Ion Călugăru (; born Ștrul Leiba Croitoru, Ion Călugăru,

Ioan Lăcustă Ioan is a variation on the name John found in Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Welsh (), and Sardinian. It is usually masculine. The female equivalent in Romanian and Bulgarian is Ioana. In Russia, the name Ioann is usually reserved for the clergy ...

''"Uzina care încearcă să gonească morții". Note nepublicate (1948)''
at th
Memoria Digital Library
retrieved February 17, 2010 also known as Buium sin Strul-Leiba Croitoru, Liviu Rotman (ed.),
Demnitate în vremuri de restriște
', Editura Hasefer,

Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania The Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania ( ro, Federația Comunităților Evreiești din România, FCER) is an ethnic minority political party in Romania representing the Jewish community. History The organization was originally found ...

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, p.174. B. Croitoru;Călinescu, p.795; Crohmălniceanu, p.346Tudor Opriș, ''Istoria debutului literar al scriitorilor români în timpul școlii (1820-2000)'', Aramis Print, Bucharest, 2002, p.132.

Ioana Pârvulescu Ioana Pârvulescu (born 1960) is a Romanian writer. She was born in Brașov and studied at the University of Bucharest. She graduated in 1983 and went on to complete a PhD in literature in 1999. She teaches modern literature at the same university ...

"Personajul episodic iese în față"
in '' România Literară'', Nr. 16/2002 February 14, 1902 – May 22, 1956) was a Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and critic. As a figure on Romania's modernist scene throughout the early

interwar period 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 World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...

, he was noted for combining a picturesque perspective on the rural Jewish-Romanian community, to which he belonged, with traditionalist and avant-garde elements. His early works, including the novel ''Copilăria unui netrebnic'' ("The Childhood of a Ne'er-do-well"), bring together elements of Social Realism,

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 ...

and

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 ...

over a conventional narrative line based on oral tradition and the classics of Romanian literature. Călugăru, who moved from the moderate '' Contimporanul'' magazine to the Surrealist platform '' unu'', was also one of the main contributors to ''Integral'', a tribune for avant-garde literature in general. Although publicly known for his socialist convictions and his far left inclinations, he was, through his position at ''

Cuvântul ''Cuvântul'' (, meaning "The Word") was a daily newspaper, published by philosopher Nae Ionescu in Bucharest, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It ...

'' newspaper, present in the proximity of

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 ...

circles, and had an ambiguous attitude toward his employer, the

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 ...

thinker Nae Ionescu. Shortly before the establishment of Romania's communist regime, Călugăru embraced Socialist Realism and became and made official his relationship with the ruling

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that woul ...

. During this final period of his career, he wrote the controversial novel ''Oțel și pîine'' ("Steel and Bread"), an epic of

industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

, widely seen as one of the most representative samples of politicized literature to have seen print in 1950s Romania. Despite his formal affiliation to Marxism-Leninism, Călugăru had doubts about the new political realities and commented with sarcasm on the regime's self-contradictions. These opinions were expressed in his private diaries, which became the subject of research and public scrutiny some fifty years after his death.

Biography

Early life and debut

A native of Dorohoi '' shtetl'', in the historical region of Moldavia, Ion Călugăru spent his early years in relative cultural isolation among the local Jewish community. This environment, which was later the main focus of his literary work, was described by literary historian

Ovid Crohmălniceanu Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

as "not actually a ghetto life", but made distinct from other environments for being both Jewish and Moldavian.Crohmălniceanu, p.346 Researcher

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 ...

also noted that Călugăru, like his future Surrealist colleague Benjamin Fondane, illustrated the Jewish section of the Romanian avant-garde and its connections with the local

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

tradition. Shortly after World War I, the young author moved to Bucharest, together with his poet friend Sașa Pană. He managed to attend the

Matei Basarab National College Matei Basarab National College ( ro, Colegiul Național "Matei Basarab") is a high school in Bucharest, Romania, located at 32 Matei Basarab Street, Sector 3. It opened in November 1860, one of two secondary schools to open that year in the Roman ...

, but lived precariously—his family lacked the means to support him. According to his friends' testimonies, he was still noticeably poor, well into the 1930s. Together with Fondane and Pană, he was one of the regulars at the literary parties hosted by controversial businessman

Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești Alexandru Bogdan-Pitești (; born Alexandru Bogdan, also known as Ion Doican, Ion Duican and Al. Dodan; June 13, 1870 – May 12, 1922) was a Romanian Symbolism (arts), Symbolist poet, essayist, and art and literary critic, who was also known as ...

. The three became well acquainted with the avant-garde society of Bucharest. Their informal literary circle played host to by F. Brunea-Fox,

Henri Gad Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the ' List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Mo ...

Armand Pascal Armand refer to: People * Armand (name), list of people with this name * Armand (photographer) (1901–1963), Armenian photographer * Armand (singer) (1946–2015), Dutch protest singer * Sean Armand (born 1991), American basketball player * Arm ...

, Claude Sernet-Cosma and Ilarie Voronca, as well as, on occasion, artists

Iosif Ross Iosif may refer to: People * Iosif Amusin, Soviet historian * Iosif Anisim, Romanian sprint canoer *Iosif Blaga, Romanian literary theorist and politician *Iosif Bobulescu, Romanian bishop *Iosif Capotă, Romanian anti-communist resistance fighte ...

and

Nicolae Tonitza Nicolae Tonitza (; April 13, 1886 – February 27, 1940) was a Romanian painter, engraver, lithographer, journalist and art critic. Drawing inspiration from Post-impressionism and Expressionism, he had a major role in introducing modernist g ...

, and poet

Claudia Millian Claudia Millian (also Millian-Minulescu; February 21, 1887 – September 21, 1961) was a Romanian poet. Born in Bucharest, her father was Ion Millian, an engineer of Greek origin; her mother was Maria (''née'' Negoescu). She attended primary ...

. B. Croitoru received his first encouragements from critic

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 ...

, who published his texts in '' Sburătorul'' magazine. Lovinescu was a teacher at Matei Basarab, and decided to give employ his student as an editor and book reviewer. He is credited with having coined and assigned Croitoru the pen name ''Ion Călugăru'' (from ''călugărul'', "the monk"). While with ''Sburătorul'', Călugăru published some of his first autobiographical fragments, which were later integrated in some of his novels. The aspiring writer was focusing his work on prose pieces largely inspired by

Romanian folklore The folklore of Romania is the collection of traditions of the Romanians. A feature of Romanian culture is the special relationship between folklore and the learned culture, determined by two factors. First, the rural character of the Romanian ...

and the 19th-century adventure novel, publishing, under the pen name ''Moș Ion Popescu'' ("Old Man Ion Popescu"), short stories with '' hajduk'' protagonists.Răileanu & Carassou, p.150

"Măștile ludice ale lui Julian Barnes sau Comedii polițiste de moravuri"
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. 364, March 2007 Cernat, who sees these writings as indebted to the more popular genre fiction novels of

N. D. Popescu-Popnedea Nicolae D. Popescu (August 9, 1843–June 8, 1921) was a Romanian prose writer. He was born in Bucharest to Romanian Orthodox priest Dimitrie Popescu and his wife Niculina. Popescu began high school in his native city, but left early in 1861 i ...

, suggests that Călugăru may have tried his hand in this field only because he needed the money. By January 1923, Călugăru was becoming involved with Fondane's theatrical company ''Insula''. His texts were given public readings, but ''Insula'' dissolved itself before Călugăru could deliver his planned conference (on the life and work of Romania's traditionalist poet George Coșbuc). His actual editorial debut came later that year, when he published ''Caii lui Cibicioc'' ("Cibicioc's Horses"), a volume of short stories.

''Contimporanul'', ''unu'' and the socialist press

Shortly after this period, Călugăru became one of the contributors to

Ion Vinea Ion Vinea (born Ioan Eugen Iovanaki, sometimes Iovanache; April 17, 1895 – July 6, 1964) was a Romanian poet, novelist, journalist, literary theorist, and political figure. He became active on the modernist scene during his teens—his poetic wo ...

