslamic solidarity, mostly of the tribal type. The people, designated by words
with a negative connotation similar in meaning to the French phrase le menu
peuple, has never been recognized as a possible partner in the governing process.
According to the political theories written during the Muslim Middle Ages, the
community is the one that gives legitimacy to the leader, but actually the leader
1
We agree with the observation made by Willis (2012: 11): “it is likely that whilst most of
the political landscape of the modern Maghreb has been produced by longer-term historical
processes, parts of it are the product of much more recent developments”, thus trying to avoid any
exaggeration when attaching to historical influence a more important role than that it actually
played in the unfolding of the events analysed, while being fully aware that remarks of the
historical and cultural/ culturalist type are often overrated.
2
Arkoun (1986: 54).
ON CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CONSTANTS IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD
117
has a divine mandate. The leader is not questioned; he plays the role which the
heart has in relation with the other organs of the human body3;
manzilatu-hu ka-manzilati Allāhi min al-cuqūli wa s-sā’iri l-mawğūdāti4
‘his role is that which God has in relation with the creatures endowed with reason and
with the rest of His creation’.
The leader is a model in society and
sukkānu l-madīnati calay-him ’an yasīrū calā ġirāri ra’īsi-him wa yus{bih{ū s{ūratan min-hu5
‘the city inhabitants have to follow the model of their leader and become his image’.
Al-Māwardī6 (972-1058) however admits that the leader can be removed
by the community on account of several reasons (ğarhun fī l-cadālati7 and naqsun
{
fī badani-hi8), because the community cannot be mistaken, as they are guided
by Muslim clerics who, in turn, are inspired by the divine law.
It is interesting to notice, in the context of the ongoing developments in
the Arab world (the so called “Arab Spring” and the post-revolutionary events)
that the political principles formulated, at the level of ideas, in the Middle Ages
of the Islamic civilisation have functioned, quite surprisingly and, most
probably spontaneously, in the historical moments we’ve mentioned. The
classical power pyramid with the community leader at the top is questioned by
the very base of the pyramid- the people- who, as it did not happen very often in
the political history of the Arab Islamic space, are now speaking out their minds.
The slogan that animated the uprising in Tunisia aš-šacbu yurīdu isqāt{a nniz{āmi ‘the people wants the fall of the regime’, taken over by the Egyptians in the
Tah{rīr Square, and the protesters in Bahrain, Yemen and Syria, marks also at a
linguistic level the unprecedented denial of an order considered unrepresentative and
illegitimate. Aš-šacbu yurīdu ‘the people wants” – is a sentence that semantically rules
out any ambiguity. Moreover, the slogan, said to have become a symbol of the
Arab uprisings, was concocted, purposefully or accidentally, in the literary Arabic
language – although, as is known, it started being used in Tunis – and not in a dialect
of the Arabic language which everybody would have expected from a people’s
uprising. The slogan has provided the Arab world with a desideratum which was turned,
at least in the case of the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, into a historical reality.
Al-Fārābī in his work Al-Madīnatu l-fād{ila refers to the city leader using these words,
comparing him with the heart and the role it has in the human body, cf. Wafī (n.d.).
4
Wafī, (n.d.: 30).
5
Wafī (n.d.: 30).
6
Al-Māwardī (1996: 29-30).
7
When he is unfair in the governing process (literally: when he violates the idea of justice).
8
When he has a physical impairment (preventing him from governing in good conditions).
3
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LAURA SITARU
The common reaction of the “Arab street” in 2011 came to confirm an
evolution which experts explain today by means of the phrase “generational
transformation”9, a change and re-setting of the concept of “Arab public sphere”
that occurred especially after 2000, which was associated with the mass media
development and the freedom of expression made possible by the virtual space
of talk shows and forums10. Without a doubt, the mass media covering the panArab world, such as the Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel, have contributed to
the popularisation and “Arabisation” of certain national events or events with a
national impact, such as the Palestinian issue, the protests organised in Egypt by
the Kefāya Movement and the protest movements in Lebanon that followed the
assassination of Rafīq al-H{arīrī. Television, a form of manifestation of the popular
culture type, became, starting with the 1990s of the 20th century, and mainly
after 2000, one of the vectors forming an identity, claiming the right to represent the
reality. News as well as commercial TV channels adopt what experts call a
transnational approach favouring the emergence of a “hybrid-culture”11 within
the Arab world, of a pan-Arab 12 media. The liberalisation of the public
expression medium produces, as Kraidy (2012: 59) put it, “a shift in Arab
public discourse toward free-market ideal, and economic neo-liberal values”.
This “new Arab public sphere” 13 stems from the national-type
conditioning imposed by authoritarian regimes as well as from the regional
stakes and clashes in which they were deeply involved, taking a common stand
and having a common reaction, as a think-tank at Arab level. Therefore, the
attempts of the acting regimes to explain the protest movements they are faced
with on their national territories through all sorts of scenarios involving foreign
“interference” in the society development are immediately disapproved of and
sanctioned by this “new Arab public sphere”. The accusations levelled against
Iran in the case of the Bahrain uprisings by the Gulf states did not go
unsanctioned by the revolution generation, just as Asad’s discourse about the
denominational nature of the conflict in Syria did not persuade anybody. Lynch
(2012: 21-22) talks about a regionally integrated narrative, about a unification
of the Arab public space which, although it is not completely new for the
modern14 period, is more intense than ever before. Thus, the concerted action
9
Lynch (2012: 12-15).
The new generation openly mocked their leaders on Al-Jazeera talk-shows and forums.
See Lynch (2012: 12).
11
Designated as such by Kraidy (2010: 13).
12
An October 2007 Gallup survey shows that in Saudi Arabia, one of the most problematic
media-consuming markets, 93% of the population watches pan-Arab TV channels in order to
keep abreast of the latest developments. See Kraidy (2010: 97).
13
A phrase coined by Lynch (2012: 16).
14
Lynch (2012: 33) discusses the large scale street movements of the 1950s and 1960s,
when masses were mobilised by the idea of pan-Arab unity whose initiator, Egyptian president
Gamāl Abdel Nasser, used the radio station “The Voice of the Arabs” to air his ideological
10
ON CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CONSTANTS IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD
119
taken by the Arab street in the run up to and during the uprisings against the
authoritarian regimes in 2011 can be associated with the ideological
mobilisation of masses which the Arab world experienced during what
historians call the “Arab Cold War”15, but we believe that a distinction should
be made, which is related to the unity of a generation that provided a common
response to authoritarianism, irrespective of its ideological nature. From Morocco
to Bahrain, from Egypt to Syria, people denounced the idea of authoritarian
leadership and not the form of government that exerted this type of authority.
In the context of the talk about power and its projections in the ArabIslamic space it’s worth mentioning the fact that the good governing principles
carefully drafted by the medieval theoreticians of the Muslim political system
have always represented a desired, ideal order, and consequently an utopian
order, which permanently clashed with the necessary order. The theme of chaos
(al-fawd{ā) and disorder (the philosopher Al-G|azālī is the author of the famous
sentence which became a governing principle: a bad, even unjust governing is
better than disorder and anarchy) has served, during the history of governing in
the Islamic system, as a faithful ally of the necessary order principle to the
detriment of legitimate order or governing.
Returning to the conditions in which umma, the community conceived of
as the base of power, could use its right to remove its leader, the classical
political treaties write about the lack of cadāla or treating the community while
trampling over the principle of equity or social justice. According to classical
authors, the leader has to pay attention to the mas{lah{a, the interest of the
community and its progress, ensuring the existence of social equity as a
principle underlying the functioning of the umma. In his work Al-Madīnatu
l-fād{ila (‘The virtuous city’) Al-Fārābī 16 the virtue of social and attitudinal
equity and justice is almost redundantly used:
’an yakūna muh{ibban li-l cadli (…), ’an yakūna cādilan fī ah~lāqi-hi, fa-lā ifrāt{a wa lā tafrīt{a17
‘to love justice…, to be fair in his behaviour, to neither exaggerate nor neglect’.
Economic and social polarisation has reached a very high level in the
contemporary Arab space dominated by authoritarian systems, but this is not
something new for the political system discussed. The gap between elites and
convictions, in a similar or comparable way to that in which the Al-Jazeera station is today used
sometimes for airing political messages or for supporting regional political actions.
15
The phrase refers to the period of the 1950s and 1960s, when two ideological blocs
emerged within the Arab world, the pro-Soviet bloc ideologically dominated by the pan-Arab
doctrine and the pro-western bloc made up mostly of the regional monarchies, with spectacular
shifts from one side to the other, depending on the internal developments in certain Arab states
(Iraq and Egypt for example).
16
Abū Nas{r Muh{ammad ibn Muh{ammad al-Fārābī (872-950), an Arab philosopher.
17
Wafī (n.d.: 33).
LAURA SITARU
120
masses, clearly and undoubtedly marked at the level of the related Arab
linguistic terminology, is a constant of the Islamic cultural world, which has
propagated a well-defined separation of social roles through customs, not
necessarily through treaties or laws, a separation which is more precise in
comparison with other political systems. The popular masses (al-h~ās{s{a) have
developed, in time, a system of values parallel to the official system,
represented by the state (through the caliph) and the clerics’ Islam, thus
engendering a people’s Islam, an Islam of brotherhoods and religious orders, a
mix of šarīca and local traditions. We should also mention that radical Islam is
partly a manifestation of people’s Islam, as it is well know that the leaders of
the Islamist movements reject everything that is related to exegesis and the
theological interpretation effort, since these are not part of their reference Islam.
The secular Arab republics instated after WWII have developed a
legitimizing discourse based on the consensus of the umma, of the national
community, defined through the word šacb ‘people’18, but political practice, just
like in the historical past, imposed another type of reality. Be they republics or
monarchies, the Arab states continued to govern by granting power, in a
discretionary way, to a caste, either we speak about military or religious
regimes. What is relevant is the fact that, while the ruling political regimes were
concerned with putting the blame for the protest movements against them on
external causes and regional or international power games, a whole generation
representing the despised category of the Arab street (al-h~ās{s{a) was developing
a unitary revolutionary rhetoric which contested the madīnat az{-z{ulm (‘the city
of injustice’) and its practices. We find in the unitary/common reaction of the
Arab street a revival of the principle of the Arab unity, as a founding identity
principle and especially as a reconfirmation of the existence of a gap between
political elites and the umma (‘the city people’, in the words of Al-Fārābī). The
people are becoming once again aware of their right to take action and to
participate in the city affairs and they understand their role of h{āfiz{ (‘guardian’)
of the good behaviour of the leader. The examples offered by the new Egyptian
public sphere ready to react to each gesture of the power that is deemed a
deviation from the just behaviour are from now on a prototype of social participation.
3. Classical Principles, Current Contexts
In the context of the Arab uprisings, the word cadāla has been brought up
again in discussions by various commentators who underline the importance of
establishing a transition balance, a balance between social classes in the period
following the overthrow of authoritarian regimes. Invoking the concept of
18
Sitaru (2009: 35-106).
ON CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CONSTANTS IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD
121
c
adāla intiqāliyya and guaranteeing the implementation of the transition balance
is a sine qua non for preventing social chaos and the almost unavoidable sliding
towards a civil war 19 . Reforming institutions is in the opinion of Arab
commentators a priority of the present historical moment, because, as they put it,
the state institutions have inevitably been associated with the oppressive actions
of the political regimes recently ousted from power. Social equity or justice
should not be mistaken for vindictive actions, neither should it be the appanage
of one social category or another, and especially it should not be politicized.
The Iraqi society, after the removal from power of Saddam Hussein’s regime,
offers a counter-example to the social equity model in a post-authoritarianism
era. Another possible such example is given by Bashar al-Asad’s Syria whose
evolution towards denominational and political vendetta actions is already a fact.
Libya is in a slightly similar situation, where tribal-type segregation, this time
coupled with a precarious situation of the central institutions, creates the
framework for social developments with high potential for conflict.
Again, we are far from Al-Fārābī’s ideal virtuous city, this al-madīnatu
l-fād{ila which is defined by opposing it to other possible cities and types of
social organization:
al-madīnatu l-fād{ilatu mud{āddātu-ha al-madīnatu l-ğāhilatu, al-madīnatu l-fāsiqatu, almadīnatu d{-d{āllatu, al-madīnatu l-mubaddalatu20
‘the virtuous city is defined by comparison to its contraries: the ignorant city, the city on
the wrong path, the city that lost its way, the rotten city’
and where the inhabitants’ participation in the life and destiny of their city
seems to be an immutable principle:
'afrādu l-madīnati murīdūna wa muh~tārūna21
‘the people of the city express their will and have the right to elect’.
The model described by Al-Fārābī in the 10th century is not far from the
claims of the revolutionary Arab generation – the new Arab public sphere – as
they were formulated during the people’s uprisings of 2011 and 2012. The
philosopher Al-Fārābī explains in detail the principles underlying the al-madīnat
al-fād{ila and which characterize the latter as the opposite of z{ulm (oppression,
injustice, authoritarian system), these two principles being al-cadl wa-l karāma
‘justice and dignity’. H{uriyya wa karāma ‘freedom and dignity’ are the two
19
According to Ibrahim Sharqiya Farihat in his editorial Al-‘Adālatu l-intiqāliyya fī duwali
r-rabī‘i l-‘arabiyy (The transition balance/ equity in the countries of the arab spring), published
on www.aljazeera.net, and read on June 1, 2012.
20
Wafī (n.d.: 72).
21
Wafī (n.d.: 41).
122
LAURA SITARU
fundamental concepts based on which the regional common narrative of the
Arab uprisings was formed, and which have been mentioned by Lynch (2012: 21).
The organisation into “clans” of the Islamic world, actually a continuation
of a particular form of organisation dating from the pre-Islamic period, is
another constant of the political history of this space which can be seen even
today and which has materialised in what is mainly known as a conflict of
denominations. In order to permanently support our arguments on the Arab
theoreticians of the political and social phenomenon, we mention the
observations of the historian Ibn Khaldoun (1332-1406) referring to the fact that
Islam, which tried to offer Arabs a supra-tribal identity, has failed in its attempt,
because the clan spirit (cas{abiyya) continued to mark the destiny of this space.
On the other hand, there are many examples in the history of Islam when
ideologies (of religious inspiration or not) were subordinated to and used by the
political factor, as Ferjani (2005) remarked. He said that the religious history of
Islam is made up of a long series of circumstantial doctrines that use religion to
serve strategies and options that were actually chosen without taking into
account any religious 22 views. Mentioning Ibn Khaldoun once again, the
evolution of dynastic powers has nothing to do with religion: they were carried
to power by a dacwa ‘message’, that served a cas{abiyya ‘clan’ in order to instate
a type of mulk ‘royalty’23.
Much debated was the denominational 24 side of the Syrian revolution,
frequently called “the Syrian Sunni revolution”, referring to the fact that most of
the people who contest the Asad regime are from the majority population of
Sunni orientation (75% of the total population). At the same time the
confessional side has become more visible, which makes the Syrian uprising
different from the uprisings in the other Arab countries. The official discourse
of the Asad regime resorts to many such arguments, accusing the “Sunni”
opposition of sectarian tendencies and of trying to undermine the Syrian unity.
This is a card whose stake the Asad regime understands very well, a card
successfully played in the past by the stakeholder-power, France. In his most
recent work, Haddad (2012) explains the power network around president Asad,
built on strong economic interests and which gathers around the president’s
family not only elites of the Alawite minority but also elements of the Christian
and Sunni bourgeoisie of the Syrian big cities, thus doing away with the
arguments in favour of a strictly denominational explanation of the conflict. In
this context, the observers of the Syrian situation draw attention to the fact that
the opposition is not made up of only one denomination, but it actually attracted
22
Cf. Ferjani (2005: 141).
See Sitaru (2009: 35-106).
24
The theme was approached in the article “Turning the Syrian political discourse
denominational” in 22, on February 28, 2012, http://www.revista22.ro/confesionalizareadiscursului-politic-sirian-13587.html.
23
ON CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CONSTANTS IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD
123
Christian, Druze and Alawite elements around itself, because the ruling regime,
although it is part of the last minority above mentioned, does not exclusively
serve its interests.
Another constant of the political history in the Islamic space, which is at
the same time a source of permanent tension in the political organisation and,
especially, a very topical issue, is the role of the military power in organising
the city. This is an aspect noticed by Oriental studies scholars and also by the
Egyptian reformer of the early 20th century, ‘Alī Abderrāziq25, who writes that
Islam was set up as a cultural and political system as a consequence of the
military and war power, stemming from the Imperial adventure and not from the
prophetic revelation. The army is, in the classical hierarchy of the Muslim
power, one of the pillars supporting the state (dawla), frequently crossing over
the demarcation line imposed by its theoretical role. Of course, at present,
armies such as that of Egypt, which are a micro-state in their own right, and also
the extremely comprehensive security apparatuses developed along decades of
governing by authoritarian political regimes, as was the case of Syria but also of
Algeria and Bahrain, to give but a few examples, have a decisive role in the
political developments of the moment. In the case of Egypt, after decades of
military governing, after decades of anti-monarchy and military revolution
(1952) which entailed, among other things, the rise to the forefront of political
life of some figures coming from the army (as was the case with the last three
presidents of the Egyptian republic), it is obvious for any knowledgeable
observer that the current fight, including the electoral fight, is not waged
between general categories such as the religious or the lay categories; we are
actually witnessing a clash between a military and militarized system, on the
one hand, and a civil society that is now taking shape, on the other hand26 .
Neglecting or disregarding the power of the army in ensuring internal political
and social peace could have disastrous consequences for Egypt in the coming
years. The dismantling of Saddam Hussein’s army, after the US troops entered
Iraq, caused an extremely aggressive response from the military elements, one
of the obvious causes of the state of chaos in terms of security in which the
country was plunged for quite a long period of time. Actually, the militarization
of the political power and of the governing act per se was happening in almost
all the Arab countries, except for the monarchies, in the 1950s.
Coups d’etat or military revolutions mark, in mid 20th century, a change
of the political class, an upside-down move in the power hierarchy, and also in
the social hierarchy of the Arab states. Revolutions bearing the label of “the
young officers” or “the free officers” do not change only one political regime
but the image of an entire society which reconsiders its own functioning norms.
25
26
Abderraziq (1994).
The Economist, “The presidential elections in Egypt: Egypt’s second republic”, May 19th, 2012.
