L'APPROPRIATION DE L'AVANT-GARDE EN ROUMANIE: ENTRE POLITIQUE ET UTOPIE
APPROPRIATING THE AVANT-GARDE IN ROMANIA: BETWEEN POLITICS AND UTOPIA

Summary/Abstract: Appropriating the Avant-garde in Romania: between Politics and Utopia. Importing the avant-garde to Romania in 1922 was possible through Contimporanul, a publication that stemmed from the socialist tradition at the end of the 19th century. As mediator for the transfer of the avant-garde and its values, such an ideological phrasing would be considered both outdated and inappropriate. The invention of the avant-garde at the beginning of the 20th century came as a response to the disillusionment produced by the progressive utopia and as a violent reaction to the emancipation declared impossible through the rule of progress. Even though the socialist direction ventured by Contimporanul was only shortly active (between June 1922 and July 1923), it managed to mould themes that were specific to the avant-garde. Essentially, the promotion of this new art was issued through a “civilizing” narrative, with a focus on education and rationalization rather than on the element of surprise. The present study aims at identifying the effects of the blend between the progressive utopia and the avant-garde, with an insistence on two major aspects: firstly, the attempt to avoid the rhetoric of the manifest and the logic of resentment that it advances; secondly, the imaginary implementation of a myth of friendship, seen as a non-conflicting solution to the legitimate promotion of the avant-garde values.

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