A Look at Communism and Democracy in Octavian Paler’s "Question Time"
A Look at Communism and Democracy in Octavian Paler’s "Question Time"

Summary/Abstract: This article summarizes the post-communist period after 1989 through the work Question Time, by Octavian Paler and his vision of the Romanian political scene after the revolution. Question Time is a collection of articles from "Free Romania" between 1990-1994, where you can feel the gloomy, negative attitude of Palerian journalism that has penetrated the pages of this book. In Question Time are true layouts of the pamphleteering spirit of Octavian Paler, who knew how to combine erudition with critical spirit in his work as a journalist. The disappointment caused by the state of the nation in the years following the revolution, when the political scene was invaded by demagogues and the same characters who had raised the dictator's oshanas is more evident in this work Question Time than in others. The writer also offers a look at communism and democracy by addressing topics still current in the Romanian political landscape, such as the post-communist evolution of Romania and the critique of the West as a consumerist, cynical and amoral world. The journalist Octavian Paler fully demonstrated in his articles the quality of a man of culture through firm positions and the originality of his points of view, in connection with some of the thorny issues of the Romanian political and cultural life of the last century and a half.

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