OBSERVATOR CULTURAL - Spiritul critic in actiune

Carmen Musat asks: is there one way of reading history or are there many? It’s hard, for example, to determine Milan Kundera’s level of involvement in the Miroslav Dvoracek case, but the “Kundera case” itself shows that 20 years after the fall of Communism, the impulse to condemn (to the point of injustice) is being replaced by efforts to understand what we have made of what history has done to us.

Politics

Ciprian Ciucu rightly noted (in advance of the November 30 election) that the recent parliamentary election campaign was woefully short on message, which would affect the voter turnout.  Truer words were never spoken. Only thirty-nine point two percent of voters went to the poles.
Bedros Horasangian concludes that the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic-Liberal Party will have to reach a compromise to form a stable government.
Stefan Stoica writes that the uninominal vote’s power to regenerate the political class gets more credit than it deserves. 

Event

 

Ovidiu Simonca discusses the world financial crisis’ effect on the book market with special focus on the 15th Gaudeamus Book Fair. The fair ran in Bucharest from November 19 through November 23.
Cosmin Ungureanu welcomes the re-opening of the Zambaccian Museum in Bucharest, which took place on November 20.
Constantin Hostiuc discusses the Bucharest Architecture Biennial, which ran from October 15 through November 15.
Doina Ioanid interviews Georges Vigarello, Directeur d’études à l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Vigarello launched the second volume of The History of the Body (Bucharest: Art, 2008) at Carturesti Book Store in Bucharest on November 22.
Ovidiu Simonca interviews Rita Gombrowicz, Witold Gombrowicz’s widow. Mrs. Gombrowicz participated in the launch of Bakakai (translated by Cristina Godun. Bucharest: RAO, 2008). The collection of Gombrowicz’ short stories was presented at the Gaudeamus book fair in Bucharest on November 21.

 

Recent history

 

Sorin Adam Matei discusses The Illusion of Communism: Critical Readings of the Tismaneanu Report (Chisinau: Cartier Publishing, 2008), a volume coordinated by Vasile Ernu, Costi Rogozanu, Ciprian Siulea and Ovidiu Tichindeal.

 

Book review

 

Bianca Burta-Cernat reads Mircea Mihaies’ Metafizica detectivului Marlowe (Detective Marlowe’s Metaphysics, Iasi: Polirom, 2008).

 

Essay

 

Vlad Muresan writes about Gilbert Durand’s The Anthropological Structures of Imagery (Bucharest: Univers, 1977).

Chatting with Romanian Writers

 

The Observer continues the series of interactive interviews in which a free wheeling on-line dialogue with a noted writer transforms itself into a structured interview with multiple questioners. Writer Stelian Tanase takes to the net as the fifth “victim.” “un cristian” conducts the proceedings in part 2.

 

International

 

Guillermo Schavelzon gives us an insider’s look at the Frankfurt Book Fair. His article first appeared in El Mercurio, October 26, 2008.
Iulia Dondorici goes to the 1st Vienna International Book Fair (Buchwien), which ran from November 20 through November 23.

 

 

Theatre
Iulia Popovici presents Galin Stoev’s La Festa, by Spiro Scimone and Dan Jemmett’s Les Précieuses Ridicules by Moliere, which played at the Odeon Theatre in Bucharest on November 19, 20 and 21.

Film
Ileana Birsan, Alin Ludu Dumbrava, Mihai Fulger, Angelo Mitchievici and Valerian Sava comment on Horatiu Malaele’s Muted Wedding, which premiered at the Bucharest National Theatre on November 14.
Smaranda Schiopu discusses Tudor Voican’s script workshop, which took place at Hotel Residence in Bucharest on November 22.

Visual arts
Mihai Plamadeala looks at Florin Lucan’s paintings, exhibited at the IRECSON Institute in Bucharest from November 20.
Raluca Baloiu interviews painter Alexandru Trifu.
Maria-Magdalena Crisan presents “The ’60s and ’70s in Romanian Painting,” at Veroniki Art Gallery from November 20 through December 14.