Deux ennemis rapprochés : Eugène Ionesco et Mircea Eliade
Two Close Enemies: Eugène Ionesco and Mircea Eliade

Summary/Abstract: A very close enmity connects young Ionesco and his fellow Mircea Eliade, two years older his senior. His other colleagues of generation do not seem to overly interest him, they are "too small" ["insignificant"] to rouse his interest as an unrepentant polemist. On the contrary, young Eliade, impetuous, prolific, ubiquitous, already the leader of the "Generation 27", meets all the requirements to become Ionesco’s favorit target. In Ionesco’s maiden book, the sulphurous No (1934), Eliade is one of the most visible headliners and he never stands to miss the part of the privileged recipient of the Ionescians sarcasm in the articles of the thirties. On the other hand, it is not difficult to notice that the biting treatment is redoubled by an unacknowledged fascination which is easy to detect. It is obvious that Mircea Eliade exasperates and attracts him in equal measure, although taking into account his strategy that he observes rigorously, Ionesco does not show in his polemics but his mocking face.

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