Despre imaginarul critic. Câteva ipoteze de lucru
On the Critical Imaginary. Few Working Hypotheses

Summary/Abstract: This paper investigates the literariness of the critical discourse, by analysing what could be called its imaginary dimension. More specifically, we have advanced the hypothesis that there is an imaginary typical to literary criticism, which, although closely tied to the imaginary of the works examined, cannot be trimmed down to the latter. Our hypothesis has been then verified by the comparative analysis of two critical studies concerning the same author: Opera lui Mihai Eminescu [Mihai Eminescu’s Work] (5 vol., 1934- 1936; second edition, 2 vol., 1969) by G. Calinescu and Poezia lui Eminescu [Eminescu’s Poetry] (1967) by I. Negoitescu. Therefore, we have shown that, whereas G. Calinescu projects himself in his own critical discourse as an archaeologist, I. Negoitescu envisages his own approach as the result of an alchemist’s operations, an alchemist who no longer seeks The All, but the original. The conclusion of our paper is that a critic’s imaginary shapes the configuration of a literary representation to the same extent as his method.

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