OPENING LECTURE

Prof. dr. Ioana Bot, Un romancier român la 1870: Mihai Eminescu

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I. EXEGESIS

Ştefan Capmare, Bucureşti, Boundary refinement. Paradox, antinomy and contrast in Eminescu’s lyric

Abstract

The task the essay undertakes is to examine some of the metaphysical inquiries pursued by Eminescu throughout his poetical works. Closely related to the issue of the Genius, the problem of Being as a paradox of both freedom and limited existence unfolds as a dialectical consideration of reality: the Limit first manifests itself in the imanent mode of contrast (where, despise the fact that the logical predicate is constant, the attributes given to the subjects differ to the verge of incompatibility), then moves forward on the existential scale in the mode of antinomy (where although the attributes remain constant and compatible, the predicate unravels the contradiction is contains within) and reaches the highest ontological point in the mode of paradox (where self-contradictory predicates are coiled around opposing attributes). The scale described above is not a merely arbitrary scheme of concepts crafted so Eminescu’s poetry might fit improperly onto a generous structure of unclear and uncertain ideas, but it is the spontaneous expression of what Hegel would describe as the deeper ontological premises of art. The works of Mihai Eminescu, usually reclaimed to be built on foreign philosophies (Kant, Schopenhauer, Pitagora, Buddha etc.) tackles an issue that would be developed and thoroughly questioned only later on in the history of philosophy, that is the issue of ontological limitation, namely, the very place where thinking stops and Being starts – the paradox.

Key-words: ontology, logical paradoxes, limitation, Weltanschauung, antinomies, contrasts, metaphysical foundation of poetry, applied hermeneutics.

 

Mihaela-Oana Gogoșeanu, Timişoara, Stoicism’s and Hedonism’s visages in Eminescu’s lyrical creation

Abstract

Starting from the premises that philosophy and poetry are impossible to separate and that all the ideas are recycled, this paper succeeds to demonstrate that Stoicism and Hedonism, two of the most important philosophical models of the Antiquity, have a powerful influence in Mihai Eminescu’s lyrical creation.

The process is based on both, philosophical and literary, analysis of four poems of the poet, Pajul Cupidon…, De pe ochi ridici…, Ca și Stoa ce pretinde… and Glossă, each one of them being framed in one of the three creation phases, established depending on the particularities of the poetic vision expressed in each of the poems: The hedonistic visage (Pajul Cupidon…), The transition (De pe ochi ridici…, Ca și Stoa ce pretinde…) and The stoic visage (Glossă). If for the first and the third phases the subject is clear, the second one brings forward a third influence, of another philosophical pattern, the Epicureanism.

However, the point of interest does not consist only in the demonstration of the antique philosophy’s influences, even if it is the main thesis, but also in the metamorphosis of the poet’s attitude, from a verve quite libertine, to a deep sensitivity, generated by the refinement of his poetic vision and, why not, by maturity of judgement.

Key-words: stoicism, hedonism, epicureanism, philosophy, poetry

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George Andrei Peptine, Braşov, Death and contemplation in Eminescu’s poetry. Absolution from will

Abstract

The paper points out that the work of Eminescu is influenced by various philosophers but mostly by Schopenhauer's philosophical system. Starting from this assumption, the paper demonstrates through exemplification of Eminescu's poetry that we can talk about the philosophical influences in his poetry rather than the takeover in totality of the Schopenhauer's philosophical system. The paper discusses poems such as Scrisoarea I, Diana, Floare albastră, Mortua est! and others.

Key-words: will, nature, death, contemplation, philosophy.

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Diana-Cristina Teieru, Cluj-Napoca, Golden mirrors in the eminescian imaginary

Abstract

The research work aims to demonstrate through the analysis of some eminescian poetic texts that, along with the introduction in the eminescian universe, the golden mirrors reorganize the fictional space, restoring the ordering principle of the eminescian universe, discovering, at the same time, the relativity of perspectives, and in this way, the complexity of the spirit games. The presence of the golden mirrors brings again the dissociation of the magical space from the mythical space, a thing highlighted in the analysis of Eminescuʼs creations.

It should be noted that the mirrors operate in the regime of fairy tales, of fantasy, of magic. This topos is devoid of the logical order of the miraculous facts manifested inside this universe. The golden mirror reveals the impossible, and the magic and mythology overturns the visible world.

So, the golden mirrors encrypt and reveal the truth, but it also gives us the possibility to materialize the thought in complex imaginary forms. Also, the golden mirrors that are present in the eminescian texts are capable of finding the process of creation.