LAURA SITARU
124
At the same time there emerges another type of political narrative which is
significantly different from the pre-revolutionary themes, a product of the
Egyptian upper and middle classes27. Actually, as is well known, a legitimising
discourse should accompany the political gesture or action. The message which
the Egyptian military system propagates among its representatives, for instance,
and conveyed to the receiving-masses capitalises on elements taken from a
collective political imaginary/mind where the fear of chaos and insecurity are
two essential elements.
The role which the army and the military-type structures have in the Arab
states that have recently witnessed revolutionary events could be co-related
more with the changes of the 1950s, when the series of regime collapses
brought the army at the top of the power hierarchy, rather than with a historical
tradition in which military castes turned dynasties28 have governed Islam for
many centuries29.
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de Abdou Filali-Amary), La Découverte, Paris.
Al-Māwardī (1996), Al-Ah{kāmu s{-S{ultāniyya wa l-wilāyātu d-dīniyya, Al-Maktab al-’islāmī
(h~arağa an-nas{s{a ‘Isām Fāris al-Harastānī), Cairo.
Arkoun, Mohammed (1986), Islam, morale et politique, Editions Desclée de Brouwer, Paris.
Ferjani, Mohamed-Chérif (2005), Le politique et le religieux dans le champ islamique, Librairie
Arthème Fayard, Paris.
Haddad, Bassam (2012), Business Network in Syria. The Political Economy of Authoritarian
Resilience, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
Hitti, Philip K. (2008), Istoria arabilor. All Publishers (translation by Irina Vainovski-Mihai), Bucharest.
Kraidy, Marwan M. (2010), Reality, Television and Arab Politics. Contention in Public Life,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Lynch, Marc (2012), The Arab Uprising. The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East,
Public Affairs, New York.
Sitaru, Laura (2009), Gândirea politică arabă. Concepte-cheie între tradiţie şi inovaţie, Polirom, Iasi.
27
Cf. Voll et al. (2012).
The Mamluk dynasty that ruled in Egypt between 1250 and 1517 is just the best known
example of military who gained the power, not to speak about the tradition of the influence of
military castes on the state leadership, which resulted, among others, in the emergence of the
function of sultan in mid 11th century, who, together with the caliph, led the Arab-Islamic
caliphate for centuries. Cf. Hitti (2008: 301).
29
The role of the military in the organisation and functioning of the Abbasid Caliphates, and
also of the states that emerged against the backdrop of its fall, is well expressed in the titles the
military have or that have been attributed to them. Therefore, titles such as rukn ad-dawla (the
pillar of the state or governing), mucizz ad-dawla (the one who strengthens the state), cad{ud ad-dawla
(the arm of the state) or ’abnā’ ad-dawla (the sons of the state), show the uncontested importance
of the military in Islamic polity, especially after the 10th century. Cf. Turner (2004: 1-22).
28
ON CULTURAL AND POLITICAL CONSTANTS IN THE CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ARAB WORLD
125
Turner, John P. (2004), “The abnā’ al-dawla: The definition and legitimation of identity in response to
the fourth fitna”, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2004, 124, 1, pp. 1-22.
Voll, John, Peter Mandaville, Steven Kull, Alexis Arieff (2012), “Political Islam in the Arab
Awakening: Who are the major players?” in Middle East Policy Council
http://www.mepc.org/journal/middle-east-policy-archives/political-islam-arab-awakeningwho-are-major-players (published in April 11, 2012).
Wafī, Alī Abdel Wāhid (n.d.), Al-Madīnatu l-fādila li-l Fārābī, Nahdatu Misra, Cairo.
Willis, Michael J. (2012), Politics and Power in the Maghreb. Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from
Independence to the Arab Spring, C. Hurst & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., London.
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
DELIA GRIGORE∗
Abstract
Our exploratory study aims to analyze the connection between the self-esteem of the family,
expressed also through the assuming of the ethnic identity, the ethnic and individual self-esteem of
children and their school success. Is a low ethnic self-esteem of parents affecting the self-esteem of
their child? Without any doubt, yes: a parent with low self-esteem will transmit it to his child and
this one will have an ethnic self-esteem also low, if not even lower, which does not mean that he
will not be able to build up a higher individual, or even ethnic, self-esteem, if the happenings in
his life will encourage him in this direction. But the most often, especially in the non-Rroma
school environment, the Rroma child, identified even against his will as Rroma individual, needs
am increased self-esteem, able to support him to build up an individual self-esteem, both strong,
because they are arising one from the other, being useful in increasing his school participation and
performances. This happens because a child with an increased self-esteem is a child who trusts his
own forces, desires and designs this success, assumes responsibilities, has critic spirit, develops
dialogues with the others, for motivating with good arguments his positions and actions, is strong,
assertive and involved in action, has aspirations and not only on short term, but mostly on
medium and long term. Therefore, as the school is an investment on medium and long term, the
increased self-esteem is one of the important conditions for the school success of any child.
Keywords: Rromanipen, ethnic identity, self-esteem, fictional ego, authentic ego, reflective
difference, internalized social stigma.
Our exploratory study aims to analyze the connection between the selfesteem of the family, expressed also through the assuming of the ethnic identity,
the ethnic and individual self-esteem of children and their school success. Is a
low ethnic self-esteem of parents affecting the self-esteem of their child? Without
any doubt, yes: a parent with low self-esteem will transmit it to his child and
this one will have an ethnic self-esteem also low, if not even lower, which does
not mean that he will not be able to build up a higher individual, or even ethnic,
self-esteem, if the happenings in his life will encourage him in this direction.
But the most often, especially in the non-Rroma school environment, the
Rroma child, identified even against his will as Rroma individual, needs am
increased self-esteem, able to support him to build up an individual self-esteem,
∗
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, deliagrigore@yahoo.com.
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DELIA GRIGORE
both strong, because they are arising one from the other, being useful in
increasing his school participation and performances. This happens because a
child with an increased self-esteem is a child who trusts his own forces, desires
and designs this success, assumes responsibilities, has critic spirit, develops
dialogues with the others, for motivating with good arguments his positions and
actions, is strong, assertive and involved in action, has aspirations and not only
on short term, but mostly on medium and long term. Therefore, as the school is
an investment on medium and long term, the increased self-esteem is one of the
important conditions for the school success of any child.
On other side, what are the effects of a low self-esteem in the family and
implicitly, of the child on his school participation and performances? Marked
by a low self-esteem, the child does not trust himself, is permanently afraid of
the failure, considers that any bad happening is from his fault, does not assume
responsibilities, has an overmuch self-critic spirit and a very low critic spirit,
does not believe in change, not even in his own change, believes in the grimness
of the destiny, on which throws the blame when it is about his failures, does not
assume the responsibility for his actions, tells often that God decided this way,
in conflict situation is secluded, introverted, humble, fearful, defensive, but can
also be violent, unpredictable, easy to influence by others’ opinions, internalizes
the others’ opinions about him, is not an action man, all theses in the context where
he considers himself as belonging to an inferior group, dominated, success less,
stigmatized. The direct consequence is the decrease of his school performances.
The Rroma, as members of a minority group considered deviant and
inferior, have as reference group the majority one, considered as successful and
representative and that is why they will internalize the social representations of
the majority about Roma and they will perceive them as belonging to Rroma
themselves. While such representations are mainly negative, the self image of
Rroma becomes negative also and the ethnic self-esteem lows down. Even more,
upon the three “egos”, what Rroma believe about themselves (the actual
perceived ego) is, in most of the cases, in opposition with what they would like
to be (the ideal ego) and with what Rroma believe they would have to be,
observing the wishes of the surrounding ones (the wanted ego), circumstances
which are leading to a distorted self-esteem, with crushing tendencies. The
attempt for solving this crush is expressed, very often, by the unconscious
assuming of a split, schizoid, dual ego, which conceals and falsify its essence, in
order to administrate the need to produce an impression suitable for the society;
in other words, it develops a strategy for adjustment to the social environment
where it is placed. The individual rejects or conceals his real deep identity and
acts as if not being himself, but someone else, the fictional ego gets the place of
the authentic ego and the self-identification is based on the reflective difference:
I am what the otherness believes about me, because this otherness is superior to me.
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
129
As main source of the decrease of the self-esteem of Rroma we can
identify the internalized social obloquy (stigma), opposed and winning towards
any other factors able to improve the ethnic self-esteem. The legacy of a
exclusion history had decisive effects on the Rroma collective mind. The
deprivation of the individual of his rights and of the access to resources for
social development is leading to the lose of ethnic dignity and installation of
self-blame and ethnic shame of self: “What more to say, we, gypsies, are guilty
for all what happen to us, if we have been different the Romanian wouldn’t hate
us, they have their reasons too, because we are too much thieves and we don’t
like nor work or school! (…) We, we are not counting, we are different, but the
others …”1. The stigma of the Rroma identity, amplified also by the systematic
use towards Rroma, in the contemporary society, of a damage-racial and
negative-stereotyped language, doubled by the inability of the Rroma elites to
convert themselves into a credible and viable model for Rroma people and to
transmit correct and clear information about Rroma, both for Rroma and nonRroma population, have led to an internalization of the negative image about
themselves, which transformed the Rroma self-esteem into a self-stigma or,
even worse or equally bad, in a sort of self-hate, both of them almost
irreversible, especially in the context of a formal mono-cultural education, of
the loss of the identity references and of the absence of institutions able to
create and represent the Roma cultural model.
The occurrence is comparable with what Theodor Lessing is calling “selfhate”, referring to the Jews: “the psychology of the Jews is nothing else but a
particularly enlightening exemplification for the psychology of a minority
which is suffering”2.
The result of this process of internalization of the stigma led to the
construction of a strategy of surviving by halving, by the structure of a somehow
schizoid personality, which means fragile and vulnerable at the existential
sideslips, led to the rejection of the authentic ego, of the deep ego and to the
presence of a fictional ego, fake, deficiently adjusted to the requirements of an
alienating society. As deep and extended the acculturation process is, as the
ethnic self-esteem is lower and able to convert into self-contempt.
This model of damaged and damaging thinking has been and goes on
being perpetuated also by the educational public policies, even if not directly,
by an explicit rejection of the Rroma child, although, quite often, this happens
through the obvious racist attitude of many authorities in education, including
teachers, but in exchange made permanent by a certain systematic destruction of
the ethnic identity, due to a mono-cultural educational model, ethno-centrist, in
which the school attitude towards the Rroma children is of “cultural
1
2
Vatrash Rroma, 34 years old, 10 years of school, Bucharest.
Theodor Lessing “La Haine de soi, le refus d’être juif”- Berg International, 1990, p. 38.
130
DELIA GRIGORE
assimilation”, considering that Rroma can be “civilized” only if “they become
Romanians”. The unique model of reference imposed by the educational system
is – the most often autarchic and inflexible – circumscribed by the majority values.
In the context of a stigmatized ethnic identity, the much-needed
“integration” in the otherness society, which rejects the specificity for reaching
the so much quoted mainstreaming - concept which can successfully replace the
assimilation, without any negative connotation – becomes the ideal method to
impose the self-stigma to the ethnic self-esteem. But if this would be able to
produce a citizen culturally neutral and complete from perspective of observing
his civic rights and obligations, it would be possible to say that the society does
not lose anything because of the low self-esteem of certain of its members or
groups. Only, the experience proves that an individual with low self-esteem, no
matter if personal, of group or ethnic, is easier abandoning not only his ethnic
identity, but also his citizen responsibilities. If the social environment is
teaching you that you are good for nothing only because you belong to Roma
people, you will lose the self confidence, you will internalize this social label
and you will not only cease any effort to prove otherwise, but even more, you
will cease to assume any responsibility, considering them as exceeding your
thinking and action abilities and you will start to behave following the heteroapplied label and to answer the negative expectations of the society by a deviant
social attitude.
Therefore, the interest of the whole society would have to be to make
efforts for increasing the self-esteem, ethnic included, of its members.
The self-esteem of each group, but most of all of a people confronted to a
self conception historically negative, as it is the Rroma people, can increase
only if the group has the means to find itself as group, as deep membership to
common values and shared standards. To be proud of yourself, you must know
who you are; to know who you are you need to gather together, to take distance
from the others and to see what is keeping you apart from the others and what is
making you common to others similar to you. What would have to develop a
people for not falling pray to the slow but sure process of cultural assimilation?
The answer is easy to forestall: their own values. How should they be cultivated?
In formative institutions, through the dialogue with the otherness or the
education for diversity.
Regarding the Rroma, because of being confronted with a weak selfesteem, it is necessary the knowledge and recognition of the Rroma history and
culture first by the otherness, in order that the Roma identity could be later
internalized and assumed by the Rroma themselves. This must happen inside
the school, by the inclusion of coherent and consistent information about the
Rroma history and culture in the mandatory curriculum for all pupils and
through a systematic and pragmatic-oriented ethno-educational inclusion.
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
131
The internalization of the ethnic stigma, also in the case of Rroma
children in Romania, has historical reasons. The discrimination of the Rroma is
consequence of a history of social exclusion and institutional racism. The
slavery situation in which they have been kept more than five centuries, starting
from the first documentary attestations in the Romanian countries, places the
Rroma at the edge of the society, being considered as immobile goods, serving
as exchange unit. The slavery affected deeply the Rroma children also, being
separated from families, exchanged, sold or given as presents, very often at
smaller prices than the animals. The sexual abuse of the slaves’ owners over the
Rroma girls was not punished by law.
The legal abolition of the slavery in 1856, produced as following the
pressure of the Western abolitionism, did not bring an essential change from
point of view of the placements of the Rroma regarding the majority population,
therefore did not reach a spiritual emancipation. The reformist program of the
forty-eighters and of the governments which followed did not include the
problem of the emancipation / social integration of the Rroma. The noninclusion of the Rroma issues in the public policies led to their relapse into the
previous status and to the stigmatization of the ethnic membership. The
marginalization and social exclusion of Rroma created in time an important
socio-cultural gap between the majority and the Rroma community.
The attitude, behavior and dominant policy of the society towards the
Rroma oscillated between the racism of exclusion, leading to Genocide and the
racism of domination, expressed by cultural assimilation.
The policy of social exclusion and of racial discrimination against the
Rroma reached its top with the Holocaust during the Ion Antonescu’s regime:
the deportation and extermination of Rroma in Transnistria (1941-1942).
Among victims, 6.714 have been children.
On the anomic canvass from after 1989, even if the recognition of the
Rroma as national minority supposed the gain of some politic and civic rights,
the catastrophic damage of their economic and social situation was a
consequence of the institutionalized racism. From cultural and social point of
view, the Rroma are considered as a parasite “sub-culture”, o marginal social
group, which leads to the proliferation of the racial manifestations. In the
context of a democracy in evolution, the preventing of the access to social rights
and exclusion from the resources necessary to the individual / community
development have lead to the violent recrudescence of discrimination and
racism, to the weakening of the citizenship status.
The inter-ethnic conflicts based on racial discrimination against Rroma –
recorded in the villages Mihail Kogălniceanu (October, 1990), Bolintin-Deal
(April, 1991), Ogrezeni, Bolintin-Vale, Vălenii Lăpuşului (August, 1991),
Comăneşti (November, 1992), Hădăreni (September, 1993), Bâcu (January, 1995),
Alba Iulia, Buhuşi (2003), Craiova (2003) – are going on to be a concern reason,
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DELIA GRIGORE
also by violence (many of them ended with destruction of the Rroma housings
and with murdered Rroma), as by the fact that the impunity situation of the
Romanian state led to the non punishment of the guilty ones. The police is
encouraging such anti-Rroma manifestations by its own violent and abusing
actions, which we can often consider as racial motivated, many times developed
without legal support, like raids in the Rroma communities, excessive use of
force, arbitrary use of the weapons, arresting without warrant, violent treatment of
the arrested. The Rroma children are the most affected victims, from psychological
point of view and sometimes, even physically, of this abusing treatment.
The social exclusion, the racial discrimination and the lack of interest of
the state to adopt pro-active policies are composing the roots of the
ethnicization of the poorness. One of the consequences of the discrimination is
that, from economic-social point of view, the Rroma community is the most
disadvantaged in Romania. The high rates of the poorness and the low level of
access to the labor market are inducing to the Rroma families the dependence of
the welfare assistance, which is far away of assuring them a decent level of life.
The life hope for Rroma in Romania is with 15-20 years lower than of the
majority one, being situated around 50-55 years old (“Rroma in an Expanding
Europe. Breaking the Poverty Cycle”, a World Bank Study, 2003).
Because of the discrimination in the health system (manifestations of
racial discrimination against Rroma of the medical staff, the refuse of some
family doctors to register Rroma on their records, the lack of access to the
quality medical act) and of the socio-economic factors (poorness, inappropriate
alimentation, inability to acquire medical drugs, the lack of medical insurance),
the health estate in the Rroma communities was visibly damaged during the last
decade. 63% of Rroma have no medical insurance (UNDP, “Rroma in Central
and Eastern Europe. Avoiding the Dependency Trap”, 2003), therefore they can
not benefit the public health services. Because of the standard life conditions,
the communicable diseases (hepatitis), as well as nutrition diseases (diabetes), is
occupying the first places in the hierarchy of the pathology of Rroma population.
The respiratory diseases, the digestive diseases and the cardio-vascular ones are
also wide spread among Rroma. The most often, the Rroma can not pay their
health insurances, which is limiting or even excluding the access of children to
medical services. As consequence, the Rroma children are more vulnerable to
the child diseases and to epidemic diseases like polio, diphtheria and typhus.
In this sense, the Rroma children are a special risk category. The
alimentation of the Rroma children, as result of their low level of living, is poor,
unbalanced and inappropriate. As consequence, many Rroma children are
suffering of malnutrition, anemia, vitamin deficiency, dystrophy, which
dramatically reduce their development possibilities and has profound negative
effects on their ability for study and their health. Also, the Rroma infant
mortality is more than 4 times higher than average (Romanian Government and
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
133
CASPIS – the Commission Anti-Poorness and Promotion of the Social
Inclusion, “The Social Support for Rroma Population”, 2003).
The access of Rroma children in the education system is still limited. One
of five Rroma can not send their children to school because of lack of decent
clothing (“Rroma in an Expanding Europe. Breaking the Poverty Cycle”, A
World Bank Study, 2003). The lack of identity is used as an excuse for not
giving the right to attend the school for Rroma children. There are schools
refusing the enrollment of Rroma children in school if parents do not have
permanent residence in that locality. Forced to work at an early age to ensure
their family survival, many Rroma children often abandon the school.
