THE SACRED-PROFANE DIALECTICAL RELATIONSHIP EXISTING IN THE SHORT STORY THE GYPSIES BY MIRCEA ELIADE
THE SACRED-PROFANE DIALECTICAL RELATIONSHIP EXISTING IN THE SHORT STORY THE GYPSIES BY MIRCEA ELIADE

Summary/Abstract: Romanian fantasy literature experienced an astonishing development in the twentieth century. The fantasy of mythology has retained its strength from ancient times to the present days, revaluing and reinterpreting ancient myths as an inexhaustible source of inspiration. The historian of religions, Mircea Eliade, pays special attention to the myth, stating that “myths thus reveal their creative activity and also the sacredness (or only the supernatural character of their works). After all, myths describe the various and sometimes dramatic outbursts of the sacred (or supernatural) in the world.” Thus the mythical, poetic knowledge, as a form of manifestation of unscientific thinking, represents a constant and a permanence of the human spirit, according to the author. Based on these considerations, Mircea Eliade creates several works with an authentic fantastic content, the short story “the Gipsies” being illustrative for the reason. Constantly swinging between the real and the unreal, Gavrilescu, the main character of the short story, lives in a confused state of dream and unreality. Entering the gypsies’ garden, he steps into a timeless world, full with symbols and heavy mythological shadows that penetrate the other realm. Due to the total fusion of the two realms, when he leaves here, the character can no longer make the difference between the two worlds and will go on an imaginary journey that represents a transition to death. Consequently, through the richness of the integrated symbols but also through the metaphorical subtlety of the presented action, Eliade's short story proves to be one of the most successful in the genre of Romanian fantasy literature.

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