H. Bonciu, or Horia Bonciu (; reportedly born Bercu, Beniamin or Hieronim Haimovici, Alina Ianchiș
"Un excentric cu pretenții: H. Bonciu"
in
Caiete Silvane
'', August 2010Irimescu, p.49Florina Pîrjol

in ''

Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania. The magazine was started in 2000. The weekly publishes articles on Romania's cultural and arts scene as well as politica ...

'', Nr. 279, July 2005 also known as Bonciu Haimovici, Haimovici Bonciu;Ornea, ''Anii treizeci'', p.451 May 19, 1893 – April 27, 1950), was a Romanian novelist, poet, journalist and translator, noted especially as an atypical figure on his country's

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

scene. His work, comprising several volumes of poetry and two novels, is a mixture of influences from the diverse literary schools of Europe's

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

, and, unusually in the context of

Romanian literature Romanian literature () is literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language. History The development of the Romanian literature took place in parallel with that ...

, borrows heavily from German-born movements such as

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. The

autofiction In literary criticism, autofiction is a form of fictionalized autobiography. Autofiction combines two mutually inconsistent narrative forms, namely autobiography and fiction. An author may decide to recount their life in the third person, to mod ...

al and cruel detail in Bonciu's narratives makes him a senior figure among Romania's own '' Trăirist'' authors, while its capture of the unnaturally grotesque also finds him as one of the country's Neoromantics and

Surrealists Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

. Opposed by the literary establishment when his

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scul ...

subjects became more widely known, and further marginalized for his

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

origin, H. Bonciu was even prosecuted in the 1930s on grounds of "

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

". His work was banned by the local

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

movements, and later selectively censored by the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

. The controversy, like his refusal to rally with any particular cultural movement of the

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

, has touched the critical reception of his work, and has introduced a decades-long debate about its contextual value. While some scholars find Bonciu a necessary addition to the modern literary canon and a forerunner of

postmodern literature Postmodern literature is a form of literature that is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues. This style of experimental ...

, others describe him as mediocre or pretentious.

Biography

Bohemian life

Bonciu was born in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

to the Jewish couple Carol Haimovici and Ghizela Nadler. Little is known about his childhood other than the family's move to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, which happened when he was still a toddler; it was in Bucharest that he completed his primary and secondary education. Bonciu may have been enrolled at the

Frederick William University Friedrich Wilhelm University (German: ''Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität'') may refer to: * Humboldt University of Berlin, called ''Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität'' from 1828 to 1949, and sometimes known in English as Frederick William University * ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

.Călinescu, p.900 Beyond this uncertain affiliation, it is known that Bonciu must have spent part of his youth in the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

and

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, and that such a cultural encounter shaped his entire approach to literature.

Geo Șerban Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or land”. GEO or Geo may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazine ...

"H. Bonciu între experiment și experiență"
in ''

Contemporanul ''Contemporanul'' (The Contemporary) is a Romanian literary magazine published in Iaşi, Romania from 1881 to 1891. It was sponsored by the socialist circle of the city. A new magazine ''Contimporanul ''Contimporanul'' (antiquated spelling of ...

'', Nr. 3/2009, p.11 (republished b
''România Culturală''
) In a 1997 article, literary historian Ovid Crohmălniceanu assessed: "among the Romanian writers, only H. Bonciu has had the occasion to encounter proper ''

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

''" (''see

Symbolist movement in Romania The Symbolist movement in Romania, active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, marked the development of Romanian culture in both literature and visual arts. Bringing the assimilation of France's Symbolism, Decadence and Parnassianism, it ...

''). As a young adult, Bonciu obtained his main income from trading in umbrellas and curtains. He made his literary debut in 1912, when he published in Bucharest's theatrical magazines '' Rampa'' and ''Cortina''. There was a pause in activity during most of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when Romania fought against Germany and the other

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...

—he was possibly in enemy territory,Glăvan, p.262 but, judging by references in his novels, he may also have seen action in the

Romanian Land Forces The Romanian Land Forces ( ro, Forțele Terestre Române) is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. In recent years, full professionalisation and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Lan ...

. One other story places Bonciu in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

during much of 1917. According to this account, the expatriate Romanian salesman met and closely befriended the Hungarian poet-activist

Endre Ady Endre Ady (Hungarian: ''diósadi Ady András Endre,'' archaic English: Andrew Ady, 22 November 1877 – 27 January 1919) was a turn-of-the-century Hungarian poet and journalist. Regarded by many as the greatest Hungarian poet of the 20th century ...

. Bonciu was probably back in Bucharest in early 1918, as Romania was negotiating a peace with Germany (''see

Romania during World War I The Kingdom of Romania was neutral for the first two years of World War I, entering on the side of the Allied powers from 27 August 1916 until Central Power occupation led to the Treaty of Bucharest in May 1918, before reentering the war on 10 ...

''). His poems and translations from

Peter Altenberg Peter Altenberg (9 March 1859 – 8 January 1919) was a writer and poet from Vienna, Austria. He played a key role in the genesis of early modernism in the city. Biography He was born Richard Engländer on 9 March 1859 in Vienna. The nom de p ...

were taken up by the theatrical daily ''Scena'', put out in German-occupied Bucharest by dramatist

A. de Herz Adolf Edmund George de Herz, commonly shortened to A. de Herz, also rendered as Hertz and Herț (December 15, 1887 – March 9, 1936), was a Romanian playwright and literary journalist, also active as a poet, short story author, and stage actor. He ...

. It has been suggested that Bonciu's avant-garde sympathies and stylistic rebellion has its roots in the period, making him part of the same wave as

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

(Romanian inventor of

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...

ism), but that he lost momentum by only making public his avant-garde work after 1930. In 1920, Bonciu resumed his contribution to ''Rampa'', where he published his translation of poems by

Anton Wildgans Anton Wildgans (17 April 1881 – 3 May 1932) was an Austrian poet and playwright. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Life Born in Vienna, Wildgans studied law at the University of Vienna, from 1900 ...

. That year, he also returned to Vienna, but was still included as a member of ''Rampa''s editorial staff; in 1921, he inaugurated a long period of activity with another Romanian-based literary newspaper, ''

Adevărul Literar și Artistic ''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published du ...

''. Having established his reputation as a journalist, Bonciu became a regular columnist: his letters, headlined ''Mișcarea artistică de la noi și din străinatate'' ("The Art Movement in Our Country and Abroad"), ran in several national newspapers. Constantin Radinschi
"Cuviosul vin roșu de la Uricani"
, in '' Evenimentul'', June 22, 2002 Among the major periodicals who hosted his work over the next decade are ''

Viața Românească ''Viața Românească'' (, "The Romanian Life") is a monthly literary magazine published in Romania. Formerly the platform of the left-wing traditionalist trend known as poporanism, it is now one of the Writers' Union of Romania's main venues. Th ...

'', '' Facla'', ''

Azi ''Azi'' (''Today'' in Romanian) is a Romanian daily newspaper published in Bucharest. The paper was started in 1990. Today was also the name of a literary magazine published monthly in Romania, from March 1932 to August 1938, under the directio ...

'', ''Meridian'', and

Isac Ludo Isac Ludo (1894–1973) was a Romanian writer and political figure. Born into a Jewish-Romanian family, Ludo was active in left-wing literary circles prior to World War II. After the Communist take-over in 1947, he rose to important position ...

's ''ADAM'' review. He also began using a number of

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

s, including, in addition to ''H. Bonciu'', ''Sigismund Absurdul'' ("Sigismund the Absurd")—effectively, his literary

alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

Ion Simuț An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

"Atentat la canonul interbelic"
, in ''

România Literară ''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared on ...

