Andreea Mironescu, Paul Zarifopol sau eseul împotriva criticii
Paul Zarifopol or the Essay against Criticism
Paul Zarifopol (1874-1934) could be described as a notable case of misreading in the field of Romanian literary history. Although alotted generous space in most histories of Romanian literature (from E. Lovinescu to G. Călinescu and Nicolae Manolescu), Zarifopol is often presented as an „anticlassical” literary critic, with no particular method and no systemic thinking, an impetuous and subjective writer of feuilletons. Collating critical opinions of his contemporaries, as well as fragments from private letters, this paper analyses the way in which Zarifopol deals with his own work and aims to prove that he deliberatly chose to be an essayist, and not a literary critic. Zarifopol’s criticism stems from a generalized skepticism, as the only expression of intelectual freedom which is possible in a postwar world.
Keywords: essay, theory, literary criticism, Romanian literature, Paul Zarifopol
- Adorno, Theodor W., „The Essay as Form”. În New German Critique, No. 32. (Spring – Summer, 1984), pp. 151-171.
- Chinezu, Ion, Pagini de critică/ Pages of Criticism, ediţie îngrijită de I. Negoiţescu, Bucureşti, Editura pentru literatură, 1969.
- Constantinescu, Pompiliu, Scrieri/ Writings, Bucureşti, E.P.L., 1967, vol. II şi Scrieri, Bucureşti, Minerva 1971, vol. V.
- Good, Graham, The Observing Self: Rediscovering the Essay, London, Routledge, 1988.
- Manolescu, Nicolae, Istoria critică a literaturii române. 5 secole de literatură/ The Critical History of Romanian Literature. 5 Centuries of Literature, Piteşti, Editura Paralela 45, 2008.
- Muthu, Mircea, Paul Zarifopol între fragment şi construcţie/ Paul Zarifopol between the Fragment and the Edifice, Bucureşti, Editura Albatros, 1982.
- Negoiţescu, I., Istoria literaturii române/ The History of Romanian Literature, I, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1991.
- Ralea, M., Interpretări/ Analyses, Bucureşti, Editura Casa Şcoalelor, 1927.
- Schärf, Christian, Geschichte des Essays. Von Montaigne bis Adorno/ The History of the Essay. From Montaigne to Adorno, Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Berlin, 1999.
- Zarifopol Paul, Eseuri / Essays, I-II, ediţie îngrijită şi introducere de Al. Săndulescu, Bucureşti, Editura Minerva, 1988.
- Zarifopol Paul, Pentru arta literară/ For Literary Art, I-II, ediţie îngrijită şi introducere de Al. Săndulescu, Editura Fundaţiei Culturale Române, Bucureşti, 1997-1998.
- ***, Paul Zarifopol în corespondenţă / Paul Zarifopol in corespondence , ediţie îngrijită de Al. Săndulescu şi Radu Săndulescu, introducere de Al. Săndulescu, Bucureşti, 1988.
