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Prefata la romanul Drumu-i lung, căldura mare, 2021
Radu Aldulescu este, nu am nicio îndoială, un scriitor clasic, canonic al literaturii noastre din... more Radu Aldulescu este, nu am nicio îndoială, un scriitor clasic, canonic al literaturii noastre din ultimii treizeci de ani. Nu ştiu în ce măsură establishment-ul nostru critic este dispus să-i acorde chiar acum acest statut, dar această eventuală reticenţă se datorează exclusiv unor conjuncturi şi unor politici culturale, unor inerţii, care în timp, vor dispărea şi vom rămâne cu cărţile. Orice cititor cu oarecare competenţe literare, deschizând la întâmplare cartea de faţă, va trebui să fie de acord că e vorba de un scriitor cu amprentă stilistică inconfundabilă, care scrie cu o naturaleţe debordantă, cuceritoare, mai ales că reuşeşte, prin frazele sale arborescente, să genereze un flux discursiv în care, odată intrat, e foarte greu să mai ieşi. Acest fapt se datorează şi capacităţii inepuizabile de fabulaţie, a uşurinţei cu care generează intrigi principale sau secundare, dar şi faptului că acestora li se dezvăluie la final motivaţia de profunzime şi legăturile interne, păstrând densitatea tensiunii dramatice pentru fiecare scenă.
Aceaste afirmaţii sunt perfect valabile şi pentru romanul de faţă, Drumu-i lung, căldura mare, un titlu neaşteptat, provenit dintr-un cântec popular, intonat de unul dintre personaje, prin care autorul însuşi îşi ironizează de fapt tandru personajele, mereu prinse într-un traseu interminabil al neaşezării, al zbuciumului, al vieţii de azi pe mâine, un drum al calvarului din care e dificil de găsit vreo ieşire, popasurile fiind scurte şi plătite din greu ulterior, prin alte şi alte strădanii, la limita tragicului.
Transcultural Mirrors. vol.1. Literary and Cultural Perspectives, 2024
The present paper attemps to re-assess the legacy of a famous novel (Cel mai iubit dintre pământe... more The present paper attemps to re-assess the legacy of a famous novel (Cel mai iubit dintre pământeni/ The Earth’s Most Beloved Son) as far as the subversive discourse is concerned, but also emphasizes its criticism towards the Communist regime and the social system it produced. The article concludes with a brief comparison with the cinematographic aaptation of Preda’s novel.
Keywords: typologies of representation, subversive novel, film adaptation.
Caietele Echinox, 2008
Abstract: The aim of this study is to take a closer look at a particular genre of fiction, namely... more Abstract: The aim of this study is to take a closer look at a particular genre of fiction, namely the post-1945 apocalyptic novel through a concise analysis of an illustrative example, The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa. We shall underscore the differences between Vargas Llosa’s assimilation of the apocalyptic scenario and the way in which „comic apocalypses” written by authors like Thomas Pynchon or Kurt Vonnegut envision the possible end of human civilization. We shall focus on the strategies used by the Peruvian novelist in his re-reading of the apocalyptic narrative, including the rise and fall of Antonio the Counselor’s millennialist movement, misinterpretation of reality used as a poetic principle (and a tehnique for creating characters), and also the poetics of paranoia, through which the world and history can be read as „text”. The premise of this study is to distinguish The War of the End of the World from the comic apocalypses of the post-war North American writers, but also to show their common features (a culture of conspiracy, solipsism, the failure of the apocalyptic prophecy, the clash of interpretations, their metahistorical assumptions).
Ekphrasis. Images, Cinema, Theory, Media, 2017
Der Donauraum, 2014
Although both the problem of the Communist past and (New) Romanian Cinema have been widely analys... more Although both the problem of the Communist past and (New) Romanian Cinema have been widely analysed recently (but often separately), a few unanswered questions still remain: can we divide the post-Communist years into more distinct periods according to how the Communist past is imagined in fi lms and novels? Can we trace the diff erences between these representations regarding their ideological output based on their historical context? Can we detect a transformation, a progression from a harsh, vindictive and blunt anti-Communism towards a more nuanced perspective, an alternative vision of the past? Can we speak of nostalgic elements in this third typology? Can we locate this shift of perspective mostly after the offi cial condemnation of Communism and Romania’s inclusion in the EU? How do fi lms and novels refl ect this? To a certain extent, the fi rst three questions are rhetorical, since it can easily be noticed that the break with emphatic, harsh anti-Communism manifested throughout the 1990s and continued during Iliescu’s second presidential term (2000–2004). Th e political reason was obvious: Romania was ruled by what was perceived as an ex-Communist nomenclature with Ion Iliescu as its symbolic fi gure. One important historical moment in post-Communist Romanian history was the offi cial condemnation of the Communist regime in 2006, which roughly divides the recent past in two main periods, one before and the other after the integration into Europe (2007). Th e fi rst part was regarded by mass media as being dominated by well-known political fi gures connected to the Communist past, and the discourse of fi lms (but also mass media)
"This paper investigates the concept of psycho-apocalypses as a new type of apocalyptic imag... more "This paper investigates the concept of psycho-apocalypses as a new type of apocalyptic imagination in film and literature, with a vast range of examples, mostly taken from the films of 2011, extremely significant both for the change in the apocalyptic genre of the last two decades and for the return of pre-apocalypticism, a resurgence of intense expectations for the end of the world (a new apocalyptic psychoses). In the first part of the article I outline a few theoretical perspectives on this shift, and, in the second part I analyze the significant examples, from the TV series “Doomsday Preppers” to films like Take Shelter and Another Earth. "
Ekphrasis, 2011
This paper focuses on Lars Von Trier΄s Melancholia in a double relation, with his previous filmog... more This paper focuses on Lars Von Trier΄s Melancholia in a double relation, with his previous filmography and with disaster film genre, investigating how Melancholia stands apart from both series of film, both Trier΄s and the apocalyptic genre.
