MEETING THE FANTASTIC IN THE STORY 'FIDDLE, OLD STAVE'
MEETING THE FANTASTIC IN THE STORY 'FIDDLE, OLD STAVE'

Summary/Abstract: In the story 'Fiddle, Old Stave' (a title that reminds of a local folk song), the portrait of the teacher is juxtaposed over that of the fiddler, mostly because, in Ovidiu Birlea's artistic prose, an essential coordinate is represented by the game, the people's parties on various occasions, where the fiddler is always present. The voluntary collective work, or 'corvée', is a recurrent happy episode where work and joy are intertwined. The fiddler is never absent, sharing the revellers' merriment. (1) In this case, the protagonist goes through a fantastic (mythical) experience, an encounter with the devil, of which he is not even aware, though the facts are conclusive. There are numerous literary texts presenting the theme of the devil, which is fully justified by the fascination triggered by this character in the human psyche. Whether evoked or invoked, the devil grabs the attention and imagination, thus becoming a sadistic but charming anti-hero, who is jovial, sarcastic, a little schizophrenic but charismatic. Throughout the centuries, literature and arts, in general, have created an image of the devil which is that of a charlatan, a con artist, having multiple changing abilities: the snake in the Genesis, the huge beast, the frozen monster in the depths of hell, fluttering its enormous bat wings - in Dante's Inferno; the maleficent child, where the image of absolute evil and the perfect innocence of a child come together; merchants, lawyers, bankers, thieves, murderers and, last but not least, performers. A connection between the devil and music is achieved in the above-mentioned story, where the writer pinpoints the special characteristics of folk music, namely the feelings, thoughts and emotions that it can contain and transmit to an individual or a larger group, instilling images and ideas, in either a random or controlled manner. The protagonist of the story, Ion Costinas, is a primary school teacher in Bucium and occasional fiddler, with a great passion for playing this instrument. The violin, or the fiddle, is the instrument of tormented lyricism, whose tune takes us high into the realm of beauty and penetrates each corner of our souls, triggering secret representations.

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