Exile literature and internal exile in the history of Romanian literature (1945-1989)

Abstract

In this article I argue that Romanian literary history under communism should be discussed starting from the relationship between internal exile literature (desk-drawer literature) and external exile literature. After presenting these concepts in a historical context, I will refer to the following texts: Nicolae Steinhardt’s The Happiness Diary and Constantin Noica’s Pray for Brother Alexander, who belong to the category of  “desk-drawer” literature and to Cioran’s essay “Two Types of Society: Letter to a Far-away Friend”, a literary apology for having chosen to abandon Romanian literature after the author’s exile in France. I’ll refer to the epistolary dialogue between Cioran and Constantin Noica that inspired this essay. The reason for choosing these texts is that they are all linked to an historical event, in 1956, when the Securitate, the communist police imprisoned 23 intellectuals for having read literary works published in France by Cioran and Mircea Eliade. My point is that Romanian literature developed during the Cold War a new type of literary realism, which gives the impression that the literary text has a historical value, is an authentic confession and constitutes an interpretation of history having the value of a moral exemplum. The works discussed in this article are an example that proves the fact that national literature under communist cannot be completely understood without reference to the literature of exile, which, in this case, was written in French.