'', Nr. 44/2005 The other pseudonym he used was ''Bon-Tsu-Haș''. In 1924, Bonciu married a Gabriela Kimmel, living, until 1934, in relative isolation from the literary scene. Early in the 1930s, the family had moved back to Iași, where Bonciu set up a new business in the production and distribution of

Moldavian wine Moldova has a well-established wine industry. With a production of around 2 million hectolitres of wine (as of 2018), it is the 11th largest European wine-producing country. Moldova has a vineyard area of of which are used for commercial produ ...

. On his vineyard, covering some 15 hectares outside of Miroslava, the writer created sweet "Uricani wine", seen by some oenologists as one of Romania's finest, and a very popular drink throughout the country. The passion for wine-making later resulted in a friendship between Bonciu and celebrated actor-satirist

Constantin Tănase Constantin Tănase (; 5 July 1880 – 29 August 1945) was a Romanian actor and writer for stage, a key figure in the revue style of theater in Romania. Life He was born into a working-class family living in a peasant house in Vaslui, Roman ...

; the latter acclimatized Uricani trunks at his own villa, in

Balotești Balotești is a Communes of Romania, commune in the northwestern part of Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. Two small rivers flow through this location: Cociovaliștea and Vlăsia. It is composed of three villages: Balotești, Dumbrăveni and Săfti ...

. Bonciu was a regular

gambler Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three eleme ...

and drinker, who supplied the

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

society of Iași with affordable wine. Humorist

Păstorel Teodoreanu Păstorel Teodoreanu, or just Păstorel (born Alexandru Osvald (Al. O.) Teodoreanu; July 30, 1894 – March 17, 1964), was a Romanian humorist, poet and gastronome, the brother of novelist Ionel Teodoreanu and brother in law of writer Ștefana Ve ...

, who attended this society, recalls: "Old folks in Iași may still remember Bonciu's devout wine, that every Iași inhabitant back in the day would gorge on at their own will, in Tuflii Café, for 2,50 lei a bottle. ..Just about every afternoon, the cart would stop on the dot at Unirii Square, facing Traian Café, where onciuwould habitually play a game of chess. Waiting for his master, the gray-haired cart driver would fall asleep on his seat".

Main writing period

According to his journalist colleague Emil Cerbu, Bonciu's return to ''Rampa'' was both a literary revelation and the birth of a new poetic style: "He had sent in a poem a few days before. A

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

made remarkable by the brutal force of its imagery. They told him it could not be published, because of one crude word that harmed the entire sonnet. The poet thereafter turned into another person, with another kind of poems. All of these had an internal structure never before seen in Romanian lyrical literature." It was during the ''Rampa'' years that observers began referring to Bonciu's synthesis as a local manifestation of Expressionism, the German current having already found a dedicated promoter in Cerbu. From this context were born H. Bonciu's poetry collections ''Lada cu năluci'' ("A Crate of Apparitions", 1932) and ''Eu și Orientul. Douăzeci și cinci de sonete'' ("I and the Orient. Twenty-five Sonnets", 1933). Both were published with Editura Vremea company. ''Lada cu năluci'' was printed in only 1,000 copies, each featuring Bonciu's autograph and a portrait of his by

Tyrolese Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

artist

Alfons Walde Alfons Walde (8 February 1891 – 11 December 1958) was an Austrian artist and architect. Art Walde is known best for his winter landscapes and farming images, especially skiing and sporting scenes, painted in tempera or impastoed oil paint. Man ...

. Simona Vasilache
"Carne și vînt"
, in ''

'', Nr. 30/2009 With time, Bonciu became especially noted as the translator of works by Expressionists,

Symbolists Symbolism was a late 19th-century art movement of French and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts seeking to represent absolute truths symbolically through language and metaphorical images, mainly as a reaction against naturalism and realis ...

and Neoromantics from the area of

German culture The culture of Germany has been shaped by major intellectual and popular currents in Europe, both religious and secular. Historically, Germany has been called ''Das Land der Dichter und Denker'' (the country of poets and thinkers). German cultu ...

. Among others, they include Ady,

Richard Beer-Hofmann Richard Beer-Hofmann (11 July 1866 in Vienna – 26 September 1945 in New York City) was an Austrian dramatist and poet. Beer-Hofmann was born to Jewish parents. His mother died within a week of his birth and after her death, he was adopted a ...

Klabund Alfred Henschke (4 November 1890 – 14 August 1928), better known by his pseudonym Klabund, was a German writer. Life Klabund, born Alfred Henschke in 1890 in Crossen, was the son of an apothecary. At the age of 16 he came down with tuberculo ...

Erich Mühsam Erich Mühsam (6 April 1878 – 10 July 1934) was a German-Jewish antimilitarist anarchist essayist, poet and playwright. He emerged at the end of World War I as one of the leading agitators for a federated Bavarian Soviet Republic, for which ...

Alfons Petzold Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

, Richard von Schaukal and

Carl Spitteler Carl Friedrich Georg Spitteler (24 April 1845 – 29 December 1924) was a Swiss poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1919 "in special appreciation of his epic, ''Olympian Spring''". His work includes both pessimistic and hero ...

. Of these, his rendition of Rilke's "What Will You Do, God, When I Die?" has been singled out for its beauty by critic Simona Vasilache. Additionally, Bonciu published versions of poems by France's pre-Symbolist

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

. Adrian Grănescu
"Traduceri și traducători – note de lectură – însemnări de cititor"
in '' Vatra'', Nr. 8-9/2010, p.110 His full translation of Wildgans' ''Die Sonette an Ead'', with the title ''Poeme către Ead'', came in 1933, also with Editura Vremea. The work won praise from essayist and literary chronicler

Ovidiu Papadima Ovidiu Papadima (June 23, 1909, Sinoe, Constanța County – May 26, 1996, Bucharest) was a Romanian literary critic, folklorist, and essayist. He studied at the Alexandru Papiu Ilarian High School in Târgu Mureș, graduating at the top of his ...

, who wrote for the magazine ''

Gândirea ''Gândirea'' ("The Thinking"), known during its early years as ''Gândirea Literară - Artistică - Socială'' ("The Literary - Artistic - Social Thinking"), was a Romanian literary, political and art magazine. Overview Founded by Cezar Pet ...

'' that Bonciu was a "precious" and thoughtful translator, whose versions were more polished than Wildgans' originals. ''Bagaj...'' ("Luggage"), also known as ''Strania, dubla existență a unui om în patru labe'' ("The Strange Double Life of a Man on His All Fours")Crohmălniceanu, p.632 or ''Confesiunile unui om în patru labe'' ("The Confessions of a Man on His All Fours"), was first published in 1934, marking Bonciu's beginnings as an eccentric novelist. Published by Editura Librăriei Leon Alcaly, its original jacket carries an enthusiastic introductory note, by the

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

doyen, poet and journalist

Tudor Arghezi Tudor Arghezi (; 21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer, best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Born Ion N. Theodorescu in Bucharest, he explained that his pen name was related to ''Argesis'', th ...

.Glăvan, p.263 The originals were liberally illustrated with reproductions of paintings and drawings by the late

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austri ...

artist

Egon Schiele Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (; 12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude self-portr ...

. Allegedly, the novel was a commercial flop, only published in 500 copies. Outside the modernist circles, Romanian critics were generally uninterested in ''Bagaj...'', or unaware that it even existed. Nevertheless, Bonciu continued to write and, in 1936, Alcaly issued his second novel: ''Pensiunea doamnei Pipersberg'' ("Mrs. Pipersberg's Boarding House").

