FANTASTICUL, STRANIUL ŞI MIRACULOSUL ÎN ARANCA, ŞTIMA LACURILOR DE CEZAR PETRESCU
The fantastic, the Strange and the Miraculous in Aranca, ştima lacurilor (Aranca, the spirit of the lakes) by Cezar Petrescu

Summary/Abstract: The essay follows the theoretical framework of the fantastic as settled by TzvetanTodorov and aims at identifying the place of the Romanian novella within this classification. For the fantastic as strangeness the essay identifies within the novella: the hesitation of the reader between the reality and the imaginary, the events as a result of one’s imagination due to madness or to dream; the hesitation of the reader between the reality and the illusion, trying to find a reasonable explanation for the events, the possibility of an illusion of the narrator (delirium as a result of malaria) or of a hoax played to the narrator. The essay considers all the same the presence of pure strangeness within the novella, mastered through the infusion of fear. For the miraculous, the acceptance of the supernatural, the essay illustrates the presence of the ghosts within the story of the novella; the essay points out stylistic reasons for placing the novella within the exotic miraculous. In the end, as a result of endless exemplifications for the constant hesitation of the narrator, the essay proves that the Romanian fantastic novella serves as a good analytical material for the theoretical approach of TvetanTodorov.

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