At what school did Șerban Cioculescu teach?
24477049#53
On his 100th birthday in 2002, Șerban Cioculescu was commemorated through festivities held at the Museum of Romanian Literature in Bucharest; the place chosen for this was a conference hall where he had presided over several writers' reunions in the 1960s and 1970s. Among the many reprints of his works before and after the 1989 Revolution is a 2007 third edition of "Amintiri", edited by Simona Cioculescu and accompanied by his travel writings. In 2009, she also edited a collected edition of his theater chronicles for "Semnalul". Șerban Cioculescu's name was assigned to streets in Găești and Pitești, as well as to a private high school in Turnu Severin.
Șerban Cioculescu
24477049#22
Cioculescu eventually took his Ph.D. in 1945, with a monograph on Dimitrie Anghel, the early-20th-century poet and representative of Romania's Symbolist school. As he himself recalled, this decision came after Dean Constantin Balmuș promised him a teaching position at the University of Iași Faculty of Letters, if he agreed to obtain the necessary qualifications within a short interval. His dissertation reviewer was Tudor Vianu, and the commission evaluating his candidature for the teaching post comprised George Călinescu, who assured him of being "my candidate". In July 1946, after earning approval from the commission, Cioculescu took over his new assignment, sharing the chair with Călinescu.
Șerban Cioculescu
24477049#0
Șerban Cioculescu (; 7 September 1902 – 25 June 1988) was a Romanian literary critic, literary historian and columnist, who held teaching positions in Romanian literature at the University of Iași and the University of Bucharest, as well as membership of the Romanian Academy and chairmanship of its Library. Often described as one of the most representative Romanian critics of the interwar period, he took part in the cultural debates of the age, and, as a left-wing sympathizer who supported secularism, was involved in extended polemics with the traditionalist, far right and nationalist press venues. From early on in his career, Cioculescu was also noted for his selective approach to literary modernism and the avant-garde, preferring to place his cultural references with Neoclassicism.
Șerban Cioculescu
24477049#43
The two main subjects of Cioculescu's work were Caragiale and Arghezi, seen by Alex. Ștefănescu as his "elective affinities" (the same critic notes that the 1945 study of Dimitrie Anghel "was not preceded or followed by works on the same subject"). In Caragiale's case, Ștefănescu argued, Cioculescu proved his "admirable philological rigor", but did not produce a unitary interpretation of his subject: "There is not [...] a single Caragiale as seen by Șerban Cioculescu." He added: "The finality of Șerban Cioculescu's enterprise is something other than erecting a temple, and is in effect the preservation of interest for I. L. Caragiale's work." This was explicitly stated by the author, who was quoted by George Călinescu as stating: "[Caragiale] will indisputably find a writer of great talent to enliven his face." According to Călinescu: "[Cioculescu's] contributions on the subject of Caragiale merit a perfect trust. [...] The biographical talent, which he will not attribute to himself, is nonetheless present in Șerban Cioculescu." Noting that the main techniques used by his colleague were "insinuation" and "repetition", Călinescu proposed: "For the reader used to architecture, the effect may prove disappointing, but for the refined, especially one bored with the sublime style, the impression is relevant. All the essential characteristics of Caragiale the man are lightly touched, pinned down with needles, presented for the internal eye to see."
Șerban Cioculescu
24477049#34
Also according to Ornea, the post-"Junimist" group, alongside Mihail Sebastian and Octav Șuluțiu, was also the leading school of interwar critics, without whom "interwar literature would be hard to imagine." Literary historian Sami Damian sees Cioculescu and several of the others among the "eminent" group of authors directly influenced by the older Lovinescu, opting to "apply a program of aesthetic independence". Similarly, critic and historian Mircea Iorgulescu discussed Cioculescu as a member of Lovinescu's "first posterity". Șerban Cioculescu's own literary style was judged by Alex. Ștefănescu to represent a peak of the interwar tradition, and a link with classical mindset, characterized by calm and erudition, as well as by "the [...] individualism of an urban dweller with a sense of humor". He found its "pedantic and digressive style" similar to that of 19th-century writer Alexandru Odobescu, author of the complex essay "Pseudo-cynegetikos", but noted that Cioculescu matched Odobescu's "reverie" with "malicious soberness." In a 1989 essay, literary reviewer Ion Simuț spoke about "the ironic style" of articles and studies authored by Cioculescu, as well as by his colleagues Călinescu and Cornel Regman, and identified by him as inspired by the comediography of Ion Luca Caragiale. However, Cioculescu did not relate to criticism as an integral aspect of literature, believing that it lacked a creative dimension, and warned against the danger posed by subjectivity.
