UNPERFORMED YET MEANINGFUL “SPEECH ACTS”? BISHOP IOAN PLOSCARU’S POEMS OF DETENTION
UNPERFORMED YET MEANINGFUL “SPEECH ACTS”? BISHOP IOAN PLOSCARU’S POEMS OF DETENTION

Summary/Abstract: The post-war Romanian poetry of political detention has not yet emerged from the relatively marginal concern it represents for the majority of literary critics. The consequence is that, even now, decades after the collapse of the communist regime, we have not yet begun to truly discover the multiple layers of meaning and the cultural significance that this distinctive form of literature can convey. This study aims to hermeneutically explore the prison poetry of Uniate Bishop Ioan Ploscaru, who spent fifteen years as a prisoner of conscience during a state-sanctioned crackdown on his religious community. The perspective adopted in examining his work Cruci de gratii (Crosses of Prison Grates) aims to address a paradox of communication which surfaces in his poems. Initially, these rhymed reflections, later featured in book form, were not intended to be listened to or read. Still, they imply a special kind of communicative purpose. Adapting the pragmatics concept of speech act, this article begins from this theoretical frame to advance an understanding of how a poetically structured act of virtual address can have psychological significance for its author in confronting the trauma of detention.

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