Approximately 27% of the Rroma population never attended any school
education or did it only for a few years. While the literacy is almost complete in
the country, illiteracy among the Rroma population was estimated at the beginning
of the transition period, to 44% for men and 59% for women (“Rroma in an
Expanding Europe. Breaking the Poverty Cycle”, A World Bank Study, 2003).
Participation at kindergarten of the Rroma children of pre-school age (3-6
years) is much lower (17,2% - ICCV, 1998) than of the children at the same age
for the total population of Romania (67% - the school year 1997-1998,
Romanian Statistical Yearbook, 1999). 24,4% of Rroma children over 10 years
do not attend school at all (Zamfir, Preda, “Rroma in Romania”, 2002).
Only 20% of the Rroma children attend kindergarten, compared with
66.1% in the whole population of pre-school children (2000-2001). Only 50% of
Rroma children go to school regularly and degree of illiteracy among individuals
over 45 years reaches 30%; 80% of Rroma children are out of school, 23% of
Rroma children can not read (“Rroma in an Expanding Europe. Breaking the
Poverty Cycle”, A World Bank Study, 2003). Only 8.9% of Rroma have
completed secondary education and only 0.3% higher education (“Rroma in an
Expanding Europe. Breaking the Poverty Cycle”, World Bank Study, 2003).
There are still reported several cases of Rroma children in segregated
schools or classes, where the quality of education and the conditions of study
are well below the minimum standard. With few exceptions, schools in Rroma
neighborhoods are in a very bad state. Teachers are unqualified. The teaching
materials are inadequate and the teachers are not interested in Rroma students.
When we speak of segregation, we do not mean education in Rromani language,
but schools or classes segregated on ethnic criteria, without this mean being
justified by the study of the language.
The Rroma children attending the school are confronted also with the
discriminatory treatment exercised by the teachers and with the verbal abuse
and not infrequently with physical violence, of the majority pupils, abuses
which are not corrected by the teachers or school staff. The Rroma children are
called “gypsies” and they are accused by their colleagues of being dirty or that
would have lice or diseases. Sometimes this treatment is accompanied by physical
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DELIA GRIGORE
abuses from the teachers of other ethnicities, including the use of corporal
punishment for minor violations of school discipline, such as talking in class.
To understand the collective mental model inherited by the Rroma
children and which is bearing on their individual consciousness, sometimes
during their whole life blocking their access to themselves and to the culture to
which they belong, it is more than needed an imaginary excursion on the
territory of their vernacular culture and of the way in which this one, being in a
constant process of ethno-genesis, which excludes the otherness, understood to
build up the mentality against Rroma.
Defining for the dominant culture in what regards the collective
“imagination” of Rroma is the stereotype, in most of cases negative, bearing the
sign of the scapegoat of the history and defining all the frustration and fears
rejected by the consciously level of the society.
Although the Rromani language, history and culture are taught in school,
on the parents request, the mandatory school curriculum does not yet include
information about Rroma, so that what prevails in the child education in
Romania is only the unique model of reference imposed by the educational
system of the Romanian society, which continues to circumscribe, autarchic and
inflexible, the values of the majority.
In this educational context, where the Rroma are ignored, the only
information about Rroma which reach the children being the negative
stereotypes biased and unilaterally provided by the mass-media and by the selfsufficient public opinion, it is natural that Rroma parents, having in their great
majority an already low ethnic self-esteem, because of the social circumstances
of reference, to strengthen and confirm this weak self-esteem through the
contact with the school, which is alien for them and that they feel like a closed
space, which does not understand them, despises and rejects them.
Therefore, it is natural that the Rroma parents choose not to study
Rromani language, history and culture in school, considering such subjects
dependent on the majority collective spirit: “The Gypsy is not like man / As the
osier is not like tree”, “The Gypsy is a Gypsy even on Easter Day”, “The Gypsy
is human only from far away”, “When the Gypsy became king, his father first
hanged”, “He drowned just like a Gypsy next to the shore”.
This model of prejudiced thinking has been and is perpetuated also by the
educational policies in Romania, even if not directly, through an explicit
position of rejection of Rroma child, although often this occurs through
distinctly racist attitude of certain authorities in education, including teachers,
instead made permanent through a systematic destruction of ethnic identity,
because of a mono-cultural educational model, ethno-centric, in which the
school attitude towards the Rroma children is of “cultural assimilation”,
considering that Rroma can be “civilized” only “if they become Romanians”.
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
135
The educational system of the Romanian school offers, as unique
reference model, the values of the majority community. Given this cultural
colonization policy, based on the criterion of the number and of the inflexible
autarchic “prototype”, the majority holds all the power levers and representation
institutions and the Rroma cultural model, under the pressure of the negative
stigmatizing stereotypes, is perceived as deviant and it is recommend, by
default, the acculturation.
The Rromani language skills are often considered as unnecessary (“Why
should he learn the Gypsy language at school, he knows it from home! At
school to learn something useful, which can be used later! The Gypsy language,
what to do with it?”3 “What need to speak Gypsy language? We do not know it
and we're better off! We are not that kind of Gypsies!”4), or even dangerous to
the status of the child in a non-Rroma school environment (“Why to learn
Rromani at school? To get a Gypsy accent and to have his colleagues laughing
at him? If I did not want to teach him Gypsy, I knew very well why!”5).
If the school, as an authority recognized by the society, does not
recognize and not include the Rromani culture, how could Rroma parents,
already having a stigmatized identity and a low self-esteem, consider the study
of Rromani culture important for their children?
Even when trying to capitalize on Rroma culture, the school has often a
stereotyped vision about the Rroma pupils, considering that their only
significant contribution to the school culture could be the music and dance.
Often, the school itself seems convinced that Rroma do not give importance to
the education and this point of view is internalized by the Rroma themselves.
Moreover, the school understands by the concept of education exclusively
the school education, concept almost generalized in the Rroma collective
mentality also: “So are our Gypsies, they have little education, they do not go to
school. What education to receive in family? What, that one is education? ”.
The result is, again, the decreasing of the self-esteem.
There are several types of relationship between the Rroma child and
school. The Rroma child, whose family lost the Rromanipen values and
standards, in which family the Rromani language is not spoken, in other words
he is coming from a culturally assimilated or acculturated family, is taught by
his parents to hide his Rroma identity or even they tell him he is not a Rroma
and at school he “discovers” that he is “Gypsy”, something negative,
stigmatizing and painful, instant when his self-esteem goes down, he does not
understand anything at all and his natural reaction is the denial of his ethnic
3
4
5
Silversmith Rroma woman, 39 years old, 8 years of schooling, Bucharest.
Vatrash Rroma woman, 45 years old, Bucharest.
Ursari Rroma man, 39 years old, 8 years of school, Bucharest.
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DELIA GRIGORE
identity: “No, I am not Gypsy, why do you insult me? What if I am a bit darker,
does it mean that I am Gypsy?”6
The child starts to hate his straight-assigned identity, including his color,
as a symbol of stigma (“Lord I would like to be whiter, what can be more
beautiful!”7, “When I was little, I used to wash several times a day my face, to
make myself whiter!”8, “When I was little, I used to drank a lot of milk to
whiten myself! When I grew up, I discovered a cream which was said to
whiten!”9, “I saw my sister sitting all day long at the river with her legs in the
water and I asked her why sitting like that. She told me that this way she will
whiten. From that day I started me too to stay there!”10 “When I was a kid, I
was praying every night to whiten and the next day, I was asking my mother
wondering if I've bleached. To please me, my mother was telling me that I have
bleached a bit!”11) and, together with the ethnic self-esteem, that however he
was not aware about, the individual self-esteem collapses also.
What results is the destruction of self-confidence and together with it, the
drastic reduction of the school performances. The child will direct all his efforts
to demonstrate his membership in the ethnic majority, became a reference and
will reject his ethnic origin / affiliation. However, as an apparent paradox of the
dominance racism, dissociation of the collective self and the conversion to the
major educational canon does not help very much to the “social integration” of
the young Rroma, who remains a excluded.
The Rroma ghetto child, with a poor family, however “used” to be
perceived as citizen of marginal and deviant world, as belonging to a “parasite”
social group, to a “criminal minority”, “used” with the raids and fingerprinting
of his whole family, with the forced evictions, expulsions and demolition of the
houses, however in state of absolute poverty, far from being immune to the stigma,
begins to project his future like irreversible negative, result of an implacable
destiny, of an ancestral curse or of the “original sin” of being Rroma.
The attitudinal cleavages get worse in school, space of “ethnic cleansing”
that, on one hand, “longs for the cultural and linguistic soul” of the child, as
Gellner would say and on the other hand, ultimately stigmatizes, imprisoning
the ego in an auto-realizing prediction, coming from the negative perception of
the school majority authority. Even when attempting to forget his identity and to
become “Romanian” as much as possible (“I was ashamed to say that we are
Gypsies, as colleagues laughed at me!” 12 , “If I would have been whiter, I
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Fiddler Rroma child, 12 years old, Bucharest.
Rromungro child, 10 years old, Cluj-Napoca (Cluj County).
Wood-carver Rroma man, 36 years old, 8 years of school, Babeni (Vâlcea County).
Ursari Rroma woman, 28 years old, graduated for higher studies, Bucharest.
Vatrash Rroma man, 53 years old, graduated from high school, Gagesti (Vrancea County).
Vatrash Rroma man, 30 years old, graduate, Bucharest.
Silversmith Rroma girl, 22 years old, student, Bucharest.
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
137
wouldn’t have said that I am Gypsy!”13), the abandon of the ethnicity is not
rewarded with a real inclusion, he continues to be “the Gypsy”, who must be
placed on the last bank to not “bother the class”, who has no education, who
comes from a bad family.
The Rroma child issued from a family that respects, at least partly, the
values and standards of the Rromanipen, speaking Rromani, who knows and
assumes his ethnic identity, once attending the majority school, sees how his
entire system of values and standards of family education is overturned, being
identified by the school authority with a space of sub-culture. Alienated from
his own representations of the world and life, the Rroma child feels, though
often not on a conscious level, but in the depths of his subconscious, like a
prisoner of a deforming institution, where he can not recognize himself and which,
instead of protecting him, rejects him and cheats his so fragile horizon waiting.
Thus, an irreversibly existential slippage occurs, a break between the
projection of the individual self – resulted from the originally self-image,
produced by the culture of origin and the reception as deviant of this projection
by the school community – produced from the stigmatizing stereotype with
which is perceived the axiological system of the Rroma spirituality. Because it
does not promote the model inter-cultural of education and the respect for
cultural difference, the school becomes a traumatic element for this child.
The results can be: the collapse of the ethnic and individual self-esteem,
with all related consequences, including the decreased school performance,
dualism home – Rroma, school – Romanian, therefore the hiding of the ethnic
identity (“I am white and nice, why do they say that I am Gypsy?” 14 ), the
consequence being the formation of a schizoid personality, diffuse, with
difficulties of communication and adaptation; the reject of the ethnic identity
and the acculturation effort (“I didn’t want to be Gypsy no more, I was sick of
that! And since then I never was again!”15), the effect being the quartering in a
fictional ego and the dissolution authentic ego, leading to existential and deviant
slippages of attitude and behavior; final rejection of the school culture, as
traumatic and its consequence being the school abandon (“I didn’t go again to
school, they were looking nasty at me and cursing me, they were calling me
pauper and did not want to stay in the same bank with me, they were saying I’m
dirty, but you have my word I wasn’t, as mother, from all her poverty, was
putting on me clean clothes, although they were sewn, but they were clean!”16,
“I gave a damn school, so bad I was there! But now I'm sorry I wasn’t stronger!
At that time I was a kid and I didn’t like the school of Romanians: they were
calling me Gypsy girl, they were mocking on me, they were asking me if I live
13
14
15
16
Ursari Rroma girl, 20 years old, student, Alexandria.
Silversmith Rroma child, 11 years old, Bucharest.
Vatrash Rroma man, 35 years old, graduated from high school, Cluj-Napoca (Cluj County).
Ursari Rroma man, 32 years old, 3 years of school, Buzau (Buzău County).
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DELIA GRIGORE
in a tent or in a palace! I think that they were rather envying me, because my
folks had some cash!”17).
The rupture from the Rroma collective self, due to the internalization of
the stigma and thereby, to the inferiority of the ethnic membership, is leading to
the trauma of the individual ego, to a deep state of disociability and to an
inevitable existential failure, especially at an age when patterns are established
and ways to solve the inherent conflict with the world are looked for.
Losing the spiritual ideal of his individual and collective / ethnic
personality, the Rroma child gets to deny himself, to convert into an euphemism
his ethnicity, until its complete rejection, the only alternative to accede to a
higher status being his naturalization or his individual social mobility, the
individual salvation through acculturation, cultural assimilation, abandonment
of the Rromanipen (Rromani traditional law), therefore the dissolution of his
own identity.
The stigmatization of the Rroma identity, especially due to a mono-cultural
formal education and to the lack of institutions for training and representation of
the Rroma cultural model, is amplified also through the routine use by the
media of a racially prejudiced and stereotypical language that cultivate and
enhance the attitudes and discriminatory behavior of the wide audience.
Often, the Rroma parents identify the difficult economic situation as main
cause for the lack of participation of their children to school education: “The
Romanian think we are dirty, thieves, that we do not like the work, as we do not
like the school! But it’s not like this, we would work, but we don’t have where!
Our children don’t have what to put on, what to shoehorn, that's why they don’t
go to school, not because they don’t want! That they could be also dry wood be
among us, as everywhere, but we are not all like that!”18
Most times, the school education is identified with the increase of the
social status, but also with the loss of ethnic identity: “Vasile’s son learned by
the book, his father wanted to make him a great man. He didn’t even speak
Gypsy language with him, to not give him the accent, so the Romanians
couldn’t laugh on it! Now he’s living in the city, he has a house, he took a
Romanian woman and now they have big children! He's no more a Gypsy! He
has money! I think he's making a big deal, as not coming in here at all!”19; “I'm
not talking Gypsy, I don't have anything to do with the Gypsy, I learned by
book, I have a job, I have house, I have everything I need, I let the Gypsy back,
I do not deal with it anymore!”20; “Good thing I learned by book, that I escaped
from Gypsies and poverty!”21.
17
18
19
20
21
Flowerist Rroma woman, 28 years old, 4 years of school, Bucharest.
Coppersmith Rroma man, 29 years old, 3 years of school, Sarulesti (Călăraşi County).
Tinsmith Rroma man, 45 years old, 6 years of school, Caracal (Olt County).
Vatrash Rroma man, 43 years old, graduated from high school, Alexandria (Teleorman County).
Vatrash Rroma woman, 39 years old, graduated for higher studies, Iasi (Iaşi County).
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
139
Along with the aspiration for raising the educational level, also the
individual and community self-esteem is growing (“Our boys are smart guys, I
sent them to college, we support them to learn!”22; “We changed us also, we are
no more so backward: we give children to learn the book, to not remain stupid
as we were! In our time, it was like that, but now the times have changed: we
also have other claims!”23), but often the ethnic self-esteem remains low (“Yes,
I want him to go to school, but what to learn with a Gypsy teacher, what, he’s
not good enough for a Romanian teacher?”24; “Look, if she's Romanian, she
sends her children to school, she does not want them to remain stupid!” 25 ;
“What to learn from a Gypsy teacher, 'cause he’s Gypsy like him, he learns
better from a Romanian teacher!”26).
To the distrust in the ability of a Rroma to be a good teacher, the distrust
in the school is opposed, perceived as an alien institution, even dangerous, able
to irrevocably remove the child from the standards and values of the Rromani
culture, among them especially the purity: "What's to learn at the school, to
become Romanian, forgetting from where he’s coming?”27, “I don’t let him go
to school, as he grabs nonsense!”28, “I don’t let her to school because she’ll
learn bad thing from the Romanian girls! To us, the girls are serious!”29.
In the opposite direction of “their” school is acting “our” school on the
self-esteem of the Rroma parents and children: if the Romanian school can
increase the individual and community self-esteem of the Rroma family and
child, but in most cases it lowers their ethnic self-esteem, the school founded on
the Rromani language and culture increases the ethnic self-esteem of the Rroma
family and child. Here are some significant examples: two groups of bilingual
kindergarten (Rromani and Romanian languages), from Sarulesti (Calarasi
County) and Ciurea (Iasi County) and the primary school with teaching in the
Rromani language in Magura (Timis County).
The Rroma parents are proud of their children kindergarten and of the fact
that it is operating in the Rromani language: “I am delighted that our children
have their kindergarten, where they speak our language, because at the other
one they were not going, because they were understanding nothing from what
was spoken!”30, “It’s well that they have kindergarten, to learn something too,
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Ursari Rroma man, 45 years old, graduated from high school, Toflea (Galaţi County).
Coppersmith Rroma woman, 27 years old, no school, Ciurea (Iaşi County).
Wood-carver Rroma man, 35 years old, 6 years of school, Ghimpati (Giurgiu County).
Ursari Rroma woman, 43 years old, 7 years of school, Braila (Brăila County).
Flowerist Rroma woman, 35 years old, 8 years of school, Bucharest.
Coppersmith Rroma man, 28 years old, no school, Sarulesti (Călăraşi County).
Coppersmith Rroma man, 30 years old, 4 years of school, Ciurea (Iaşi County).
Gabor Rroma man, 29 years old, 4 years of school, Tg. Mures (Mureş County).
Coppersmith Rroma woman, 28 years old, no school, Ciurea (Iaşi County).
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DELIA GRIGORE
to not remain stupid as we were! And it's even better to be on Gypsy, because
it’s easier to understand!”31.