's modernist magazine '' Contimporanul''. Later that decade however, he parted with this group and began working with the original representatives of Romanian Surrealism, contributing his works to publications such as ''Integral'' (which he helped establish) and '' unu''. He was also a member of ''Integral''s editorial staff, alongside writers Brunea-Fox and Voronca, with artist

M. H. Maxy Max Hermann Maxy (also known as M. H. Maxy, born Max Herman; October 26, 1895–July 19, 1971) was a Romanian painter, art professor, scenographer, and professor of German-Jewish descent. Early life and education Maxy was born in Brăila in ...

as administrative director. In doing so, he broke with Vinea's moderation, eclecticism and political ambiguity to side with what was the more radical and most explicitly left-wing tendency among young writers.

"Subterana politică a avangardei românești"
in ''

'', Nr. 417, April 2008 In 1932 however, Călugăru was, with poet

N. Davidescu Nicolae Davidescu (; October 24, 1888 – June 12, 1954) was a Romanian symbolist poet and novelist. Works Poetry * 1910: ''La fântâna Castaliei'' ("At Castalia's Well") - parnassianist poems * 1916: ''Inscripţii'' ("Engravings") - infl ...

, novelist

Sergiu Dan Sergiu Dan (; born Isidor Rotman or Rottman; December 29, 1903 – March 13, 1976) was a Romanian novelist, journalist, Holocaust survivor and political prisoner of the communist regime. Dan, the friend and collaborator of Romulus Dianu, was noted ...

, journalists

Nicolae Carandino Nicolae Carandino (19 July 1905 – 16 February 1996) was a Romanian journalist, pamphleteer, translator, dramatist, and politician. He was born in Brăila into a family of intellectuals, the son of a Romanian mother and Greek father. After co ...

and Henric Streitman, and writer-director

Sandu Eliad Sandu may refer to: People Surname *Adrian Sandu (born 1966), Romanian gymnast * Bianca Sandu (born 1992), Romanian footballer *Constantin Sandu (born 1993), Moldovan footballer * Corina Sandu, Romanian-American mechanical engineer * Cristina Sandu ...

, a member of the editorial staff for Vinea's daily '' Facla''. Around that time, Călugăru befriended poet Stephan Roll and, through him, made new contacts with Fondane, who had himself embraced Surrealism but was living at the time in France. The three were in correspondence, and, according to Roll's testimony, Călugăru was making efforts at establishing Fondane's reputation at home by reviewing his

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

poetry. Călugăru's social networking with the avant-garde also earned him a profile among Bucharest's informal avant-garde salons. According to the personal recollections of art historian Amelia Pavel (at the time a high school student debuting on the social scene), Călugăru frequented the same social circle as cartoonist

Saul Steinberg Saul Steinberg (June 15, 1914 – May 12, 1999) was a Romanian-American artist, best known for his work for ''The New Yorker'', most notably ''View of the World from 9th Avenue''. He described himself as "a writer who draws". Biography Ste ...

and poet

Sesto Pals Sesto Pals, pen name of Simion (or Semion) Șestopali (born Шестопаль, also rendered as ''S(h)estopal'', ''Sestopaly'', or ''Sestopali''; ca. 1912 – October 27, 2002), was a Russian-born Romanian and Israeli writer. Primarily a poet-phil ...

. In tandem, he was building connections with the militant socialist or

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

groups: a contributor to the leftist platform ''

Cuvântul Liber ''Cuvântul'' (, meaning "The Word") was a daily newspaper, published by philosopher Nae Ionescu in Bucharest, Romania, from 1926 to 1934, and again in 1938. It was primarily noted for progressively adopting a far right and fascist agenda, and ...

'', Călugăru also sent his work to be published in more radical magazines sponsored by the outlawed

(PCR)—''Reporter'' and ''Era Nouă'', both edited by pro-PCR activist

N. D. Cocea N. D. Cocea (common rendition of Nicolae Dumitru Cocea, , also known as Niculae, Niculici or Nicu Cocea; November 29, 1880 – February 1, 1949) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, critic and left-wing political activist, known as a major but co ...

. Himself a

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

, Crohmălniceanu noted that Călugăru's gradual move toward a Marxist outlook was determined by his commitment to Surrealism. This path, he proposed, made Călugăru a voice similar to those of other left-wing Surrealists:

Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He wa ...

Robert Desnos Robert Desnos (; 4 July 1900 – 8 June 1945) was a French poet who played a key role in the Surrealist movement of his day. Biography Robert Desnos was born in Paris on 4 July 1900, the son of a licensed dealer in game and poultry at the '' H ...

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

internationally,

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 ...

and

Miron Radu Paraschivescu __NOTOC__ Miron Radu Paraschivescu (; 2 October 1911 – 17 February 1971) was a Romanian poet, essayist, journalist, and translator. Born in Zimnicea, Teleorman County, he went to high school in Ploiești, after which he studied fine arts, firs ...

locally; but also that it made him stand in contrast to younger Surrealists who chose libertarian socialism (

Gherasim Luca Gherasim Luca (; 23 July 1913 – 9 February 1994) was a Romanian surrealist theorist and poet. Born Salman Locker in Romania and also known as Costea Sar, and Petre Malcoci, he became an apatrid after leaving Romania in 1952. Biography Born ...

and

Dolfi Trost Dolfi or Dolphi Trost (1916 in Brăila – 1966 in Chicago, Illinois) was a Romanian surrealist poet, artist, and theorist, and the instigator of entopic graphomania. Together with Gherasim Luca, he was the author of ''Dialectique de la diale ...

). Around 1937, Călugăru was also a columnist for ''Reporter'', with a series of social and

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

pieces collectively titled ''Urangutania'' (from ''urangutan'',

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

for " orangutan"). He was also a sporadic contributor to writer

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 leftist publication, ''Adam'', and had personal contacts with various leftist organizations representing the Jewish community. The leftist politicization of Romania's avant-garde and its connections with a banned party soon alarmed the political establishment: like other members of the ''unu'' faction, Călugăru was constantly monitored and informed upon by the

Romanian Kingdom The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

's secret service, '' Siguranța Statului''. This resulted in a sizable personal file, which informed on not just his underground connections but also, reflecting the secret policemen's personal

antisemitic 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 ...

tendencies rather than official policy, his publicized critique of fascism and Nazi Germany. The ''Siguranța'' operatives therefore found cause for concern in one of Călugăru's mocking essays, targeting Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. The dossier also includes the denunciations provided by Sergiu Dan's brother, Mihail, who had infiltrated the ''unu'' group. His notes document the conflict between Vinea's publications and the ''unu'' group from an interpersonal perspective: Mihail Dan alleged that Roll, together with his fellow writers Sașa Pană and

, exercised absolute control over ''unu'', leading into an explicitly communist and artistically inferior direction.

''Integral'' theorist and film critic

The diverse allegiances affected Călugăru's literary work, being reflected in a new series of works, many of which were urban-themed and distinctly modernist. According to Crohmălniceanu's classification, the subsequent works fall into two main categories: on one hand, the urban-themed modernist novels, including ''Paradisul statistic'' ("Statistical Paradise", 1926), ''Omul de după ușă'' ("The Man behind the Door", 1931), ''Don Juan Cocoșatul'' (" Don Juan the Hunchback", 1934), ''Erdora'' (1934), alongside the 1935 short story collection ''De la cinci până la cinci'' ("From Five to Five"); on the other, the writings with rural or mixed rural-urban subjects—''Abecedar de povestiri populare'' ("A Primer of Folk Stories", 1930), ''Copilăria unui netrebnic'' (1936), ''Trustul'' ("The Trust", 1937), ''Lumina primǎverii'' ("The Light of Spring", 1947).Crohmălniceanu, p.347 In joining the common effort of ''Integral'' writers, Călugăru threw his support behind a literary movement that viewed itself as both urban and innovative, theorizing connections between the creative human and the modern rhythms of technology. His interest in cutting edge modernism was also leading him to explore the world of cinema, as a result of which he was also one of ''Integral''s film critics, with Fondane, Roll,

Barbu Florian Barbu may refer to: People * Barbu (name), a list of people with the name and surname ''Barbu'' * Alejandro Barbudo Lorenzo, nicknamed ''Barbu'', Spanish footballer Places * Barbu, Iran, a village in the Bushehr Province of Iran * Barbu, Norw ...

