MIHAIL SEBASTIAN AT AN IDEOLOGICAL CROSSROADS
MIHAIL SEBASTIAN AT AN IDEOLOGICAL CROSSROADS
Author(s): Ion SimuţSubject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Editura Universitatii din Oradea
Keywords: identity; Jewishness; the autonomy of the esthetic; ethics; literary pseudonym; Mihail Sebastian; inter-war Romanian literature.
Summary/Abstract: This paper looks at the ideological vacillation that Mihail Sebastian (Iosef Hechter’s pen-name) underwent in his volatile – and versatile – positioning at the right or left end of the political continuum. Not only is Sebastian’s volatility political, but it is also one of indeterminate ethnic identity; indeed, the writer oscillates between his Jewishness, as ethnic determinism, and his Romanianness, as his adopted nationality. Critical references by Călinescu, Noica, Iovănel, Petreu, Stoenescu are tackled in order to shed light on the intricate configurations of the ethnic and political identity of this author at an ideological crossroads.
Journal: Analele Universităţii din Oradea Fascicula Limba si Literatura Română (ALLRO)
- Issue Year: 20/2013
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 27-38
- Page Count: 12
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF