ROMANIAN Science Fiction History (fragment)
Romanian sf is over a century old. 1873 marked the appearances of the novelette "Finis Rumaniae", "The End of Romania", by the obscure writer Al. N. Dariu; two years letter came a future UTOPIA, �Spiritele anului 3000�, �Spirits of the Year 3000�, (1875) by Demetriu G. Ionnescu (the form of his name used by the statesman Take Ionescu [1858 - 1922]). The earliest sf writer proper in Romania was Victor Anestin (1858 - 1918), whose first novel was �In anul 4000 sau o calatorie la Venus�, �In the Year 4000, or A Voyage to Venus�,; 1914 marked the almost simultaneous appearance of two �classic� novels of Romanian sf; �O tragedie cereasca�, �A Sky Tragedy�, (1914), again by Anestin, and �Un roman in luna�, �A Romanian on the Moon�, (1914) by Henri Sthal (1877 - 1942). All these belong to the tradition of the �astronomical� novel, as it was known before WWI.
Between the Wars the range of themes widened, the most notable novels being no longer �astronomical�: examples are �Baletul Mecanic�, �The Clockwork Ballet�, (1931) by Cezar Petrescu (1892 - 1961) and �Orasele inecate�, �The Drowned Cities�, (1936) by Felix Aderca (1891 - 1962). There were also some valuable short stories, including �Groaza�, �Horror�, (1936) �Manechinul lui Igor�, �Igor's Mannequin�, (1938) and �Ochiul cu doua pupile�, �The Two-Pupilled Eye�, (1939), all by Victor Papilian (1888 - 1956); a scientific fairy-tale, �Agerul Pamantului�, �The Deft Giant of the Earth� (1939) by I.C. Vissarion (1879 - 1951); an above all 2 sf novelettes set in India (see below) by Mircea Eliade (1907 - 1986), better known in the West for his studies in comparative religion; he was professor of the History of Religion at the University of Chicago 1956 - 1986, and author of fundamental works in this field, written in French and translated all over the world.
As a writer of fiction, Eliade belonged entirely to Romanian literature: he became one of the nation's major writers before WWII, while still living in Romania, and, when abroad afterwards, continued writing fiction exclusively in Romanian. He wrote both realistic and fantastic , fiction, the latter including some genuine masterpieces: the novels �Domnisoara Cristina�, �Miss Cristina�, (1936) and �Sarpele�, �The Snake� (1937), the novelettes �La Tiganci� (1959; trans as �With the Gypsy Girls� 1973 Denver Review) and �Pe strada Mantuleasa�, �On Mantuleasa Street�, (1968 France), and many others, including �Foret Interdite� (1955 France; in original Romanian as �Noaptea de Sanzaiene� 1971 France; trans Mac Linecott Rickette and Mary Park Stevenson as �The Forbidden Forest� 1978 US), a huge novel in which the search for IMMORTALITY is paralleled to a myth-saturated history of Romania. 5 of his writings are (somewath borderline) sf. From his rich knowledge of Indian culture (he studied at the University of Calcutta 1928 - 31), Eliade extrapolated hypotheses drawn from, for example, Yoga and Tantra in a science fictional manner, as in the title story of �Secretul doctorului Honigberger� (coll 1940; trans William Ames Coates as �Two Tales of the Occult� 1970 US; vt �Two Strange Tales� 1986); the title story (here trans as �Doctor Honigberger's Secret�) is about time distortion and INVISIBILITY; the volume also contains �Nopti la Serampore� (1939) (here trans as �Midnight in Serampore�), in which time reversibility reduces individual lifespans to infinitesimal proportions compared to the great time-intervals of supra-individuality. The short story �Un om mare� (�A big Man�) (written 1945; 1948) is about a giant and is partly reminiscent of H.G.Wells's �The Food of the Gods� (1904); it is included in �Fantastic Tales� (coll trans E.Tappe 1969 UK). The last 2 of his works of interest are novelettes written in Paris much letter, both on the theme of MUTANTS: the hero of �Tinerete fara de tinerete�� (written 1976; 1978 Germany), which appears in English as the long title story of �Youth without Youth� (coll trans 1989 UK), is a mutant who becomes young and immortal after a thunderbolt; and in �Les trios Graces� (�The three Graces�) (1976) Eliade transforms an idea he found in the Apocrypha in a cruel story about a rejuvenation treatment given to three old women suffering from cancer - they become unhappy mutants. A further English - language collection of Eliade's stories is �Tales of the Sacred and Supernatural� (coll trans 1981 US).
Cornel Robu - "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction"
INVITATION:
I invite you to navigate in:
http://www.sciencefiction.mateidonea.ro/ <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