Obscenity scandal and arrests

The following period brought Bonciu into the spotlight, as soon as the traditionalist and

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

sections of the media began depicting him as one of the most obscene modern Romanian authors. This controversy was in effect sparked by culture critic

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (; sometimes Neculai Iorga, Nicolas Jorga, Nicolai Jorga or Nicola Jorga, born Nicu N. Iorga;Iova, p. xxvii. 17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a Romanian historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet ...

and his '' Neamul Românesc'' journal. The scandal intensified with time, and Bonciu saw himself included in lists of " pornographers", alongside some major or minor modernist writers: Arghezi,

Geo Bogza Geo Bogza (; born Gheorghe Bogza; February 6, 1908 – September 14, 1993) was a Romanian avant-garde theorist, poet, and journalist, known for his left-wing and communist political convictions. As a young man in the interwar period, he was known ...

Mihail Celarianu Mihail Celarianu (August 1, 1893 – 1985) was a Romanian poet and novelist. A native of Bucharest, he was the third of eight children born to Constantin Celarianu, an officer in the Romanian Army, and his wife Antoaneta (''née'' Pricup). Aft ...

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanians, Romanian History of religion, historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who establ ...

etc. One such directory, in ''Neamul Românesc'', had Bonciu as the No. 1 obscene writer, with Bogza in second place and N. D. Cocea in at third.

Gheorghe Grigurcu Gheorghe is a Romanian given name and surname. It is a variant of George, also a name in Romanian but with soft Gs. It may refer to: Given name * Gheorghe Adamescu * Gheorghe Albu * Gheorghe Alexandrescu * Gheorghe Andriev * Gheorghe Apostol ...

"Despre pornografie" (II)
, in ''

'', Nr. 3/2007 In Bonciu's case, the accusations mingled anti-modernism and

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

Paul Cernat Paul Cernat (born August 5, 1972 in Bucharest) is a Romanian essayist and literary critic. He has a Ph.D. summa cum laude in philology. Cernat has been a member of the Writers' Union of Romania since 2009. As of 2013, he is lecturer of Romanian li ...

"Blasfemia și drepturile artei"
in ''

Dilema Veche ''Dilema veche'' (English: "Old Dilemma") is a Romanian weekly magazine that covers culture, social topics, and politics. It was founded in 2004 as the successor to the magazine ''Dilema'', which was founded in 1993. Both magazines were founded by ...

'', Nr. 119, May 2006 only focusing on ''Bagaj...'' and simply ignoring the equally provocative content of ''Pensiunea''. The accusations found some backing among government officials. Reportedly, Bonciu was first arrested for a short while in 1932, together with Bogza.

"Sesto Pals, avangardistul subteran"
in ''

'', Nr. 179, July–August 2003 Adina-Ștefania Ciurea
"Scriitori în boxa acuzaților"
, in ''

'', Nr. 33/2003 They were held in

Văcărești prison Văcăreşti may refer to several entities in Romania: * Văcărescu family of boyars *Văcărești, Bucharest Văcărești () is a neighbourhood in south-eastern Bucharest, located near Dâmbovița River and the Văcărești Lake. Nearby neighbo ...

, outside of Bucharest, and joined there by the avant-garde youth of ''Alge'' magazine, all of them disciples of Bogza. Two years later, the case was being revisited by his peers inside the

Romanian Writers' Society The Romanian Writers' Society ( ro, Societatea Scriitorilor Români) was a professional association based in Bucharest, Romania, that aided the country's writers and promoted their interests. Founded in 1909, it operated for forty years before the e ...

, where Bonciu's defense was taken by novelist

Zaharia Stancu Zaharia Stancu (; October 7, 1902 – December 5, 1974) was a Romanian prose writer, novelist, poet, and philosopher. He was also the director of the National Theatre Bucharest, the President of the Writers' Union of Romania, and a titular memb ...

and critic

Șerban Cioculescu Șerban Cioculescu (; 7 September 1902 – 25 June 1988) was a Romanian literary critic, literary historian and columnist, who held teaching positions in Romanian literature at the University of Iași and the University of Bucharest, as well as m ...

. Around that date,

Constantin Angelescu Constantin Angelescu (10 June 1869 – 14 September 1948) was a Romanian politician who served as ad interim/ acting Prime Minister of Romania for five days, between 30 December 1933 and 3 January 1934. He was: Doctor of Medicine in Paris, Pleni ...

, Romania's Minister of Public Instruction, imposed state censorship on ''Pensiunea''. In 1937, the state opened a case against Bonciu and Bogza, who were again taken into custody. As noted by the Surrealist writer

Sașa Pană Sașa Pană (; pen name of Alexandru Binder; 8 August 1902—22 August 1981) was a Romanian avant-garde poet, novelist, and short story writer. Biography Born to a Jewish family in Bucharest, he trained as a physician in Iași and Bucharest, b ...

, this came shortly after the

Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ro, Academia Română ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its byl ...

, through the voice of conservative author

Ioan Alexandru Brătescu-Voinești Ioan Alexandru Brătescu-Voinești (January 1, 1868 – December 14, 1946) was a Romanian short story writer and politician. The scion of a minor aristocratic family from Târgoviște, he studied law and, as a young man, drew close to the ''Junim ...

, had openly demanded jail terms for both Bonciu and Bogza. A while after, Bogza latter protested vehemently, calling the anti-modernist campaign an "offensive toward darkness and intolerance", while noting that the modest circulations of his and Bonciu's avant-garde work could not justify the scale of repression. Bonciu found an unexpected backer in

Eugen Lovinescu Eugen Lovinescu (; 31 October 1881 – 16 July 1943) was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the ''Sburătorul'' literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the u ...

, a respected intellectual leader on the moderate side of modernism. Lovinescu admired ''Bagaj...'' for its style, if not for its content, and strongly believed that artists in general were above

didactic Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to ...

requirements. Another such voice was that of novelist

Liviu Rebreanu Liviu Rebreanu (; November 27, 1885 – September 1, 1944) was a Romanian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and journalist. Life Born in Felsőilosva (now Târlișua, Bistrița-Năsăud County, Transylvania), then part of the Kingd ...

, who demanded from the Writers' Society a show of solidarity in condemning the arrests. His demand received backing from Stancu and Cioculescu. Dumitru Hîncu
"Din trecutul S.S.R."
, in ''

'', Nr. 22/2008 The arrest was a cause for celebration in the other camp. At the Writers' Society, Rebreanu's motion was defeated after a clash of opinions, which almost resulted in the resignation of Society President Nicolae M. Condiescu. The guild's anti-Bonciu lobby included poet George Gregorian (who declared both detainees to be "pseudo-writers") and the formerly accused Eliade (who included himself among the opponents of "pornographic literature"). Writing for the

gazette ''

Sfarmă-Piatră (; literally "Stone-Crusher" or "Rock-Breaker", named after one of the ''Uriași'' characters in Romanian folklore) was an antisemitic daily, monthly and later weekly newspaper, published in Romania during the late 1930s and early 1940s. One in ...