, I. Peretz. This activity too evidenced his political advocacy: Călugăru's articles described film as the new, proletarian and revolutionary, means of expression, the myth of a society in the process of adopting collectivism. His texts, which coincided with the silent film era, trusted that the popularly acclaimed pantomime acts of

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

, like the Fratellinis' circus acts, were especially relevant for understanding the modern public's tastes. In 1933, Călugăru was to publish the first-ever Romanian

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

on Chaplin's life and career.Cernat, ''Avangarda...'', p.289 Like other staff members of ''Integral'', he also contemplated a new role for theater. Shunning the

elitist Elitism is the belief or notion that individuals who form an elite—a select group of people perceived as having an intrinsic quality, high intellect, wealth, power, notability, special skills, or experience—are more likely to be construc ...

traditions in drama, he demanded the incorporation of elements from cinema, cabaret or the circus, while calling on actors and directors to prioritize

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

. This ideological set was interpreted by Paul Cernat as an indirect echo of

Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

, particularly given its "optimism" and its sympathy for street theater. The taste for pantomime evidenced by most of the ''Integral'' contributors was explained by film historian

Iordan Chimet Iordan Chimet (November 18, 1924 – May 23, 2006) was a Romanian poet, children's writer and essayist, whose work was inspired by Surrealism and Onirism. He is also known as a memoirist, theater, art and film critic, book publisher and translat ...

in reference to "materiality": " antomimedoes not refuse the word of objects and the artist will use things, all sorts of things, in order to complete his act of virtuosity. He nevertheless also discovers their secretive nature, unexplored and unsuspected in everyday life". In the same context, Călugăru and Maxy called attention to artistic developments taking place inside the Soviet Union, suggesting that the

proletkult Proletkult ( rus, Пролетку́льт, p=prəlʲɪtˈkulʲt), a portmanteau of the Russian words "proletarskaya kultura" (proletarian culture), was an experimental Soviet artistic institution that arose in conjunction with the Russian Revolut ...

movement was a model to follow in setting up a "new" theater. While Cernat rates such contributions as among the "most philosoviet" in ''Integral''s pages, he also finds that they show the manner in which Călugăru blended his communist sympathies with political ideas from opposite sources: the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and the

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

doctrines of Georges Sorel. Both Maxy and Călugăru were however more directly involved in the promotion of modern

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

or Romanian drama, promoting the international Vilna Troupe after its 1923 relocation to Bucharest. While Maxy became the Troupe' designer, Călugăru directly assisted manager

Yankev Shternberg Yankev Shternberg (in English language texts occasionally referred to as Jacob Sternberg; yi, יעקבֿ שטערנבערג; russian: link=no, Яков Моисеевич Штернберг; 1890, Lipcani, Bessarabia, Russian Empire – 1973, Mos ...

and administrative director Mordechai Mazo in running the company, becoming secretary of the artistic committee. Călugăru's theory on

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

, as outlined in one of his columns for the paper, saw in it a synthesis "for all modern experiences". The liberating force of modernity in providing authenticity to artistic expression was voiced by him with the words: "We no longer have our brains in our hearts, nor our hearts in our sexes..." His taste for outspoken rebellion was also manifested during his time at ''unu''. The magazine, deeming him "the pawn of 20th century literature", published his 1928 appeal to the population of his native Dorohoi, reading: "You are goitered! Only one of you ever had the audacity of wearing his goiter on his face." Like other ''Integral'' contributors, Călugăru offered praise to the older and more influential poet and prose writer Tudor Arghezi. In Călugăru's case, this fused with admiration for Arghezi's outspoken anticlericalism, which became the topic of one of his ''Integral'' articles (published in 1925).

''Cuvântul'' years

Despite gravitating around the radical left and the artistic avant-garde, Ion Călugăru pursued his collaboration with the increasingly

periodical ''

'', led by the antisemitic philosopher Nae Ionescu. Researcher

, noting that Călugăru's work for the paper predated an explicitly

agenda, drew attention to the fact that Călugăru and novelist

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 ...

were two of some eleven Jews still employed by ''Cuvântul'' in 1933. At around the same time, he was also employed as an editor by the literary newspaper '' Vremea'', which acted as a mouthpiece for left-wing intellectuals, many of them Communist Party favorites. Călugăru regularly published two or three articles per ''Cuvântul'' issue.

Al. Săndulescu AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

"Un istoric literar de vocație"
in '' România Literară'', Nr. 2/2004 He preserved his editorial position up to 1934, when the newspaper was abruptly banned by the government of King Carol II for offering support to the violent fascist movement known as the

Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strongly ...

.Răileanu & Carassou, p.115 One of his contributions for the newspaper was the theatrical column, when he filled in for the regular reviewer,

Alexandru Kirițescu Alexandru Kirițescu (28 March 1888 – 9 April 1961) was a Romanian playwright and journalist, best known for his 1929 play ''Gaiţele'' (''The Magpies''), also called ''Cuibul de viespi'' (''The Wasp's Nest'').Păstorel Teodoreanu and Adrian Maniu, and culminated with reports that Teodoreanu took revenge by seeking out and physically assaulting Călugăru at his ''Cuvântul'' desk. Dumitru Hîncu
"Acum optzeci de ani - Bătaie la ''Cuvântul''"
, in '' România Literară'', Nr. 44/2009 Călugăru later filed a legal complaint against his alleged aggressor, claiming that Păstorel had also made death threats against him. According to writer

Vlaicu Bârna Vlaicu Victor Virgil Bârna (December 4, 1913 – March 11, 1999) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian poet. Born in Crișan, Hunedoara County, in the Transylvania region, his parents Ion Bârna and Maria (''née'' Pavel) were peasants. After ...

, who places the "embarrassing scene" in relation to another one of Păstorel's works, Teodoreanu was proud of assaulting his reviewer, whom he called an "ass".

''Evocări: Braseria Corso''
at th
Memoria Digital Library
retrieved March 8, 2011 In 1932, Călugăru also played a part in the major cultural debate surrounding literature, censorship and

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,

, voicing his opinions on the first Romanian edition of

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

's ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the last novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Italy, and in 1929, in France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960, w ...

''. As his private diaries show, Călugăru had a complex relationship with Ionescu. Literary historian Cornelia Ștefănescu, who researched the notebooks, described the 1930s Călugăru as a suspicious and insecure intellectual, and noted that this character trait somehow affected the contacts between him and his antisemitic employer—although Călugăru accepted Ionescu's invitations to supper, he feared that the far right figure was secretly despising him. In 1937, he described Ionescu as vain and ambitious, a portrait completed in 1949 with verdicts such as: "intelligent and sophistical, logical and a bit insane"; "With great qualities, but dominated by urges which crush his qualities. Wasn't he the one who created the antisemitism of these past years?" Commenting on the same texts, literary critic

further suggested that Călugăru, like Sebastian, ended up being "overwhelmed" by Nae Ionescu's charisma. The verdict is echoed by Cernat, who notes that, contrary to popular belief, Ionescu still had his admirers on the left. According to Cernat, Călugăru married his respect for Ionescu with his " Zionist, syndicalist and even communized positions." According to Iron Guard member and journalist N. Roșu, Călugăru and Sebastian were among those called upon by Ionescu in autumn 1933, to be informed that the paper was backing revolutionary fascism. Commenting on this testimony, cultural historian

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 ...

concludes that, even though the Iron Guard activist

Vasile Marin Vasile Marin (January 29, 1904, Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania – January 13, 1937, Majadahonda, Spain) was a Romanian politician, public servant and lawyer. A member of the National Peasants' Party until 1932, Vasile Marin later became a pr ...

was then made a member of the editorial staff, "nobody left, perhaps thinking that this was a temporary tactic". The writer additionally met with young members of Ionescu's '' Trăirist'' circle, befriending the young Orientalist, novelist and philosopher Mircea Eliade.

