SOME THEORETICAL SHORTCOMINGS IN MIHAI IOVĂNEL’S “HISTORY OF CONTEMPORARY ROMANIAN LITERATURE: 1990-2020”

Abstract

Some Theoretical Shortcomings in Mihai Iovănel’s History of Contemporary Romanian Literature: 1990-2020. This paper is an analysis of some of the concepts (posthuman, capitalist realism, transnational) used in Mihai Iovănel’s History of Contemporary Romanian Literature: 1990-2020, pointing out the way in which the author borrows some terms from current global debates and uses them as labels, without their theoretical backgrounds and foundation. This echoes another misunderstanding in Romanian literary studies, that of the term postmodernism, which is, Clinci argues, another example of self-colonization. Article history: Received 10 January 2022; Revised 27 August 2022; Accepted 31 August 2022; Available online 20 September 2022; Available print 30 September 2022 REZUMAT. Câteva probleme teoretice în Istoria literaturii române contemporane: 1990-2020 a lui Mihai Iovănel. Acest text este o analiză a câtorva concepte (postuman, realism capitalist, transnaţional) utilizate în Istoria literaturii române contemporane: 1990-2020 a lui Mihai Iovănel, care arată cum autorul împrumută unii termeni din dezbaterile globale actuale și le folosește drept etichete, fără baza sau fundalul lor teoretic. Acest lucru reia o altă problemă a studiilor literare românești, cea a termenului de postmodernism, ca un alt exemplu de autocolonizare. Cuvinte-cheie: postmodernism, postumanism, auto-colonizare, literatură română, realism capitalist

Keywords

• postmodernism, posthumanism, self-colonization, Romanian literature, capitalist realism