Aventura și hagialâkul pașadiesc
Adventure and Pashadia's pilgrimage

Summary/Abstract: This article analyzes the theme of adventure as it is developed in Mateiu I. Caragiale’s novel Gallants of the Old Court (Craii de Curtea-Veche). I am particularly interested in the way in which Mateiu I. Caragiale presents a pattern of adventure as it emerges from the culture and civilization of the 18th century and in particular of the Enlightenment, and a typology of the adventurer. Based on the distinction that Vladimir Jankélévitch makes in L’aventure, l'Ennui, le Sérieux between “adventurer” (l’aventurier) and “adventurous” (l’aventureux), I study the way Mateiu I. Caragiale adapts the 18th -century model in the context of modernity where the adventurer turns into an arriviste. I analyze this new typology of modernity from the perspective offered by both Mateiu I. Caragiale’s novel and his correspondence with his young friend N.A. Boicescu, given that the pattern proposed by the author of Gallants of the Old Court represents a hybrid between the two typologies. I also explore how the reading of Félicien Champsaur’s novel The Arriviste influenced the Romanian prose writer and his way of conceiving his characters, and his lifestyle as well.

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