Der Donauraum, 2012
Our study aims to investigate the Romanian post-communist cinema and how it mirrors the different... more Our study aims to investigate the Romanian post-communist cinema and how it mirrors the different phases in the process of EU-integration, opposing mainly the transitional period and its post-2007 counterpart through some key features of Romanian society depicted in the national cinema (especially the migration process and its effects on the rest of society). Before the EU integration Romania had a cultural Katharsis, short time after 2007 the Romanian society focuses its attention on what could be called Anagnorisis (the fascination with the non-mediated contact with the real).
Revista Transilvania, 2019
Un caz care în contextul actual ar trebui să capete noi semnificaţii, contrastând evident cu cel ... more Un caz care în contextul actual ar trebui să capete noi semnificaţii, contrastând evident cu cel al primilor torţionari pedepsiţi cu închisoarea, Ion Ficior şi Alexandru Vişinescu, este cel al lui Franz Ţandără, torţionarul desprins parcă din romanele lui Dostoievski, care decide să-şi caute singur pedeapsa în primii ani după 1990, adresându-se Asociaţiei Foștilor Deţinuţi Politici şi chiar Poliţiei, dar întâlnind un sistem care nu are încă formulate legile pentru pedepsirea crimelor împotriva umanităţii şi nici instrumentele instituţionale pentru a începe procesul comunismului, proces mult aşteptat de opinia publică al anilor '90. Această lacună la nivel legislativ şi instituţional, prelungită în fapt până în 2006 (momentul oficial de condamnare a comunismului), a generat efectul contrar la nivelul discursului mediatic, unde nevoia de justiţie retroactivă 1 a îmbrăcat cele mai diverse forme, cea mai frecventă fiind cea a discursului urii, eliminând orice nuanţe sau delimitări între false şi adevărate victime, între opresori şi diversele devoalări ale colaboratorilor cu fosta Securitate, câţiva dintre aceştia fiind chiar foşti deţinuţi, condamnaţi politic cu ani de temniţă grea la activ, ale căror merite au fost trecute sub tăcere (cazurile lui Adrian Marino sau Nicolae Balotă, a căror colaborare forţată de anii de puşcărie a umbrit pe nedrept rezistenţa lor morală contra totalitarismului, problemă studiată cu atenția cuvenită acestor nuanțe sensibile de Gabriel Andreescu) 2. Dorinţa aflării adevărului deplin despre sistemul opresiv şi impulsul justiţiei retroactive par să alimenteze deopotrivă discursul mediatic şi cel al reprezentărilor artistice despre comunism din perioada 1990-1998 sau chiar 1998-2006, dar acest fapt ar schiţa un tablou prea simplist al dinamicii interne acestor opere literare sau cinematografice. În mod ironic, condamnarea oficială a comunismului a fost făcută de un preşedinte a cărui colaborare cu fosta Securitate a fost dovedită, în 2019, de Consiliul Național pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securității (CNSAS). Anti-comunismul retroactiv al politicienilor din ultimii ani a primit astfel The Afternoon of a Torturer-the Anatomy of an Impossible Case The author begins with the theory of the three representations of the Communist past, visible in the post-communist narrative discourse, both in literature and cinema, already discussed in previous articles. The present article brings forward new insights regarding the second representation, still inspired by the anticommunist stance, but already surpassing its limitations towards other narrative options and perspectives. Lucian Pintilie's film The Afternoon of a Torturer is considered a key example due to the controversial aspect of the character portrayed, due to the factual dimension of the case and its implicit ambiguities. Keywords: typologies of representation, figure of the survivor, figure of the bystander, retroactive justice.
Intersecții comparatiste contemporane, 2018
The article considers the problem of influences and typological analogies, and the contribution o... more The article considers the problem of influences and typological analogies, and the contribution of Professor Vasile Voia to the field of comparative literature, to German studies and their relation to comparative studies, delineating the most important features of his critical style and approach.