The game between the realm of reality and the realm of the imaginary is carried on confusing borders, because the mirror is a topos of the ephemeral, of the illusions, of the ghosts.

Key-words: golden mirrors, eminescian imaginary, magical space, mythical space, mirror universe.

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Alexandru Lazea, Timişoara, The Faces of the Shadow

Abstract

Although Jung stated that it is not the shadow which is important, but the body that produces it, this statement can be contradicted within Eminescu’s narrative, and that is precisely the thing I intend to underline in the paper The Faces of the Shadow. This paper follows a matrix-like structure, done with the help of the two coordinates I intend to follow. The first part of the study, i.e. Shadow. A new entity?, analyzes the idea of the double, or better said, the climax that the shadow tries to outline around a personality, becoming an entity that generates instability in its own self. The two texts that I have chosen to support my thesis are Umbra mea (My Shadow) and Avatarii faraonului Tlà (Pharaoh Tlà’s Avatars). The second coordinate of this study, The Shadow of Death, starts from the text Moartea lui Ioan Vestimie (The Death of Ioan Vestimie), in which I intend to follow the consequences of a strange process: the shadow leaves the individual and can be considered a symptom of death.

Key-words: shadow, death, dreamlike digression, double, entity.

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Victor Cobuz, Bucureşti, The spatiality of Eminescu’s prose

Abstract

Most of Romanian critics had often overlooked Mihai Eminescu’s prose. Eugen Simion and G. Călinescu wrote the most important pages on this topic, but other major critics have suggested that since Eminescu is better as a poet than a short story writer they should not talk about his prose too much. In this context, this paper proposes a new approach to Eminescu’s prose to underline its importance. By analyzing the spatiality of Eminescu’s short stories and novellas we are trying to observe how is the space instrumentalized by the author to support the ideas behind the text. For this, we are using Bertrand Westphal’s and Robert T. Tally’s types of geocriticism and their tools. To work more efficiently, we divided Eminescu’s prose in fantastic stories and non-fantastic stories. In this way we produce a dichotomy in the nature of these text’s space as well. Also, we are trying to see how Eminescu builds a space and how can this space be located in the context of the Romanticism literature.

Key-words: Mihai Eminescu; prose; spatiality; geocriticism; literary geography; spaces; fantastic literature; romanticism.

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Aurelian Alin Vasilie, Sibiu, The mystical eros in Eminescu’s poetry

Abstract

We have tried in these pages to analyze Eminescu’s poetry from a different  point of view , using some tools from history of religions . In the past mystics used the power of magic in order to receive access to the spiritual world . In Marcilio Ficino’s view a way to use magic in order to receive access to the spiritual world is to understand and to control the power of Eros . Someone is able to control this power just after an interior fight with himself in which he must drop out the pleasures and the happiness of this world , so an asceticism , an interior mortification . This way is followed every time in Eminescu’s poetry but is always doomed to fail. Love is never truly blessed in his poetry.

Key-words: rapture, ascension, pneuma, Eros, magic.

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II. THE CRITIQUE OF CRITICISM & CULTURAL STUDIES

Christinne Schmidt, Cluj-Napoca, Reception of D. Popovici’s eminescology courses in literary criticism

Abstract

In the present paper I try to prove how two of the most known reasearches written by D. Popovici, professor at the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy in Cluj-Napoca in the first half of the XXth century, were discussed in the field of literary criticism. Altough D. Popovici delivered this lectures during the 40’s, their publication will be delayed until the 70’s-80’s. As a result, these texts will be welcomed with two different approaches: authors either confirm their scientific value, either appreciate them according to unsuitable criteria. Some of them see D. Popovici as an important voice in the history of eminescology while others think his place among the reseachers in this field is still questionable.

Key-words: eminescology, literary criticism, literary research, XXth century..

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Anca Sandu, Iaşi, Eminescu and the image of the genius in the Romanian culture of the nineteenth century

Abstract

Starting from Adrian Tudurachi’s critical study, The Genius Factory. The Birth of a Productivity Myth in the Romanian Culture (1825-1875), our research will investigate the way in which the notion of genius is perceived throughout the 19th century. Although it was initially understood as an individual’s capacity to create literary texts using the sense of sight or hearing, this concept has undergone a series of changes which act in accordance with the dogmas of the times – tabula rasa, Saint-Simonianism, the Romantic figure of the genius, and so on. Is there a relation between Eminescu and all these senses? And why Eminescu? We tried to find an answer to these questions.

Key-words: genius, Adrian Tudurachi, latency, literature, eminescian myth.