Although there is still a slight inferiority complex compared to the
majority culture, manifested by the fact that it is expected and desired the
confirmation from non-Rroma as, for example, Rromani is worthy of tuition
(“Our director is Romanian and said it would be possible to teach all subjects in
the Rromani language. If he, as a Romanian, thinks so, then it must be true!”32),
however, the ethnic self-esteem of the Rroma parents and children from a
school with teaching in Rromani language is greatly increased, compared with
the ethnic self-esteem of the Rroma parents and children from a school with
teaching in Romanian: “The parents have ask to make the teaching in the
Rromani language! Now they are proud of that!”33; “We are pleased with our
school: they have good teachers, the children understand each other, they're at
school or in the community together, they have good results, they are learning
in Gypsy, as the Hungarians learn in Hungarian, that we're not more stupid than
them!”34; “Now we come to school, before we hardly came, because it was hard
and we were not understanding what the teacher was saying! (...) We love our
school: it’s easier, because we learn in our language, we play as we know, we
knew our lady teacher from before! (...) If it will be dissolved, we shall not
come to school and elsewhere we do not like!”35
Moreover, even in the schools where the Rromani language, history and
culture are taught, the ethnic self-esteem is increasing (“We are proud to be
Rroma. To us the Rromani language is taught, we have a good teacher!”36) or
has the prerequisites to grow (“We registered our child to Rromani language
too, because we are Gypsies after all. I hope it will be good!”37).
Even if, at the beginning, they are considered only as an opportunity to
get access to a better school (“We started too to declare us Gypsies, now that there
are those places in high schools, because before we were quite ashamed!”38), the
affirmative measures are also an incentive to increase the self-esteem (“My son
too attended a good high school, because of the places for Rroma, I want him to
keep on learning, to have what to be proud of as Rroma !”39).
The ethnic self-esteem of Rroma can increase by the extension of the
Romany language learning, of the Roma history and culture, in school,
31
Coppersmith Rroma woman, 25 years old, no school, Sarulesti (Călăraşi County).
Ursari Rroma woman, 28 years old, graduated for higher studies, institutor, Maguri (Timiş County).
33
Ursari Rroma woman, 20 years old, graduated for pedagogy high school, student, Maguri
(Timiş County).
34
Ursari Rroma woman, 30 years old, 8 years of school, Maguri (Timiş County).
35
Ursari Rroma child, 10 years old, Maguri (Timiş County).
36
Silversmith Rroma child, 15 years old, School No. 136, Bucharest.
37
Flowerist Rroma woman, 26 years old, 8 years of schooling, Bucharest.
38
Vatrash Rroma man, 49 years old, graduated from high schooling Bucharest.
39
Silversmith Rroma man, 44 years old, 10 years of school, Bucharest.
32
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
141
including, where the conditions permit (Rroma communities native speaker of
Romany language, the favorable option of the Rroma parents, qualified Roma
teachers, textbooks in Romany language and so on), by a bilingual education or
even monolingual in Romany language.
The culture, as aggregate of values, knowledge, standards, beliefs and
practices shared between the members of a group during their social life,
including, at subconscious level, a horizon of expectations referring the
thoughts, feelings / emotions and action, it is one of the most important factors
which must be kept under observation when we are inter-acting, when we refer
the social issues and look for solutions in solving the difficult situation in the
society. The culturally marginalized groups, for instance the stigmatized ethnic
or national minorities, like the Rroma minority, have been excluded by the
dominant culture from the standardization of the values; that is why this last one
is the one which would have to involve itself in the identity reconstruction of
the minorities, including the positivity of the cultural diversity and of the values
of the minority identities.
Cross-cultural communication is leading to the approaching of the
individual from the collectivity which he belongs, considering it as crucial for
the social conditioning. In a pluralist society, it is essential to be taken into
account that the cultural membership has a fundamental role in the development
of the individual, starting with the first steps from childhood.
The multi-cultural societies are realities of the contemporary world, when
people belonging to different ethnic, religious, professional, age and so on
groups are establishing aleatory contacts when the practical circumstances of
the co-existence impose them. Different socio-cultural groups are living in a
common physical / geographical space, without an explicit intention to communicate,
cooperate or set up a values change. But the cultural pluralism does not exclude
the existence o a common set of values, standards and principles, which are
the basement of the civic identity in the respective physic-social space. In
multi-cultural context, the involved groups are developing a mutual acceptance
of passive kind, by which many cultures are living together in the same space /
environment, without conflicts, bat without either developing permanent and
consistent relationship.
If the multi-culturality / multi-culturalism is therefore representing the
peaceful co-existence of many cultures, the inter-culturality / inter-culturalism
is the dialogue and change between at least two strong cultures, equally
represented in the society, involving the knowledge, the understanding, the
assuming, the appreciation, the capitalization and the promotion of the other’s
culture, based on its knowledge and understanding in what it has deep and
genuine. The relation with the other’s culture in an inter-cultural society is
established by a cultural policy which has as aim, consciously and
programmatically, the building up, at level of groups and individuals, of a need
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DELIA GRIGORE
to know the otherness and develops, in all formative contexts of the society, a
strong and permanently updated information about the other’s identity. The
inter-culturality is a process produced at the crossing between two cultures, not
being an aim itself, but an instrument de for cooperation and cultural exchange,
a method to settle up bridges for dialogue in the mutual understanding, but
which can reach it aim only when they are identified and corrected the unnatural
transformations of baneful behaviors at the level of intersection of the cultures
and when the two or more cultures have an equivalent social representation in
the environment of interference and institutions for identity representation and
training similar in value and interest degree for the society.
In a situation contrary to the equality between the cultures which are
entering in dialogue or produce the inter-cultural change, therefore in the
context where we have a dominant majority culture, vernacular, creating
standards, considered higher by seniority, stretch or intensity, which controls
the levers of power and positive social representation, which has preponderance
in the school education and the continuous training of the members of the
society and a dominant minority culture, marked by the negative stereotype and
by the internalized stigma, considered alien by difference and inferior by the
position in the territory of the sub-culture or at least tolerate, never respected,
we can not talk about inter-culturality with real and deep meaning of the word.
In this respect, at ideal level, the construction of an inter-cultural society
supposes, first of all, the re-construction of the stigmatized identities of the
marginalized ethnic groups and the equality of chances for the positive social
representation of the minorities and the majority, by the full presence of the
minority ethno-cultures in the school education, at all levels and through the
establishment of a strong institutional basement for promoting, preserving and
developing the ethnic identities (cultural centers, museums, schools with
teaching in the languages of the ethnic minorities, university departments
specialized in the culture and history of the ethnic minorities and so on). If such
conditions are not fulfilled, the place of the inter-culturality is taken by an
uneven and inequitable dialogue, in which the majority culture does not respect
and understand, but only at most tolerates the minority culture, especially in its
stereotype-positive and spectacular aspects, without reaching the basics of the
ethnic identity. What is happening is a subtle acculturation process, under the
mask of the fake inter-cultural dialogue, the minority culture being taken over
inside the majority culture, where it loses its standards and values, remaining
only with the perfunctory elements, easy to understand and assimilate by the
otherness too neglectful to identity details and subtleties.
Another concept is connected to inter-culturality and multi-culturalism – the
trans-culturality. The trans-cultural values are the values able to be transferred
from a culture into another one, by mutual adjustments, but without losing its
original basement of vision. The trans-culturality supposes the transfer of
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
143
values and standards from a culture to another, by mutual acceptance of both
cultures. The result is a third culture. In the context of the explosive exchanges
of information and intensive cultural interferences in the global state, the
majority of world societies are developing this third culture produced from the
reunion, overlapping and interweaving of two or more ethnic identities in a
common expression and representation frame. Some of the values of one culture
are vanishing under the normative pressure of another and some others are
capitalized by the other’s standards. A mutual translation is produced for
practices, standards and values, the result being a new identity, composite, often
beneficial, because it generally preserves those practices, standards and values
valid and available for the adjustments to the frontier environment.
One conclusion would be that low self-esteem of the family, which is
directly reflected on the self-esteem of the child too, is leading to the decrease
of the participation and school performances and an increased self-esteem of the
family, also with direct consequences on the self-esteem of the child, is leading
to the increase of the participation and school performances.
Another conclusion could be that the studies level is increasing the
individual self-esteem and eventually, the group’s one, but generally it doesn’t
increase the ethnic self-esteem. This last one is increasing under the
circumstances in which the school education is based also on the values of the
Rromani language and culture.
This supposes a process of mutual learning, enrichment, mutual respect
and equal representation of the majority and minority identities, being the
perfect instrument for achieving an inclusive school, based on the integration
and harmonization of the cultures. Each pupil learns the culture of the other, the
pupils are learning to know and respect each other, learns the basics of the interculturality: the cultures are equal and have the right of warrantee for an
equivalent symbolic capital in society.
There becomes fundamental the presentation, cultivation, affirmation and
promotion, in all segments of the education – formal, non-formal and informal –, also
of differences, as well as similarities between the ethnic groups, in order to
build up the dialogue and the value exchange, the mutual knowledge and
understanding, the cooperation and improvement of all kinds of relations
developed in society – professional or individual.
An educational policy of the promotion of the difference is based on a
school curriculum, culturally de-colonized, on the development of abilities for
the otherness perception in all the learning branches: to be, to know and to do.
Such a perspective in the school education supposes the personalization of the
knowledge, the adjustment of the universality to the local values and standards,
the deep and plenary capitalization of the experiences of each pupil in his
recognized and capitalized quality as member of an ethnic group. The practice
of the daily life of each pupil inside his ethnic group becomes a basic element in
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DELIA GRIGORE
the formative methodology, in this way the education answering directly and
actively to the individual cultural needs of the pupil, adjusting them to the
cultural memory with which he is endowed by his membership to a certain
group identity.
From Rroma perspective, the education for diversity in the school
environment has at least some methodological interpretations. It represents the
inclusion of the inter-culturality in the basic and continuous training of teachers,
including information about the Romany language, history and culture, but also
it is the inclusion of the history, culture and elements of Romany language in
the mandatory school curriculum, which means the common trunk of the formal
education for all pupils. Besides, it also means the inter-cultural approach of the
teaching and learning, as well as of the relationship between the Rroma pupils
and their parents.
There is needed a permanent concern of the teacher to include, in all
school specialties, the otherness and cultural diversity at every level of work
with the pupil: exemplification, experiment, communication, inter-action and
cooperation. Here there are some samples of inter-cultural approach for
different school specialties: in history – the inclusion of Rroma history and
culture, as well as elements of Romany language, in the mandatory curriculum;
in literature – the inclusion of certain samples of literary works of Roma authors; in
geography – the presentation of the Rroma migration and of the non-territorial
nations, Rroma among them; in civic education – the approach of the issues of
cultural diversity in society, of the inter-ethnic stereotypes, of the social
representation and prejudices linked to Rroma people, of the discrimination and
of the ways to prevent it and fight against it; in biology – the achievement of
certain processes to compare the biologic diversity and the cultural one; in
chemistry – the presentation of the similarities and differences in the mixture
process of the chemical substances and the processes of cultural interferences
and inter-cultural exchange.
Very concerning is the fact that, even if champion of the standardization
of the diversity and inter-culturality in school education, by the two adopted
Orders [the Order No. 1529/18.07.2007, regarding the development of the
issues of the diversity in the national curriculum and the Order No. 3774/
24.04.2008, regarding the approval of the school curriculum for the optional
specialty “Inter-cultural education” (curriculum at the school decision, for
gymnasium education) and of the review school curriculum for the optional
specialty “The human rights” (curriculum at the school decision, for high
school), the Ministry of Education does not seem to have done almost anything
for their implementation, their provisions remaining only at level of simple
declaration of intentions.
Too much neutral for considering the individual needs and the specific
interests of each pupil, too much distant and too much standardized to be
SCHOOL EDUCATION AND RROMA ETHNIC SELF-ESTEEM
145
concerned by the identification of the emotional and cultural context supposed
by the development of each pupil, directed almost exclusively towards the
technical instruction of the pupils, by the delivery of information apparently not
connected to the cultural context, the school not only is unable to know and
understand in depth the pupils’ soul, therefore it is confronted to a failure of
trust and communication in relation with them, but it is also far away of being
neutral from cultural point of view, imposing in fact the educational model of
the majority national culture, without succeeding to include the identity of the
minority otherness, the respect for diversity and otherness and to achieve the so
desired inter-cultural dialogue.
The main source of the malfunctions in communication and understanding
between school and the Rroma pupil is the lack of knowledge, at school level, of
the realities in the Rroma community, of standards and values observed inside it.
To the extent that the school aims on becoming an inclusive environment,
open to the ethnic diversity and not only, it has the duty to identify the problems
of cultural communication in the relationship with the Rroma pupil and his
parents, mainly with those issued from a traditional community, speaker of
Romany language and keeper of the values and standards of the Rromanipen
(the law of the traditional Rroma culture / rromani dharma). Also, it must
identify the most important sources of the malfunctions in the mutual
communication and understanding and build up a coherent and comprehensive
strategy for improving the relationship with the Rroma pupils and parents, by
dialogue and permanent cultural exchange.
The school has the duty to know, to understand and to respect the family
of the Rroma child, for creating him the feeling that everything he will learn is
according the standards and values promoted in his family, not at all in
opposition with it. At his turn, the teacher must be also known, including also
by disclosing the most important elements of the personal identity, by the
Rroma family, for constructing the trust of the parents in the one who is training
their child, becoming in this way a second parent for him. The school must
permanently ask the parents’ advice, mainly from the Rroma mothers, their
statute being strengthened by mutual visits and by the active involvement in
some activities in school. There are standards and interdictions which must be
known and observed by the teacher, who will achieve in this way the respect
and the trust of the Rroma family.
For being able to deeply and efficiently communicate with the Roma
pupil, the school institution has the obligation to know him, including also to
know, as close as possible, the culture to which he belongs. The urgent
necessary demarche is to come closer to otherness, to discover and know it and
to experimentally occupy a proper place in the space of its culture, in order to
identify the nuances from inside. In this respect, the teachers must be informed
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DELIA GRIGORE
regarding the Rroma history and culture and to know also some elements of
Romany language.
Therefore, the inclusion of Rromani culture in school education is the
optimal solution for building up the self-esteem of Rroma children and the most
important way towards an inclusive school community, where the Roma
children could feel like and consider themselves as parts of a multi-ethnic
collectivity, in which every culture discovers itself in what is essentially
common and essentially different.
RECENZII • COMPTES RENDUS • REVIEWS
Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu (ed.), Duplicidad comunicativa y complicidad
creadora en la traducción del teatro = Duplicitat comunicativa i complicitat
creadora en la traducció del teatre. Dos extremos de latinidad: continuidad
cultural y contigüidad lingüística entre el rumano y el catalán = Dos extrems
de llatinitat: continuïtat cultural i contigüitat lingüística entre el romanés I el
catalá, Traducción y revisión de los artículos originales en rumano, francés y
catalán: Cătălina Iliescu, Delia Prodan, Dalila Niño y Natalia Sanmartín,
Universidad de Alicante / Universitat d’Alacant, Alicante, 2005, 218 pp.
La importancia del libro coordinado por Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu, profesora titular en el
Departamento de Traducción e Interpretación de la Universidad de Alicante, consiste en que
recoge las experiencias del proyecto Dos extremos de Latinidad: continuidad cultural y
contigüidad lingüística entre el rumano y el catalán. Este proyecto de intercambio teatral y
cultural rumano-catalán se inició con el convenio firmado entre la Universidad de Alicante (UA)
y la Unión Teatral de Rumanía (UNITER) el mes de abril de 2003, con el fin de realizar en
común actividades que llevaran a un acercamiento cultural entre los dos países. Las actividades
desarrolladas incluyeron la selección de textos dramáticos, la traducción y adaptación de tales
textos, clases de rumano y de catalán, montaje y estrenos de dos piezas de teatro, una rumana y
otra catalana.
Según la nota de prensa publicada en la página web de la UA el 10 de mayo de 2005, el
volumen fue presentado el 6 de mayo del mismo año, a las 14 horas, en la Sala Aifos de la
Universidad de Alicante. La presentación corrió a cargo del entonces Vicerrector de Extensión
Universitaria de la Universidad de Alicante (UA) Jesús Pradells, del catedrático de Literatura
Española José Carlos Rovira y de la profesora Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu. La misma nota expone
los antecedentes de la publicación del presente volumen, en el que han sido plasmadas las
experiencias del proyecto arriba mencionado: la preparación en rumano por el Teatro
Universitario de la obra Minim.mal Show de Sergi Belbel y Miquel Górriz, representada en el
Festival Nacional de Teatro, y la interpretación en catalán por la compañía rumana Succes, de la
Universitatea Naţională de Artă Teatrală şi Cinematografică de Bucarest (UNATC), de la obra
Paparazzi o crónica de un amanecer abortado de Matei Vişniec, cuyo estreno oficial tuvo lugar
el mes de noviembre del mismo año en el Paraninfo de la Universidad de Alicante. El espectáculo
fue presentado además en otras dos localidades alicantinas, Benissa y Cocentaina, y también
participó en el Festival Nacional de Teatro de Palma de Mallorca. En Rumanía, ambos
espectáculos, esta vez en lengua rumana, fueron presentados en coupe en el Teatro “Mihai
Eminescu” de Botoşani, “Vasile Alecsandri” de Iaşi y en el Teatro de Comedia de Bucarest, en el
marco del Festival Nacional de Teatro “I. L. Caragiale”.
El libro comienza con el Prólogo firmado por José Carlos Rovira Soler, el Apunte
periodístico por Ezequiel Moltó, periodista del diario El País, que es una versión revisada del
artículo publicado por este cotidiano el 5 de mayo de 2003 y la Introducción escrita por la editora,
Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu. Siguen seis capítulos, los primeros cinco incluyendo estudios de
lingüística románica, lingüística y fonética contrastivas, teoría de la traducción, crítica teatral,
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estudios literarios, semiótica y semiología y el último la versión bilingüe de las dos piezas de
teatro, Paparazzi, de Matei Vişniec, traducida al catalán por los alumnos del Màster Universitari
en Traducció General i Específica i Correcció de Textos (Català – Españyol –Anglés) de la
Universidad de Alicante: Cristina Yuste, María Botella, María Antonia Plá y Juan Antonio
Brotóns, con una revisión realizada por Vicent Martines, y Minim.mal Show de Sergi Belbel y
Miquel Górriz, traducida por Cătălina Iliescu y Delia Prodan.
La Introducción firmada por la editora del libro, Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu, desvela su
propósito de presentar a través del libro el proyecto apoyado en tres ejes: la latinidad de los dos
idiomas, el discurso dramático como medio de comunicación más antiguo y la interculturalidad
sustentada sobretodo durante nuestra época a través de los movimientos migratorios, entre los
cuales destaca el contacto cada vez más amplio entre los inmigrantes rumanos con el espacio
socio-cultural ibérico. También expone las diversas etapas del proyecto, cuyo transcurso
cronológico se estructura el orden de los estudios presentes en los varios capítulos del libro,
siendo notable su esfuerzo por aproximar a las dos culturas, de hacerlas comunicar desde planos
iguales y su intención de construir una perfecta simetría del presente volumen dedicado al
intercambio cultural.