"Poemul din pudrieră"
in '' România Literară'', Nr. 36/2001 Eliade, who saw the opportunity of turning ''Cuvântul'' into a venue for dialogue between far right and Marxist intellectuals, also befriended the PCR member (and suspected ''Siguranța'' double agent) Bellu Zilber, who was by then a friend of Călugăru's. The dichotomy between Călugăru and his employers was the subject of public debate in the early 1930s, as reported by Vlaicu Bârna. Bârna recalled comments from various journalists, including another one of Călugăru's far right colleagues,

: "You don't know, but Nae Ionescu does, that without the Jews there can be no press." By 1936, the fascization of the Romanian national press made such contacts highly improbable: in early 1936, ''Vremea'' dropped its left-wing agenda and sacked its Jewish contributors, Călugăru included, and embraced Iron Guard politics. Călugăru's permutations were registered with skepticism by his Surrealist colleagues—notably Stephan Roll, who criticized Călugăru's positioning in a 1934 letter to their mentor Fondane. Roll, who noted that his friend had just married a female painter who was both "funny and intelligent", mentioned the financial difficulties Călugăru was facing after ''Cuvântul'' had been shut down. Nevertheless, he also suggested that Călugăru had relied on his trust for Ionescu, who had even "impressed him" with his intelligence, adding: "Călugăru never had the courage of taking a clear stand. He is rather humble and a victim of all those generations of persecuted people that he carries within him. I tried to bring him over to my side, I tried to reach out my hand. He took distance. Ever since, I've been leaving him be, I rarely see him, but I pity his fate." The secret reports signed by Mihail Dan describe Călugăru's gradual distancing from the ''unu'' group, congratulating him, Brunea-Fox and Voronca for having taken their leave from "the cloaca".

During and after World War II

Ion Călugăru survived World War II and the antisemitic

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 ...

regime, reportedly shielded from reprisals by his friend, the influential novelist Liviu Rebreanu (otherwise known for his far right sympathies). However, the Antonescu government included his name on a list of banned Jewish authors, which was circulated throughout the country. Sebastian, himself marginalized for his ethnic origins, recorded in his ''Journal'' entry for June 19, 1941 a chance encounter with his former colleague. The fragment presents Călugăru as "the same small, nervous, confused, hysterical, obsessed man from ''Cuvântul''", who "speaks terribly fast, without even looking to see whether you are listening or not."Sebastian, p.368 The ''Journal'' mentions Călugăru's wartime literary projects: "He has written a play about John the Baptist, and another one about Charlie Chaplin for both theatre and cinema, using a new technical formula. He has also written a book of poems in

." Sebastian wrote that his friend was dismissing rumors about the Nazi-led attack on the Soviet Union, which was being secretly prepared with Antonescu's support. Călugăru claimed that this account was British manipulation, suggesting that "if Hitler dared to attack the Russians he would be crushed." Still, Călugăru stood out among Romanian Jews for condemning passive compliance with Antonescu's orders, asking his coreligionists not to recognize the collaborationist Central Jewish Office. Călugăru found himself promoted by the new authorities after the August 1944 Coup overthrew Antonescu. On September 1, Călugăru joined

Emil Dorian Emil Dorian (born Emil Lustig; February 16, 1893–1956) was a Romanian poet and prose writer, as well as a physician. Born into a Jewish family in Bucharest, his parents were Herman Lustig and his wife Ernestina (''née'' Picher). He attended ...

and Ury Benador in creating the Union of Jewish Writers. The inaugural meeting, held in Dorian's residence, was attended and poorly reviewed by Sebastian. His ''Journal'' calls the other participants "nonentities", and the gathering "a mixture of desperate failure, thundering mediocrity, old ambitions and troubles, ..impudence and ostentation." Hunedoara 1952

Shortly afterward, as the PCR gained momentum with Soviet support, Călugăru was one of the ten authors to be instated or reinstated as members of the Romanian Writers' Society as replacements for some banned or fugitive former members who had been deemed pro-fascist. On January 9, 1948, he was made General Secretary of the Writers' Society, and as such second in line to the Society's new president, Zaharia Stancu. In the years after 1944, and especially after the creation of

Communist Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist One-party state, one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the s ...

, Ion Călugăru began moving away from his modernist themes, and closer to Socialist Realism, becoming recognized as one of the leading Romanian Socialist Realists. Literary historian Ana Selejan describes him as one of the first Romanian authors of agitprop, and as such a pillar of "the new literary order." His early contributions include a stereotyped

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

about communist strike actions, published by ''

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 ...

'' review in December 1947.Boia, p.295 At around the same time, Călugăru also began working as an editor for '' Scînteia'', the main PCR platform, while still writing for the pro-communist ''Contemporanul'' and '' Viața Românească''. Perceived as an authority on ideological matters, he was one of the publicist employed by Editura Cartea Rusă, a state-run institution which exclusively published works of Russian and Soviet literature. His works for the period include the short story collection ''Am dat ordin să tragă'' ("I Gave the Order to Fire", 1947), the plays ''Ion și Salomeia'' ("Ion and Salomeia", 1947) and ''Clovnul care gîndește'' ("The Thinking Clown", 1949), and the 1951 ''Oțel și pîine''.Crohmălniceanu, p.350 The latter was based on extended visits into Transylvania region, where, beginning 1948, Călugăru had been sent to cover the erection and inauguration of Hunedoara Steel Foundry. Sponsored in part with money from the Literary Fund of 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 ...

, ''Oțel și pîine'' earned Călugăru the annual State Prize, granted by the political and cultural leadership of the time to works seen as outstanding in ideological terms. By April 1952, the volume had also been included on a shortlist of recent communist literature, which became required reading for industrial workers at various locations in Romania, and the pretext for politically maneuvered "enlightenment" (''lămurire'') meetings between public and authors. Ion Călugăru died in Bucharest only four years later, on May 22, 1956. His unpublished novellas and

sketch stories A sketch story, literary sketch or simply sketch, is a piece of writing that is generally shorter than a short story, and contains very little, if any, plot. The genre was invented after the 16th century in England, as a result of increasing public ...

were collected by his former ''unu'' colleague Sașa Pană, who released them under the title ''Casa șoarecilor'' ("House of Mice", 1958). Simona Vasilache
"Poezii, în fond"
in '' România Literară'', Nr. 45/2008

Work

Early writings

According to Ovid Crohmălniceanu, Călugăru produced "the most substantial" literature among those interwar modernists who drew inspiration from observing isolated social environments. The peculiarities of his preferred settings are underlined by Călugăru's many references to Judaic religious practice, Jewish lore and the Hebrew Bible, in which critics have seen the backbone of Călugăru's originality within the realm of Romanian literature.

Henri Zalis Henri is an Estonian, Finnish, French, German and Luxembourgish form of the masculine given name Henry. People with this given name ; French noblemen :'' See the 'List of rulers named Henry' for Kings of France named Henri.'' * Henri I de Montm ...

"Apropieri de o moștenire diferențiată"
, in ''

Convorbiri Literare ''Convorbiri Literare'' ( Romanian: ''Literary Talks'') is a Romanian literary magazine published in Romania. It is among the most important journals of the nineteenth-century Romania. History and profile ''Convorbiri Literare'' was founded by ...

'', August 2004 Literary historian

, who comments on the books' mix of grotesque, comedic and tragic elements, also notes their ethnographic character: "The narrator composes a veritable spiritual census ..of ceremonies—births, weddings, ..'' Kol Nidre'', '' Purim'', '' Pesach'' and so on, that are perfectly distinguished. This initiative grants the author a first-rate role for whoever shall wish to find out how the Jews of these places were living decades ago, in most communities that were attractive in ethnographic, social and sacrificial terms, thereafter exposed to Antonescu-ordered extermination, and, during the repressive communist regime, to a massive uprooting." In several instances, these sources of inspiration were intertwined with influences form

and the oral traditions of his Moldavian birthplaces: several exegetes have argued that the various short stories published by Călugăru in the 1920s display the influence of Romania's classical storyteller

Ion Creangă Ion Creangă (; also known as Nică al lui Ștefan a Petrei, Ion Torcălău and Ioan Ștefănescu; March 1, 1837 – December 31, 1889) was a Moldavian, later Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher. A main figure in 19th-century Romania ...