The article is a short introduction in the problems of science fiction genre, posthumanism and a ... more The article is a short introduction in the problems of science fiction genre, posthumanism and a short presentation of the articles of the present volume.
Transilvania, 2016
The article analyzes Ion D. Sîrbu’s short stories published during his lifetime, under the strict... more The article analyzes Ion D. Sîrbu’s short stories published during his lifetime, under the strict and diffuse censorship of Ceauşescu’s regime. These stories are emblematic for the unity of the author’s political imaginary, visible in his posthumous novels, but also in Sîrbu’s diary and essays. The article’s contention is that Sîrbu’s short stories belong to the dissident style and themes, and that there is no disparity between his public figure and his innner self.
This paper analyzes the dialectic between the absence of the physical body, the presence of the o... more This paper analyzes the dialectic between the absence of the physical body, the presence of the out-of-body entities, and the promise of a post-human paradise, as well as their connection with the (impossible) gaze. These motifs are discussed in relation to the science fiction genre in literature (Philip K Dick’s The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and Dr Bloodmoney) and film (from The Invisible Man-1933 to Transcendence-2014). The article concludes with a few examples that seem to transgress the science fiction genre (Spike Jonze’s Her, 2013; Black Mirror), and the entire science fiction tradition, where the absence of the physical body and the presence of an intrusive consciousness are always intertwined, generating dystopian worlds.
The article’s premise is that there are three tipologies of representing the communist past in th... more The article’s premise is that there are three tipologies of representing the communist past in the Romanian post-communist novel. The article focuses on the first typology, describes its main features, and then concentrates on an emblematic example of the first representation, Bujor Nedelcovici’s The Second Messenger. The main features are: the great appeal for satire and dystopia, the emphasis on memory, morality and the dialectics between truth and oblivion imposed by the totalitarian world upon the protagonist in these dystopian novels.
Ekphrasis. Images, Cinema, Theory, Media, 2015
The article analyzes the extent to which the Romanian film and novel after 1989 propose a contras... more The article analyzes the extent to which the Romanian film and novel after 1989 propose a contrasting vision on
the recent past as compared to the official, hegemonic discourse of the political realm. One important event was the
official condemnation of the communist regime in 2006. Another objective of the paper is to analyze the artistic response
of films to media and political events. The questions asked are: do the films from this period challenge the hegemonic
anti-communist discourse? What are the strategies employed? How has the film or the novel influenced other discourses
as well? Three typologies of representing communism are proposed and discussed.
Prefata la romanul Drumu-i lung, căldura mare, 2021
Radu Aldulescu este, nu am nicio îndoială, un scriitor clasic, canonic al literaturii noastre din... more Radu Aldulescu este, nu am nicio îndoială, un scriitor clasic, canonic al literaturii noastre din ultimii treizeci de ani. Nu ştiu în ce măsură establishment-ul nostru critic este dispus să-i acorde chiar acum acest statut, dar această eventuală reticenţă se datorează exclusiv unor conjuncturi şi unor politici culturale, unor inerţii, care în timp, vor dispărea şi vom rămâne cu cărţile. Orice cititor cu oarecare competenţe literare, deschizând la întâmplare cartea de faţă, va trebui să fie de acord că e vorba de un scriitor cu amprentă stilistică inconfundabilă, care scrie cu o naturaleţe debordantă, cuceritoare, mai ales că reuşeşte, prin frazele sale arborescente, să genereze un flux discursiv în care, odată intrat, e foarte greu să mai ieşi. Acest fapt se datorează şi capacităţii inepuizabile de fabulaţie, a uşurinţei cu care generează intrigi principale sau secundare, dar şi faptului că acestora li se dezvăluie la final motivaţia de profunzime şi legăturile interne, păstrând densitatea tensiunii dramatice pentru fiecare scenă.
Aceaste afirmaţii sunt perfect valabile şi pentru romanul de faţă, Drumu-i lung, căldura mare, un titlu neaşteptat, provenit dintr-un cântec popular, intonat de unul dintre personaje, prin care autorul însuşi îşi ironizează de fapt tandru personajele, mereu prinse într-un traseu interminabil al neaşezării, al zbuciumului, al vieţii de azi pe mâine, un drum al calvarului din care e dificil de găsit vreo ieşire, popasurile fiind scurte şi plătite din greu ulterior, prin alte şi alte strădanii, la limita tragicului.
Transcultural Mirrors. vol.1. Literary and Cultural Perspectives, 2024
The present paper attemps to re-assess the legacy of a famous novel (Cel mai iubit dintre pământe... more The present paper attemps to re-assess the legacy of a famous novel (Cel mai iubit dintre pământeni/ The Earth’s Most Beloved Son) as far as the subversive discourse is concerned, but also emphasizes its criticism towards the Communist regime and the social system it produced. The article concludes with a brief comparison with the cinematographic aaptation of Preda’s novel.
