FACETS OF IRONY IN COMMUNIST TESTIMONIAL LITERATURE. CASE STUDY: ANNIE BENTOIU, TIMPUL CE NI S-A DAT [THE TIME WE WERE GIVEN]
FACETS OF IRONY IN COMMUNIST TESTIMONIAL LITERATURE. CASE STUDY: ANNIE BENTOIU, TIMPUL CE NI S-A DAT [THE TIME WE WERE GIVEN]

Summary/Abstract: Annie Bentoiuʼs memoirs, Timpul ce ni s-a dat: Memorii: 1944–1959 [The Time We Were Given: Memoirs: 1944–1959] present an erudite, rigorously documented discourse, interwoven with a history of personal development. Rather sober and always lucid, the text contains, at times, notes of subtle irony, suggesting both a critical attitude towards the realities of the time (through the brief stories of people remembered) and a way of detachment from the hardships imposed by the totalitarian regime (through the literary practices chosen by the author). The starting point of this study is the concept of semiotic cut (“coupe sémiotique”), and its aim is to make a very precise selection of fragments in which ironic lines or attitudes can be identified either as an individual or collective response to the oppressions of the communist regime or as a retrospective interpretation of this specific historical context. The research involves three steps: the selection of this corpus, its analysis and its interpretation. Based on Leo Spitzerʼs stylistic studies, the discussion will also focus on irony as a stylistic deviation (“écart stylistique”) from the general rules of this memoir discourse.

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