Diversitate si Identitate Culturala in Europa (May 2020)
The second shout: Fănuș Neagu and his classicization. On În văpaia lunii (1971) through the eyes of literary criticism
Abstract
The present article is concerned with the critical reception of the volume În văpaia lunii(1971), which was not expected to arouse major interest since it comprised a selection of texts that have been previously published, a practice often called „reheating the soup’ among specialists. However, În văpaia luniirepresents a favourable moment in the writer’s work and biography, which is why the author of the present article (incidentally) considered it to be the critics’ “second shout” -with a symbolic reference to the novel Îngerul a strigat (The Angel has shouted–transl. mine). Even though not fully favourable, the first “shout” was more than profitable for the young writer whose first volumes had sparked intense controversies. Fănuș Neagu had gained a capital of sympathy, unusual for those times. Despite the differences of opinion entertained by the cultural media, the incisive author had succeeded in creating a favourable “image” for himself and in maintaining a good relationship with all his critics, since beyond reproaches they could not ignore the freshness and the originality of his style. The second “shout” coincided with the publishing of the anthology În văpaia lunii (1971) and reached its climax in a several years, when the short stories collection Pierdut în Balcania (1982) was published and when the author reached his 50 years of life. The episode diminished by the end of 1989. Al last, pursuing the symbolism deriving from the novel Îngerul a strigat (1968), a third “shout” could be considered as the one that emerged in the period after 1989. Old “treatments” in form of unfounded and discriminatory insults –the writer was placed on the list of “the expiredones”1-were (re)brought to the fore. All these reproaches were coming both from the “young wolves” and from other older ones whose habits hardly died.Therefore, it can be sadly concluded that during the writer’s third biographical period Fănuș Neagu’s work has been distorted by a mirror held by some critics whose actions were generated ... by request. The present article is strictly concerned with the second “shout”.
