Acasă Articole RTR De la spațiu de reflecție critică la instrument de reglaj emoțional: literatura...
De la spațiu de reflecție critică la instrument de reglaj emoțional: literatura motivațională românească ca vehicul ideologic cu funcții normalizatoare
Rezumat
From Pulp Fiction to Pulp Function: Romanian Motivational Literature and the Neoliberal Reorientation of Affect
Abstract: This article examines the late emergence of motivational literature in Romania and explains its distinctive character in relation to other literary cultures. It argues that this delay stems from a national tradition dominated by highbrow literary norms and restrictive regimes of aesthetic legitimation, which have historically marginalized affective discourse and prevented the cultural normalization of explicitly therapeutic literary functions. Drawing on Galin Tihanov’s theory of regimes of relevance and Mihai Iovănel’s analysis of paraliterature, the study outlines a conceptual framework for understanding the tensions between aesthetic autonomy, affective pragmatism, and cultural (de)legitimation. Through close readings of recent texts by Petronela Rotar and Tudor Chirilă, the article shows that Romanian motivational literature operates within a dual functional regime, combining narrative structures with affective and self-regulatory aims. Fiction becomes a medium of emotional regulation, affective validation, and identity reconstruction—aligned with a neoliberal ethics of self-responsibility and continuous self-optimization. Situating these texts within a transnational circuit of flexible literary forms influenced by emotional growth and healing narratives, the study highlights the blurring boundaries between aesthetic and pragmatic functions and signals the broader diffusion of capitalist discourse within the contemporary literary imaginary.
Keywords: motivational literature, regimes of relevance, affective discourse, neoliberal rhetoric, pulp fiction.
Citation suggestion: Bolba, Denisa. “De la spațiu de reflecție critică la instrument de reglaj emoțional: literatura motivațională românească ca vehicul ideologic cu funcții normalizatoare”. Transilvania, no. 3 (2026): 40-47.
https://doi.org/10.51391/trva.2026.3.05.
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