(Anti)Imperial Narration in the Mock-Epic Form: Ioan-Budai Deleanu and the Transylvanian Project
Mihaela Ursa
Descriere autor:
Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca
E-mail:
E-mail personal autor:
mihaela.ursa@ubbcluj.ro
5
Rubrica:
Studii literare
Abstract: This article fills the blank space separating two important moments in the transnational and multicultural history of Transylvania. I place in relation Acta Comparationis Litterarum Universarum [Acta] and the Transylvanian School [SA], an early landmark in the establishment of Transylvanian Romanian national culture. While both movements initiate in Transylvania, Acta Comparationis avoids referencing The Transylvanian School, while at same time entertaining the same type of inter-imperial duplicity with regards to the emancipation of the marginal as the Transylvanian School itself does with regards to the emancipation of the Roma. A close analysis of a mock-epic poem by Ioan Budai-Deleanu against the background of the two schools reveals that the inter-imperial position allows a selective plea for nationhood and ethnic dignity while at the time protecting imperial, cultural and socio-political hierarchies and power structures.
Keywords: inter-imperial, translation, Acta Comparationis Litterarum Universarum, Școala Ardeleană (The Transylvanian School), Țiganiada (The Gypsiad), Ioan Budai-Deleanu
Acknowledgement: This work was funded by the EU’s NextGenerationEU instrument through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan of Romania—Pillar III-C9-18, through the project A Global History of Romanian Comparatism: A Case Study in Inter-Imperial Comparative Literature (1877-1944), PNRR-III-C9-2023-I8-CF 22/ 27.07.2023, contract no. 760276/ 26.03.2024.