Keywords: typologies of representation, subversive novel, film adaptation.
Caietele Echinox, 2008
Abstract: The aim of this study is to take a closer look at a particular genre of fiction, namely... more Abstract: The aim of this study is to take a closer look at a particular genre of fiction, namely the post-1945 apocalyptic novel through a concise analysis of an illustrative example, The War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa. We shall underscore the differences between Vargas Llosa’s assimilation of the apocalyptic scenario and the way in which „comic apocalypses” written by authors like Thomas Pynchon or Kurt Vonnegut envision the possible end of human civilization. We shall focus on the strategies used by the Peruvian novelist in his re-reading of the apocalyptic narrative, including the rise and fall of Antonio the Counselor’s millennialist movement, misinterpretation of reality used as a poetic principle (and a tehnique for creating characters), and also the poetics of paranoia, through which the world and history can be read as „text”. The premise of this study is to distinguish The War of the End of the World from the comic apocalypses of the post-war North American writers, but also to show their common features (a culture of conspiracy, solipsism, the failure of the apocalyptic prophecy, the clash of interpretations, their metahistorical assumptions).
Ekphrasis. Images, Cinema, Theory, Media, 2017
Der Donauraum, 2014
Although both the problem of the Communist past and (New) Romanian Cinema have been widely analys... more Although both the problem of the Communist past and (New) Romanian Cinema have been widely analysed recently (but often separately), a few unanswered questions still remain: can we divide the post-Communist years into more distinct periods according to how the Communist past is imagined in fi lms and novels? Can we trace the diff erences between these representations regarding their ideological output based on their historical context? Can we detect a transformation, a progression from a harsh, vindictive and blunt anti-Communism towards a more nuanced perspective, an alternative vision of the past? Can we speak of nostalgic elements in this third typology? Can we locate this shift of perspective mostly after the offi cial condemnation of Communism and Romania’s inclusion in the EU? How do fi lms and novels refl ect this? To a certain extent, the fi rst three questions are rhetorical, since it can easily be noticed that the break with emphatic, harsh anti-Communism manifested throughout the 1990s and continued during Iliescu’s second presidential term (2000–2004). Th e political reason was obvious: Romania was ruled by what was perceived as an ex-Communist nomenclature with Ion Iliescu as its symbolic fi gure. One important historical moment in post-Communist Romanian history was the offi cial condemnation of the Communist regime in 2006, which roughly divides the recent past in two main periods, one before and the other after the integration into Europe (2007). Th e fi rst part was regarded by mass media as being dominated by well-known political fi gures connected to the Communist past, and the discourse of fi lms (but also mass media)
"This paper investigates the concept of psycho-apocalypses as a new type of apocalyptic imag... more "This paper investigates the concept of psycho-apocalypses as a new type of apocalyptic imagination in film and literature, with a vast range of examples, mostly taken from the films of 2011, extremely significant both for the change in the apocalyptic genre of the last two decades and for the return of pre-apocalypticism, a resurgence of intense expectations for the end of the world (a new apocalyptic psychoses). In the first part of the article I outline a few theoretical perspectives on this shift, and, in the second part I analyze the significant examples, from the TV series “Doomsday Preppers” to films like Take Shelter and Another Earth. "
Ekphrasis, 2011
This paper focuses on Lars Von Trier΄s Melancholia in a double relation, with his previous filmog... more This paper focuses on Lars Von Trier΄s Melancholia in a double relation, with his previous filmography and with disaster film genre, investigating how Melancholia stands apart from both series of film, both Trier΄s and the apocalyptic genre.
Der Donauraum, 2012
Our study aims to investigate the Romanian post-communist cinema and how it mirrors the different... more Our study aims to investigate the Romanian post-communist cinema and how it mirrors the different phases in the process of EU-integration, opposing mainly the transitional period and its post-2007 counterpart through some key features of Romanian society depicted in the national cinema (especially the migration process and its effects on the rest of society). Before the EU integration Romania had a cultural Katharsis, short time after 2007 the Romanian society focuses its attention on what could be called Anagnorisis (the fascination with the non-mediated contact with the real).
