ALICE VOINESCU - THE TERRITORY OF INTIMATE JOURNAL Cover Image

ALICE VOINESCU – TERITORIUL JURNALULUI INTIM
ALICE VOINESCU - THE TERRITORY OF INTIMATE JOURNAL

Author(s): Amalia Drăgulănescu
Subject(s): Comparative Study of Literature, Romanian Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Editura Arhipelag XXI
Keywords: diary; intimacy; egocentrism; misanthropy; devotion; self-discipline;

Summary/Abstract: As Tolstoy was preaching a kind of theory of everything in his own diary, the writer Alice Voinescu dedicates hundreds of pages to her autobiographical writing which are overwhelming for the reader, in fact there are only a few fragments of a life subjected to fate. Comprising brief or panoramic sociological considerations or notations somewhat sentimental about couple relationships, or most often designed considerations of the self, the Diary becomes a three-dimensional perspective on that period of time. Although extremely like a mosaic, as any autobiographical volume, however it decants some coordinates that relate to their own character and personality traits, to the complicated relationship with her husband, or others, or to the embracing idea of divinity. It seems that Alice Voinescu’s diary conveys little emotion to the readers; however, the calculated appearance does not fully cancel the thrilling experiences, showing the strength of the reader’s transposition in the inter-war period. Not only through memories has the writer indulged a sort of addiction to the past, although she has a subtle representation of the times, and especially a fantastic intuition of the following periods of distress. However, the writer tries to follow a self-discipline, too complex for the society in which she lives, and the pages of the journal prove this. Egocentrism is another defining feature for the diaristic portrait, sketched by others, but also as a self-portrait, referring to the positive assertion of individualism and a variety of hidden misanthropy, under different masks of sociability. Within the diary, the memoirist indulges herself in philosophical reflections, illustrating an unprecedented spiritual wealth. History also remains an implacable frame exceeding the spiritual contours of the journal and, at a certain point, it draws a specific direction (the reclusion of Costeşti). The vast diary of Alice Voinescu is such a huge territory on the border between fictional and non-fictional, with stronger intrusions in the later one, but also keeping oases of literature.

  • Issue Year: 2017
  • Issue No: 10
  • Page Range: 909-917
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: Romanian