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Entries from October 30th, 2010

Spanish-Romanian Cultural Complicities (I)

October 30th, 2010 · Comments Off on Spanish-Romanian Cultural Complicities (I) · Books, Diaspora, OPINION, PEOPLE, Translations

Another prominent exile was Alejandro Cioranescu (b Romania 1911 – d. Tenerife 1999) doctor Honoris causa of the University of Tenerife at La Laguna – an expert on the Spanish baroque and on the French-Spanish bibliography his books Estudios de literatura española y comparada (La Laguna, 1954), El barroco o el descubrimiento del drama (La Laguna,1957), Los hispanismos en el francés clásico (Madrid, 1987) and Bibliografía franco-española, 1600-1715 (Madrid 1977) remain to this day standard references in the field.

Amongst the ‘greats’ of universal literature who found exile in Spain was Horia Vintila (1915, Romania – 1992, Spain) who wrote directly in several languages including Spanish in which he published several novels Marta, o la segunda guerra, (Barcelona, 1987), Persecutez Boèce!, (Barcelona, 1983), Un sepulcro en el cielo, (Barcelona, 1987). He was the nominee of the prestigious French literary Prix Goncourt in 1960 which he was compelled to renounce following a character-assassination witch hunt masterminded by the Romanian secret services through the French left-wing press. It is worth noting that the novel in question “Dieu est ne en exil” which was translated in fourteen languages was NOT a political novel and it was inspired by the life of the exiled Roman poet Ovid who died on the Romanian shores of the Black Sea.

Horia Vintila was also a prolific essayist and literary critic in Spanish with titles such as: Presencia del mito, (Madrid, 1956), Poesia y liberdad, (Madrid, 1959), Espana y otras mundos, (Barcelona, 1970), Mestor de novehita, (Madrid, 1972), Introduccion a la mundo peor, (Barcelona, 1978), Literatura y disidencia, (Madrid, 1980), Los deechos humanus, la novsledel sigle XX, (Madrid, 1981). Horia Vintila was professor of Universal Literature at the Official School of Journalism and later founded the Chair of Universal Literature at the Complutense University in Madrid.

During the last two decades an expert of Romanian literature is the former director of the Instituto Cervantes in Bucharest, Joaquin Garrigos Bueno a prolific translator of more than 30 Romanian novels in particular of Mircea Eliade (Boda en el cielo, Diario intimo de la India, Los jovenes barbaros, La noche de San Juan) and Emil Cioran (El ocaso del Pensamiento, El libro de la quimeras, Brevario de los vencidos,) but also of Camil Petrescu, Emil Voiculescu, Liviu Rebreanu and other classics and contemporary writers.

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Architect Octavian Ciupitu, “Curierul Romanesc”, Sweden, September 2009 – Book Review

October 26th, 2010 · Comments Off on Architect Octavian Ciupitu, “Curierul Romanesc”, Sweden, September 2009 – Book Review · Books, Diaspora, OPINION, PEOPLE, quotations, Reviews

an extract from the book “La Apa Vavilonului” (At Babel’s river), volume 2 (2001) by Monica Lovinescu (1923-2008), journalist, political analyst, radio broadcaster, anti-communist and Human rights Activist exiled in Paris:

In Romania dissidence was an exception. Our resistance was present when it did not exist in the other satellite countries and it ended just as it started with our neighbouring countries. We fought and died in the Carpathian mountains, as the West was blind and deaf, basking in its victory and forgetting its hostages. From the prisons where our élite was destroyed in the 1960s emerged only the shadows of our earlier determination. Three successive waves of terror – 1948, 1952 and 1958 – had drained the collective organism. We caved into, a near-total silence. We sacrificed ourselves for nothing. With this sense of utter uselessness most of the survivors emerged from the jails, some of whom, while “free”, remained at the beck and call of the Securitate..

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Can’t find the Word for Democracy!

October 25th, 2010 · Comments Off on Can’t find the Word for Democracy! · Art Exhibitions, International Media, quotations

Calman cartoon in the Times of London – alluding to the mob-rule by Romanian miners called by President Iliescu and Prime Minister Petre Roman to quell the fledgling Democracy movement in Bucharest.
Under the title “Fear of mob-rule grips Romania (June 1990) the caption says:
“Can’t find the word for Democracy in Romanian Phrase book” – caption

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STOP PRESS: Romanians @ the Vancouver International Film Festival – 2010

October 4th, 2010 · Comments Off on STOP PRESS: Romanians @ the Vancouver International Film Festival – 2010 · Diary, International Media, Reviews

STOP PRESS: Romanians @ the Vancouver International Film Festival

(September 30 to 15 October, 2010)

Our Canadian Correspondent informs us about the following SIX Romanian Films being shown at the VIFF:

1. Aurora
2. The Autobiography of Nicholae Ceausescu
3. Belly Of The Whale (Burta Balenei)
4. Derby
5. If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle (Eu Cand Vreau Sa Fluier, Fluier)
6. Morgen

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The Art of Nicolae GROZA

October 3rd, 2010 · 2 Comments · Art Exhibitions, Diaspora, PEOPLE

NICOLAE GROZA a Romanian artist now living in Belgium, near Liege, follows the tradition of Transylvanian icon painters on glass and his themes often borrow symbols, motifs and the graphism from the old icons. However Groza gets his inspiration from non-religious subjects – from folk legends and historical characters.
Nicoale has an extraordinary sense of humour, imagination and a high artistry which sets him apart from his contemporaries. He has held many individual and group exhibitions of these works which are in private collections in England, Belgium, Romania, Germany, France.
Nicolae Groza’s main form of expression are huge murals, mosaics, decorative panels in ceramics.
His oil paintings are to be found in Musems and private collections in Europe.Nicolae Groza’s main form of expression are huge murals, mosaics, decorative panels in ceramics.
His oil paintings are to be found in museums and private collections in Europe.

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Poetry in Translation (LXXVIII): Philip Larkin (1922-1985) – “Heads in the Women’s Ward” (Azil)

October 2nd, 2010 · 2 Comments · PEOPLE, Poetry, Translations

Philip Larkin
Heads in the Women’s Ward (1972)

On pillow after pillow lies
The wild white hair and staring eyes;

Jaws stand open; necks are stretched
With every tendon sharply sketched;

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Poetry in Translation (LXXVII): W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) – “Cloths of Heaven” (Manta Celesta:

October 1st, 2010 · 1 Comment · PEOPLE, Poetry, Translations

W.B. Yeats (1865–1939)

Poet Irlandez, Premiul Nobel pentru Literatura

MANTA CELESTA

Manta celesta de as fi avut

Cu flori de aur si margarint,

Pe-a noptii straie, de-azur cernut,

In umbre cu sclipire de argint,

Sub pasii tai de mult le-as fi tinut.

Dar fiind sarac, doar vise de pripas

Mai pot s-astern pe drum, in calea-ti lunga:

Ai grije, cand pasesti, sa nu se franga,

Caci este totul ce mi-a mai ramas!

(Versiune in limba Romana – Constaantin ROMAN, Londra, Copyright 2010, All rights reserved)

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