LE COMIQUE GROTESQUE DANS LA CONSTRUCTION DU CULTE DU DIRIGEANT DANS QUELQUES ROMANS ROUMAINS
THE GROTESQUE COMIC IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE CULT OF THE LEADER IN SOME ROMANIAN NOVELS

Summary/Abstract: Many of the Romanian post-communist novels reflect the recent past, as a form of remembering it and fulfilling a critical function in the cultural memory. Such novels aim at the most important myths included in the communist vocabulary and imagination, such as the revolution, the new man, the attack of the bourgeoisie, anti-capitalism, anti-intellectualism, collectivist culture or the beloved leader. The cult of personality had a significant role of manipulation at the imagological level in Communism. By the excess of images and tributes to the leader, the collective imaginary was subject to systematic aggression. Writers such as Gheorghe Crăciun, Gabriela Adameșteanu, Alina Nelega restore the cult of personality by using bitter irony and forms of the grotesque in their novels. Such characters as Stalin, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Nicolae Ceausescu and even Elena Ceausescu are referred to. Starting from these premises, the present work aims to analyse the way in which the cult of personality is restored in three of the post-communist Romanian novels.

• Details
• Contents