'', the formerly sympathetic reviewer Papadima signaled that "Haimovici Bonciu" and Aderca were "big pigs" supported by "the Jewish media", on whom the state needed to focus its efforts. In a 1938 column for ''Gândirea'', Papadima also contended that Bonciu and the

anticlerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

Romanian novelist Damian Stănoiu were in reality demanding "marketing freedom". In Papadima's account, they abused the notion of artistic liberty, as embodied by the "high art" of Baudelaire. Bonciu was released soon after, and, in an interview with ''Azi'' newspaper, described the censorship effort as futile. He also gave a formal reply to the more critical of Lovinescu's pronouncements, writing a

lampoon Lampoon may refer to: *Parody *Amphol Lampoon (born 1963), Thai actor and singer *''The Harvard Lampoon'', a noted humor magazine ** ''National Lampoon'' (magazine), a defunct offshoot of ''Harvard Lampoon'' ***National Lampoon, Incorporated, a 20 ...

called ''Criticul de porțelan'' ("The Porcelain Critic"). This enraged Lovinescu, who then published a sarcastic note regarding Bonciu's public persona, the piece later known as ''Poetul absolut'', "The Absolute Poet". It describes Bonciu's "oriental looks", athletic frame and sporting passion ("he does not shy away from walking down Bucharest's streets dressed up in a

ski suit A ski suit is a suit made to be worn over the rest of the clothes when skiing or snowboarding.eis the eternal convalescent of an unforgiving disease: literaturitis. Whatever subject one may wish to explore, ..in less than five minutes the conversation, like in some kind of dance, retreats back to art, naturally his own art, to what he has written, writes, will write, to the torture that is his writing process, to his elevated concepts on beauty, to the eternity of art versus the lies of the present, and so on."

World War II and later life

In parallel with his growth as a novelist, Bonciu became known to the literati as a prankster and eccentric social observer. In 1937, at the funeral of novelist

Anton Holban Anton Holban (; 10 February 1902, in Huşi – 15 January 1937, in Bucharest) was a Romanian novelist. He was the nephew of Eugen Lovinescu. The son of Gheorghe Holban (whom had from his father’s side Germanic ancestry) and Antoaneta Lovin ...

, Bonciu grabbed the public eye by seating himself in the coffin, his protest against "the inequities of the clergy".Călinescu, p.901 Two years later, before the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he self-published his third poetry collection, called ''Brom'' ("Bromine"). Antisemitism and fascism became official policies in Romania in the late 1930s (''see

Holocaust in Romania The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...

''), and Bonciu found himself excluded from literary life for most of the war years. Under the regime of ''

Conducător ''Conducător'' (, "Leader") was the title used officially by Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu during World War II, also occasionally used in official discourse to refer to Carol II and Nicolae Ceaușescu. History The word is derived from the Rom ...

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and ''Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who made ...

, his entire work was officially banned throughout the country, alongside that of many other Jewish writers. The censorship trend found as its main opponent the literary historian and polemicist

George Călinescu George Călinescu (; 19 June 1899, Bucharest – 12 March 1965, Otopeni) was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies. He is currently considered one of the mos ...

, who made a point of assessing past Jewish contributions (Bonciu and Aderca's included), and presented it to the public in a 1941 treatise on Romanian literature. During the subsequent press campaign targeting Călinescu, ''Gândirea'' accused him of having betrayed Romanian suffering under "the pointy claw of the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

". According to such notes, Bonciu's novels illustrated the "poisonous" influence of Jewish literature. H. Bonciu's last work of poetry saw print in 1945, soon after war had ended, with Contemporană publishing house. It carries the title ''Requiem''. He died in April 1950, some two years after a

had been imposed on Romania. He was in Bucharest, Radu Cosașu
"O parolă către un vechi complice"
in ''

'', Nr. 190, September 2007 bedridden, suffering with terminal

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

and receiving farewell visits from others in his generation. One of the last to attend was fellow author Aderca, who recorded Bonciu's bitter joke: "Do you know which is the most bearable of all ways of dying? ..someone else's."

Work

Eclecticism and classification attempts

For reasons unknown, H. Bonciu refused to openly affiliate with any of the many

literary factions which thrived in

Greater Romania The term Greater Romania ( ro, România Mare) usually refers to the borders of the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union. It also refers to a pan-nationalist idea. As a concept, its main goal is the creation ...

. In his 1937 companion to 20th century literature, Eugen Lovinescu described him as a paradoxical, outdated and eccentric author: "the eagerness for novelty, for situations and expressions dominates n his novels but since the novelty dates back to the age of Expressionism, it is currently more outdated than the most up-to-date literature." Writing in 2005, Simona Vasilache presented Bonciu as "a lonely dreamer, terrified by the world like a baby is of bad dreams". Simona Vasilache
"''Kinderscenen''"
, in ''

'', Nr. 17/2005 Researcher

also presented Bonciu as isolated from the Romanian avant-garde, and as such "perhaps a ''

franc-tireur (, French for "free shooters") were irregular military formations deployed by France during the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). The term was revived and used by partisans to name two major French Resistance movements se ...

''". According to critic Gabriela Glăvan, Bonciu's literature is "hybrid" and "borderline" in that it combines "an Expressionism with avant-garde touches" with "slides into the

oneiric Oneiric most commonly refers to: * Dreams, during sleep * Oneirology, the science of dreams Oneiric may also refer to: * Oneiric (film theory), dreams as a metaphor for film—or in critiques thereof * ''Oneiric'' (album), 2006, by Boxcutter * ' ...

and

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

. ..His fragmentary poetic devices, alongside the uncertainty of his belonging to any literary genre, are sufficient elements for Bonciu's classification as an unusual author." The same is noted by critic Florina Pîrjol, who reads in Bonciu "a strange mix of the Expressionistic grotesque and the Surrealistic tenderness." In his wartime biographical essay, George Călinescu further argues that Bonciu's overall contribution mixes together " Neoromantic, Naturalistic and Expressionistic elements. The tendency of personifying the great laws of existence, such as death, the unexpected move ..into the realm of hallucination, the sarcastic and extravagant '' witz'' are all Romantic. The Expressionistic parts are the elevation of each moment into an idea, the obfuscation of things into symbolic smoke, the metaphysical interpretation of everyday tragedy. Beyond these, the habit of seeing dramas and issues in all moments of life comes from the German-Jewish writers of the Werfel type." Ovid Crohmălniceanu also proposed that Bonciu is in fact an Expressionist by accident, whose actual literary models are the proto-Expressionism of

and (even older) currents born into

Austrian culture Austrian culture has been influenced by its past and present neighbours: Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, and Bohemia. Music Vienna, the capital city of the 2nd Republic of Austria had long been an important centre of musical innovatio ...

. Bonciu, he argues, gained an Expressionist profile by performing his own, independent, mix of literary themes: transcendence is borrowed from Neoromanticism, instinctual drive from Naturalism, subjectivity from

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

, and "paneroticism" from Jugendstil and

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sy ...

. Other literary historians presume the same connections.

Dan Grigorescu Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoir ...

suggests that Bonciu's Expressionism was mostly "exterior", spread over Jugendstil, Impressionism, Surrealism and various

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

mixtures; Marian Victor Buciu focuses on Bonciu as a meeting point between the "Naturalist typology" and Expressionism, noting that his Surrealism is less supplied. Nevertheless, Călinescu supposes an ideological link between Bonciu and the Romanian Surrealists at ''

unu ''unu'' (Romanian for "one"; lower case used on purpose) was the name of an avant-garde art and literary magazine, published in Romania from April 1928 to December 1932. Edited by writers Sașa Pană and Moldov, it was dedicated to Dada and Su ...

'' magazine, since a "man with hatstand head" sketch, by ''unu'' artists

Jules Perahim Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). It is the given name of: People with the name *Jules Aarons (1921–2008), American space physicist and photographer *Jules Abadie (1876–195 ...

