Tradiția „ospitalieră” a povestirii în Hanu Ancuței de Mihail Sadoveanu

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss and analyse the relation between the art of fiction and the hospitable identity in Hanu Ancuței (1928) by Mihail Sadoveanu (1880-1961) – a Romanian novel that celebrates the tradition of the Moldavian oral storytelling. We will analyse the topics and the intertextual patterns of this book (famous frame stories of the Orient and Occident like The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Margueritte de Navarre’s Heptameron, Sindipa the Wise or The Thousand and One Nights Tales, related novels of the Balkans like The Inn at Antimovo by Iordan Iovkov and The Bridge of the Drina by Ivo Andrić, as well as previous writings of Sadoveanu himself, like Crâșma lui moș Precu). We will investigate the subtle relations between myth, magic, legend, and history in the tales of the guests, focusing on their mindsets and social identities. In fact, the ceremony of storytelling is a way to share different identities and values under the sign of convivial hospitality and tolerance. Finally, we intended to highlight the fictional archaeology of the Moldavian tradition and Sadoveanu’s “art of branding” in this literary masterpiece.