Revista Transilvania, 2019
Un caz care în contextul actual ar trebui să capete noi semnificaţii, contrastând evident cu cel ... more Un caz care în contextul actual ar trebui să capete noi semnificaţii, contrastând evident cu cel al primilor torţionari pedepsiţi cu închisoarea, Ion Ficior şi Alexandru Vişinescu, este cel al lui Franz Ţandără, torţionarul desprins parcă din romanele lui Dostoievski, care decide să-şi caute singur pedeapsa în primii ani după 1990, adresându-se Asociaţiei Foștilor Deţinuţi Politici şi chiar Poliţiei, dar întâlnind un sistem care nu are încă formulate legile pentru pedepsirea crimelor împotriva umanităţii şi nici instrumentele instituţionale pentru a începe procesul comunismului, proces mult aşteptat de opinia publică al anilor '90. Această lacună la nivel legislativ şi instituţional, prelungită în fapt până în 2006 (momentul oficial de condamnare a comunismului), a generat efectul contrar la nivelul discursului mediatic, unde nevoia de justiţie retroactivă 1 a îmbrăcat cele mai diverse forme, cea mai frecventă fiind cea a discursului urii, eliminând orice nuanţe sau delimitări între false şi adevărate victime, între opresori şi diversele devoalări ale colaboratorilor cu fosta Securitate, câţiva dintre aceştia fiind chiar foşti deţinuţi, condamnaţi politic cu ani de temniţă grea la activ, ale căror merite au fost trecute sub tăcere (cazurile lui Adrian Marino sau Nicolae Balotă, a căror colaborare forţată de anii de puşcărie a umbrit pe nedrept rezistenţa lor morală contra totalitarismului, problemă studiată cu atenția cuvenită acestor nuanțe sensibile de Gabriel Andreescu) 2. Dorinţa aflării adevărului deplin despre sistemul opresiv şi impulsul justiţiei retroactive par să alimenteze deopotrivă discursul mediatic şi cel al reprezentărilor artistice despre comunism din perioada 1990-1998 sau chiar 1998-2006, dar acest fapt ar schiţa un tablou prea simplist al dinamicii interne acestor opere literare sau cinematografice. În mod ironic, condamnarea oficială a comunismului a fost făcută de un preşedinte a cărui colaborare cu fosta Securitate a fost dovedită, în 2019, de Consiliul Național pentru Studierea Arhivelor Securității (CNSAS). Anti-comunismul retroactiv al politicienilor din ultimii ani a primit astfel The Afternoon of a Torturer-the Anatomy of an Impossible Case The author begins with the theory of the three representations of the Communist past, visible in the post-communist narrative discourse, both in literature and cinema, already discussed in previous articles. The present article brings forward new insights regarding the second representation, still inspired by the anticommunist stance, but already surpassing its limitations towards other narrative options and perspectives. Lucian Pintilie's film The Afternoon of a Torturer is considered a key example due to the controversial aspect of the character portrayed, due to the factual dimension of the case and its implicit ambiguities. Keywords: typologies of representation, figure of the survivor, figure of the bystander, retroactive justice.
Intersecții comparatiste contemporane, 2018
The article considers the problem of influences and typological analogies, and the contribution o... more The article considers the problem of influences and typological analogies, and the contribution of Professor Vasile Voia to the field of comparative literature, to German studies and their relation to comparative studies, delineating the most important features of his critical style and approach.
The article is a short introduction in the problems of science fiction genre, posthumanism and a ... more The article is a short introduction in the problems of science fiction genre, posthumanism and a short presentation of the articles of the present volume.
Transilvania, 2016
The article analyzes Ion D. Sîrbu’s short stories published during his lifetime, under the strict... more The article analyzes Ion D. Sîrbu’s short stories published during his lifetime, under the strict and diffuse censorship of Ceauşescu’s regime. These stories are emblematic for the unity of the author’s political imaginary, visible in his posthumous novels, but also in Sîrbu’s diary and essays. The article’s contention is that Sîrbu’s short stories belong to the dissident style and themes, and that there is no disparity between his public figure and his innner self.
This paper analyzes the dialectic between the absence of the physical body, the presence of the o... more This paper analyzes the dialectic between the absence of the physical body, the presence of the out-of-body entities, and the promise of a post-human paradise, as well as their connection with the (impossible) gaze. These motifs are discussed in relation to the science fiction genre in literature (Philip K Dick’s The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch and Dr Bloodmoney) and film (from The Invisible Man-1933 to Transcendence-2014). The article concludes with a few examples that seem to transgress the science fiction genre (Spike Jonze’s Her, 2013; Black Mirror), and the entire science fiction tradition, where the absence of the physical body and the presence of an intrusive consciousness are always intertwined, generating dystopian worlds.
The article’s premise is that there are three tipologies of representing the communist past in th... more The article’s premise is that there are three tipologies of representing the communist past in the Romanian post-communist novel. The article focuses on the first typology, describes its main features, and then concentrates on an emblematic example of the first representation, Bujor Nedelcovici’s The Second Messenger. The main features are: the great appeal for satire and dystopia, the emphasis on memory, morality and the dialectics between truth and oblivion imposed by the totalitarian world upon the protagonist in these dystopian novels.
Ekphrasis. Images, Cinema, Theory, Media, 2015
The article analyzes the extent to which the Romanian film and novel after 1989 propose a contras... more The article analyzes the extent to which the Romanian film and novel after 1989 propose a contrasting vision on
the recent past as compared to the official, hegemonic discourse of the political realm. One important event was the
official condemnation of the communist regime in 2006. Another objective of the paper is to analyze the artistic response
of films to media and political events. The questions asked are: do the films from this period challenge the hegemonic
anti-communist discourse? What are the strategies employed? How has the film or the novel influenced other discourses
as well? Three typologies of representing communism are proposed and discussed.