, illustrated one of Bonciu's works. In Călinescu's interpretation, the "grotesque" drawing brings to life "a moment of dementia", and this is analogous to Bonciu's own intentions: "H. Bonciu, who despises realism and claims to be writing 'with the red of my arteries and the green of my

cerebrospinal fluid Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a clear, colorless body fluid found within the tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord of all vertebrates. CSF is produced by specialised ependymal cells in the choroid plexus of the ventricles of the bra ...

', works in the same hieroglyphic mode." Such nuances notwithstanding, H. Bonciu's contribution was readily annexed to the school of Romanian Expressionism. Dan Grigorescu traces the literary phenomenon to its source: "In what concerns H. Bonciu, critics have passed a more resolute judgment than on any other Romanian writer to have ever been considered a bearer of Expressionist ideas: he was without doubt the one who generated least debate." After it became a point of reference, the definition of Bonciu's work as "Expressionist" created some debate among 20th-century scholars. The issue was notably raised by researcher Ovidiu Cotruș, who found it improbable that Romanian Expressionism was as diverse as to reunite the mystical poetry of

Lucian Blaga Lucian Blaga (; 9 May 1895 – 6 May 1961) was a Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He was a commanding personality of the Romanian culture of the interbellum period. Biography Blaga was born on 9 May 1895 ...

and the crude language of ''Bagaj...''. He therefore demanded some kind of critical revision. However, according to cultural historian Ion Pop, Bonciu remains Romania's only "integral Expressionist", although, even in this context, Bonciu's work "did not record any significant xpressionistshakes".

Bonciu and ''Trăirism''

With his search for "

authenticity Authenticity or authentic may refer to: * Authentication, the act of confirming the truth of an attribute Arts and entertainment * Authenticity in art, ways in which a work of art or an artistic performance may be considered authentic Music * A ...

" in subject and expression, and despite his avant-garde credentials, Bonciu is sometimes included among the younger-generation '' Trăirists'', alongside

Max Blecher Max Blecher (8 September 1909 – 31 May 1938) was a Romanian writer. Life and work Max Blecher's father was a successful Jewish merchant and the owner of a porcelain shop. Blecher attended primary and secondary school in Roman. After graduating ...

Mihail Sebastian Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist. Life Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter. After c ...

. Crohmălniceanu, who finds an ultimate source of literary ''Trăirism'' in narratives by

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the Symbolism (arts), symbolist movement, to the advent o ...

, describes Bonciu's novels as "impressive literary documents" of the ''Trăirist'' movement. Described as the more experimental voice of this subgenre, and opposed to Holban's conventional approach, Bonciu was also repeatedly compared with a secondary figure in ''Trăirism'', the novelist Constantin Fântâneru. Igor Mocanu
"C. Fântâneru. Absurd și suprarealism – o îngemănare inedită"
in ''

'', Nr. 354, January 2007

Z. Ornea Zigu Ornea (; born Zigu Orenstein Andrei Vasilescu"La ceas aniversar – Cornel Popa la 75 de ani: 'Am refuzat numeroase demnități pentru a rămâne credincios logicii și filosofiei analitice.' ", in Revista de Filosofie Analitică', Vol. II, N ...

"Un scriitor de raftul doi"
, in ''

'', Nr. 31/2000 According to reviewer Igor Mocanu, Bonciu, Blecher and Fântâneru share between them a transgression of avant-garde aesthetics and a taste for

absurdism Absurdism is the philosophical theory that existence in general is absurd. This implies that the world lacks Meaning of life, meaning or a higher purpose and is not fully intelligible by reason. The term "absurd" also has a more specific sense ...

: "These three authors would create ..a new way of making literature, which took a tiny bit from all the currents and movements of its time. We are dealing with books where, emerging out of an evidently surreal depictions, one comes across dialogues heavily impregnated with the absurd." The Bonciu–Blecher comparison is more controversial: various reviewers have noted that, while Bonciu visualizes the suffering of himself and others, Blecher records his real-life combat with

Pott disease Pott disease is tuberculosis of the spine, usually due to haematogenous spread from other sites, often the lungs. The lower thoracic and upper lumbar vertebrae areas of the spine are most often affected. It causes a kind of tuberculous arthrit ...

. In Bonciu's novels and his poetry, the sexual function is a tool of apparent liberation, man's only possible flight from existential despair. Beyond the 1937 scandal, Bonciu's breach of sexual convention in his literary subjects was especially criticized by mainstream literati. According to Călinescu, Bonciu suffered from literary "

priapism Priapism is a condition in which a penis remains erect for hours in the absence of stimulation or after stimulation has ended. There are three types: ischemic (low-flow), nonischemic (high-flow), and recurrent ischemic (intermittent). Most cases ...

", as well as being a "verbose" and "

sentimentalist Sentimentality originally indicated the reliance on feelings as a guide to truth, but in current usage the term commonly connotes a reliance on shallow, uncomplicated emotions at the expense of reason. Moral sense theory, Sentimentalism in phil ...

" author. In ''Poetul absolut'', Lovinescu accused Bonciu of "glaring tastelessness" and of promoting an "obsessive" eroticism. The erotic fragments, scandalous in their day, were seen with comparatively less displeasure by newer generations of exegetes. ''

'' columnist

notes that they only cover a few pages of Bonciu's entire work, and that the imagery used is rarely "vulgar". Looking back on the 1930s, literary theorist

Ion Bogdan Lefter An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electric charge, electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be po ...

notes that, within the self-censoring Romanian literature, Bonciu was one of the very few who ventured to lift the "prude barrier" and actually depict the sexual contact, while Cernat suggests that Bonciu's original denunciators barely hid their politicized agenda: "a

xenophobic Xenophobia () is the fear or dislike of anything which is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression of perceived conflict between an in-group and out-group and may manifest in suspicion by the one of the other's activities, a ...

accusation of Jewified, anti-national, pornography". Traditionally, Bonciu's writing style and mastery of the

Romanian language Romanian (obsolete spellings: Rumanian or Roumanian; autonym: ''limba română'' , or ''românește'', ) is the official and main language of Romania and the Moldova, Republic of Moldova. As a minority language it is spoken by stable communi ...

have received both attention and praise. Lovinescu found these to be his validation as an artist. In ''Poetul absolut'', he alternated critique with professional respect, concluding that Bonciu's talent deserved "a better fate." He was to elaborate on the topic in 1937, when he wrote: "The essential merit of isnovels is a stylistic violence that is still restrained by the remarkable dignity of language and accuracy in the artistic finish. As for the substance, so to say: a sexual release, an obsession ..haunts therein; the writer's art will not hide his desolation." For Călinescu, one of Bonciu's interests as a storyteller is his ability to merge a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

narrative and "piercing" realistic episodes; others are his "fine bitterness" and "personal note of humor", even when alternating with "sad clownings". Similar comments were made decades later by

Nicolae Manolescu Nicolae Manolescu (; b. 27 November 1939, Râmnicu Vâlcea) is a Romanian literary critic. As an editor of ''România Literară'' literary magazine, he has reached a record in reviewing books for almost 30 years. Elected a corresponding member o ...

, who rediscovered Bonciu as "a very talented writer", and by Buciu, who writes that Bonciu's "imposing rhetorical competence" outweighed his "amateurism". This is contrasted by other verdicts. In 21st-century reviews, Bonciu was variously described as an author from the "second shelf" or "bottom bench" of Romanian literary culture. Ion Simuț writes that Bonciu, a "minor writer", generally displays "the tricks and clichés of aesthetic and moral nonconformity." Author Alina Irimescu recommends Bonciu for his depiction of life's "chaos", but concludes: " e is at timesa middling writer, blinded by the tendencies of his time, who astounds and does not always have a more profound support." Florina Pîrjol defines Bonciu's forte as being his portraiture, but notes that his narratives lack "dynamism and coherence".

