Discursul-creuzet și formațiunile Testudo: Monica Lovinescu versus Eugen Barbu
Crucible-speech and Testudo formations: Monica Lovinescu versus Eugen Barbu

Summary/Abstract: This thesis aims to briefly explore the long-lasting polemics between Monica Lovinescu and Romanian communist writer Eugen Barbu and the campaigns he initiated in Săptămîna newspaper against the exiled intelligentsia, especially against Lovinescu’s biography, literature, and radiophonic activity from Radio Free Europe. The radiophonic Parisian discourse and that of the local partisan print press are at opposite poles highlighting how cultural Romanian propaganda was one the most important mechanisms of the political regime. Over the years, Barbu has published dozens of articles in which he became the official guideline defending Romania’s public image against those who were critical in any way in the diaspora. His arguments often lack factual accuracy and discursive diplomacy, built on multilevel contradictions. Some of these issues will be discussed, emphasizing that this research paper represents a selection of published articles that target different topics of discussion to analyze how the censorship apparatus, local propaganda, and cultural polemics have functioned in the Romanian communist regime.

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