Garabet Ibrăileanu (; May 23, 1871 – March 11, 1936) was a Romanian- Armenian

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...

and theorist, writer,

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

, sociologist,

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: ''Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza"''; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mih ...

professor (1908–1934), and, together with Paul Bujor and Constantin Stere, for long main editor of the ''

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

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and lett ...

between 1906 and 1930. He published many of his works under the

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

Cezar Vraja.

Biography

Ibrăileanu was born into a family of Armenian origin, in Târgu Frumos, Iași County, and attended the Roman-Vodă High School in

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

. During the 1890s, he was attracted to

Socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...

, and began a collaboration with the

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

press - periodicals such as ''Munca'' and ''

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

''. He adopted part of the themes and goals expressed by the defunct ''

Junimea ''Junimea'' was a Romanian literary society founded in Iași in 1863, through the initiative of several foreign-educated personalities led by Titu Maiorescu, Petre P. Carp, Vasile Pogor, Theodor Rosetti and Iacob Negruzzi. The foremost pe ...

'', merging them with the ideas of

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

thinker

Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea Constantin Dobrogeanu-Gherea (born Solomon Katz; 1855, village of Slavyanka near Yekaterinoslav (modern Dnipro), then in Imperial Russia – 1920, Bucharest) was a Romanian Marxist theorist, politician, sociologist, literary critic, and ...

, into a new form of Romanian populism, making it the main attribute of the magazine he led. He is remembered as the first mentor to such diverse figures as Mihail Sadoveanu, Ion Agârbiceanu, Ionel Teodoreanu, Gala Galaction, Octavian Goga, George Topîrceanu, and Tudor Arghezi. In his first major

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

(1908), ''Spiritul critic în cultura românească'' (roughly: "Selective Attitudes in Romanian Culture"), Ibrăileanu analysed the trends in Romanian literature from cca. 1840 to cca. 1880, trying to establish what had been the characteristics of original works. This is the first draft of his ''theory of selection'', through which he determined the relationship between social context and artists' subjectivism (using it to explain why original artists had been ignored in favor of conformist ones of lesser talent). His thesis found its first major critic in

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

figure

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 ...

. He expanded the idea in works of literary criticism that are still influential: in 1909 - ''Scriitori şi curente'' ("Writers and Trends"); in 1912 - ''Opera literară a d-lui Vlahuță'' ("Mr. Vlahuță's Literary Works"), a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

thesis that featured one of Ibrăileanu's most quoted chapters, ''Literatura și societatea'' ("Literature and Society"); in 1930 - ''Studii literare'' ("Literary Studies"), containing his other major writing, ''Creaţie și analiză'' ("Creation and Analysis"). He also authored a volume of

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by ...

s (1930), and a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

- ''Adela'' (1933). Mormântul scriitorului Garabet Ibrăileanu

Ibrăileanu died in

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

in 1936, and was buried at

Eternitatea Cemetery Eternitatea is the biggest cemetery in Iași, Romania. Notable interments * Vasile Adamachi, philanthropist * Petre Andrei, sociologist and politician * Dimitrie Anghel, poet and writer * Alexandru Bădărău, politician, academic, and journ ...

in Iași. Denied admission to the

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

throughout his life, Garabet Ibrăileanu received posthumous membership in 1948.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ibraileanu, Garabet Poporanists Romanian literary critics Romanian literary historians 20th-century Romanian novelists Romanian male novelists Romanian sociologists Romanian translators Members of the Romanian Academy elected posthumously People from Târgu Frumos Romanian people of Armenian descent 1871 births 1936 deaths 20th-century translators 20th-century Romanian male writers Alexandru Ioan Cuza University faculty Burials at Eternitatea cemetery Alexandru Ioan Cuza University alumni