,Cernat, ''Avangarda...'', p.76, 143; Crohmălniceanu, p.346 while literary historian

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 ...

found them reminiscent of, but superior to, the writings of

Bukovinian Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also List of European regions with alternative names#B, other languages. is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical regio ...

raconteur Emanoil Grigorovitza.Călinescu, p.795 According to

, both Călugăru and Fondane had participated in creating "a true cult" for Tudor Arghezi, who similarly mixed traditionalist and modernist influences, and who significantly affected their stylistic choices. While discussing Călugăru and Fondane's roots in

tradition, Cernat noted that both writers also moved toward " Expressionist '' écorchés''" in either prose (Călugăru) or poetry (Fondane). ''Caii lui Cibicioc'', the first volume published by Ion Călugăru, was also the first of several works to focus on its author's rural background. Several of the stories, reminiscent of Creangă, are jocular accounts of childhood. They include the title work, which shows the youngsters Ițe and Șămă casually plotting to steal the eponymous horses. This stream is combined with more dramatic accounts, such as the piece in which '' Hakham'' Șmaia, unable to impose his paternal will, commits suicide. Călinescu also argued: "The most personal part in the literature of Ion Călugăru ..is the one dealing with the Jewry of upper Moldavia. ..In ''Caii lui Cibicioc'' and in ''Abecedar de povestiri populare'' the depiction is still shy or ruined by Surrealist methods. Still, even at this stage one will be struck by this strange, almost peasant-like, world, comprising forecarriage drivers, millers, porters, cabmen, water-carriers, shepherds, vagrant children, talkative old women." The same commentator added: "The ''hakhams'', the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

janitors, the bath house attendants and the tailors do not manage to shatter the image of an autochthonous village. Only the candle lights visible inside houses .. the old '' payot''-wearing men on their way back from the synagogue, book in hand, everyone's allusions to

biblical times The history of ancient Israel and Judah begins in the Southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. "Israel" as a people or tribal confederation (see Israelites) appears for the first time in the Merneptah Stele, an inscripti ...

, allow one's eyes to identify the distinct race." Shortly after being published, the narratives were positively reviewed by Călugăru's mentors and ''Contimporanul'' colleagues

and Fondane, who found them compliant with their ideal of authenticity, and who praised their return to originality through the mechanisms of naïve art and

primitivism Primitivism is a mode of aesthetic idealization that either emulates or aspires to recreate a "primitive" experience. It is also defined as a philosophical doctrine that considers "primitive" peoples as nobler than civilized peoples and was an o ...

. Vinea's review stated: "Ion Călugăru reties the thread leading all the way back to Creangă, and in such conditions as to exclude the accusation of

mannerism Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

and imitation." Călugăru's own pronouncements echoed this modern recovery of primitive tradition, seen as universal rather than local; in ''Integral''s art manifesto and an article for ''Contimporanul'', he defined tradition as: "the people's intelligence, freed from the eternal natural

pastiche A pastiche is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking it ...

—and technology".Cernat, ''Avangarda...'', p.225 He added: "The people's creations have known no dialect, but tended toward universality. Therefore: an African idol will resemble in subtlety a Romanian carving, as will a Romanian

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

resemble a Mongolian one."

The avant-garde years

While contributing to ''Integral'', Ion Călugăru also began his relationship with experimental literature. The early products of this new preoccupation were prose fragments like ''Domnișoara Lot'' ("Miss Lot"), which used intertextuality, reworking themes borrowed from classical works of literature, in a manner also employed at the time by his colleague

Jacques G. Costin Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

. Dan Gulea
"Jacques Costin, avangardistul"
in ''

'', Nr. 181, August 2003 Like Vinea,

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

and Adrian Maniu, Călugăru was thought by some to be indebted to the early avant-garde figure

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 ...

. This view was criticized by Călugăru's contemporary, modernist literary chronicler

Perpessicius Perpessicius (; pen name of Dumitru S. Panaitescu, also known as Panait Șt. Dumitru, D. P. Perpessicius and Panaitescu-Perpessicius; October 22, 1891 – March 29, 1971) was a Romanian literary historian and critic, poet, essayist and fiction wri ...

, who noted that all these authors had matured before Urmuz was even discovered by the literary establishment, and as such that they could not be considered Urmuz's pupils (an assessment described by Cernat as "singular, although somewhat amendable"). In contrast, Perpessicius' colleague

Pompiliu Constantinescu Pompiliu Constantinescu (May 17, 1901 – May 9, 1946) was a Romanian literary critic. Biography He was born on May 17, 1901 in Bucharest, "''in a place where he saw the light of day for the first time, on Sabines Street no. 109, the son of Jo ...

included Călugăru among those modernists who incorporated Urmuz's brand of

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 ...

in works they wrote well into their careers. According to Cernat, Călugăru's texts, like those of his various colleagues, have assimilated the "Urmuz effect". Călugăru's subsequent work in the novel genre was considered important, but less accomplished than his novellas, by literary chronicler

Pericle Martinescu Pericle Martinescu (; February 11, 1911 in Viişoara, Constanța County – December 24, 2005, Timișoara) was a Romanian writer and journalist. Martinescu studied literature and philosophy at the University of Bucharest. His first poems appe ...

"Discuții și recenzii. Ion Călugăru"
in '' Societatea de Mâine'', Nr. 2/1936, p.43 (digitized by the Babeș-Bolyai Universitybr>Transsylvanica Online Library
With ''Paradisul statistic'', Crohmălniceanu suggests, Călugăru was outlining a "cosmic and apocalyptic" vision indebted to "Expressionist aesthetics" and composed with "remarkable consistency and originality". In Crohmălniceanu's view, the book served to illustrate Călugăru's period with '' Contimporanul'', and the influence of " Constructivism" as defined by Ion Vinea: like Vinea and Costin, Călugăru believed that objective prose was the object of journalism rather than literature, and, while his two colleagues explored parody, he opened his work to the grotesque. The same critic argued that, while the urban-themed novels were usually radically different in style when compared to the other half of Călugăru's 1930s writings, a crossover was still observable in ''Abecedar de povestiri populare'', in ''Omul de după ușă'', in ''Don Juan Cocoșatul'' and in ''Erdora''—in the latter two, around the theme of "the ghetto condition". Such works introduce motifs related to

social alienation Social alienation is a person's feeling of disconnection from a group whether friends, family, or wider society to which the individual has an affinity. Such alienation has been described as "a condition in social relationships reflected by (1) ...

, and were described by George Călinescu as "tiny biographies of the interior man", with a type of "sarcasm" that echoed the novels of Călugăru's modernist contemporary, Aderca.Călinescu, p.796 In Zalis' view, they speak of a "humanity that is hilariously dislocated", but are nonetheless distanced from pure avant-garde scenarios, since Călugăru masks any stylistic tension through "corrosiveness". Instead, Zalis suggests, he had acquired from his years as a leftist journalist the need to weigh events against the opinions of a focal character. Charlie Blum, the protagonist of ''Omul de după ușă'', investigates his actions with objectivity and sarcasm, trying to place his analytical self "behind the door". Frustrated in his attempt to find happiness with a rich American woman, he finds himself settled in a mediocre lifestyle. Henri Zalis argues that, beyond a Creangă-like narrative filter, ''Omul de după ușă'' contains Ion Călugăru's "hunger for fairy tales and pranks". Erdora and Monis are former lovers who reunite with each other, but who find themselves unable to exchange their

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...

life and for a rekindled passion.Călinescu, p.796; Crohmălniceanu, p.347 Călinescu assessed: "When he moves on to riting aboutthe urban society, Ion Călugăru no longer maintains the same density of vision, being stalked about by that sort of

cosmopolitanism Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be " world citizens ...

than one notices in all Jews who are not tied down to a certain specificity. ..Despite all that the writer is always valuable." Commenting on ''Erdora'', he concluded: "Sarcasm barely covers the everyday ugliness, the thirst for great

pathos Pathos (, ; plural: ''pathea'' or ''pathê''; , for "suffering" or "experience") appeals to the emotions and ideals of the audience and elicits feelings that already reside in them. Pathos is a term used most often in rhetoric (in which it is c ...

. But such a theme requires more lyrical suaveness." In ''Don Juan Cocoșatul'', the hunchback hero, Pablo Ghligal, finds himself an object of female erotic and morbid curiosity, but is nevertheless marginalized socially. Călinescu found ''Don Juan Cocoșatul'' to be Călugăru's "moral autobiography", interpreting the hump as an allusion to the difficulties faced by Romanian Jews before and after emancipation. Contrarily, a rumor recorded by

suggested that the true story at the basis of the book was a Teleorman landowner, known to Călugăru from the anecdotes told by Zaharia Stancu. Through Ghilghal's sexual affairs, readers are introduced to a world of vice and opulence, where, Călinescu notes, people are " neurotic" and "sexual aberrations" omnipresent. This part of the book is also thought to include a portrait of Călugăru's former patron,

, under the guise of a lecherous aristocrat named Alexandru Lăpușneanu. The image this character projects is complex, as noted by Călinescu. The literary historian noted that Lăpușneanu blends in him: "the dignity in gossip, the

boyar A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Russian nobility, Russia, Boyars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Wallachia and ...

carriage, the refinement that the apparent vulgarity cannot bring to ruin, the blasé and cynical lechery". In Călinescu's view, the volume errs in not focusing more on such aspects, "but even as such some interior scenes are memorable". The category, he notes, includes the scuffle between cats and dogs inside the manorial estate, the visit paid by Lăpușneanu's scantly clad wife to a battlefield, and the comedy surrounding Lăpușneanu's confession to his priest.

