Incursiuni în imaginarul religios din literatura română contemporană (3) De la interlop la profet- vindecător – o convertire pe fast forward
Insights into religious imaginary in contemporary Romanian literature (3) From villain to healer-prophet - a fast forward conversion

Summary/Abstract: Dinţii ascuţiţi ai binelui (The sharp teeth of good, 2018), the first novel of writer Bogdan Răileanu, stages two contrasting, yet marginal worlds: the monastic and the villain life. Up until the two worlds begin to overlap, the novel follows the destinies of two main characters around which the plot of the novel revolves: Vladimir, the future abbot, with reformist and liberal ambitions, and Maldini, the previous villain, as the healer-prophet. The paradigm shift proposed by priest Vladimir entails a psychological viewpoint on the relationship between the confessor and the sinner: one can only lend a helping hand insofar as one had similar experiences. Thus, the monastic place becomes “an ark for the sinners” which the monks try to rescue using the abbot’s method. The experiment unfolding at the monastery is ceased by the intervention of the Metropolitan, after the newly converted Maldini (in the attire of a clairvoyant) “providentially” appears at the helm of the ark.

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