Poetry

Although he nominally took on the classical

rhyme scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB rh ...

s such as the

, Bonciu repeatedly disregarded them for convenience. Since the 1930s, various reviewers have consequently described him as semi-failed and lacking structure. George Călinescu's is a mixed review: "H. Bonciu brings into his poetry a pathos of diurnal life, pessimistic and sarcastic. His general tone is nonetheless shrill, because the author, although he masters the notion of poetry, lacks an artistic persona, being more of an intelligent amateur." Writing in 2005, Simuț found Bonciu "outdated" and "utterly modest" as a poet, linking his work in the field with the late-19th-century

Decadent movement The Decadent movement (Fr. ''décadence'', “decay”) was a late-19th-century artistic and literary movement, centered in Western Europe, that followed an aesthetic ideology of excess and artificiality. The Decadent movement first flourished ...

. Previously, Călinescu had described Bonciu as "all too indebted" to

Austrian poetry Austrian literature () is mostly written in German, and is closely connected with German literature. Origin and background From the 19th century onward, Austria was the home of novelists and short-story writers, including Adalbert Stifter, A ...

. Others have noted that Bonciu's main intent is in rendering the feeling of being crushed by evil nature, the violence of which requires the subversion of lyrical convention, and even of all rational dealings with his public.Grigorescu, p.417 As argued by Crohmălniceanu: "Everything erebecomes a chemical chart for the despair which his clowning is striving to keep hidden from view." The poems are, in Grigorescu's view, Bonciu's most Expressionistic creations. Crohmălniceanu sees Bonciu's work in

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...

as illustrating the sense of hopelessness, coldly disguised under allusions to

sadomasochism Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

, or "the taste for maculation". He believes that the peak of such works is ''Brom'', where anxiety builds up at the thought of demonic forces about to "sweep us up".Crohmălniceanu, p.505 Reviewers have made special note of "Living Words", the artistic credo found in ''Lada cu năluci'': Also remembered is a poem which introduces (and is introduced by) the word ''bleah'', invented by Bonciu as an expression of absolute disgust. Radu Cosașu
"Eugenia! Eugenia!"
in ''

'', Nr. 314, February 2010 Literary columnist Radu Cosașu had admiringly described the novel term as "a word of havoc, invented by that dark wonder, the poet Bonciu, ..a word of enigmatic transparency, untranslatable". Part of Bonciu's work reads: Bonciu's poems borrow their cultural symbols from very diverse sources. His taste for "an absurd and secretly terrifying mythology", in some Sigismund Absurdul pieces, is seen by Crohmălniceanu as a nod to the writings of

Christian Morgenstern Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern (6 May 1871 – 31 March 1914) was a German author and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin ...

. "I and the Orient", the title of Bonciu's collected sonnets, is likely a reflection of Bonciu's debt to

Hanns Heinz Ewers Hanns Heinz Ewers (3 November 1871 – 12 June 1943) was a German actor, poet, philosopher, and writer of short stories and novels. While he wrote on a wide range of subjects, he is now known mainly for his works of horror, particularly his trilo ...

' '' India and I''. Some poems of Bonciu's place artificial, medieval and knightly imagery over an existential moral—this, Vasilache notes, is one similarity between Bonciu and the modernist poet

Emil Botta Emil Botta (; 15 September 1911, Adjud – 24 July 1977, Bucharest) was a Romanian actor and writer. Together with Emil Cioran, Eugen Ionescu, and , he was a member of the literary group called ''Corabia cu ratați'' ("The Losers' Ship"). Bo ...

. In one other case, discussing his romance with a Jewish girl, Bonciu references the stereotypical image of his fellow

Ashkenazim Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

as "

ruddy Ruddy is a reddish-rosy crimson colour, closer to red than to rose. Ruddy may also refer to: Surname *Albert S. Ruddy (born 1930), Canadian-born American film producer *Christopher Ruddy (born 1965), American journalist; CEO of NewsMax Media * ...

''Bagaj...''

Trcka - Schiele neben Entwurf eines unausgeführten Freskos, 1914

In his presentation of ''Bagaj...'',

argued of H. Bonciu: "From a sty of crude colors, with plenty of gilded gossamer rubbed into it, his thick and greasy brush ..paints into the fresco of our spiritual bedlam".

Felix Aderca Felix Aderca (; born Froim-Zelig roim-ZeilicAderca; March 13, 1891 – December 12, 1962),

too campaigned for the novel and its "pages of genius". Another notable fan of the book was novelist and literary chronicler Mihail Sebastian, his ''Trăirist'' colleague, although he noted that Bonciu's text was not a fully formed novel. The same was concluded by Călinescu, who once described Bonciu the novelist as the author of "

prose poems Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form, while preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery, parataxis, and emotional effects. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associ ...

". Other critics tend to rate ''Bagaj...'' as a poorly finished work, insisting on its centrifugal narrative—one such conservative voice was that of Pompiliu Constantinescu, who still saluted Bonciu's decision to move into the genre of "Surreal prose", away from poetry. Some students of Bonciu's work disagree: according to Adriana Babeți, the "disconcerting amalgam" gives Bonciu his originality and strength. Later revealed as Bonciu's

, the narrator of ''Bagaj...'' focuses his attention on the more peculiar protagonist, Ramses Ferdinand Sinidis. The plot is, in fact, a

story within a story A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...

: Bonciu reads through Sinidis' "black notebook", left unopened after its author was murdered. The killer is a Man with Copper Beak (''Omul cu ciocul de aramă''), whose confession to Bonciu is also rendered as a detailed story. The murder was carried out for an absurd reason, and the Man with Copper Beak is haunted by the memory. He does not regret Sinidis' death, but consumed by another, unwitting, murder: his improvised weapon has also pierced through a malevolent dwarf who lived in Sinidis' body, and whom Sinidis despised. Beyond the pretext, the "black notebook" is an ample excursion into a sordid, self-destructive and peripheral environment, where real-life events merge with the purely fantastical. Vasilache sees in it a '' Wunderkammer'' comprising "violent initiations into the brutal life of the senses, interrupted then and now by brief mortuary rituals", while Alina Irimescu likens it to

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( , ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His best known work, ''The Scream'' (1893), has become one of Western art's most iconic images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dr ...

's ''

The Scream ''The Scream'' is a composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images of art, seen as symbolizing the anxiety of the human condition. Munch's work, including ...

'', noting "the realm of the

undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if alive. Most commonly the term refers to corporeal forms of formerly-alive humans, such as mummies, vampires, and zombies, who have been reanimated by super ...

is onciu'sfavorite

topos In mathematics, a topos (, ; plural topoi or , or toposes) is a category that behaves like the category of sheaves of sets on a topological space (or more generally: on a site). Topoi behave much like the category of sets and possess a notion ...

." According to Glăvan, the plot is "a trajectory of the ego's unraveling", with "a certified propensity toward the voluptuousness of self-annulment", and an (anti-)''

Bildungsroman In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood ( coming of age), in which character change is impo ...

''.Glăvan, p.266 Sinidis depicts his cruel adolescence and Oedipus conflict, his erotic experiences with two partners (the virginal heartthrob Laura, and the submissive mistress on the side), the trauma of a participation in

, and a cynical case of

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. As a brief interlude in his self-destructive discourse, Sinidis makes eulogistic comments about a promised

world revolution World revolution is the Marxist concept of overthrowing capitalism in all countries through the conscious revolutionary action of the organized working class. For theorists, these revolutions will not necessarily occur simultaneously, but whe ...