''Copilăria unui netrebnic''

A similar mix of environments and styles is present in ''Copilăria unui netrebnic''. The first of three semi-autobiographical novel tracing the early life of Călugăru's

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 ...

, Buiumaș, between his Dorohoi years and his life in Bucharest, it was followed by ''Trustul'' and ''Lumina primǎverii''. Călinescu found ''Copilăria...'' to be "of a perfect stylistic maturity", comparing the narrative to a "vast mural" with the '' chiaroscuro'' qualities of paintings by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

or Nicolae Grigorescu. The volume received more high praise from Ovid Crohmălniceanu, who, suggesting it constituted a '' Bildungsroman'', also commented on its "extraordinary coherence", while Henri Zalis spoke of it as "excellent" and "stirring". Literary historian Nicolae Manolescu, who also recorded ''Copilăria...''s ''Bildungsroman'' quality, was more reserved when assessing its content and style, arguing that the protagonist's evolution is "uninteresting". Nicolae Manolescu
"Romane uitate"
, in '' România Literară'', Nr. 34/2006 He identified the sources of inspiration for the central narrative as being Creangă's celebrated autobiography, '' Childhood Memories'', and the memoirs of Soviet author Maxim Gorky. The book explored further Călugăru's connection to his Jewish Moldavian homeland, producing the personal history of an early 20th-century '' shtetl'' and tracing the biographies of its principal inhabitants. The result was described by Crohmălniceanu as "an actual

of humanity", depicted with "unusual sensory acuteness" and the "suaveness" of

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

's paintings, inviting readers into a universe at once "tough" and " bucolic".Crohmălniceanu, p.348 At the core, the same critic argued, was: "The osmosis between the autochthonous omanianelement and an age-old foreign ewishtradition". The text makes heavy use of the picturesque in depicting scenes of Jewish life. Some such aspects relate specifically to the minute characteristics of Judaism as practiced in a provincial community: the '' yeshiva'' is disrupted by the intrusion of a cow,Călinescu, p.795; Crohmălniceanu, p.348 while synagogue life is interrupted by what George Călinescu refers to as "the tiny comedies of bigotry". The ritual itself is a source for wonder, as is the case with a common wedding, presented by the narrator as an alluring magic ritual. In one chapter, whose symbolism is seen by Călinescu as pointing to "the universality of faith", Mihalache, the local Christian tasked with supervising the burning candles after service in the temple, finds himself thrilled by the spectacle they offer, and marks a

Sign of the Cross Making the sign of the cross ( la, signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with ...

. The

Shabbath Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...

ritual, Henri Zalis suggests, gives a respectable, mystical, air to what is a slow-moving and decadent, but "unique", ''shtetl'' community. These are complemented by various anecdote-like episodes: the Romanian policeman makes a habit of frightening Jewish children; the beggar Moișă Lungu recounts macabre stories whereas the local Jewish women are fascinated by the short passage through the region of Romania's Queen.Crohmălniceanu, p.349 An episode, seen by Henri Zalis as reuniting the book's "ingenious characters" and "infantile mystique", shows the encounter between Buiumaș and a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

at a lively county fair. Such details, Crohmălniceanu notes, are completed by Călugăru's recourse to linguistic resourcefulness in authentically rendering his characters' speech patterns: an accumulation of proverbs, idiotisms and execrations, sourced from a common oral culture and together reflecting "a bitter life experience". Samples of this include sarcastic references to children as "rats", or useless consumers of food, the expressions of "aggressive pride" on the part of paupers surviving on

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread p ...

, and curses which suppose "imaginative power" ("may your mouth move into your ear", "may your copulation last only as long as it takes steam to leave the mouth" etc.). Buiumaș's vindictive mother Țipra is herself a source for these quasi-ritual gestures: when her daughter Blima crosses her, she decides to cut her away from the family, and refuses to ever again mention her son-in-law by name. Buiumaș himself braves a similar treatment when he asks to be enlisted in a non-Jewish school. An old woman encourages Țipra to vehemently oppose his wish, suggesting that popular education is a vehicle for Christian proselytism and Jewish assimilation: "tie uiumașup, or else he'll grow up into a ne'er-do-well who will go as far to baptize himself, so as to become an officer. This is how they all are, those who wear uniforms in high school; they all turn into officers. ..You'll be seeing him running to church with a candle in hand, or riding a horse, ordering our children to be slaughtered." The public's tendency of defining Călugăru, and his contemporary I. Peltz as novelists prone to illustrating Jewish specificity was already manifesting itself in the period after the novel saw print. Although an admirer of both Călugăru and Peltz,

was alarmed by this trend, and feared that his own novels, which focused on more existential themes, would be ascribed to the same category. Reviewing ''Copilăria unui netrebnic''s " ethnographic aspects", and judging them to be "often remarkable", Manolescu added: "Unfortunately, Ion Călugăru does not know how to extract from the specificity of the race and location that human universality that we find in genius writers like Joseph Roth or Bashevis-Singer." The timelessness of ''shtetl'' society contrasts with episodes which introduce history in the form of major upheavals: the 1907 Romanian Peasants' Revolt manages to disrupt the entire town; World War I and the

Romanian campaign 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 ...

, with the arrival of foreign intervention forces, fascinate the locals; and, ultimately, the effect of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

gives rise to an alternative political voice. The latter event marks an important step in the spiritual evolution of Buiumaș, who, like the author himself, is a supporter of proletarian revolution, and, according to Crohmălniceanu, expresses this by showing sympathy toward Moișă Lungu or other "'' déclassé'' figures with rebellious impulses". The promise of revolution, coinciding with the protagonist's adolescence, is weaved into a narrative suggesting the growth of radical ideals, their progressive adoption by common individuals. Another hypothetical aspect of the book's politics was advanced by Zalis, who suggested that it outlines the strategies of survival of interwar Jews braving antisemitism. The stories and novellas comprised in ''De la cinci până la cinci'' also drew attention for their portrayal of socialist rebelliousness and their overall advocacy of leftist values. According to Pericle Martinescu, these works "revive" the Romanian novella genre, reconnecting it with its sources and evidencing a storyteller of "accomplished talent". ''Luceafărul morții'' ("Death's Evening Star") shows the conflict between a beggar father and his prosperous son, in terms which evoke

class conflict Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...

. ''Paltoane și nimic altceva'' ("Overcoats and Nothing Else"), in which Crohmălniceanu identifies the influence of Soviet author Isaak Babel, is set to the background of the Russian Civil War. Another such prose work from the period focused on the communist-led Grivița Strike of 1933. The short story ''Pane, dă-mi fata!'' ("Master, Give Me the Girl!") was, together with

Alexandru Sahia Alexandru Sahia ( pen name of Alexandru Stănescu; October 11, 1908 – August 12, 1937) was a Romanian journalist and short story writer. Biography Born in Mânăstirea, Călărași County, as the son of a small landowner, he was enrolled in th ...

's ''Șomaj fără rasă'' ("Unemployment Regardless of Race"), one of only two such pieces ever to be published by the pro-communist ''Era Nouă'', which also recommended ''Copilăria unui netrebnic'', together with works by

George Mihail Zamfirescu George Mihail Zamfirescu (born Gheorghe Petre Mihai; 13 October 1898 – 8 August 1939) was a Romanian prose writer and playwright. He was born in Bucharest, the son of Petre Mihai, a drayman, and his wife Lina (Raluca) Costache. Between 1905 ...

and

Stoian Gh. Tudor Stoian is a Romanian surname derived from the Bulgarian Stoyan. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Adrian Stoian (born 1991), Romanian footballer *Daniel Stoian (born 1967), Romanian sprint canoer *Florin Stoian (born 1971), Romanian ...

, as one of the positive examples in Romania's emerging Social Realism.

