Ion Cristoiu: An event related to Romanian laziness
- Ion Cristoiu: What does Marin Preda mean by evasionism? The charm of Marin Preda’s tablets from that time lies in the use of the details of the writing site to extract an idea from a fact of life or to exemplify a fact.
- Ion Cristoiu: As in the case of Caragiale, from whom you suspect he borrowed the formula, the publicist Marin Preda writes prose through newspaper articles. The thesis of evasionism is signified by a life event.
- Ion Cristoiu: The history is great. Only that it refers to an event that has nothing to do with evasionism. An event that is related to Romanian laziness. The seller was an authority, an ins on whom the purchase of the Shoshone depended.
Marin Teaches
Playing, as usual, in the morning, with the laptop, a sign of a decrease in creative force, I came across the electronic version of the book Impossible return by Marin Preda. YogaBook, the device whose turn it was to concubine with me, according to the model of the sheikh’s harem, has a special structure. It can be made, in turn, keyboard, page for reading books, writing surface. I thus discovered, downloaded PDF from a microcard, Impossible return. Going through the first pages, to see if the device allows marking with the stylus, like many ebooks, I arrived at About escapism, literary and social. At the time when Marin Preda’s tablets appeared, an exceptional literary moment, evasionism meant, at the official level, the refusal to approach social-political realities. By the courageous approach to reality, it was said here and there, by those who needed a silver spoon, they meant the propagandistic approach to reality. Evasionism really exists. In order to be published without risking either censorship or compromise, the writers turned to themes outside of reality, from the ghetto-Dacian past to poplars without husbands. Marin Preda attacks escapism with strange firmness in this context:
“I remember that I was once indignant against wordsmiths who, unlike writers concerned with a genuine issue, are content to flood the paper with torrents of images and words that say nothing. Today it seems to me that I have found a new name for them: escapist writers.
I will not make the imprudence to concretize escapist writers and escapist books, because no one can assure us that in today’s escapist does not lie the engaged writer of tomorrow. But the disease, in itself, deserves to be discussed. What does it consist of? As the name suggests, it consists in the premeditated, programmatic circumvention of the real and obsessive problems of our contemporary time and society, and in escaping, with the help of torrents of words and images, into a universe of the imagination, which represents nothing of which torments not even the conscience of the escapist writer, nor the conscience of his contemporaries.”
Apparently, Marin Preda advocated the propagandistic approach to reality. After December 1989, the issue of the writer’s civic attitude in communism was raised with a demagogic uproar. The role of communist combativeness has been taken by anticommunist combativeness. In the name of communist combativeness, the official criticism glorified many scribbles on the walls of the paper. Now, in the name of anti-communist combativeness, many examples of exemplary waste were torn up. From this point of view, evasionism, a cunning trick, by which many writers tried to publish without risk, was harmful for the necessary combative anti-communist position.
What does Marin Preda mean by evasionism?
The charm of Marin Preda’s tablets from that time lies in the use of the details of the writing site to extract an idea from a fact of life or to exemplify a fact. As in the case of Caragiale, from whom I suspect he borrowed the formula, the publicist Marin Preda writes prose through newspaper articles. The thesis of evasionism is signified by a life event:
“Leaving the abstract domain of the discussion about literature, an event comes to mind that shocked me just as strongly as Ion Băieşu’s short story. I was standing in line years ago to buy my mother a pair of Shoshones. They were good, cheap Shoshone, and in insufficient quantity, as often happens here, when good, cheap, but insufficient goods appear on the market. It was nine o’clock in the morning, it was winter, and we were all standing – a long line – waiting for the seller to come and open the shop. At half past nine, finally, he arrives, in a good mood, well dressed ;| he doesn’t dare to glance at us, he just gives us a sign with his hand, in a gesture that he himself expressed the meaning of, in vivid words: Ehe, stay, stay! It doesn’t mean that if I came I’m going to give you goods. I still have work to do.
And indeed he opened the shop from the outside and locked it from the inside. At that I got out of line, started to rattle the door and kick it. He returned very calmly, and at that moment a wave of protests was heard in the crowd standing in line. But, to my amazement, they were not addressed to the seller, but to me. Why? I didn’t understand at first. Then I realized that I had a line of citizens behind me who, through some mystery, refused to acknowledge the reality in which they lived and considered what the seller was doing natural and what I was doing unnatural. That’s why they were protesting. So I was facing an active evasion.”
The history is great. Only that it refers to an event that has nothing to do with evasionism. An event that is related to Romanian laziness. The seller was an authority, an ins on whom the purchase of the Shoshone depended. In other words, if he got angry, the people in line would lick each other’s noses. Therefore, those in the queue are afraid to upset him, even if he commits abuses. Don’t our leaders do this to the Masters of the West?
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I was writing on July 23, 2014. Klaus Iohannis proposes a more nuanced foreign policy than the one imposed for 10 years by Traian Băsescu!
Traian Băsescu’s press statement on the issue of the Tragedy in Ukraine was followed by a press release by Klaus Iohannis, more than likely the Opposition candidate for this year’s presidential elections. Overlooked by the press, perhaps because it took the form of a Communiqué, the intervention of Klaus Iohanis constitutes a great political event. Traian Băsescu’s statement does not say a word about the Israeli military intervention in Gaza, an event that can have, on the scale of today’s world, much more serious effects than the downing of the passenger plane. Nothing surprising. Traian Băsescu spoke on behalf of America and not Romania. However, Klaus Iohannis’ statement also refers to the situation in Gaza: “I am equally concerned about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the military evolution in Gaza. I don’t think it is enough for the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, and the US Secretary of State John Kerry to visit the area, if the parties do not want to reach an agreement on the substance of the problems. What worries me even more is the possible import of the conflict into Europe. Demonstrations of support, the risk of polarization between supporters of the two camps, respectively of their radicalization, is a real risk. The Islamist radicalization tendencies, already accentuated by the Syrian conflict, the anti-Semitic trend, are as dangerous as the intolerance towards Muslims. We are talking about worrying trends, recognized as such in some European capitals. Even if this discussion has not yet reached us, no one exempts us from these risks, and Romania must be prepared to face such situations.” The statement of Klaus Iohannis is an event not only in reference to Traian Băsescu’s Declaration, but also in reference to the interventions of Romanian politicians in recent years, all dominated by the obsession to be Americans rather than Europeans, not to mention, than Romanians. A candidate with a chance to become president gives a clear sign that he wants a more nuanced foreign policy for Romania than that of the American Governor, imposed by Traian Băsescu’s 10-year mandate. What do you think? Would such a foreign policy be possible?
NOTE: This editorial is taken in its entirety from cristoiublog.ro
Source: www.mediafax.ro
