Cazul Sandu: Romanele lui Anton Holban din perspectiva tulburărilor de personalitate
The Sandu Case: Anton Holban’s Novels from the Perspective of Personality Disorders

Summary/Abstract: In the present article we propose an interdisciplinary analysis of Anton Holban’s novels. Being an example of modern Romanian fiction, focused on inner experiences, Holban’s work has a pronounced psychological character and, thus, can become an object of study for psychology and psychiatry. We propose an interpretation of the writer’s novels from the point of view of personality disorders. In our opinion, the protagonist has some characteristics described as symptoms of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD), also referred to as obsessional personality or anankastic personality. We discuss several categories of these characteristics, such as uncertainty and lack of self-confidence, excessive vulnerability, self-analysis, control, excessive attention to details and judging everyone with one’s high moral standards. We focus on those aspects of the narrator’s personality which are the expression of his relation to himself and to other people, as we consider it extremely important. Our point is not to make a psychiatric diagnosis of Holban’s protagonist, but rather to suggest the possibility of using some data offered by psychology, psychopathology and psychiatry to interprete the writer’s work. This could shed some light on behavioral mechanisms that can be observed in both fictional character and Anton Holban himself, regarding the autobiographical aspect of his prose. On the other hand, we believe that literature can be a source of inspiration for science and, as such, help us on our way to understanding the human being.

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