Călugăru and Socialist Realism

Ion Călugăru's ultimate affiliation with Socialist Realism was widely interpreted as having produced the weakest section of his work. This critical interpretation was espoused even before the end of communism, during a period of liberalization and aesthetic reevaluation. In this context, Crohmălniceanu argued that Călugăru's late works "no longer explore, to their disadvantage, heprecious lode in Ion Călugăru's literature." This is also noted by historian Lucian Boia, who writes: "To be a leftist used to signify nonconformity; now, quite contrarily, to be a leftist is to show conformism." Moreover, Boia writes, there was "no longer anything specifically Jewish" in Călugăru's attitudes. Other authors have retrospectively questioned Călugăru's overall value, taking in view his political status. According to historian and novelist

, Călugăru owed his promotion "not so much to his literary talent, but to the fact that he had rushed in, like many other intellectuals, writers, artists etc., to support and popularize the new regime's accomplishments." Writing in 2006, Nicolae Manolescu opined: "Nobody speaks today of Ion Călugăru .. who was considered a promise during the 1930s. ..Călugăru's literature was overvalued after 1948 not least of all because of iscommunist sympathies". He dismissed ''Oțel și pîine'' as "mere realist-socialist pulp", and defined ''Copilăria...'' as Călugăru's "one legible work". Henri Zalis commented on the mutation of Călugăru's "playful" spirit into "diffuse

", and suggested that the writer may have thus been seduced by the idea of revenging his own persecution by wartime antisemites. ''Oțel și pîine'', Zalis thought, was a "rudimentary appendix to forceful

". Literary critic Iulia Popovici described the novel as propaganda to legitimize "the socialist present", also noting that it was the only such work in which the two dominant themes, "constructing socialism in the village" and "constructing socialism in the city", overlapped. Iulia Popovici
"Literatura contemporană în manualele anilor '60-'80"
in '' România Literară'', Nr. 26/2002 Literary historian Ion Simuț analyzed the various echoes of Călugăru's work in the communist media of his day, and concluded that these make him part of a "second circle" of writers accepted by the Socialist Realist establishment, on the same level of approval as

Mihai Beniuc Mihai Beniuc (; 20 November 1907 – 24 June 1988) was a Romanian socialist realist poet, dramatist, and novelist. He was born in 1907 in Sebiș, Arad County (at the time in Austria-Hungary), and attended the Moise Nicoară High School in Arad ...

Cezar Petrescu Cezar Petrescu (; December 1, 1892–March 9, 1961) was a Romanian journalist, novelist, and children's writer. He was born in Hodora, Iași County, the son of Dimitrie Petrescu, an engineer and a teacher. After attending elementary school ...

and

Alexandru Toma Alexandru Toma (occasionally known as A. Toma, born Solomon Moscovici; February 11, 1875 – August 15, 1954) was a Romanian poet, journalist and translator, known for his communist views and his role in introducing Socialist Realism to Romanian li ...

, but ranking below Tudor Arghezi, Mihail Sadoveanu or Camil Petrescu. Călugăru himself sparked posthumous controversy for participating in communist-orchestrated attacks on the work and reputation of authors without ideological credentials. In one such situation, he argued that Liviu Rebreanu "was no genius, and his books are far from reaching the value of those by oviet author

Mikhail Sholokhov Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov ( rus, Михаил Александрович Шолохов, p=ˈʂoləxəf; – 21 February 1984) was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life ...

"—a claim retrospectively described by

as "an enormity" in terms of "servility and philosovietism". The author's participation in Socialist Realism nevertheless came with a measure of conflict between Călugăru and other members of the new literary establishment. In the late 1940s, the writer kept a private diary, which documents his trips to

Hunedoara Hunedoara (; german: Eisenmarkt; hu, Vajdahunyad ) is a municipiu, city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in southwestern Transylvania near the Poiana Ruscă Mountains, and administers five villages: Boș (''Bós''), Groș ...

and shows his skepticism about some aspects of communist politics. Documenting the dire social conditions of this time, Călugăru's text includes detail on such aspects as the conspiratorial infiltration of

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

opposition centers by PCR operatives, the party's close surveillance of factory workers, and Călugăru's own questions about "labels" such as the regime's self-designation as a " dictatorship of the proletariat" or about the

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...

s of "saboteurs". The author also confesses his dislike for hypocrisy in official discourse and the press, commenting on the "girlish sincerity" of dispatches from the Soviet Union, the PCR's tiny membership in 1944, on the "voluntary work" demanded by communist leaders and its transformation into a "'' corvée''", and on intellectuals "who say something other than what they think." Later notes further record the decline of his enthusiasm. Expressing fears that he was being tricked by more senior communists, Călugăru accused his '' Scînteia'' colleagues (

Silviu Brucan Silviu Brucan (born Saul Bruckner; 18 January 1916 – 14 September 2006) was a Romanian Communist politician. He became a critic of the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu. After the Romanian Revolution, Brucan became a political analyst. Ear ...

, Traian Șelmaru,

Sorin Toma Sorin may refer to any one of the following: People *Sorin (given name), a Romanian masculine name *Edward Sorin (1814–1893), American priest, founder of the University of Notre Dame and St. Edwards University * Herbert I. Sorin (1900–1994), Ne ...

) of not publishing his contributions so that they could later attack him for a displaying lack of motivation. The jaded author came to express a private wish of blocking out the world of politics and dedicating his entire energy to the creative process. In 1952, Călugăru's name was cited by official novelist and critic Petru Dumitriu among those of first-generation Socialist Realists who had not shown themselves to be productive enough, and who had isolated themselves from the proletariat. Before that time, ''Oțel și pîine'' was being recommended as a major accomplishment of the new literary school, in articles by Socialist Realist critics such as

Sami Damian Sami Damian (sometimes referred to as S. Damian or Samy Damian (born Samuel Druckmann, 18 July 1930, Alba Iulia, Romania - 1 August 2012) was a Romanian-born Jewish literary critic and essayist. Biography Studies S. Damian studied at the Je ...

Mihai Novicov Mihai () is a Romanian given name for males or a surname. It is equivalent to the English name Michael. A variant of the name is Mihail. Its female form is Mihaela. As a given name * Mihai I of Romania (1921–2017), King of Romania until 1947 *Mi ...

. Late in 1951, Dumitriu himself had publicly pledged to follow up on Călugăru's example and write the second-ever Romanian book to deal "with the basic sector in our economy, heavy industry." In 1953, as the Romanian literary scene reoriented itself in accordance with the guidelines suggested by Soviet politico Georgy Malenkov, the same book was officially criticized, on the behalf of the

Romanian Writers' Union The Writers' Union of Romania (), founded in March 1949, is a professional association of writers in Romania. It also has a subsidiary in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova. The Writers' Union of Romania was created by the communist regime by taking ...

, by author

Eugen Frunză Eugen is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954), last Habsburg Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order from 1894 to 1923 * Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke (1865–1947), Swedish painter, art collector, and pa ...

. Frunză's official report, formed around Malenkov's theories about literary types and naturalness in Socialist Realist literature, argued: "The reader of Ion Călugăru's book ''Oțel și pîine'' was for sure able to note that the author is able to individualize certain negative characters. In contrast, the reader will encounter in the same book some six

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

activists, who are nothing other than diagrams, not in any way distinguished one from the other". Similar criticism had been voiced a year earlier by communist politician and literary chronicler

George Macovescu George Macovescu (; 28 May 1913 – 20 March 2002) was a Romanian writer and communist politician who served as the General Secretary of Ministry of Information of Romania and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania. Life and political career H ...

, in reference to Călugăru's contributions in the reportage genre, particularly his initial piece on the Hunedoara Steel Foundry. In Macovescu's opinion, the text "is not a reportage, but an article not yet woven, or a fragment from a report not so well researched."