Call For Papers EKPHRASIS. Images, Cinema, Theory, Media Vol. 17, Issue 1/2017 From Metropolis (1... more Call For Papers
EKPHRASIS. Images, Cinema, Theory, Media
Vol. 17, Issue 1/2017
From Metropolis (1927) to Ex Machina (2015), from A Space Odyssey (1968) to The Matrix (1999), from Blade Runner (1982) to Her (2013), science fiction cinema has imagined countless modes of narrating this uncanny interaction between man and machine, one so strange yet so familiar to any smartphone user.
To a certain degree Baudrillard’s premise has proven prophetic: with the rapid advance of technologies the science fiction universe, once placed in a distant future, was challenged by the present day realities and the unexpected fulfillment of the technological utopias.
Some questions are following from this transformation: Are we witnessing the radical transformation of the sci-fi genre, or the end the classical “artificial intelligence” trope? Has sci-fi been reduced to a mere projection/allegory of the “real” world? What is the future of the genre, after assimilating fantasy (Star Wars), horror, or dystopia? What is the future of sci-fi narratives in the wake of blockbusters like Gravity, Tv series such as Black Mirror or Humans or auteur films such as Her? What is left of the realm of extrapolation?
These are just a couple of questions of the current issue of Ekphrasis, which will investigate what is left of the traditional imagination of science fiction after being surpassed by the evolution of hyperreality/ virtual reality and other simulated spaces.
Ekphrasis is seeking papers that address the issue of technology in general and artificial intelligence in particular and who analyze how these topics are addressed by the contemporary representations in cinema, literature and visual arts.
Topics may include, but are not restricted to:
Human consciousness vs simulated consciousness
Man versus his mirror technical image-body-mind
Technophobic/technophilic visions on artificial intelligence
Realism and the future of science fiction genre
Dystopian and utopian visions on posthumanism
Data made flesh vs flesh made data
Transhumanist utopia
Mind-transplant immortality
Cyber-Armageddon
Issue editors: Andrei Simuţ and Doru Pop
Deadline for abstracts of up to 300 words: March 30th 2017.
Final submission is due May 20th 2017.
The articles should be written in English or French (for English, please use the MLA citation style and documenting sources).
For the final essay, the word limit is 5000-8000 words of text (including references).
Please include a summary and key-words
The articles should be original material not published in any other media before.
Graduate students are particularly encouraged to submit papers.
Please send all correspondence to andrei.simut@gmail.com and popdoru@gmail.com
Ekphrasis is a peer-reviewed academic journal, edited by the Faculty of Theatre and Television, “Babes-Bolyai” University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
For more information and submission guidelines, please visit:
http://ekphrasisjournal.ro/index.php?p=call
Ekphrasis and faculty of Theatre and Television, UBB Cluj, Romania
2nd Ekphrasis Conference on Cinema and Visual Culture 28-29 May, 2015, Cluj, Romania ... more 2nd Ekphrasis Conference on Cinema and Visual Culture
28-29 May, 2015, Cluj, Romania
Provocation as Art.
Scandal, Shock and Sexuality in Contemporary Visual Culture
2nd Ekphrasis Conference in Cinema and Visual Culture
Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Theater and Television, Department of Cinema and Media
Please visit the conference page at
http://teatrutv.ubbcluj.ro/conferences/provocation/
Call for proposals
The Faculty of Theater and Television of the Babeș-Bolyai University is announcing the Call for Papers for the Annual Cinema and Visual Culture Studies Conference held May 25-29 2015. This 2015 conference is designed to discuss the irreverent nature of art, cinema and visual production in various media environments. The purpose of the conference is to deal with the various obstructions of the creative spirit, both in the context of the passivity of the consumer society and in a highly censored and politically correct environment. Often art is vilified, accused of blasphemy and obscenity, threatened with violence, prosecuted and even imprisoned, yet the function of art has to be a source for scandal and provocation. The main goal of the conference is interrogating the limits of what is acceptable or not in art, of what it means to use art as a form of disrupting the established order. Researchers are invited to explore the provocative nature of art, by looking deeper into the means by which artistic expressions challenge the social barrier, and understanding the breaking force of any work of art, in media and in cinema.
A special feature of the debate is announced as part of this conference, and it will be dedicated to the philosophy and aesthetics of Lars Von Trier. This part of the conference is dedicated to the three trilogies of Lars von Trier, with a special interest for his so called Depression Trilogy (Antichrist, Melancholia and Nymphomaniac).