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Emilia Merce, Timişoara, Digital and traditional: discourse as a point of balance

Abstract

In the following paper we illustrated how the discourse about Eminescu had evolved, over the past decades, in two directions: the discourse sustained by critics, historians and anthropologists, and the e-discourse. But, both reflect how a cultural identity, represented in this case by Eminescu as a national ideal, still exists even if we try to overcome it.

These discourses have a lot of similarities, because, in fact, the e-discourse is a copy-discourse. Both are developed starting from the same schema: they revolve around Eminescu’s biography and his creation. If the form is important for the e-discourse, for the other, the idea is important. But, even if the idea is still important for the critics or anthropologists, the discourse related to Eminescu from the last decades reflects just copy-ideas.

Therefore, the discourse about Eminescu’s myth from the last twenty years does not resolve our problem: we want to overcome our minor culture complex to be able to create new national emblems, but it is not possible without Eminescu’s myth.

Key-words: cultural identity, discourse, digital, myth, traditional.

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Violeta Iațco, Bălţi, Two Italian interpretations of the poem Luceafărul

Abstract

The aim of this  paper is to analyze the poem Luceafărul from the perspective of Italian criticism, on the basis of two critical analysis books Eminescu sau despre Absolut by Rosa Del Conte and Luceafărul de Mihai Eminescu. Portretul unei zeități întunecate by Gisèle Vanhese.

It should be appreciated the fact that one of the most critical cultures such as the Italian one, is interested in Romanian literature, especially in the poem Luceafărul by Mihai Eminescu.

Rosa Del Conte is concerned with the issue of the Demiurg's refusal. She manages to decode the poetic meaning of this poem and to focus her attention on the explanation of this refusal which is under the sign of mercy of the demiurgical principle.

Gisèle Vanhese pays attention to more problems: the relationship between the angelic and the demonic hypostasis, avantexts and après-texts of the macropoem, Eminescu - the figure of the Night Poet, analyzing all the variants of the poem Luceafărul.

Key-words: Luceafărul, the Demiurg's refusal, avantexts, après-texts, symbolic polarity.

 

III. STYLISTICS AND POETICS

Andreea Mîrț, Cluj-Napoca, The complementarity of the elements in Eminescu’s nocturnal imaginary. Case study on youth posthumous works

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the nocturnal imaginary in Mihai Eminescu’s  young  posthumous poetry. Within Eminescu’s nocturnal imaginary, the key elements appear in order to confirm the general idea of harmony and balance. In some poems, they manage to foreshadow another phase of creation, the maturity one, where the poetic character looks for answers and acknowledges his own existential crisis.

At the same time, confirming all the directions of romanticism, many poems from the analyzed period are based on dreams and reveries. Those are the elements that actually set off and emphasize the whole landscape, as it appears in Eminescu’s vision. Beside them, there is the spell which also appears as a set off element that confirms the complementarities of all these elements. Therefore, this paper aims to analyze stylistically and thematically the major elements according to Eminescu’s general vision.

Key-words: key elements, nocturnal imaginary, complementarities, dream, reverie, spell.

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Alexandru Foitoș, Timişoara, Chromatic stylemes in the aquatic poetics of Mihai Eminescu

Abstract

The aim of the following paper is to highlight the main occurrences of different structures that contain elements which are representative for the aquatic poetics of Mihai Eminescu and their determinants, which are different colours that create the specific imagery of Eminescu’s lyrical works and which become stylemes. These two elements, together, contribute to the enrichment of the text expressiveness by creating different chromatic epithets or other semantic figures. Thus, the paper focuses on five chromatic elements, such as blue, yellow, green, red and black, which are usually associated with motifs such as the lake, the sea, the river, the waves, the billows etc. We managed to identify 30 occurrences of this type, creating an impressive table of stylistic structures that have different poetic effects at the level of the lyrical discourse.

Key-words: micro-stylistics, aquatic poetics, imagery, styleme, chromatic epithet.

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IV. JOURNALISTIC ACTIVITY, NOTES, CORRESPONENCE

Ica Roxana Dumbravă, Bucureşti, Cultural interferences. The poetics of the outside in Eminescu's love letters

Abstract

The present paper starts from the premise that in Eminescu's love letters the exterior has a special importance. The world in the letters is not utopian, an ideal world, but it reflects as faithfully as possible the contemporary society in which the two lovers live. The correspondence / the letters form a world of sincerity, in which aspects of society are not ignored. The context fixes details such as Mihai Eminescu's journalistic activity, Veronica Micle's literary interests, as well as political and social details of the times in which the two live. The facts are outlined with enthusiasm, the are found many ideas about poetry and what it means, about the role of literature in the lives of the two, the role of the lover being an essential one, rendered by a simple, natural style that shapes the society in which they live.