''Casa șoarecilor''

The ''Casa șoarecilor'' pieces, which are the last stories ever published under Ion Călugăru's name, do not comply with the Socialist Realist canon. The volume's first section, titled ''Schițe fără umor'' ("Humorless Sketches"), comprise literary portraits and musings. Critic Simona Vasilache notes that such fragments revolve around the author's subjective perception of the world: "Not all the phrases make sense, not all the scenes have depth, that being because Călugăru's search is not one for clarity but, quite the contrary, for the vapor. The sensation of memory, more precious than the reasoned test of memory." The volume, she notes, comprises elements from all the stages in Călugăru's early career, from "the

lyrical Lyrical may refer to: *Lyrics, or words in songs *Lyrical dance, a style of dancing *Emotional, expressing strong feelings *Lyric poetry, poetry that expresses a subjective, personal point of view *Lyric video A music video is a video of variab ...

exercises of youth" to "lively dialogues, written with good craftsmanship". The stories mark a return to Călugăru's preoccupation with rural and suburban life. They introduce characters who live meager existence on the margin of society, such as the Tatar Mahmud, hanged on cherry tree, and the philosophical Jewish salesman Șmelche. One piece, believed by Vasilache to echo the sketches of Romania's 19th century classic Ion Luca Caragiale, shows a female shopkeeper on the night of her husband's death, struggling between closing the establishment to mark his death or keeping it open to pay for his funeral. Other fragments resurrect Buiumaș and some other protagonists of ''Copilăria...''. The eponymous story begins with the boy and his mother inquiring about a possible inheritance from a relative in Japan, and culminates in describing the hypnotic effect of mice swarming around the local post office. One other short narrative shows Buiumaș lecturing his playmates about justice and sin, described by Vasilache as a strange outcome: "A child would have found any other means. That is why the sketches' endings are puzzling, depicting, with stinginess in words and even more stinginess in deeds, a world that is no longer itself." The second half of ''Casa șoarecilor'' comprises novellas such as ''Sfințenia lui Veniamin Jidovul'' ("The Holiness of Veniamin the Jew")—described by Vasilache as "a '' vanitas vanitatum'' just as hasty, just as cruel as is the world of 'Schițe fără umor'' with barbaric shindigs, indifferent to death, living through the pointless momentary torments." These stories rely heavily on documenting the person's imaginary universe, as is the case with ''Firi neînțelese'' ("Misunderstood Characters") and ''Conflictul meu cu Portugalia'' ("My Conflict with Portugal"). Vasilache notes: "These are merely projected ideas, grouped together by a not so tightly knit web of a narrative. ..Random matches, over which blows an avant-garde wind."

Legacy

Ion Călugăru's Socialist Realist work, like other writings by his peers, fell out of favor in the 1970s and '80s: Nicolae Ceaușescu's

national communist National communism represents various forms in which Marxism–Leninism and socialism has been adopted and/or implemented by leaders in different countries using aspects of nationalism or national identity to form a policy independent from comm ...

leadership entirely discarded earlier expressions of socialist literature, and removed most of them from the national curriculum. Călugăru's books of the 1950s were reevaluated critically especially following the Romanian Revolution of 1989, with which came the end of Romania's communist period. The 1995 ''Dicționarul scriitorilor români'' ("Romanian Writers' Dictionary"), edited by

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 ...

Marian Papahagi Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places *Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensland, ...

and

Aurel Sasu Aurel may refer to: Places * Aurel, Drôme, France * Aurel, Vaucluse, France Other uses * Aurel (given name) * Aurel Awards, a Slovak music award * AuRel, a dragon in E. E. Knight's ''Age of Fire Age of Fire is a series of fantasy/adventure ...

, noted: " on Călugăruhad engaged himself, with short-term profits, but failure in the long run, into an intervention against nature and ..against the nature of art, but also against his own nature: abruptly moving from eroticism to heroism, he was not recommended for such an enterprise by either his native temperament, his collected life experience, and his artistic means. Together with the other relics of proletkult, ''Oțel și pîine'' is presently interesting at most as a symptomatic study case for an as yet virtual sociology of literature." Lăcustă also noted: "After four and a half decades, 'Oțel și pîine''can perhaps only be read as a literary document of its epoch." In contrast, others have defended the interwar Călugăru as a writer of talent. This is the case of Simuț, who notes that Călugăru, like his Jewish cogenerationists Ury Benador and I. Peretz, is one of the "interesting" details "worthy of an honest literary history." Henri Zalis, who took charge of a project to reedit Călugăru's early writings as part of a larger project involving interwar Jewish contributions, complained in 2004 that there was a real danger that writers from Călugăru to

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

and

Alexandru Jar Alexandru Jar (; pen name of Alexandru Avram ; November 20, 1911 – November 10, 1988) was a Romanian poet and prose writer. Born into a Jewish family in Iași, his parents were Iacob Avram and his wife Șura Bella; he was self-taught. He ma ...

would be forgotten by the public, "pulverized" by literary historians, their work "degraded by antisemitic hawking". During the Ceaușescu years, Călugăru's rival Dumitriu also parted with Socialist Realism and began writing more unconventional stories. Literary historian

Ion Vartic 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 conven ...

, who proposes that Dumitriu built his new career on

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

, notes that many of his short stories and novels incorporated real-life stories told by his elder Ion Vinea. Vartic concludes that one such short piece, published by Dumitriu under the title ''Cafiné'', is an "erotic farce" played on Ion Călugăru at some point during the interwar period. Mentions of Călugăru's life are also present in Mircea Eliade's ''Autobiography'', written during Eliade's self-exile and teaching career at the University of Chicago. Eliade notably describes his meeting with the ''Cuvântul'' journalist, recalling his surprise that Călugăru's everyday vocabulary seemed to be quoting avant-garde stories by

or Sașa Pană. Recalling her 1971 meeting with Eliade on American soil, Romanian poet Constanța Buzea wrote: " liadeasks if Ion Călugăru has an echo among us, today. Upon being told that this isn't the case, he turns grim. He says he regrets, he never knew, he could not predict that, in one way or another, sooner or later, one's mistakes are paid with the others' indifference and silence..." Călugăru's texts affected the visual experiments of his friend

. During their time at ''Integral'', Maxy illustrated with sketch-commentaries several of Călugăru's prose fragments, including ''Domnișoara Lot''. A collector's edition of ''Paradisul statistic'', kept by the

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2011 Romanian census there were 180,302 pe ...

city museum, features

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

work by the same artist.Cultural item description
at th

; retrieved February 17, 2010

Notes

References

* Lucian Boia, ''Capcanele istoriei. Elita intelectuală românească între 1930 și 1950'',

Humanitas ''Humanitas'' is a Latin noun meaning human nature, civilization, and kindness. It has uses in the Enlightenment, which are discussed below. Classical origins of term The Latin word ''humanitas'' corresponded to the Greek concepts of '' philanthr ...

, Bucharest, 2012. *

, ''Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent'', Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986 *

, ''Avangarda românească și complexul periferiei: primul val'',

Cartea Românească Cartea Românească ("The Romanian Book") is a publishing house in Bucharest, Romania, founded in 1919. Disestablished by the Communist Romania, communist regime in 1948, it was restored under later communism, in 1970, when it functioned as the off ...

, Bucharest, 2007. *

, ''Literatura română între cele două războaie mondiale'', Vol. I, Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1972. *

Petre Răileanu Petre is a surname and given name derived from Peter. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Petre * Charles Petre Eyre (1817–1902), English Roman Catholic prelate * Ion Petre Stoican (circa 1930–1990), Romanian vio ...

Michel Carassou Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), S ...

, ''Fundoianu/Fondane et l'avant-garde'', Fondation Culturelle Roumaine, Éditions Paris-Méditerranée, Bucharest & Paris, 1999. *

, ''Journal, 1935-1944'', Random House, London, 2003. * Ana Selejan, ''Literatura în totalitarism. Vol. II: Bătălii pe frontul literar'', Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2008. *Cristian Vasile, ''Literatura și artele în România comunistă. 1948-1953'', Humanitas, Bucharest, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Calugaru, Ion 1902 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century short story writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century biographers Romanian art critics Romanian biographers Male biographers Romanian essayists Male essayists Romanian film critics Romanian dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights Romanian literary critics Romanian male novelists Romanian screenwriters Male screenwriters Romanian male short story writers Romanian short story writers Romanian theatre critics Romanian male poets Expressionist writers Romanian surrealist writers Romanian propagandists Social realism Socialist realism writers Yiddish-language poets Yiddish theatre Romanian columnists Romanian newspaper editors Romanian theatre managers and producers Romanian communists People from Dorohoi Jewish dramatists and playwrights Jewish novelists Moldavian Jews Romanian Jews Romanian people of World War II Jewish Romanian writers banned by the Antonescu regime 20th-century screenwriters