Un Candide aux prises avec la 2nde Guerre mondiale. Ironie et réécriture dans La 25e Heure de Virgil Gheorghiu
A Candide struggling with the Second World War. Irony and rewriting in The 25th Hour by Virgil Gheorghiu

Author(s): Olivier Ammour-Mayeur
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Romanian Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Editura Junimea
Keywords: Heterogenous Ironies; Voltaire; Gheorghiu; World War II; Shoah; The 25th Hour;
Summary/Abstract: The structural core of Gheorghiu’s The 25th Hour narrative is deeply imbued with Voltairian irony. Taking up the narrative framework of Candide’s philosophical tale, Gheorghiu nevertheless profoundly modifies the symbolic significance of the ironic tone that feeds his story, as his main character finds himself caught up in the madness of the concentration camps of the Second World War. Through the analysis of similarities but more importantly differences regarding the understanding of the ironic style that feeds the texts of the two writers, this article aims to highlight the constitutive aporia of the notion of irony, while trying to identify some key points that could clarify the meaning of what this rhetorical principle implies as far as literature is concerned.

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