Prospective authors are invited to submit their abstracts on the following subjects:
Impertinent nature of the artistic act
Shocking images and provocations
Sexually explicit images in art cinema
Controversy and clichés
Challenging the canons
Scandalous nature of aesthetics
Defying the limits of reception in visual arts
Risk taking in artistic expression
Disturbing representations in media and cinema
Dissent and political irreverence in art and visual culture
Radicalism and provocations of existing artistic taste
Perversity and cultural passivity in visual media
Fascination for the monstrous and the unknown in visual representations
Taboo breaking in art
Antagonism and the dialectics of provocation in art
Abstract Submission Deadline: March 15th, 2014
Abstracts (up to 500 words) are requested in English for all papers related to any aspect the conference topics. Approaches from a range of disciplines and interdisciplinary studies are accepted if related to any aspect of art, cinema, media, visual culture, and any sub-genre of those fields. Researchers from all disciplines, as well as PhD students and artists who are active in research activities are welcome to participate. The sessions of paper presentations will include about 4 theoretical papers, while practitioners will be presenting their findings in distinct workshops. The information requested with abstract submission must include the name(s) of the author(s), institutional affiliation, mailing address and email, proposed title of presentation to, 3-5 keywords (changes are allowed up to the registration deadline). Keynote speakers (to be confirmed).
Registration Deadline for Presenters: 15th March, 2015
The language of the conference is English. Please note that there will be a conference fee of € 150. Discounts and reduced fees to be discussed with each applicant. Early bird fees are 100 if payed by the end of January 2015.
Contact: Associate Professor Doru Pop
Email: doru.pop@ubbcluj.ro / ekphrasis@ubbcluj.ro
VENUE: “Babes- Bolyai” University
Mihail Kogălniceanu Street, 400084 Cluj- Napoca, RO
http://www.teatrutv.ubbcluj.ro
This paper examines the contrast between the official political discourse In Romania after 1989 a... more This paper examines the contrast between the official political discourse In Romania after 1989 and the alternative discourses (of film especially, but also the novel) regarding the representation of the Communist past.
The current issue of Ekphrasis. Images, Cinema, Theatre, Media is dedicated to New Images for Old... more The current issue of Ekphrasis. Images,
Cinema, Theatre, Media is dedicated to New
Images for Old Myths. Representations of the
Apocalypse in Film, Media and Visual Arts
and it seems that it could not be a more
proper moment to analyse the apocalyptic
imagination than in the proximity of
another settled date for Apocalypse, the
21st of December, 2012. The preparations
of this number have encompassed both
the pre-apocalyptic frenzy and the post-apocalyptic
disappointment. The articles
have surveyed a vast series of issues,
have covered of a vast body of works,
from the general aspects to the particular
problems, attempting to answer a few
questions. What is really new in contemporary
representations of the end of the
world? Can we speak of a new apocalyptic
conscience? What has been preserved
from the great apocalyptic tradition?
What are the elements of the new apocalyptic
imagination?
During the history of the cinema, cities and films have always been inspirational to one another.... more During the history of the cinema, cities and films have always been inspirational to one another. The city has been regarded as the “founding myth of cinema” and it has been its companion since the beginning of its history. The city has been not only a constant source of inspiration for the most important trends and movements throughout film history (Weimar city film, Expressionism, film noir, rubble war films, New Waves, auteurism, New realisms, Cold War science fiction and dystopian films, disaster movies etc), but also the very texture on which the cinematic space was woven.
The artificial city from Neubabelsberg to the more recent Nollywood serves as a typical example of how film and city merge, blurring the boundaries between illusion and reality, and, in terms of production, becoming a symbol of a specific national cinema. The history of cinema has always been strongly connected to the urban development and representations and maintained its fascination with the urban landscape. Film has completely re-constructed our urban experience and rendered it uncanny.
On the other hand, rising from the primary points of the relationship between the artist, consciousness, and the social environment, the work of art - idea of an image - has the power to act upon this consciousness. Extremely eloquent for the individual/collective evolutions, narrating space also means re-establishing a coherent vision of a spiritual universe.
Our current issue of Ekphrasis gathers a wide range of topics, methodologies, with specialists from various fields (film studies, but also theatre and literary studies), putting an emphasis on the interdisciplinarity, and initiating a fascinating journey through the cities of the world: Bucharest, Cluj, Iaşi (Doru Pop, Ioana Gruia, Alexandru Matei, Roxana Patraş), New York, Los Angeles, (Jonathan Naveh, Rosalia Neumann Garcia), Johannesburg (Andrei Simuţ), Indian cities and zones (Bilal Ahmad Shah, Anjali Gera Roy), Oslo (Véronique Buyer), Vienna (Monique Ehmann), Paris (Daniel Larangé, Michel Arouimi, Iulia Micu), and, last but not least, imaginary and virtual cities (Elena Tyushova, Andrei Simuţ, Iulia Micu, Călina Bora).
