Feminism and Antifeminism in Romanian Theatre Criticism in Interwar Years
Feminism and Antifeminism in Romanian Theatre Criticism in Interwar Years
Author(s): Miruna RuncanSubject(s): Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Comparative Study of Literature, Romanian Literature
Published by: Universitatea Babeş-Bolyai
Keywords: Theatre; History; Criticism; Feminism; Journalism
Summary/Abstract: In Romania, during the interwar years, it seems that theatre reviews – much like theatre criticism in general, narrowly as it was and sometimes continues to be defined in Romania – was only considered legitimate if signed by men. There were but two timid exceptions, two female voices whose writings were partially recovered as late as 1978-1983 and have been insufficiently explored since: the poet and memoirist Otilia Cazimir, who worked as an inspector for the Ministry of Arts’ Theatre Directorate for a decade, and the aesthetics professor Alice Voinescu. This paper is an attempt to turn the spotlight not onto the two writers’ theatre-related activity, but rather to the way they engaged, in writing or in action, with the thorny issues of feminism. Their opposing standpoints – a feminism of emancipation vs. an anti-feminist type of feminism – still proves emblematic to our day for the specific way in which socio-cultural mentalities and perceptions on women’s condition in 20th-century Romania were preserved; it appears that post-socialist theatre criticism, especially from the decade 2000-2010, coalesced around the same positions.
Journal: Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory
- Issue Year: 10/2024
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 216-237
- Page Count: 22
- Language: English