El primer capítulo, La génesis de un experimento hermenéutico multilingüe y de diálogo
entre culturas, consta de dos partes. La primera es la intervención de Ion Caramitru, Presidente de
UNITER desde el año 1990, Ministro de Cultura 1996-2000, anteriormente actor y director del
Teatro “L. S. Bulandra” de Bucarest y actualmente Director del Teatro Nacional de Bucarest,
Descripción del experimento, quien apoya tal intercambio teatral cuyo punto de partida se ve
desde luego sustentado en el filón del parentesco cultural y temperamental, y sobre todo en las
modalidades de expresión autoral y en los símbolos teatrales y el subtexto que completan y a
veces suplen la palabra, en la oportunidad del contacto directo que es justo en lo que el arte
dramático se fundamenta. La segunda parte es un estudio de lingüística contrastiva, La latinidad
como denominador común. El catalán y el rumano: dos lenguas románicas confrontadas, escrito
por Sanda Reinheimer-Rîpeanu, catedrática de Lingüística Románica la Universidad de Bucarest.
Al detallado discurso lingüístico diacrónico y sincrónico, hecho con suma profesionalidad y
proporcionando datos estadísticos interesantes relacionados con el nivel fonético, morfosintáctico y léxico de los dos idiomas nacidas a las periferias de la antigua Romania, añade y
desarrolla la autora el tema etnolingüístico, que presenta pruebas de una misma mentalidad en
relación con varios elementos de la realidad, y al que se le debe el aumento del sentimiento de que
nos encontramos en un mismo mundo.
El segundo capítulo, Estado de la cuestión y selección de textos dramáticos, así como
advierte su título también se compone de dos partes: la primera, motivando la puesta en diálogo
de una pieza rumana trece años después de la caída de la dictadura y otra catalana creada en 1987,
a los doce años de la caída de la dictadura de Franco, presenta simétricamente la historia
posrevolucionaria del teatro rumano desde la crítica teatral y la del teatro catalán postfranquista
desde la perspectiva literaria, a través de los artículos El teatro rumano hoy por Andrea Dumitru,
crítico teatral y secretaria literaria en el Teatro “Nottara” de Bucarest y El teatro catalán hoy por
Natasha Leal Rivas, profesora de la Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, mientras que
la segunda parte da cuenta de las razones que llevaron a la selección de los textos dramáticos, a
través de la intervención de la editora, Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu, Los “Paparazzi” de Matei
Vişniec o a propósito del absurdo y la de Irene Sadowska, crítico de teatro de la AICT
(Asociación Internacional de Críticos de Teatro), Presidenta de Hispanité Explorations, El
“Minim.mal Show” de Belbel y Górriz o hablando de la incomunicación.
La lectura del ensayo crítico e histórico hecho por Andrea Dumitru proporciona el placer
de rememorar los momentos clave de la vida social y cultural de la Rumanía post-comunista.
Inmediatamente después de 1989, el teatro rumano ha gozado de una explosión de simpatía
dirigida hacia el espacio de la Europa del Este, la salida del ghetto, en las palabras del crítico
Mihai Popescu, del teatro rumano supuso la libre circulación de los artistas y varios programas de
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intercambio entre el teatro rumano y el americano, francés e inglés. Le printemps de la liberté fue
la primera gira de artistas franceses de élite por los escenarios e Rumanía, los dramaturgos,
especialmente británicos, escriben piezas inspiradas en los acontecimientos sufridos por la
sociedad rumana: El bosque loco de Caryl Churchill, With love from Nicolae de Lin Coghlan. En
1990, el director Richard Eyre, director del Teatro Nacional de Londres, organiza la primera gira
por el Reino Unido de Hamlet, cuyo estreno había tenido lugar en el año 1985, del Teatro “Lucia
Sturza Bulandra”, montado por Alexandru Tocilescu, con Ion Caramitru intérprete del papel
principal. La autora recurre a las figuras ejemplares de la atmósfera posrevolucionaria, con los
espectáculos de Andrei Şerban, Una trilogía antigua, la versión más dramática de su éxito
mundial realizado anteriormente en 1975 en el Teatro La Mama de Nueva York, y su puesta en
escena de Edipo de George Enescu en 1995 en la Opera Nacional de Bucarest, la Antigona
montada por Alexandru Tocilescu, Han puesto esposas a las flores… de Fernando Arrabal
montada por Alexandru Hausvater en 1991, impulsando el teatro ambiental y el teatro de crudeza,
la pieza Las Danaidas montada por Silviu Purcărete en Bucarest en el año 1995 y en el siguiente
en Aviñón - la Carrière de Boulbon, verdadero espectáculo coral, impresionante por su imagística.
Paso a paso la euforia y el éxtasis se vuelven en agonía, a la vez con la caída en desuso del teatro
de repertorio surge una dramaturgia original en medio de la crisis de la identidad cultural, en base
a una ruptura drástica entre generaciones, un teatro poético cuyo imperativo es reflejar la realidad
violenta de la actualidad, promovido por la generación 2000, una generación que se auto-genera,
según cita la autora a Mihai Măniuţiu, sin que las anteriores puedan constituir un modelo para
ella. En este contexto, el proyecto dramAcum – un concurso de dramaturgia dirigido a los jóvenes
significó la salida del teatro de los espacios convencionales y la proliferación de los espacios
underground en clubes y cafés, la experimentación de tipo grotowskiano y el performance,
ambiente en el que el Vişniec redescubierto, ya reivindicado por la cultura francesa, viene a
constituir el emblema del teatro europeo post-absurdo, el teatro-manifiesto, propulsado por la
vuelta al texto y al teatro de acción del ámbito dramático anglo-sajón. Concluye la autora que se
ha vuelto a escribir apasionadamente para el escenario no para el cajón, con un lenguaje brutal,
directo, cotidiano, apto para reflejar un mundo fragmentado, carente de sentido, desestructurado.
La nueva espectaculogía destaca por su dimensión visual, fruto de una imaginación en ebullición,
a través de expresividad corporal o recurriendo a las técnicas multimedia.
El capítulo tercero, Teatro y traducción. El largo camino del texto origen hacia el
escenario término, cuenta con un nuevo estudio de la editora, Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu, El
doble código del género dramático: ¿lector origen y espectador término?, que aborda las
contradicciones y las particularidades del proceso comunicativo teatral frente a otros tipos de
comunicación y también con una verdadera poética de la traducción de textos dramáticos en el
ensayo hecho por Delia-Ionela Prodan, Dificultades de traducción inherentes al género
dramático. En la visión de la última, la ventaja del traductor de teatro reside en que su material no
es monolítico, la hibridación siendo su palabra de orden. El polimorfismo mismo del teatro,
dentro del cual se borran las fronteras entre géneros – lírico, dramático, narrativo – y también
entre formas de manifestación artística – plástica, musical, coreográfica y escenográfica –, lo
convierte en un receptáculo generoso donde pueden encontrar su voz tanto el yo como el otro, lo
familiar como lo extraño, lo visible y lo invisible.
En su intervención dentro del presente capítulo, Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu hace una
síntesis crítica de los numerosos estudios que abordan el teatro en sí como un fenómeno
traductivo, aún faltando la intervención del cambio interlingüístico, basado en la transcodificación
inherente al género. Siguiendo a autores como Paviso Poyatos la autora explica que al igual que el
traductor, el director teatral “traduce” su propia evaluación de las intenciones del autor y su
respuesta toma la forma de un acto comunicativo semiótico complejo, cuyo marco es más amplio
que el lingüístico discursivo, puesto que incluye, además del lenguaje verbal, elementos no
verbales, de kinésica, proxémica, deixis, iluminación, danza, lenguaje icónico y musical. Aún
más, cuando se trata de dramaturgos bilingües, como es el caso de Matei Vişniec, la autora cita a
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Gaddis Rose quien señala que el trabajo del director no se limita sólo a la comparación del texto
traducido con el original sino también con la otra lengua del dramaturgo, ya que podría tratarse de
lo que llama “ur-text”, un constructo con interferencias y dislocaciones lingüísticas utilizadas
deliberadamente por el autor de la pieza. Como los traductores facilitaron la interacción de los dos
equipos participantes en el experimento, hallándose en el cruce comunicativo entre los actantes,
concluye la autora que el proyecto ha proporcionado evidencias con respeto al papel del traductor en la
cadena comunicativa, mientras que la traducción propiamente dicha rebasa sus límites de proceso de
traslación cultural y lingüística de las obras, adquiriendo un componente sociocomunicativo y
relacional, el producto teatral final siendo el resultado de un doble proceso de traducción: la
lingüístico-cultural y la hermenéutica contenida en la propuesta escénica del director.
El capítulo cuarto, El proceso de translación escénica, se ocupa del desarrollo
propiamente dicho del proyecto, las dificultades del montaje con un mínimo atrezzo, las
estrategias empleadas en la preparación lingüística previa de los actores y se compone de cuatro
intervenciones, nuevamente divididas en dos partes en virtud de la misma simetría que rige el
libro entero. Las primeras dos fueron escritas por los directores teatrales mismos, recogiendo sus
experiencias durante su trabajo artístico en frente del escenario a lo largo del montaje de las obras
dramáticas: Transformaciones del texto dramático impuestas por condicionantes externos, por
Bodgan Cioabă, director teatral del Teatro “Al. Davila” de Ploieşti y La semiotica teatral de
“Minim.mal Show”: estimulos visuales y auditivos por Juanluís Mira Candel, escritor, autor de
numerosas obras dramáticas, profesor de literatura española, director de teatro e impulsor del Aula
de Teatro de la Universidad de Alicante. Las dos restantes se refieren al trabajo profesoral detrás
del escenario, “tras los bastidores”, el de la preparación lingüística de los actores según las
exigencias de las obras: Clases de lengua catalana e inmersión cultural de los actores rumanos
por Joan Llinas, profesor de lengua catalana en la Universidad de Bucarest y Aspectos prosódicos
contrastivos y su repercusión en la traducción y representación de los diálogos de “Minim.mal
Show” en rumano por Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu. Esta segunda parte consiste en explicar que se
trató de cursos de segunda lengua con fines específicos, los de proporcionar a los actores los
medios necesarios que aseguraran una buena interpretación para garantizar a su vez, una
recepción sin incomprensiones del texto dramátco. Con miras a todo ello, los dos estudios
despliegan detalladamente la taxonomía de los elementos supra-segmentales o prosódicos típicos
de los dos idiomas, como son el acento, el ritmo o la entonación, a los que se prestó suma
atención durante los cursos, al lado de los errores por transferencia, o por asociación grafemasonido, en el total ímpetu de llegar a una precisión fonética satisfactoria a la hora de los estrenos
actuados por los actores en un idioma que no era suyo y con el que tampoco habían estado en
contacto anteriormente al proyecto.
Destaca también la contribución de Juanluís Mira Candel, que da cuenta de la corriente
minimalista que rigió su estrategia directiva como un proceso deconstructivo de la realidad
escénica, que desde una perspectiva semiótica dista de cualquier intento de globalización o
dispersión de signos y se acerca a la focalización puntual de los mismos. Asimilando la esencia
del ideario “minimal” a la música de Bach, en la que una fuga va creciendo y aportando nuevas
sugerencias a través de sus variaciones entre ese escaparse para volver, en el teatro la unidad más
sencilla dará luz a través de su búsqueda y variación a un macrosigno final más complejo, que
otorga el valor real al significante inicial, minúsculo, aleatorio. El minimalismo es un macrojuego
en el que el público es también un signo fundamental, un jugador más cuya presencia da sentido,
siendo a la vez, en las palabras de Francisque Sarcey la esencia del drama, la condición necesaria
de su existencia. En el montaje de Minim.mal Show, explica Juanluis Mira Candel que ha elegido
la silla como signo desnudo, primer y último protagonista alrededor de un grupo de escenas
centrales que narran el desencuentro entre un hombre y una mujer, alrededor del juego de
contrastes, la sonrisa y la tristeza, la chabacanería como contrapunto al misticismo, construyendo
el clímax y el anticlímax de una espera imposible partiendo de la soledad de la silla y llegando la
soledad del actor.
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Sergi Belbel suele encargar las bandas sonoras a un mismo compositor, Oscar Roig,
concediendo un gran peso específico a la partitura en la concepción de sus montajes. Por ende, en la
tradición de Beckett, por el cual la obra es un cuerpo de sonidos fundamentales, según el director
teatral, el soundtrack de Minim.mal Show fue pensado como una partitura de estímulos auditivos igual
de relevantes como el texto verbalizado, el discurso final siendo integrado tanto por palabras análogas a
notas de música (ut poesis musica), como de música semejante al discurso textual (ut musica poesis).
El capítulo quinto, Los polos de latinidad se atraen: la respuesta del público ante las
representaciones escénicas, concluye el experimento con dos intervenciones acerca de la recepción de
las obras por el público en una comunidad de habla distinta. Se trata de A propósito de una
representación teatral: “Paparazzi” de Matei Vişniec en Benissa por Joan Borja i Sanz, profesor del
departamento de Filología Catalana de la Universidad de Alicante y director de la sede universitaria de
Benissa, y de la síntesis sobre El Festival Nacional de Teatro “I. L. Caragiale”: aspiraciones y
envergadura hecha por Aura Corbeanu, profesora de la Universidad de Teatro de Sibiu, Rumanía, y
directora de UNITER, quien remarca que anteriormente al experimento Paparazzi no se había puesto
nunca en escena en Rumanía, y su representación en el marco del proyecto ha constituido un triple
evento: estreno en Rumanía, en España y a la vez el primer montaje en catalán.
La sexta y última parte del libro, Versión bilingüe de las dos obras, concebida como epílogo,
consiste en las dos piezas originales junto a su excelentísima traducción al rumano y al catalán.
En conclusión, estamos ante un libro testimonio de un proyecto, cuya importancia reside
justamente en el hecho de dejar impresos a los acontecimientos de un experimento cuyo propósito
fue el acercamiento e intercambio de dos espacios culturales similares tanto desde el punto de
vista lingüístico, como idiosincrásico. Defiende su intento en varios frentes de batalla, desde el
acercamiento lingüístico entre el catalán y el rumano, hasta el ámbito social, cuyo espejo es el
teatro mismo. Expone las dificultades de la traducción, el proceso mismo de mediación, tomando
en cuenta tanto las convergencias como las divergencias existentes entre los dos espacios, y la
percepción del producto final con sus posibles consecuencias en el espacio receptor. Despliega
una manera completa y complexa de abarcar todas las dimensiones de tal experimento, reuniendo
multitud de personalidades de varios campos y especialidades, equipos de actores, directores y
traductores, implicando una impresionante variedad de recursos e instituciones, todo ello en el
empeño de difundir la cultura rumana entre los catalanes y la catalana entre los rumanos,
tratándose de dos mundos aún casi desconocidos uno por el otro, inéditos uno para el otro, en
paisajes extremos de la antigua Romania y la actual Europa. Es impresionante el esfuerzo y el
empeño de la editora en agrupar tanta información, se le nota la más profunda creencia en el intercambio
cultural y su noble empeño en acrecentar la visibilidad del actual espacio cultural rumano.
SILVIA ŞTEFAN∗
Cătălina Iliescu – Gheorghiu (ed.), Teatru cu voce de femeie: două piese
de Gianina CĂRBUNARIU şi Laila RIPOLL = Teatro con voz de mujer: dos
piezas de Gianina CĂRBUNARIU y Laila RIPOLL, ediţie bilingvă – edición
bilingüe, Editura Cheiron, Bucureşti, 2008, 214 pp.
Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu es profesora titular en el Departamento de Traducción e
Interpretación en la Universidad de Alicante, donde imparte cursos de rumano y también es Presidenta
de la fundación cultural Aripi, entrañadamente vinculada con la difusión de la cultura rumana en el
∗
Departamento de Lingüística Románica, Lenguas y Literaturas Iberorománicas e Italiano,
Universidad de Bucarest, stefansilvia@yahoo.com.
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extranjero. El presente volumen que edita en el año 2008 fue presentado en Rumania el 12 de enero de
2010 en Teatrul azi – Revista de cultura teatral editada por la Fundación Cultural „Camil Petrescu”,
como parte de la serie „Dramaturgi de azi”, coordinada por Andreea Dumitru e Ioana Anghel, lanzada
en el año 2005, que proponía antologías cuya meta era la de crear una imagen cuanto más edificadora
sobre la dramaturgia reciente en espacios culturales menos conocidos. También fue reseñada en la
revista Revista 22 – En el laboratorio de Jerzy Grotowski en la sección Sobre el teatro con Miruna
Runcan por Crenguţa Manea bajo el título Transferencias teatrales.
Sirviendo su propósito de realizar un acto de intercambio cultural, el libro tiene una
estructura quiasmática en espejo, empleando cara a cara dos piezas de teatro contemporáneo, la
primera en rumano, Stop the Tempo!, firmada por la autora rumana Gianina Cărbunariu, y la
segunda en español, Atra bilis (Cuando estemos más tranquilas…), firmada por la autora
española, Laila Ripoll. Cada una de las piezas viene introducida por una breve presentación de las
dos autoras, representantes de la dramaturgia contemporánea, y dispone de su traducción al otro
idioma. La traducción al español de la pieza rumana, manteniendo el mismo título en inglés, fue
firmada por un grupo de traductores formado por Dalila Niño, David Grau, Fernanda Bozio del
Mastro, Marta Cano, Laura Mas, Santiago Mas y Ana Ortuño, mientras que la traducción al
rumano de la pieza española, con el título Fiere (Aici nu s-a întâmplat nimic…), se firmó por
Roxana Antochi, Ioana Brumar y Bianca Sandu. La pieza rumana está introducida por un estudio
en español escrito por Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu, y traducido al rumano por Roxana Antochi, y
la pieza española por un comentario en rumano escrito por Roxana – Mihaela Antochi, y
traducido al español por Dalila Niño. El libro entero viene introducido por un Prólogo firmado
por Juan Antonio Ríos Carratalá, traducido al rumano por la misma Roxana Antochi.
