Sburătorul after Sburătorul:
Sburătorul after Sburătorul:

Survivors of E. Lovinescu’s Literary Circle after 1947

Summary/Abstract: In this article we examine the careers of writers associated with the Sburătorul group (1918–1943), a literary circle formed on the basis of common tastes and aesthetic sensibilities, and present an analysis of its impact on them. A rather significant number of these writers submitted to the postwar ideology, agreeing to produce a literature that supported it. Others were imprisoned, and their work was banned. Others still were forced to end their artistic careers and accept various other literary work to earn a living (translation, children’s literature). Whether or not they made a ‘pact’ with the political regime, ultimately all were forced to sacrifice their careers. Irrespective of which line of action they took, they would never be able to capitalise on the literary preparation they had received during the interwar period as members of the Sburătorul group, nor on the writer’s life they had committed themselves to as a result of this experience. At the same time, however, the fact that Sburătorul was not simply a literary group but, thanks to its vast membership (more than 100 loyal members), a kind of micro-society allows us to make general observations about the modes in which the ‘drama’ of literature played out under totalitarianism.

• Details
• Contents