Recently, there are quite a few journals that have focused on apocalyptic imagination and catastr... more Recently, there are quite a few journals that have focused on apocalyptic imagination and catastrophism in contemporary culture. A strong revival of apocalyptic studies in the academic world can be observed during the first decade of the 21 st century. This demand of reflexive and balanced perspective regarding this subject matter has been addressed also by Symbolon, the journal of comparative studies edited by Ionel Buşe (University of Craiova, Centre for the Research of Imaginary and Rationality), in the issue " L'imaginaire des catastrophes " , co-edited with Jean-Jacques Wunenburger (Univeristy of Lyon, Institut de Recherches Philosophiques de Lyon). The ability to attract notable scholars in comparative studies is a staple of the journal and of this issue in particular. The volume also comprises a variety of research methods, from myth analysis, to historical, political interpretation, from philosophical to literary hermeneutic, and including the inquiries into the religious imagination. The third part of the volume extends the analysis of catastrophic imagination towards cinema and theatre. One of the most important articles in the volume belongs to Jean-Jacques Wunenburger, co-editor of Symbolon, a contribution valuable for its conceptual contribution to the field and for the understanding the appeal of catastrophe on contemporary imagination. Wunenburger considers catastrophe to be an excessive event, whose representation comprises three dimensions: mythical, a relation with the sublime (the philosophical concept described as the possibility to represent the impossible) and the postmodern dimension, reshaped in the media representations of catastrophes. Joël Thomas analyses how catastrophe is conceptualized in classic Antiquity and offers a re-reading of Pharsalia by Lucain, concluding that the hidden meaning of catastrophe resides beyond its representation. Bruno Pinchard examines the philosophical concept of " Aufhebung " in the Hegelian philosophical system, in order to circumscribe a metaphysic of disasters and to emphasize the presence of hope. Giulio Raio focuses again on the difficulty in representing catastrophe, on the importance of the Blumenberg' s metaphor of the " shipwreck with spectator ". Bertrand Vidal reminds us about the apocalyptic-revelatory power of the catastrophes, and concludes that the positive representations of modernity have come to an end, especially the idea of progress (the paradoxical desire of extinction). Maria Noel Lapoujade investigates the differences between catastrophe and disaster, analyzing the former from the symbolic and cosmological perspective. Marco Jiménez and Ana Maria Valle examine the myth of Atlantis in Mayan tales of Chilam Balam and Nahuas from La Legenda de los Soles, insisting that the signs of cataclysm are considered as the signs of renewal. The myth of Atlantis is further discussed in Katiane Fernandes Nóbrega's article, who discusses it in connection to the Umbanda religion and its relationship with cataclysm. Codrina –Laura Ioniţă offers an encompassing view on apocalyptic iconology, comparing the paintings of the Last Judgement in different Western and Eastern cathedrals. Veronique Adam analyses the paradox of a world created from chaos and compares a few relevant texts from the 17 th century, most notably that of Gamon, the French alchemist poet whose work is an example of a literary naturalization of the catastrophe. Ion Hirghiduş investigates the mythological dimension of the mining disasters, focusing on the symbolical relations between the miner and the earth. Phillipe Chométy develops the concept of restricted disaster in the works of Jean Loret, a case study of representing the natural catastrophe in a poetic fiction. Puiu Ioniţă examines the topos of the end of the
DACOROMANIA LITTERARIA, 2014
Il y a moins de dix ans, des voix ont commencé à s'exprimer ouvertement en Roumanie en faveur du ... more Il y a moins de dix ans, des voix ont commencé à s'exprimer ouvertement en Roumanie en faveur du retour d'une critique biographique. Dan C. Mihăilescu (n. 1953), un des plus importants chroniqueurs roumains, a initié une campagne pour ce qu'il avait appelé « néobiographisme ». Ilina Gregori (n. 1943), savante d'origine roumaine qui a fait carrière dans l'espace académique allemand, a mis en circulation deux concepts expérimentaux, « parabiographie » et « oniro- biographie », pour les appliquer au cas de Eminescu et Cioran. Le livre de 2005 de Mircea Anghelescu (n. 1941) s'appelait Littérature et biographie, l'essai de Doris Mironescu (n. 1979) paru en 2011 titrait La vie de M. Blecher. Contre la biographie et une vaste synthèse réalisée par Eugen Simion (n. 1933) visait Les genres du biographique. Le mot « biographie » était devenu agrippant, un véritable buzzword, et une fois avec, tout un vocabulaire et une collection d'objets de la réflexion littéraire ont été tacitement réinvestis. Antonio Patraş (n. 1973) a présenté son cycle d'essais sur la littérature des critiques comme une enquête de la « personnalité ». Mais bien d'autre recherches récentes se sont revendiquées tout simplement d'un intérêt pour l'« homme » et d'un effort de « reconduire l'attention vers la présence réelle (de l'écrivain), et non pas à son être de papier », comme écrivait Doris Mironescu dans la préface de son livre. Comment y est-on arrivé ? Car visiblement, en dehors d'une volonté commune de faire sens à travers le procédé biographique, les acteurs de cette réhabilitation de la critique biographique n'appartenaient pas à la même génération ni à la même « école », ne partageaient pas les mêmes opinions littéraires, ne suivaient pas un seul et unique projet.