, about "

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

" ethics and a

universal language Universal language may refer to a hypothetical or historical language spoken and understood by all or most of the world's people. In some contexts, it refers to a means of communication said to be understood by all humans. It may be the idea of ...

, but has to defend his ideas against the dwarf that lives inside him. The creature then forces his host into an unloving marriage with Zitta, and Ramses' murder occurs just as he decides to end it; he and his murderer then make their way into an infernal

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

. In the closing episode of ''Bagaj...'', Sinidis accepts his spiritual deconstruction, and looks to an eternity of degrading and bestial sexual acts with the "sweet-fleshed" prostitute Peppa. Sindis' recurrent obsession is death, and he prophesies in detail about being an out-of-body witness to his funeral service and incineration, content that the flames would also consume his parasite. His tormented life is intertwined with those of desperate

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...

es, including a

gout Gout ( ) is a form of inflammatory arthritis characterized by recurrent attacks of a red, tender, hot and swollen joint, caused by deposition of monosodium urate monohydrate crystals. Pain typically comes on rapidly, reaching maximal intensit ...

-afflicted man who severs his own fingers, or a driller who was burned alive.Glăvan, p.269 When read as a camouflaged record of actual events in Bonciu's life, the novel reveals his claims about having been a witness to Vienna's artistic life under the Double Monarchy: Viennese writers such as Altenberg, Petzold, Wildgans, Peter Hille,

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...

Arthur Schnitzler Arthur Schnitzler (15 May 1862 – 21 October 1931) was an Austrian author and dramatist. Biography Arthur Schnitzler was born at Praterstrasse 16, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, capital of the Austrian Empire (as of 1867, part of the dual monarchy ...

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...

appear as characters, and

is a literary prototype. In one section of the book, Ramses discovers the beautiful Hilda, who is a painter, a muse, and the living artwork of

, and who ends up being eaten alive by her creator; before this happens, Hilda, Schiele and Ramses become entangled in a

sadomasochistic Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer ...

ménage à trois A () is a domestic arrangement and committed relationship with three people in polyamorous romantic or sexual relations with each other, and often dwelling together; typically a traditional marriage between a man and woman along with anothe ...

''. The

al element in ''Bagaj...'' was highlighted by Romania's other literati, beginning with

's review in ''

Adevărul ''Adevărul'' (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published dur ...

''. Holban gave praise to the work as a source of "delight", and first suggested that Bonciu belonged in the same category as

Louis-Ferdinand Céline Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( , ) was a French novelist, polemicist and physician. His first novel ''Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the ''Pri ...

Axel Munthe Axel Martin Fredrik Munthe (31 October 1857 – 11 February 1949) was a Swedish-born medical doctor and psychiatrist, best known as the author of ''The Story of San Michele'', an autobiographical account of his life and work. He spoke several la ...

. The Céline comparison has endured as popular in Romanian literary theory: Glăvan finds that both Bonciu and

, his more embittered generation colleague, are among the Romanian writers who found a model to follow in the ''

Journey to the End of the Night ''Journey to the End of the Night'' (french: Voyage au bout de la nuit, 1932) is the first novel by Louis-Ferdinand Céline. This semi-autobiographical work follows the adventures of Ferdinand Bardamu in the World War I, colonial Africa, the Un ...

''; according to Pîrjol, Céline and Bonciu have a "family resemblance". The main mix of influences, however, comes from the iconoclastic cultures of Secessionist Vienna and the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

, with whom Bonciu was personally familiarized. Exegetes have identified in ''Bagaj...'' the echoes of writers translated by Bonciu (Altenberg, Petzold, Wildgans), but also from other such sources, including Hille.Crohmălniceanu, p.501; Glăvan, p.264 Furthermore, Crohmălniceanu sees the novel as incorporating elements from a literary branch of the "

New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, who ...

" movement: Klabund, but also

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including '' Emil and the Detectives''. He received ...

, as authors of "atrocious, sarcastic, grotesque and brutal realism". Glăvan too sees an analogy between Sinidis' grim reflection on war and landscapes by "New Objectivity" master

Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Along with Geor ...

. Others see the nightmarish protagonists as cultural echoes from the ''Bizarre Pages'' of Romanian absurdist author

Urmuz Urmuz (, pen name of Demetru Dem. Demetrescu-Buzău, also known as Hurmuz or Ciriviș, born Dimitrie Dim. Ionescu-Buzeu; March 17, 1883 – November 23, 1923) was a Romanian writer, lawyer and civil servant, who became a cult hero in Romania's ava ...

''Pensiunea doamnei Pipersberg''

In ''Pensiunea doamnei Pipersberg'', Bonciu preserves his narrator persona and revives Ramses Sinidis. The novel, variously read as a continuation or a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

, opens with the meeting between Ramses and the storyteller; Sinidis has been afflicted by muteness, but, at the very time of this encounter, a bizarre accident forces his voice back. The two then proceed to reconstruct the missing portions of Sinidis' life, an

intertextual Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text, either through deliberate compositional strategies such as quotation, allusion, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche or parody,Gerard Genette (1997) ''Paratexts'p.18/ref>H ...

exercise in which protagonist advises writer how to best perform his task. The background themes are despair and solitude: Ramses is on the search for someone to share his existential burden, and the narrative grows to include, according to Crohmălniceanu, an "entire gallery of tormented yet hilarious faces".Crohmălniceanu, p.503 The plot is in large part focused on the eponymous "boarding house", in fact a brothel. There are three correspondents of the "black notebook", which obsess about the themes other than death: "Book of the Flesh", "Book of the Wine", "Book of the Soul". The sexual act is again depicted in key moments of the book, showing Sinidis' first sexual experience, with a

laundress A washerwoman or laundress is a woman who takes in laundry. Both terms are now old-fashioned; equivalent work nowadays is done by a laundry worker in large commercial premises, or a laundrette (laundromat) attendant. Description As evidenc ...

, or his later intercourse with "a cow-woman" (according to Simuț, these scenes are passionate but not in fact obscene). The needy Lenny Pipersberg and her daydreaming prostitutes reify the feeling of inadequacy—the girl Nora despises the natural green of her hair, and kills herself in desperation. According to Pîrjol, this is a book of "quasi-theatrical melancholy", alternating the "cruel" and the "implausible-

bucolic A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...

", especially adept at describing "abjection". The novel, she notes, is

antifeminist Antifeminism, also spelled anti-feminism, is opposition to some or all forms of feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educat ...

, showing women piled up in Sinidis' collection of escapades, "as if in an insect box."

Legacy

According to researcher Alina Ianchiș, Bonciu's isolation and his lack of "self-affirmation" contributed to the ambiguous or dismissive assessments of his work by academic contemporaries. The writer only returned to critical attention in 1964, when Crohmălniceanu first lectured on him at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...

. His versions of Baudelaire's poems were included in a luxury edition of ''

Les Fleurs du mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...

'', put together by writer

Geo Dumitrescu Geo Dumitrescu (born Gheorghe Dumitrescu; May 17, 1920 – September 28, 2004) was a Romanian poet and translator. Born in Bucharest, his parents were Vasile Oprea (who changed his name to Vasile Dumitrescu), a craftsman and owner of a small s ...

