Romanian thinker
Tudor Vianu
(
Romanian:
[?tudor
vi?anu]
; January 8, 1898 ? May 21, 1964) was a Romanian
literary critic
, art critic, poet, philosopher, academic, and translator. He had a major role on the reception and development of
Modernism
in
Romanian literature
and
art
. He was married to
Elena Vianu
, herself a
literary critic
, and was the father of
Ion Vianu
, a psychiatrist, writer and essayist.
Biography
[
edit
]
Born in
Giurgiu
to a Jewish family
[1]
converted to
Christianity
,
[2]
he completed his primary education in the city, at the
Ion Maiorescu Gymnasium
, followed by the
Gheorghe Laz?r High School
in
Bucharest
. Around 1910, he began writing poetry — which he never published.
In 1915, Vianu became a student at the Department of Philosophy and Law at the
University of Bucharest
. During the period, Vianu began attending
Alexandru Macedonski
's
Symbolist
literary circle, and, in 1916, he published a study on Macedonski and later his own verses in
Flac?ra
magazine.
Upon Romania's entry in World War I, he was drafted into the
Romanian Army
, trained as an
artillery
cadet
in
Boto?ani
, and took part in the
Moldavian campaign
. In 1918, he returned to Bucharest, where he was editor of Macedonski's
Literatorul
, and resumed his studies, graduating in 1919. Vianu also worked on the editorial staff for
Constantin R?dulescu-Motru
's
Ideea European?
and for
Luceaf?rul
. In 1921, he began his long collaboration with
Via?a Romaneasc?
, while he contributed to
Eugen Lovinescu
's
Sbur?torul
.
In 1923, he obtained a
doctorate in Philosophy
at the
University of Tubingen
, with the thesis
Das Wertungsproblem in Schillers Poetik
("The Judgment of Values in
Schiller
's Poetics"), his first major study in
aesthetics
(delivered in November 1923). The work was praised by
Lucian Blaga
, who was subsequently Vianu's colleague during their time as staff members for
Gandirea
;
[3]
the two shared an appreciation of
Expressionism
.
[4]
With Blaga, he stood for
Gandirea'
s early modernist tendencies, and grew opposed to
Nichifor Crainic
's intense advocacy of traditionalism (at a time when the magazine's editor,
Cezar Petrescu
, was occupying a middle position).
[5]
With the publishing of his
Dualismul artei
in 1925 (followed by a long succession of collections of essays and studies), Vianu secured his place in the cultural landscape of modern Romania, and became the titular professor of aesthetics at the University of Bucharest. At around the same period, he distanced himself from
Gandirea
(which was becoming the mouthpiece of Crainic's
far right
traditionalism), and instead advocated
democratic government
.
[6]
Throughout the
interwar period
, Vianu was an adversary of the
fascist
Iron Guard
, and polemized with its press, becoming the target of attacks serialized in
Cuvantul
.
[7]
His status as a professor was in peril during the
National Legionary State
established by the Guard in 1940, and he felt the imminent danger of physical assaults.
[8]
Anti-Semitic
authorities began alluding to his Jewish origins, and several violent remarks were aimed at him.
[2]
Following the
Legionary Rebellion
and the Guard's defeat, he sent a congratulatory telegram to the
Conduc?tor
(lit. 'Leader', the equivalent title to 'il Duce' and 'der Fuhrer')
Ion Antonescu
.
[9]
In 1945, after the end of
Antonescu's regime
and World War II, he was the recipient of a letter from his friend
Eugene Ionesco
: the document forms a list of intellectuals whom Ionesco harshly criticized for their pro-Iron Guard activism (they include
Nae Ionescu
,
Mircea Eliade
,
Emil Cioran
,
Constantin Noica
,
Dan Botta
,
Mircea Vulc?nescu
,
Horia Stamatu
,
Paul Sterian
,
Mihail Polihroniade
,
Haig Acterian
,
Dumitru Cristian Amz?r
,
Costin Deleanu
and
Paul Deleanu
).
[10]
In charge of
Romania's National Theater
in 1945, ambassador to the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
in 1946, Vianu became an honorary member of the
Romanian Academy
starting in 1955. He made several concessions to the new
Communist authorities
, which
Ion Vianu
has described as "purely formal"
[11]
(an assessment shared by
Ion Papuc
, who argued that Vianu joined the
Romanian Communist Party
"for lack of a way out").
[2]
He gave active support to literary figures who, as former members of the Iron Guard, faced imprisonment — Vianu was a defense witness in the trial of
Traian Herseni
, and, with
Mihai Ralea
, the author of an appeal for the release of
Petre ?u?ea
.
[2]
During his late years, he translated several of
William Shakespeare
's works into Romanian. In the beginning of summer 1964, he completed
Arghezi, poet al omului
("
Arghezi
, Poet of Mankind"), carrying the subtitle
Cantare omului
("A Chant to Mankind"), a work in the field of comparative literature. It began printing on the very day of its author's death, which was due to a
heart attack
.
Philosophy
[
edit
]
Vianu's investigations into
cultural history
, coupled with his vivid interest in the
sociology of culture
, allowed him to develop an influential philosophy, which attributed culture a seminal role in shaping human destiny.
