Nicoleta Cliveţ, Cornel Regman – criticul de a doua zi
Cornel Regman – the critic of the next day
After his debut à la manière de Călinescu, where one could notice the pleasures he takes in rendering the analytical discourse as a narrative, in the extensive quotation and the practice of a wide comparatism (besides the debt he pays, thematically and stylistically, to the proletcultism), Cornel Regman starts off, beginning with his volume Cărţi, autori, tendinţe (Books, Writers, Trends), with the process directed against the literary morals, listing in good humour all the maladies of the meta-literary: the improper use of terminology, the abuse of neologisms, or, as appropriate, of regionalisms, the harmful rush for “creativity” in criticism. He becomes a creditable quibbler of the post-war critic phenomenon, the only one imposing this task upon himself and fully respecting it, especially when it comes about the tireless watch over the literary chronicle. Feared, and thus, less loved, he played the part of a law enforcement officer on the field of literary criticism, where he strived to ensure the guard and protection of the critical cause, as his precursor – Şerban Cioculescu. Most of the penalty-charge reports he issued were for the “creative criticism”, for those who put exaggerated stake on intuition, impression and literaturization. His ‘allies’ in this effort were the polemic, after Cioculescu’s manner, and an eye especially trained for finding flaws, syncope, critical heart failures. The part Cornel Regman plays, after he becomes the writer of a column of critics’ critique, is that of “the critic of the next day”, in the rear guard of the literary phenomenon, making interventions which aim to specify, grade and label correctly the literary present.
Keywords: contemporary Romanian literature, post-war literary criticism, literary chronicle, Lovinescianism, Calinescianism, polemic, objective perspective, axiological verdict, colloquial style.
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- Manolescu, Nicolae, Literatura română postbelică. Lista lui Manolescu / The Post-war Romanian Literature. Manolescu’s List. Braşov, Ed. Aula, 2001;
- Regman, Cornel, Confluenţe literare / Literary Confluences. Bucureşti, E.P.L., 1966;
- Regman, Cornel, Cărţi , autori , tendinţe / Books, Writers, Trends. Bucureşti, E.P.L., 1967;
- Regman, Cornel, Cică nişte cronicari…/ It’s Said about Some Chroniclers… Bucureşti, Ed. Eminescu, 1970;
- Regman, Cornel, Selecţie din selecţie / Selection from Selection. Bucureşti, Ed. Eminescu, 1972;
- Regman, Cornel, Colocvial / Colloquial. Bucureşti, Ed. Eminescu, 1976;
- Regman, Cornel, Noi explorări critice / New Critical Examinations. Bucureşti, Ed. Eminescu, 1982;
- Regman, Cornel, De la imperfect la mai puţin ca perfect / From Present Perfect to Less than Perfect. Bucureşti, Ed. Eminescu, 1987;
- Regman, Cornel, Nu numai despre critici / Not only about Critics. Bucureşti, Ed. Cartea Românească, 1990;
- Regman, Cornel, Dinspre „Cercul literar“ spre optzecişti / From “The Literary Circle” to the Generation of the Eighties. Bucureşti, Ed. Cartea Românească, 1997.