(''Les Fleurs du mal. Florile răului'', Editura pentru literatură universală, 1968). The following period witnessed a drop in receptivity or, in Alina Irimescu's words, a "historical void". A reissue of his novels came only in 1984, care of

Mircea Zaciu Mircea Zaciu (August 27, 1928–March 21, 2000) was a Romanian critic, literary historian and prose writer. Biography Born into a Greek-Catholic family in Oradea, Ion Pop"Prezența lui Mircea Zaciu" in ''Tribuna'', nr. 143-144, September 200 ...

and Mioara Apolzan. This project suffered from the intervention of communist censors, and the parts considered scandalous or political were simply bracketed out in the final printed edition. In the literary underground, Bonciu enjoyed some popularity among the '' Optzeciști'' writers—some of whom were disciples of Crohmălniceanu, trying to reconnect themselves with the 1930s avant-garde. Poet-novelist

Mircea Cărtărescu Mircea Cărtărescu (; born 1 June 1956) is a Romanian novelist, poet, short-story writer, literary critic, and essayist. Biography Born in Bucharest in 1956, he attended Cantemir Vodă National College during the early 1970s. During his school ...

became a noted supporter of Bonciu's reconsideration, and listed him among the direct precursors of Romania's

. Published later in Cărtărescu's life, the '' Orbitor'' cycle is seen by Irimescu as evidence of Cărtărescu's debt to Bonciu and Blecher. Another member of the ''Optzeciști'' clubs, poet

Florin Iaru The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...

, has also been described as one in succession to Bonciu, particularly in what concerns the Expressionist imagery of his poems. Sonia Larian, a more senior author (but one whose work was only published in the 1980s), is also seen as a disciple of Bonciu, for her scenes of Jewish life in Bucharest. Bonciu's comeback took place only after the fall of communism in 1989. In subsequent years, his name was popularized by specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias, and in reinterpretative essays on literary history. In 2000, Aius Publishers in

Craiova Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...

released a third, uncensored, edition of his two novels, but the circulation was exceedingly small. A year later, Bonciu failed to make the ''

'' "best Romanian novels" list, compiled from interviews with Romanian literary professionals. At the time, his absence was considered surprising by ''Observator Cultural'' editor

Gheorghe Crăciun Gheorghe Crăciun (8 May 1950, Zărnești – 30 January 2007, Constanța) was a Romanian writer and translator. Crăciun was born in Tohanu Vechi, now part of Zărnești, Brașov County. In addition to being a novelist and a translator, he was a ...

. In 2005, the

Writers' Union The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers (russian: Союз писателей СССР, translit=Soyuz Sovetstikh Pisatelei) was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded ...

magazine ''

'' published samples of Bonciu's poetry, within a special avant-garde issue. At the same time,

Polirom Polirom or Editura Polirom ("Polirom" Publishing House) is a Romanian publishing house with a tradition of publishing classics of international literature and also various titles in the fields of social sciences, such as psychology, sociology and a ...

publishing house issued both ''Bagaj...'' and ''Pensiunea'' as a single edition. It carries a preface by Babeți, and is a conscious attempt to reassess Bonciu as one of the major Romanian writers of his time. The reception was lukewarm and the iconoclastic intent criticized by other specialists.

notes that, unlike Blecher, "H. Bonciu does not represent a real challenge to the consecrated hierarchy of interwar assets. From this side, there is no hope that one could modify the iteraturecanon." In the Bonciu chapter of his own companion to Romanian literature (published 2008),

suggested that the author of ''Bagaj...'' was more gifted than consecrated novelists such as

Gib Mihăescu Gib I. Mihăescu (; born Gheorghe I. Mihăescu; April 23, 1894 – October 19, 1935) was a Romanian prose writer and playwright. Born in Drăgășani, his parents were Ion Mihăescu-Stegaru, a lawyer, and his wife Ioana (''née'' Ceaușescu). He ...

. That pronouncement was questioned by Manolescu's younger colleague,

. During a far-reaching literary debate of late 2008, Cernat has also criticized those postmodern authors who, in his view, overrate H. Bonciu and Constantin Fântâneru to the detriment of interwar classics. Such conclusions were mirrored by other authors. As one of Bonciu's defenders, Irimescu sees him as one "condemned to endure outside the literary canon", who would not receive recognition "either because of the times, or because of the people." Essayist Magda Ursache made particularly strong comments regarding perceived attempts at revising the canon "with the help of a hammer", to favor Bonciu and other avant-garde writers. The revival of erotic prose in post-Revolution literature has also led reviewers to suggest that the "generation 2000" was, or could have been, influenced by ''Bagaj...'' or ''Pensiunea''.

"Diferența specifică a celor mai buni"
in ''

Revista 22 ''Revista 22'' (''22 Magazine'') is a Romanian weekly magazine, issued by the Group for Social Dialogue and focused mainly on politics and culture. History and profile ''Revista 22'' was started in 1990. The first edition of the magazine was print ...

'', Nr. 914, September 2007; Alex. Cistelecan,

Gabriel Dimisianu In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

"Prim plan: Gabriel Dimisianu"
in '' Vatra'', Nr. 3-4/2005, p.66 However, according to a 2010 article by Radu Cosașu, "nobody today remembers Bonciu".

Notes

References

, ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent'',

Editura Minerva Editura Minerva is one of the largest publishing houses in Romania. Located in Bucharest, it is known, among other things, for publishing classic Romanian literature, children's books, and scientific books. The company was founded in Bucharest in ...

, Bucharest, 1986 * Ovid Crohmălniceanu, ''Literatura română între cele două războaie mondiale'', Vol. I, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1972. * Gabriela Glăvan
"H. Bonciu – Dincolo de expresionism"
in the

West University of Timișoara The West University of Timișoara ( ro, Universitatea de Vest din Timișoara; abbreviated UVT) is a public higher education institution located in Timișoara. Classified by the Ministry of National Education as a university of education and sci ...

''Anale. Seria Științe Filologice. XLIV'', 2006, p. 261-276 * Gabriela Glăvan, "Viraj în ireal. Modernități particulare în literatura română interbelică", Editura Universității de Vest, 2014, p. 174-216 *

, ''Istoria unei generații pierdute: expresioniștii'', Editura Eminescu, Bucharest, 1980. * Alina Irimescu
"Horia Bonciu: osânditul din limbul canonului literar"
in ''

Dacia Literară ''Dacia Literară'' was the first Romanian literary and political journal. History Founded by Mihail Kogălniceanu and printed in Iaşi, Dacia Literară was a Romantic nationalist and liberal magazine, engendering a literary society A lit ...

'', Nr. 6/2010, p. 49-51 *

, ''Istoria literaturii române contemporane'', Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1989. *

, ''Anii treizeci. Extrema dreaptă românească'', Editura Fundației Culturale Române, Bucharest, 1995. * Liviu Rotman (ed.),
Demnitate în vremuri de restriște
', Editura Hasefer, Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania &

Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania The Elie Wiesel National Institute for Studying the Holocaust in Romania, ''Institutul Naţional pentru Studierea Holocaustului din România „Elie Wiesel”'' in Romanian) is a public institution established by the Romanian government on August ...

, Bucharest, 2008.

External links

''Mrs. Pipersberg's Boarding House (excerpt)''
in
Plural Magazine
', Nr. 26/2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonciu, H 1893 births 1950 deaths 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century translators Romanian male poets Romanian male novelists Romanian erotica writers Romanian fantasy writers Romanian columnists Romanian humorists Romanian translators Sonneteers Decadent literature Expressionist writers Expressionist poets Romanian surrealist writers Symbolist novelists Symbolist poets Writers from Iași Romanian Jews Moldavian Jews Romanian people of World War I 20th-century Romanian businesspeople Romanian winemakers Obscenity controversies in literature Jewish Romanian writers banned by the Antonescu regime Deaths from cancer in Romania