Key-words: exterior, culture, masks, society, authenticity.

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Alexandra Olteanu, Iaşi, The Influence of Eminescu's Journalism on the Ideology of the Writers of "Viața Românească"

Abstract

The present paper aims to analyse the relationship between the dynamics of Eminescu's Journalism and the formation of one of the most important political and literary ideologies in the interwar period, the "poporanism". The writers gathered around the cultural publication entitled "Viața Românească", along their mentor, Garabet Ibrăileanu, were determined to to provide a concrete form to Eminescu’s political, social and cultural ideals. Our national poet’s journalistic discourses featured greater concern for the romanian peasants’ fate, including their changing relationship with the estates owners. The political battles performed by the two historical parties, the liberals and the conservatives, drew the poporanist literary group’s disapproval and created the premises for some resounding polemics with the writers gathered around "Sămănătorul" and their ideology named "sămănătorism". Some of the greatest literary works given by the poporanist writers as Garabet Ibrăileanu or Ionel Teodoreanu, the novels Adela and La Medeleni illustrates the aesthestic consequences of Eminescu’s imagery and style along the same lines of the conservative literary direction creating the so-called "reactionary modernism"

Key-words: influence, journalism, ideology, culture, literature, tradition.

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Gabriela Veronica Isailă, Cluj-Napoca, Writing “the History” in the Dark

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse the complexity of elements, the symbols and Eminescu’s specific way of building a text based on a solid opinion about writing. Very few lines could discover a sum of interpretations, thus, in this short posthumous text chosen for analysis, [When I was still at University…] (Eminescu, 1977: 320, trad.n.), we could recognise a real confession about how Eminescu wrote in atipic conditions, in the dark, after extinguishing the candle, in a space which was dominated by tranquility and atemporality. In this analysis, there is presented the evolution of the writing about writing in memorialistic texts, in articles and in sent or unsent correspondece of Eminescu, in order to observe the narrator’s major changes of attitude from youth to maturity. The unique perspective resides in his way of creating a text, without any source of light, living with his own inspiration and his disorganized papers, which are not only described by Eminescu in the short text suport [When I was still at University...], but they are also confirmed by the researchers of his real life, as you could see in the lines above. As a conclusion, we have the chance to discover how Eminescu wrote history through his own history.

Key-words: writing in the dark, history, confessions vs. reality, becoming mature, autobiography.

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Gianina-Cristina Ciupuligă, Timişoara, Non multa, sed multum

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to compare the nowadays system of teaching with the one from Eminescu’s times. There are lots of similarities despite the change of the centuries. Unfortunately, the quantity won against the quality, so Non multa sed multum remains a very actual problem in our educational system. The main goal of this paper is to show how an educational system full of lacks influences the future of the society. The unpredictability, the insecurity, the issue of the authority, the amount of information are some features which are constant, thus still contemporary.

Key-words: education, teaching, school, quantity, quality.

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Beatrice Colibă, Bălţi, The image of Mihai Eminescu in the poetry and correspondence of Veronica Micle

Abstract

This communication represents an attempt to discover the identity and personality of the poet Mihai Eminescu in the texts of Veronica Micle. This literary research is focused on the image of the poet Eminescu identified in the poems of Veronica Micle (La portretul unui poet..., Icoana ta…, Portretul…, M-am gîndit…, Și te urăsc…, Lui X, Poetului iubit…), as well as in the correspondence between these two personalities. The communication contains some theoretical considerations, being elucidated concepts such as image, letter, poetry. The practical part of the study emphasizes the specifics of the forms of address, the diminutives, but also the specifics of the portrait of the poet Eminescu highlighted from the perspective of Veronica Micle.

Key-words: image, lyrical poetry, letter/epistle, correspondence.

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Denisa-Maria Frătean, Sibiu, The Reinterpretation of Eminescu’s Publishing Work from an Ecocritical Approach

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to offer an ecocritical analyses of Eminescu’s publishing work, taking into consideration the two branches of this critical approach: an objective side regarding the environment and a symbolic one which begins from the theory exposed by Whitman, according to which ideas and words are „recycled” from one generation to another. In what concerns the pragmatic side of ecocriticism, we will talk about some articles written by Eminescu in two newspapers of his time which prove his analytic and economic thinking and his power to go beyond the appearances of the harmful effects of deforestation and of extensive agriculture on the environment and, as well, on population. The second part of the paper reveals how Shakespeare influenced Eminescu and how the journalist influenced, in his turn, other generation of journalists.

Key-words: ecocriticism, deforestation, global warming, recycling words, Shakespeare.

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