Juan Antonio Ríos Carratalá es Catedrático de Historia del Teatro Español en la
Universidad de Alicante y especialista en los siglos XVIII y XX. Ha publicado libros relacionados
con la dramaturgia, ha preparado ediciones críticas dedicadas a figuras sobresalientes del teatro
español y ha coordinado diversos volúmenes colectivos. Firma más de un centenar de artículos en
revistas de especialidad. Su prólogo empieza ex abrupto tematizando retóricamente el problema
de la imposibilidad de definir una dirección previsible para el teatro contemporáneo, de la falta de
criterios y la indiferencia generalizada frente a las orientaciones mayoritariamente aceptadas,
creándose un marco de libertad, pero también uno de desorientación, lleno de hechos caóticos y
contradictorios, que hacen posible cualquier desarrollo de fuerzas, todo ello llevando a la aparición de
este tipo nuevo de actividad creativa marginal, que en el futuro podría convertirse en relevante
desde el punto de vista del control social y político. Dentro de tal contexto, los autores jóvenes,
representantes de esta generación en permanente búsqueda, sobre los cuales escribe citándole a
Fernando Fernán Gómez que “tienen la vida por delante”, aunque más bien les gustaría tenerla
alrededor, crean obras con valor testimonial, cuya temática es la juventud misma, el teatro
convirtiéndose en el testigo directo de una realidad inmediata, empleada a miles de kilómetros de
distancia, y la traducción de estas obras siendo un puente válido entre los dos mundo
esencialmente similares, y a la vez contribuyendo a la destrucción de estereotipos y tópicos
relativos a Rumanía, por otra parte casi desconocida en España desde el punto de vista cultural.
Las autoras dramáticas elegidas por el proyecto de este libro son Gianina Cărbunariu,
miembro fundador del proyecto dramAcum, autora de la pieza Stop the Tempo!, escrita en 2003,
estrenada bajo su dirección en el mes de diciembre del mismo año en Teatrul LUNI de Green
Hours y traducida al inglés, francés, alemán, polaco, checo, húngaro y presentada en escenarios
de Alemania, Francia e Irlanda, los espectáculos de Gianina Cărbunariu habiendo sido incluida en
importantes festivales europeos de Wiesbaden, Torun y Moscú, y Laila Ripoll, fundadora de la
empresa de teatro Producciones Micomicon, donde trabaja como actriz, dramaturga y
escenógrafa, autora de varias piezas de teatro, entre las cuales la traducida con ocasión del
presente volumen, Atra bilis (Cuando estemos más tranquilas…), y de adaptaciones de las obras
de Lope, Juan de la Cueva, Miguel de Cervantes, Calderón de la Barca y Tirso de Molina, sus
creaciones habiendo sido traducidas al francés, italiano, griego y vasco y, recientemente al rumano.
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El estudio de Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu, Temp(o)us fugit…, dar nu şi pentru Gianina
Cărbunariu. Studiu despre traducerea în limba spaniolă a piesei Stop the Tempo!, abre la primera
mitad del volumen, explicando el contexto de la evolución histórica del teatro rumano,
caracterizada por una ruptura radical entre la generación actual, lanzada alrededor después del año
2000, que bajo influencia británica vuelve al texto y al teatro de acción, y la que atraviesa una
fase de crisis de la identidad cultural durante los años 90, como consecuencia de las décadas
anteriores de anquilosación del teatro rumano en principios absurdos, inflexibles, dictados por la
censura, propios del sistema totalitarista de las naciones que se habían quedado al este del telón de
acero después de la contienda. En este contexto de la ruptura entre las generaciones nacen los
espectáculos inconformistas, experimentales, montados en underground por empresas
independientes que desarrollan proyectos similares a dramAcum, un concurso de creación
destinado a los directores de teatro y dramaturgos, entre los cuales Gianina Cărbunariu, la
exponente brillante de esta nueva actitud cara al teatro y a la vida, definitoria para la salida de la
crisis del teatro rumano, apta para reflejar el mundo fragmentado de hoy en día, falto de sentido,
desestructurado. El contenido propiamente dicho de su intervención revela las particularidades del
texto originario y trata in extenso la complejidad de las dificultades de traducción, empezando con
el título imperativo en inglés y analizando tanto el nivel macro del medio espacio-temporal que
contiene las indicaciones escénicas, los decorados, las luces, el sonido, la proxémica y la kinética,
como también el nivel micro de los elementos del argot y de las expresiones idiomáticas. La
autora indica también la dificultad de la adaptación del slang en clave lúdica de los jóvenes
contrastando con la rigidez de los clichés del “lenguaje de madera”, como también el papel de los
anglicismos impuestos en el vocabulario común por mass-media y las estrategias de traducción
adoptadas para cada caso. Aun más, analiza las relaciones intertextuales (especialmente la
aparición en la pieza de los poemas de Marius Ianuş) y las relaciones intersistémicas relativas a
las dificultades de transferir unos elementos propios de un espacio cultural, como por ejemplo los
antropónimos, los nombres de bares o marcas comerciales, la publicidad, las películas y los
programas TV recientes, los modos de vida cotidiana, una transferencia por la cual el traductor
representa la instancia que garantiza el mantenimiento de un cierto equilibrio. A continuación
describe el proceso de traducción propiamente dicho, que involucra todo un equipo y que se
desarrolló en varios niveles, desde la confrontación de la versión publicada en Liternet.ro en 2004
con la versión en inglés (traducida por Andrei Marinescu y Paul Meade, a través de un programa
financiado por la Fundación Stewart Parker y la Fundación ACT), seguida por la „traducción
bruta”, literal del texto en español, realizada con la ayuda de un hablante nativo, y posteriormente
el equipo de traductores estableció las normas generales y repartió el texto, cada uno ocupándose
de un ¿????de escenas. Lo que siguió fue una visita a Rumania hecha por el equipo de traductores,
para estudiar la relación de ciertas frases, más difícilmente entendibles por el público español, con
el contexto de la sociedad rumana. La tercera etapa fue la confrontación de las traducciones
individuales y la resolución de las posibles controversias, todo ello con la aplicación del modelo
de análisis traductológico propuesto por los descriptivistas Lambert y Van Gorp.
La segunda parte del libro se dedica simétricamente a la pieza dramática española, Atra
bilis (Cuando estemos más tranquilas…), que analiza Roxana-Mihaela Antochi, estudiante de
doctorado en la Universidad de Alicante, en su excelente estudio Rolul elementelor culturale în
construirea umorului. Resurse folclorice şi religioase în textul dramatic al Lailei Ripoll/ El papel
de los elementos culturales en la construcción del humor. Recursos folkloricos y religiosos en el
texto dramático de Laila Ripoll. El comentario se divide en cuatro partes, cada una dedicada a
uno de los cuatro personajes femeninos: Nazaria sau melanjul comic / Nazaria o la mixtura
cómica; Daria, frustrarea pseudoreligioasă / Daria, la frustración pseudos-religiosa;
Aurora/Aurori, încifrarea versificată / Aurora, la clave versificada y Ulpiana, sursă
paremiologică / Ulpiana, fuente paremiológica.
La autora enfatiza la estructura circular del texto analizado, acentuado el sentimiento de
inercia, que explica también la opción de traducirse el subtítulo de la pieza en rumano Aici nu s-a
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întâmplat nimic…. [literalmente: Aquí no ha pasado nada…] Tratando minuciosamente las
relaciones entre los personajes femeninos de factura y construcción distinta, nota que más allá de
estas diferencias lo que tienen en común es el hecho de haber nacido y de vivir en un rincón
olvidado del mundo, que puede ser un oscuro pueblecito de España, o de cualquier otro país.
Mientras Nazaria es un tipo de „muñeca rusa”, un cajón de sorpresas, que puede decir cualquier
cosa en cualquier momento, un personaje vivo, que establece la dinámica del texto entero, es el
núcleo conflictivo de la trama, la pulsación de energía en un mundo entumecido, para el traductor
convirtiéndose en una provocación permanente, por la pendulación perpetua entre lo formal y lo
informal, entre lo religioso y lo laico-vulgar, la caracterización de Daria, la hermana mártir que se
sacrifica para el bien de la familia incluye el elemento religioso como eje de su tipología, una
religiosidad más o menos autentica, pero que constituye su nota de distinción. Al personaje de
Aurora se le considera el menos cómico, con una evolución espectacular a lo largo de la pieza,
perteneciendo a la tipología del loco sabio, aportando mensajes profundos, bajo el velo de la
poesía popular. Ulpiana, cuya muerte al final del texto confiere a la trama una buena
representación, es la principal fuente de paremiología, aportando un plus de frescura y vitalidad,
sus decires contrastando visiblemente la artificialidad y la preciosidad de las otras mujeres.
Enfatizando la idea de la fijeza y constancia localizada en el folklore y la religión, en
donde no hay variaciones, ni cambios, ni se trata de evolución, y la forma en la cual de la misma
manera, en la cronología de la pieza no hay ningún tipo de evolución, los conflictos y las
tensiones no tienen una intensidad mayor, faltándoles? la finalidad, al caer la cortina la vida de las
tres mujeres fluyendo invariablemente sin fluctuaciones, concluye la autora que la pieza resulta
esencialmente cómica, el humor siendo la componente central que brilla sobre todo al nivel del
lenguaje, en la interferencia entre el filón religioso y el componente folclórico, los dos ejes
inmutables del proceso dinámico representado por la cultura.
En conclusión, como se puede notar, se trata de un volumen con una estructura completa,
casi matemática, que representa un estudio de traducción, con el análisis de la compleja
problemática relativa a la transferencia de un espacio cultural al otro, a través de la yuxtaposición
de dos ejemplos de representación de la crisis contemporánea, dentro de un mundo de lo
femenino, tanto desde el punto de vista autorial/autoral, como del de los personajes presentes en
las piezas teatrales, que realizó la editora Cătălina Iliescu Gheorghiu de una manera sumamente
profesional con apego a su esencial creencia en el importante papel que en nuestro mundo global
tiene el intercambio social y cultural.
SILVIA ŞTEFAN∗
Margarita Rigal (ed.), Los legados de Poe, Madrid, Editorial Síntesis,
2011, 290 pp.
As the editor herself points out in the introduction, this volume is meant to fill a gap in
Spanish literary research and make up for the absence of a rigorous, up-to-date collection of
studies concerning the works of Edgar Allan Poe. It succeeds in fulfilling this task, as it identifies
the main coordinates of Poe’s short stories and poetry and of their reception throughout time,
particularly in Spain, while also setting up a strong basis for further academic investigation.
∗
Departamento de Lingüística Románica, Lenguas y Literaturas Iberorománicas e Italiano,
Universidad de Bucarest, stefansilvia@yahoo.com.
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The book is made up of nine chapters, each dealing with Poe’s literary and cultural legacy
viewed from a different perspective, and four annexes meant to be used as research tools by those
trying to become familiar with Poe’s life and works. The first chapter, “Lo gótico y lo cómico (o
lo arabesco y lo grotesco)”, authored by Margarita Rigal Aragón, who also edited the volume,
deals with the meaning of the terms grotesque and arabesque and the way they relate to Poe’s
short stories. The second, “La ciencia del raciocinio”, also written by Margarita Rigal, and the
third, “Poe y la ciencia ficción”, by Francisco Javier Castillo Martín, examine Poe’s role as the
initiator of detective fiction and science fiction, respectively. “Poe en la cultura popular”, the
fourth chapter, is authored by Ricardo Marín Ruiz and explores the way Poe as a literary figure
and elements of his works have been incorporated into popular culture. The following chapter,
“Historia gráfica de Poe: un siglo de ediciones ilustradas”, by Fernando González Moreno, is an
overview of the illustrations that Poe’s poetry and prose have inspired, from the earliest editions
of his works to the first half of the 20th century. Santiago Rodríguez Guerrero-Strachan is the
author of the sixth chapter, “Un persistente recuerdo: la recepción de Poe en España”, concerning
the reception of Poe as a writer and of his fiction and poetry in Spain. “Poe visto por Baudelaire”,
by Juan Bravo Castillo, is an account of the influential interpretation given by Baudelaire to Poe’s
works. “Luces y sombras en las traducciones de Narrativas extraordinarias y Poesía completa”,
authored by Silvia Molina Plaza, analyses two Spanish translations of Poe’s poetry and short
stories, highlighting their positive and negative aspects. The final chapter, “Reto al futuro: frentes
de rivalidad y venganza”, by Félix Martín Gutiérrez, is an essay on the part played by revenge,
rivalry and conflict in Poe’s writings. The first annex is a biographic map, comprising the main
events of Poe’s life and literary career, in a historic context. The second is a list of Poe’s most
important works, including the date of their first publication, the periodical publications where
they appeared during the author’s lifetime and a brief inventory of possible literary influences for
each title. The third annex is a bibliographic study citing the most important editions of Poe’s
works, both authorized by the writer himself and posthumous, in English and other languages, and
a selection of biographies and studies written about Poe. The fourth annex contains the
bibliographic references for the first three annexes.
The volume is predominantly monographic and its chapters are, for the most part, meant
to catalogue specific features of Poe’s works or instances of their reception. Placing these
elements in a larger context or analysing the way they relate to each other and function as a whole
is often limited to only a few suggestions in each chapter. The main exceptions are the first and
last chapter, which contain some of the most detailed and original analyses in the book. The first
chapter traces the meaning of two terms famously employed by Poe himself in the title and
preface of the short story collection he published during his lifetime, namely grotesque and
arabesque, and manages to shed a new light on their use. In this study, Rigal points out their
original meaning as architectural terms, along with the relationship they bear to the term gothic,
as far as both decorative art and literary fiction are concerned. At the same time, she gives an
overview of Poe’s complete short stories, emphasizing their unity and challenging the common
critical assumption that they can be divided into two distinct categories, the grotesque (understood
as comprising humorous works) and the arabesque (presumed to mean serious or terrifying).
According to Rigal, the two concepts are often intertwined, and the short stories commonly
labeled as comical, “frivolous” works deserve the same critical attention as the “serious” prose. It
is a pertinent suggestion, which should be taken into account in Poe criticism.
The last chapter examines the part rivalry and vengeance play in Poe’s fiction, along with
the ambiguous, conflictual relationships they establish between the self and the other, the
individual and the collective, or inner nature, its outward manifestations and the outside world.
These conflicts, which generate violent imagery and recurring themes such as doubling or
imposture, are traced back to Poe’s status as an outsider in 19th century American literary circles,
his hostility towards rival literary figures, or his ambivalence towards the wide public, also
referred to as “the mob”. Although maybe not as conceptually strong as the opening chapter, this
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study makes some interesting connections and, as its title suggests, opens promising new
perspectives for further investigation.
Another outstanding chapter is the fifth, which goes beyond simply cataloguing the
graphic depictions that Poe’s writings have inspired throughout time, by emphasizing the
importance attributed to literary illustration by the writer himself, and the “illustrability” of his
poetry and prose. It draws attention on Poe’s capacity for evoking powerful images, while also
evaluating the way various illustrations match the strength of his writings or fail to do so. The
section on the grotesque and the arabesque, “Lo arabesco y lo grotesco: del Art Nouveau al
Expresionismo”, is particularly edifying, as it refers back to the suggestions made in Margarita
Rigal’s opening chapter, while examining the part played by these two concepts in 19th century
and early 20th century graphic arts and the way it was influenced by Poe. Sadly, not many of the
illustrations discussed in this chapter are reproduced, and when they are their quality is sometimes
debatable; better printing conditions would have made the study even more compelling, given that
it relies so heavily on the connection between image and text.
The remaining chapters are meant to give a comprehensive account of Poe’s works and
their reception, and are generally as satisfying as the limited space devoted to each of them
permits. The second and the third explore the features pertaining to detective fiction and science
fiction that can be found in Poe’s prose, along with some of the main literary and non-literary
influences present in these writings. Both articles mention a few of the works of fiction,
newspaper articles or scientific studies whose elements Poe incorporated into his works. At the
same time, some references are made to the social and material changes occurring in 19th century
life, which might have influenced Poe and, subsequently, the genres he helped create. However,
arguably little attention is given to any of these aspects and the two chapters rarely go beyond
inventorying Poe’s genre-defining stories (this is particularly true for the chapter on detective
fiction; admittedly, the one on science fiction puts a greater emphasis on placing Poe’s prose in a
larger cultural context). All in all, the general impression we are given is that, a few precursors
notwithstanding, both detective fiction and science fiction were created pretty much single-handedly
by Poe, which can be subject to debate. Undoubtedly, however, both chapters can serve as a solid
basis for further research on Poe’s role in establishing these genres and on the literary (and
non-literary) influences both present in and exerted by his works.
Chapters four, six and seven take on the task of mapping the influence and reception of Poe’s
works and personality, albeit only in certain spheres. The fourth chapter lists Poe’s appearances in
popular culture, from poems dedicated to him during his lifetime or shortly after his death, to films or
comics based on his writings. It ends with a brief attempt to explain Poe’s easy acceptance into popular
culture and his transformation into an iconic figure, by mentioning the appeal of his biography, his
ability to satisfy both popular taste and more refined readers, and the masterful use he makes of the
element of surprise in his writings. The sixth chapter fulfills a somewhat similar task, using largely
similar methods: it overviews some of the most important writings on Poe’s life and works that
appeared in Spain from the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, appraising their originality
or indebtedness to the critical views that were popular at the time. It is illuminated by the seventh
chapter, which deals with Baudelaire’s interpretation of Poe and helps explain its lasting influence on
the way Poe was perceived in Spain and other European countries.
While these chapters cannot give a definitive, all-embracing account of the issues they
examine, they do raise some interesting questions which deserve further investigation. They can
also be a good starting point for establishing other connections; for instance, as far as pop culture
is concerned, between Poe’s role in initiating popular genres such as detective fiction, science
fiction and horror fiction, and his current iconic status; or, regarding Poe’s reception in Spain,
research can be extended to Spanish literary works that draw on Poe and the way they reflect said
reception. The same can be said about the eighth chapter, which makes some pertinent value
judgements on the quality of two Spanish translations of Poe’s works (Narraciones
extraordinarias, translated by J. Farrán y Mayoral, and Poesía completa, by María Cóndor and
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Gustavo Falaquera). Although it only focuses on a few translation problems, it draws attention on
the difficulties faced by anyone attempting to translate Poe’s poetry and prose, which deserve to
be examined in a more extensive study.
To sum up, the importance of this volume lies mainly in the inspiring new perspectives it
opens. Although far from being an exhaustive analysis of Poe’s literary and cultural legacy, this
volume has all the qualities necessary to fulfill its goal of stimulating interest towards this writer.
