MONSTROUS WOMEN: FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES ON VASILE VOICULESCU’S AMPHIBIOUS CREATURES
MONSTROUS WOMEN: FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES ON VASILE VOICULESCU’S AMPHIBIOUS CREATURES

Summary/Abstract: Romanian lore describes știma as an archaic deity that dominates the aquatic stability of flowing waters, such a creature being ascribed to every body of water. It has the power to overthrow this stability by conjuring either floods or severe droughts. “Știma” -s are described as women of unearthly beauty that take the shape of a fish (a huchen or redfish) when in water. This paper opens up for examination a somewhat neglected aspect of Romanian literature, i.e. literary works that take as their subject matter the nautical realm and the creatures that populate it, with V. Voiculescu’s “Lostrița” and M. Sadoveanu’s “Zâna lacului” as exemplification.Canonical nautical literature works, such as “Moby-Dick” (Melville, 1851) and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (Coleridge, 1798), focus on the sea or the ocean and the creatures, either real or mythical, that dwell underneath their surfaces or in the air. Romania has not been a maritime nation per se, hence the scarcity of nautical literary texts. The narratives discussed focus on naturally flowing watercourses and the creatures specific to them. The authors in question have no first-hand knowledge related to either sailing or seafaring, which is precisely why they both focus on the mythological creatures that populate the rivers of Romania. Their short stories also display strong elements of romance intertwined with powerful forms of fantasy and the supernatural.

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