THE ODYSSEAN MEETING: GABRIELA ADAMEȘTEANU’S ”ENCOUNTER” WITH THE PAST
THE ODYSSEAN MEETING: GABRIELA ADAMEȘTEANU’S ”ENCOUNTER” WITH THE PAST

Summary/Abstract: Through the novel The Encounter, Gabriela Adameșteanu proposes an interesting intertextual dialogue with the Homeric epic The Odyssey. Although the mythical thread is spread over the whole text, the novel capitalizes on modern elements, centered, above all, on the image of the exile and his intrinsic desire to return to his native land. The protagonist of the text is built on the coordinates of Ulysses, with whom he shares the human aspiration for stability and self-discovery. The Homeric diegesis is transported to an alienated cultural space, to an apparently renewed Romania, but which still bears the signs of the old regime. The burning desire to return home materializes in an arduous journey, which, however, does not bring comfort, but proves that "home" no longer represents a factual home, but only a homeland from which the character reclaims himself. Through the palimpsestic novel The Encounter, the reader is invited to interpretive negotiation and exploration. The text is very complex, bookishly encompassing important themes in post-war European literature, such as memory, alienation, estrangement, family and exile.

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