Diversitate si Identitate Culturala in Europa (Nov 2023)
The General Dictionary of Romanian Literature, Canon of Romanian Literature. E. Simion and the Post-Revolutionary Debates on the Literary Canon
Abstract
A central topic of the Romanian post-1989 literary life, the problem of revisions of the literary canon triggered a fierce debate between rival intellectual groups, a confrontation having as one its main goals the obtaining or, on the contrary, the preservation and consolidation of symbolic power within the national cultural field. Positioned in the epicenter of this "battle" – in his capacity as creator, together with Nicolae Manolescu, of the literary canon of the sixties –, Eugen Simion made his position known through two types of actions. On the one hand, through articles and interviews in which, recognizing the reality and necessity of periodic re-adjustments of literary structures and hierarchies, he strongly supported the imperative of having, as a fundamental principle in the process of revising the canon, the aesthetic criterion. On the other hand, by initiating and carrying out the monumental General Dictionary of Romanian Literature. A true canon of Romanian literature, "from its origins to the present day", GDRL illustrates, more than any polemic or theoretical approach, the vision of the critic E. Simion on Romanian literature in its totality and organicity.