Șerban Cioculescu
24477049#3
As he was to recall later in life, Șerban Cioculescu was a sickly and inhibited child, who enjoyed spending his time in the family garden. Born in Bucharest, he was the second son of engineer N. Cioculescu, and the younger brother (by one year) of Radu, who later made himself known for both his original literary works and his translations from Marcel Proust. Both parents died when the brothers were still young children: their father in 1912, their mother in 1914. They were assigned to the care of his grandparents, who reputedly favored a severe approach to education. According to Cioculescu, although objectionable, his grandmother's stern nature ultimately contributed to fortifying his internal self, given that "happiness has no educational virtues."
Șerban Cioculescu
24477049#7
Shortly after his return from Paris, Cioculescu established himself as a presence on the literary scene, and began frequenting the informal and bohemian literary club formed around Casa Capșa restaurant. One of his earliest polemics was carried with his colleague Perpessicius by means of "Adevărul" journal: Cioculescu found his adversary's aesthetic relativism and rejection of "sectarianism" to be incompatible with the mission of critic. Between 1928 and 1929, Cioculescu and Streinu were on the staff of "Kalende", a literary magazine published in Pitești, Argeș County. After a short interval during which he worked as a schoolteacher in Găești town (where he was notably a contributor to the short-lived modernist review "Cristalul"), Cioculescu entered the civil service, becoming an inspector of Romanian schools. This was the alleged start of a documented lifelong rivalry between Cioculescu and literary historian George Călinescu: the inspector reportedly chose to intervene during an Italian-language class Călinescu was giving to high school students, and managed instead to infuriate him.
Șerban Cioculescu
24477049#17
Instead, Cioculescu made his living teaching French language at Bucharest's Saint Sava National College. He had among his students G. Brătescu, the future physician and medical historian, also known as a Communist Party militant after the war (before being marginalized and excluded by the group in the late 1950s). In his 2003 autobiography, Brătescu recalled that Cioculescu's method went beyond the Romanian curriculum and parallel to the National Legionary requirements, introducing his students to innovative French 19th- and 20th-century authors, from Arthur Rimbaud to Marcel Proust. Also according to Brătescu, Cioculescu introduced his students to the banned or unpublished works of Arghezi, and openly praised the poet's political stance. In late 1940, Cioculescu also reacted to the Iron Guard's mass murders of politicians affiliated with previous regimes—the Jilava Massacre and the killings of Iorga and economist Virgil Madgearu. His Saint Sava student Brătescu, who frequented Iorga's circles in Vălenii de Munte, presented him with some of Iorga's final texts for "Cuget Clar".
Șerban Cioculescu
24477049#4
Cioculescu's primary education was completed at the Schewitz-Thierrin boarding school, which left him with other similarly unpleasant memories. He later graduated from the Traian High School in Turnu Severin, a Danube port in western Romania. He subsequently attended Bucharest University's Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, where he specialized in the study of the French language. Cioculescu had among his professors critics Mihail Dragomirescu and Ovid Densusianu, comparatist Charles Drouhet, as well as historians Nicolae Iorga and Vasile Pârvan. He made himself known early on by speaking out his mind during Dragomirescu's lectures, and taking distance from his teacher's opinions. It was during one of Dragomirescu's classes that Cioculescu first met Vladimir Streinu, who became his best friend. He was also acquainted to and fell in love with his female colleague Maria (Mioara) Iovițoiu, whom he soon after married.
Șerban Cioculescu
24477049#19
By 1944, he was reintegrated into the corps of school inspectors by the Antonescu cabinet's Education Minister Ion Petrovici (who had also employed Streinu as his adviser). According to a rumor spread by Jewish Romanian author Sergiu Dan (and passed on by diarist Emil Dorian), the antisemitic Petrovici intended to task Cioculescu and Streinu with compiling an official history of Romanian literature to compete with George Călinescu's liberal version (the 1941 "Istoria literaturii române"); reportedly, the goal was to eliminate all Jewish contributions to local letters, about which Călinescu had spoken in detail. The Cioculescu family's condemnation of official antisemitic policies and the Holocaust in Romania was however stated by Radu Cioculescu, who had witnessed and exposed murders committed by the Romanian Army on the Eastern Front.
Șerban Cioculescu