Its rigorous, convincing chapters do an excellent job in laying the groundwork for more detailed
research on Poe’s life, works and influence, in Spain and elsewhere.
CORINA NUŢU∗
Petr Polák, El esperpento valleinclaniano en el context del arte grotesco
europeo, Masaryková Univezita, Brno, 2011, 97 pp.
El libro de Petr Polák, licenciado en Filología Hispánica, Derecho y Teoría e Historia del
Arte Dramático de la Universidad Masaryk, es un estudio muy bien argumentado y documentado
sobre la relación entre la creación artística del esperpento del autor modernista español Ramón del
Valle-Inclán y la estética de lo grotesco. El trabajo se estructura en tres capítulos que desarrollan
el tema central, yuxtaponiendo teoría y análisis de texto.
En el primer capítulo Polák se acerca a la teoría del esperpento desde la definición del
término en DRAE hasta la idea estética del propio Valle-Inclán y las opiniones de los más
importantes estudiosos de la literatura española. El esperpento elude una definición sencilla por su
“naturaleza híbrida y original” y llega a significar tanto el género dramático creado por el escritor
gallego, como una particular visión del mundo, una categoría estética que echa sus raíces en el
arte grotesco español y europeo. La naturaleza amorfa del esperpento proviene del hecho de que
el concepto ha conocido una modificación y evolución en cada una de las obras de Valle-Inclán,
desde la dramaturgia anterior a Luces de Bohemia de 1920, pasando por Los cuernos de don
Friolera (1921), Las galas del difunto (1926), La hija del capitán (1927), hasta obras posteriores
que recuperan y utilizan rasgos esperpénticos, como la novela Tirano Banderas (1926). Como en
el caso de la nivola unamuniana, el esperpento es un género autorreflexivo que se define a sí
mismo a medida que se articula como creación artística. La primera y más conocida teoría del
concepto la ofrece Max Estrella, protagonista de Luces de Bohemia, que se vale de la metáfora de
los espejos cóncavos en que se reflejan los héroes clásicos, o sea el reflejo deformado de los
valores estéticos, morales y sociales del mundo. La finalidad es representar y criticar la esencia de
la realidad moderna, desrealizando sus apariencia física, para que el autor evoque su naturaleza
trágica, corrupta, ridícula desde una posición demiúrgica. Nos parece relevante comentar aquí la
larga tradición en la literatura española de la metáfora del espejo como filtro que se interpone
entre el artista y la realidad. Casi se convierte en un tópico presente en la obra de varios escritores
modernistas, entre quienes nombramos al más influyente filósofo del siglo veinte, José Ortega y
Gasset. El arte moderno según Ortega y Gasset plantea un cambio radical de perspectiva sobre la
realidad, declarándose autónomo, subjetivo y deshumanizado. El esperpento es una de estas
múltiples facetas del arte de principios del siglo y, según apunta Polák, se inscribe en la línea
vanguardista del modernismo, al lado del expresionismo alemán y de las cabriolas grotescas futuristas.
∗
Departamento de Lingüística Románica, Lenguas y Literaturas Iberorománicas e Italiano,
Universidad de Bucarest, corina.nutu@gmail.com.
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En el segundo capítulo Polák se preocupa por el origen del arte grotesco que se remite a
los murales de los antiguos edificios de la Roma antigua, y su evolución hasta el romanticismo.
Se realzan las características de la deformación y subjetivismo que recuerdan la descripción del
esperpento del capítulo anterior. Al semantismo histórico del arte grotesco – sea estilo extravagante y
caricatural en la época clásica, sea horrible y monstruoso en la época romántica – le corresponden
las teorías de Mijaíl Bajtín y de Wolfgang Kayser. El crítico ruso enfoca el arte grotesco durante
la edad media y el renacimiento desde una perspectiva social, insistiendo en su vertiente popular y
carnavalesca, mientras que el teórico alemán explora el lado angustioso y macabro. De las dos
visiones se recalcan la hibridación, y la heterogeneidad de elementos cómicos y trágicos, rasgos
propios también del arte grotesco pictórico. Polák pasa revista a los más importantes pintores y
escritores del arte universal y español que han desarrollado la estética grotesca, con ejemplos
numerosos y relevantes.
En el último capítulo, el tercero, se alcanza el propósito principal del estudio, al ponerse
de manifiesto la presencia de elementos grotescos en el esperpento valleinclanesco: deformación
y desdoblamiento de los seres humanos, animalización y muñequización, distorsión del lenguaje.
De afiliación barroca – Quevedo y Cervantes – y romántica – Goya – la estética esperpéntica
aglutina tendencias comunes de las vanguardias europeas, alistándose en las primeras filas del
regeneracionismo modernista español. En palabras de Valle-Inclán, el esperpento es una
“tragicomedia mojiganga” o una “buffa tragedia” – definición que nos recuerda otra vez de la
opinión de Miguel de Unamuno en cuanto a su novela modernista, llamada nivola. Desde el punto
de vista retórico el esperpento evoluciona desde el horror hasta lo carnavalesco persiguiendo el
mismo fin: socavar los valores y las normas establecidos desde un marcado compromiso social y moral.
El presente estudio de Petr Polák constituye una lectura al día muy provechosa sobre el
esperpento de Ramón del Valle-Inclán y el origen de la estética grotesca en el arte europeo y español.
MELANIA STANCU∗
Sorina Dora Simion, La retórica del discurso en la obra de Enrique
Vila-Matas, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti, 2012, 365 pp.
El su libro de 2005, Doctor Pasavento, Enrique Vila-Matas nos confiesa: „Sólo sé que me
fascina escribir sobre el misterio de que exista el misterio de la existencia del mundo, porque
adoro la aventura que hay en todo texto que uno pone en marcha, porque adoro el abismo, el
misterio mismo, y adoro, además esa línea de sombra que, al cruzarla, va a parar al territorio de lo
desconocido (p.33). Es un acto de fe del escritor barcelonés que se vuelve representativo para toda
su creación ficcional. En su obra la literatura y la realidad son dos espacios interconectados que
comunican a través de las palabras y del misterio, hasta que la literatura se convierte en la única
realidad posible. La obsesión de la literatura es una fuente permanente para la imaginación de
Vila-Matas que desde una posición autorreflexiva y paródica se interesa por la vida de escritores,
por el acto de creación o bien su cese, imaginándose la realidad – igual a J.L.Borges – como la
consecuencia de un texto infinito de ficción (Le Magazine Littéraire no. 534/agosto 2013, p.99).
Es el mismo misterio de la narrativa del autor catalán lo que constituye el propósito de la
investigación académica de Sorina Dora Simion. El libro La retórica del discurso en la obra de Enrique
Vila-Matas representa la tesis doctoral que la autora defendió en 2011 en la Universidad de Bucarest,
∗
Departamento de Lingüística Románica, Lenguas y Literaturas Iberorománicas e Italiano,
Universidad de Bucarest, melanias@gmail.com.
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bajo la coordinación del profesor Coman Lupu y del profesor Francisco Chico Rico. El estudio plantea
una aproximación interdisciplinaria a la obra vila-matiana y se construye a lo largo de cinco secciones
(Introducción, Bases teóricas, Análisis práctico, Bibliografía y Anexos) y siete capítulos.
El corpus estudiado abarca un número de dieciséis novelas, dos volúmenes de ensayos y
entrevistas que se extienden a un periodo de tiempo de 37 años. No obstante, Sorina Simion decide
dedicar un capítulo entero al análisis pormenorizado de dos de la novelas de Vila-Matas: Hijos sin hijos
de 1993 y Dublinesca de 2010. El método de análisis se fundamenta en la teoría de la retórica general
contemporánea desarrollada por Antonio García Berrio y que abarca tanto el núcleo de la retórica
clásica como también la lingüística textual, la semiótica, la semántica, la pragmática, la poética de lo
imaginario y la teoría de la literatura. Todas estas aproximaciones a la obra literaria están reunidas en un
conjunto coherente que ofrece planteamientos variados que aseguran el equilibrio en el análisis de las
partes del discurso artístico. El estudio del discurso narrativo experimental de Vila-Matas se vale
también del modelo semiótico de TeSWeST II (Petöffi, 1979 y Albaladejo 1998), que arranca desde la
teoría de la estructura del texto y de la estructura de los mundos de ficción para servir a determinar las
operaciones retóricas propias del intellectio y del inventio.
Según demuestra la autora en su trabajo la inventio consta de un número restringido de
temas y en el proceso de desarrollar, acortar, incidir, redistribuir estos contenidos semánticos:
vida/muerte; amor/odio; realidad/literatura; prosaísmo/imaginación; mundo cotidiano/mundo
inusual, imaginario; identidad/alteridad. En cuanto al nivel dispositivo, las reglas del retazo y las
reglas de la geometría fractal actúan conjuntamente y fraguan estructuras dinámicas y recurrentes,
autosimilares y recursivas. Es la estrategia del caos integrado y dominado o del fractal-concha. En
este mismo nivel dispositivo, se nota el deseo del escritor de buscar siempre lo nuevo, de no
estancarse en la convención. Por lo tanto, surgen estructuras complejas, al mismo tiempo, estables
e inestables, dinámicas y estáticas, naturales y artificiales. En el nivel elocutivo, al escritor, el
marco narrativo le sirve como pretexto para desarrollar y sugerir lo de dentro, oculto, y que no se
revela más que a veces. Necesita una trama débil para desarrollar los núcleos simbólicos, el
código metafórico propio. La poeticidad del novelista catalán se apoya en dos figuras
fundamentales: la antítesis – para expresar la polaridad yo narrativo – el otro – y la metáfora – que
también sirve en los juegos de identidad entre los personajes y describir otros elementos
constituyentes como el espacio y el tiempo.
Aunque Vila-Matas ha sido considerado por muchos críticos autor posmoderno, Sorina
Simion se plantea revisar esta acepción y trae argumentos para encajar la prosa vila-matiana en la
corriente de la transmodernidad (Rodríguez Magda, 2004). El movimiento trans – supera los
límites del postmodernismo, englobando elementos de las vanguardias y del modernismo,
valiéndose de los avances técnicos y del universo cibernético, o sea portátil, que configura la
realidad presente en una sucesión rápida y aleatoria de imágenes.
Los protagonistas de las novelas de Vila-Matas son instancias del propio yo creador como
impostor, shandy, hijo sin hijos, espía, viajante, Bartleby, Montano, padre e hijo, Hemingway,
hikikomori. La autopsia de la novela post- o trans-moderna deja al descubierto no sólo al autor,
pero también al lector. Éste es co-productor, editor, amigo de los textos heterogéneos – relatos
orales, conferencias, manuscritos, memorias, diario, historia, enciclopedia, autobiografía,
documento world – que constituyen la hibridez de la prosa vila-matiana. Su obra es el resultado
de una tensión permanente entre contrarios – literatura y vida, ficción y realidad, identidad y
alteridad, eros y thanasos, cordura y locura, descendencia y tiempo – que se resuelve en una
reconciliación de tipo barroco o manierista o transmoderna, según demuestra Sorina Simion.
La originalidad y la rigurosidad científica recomienda La retórica del discurso en la obra de
Enrique Vila-Matas como una lectura imprescindible tanto para los estudiosos de la prosa del autor
como para los interesados en las aportaciones de la retórica general en el plano de la narrativa actual.
MELANIA STANCU∗
∗
Departamento de Lingüística Románica, Lenguas y Literaturas Iberorománicas e Italiano,
Universidad de Bucarest, melanias@gmail.com.
CONTRIBUTORS
IOANA COSTA is professor at the University of Bucharest, Department of Classical
Philology, since 1990; has a PhD in Indo-European Linguistics (1996). She is the author of Neflexibile
indo-europene (1999), Fonetică istorică latină (2003, 2008), Textele antice şi transmiterea lor
(2008, 2011), Papirus, pergament, hîrtie. Începuturile cărţii (Humanitas, 2011), Nec merguntur.
O sută de poveşti filologice (2012), Antichităţile noastre (2013). She edited and/or translated Pliny
the Elder’s Naturalis historia (6 volumes, Polirom, 2001-2004), Seneca’s Opera philosophica
(6 volumes, Polirom, 2004-2008), chapters in Septuaginta (8 volumes, NEC-Polirom, 2004-2011),
Cato’s De agri cultura; participated in more than 60 national and international scientific reunions
and published circa 100 papers and book reviews in philological periodicals and volumes.
IRINA-ANA DROBOT. Born 1983. I graduated from The Faculty of Foreign Languages and
Literatures (University of Bucharest) in 2006. The subject of my graduation paper was "Phonological
Processes in English in the Feature Geometry Model" (supervisor: professor Andrei Avram). In
2007 I graduated from the MA programme English Applied Linguistics – Teaching Modern Languages.
The subject of my dissertation paper was "Varieties of New English: Phonological Features" (supervisor:
professor Andrei Avram). I have been working as a junior teaching assistant at the Technical University
of Civil Engineering Bucharest, Department of Foreign Languages and Communications
(teaching English) since October 2007. I am a PhD candidate (since October 2008) (Literary and
Cultural Studies Doctoral School, University of Bucharest). The title of my PhD thesis is Virginia
Woolf and Graham Swift:The Lyrical Novel. My advisor is professor Lidia Vianu. I am a member
of the Editorial Board of Buletinul Stiintific, Seria Limbi Straine şi Comunicare review, published
by the Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest (beginning with issue V, no. 2/2012).
IRINA DUBSKÝ is a Senior Lecturer in English and American Literature, the Faculty of
Letters, Spiru Haret University, Bucharest. She holds a PhD in Philology, an MA degree in
American Cultural Studies and a BA in Foreign Languages and Literatures from the University of
Bucharest. Her doctoral dissertation entitled “Shadowings-Forth of the Invisible”: Esotericism in
Herman Melville’s Fiction – Moby Dick and the Tales (distinction: Magna cum Laude) encapsulates
the focal points of her field of research, represented by the exploration of the alchemical tropes
and esoteric significance encoded in Herman Melville’s work alongside the study of the initiatory
patterns and symbolic imagery in the literature of the American Renaissance. She has been
involved in this intellectual enterprise throughout her academic studies and onwards. A more
recent facet of her research is represented by the role Protestantism has played in the foundation
and development of the American mental history. This activity has been materialized in her
participating in conferences and similar scientific events as well as in the publication of several
professional papers and a forthcoming book on Herman Melville’s esoteric thought. She has also
worked as a translator for Humanitas Publishing House.
DELIA MĂDĂLINA GRIGORE is a Rroma woman born in Galaţi town, on 7th of
February 1972, but raised in Bucharest from the age of four years. She is a teacher of Rromani
literature and culture at the University of Bucharest – Faculty of Foreign Languages and
Literatures, where she began her work in 1998. She graduated the Faculty of Letters at the
University of Bucharest in 1995 and the mastership in ethnology and folklore at the same Faculty
of Letters in 1996. In 2004, with the thesis „Rromanipen – Family Customs in Rroma Traditional
Culture”, she obtained the PhD degree in visual arts – ethnography – ethnology specialization at
162
CONTRIBUTORS
the Romanian Academy – „Constantin Brăiloiu” Institute of Ethnography and Folklore. Between
1995 and 2002 she worked as a curator at the National Village Museum „Dimitrie Gusti”. She
began her work as an activist in the Rroma movement for Rroma rights and for Rroma ethnic
identity in 1996 and so far she coordinated a significant number of projects targeting Rroma and
she participated to a huge number of conferences, congresses, seminars concerning Rroma issues.
From 2004 Delia Mădălina Grigore is the president of the Rroma Center „Amare Rromentza”.
From 2011 she is a member of the National Commission for Safeguarding the Immaterial Cultural
Heritage of the Ministry of Culture. In 2007 she moderated the TV show „About us, the Rroma”. She is
the author of some important studies about Rroma, the most important being: Guidelines of Rromani
Language and Culture, (2000); Rromanipen – Family Mystics at the Rroma (2001); Introduction in
the Study of Rroma Contemporary Identity’s Traditional Culture Patterns – Rromani anthropology
and folklore course (2001); Rromanipen – Rromani Culture Benchmarks (2011) and the co-author
of a significant number of books: Rroma History and Traditions – textbook for 6th and 7th classes
(2005); Rroma in Search for their Self-esteem – exploratory study (2007); Assessment of
Educational Public Policies Addressed to Rroma (2009); Practical Guidelines for Intercultural
Preschool Education (2011); Practical Guidelines for Bilingual Preschool Education (2011);
Documentary (script and production) and volume Sostar na rovas? / Why aren’t we crying? – O
Samudaripen / Rroma Holocaust and its True Story (2009). Delia Grigore also writes poetry in
Rromani language: she is the co-author of the poetry volume Babel.ro. Young Minority Poets
(2000) and she won the 2nd prize of poetry at the International Creation Contest „Amico Rom”,
15th edition, organized by „Them Romano” Association in Lanciano, Italy (2008).
MIHAI IACOB (born in 1968, Deva, Romania) is Associate Professor at the University
of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Department of Romance Linguistics,
Ibero-Romance Languages and Literatures and Italian, where he teaches since 1993. He also
collaborates as a researcher with Grupo de Tradducción & Paratraducción of the University of
Vigo (since 2011). In 2002 he earned his PhD degree in Philology (cum laude) with the thesis
Significado y funciones del paratexto en los códices de las “Cantigas de Santa María” de Alfonso
X El Sabio (published in 2003). His interests mostly concern postmodern and modern Spanish
narratology, argumentation and cultural studies. Some of his recent publications are: “The
(Re)Construction of Transylvania in Vampire Films” (2013), “El paratexto literario y la
traducción: algunas cuestiones teóricas con aplicaciones prácticas” (2012), “La problematización
de la ficción en Fray Gerundio de Campazas de Francisco de Isla” (2011), “La ‘otra Europa’:
construcción de la imagen de Rumanía en los medios españoles” (2010), “La instrumentalización
de la feminidad en la publicidad automovilística y su regulación” (2010 and “The Myth of
Dracula As a Didactic Hypertext” (2010).