[12]
According to his views, culture, which had liberated humans from natural imperatives, was an asset that intellectuals were required to preserve by intervening in social life.
[12]
In his analysis of the
Age of Enlightenment
and
19th-century philosophy
, Vianu celebrated
Hegel
for having unified the competing trends of
universalist
Rationalism
and
ethnocentric
Historicism
.
[12]
A sizable part of his analysis was focused on the modern crisis of values, which he attributed to the inability of values to impose themselves on all individuals, and which he evidenced in the ideas of philosophers as diverse as
Friedrich Nietzsche
,
Karl Marx
, and
Søren Kierkegaard
.
[12]
Selected works
[
edit
]
- Dualismul artei
("The Dualism of Art") - 1925;
- Fragmente moderne
("Modernist Pieces") - 1925;
- Poezia lui Eminescu
("The Poetry of
Eminescu
") - 1930;
- Arta ?i Frumosul
("Art and Beauty") -1932;
- Idealul clasic al omului
("The Classic Idea of Man") -1934;
- Estetica
("Aesthetics"), a work in two volumes - 1934?1936;
- Filosofie ?i poezie
("Philosophy and Poetry") - 1937;
- Istorism ?i na?ionalism
("Historicism and
Nationalism
") - 1938;
- Introducere in teoria valorilor
("Introduction to the Theory of Values") - 1942;
- Istoria literaturii romane moderne
("The History of Modern Romanian Literature"), in collaboration with
?erban Cioculescu
and
Vladimir Streinu
- 1944;
- Filosofia Culturii
(
Philosophy of Culture
) - 1945;
- Dic?ionar de maxime (comentat)
("Dictionary of Maxims (Annotated)") - 1962.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Papuc; ?imonca
- ^
a
b
c
d
Papuc
- ^
Grigorescu, p.432-433
- ^
Grigorescu, p.382, 384, 432-433
- ^
Livezeanu, p.125-126
- ^
Ornea, p.36, 69-70, 116-117
- ^
Ornea, p.163, 453-454
- ^
Papuc; Scurtu, p.11
- ^
Scurtu, p.11
- ^
Ornea, p.30-31, 184-185, 197-198, 202
- ^
?imonca
- ^
a
b
c
d
Pop
References
[
edit
]
- Dan Grigorescu,
Istoria unei genera?ii pierdute: expresioni?tii
, Bucharest, Editura Eminescu, 1980
- Pompiliu Marcea, "Tabel cronologic" in Tudor Vianu,
Scriitori romani
, Bucharest, Editura Minerva, 1970
- Z. Ornea,
Anii treizeci. Extrema dreapt? romaneasc?
, Bucharest, Editura Funda?iei Culturale Romane, 1995
- Ioan Scurtu, "PNL ?i PN?: Rezerve, nemul?umiri, proteste. Partidele istorice sub guvernarea antonesciano-legionar?", in
Dosarele Istoriei
, 9/2000
- Irina Livezeanu, "After the Great Union: Generational Tensions, Intellectuals, Modernism, and Ethnicity in Interwar Romania", in
Nation and National Ideology. Past, Present and Prospects. Proceedings of the International Symposium held at the New Europe College, Bucharest, April 6-7, 2001
, Center for the Study of the Imaginary, New Europe College, p.110-127
- (in Romanian)
Ion Papuc, "Ceea ce ?tiu", letter to
Convorbiri literare
, no. 1, January 2006
- Mihaela Pop,
The Promethean Man Eastward or Westward?
, at the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy site
- (in Romanian)
"≪Am vrut s? fiu un martor≫. Interview with Ion Vianu" by Ovidiu ?imonca, in
Observator cultural
, no. 261, March 24, 2005
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Ion Biberi,
Tudor Vianu
, Bucharest, Editura pentru Literatur?, 1966
- Tudor Vianu. Biobliografie
, Bucharest, Biblioteca Central? Universitar?, 1967
- Ion Pascadi,
Estetica lui Tudor Vianu
, Bucharest, Editura ?tiin?ific?, 1968
- Traian Podgoreanu,
Umanismul lui Tudor Vianu
, Bucharest, Editura Cartea Romaneasc?, 1973
- Ecaterina ?ar?lung?,
Tudor Vianu
, Bucharest, Editura Cartea Romaneasc?, 1984
- Henri Zalis,
Tudor Vianu ? apropieri, delimit?ri, convergen?e
, Bucharest, Editura Minerva, 1993
- Henri Zalis,
Tudor Vianu
, Bucharest, Editura Recif, 1997
- Henri Zalis,
Via?a lui Tudor Vianu. O biografie intelectual?
, Bucharest, Editura Atlas, 1997
- Vasile Lungu,
Via?a lui Tudor Vianu
, Bucharest, Editura Minerva, 1997
- Emil Moang?,
Tudor Vianu in con?tiin?a criticii
, Bucharest, Editura Floarea Darurilor, 1997
- George Gan?,
Tudor Vianu ?i lumea culturii
, Bucharest, Editura Minerva, 1998
- Vasile Lungu,
Opera lui Tudor Vianu
, Bucharest, Editura Eminescu, 1999
- Petru Vaida,
Opera filozofic? a lui Tudor Vianu
, Bucharest, Editura Enciclopedic?, 2004
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