ANCA PEIU, PhD, Associate Professor, Literary Translator. In January 1991, Anca Peiu
won the professional contest for a position in the Department of English, of the Faculty of Foreign
Languages and Literatures, of the University of Bucharest – her Alma Mater. Ever since then she has
taught lectures and seminars of American Literature of the 19th and 20th centuries, early American
Civilization, British Literature of the 20th century, electives on Wallace Stevens (1879-1955), and
William Faulkner (1897-1962), practical English language. She has instructed an impressive
number of students, helping them as the advisor of their graduation papers. In December 1999,
Anca Peiu earned her doctoral degree in Comparative Literature, due to a study in narratology
with a special approach of Thomas Mann (1875-1955) and William Faulkner. Her dissertation
was published by the University Press of Bucharest. As an acknowledged scholar in her field of
research, Dr. Anca Peiu has published in a critical edition three volumes of her own literary
translations into Romanian from William Faulkner’s works, provided with updated introductory
studies and well-documented chronologies. More volumes of this critical edition are still to follow.
Anca Peiu is the author of numerous academic essays in literary studies, published in many
RECENZII • COMPTES RENDUS • REVIEWS
163
prestigious anthologies, in various university volumes and reviews. She is currently preparing an
ampler volume of studies in American Literature. Associate Professor Anca Peiu has traveled as
an IREX scholar to Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA, and later, as a Fulbright scholar
to Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. As a Soros grantee, she has been to
Warwick University, England, UK, and likewise, to Edinburgh University, Scotland, UK.
MARIA SÂRBU. Born on July 17, 1985, in Hunedoara. PhD in Philology with a thesis
entitled “Motifs littéraires dans l’œuvre d’Alain-Fournier”, member of the French Teachers’ Romanian
Association and of the “Charlotte Sibi” Francophone Cultural Association of Iaşi. Graduate of the
“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi, Faculty of Letters (Romanian-French), class of 2007 and
Francophone Studies Master, class of 2009. Graduate of the School of Arts Iaşi, specialization
painting, 2006. During the academic year 2009-2010, she has been collaborating to the documentation
for the dictionary of the Romanian language, project of the Romanian Academy. Literary debut in
Litere magazine, 2010. She published poems and literature studies in Romanian magazines. As a
French and Romanian teacher, she has been attending several trainings in Romania and abroad.
On July 5, 2012, she has been a speaker during a workshop for the French teachers during the
First French Language World Forum (Québec, Canada). On Octobre 23, 2013, she was one of the
speakers at a round table of the Regional Seminar for the French teachers held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
LAURA SITARU. PhD, is a lecturer at Department of Arabic, Faculty of Foreign
Languages, University of Bucharest. She is currently working on cultural patterns and identities in
Arab Islamic World in modern context. Her areas of interest also include modern Arabic literature
and contemporary political developments in Arab World. As a lecturer at Arabic Department, she
delivers undergraduate and graduate courses of Arabic Language (Modern Standard Arabic) and
Arab Islamic Civilization (Modern Period). In 2009, her book Arab Political Thought. Key-concepts
between tradition and innovation was published by Romanian Polirom publishing house. She was
also a Fulbright Visiting researcher at Georgetown University, Alwaleed Ben Talal Center for
Muslim Christian Understanding (2011-2012), a Visiting Scholar at Cairo University, Faculty of
Arts (2000-2001) and Faculty of Political Sciences and Economy (2007-2008). She finished her
PhD and MA degrees in conceptual history at the University of Bucharest and BA degree in
Arabic Language and Literature at the same university.
HANIBAL STĂNCIULESCU, PhD, has been born in 1955 in Poseşti (Prahova). He
studied philology (Italian-French studies) at the University of Bucharest. In 1999 he became
teacher at the Philological Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures where he teaches Italian
language and culture. Before starting his carrier at the University, in the ’90s, he has run the
literary magazine CONTRAPUNCT where he wrote dozens of articles. He also published articles
in other periodicals. He is the author of several books: short stories (The Household, The
Revolution in Appartment 114) and a novel (Murder in Harmonia Mundy Shop). His theater play,
The Migraine, has been staged at the National radio as well as on one of Bucharest’s important
stages, Teatrul Mic. His scientific work, which has become more important in the latest years, is
refering to the contemporary Italian literature, especially Postmodernism. On this subject he
publishes in 2007 a book: Italian Landmarks in Umberto Eco’s Novels. Also he published in
several books with multiple authors studies on the same subject. His next book will be on the
issue of transcodification in the work of several Italian poets and novelists among who one can
found Petrarca, Ungaretti and Cesare Pavese.
ROXANA UTALE (born in 1966) is a graduate of the Faculty of Letters but, for two
decades, she has dedicated herself to Italian studies and now teaches at the Foreign Languages
and Literatures Faculty of the University of Bucharest. Her interests mostly concern modern and
contemporary Italian literature studies, with a particular stress on playwrights (studies on: Piero
164
CONTRIBUTORS
Metastasio, Luigi Pirandello, Ettore Petrolini, Alberto Savinio, Massimo Bontempelli, Eduardo
De Filippo, Dino Buzatti, Renato Mainardi, Corrado Alvaro, Alberto Moravia, Natalia Ginzburg,
Pier Paolo Pasolini, variety arts, Futurism a.s.o.) It was this field that also constituted the subject
for her doctoral thesis (started under the guidance of the dearly missed Prof. Marian Papahagi and
finished with Prof. Doina Derer, 2005), Naraturgii. Studiu de dramaturgie italiană din secolul XX
[“The Narraturgists. A Study of 20th Century Italian Dramaturgy”] (2009, Editura Universităţii
Bucureşti). The same publishing house brought out Roxana Utale’s handbooks, commented
anthologies or works edited by her. With Prof. Doina Derer, she is the coordinator and co-author
of the Dicţionar Român-Italian [Romanian-Italian Dictionary] (Gramar, Bucharest, 1999; 2008).
She is a translator of fiction and essays.
ANCA-LUISA VIUSENCO. For the past five years, she has been working as a Teaching
Assistant within the Department of Geology of the Faculty of Geography and Geology of the
“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași. An American Studies graduate, she has recently
earned her PhD with the thesis “The Madwoman: From Life to Page to Screen.” The topic of her
doctoral research, conducted based on the principles of Cultural Studies and Feminism, was the
fictional representation of women suffering from various mental disturbances (from post-partum
psychosis to schizophrenia) in seven (semi)autobiographical works belonging to female American
authors, as well as, where possible, their corresponding filmic adaptations. Anca-Luisa Viusenco
is the author of papers such as “The Madwoman: A Feminist Controversy,” published in the
Supplement to Tome XIV (2011) of the Scientific Annals of the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza”
University of Iași (Foreign Languages and Literatures), and “The Madness Narrative: Between
the Literary, the Therapeutic and the Political,” published in vol. 10, no. 1 (March 2013) of the
Romanian Journal of English Studies. Apart from those which oriented her choice of doctoral
topic, her academic interests also include ethnic literature, American history and visual art (the
work of Georgia O’Keeffe, in particular).
DIANA YUKSEL is Assistant Professor at the University of Bucharest, the Faculty of
Foreign Languages and Literatures, where she teaches courses on Korean language, Korean
culture and thought, Korean literature and Korean popular culture. She has received her MA
degree in Eastern philosophy from the School of Liberal Arts at Yonsei University in Korea and
her PhD from the Doctoral School of Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Bucharest.
She published a number of papers based on her research on Korean Confucianism, but also on her
teaching experience in Korean Studies. Diana Yuksel is the Coordinator of the Korean Language
and Literature program at the University of Bucharest. She has given lectures in Korean
Confucianism and Korean cultural identity at Charles University in Prague, Comenius University
in Bratislava and the University of Warsaw.
ANALELE UNIVERSITĂŢII BUCUREŞTI (AUB)
LIMBI ŞI LITERATURI STRĂINE
ÎN ATENŢIA COLABORATORILOR
Pentru o cooperare eficientă între editori, autori şi casa editorială, autorii de articole şi de
recenzii sunt rugaţi să respecte următoarele norme:
Articolele pot fi trimise în engleză, franceză, română, italiană, spaniolă, germană.
Articolele trebuie să fie trimise pe suport electronic (e-mail sau CD) în format WORD
(.doc or .rtf).
Articolele trimise trebuie să conţină numele şi afilierea instituţională a autorilor, ca şi
adresa de e-mail. Autorii sunt rugaţi să predea şi o scurtă prezentare auto-bio-bibliografică
(cca. 10-15 rânduri).
Articolele trebuie să fie însoţite de un rezumat (10-15 rânduri), urmat de 5-7 cuvinte-cheie,
ambele în engleză (font Times New Roman, corp 9, la un rând).
Toate articolele şi recenziile vor fi redactate cu diacritice; dacă sunt folosite fonturi
speciale (Fonetic, ArborWin etc.), se va trimite şi tipul de font folosit.
Formatul documentului: pagină A4 (nu Letter, Executive, A5 etc.).
Marginile paginii: sus – 5,75 cm; jos – 5 cm ; stânga şi dreapta – 4,25 cm ;
antet – 4,75 cm; subsol – 1,25 cm.
Articolele trimise trebuie tehno-redactate cu font Times New Roman, corp 11, la un rând.
Titlul articolului trebuie să fie centrat, cu majuscule aldine (font Times New
Roman, corp 11).
Numele (cu majuscule aldine) şi afilierea autorului trebuie să fie centrat, sub titlu
(font Times New Roman, corp 9).
Rezumatul (însoţit de titlul articolului tradus, dacă articolul este în altă limbă decât
engleza) precedă textul articolului (font Times New Roman, corp 9, la un rând); cuvintele-cheie
(Times New Roman, corp 9, italic) urmează rezumatului.
Notele trebuie să apară în josul paginii (cu font Times New Roman, 9, la un rând).
Trimiterile bibliografice, indicarea sursei pentru citate – se vor indica în text, după
următoarea convenţie: (Autor an:(spaţiu)pagină) − (Pop 2001: 32); (Pop/Ionescu 2001: 32).
Se pot utiliza în text abrevieri, sigle (SMCF, vol. II, p. 20) care vor fi întregite la
bibliografia finală, după cum urmează:
SMCF – Studii şi cercetări privitoare la formarea cuvintelor în limba română, vol. II,
Bucureşti, Editura Academiei Române, 1961.
LR – Limba română etc....
RITL – Revista de istorie şi teorie literară etc....
RRL – Revue roumaine de linguistique
Bibliografia va fi indicată după următorul model:
166
(1) Pentru cărţi, volume, monografii se indică numele autorului, prenumele prescurtat,
anul apariţiei, titlul cu italic, editura, oraşul (eventual volumul sau numărul de volume).
În cazul în care una dintre componentele trimiterii bibliografice lipseşte, se vor
folosi normele consacrate − [s.l.], [s.a.]. La volumele colective se va indica
îndrumătorul/ coordonatorul/ editorul prin (coord.) sau (ed.)/ (eds.) după nume şi
prenume. În cazul în care există mai mulţi autori/ coordonatori/ editori, doar primul
nume va fi inversat (Zafiu, R., C. Stan...).
Coteanu, I., 1982, Gramatica de bază a limbii române, Editura Albatros, Bucureşti,
Riegel, M., J.-C. Pellat, R. Rioul, 1999, Grammaire méthodique du français, Presses
Universitaires de France, Paris.
Zafiu, R., C. Stan, Al. Nicolae (eds.), 2007, Studii lingvistice. Omagiu profesoarei Gabriela
Pană Dindelegan, la aniversare, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti, Bucureşti.
(2) Pentru articole din volume colective se indică numele autorului, prenume, an, titlu
între ghilimele, urmat de in + prenume (prescurtat), numele editorului/ editorilor
(ed./ eds.), titlul volumului în italice, editura, oraşul, pagini
Zamboni, A., 1998, „Cambiamento di lingua o cambiamento di sistema? Per un
bilancio cronologico della transizione”, in J. Herman (ed.), La tranzitione dal
latino alle lingue romanze. Atti della Tavola Rotonda di Linguistica
Storica, Università Ca’Foscari di Venezia, 14-15 giugno 1996, Tübingen,
Niemeyer, pp. 99-127.
Portine, H., 2012, « De la synonymie à la reformulation », in S. Berbinski, D. Dobre,
A. Velicu (éds.), Langages(s) et traduction, Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti,
Bucureşti, pp. 47-62
(3) Pentru articole din reviste se indică numele autorului, prenumele autorului, anul, titlul
articolului între ghilimele, urmat de in + numele revistei cu italic (neabreviat),
volumul/ tomul, numărul, pagini. În cazul în care există mai mulţi autori, doar primul
nume va fi inversat.
Fischer, I., 1968, « Remarques sur le traitement de la diphtongue au en latin vulgaire »,
în Revue Roumaine de Linguistique, XIII, nr. 5, pp. 417-420.
Cornea, P., 1994, „Noţiunea de autor: statut şi mod de folosinţă”, în Limbă şi literatură,
vol. III-IV, pp. 27-35.
Sorea, D., A. Stoica, 2011, “Linguistic Approaches to Verbal and Visual Puns”, in
Analele Universităţii Bucureşti. Limbi şi Literaturi Străine, anul LX-2011,
nr. 1, pp. 111-127.
Toate referinţele bibliografice din text trebuie să apară în bibliografia finală ; pentru mai
multe detalii despre normele de editare (“Guidelines for authors”), se poate consulta adresa :
http://www.unibuc.ro/anale_ub/limbi/index.php
Articolele trimise vor fi discutate de o comisie de specialişti în domenii filologice: lingvistică,
literatură, studii culturale, studii de traductologie.
Articolele trebuie trimise la următoarele adrese de e-mail: sabina_ioana@yahoo.com,
maura_cotfas@yahoo.com.
THE ANNALS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BUCHAREST
FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES
NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS
The authors of the articles and book reviews are requested to observe the following
publication guidelines:
The articles can be edited in English, French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, German.
The articles should be submitted electronically (by e-mail or CD) in a WORD format
(formats .doc or .rtf).
The articles should contain the author’s full name and affiliation, along with
the author’s e-mail address. The authors are requested to supply an auto-bio-bibliographical
note (approximately 10-15 lines).
The articles should contain an abstract (10-15 lines), followed by 5-7 Keywords
(Times New Roman, 9, single spaced), both in English.
All the articles and book reviews must be edited using diacritical marks; if there are
special Fonts, these should also be sent.
The page format: paper A4 (no Letter, Executive, A5 etc.);
The page margins: top – 5,75 cm; bottom – 5 cm; left and right – 4,25 cm;
header – 4,75 cm; footer – 1,25 cm.
The articles submitted for publication must be typed single spaced, in Times New
Roman, 11.
The title of the article should be centered, bold, all capitals (Times New Roman, 11)
The author’s name (bold capitals) and affiliation should be centered, under the title
(Times New Roman, 9).
The abstract (with the translated title, if the article is written in other language than
English; Times New Roman 9, single spaced) precedes the text of the article; the Keywords
(Times New Roman 9, bold) follow the abstract.
The notes should be indicated by superscript numbers in the text and typed at the
bottom of the page (single spaced, Times New Roman 9).
The references or the quotations sources should be indicated in the text, following
the format: (Author year:(space)page) − (Pop 2001: 32); (Pop/Ionescu 2001: 32).
The abbreviations or abbreviated titles (SMCF, vol. II, p. 20) can be used in the papers;
they will be included completely in the listed references at the end of the article, as it follows:
SMCF – Studii şi cercetări privitoare la formarea cuvintelor în limba română, vol. II,
Bucureşti, Editura Academiei Române, 1961.
LR – Limba română etc....
RITL – Revista de istorie şi teorie literară etc....
RRL – Revue roumaine de linguistique
The references should observe the following styles:
168
1. Books Basic Format: Author: last name, first name (only the name of the first author is
inverted), year of publication, Title of Work, publisher, location.
Coteanu, I., 1982, Gramatica de bază a limbii române, Editura Albatros, Bucureşti.
Riegel, M., J.-C. Pellat, R. Rioul, 1999, Grammaire méthodique du français,
Presses Universitaires de France, Paris.
2. Edited Books Basic Format : last name of the editor, first name, (ed./ eds.),
year of publication, Title of Work, publisher, location (only the name of the
first editor inverted).
Zafiu, R., C. Stan, Al. Nicolae (eds.), 2007, Studii lingvistice. Omagiu profesoarei
Gabriela Pană Dindelegan, la aniversare, Bucureşti, Editura Universităţii
din Bucureşti.
3. Articles or Chapters in Edited Book Basic Format: last name of the author, first name,
year of publication, “Title of article/ chapter”, in name of the editor/ editors (ed./ eds.),
in Title of Work, publisher, location, pages of chapter.
Zamboni, A., 1998, „Cambiamento di lingua o cambiamento di sistema? Per un
bilancio cronologico della transizione”, in J. Herman (ed.), La tranzitione
dal latino alle lingue romanze. Atti della Tavola Rotonda di
Linguistica Storica, Università Ca’Foscari di Venezia, 14-15 giugno
1996, Tübingen, Niemeyer, pp. 99-127.
Portine, H., 2012, « De la synonymie à la reformulation », in S. Berbinski,
D. Dobre, A. Velicu (éds.), Langages(s) et traduction, Editura Universităţii
din Bucureşti, Bucureşti, pp. 47-62
4. Articles in Journals Basic Format: last name of the author, first name (only the
name of the first author is inverted), year of publication, “Title of the article”, in
Title of Periodical, volume number (issue number), pages.
Fischer, I., 1968, « Remarques sur le traitement de la diphtongue au en latin vulgaire »,
in Revue Roumaine de Linguistique, XIII, nr. 5, pp. 417-420.
Cornea, P., 1994, „Noţiunea de autor: statut şi mod de folosinţă”, în Limbă şi
literatură, vol. III-IV, pp. 27-35.
Sorea, D., A. Stoica, 2011, “Linguistic Approaches to Verbal and Visual Puns”, in
Analele Universităţii Bucureşti. Limbi şi Literaturi Străine, anul LX-2011,
nr. 1, pp. 111-127.
All the bibliographical references should appear in the final bibliography. For some more
details (Guidelines for authors), visit also : http://www.unibuc.ro/anale_ub/limbi/index.php
All the papers will be peer-reviewed by a committee of specialists in different philological
fields: linguistics, literature, cultural studies, translation studies.
The first version of the articles should be submitted to the e-mail addresses:
sabina_ioana@yahoo.com, maura_cotfas@yahoo.com.
Tiparul s-a executat sub c-da nr. 627/2013 la
Tipografia Editurii Universităţii din Bucureşti