Cuvântul (literary magazine)
Encyclopedia
Cuvântul is a literary
and political
monthly, published in Bucharest
, Romania
. Tracing its origins back to 1990, it was successively edited by various figures in contemporary Romanian literature
, among them Ioan T. Morar
, Ioan Buduca, Radu G. Ţeposu and Mircea Martin. Since 2008, its editor in chief is literary critic Paul Cernat.
toppled the Romanian communist regime
. It counts as its immediate forerunner the political newspaper Opinia Studenţească ("Student Opinion"), published in the last days of 1989, but rejects all association with Cuvântul
, the far right
newspaper of the interwar period
. The first issue of Cuvântul magazine, originally a weekly, saw print in January 1990, and its first editorial staff comprised Morar, Lorin Vasilovici and Florin Paşnicu; since the twin issue 8-9/1990, they were replaced with Ţeposu (as director), Buduca (editor in chief) and Dumitru Stan (editorial director, later replaced by George Ţara). In 1993, the staff was again restructured: Ţeposu kept his office as director, while Buduca became literary and artistic editor, and Mircea Ţicudean was made the editor in chief.
Starting 1995, the magazine became a monthly. Its new series, carrying the subtitle Revistă de cultură ("Cultural Magazine"), had Ţeposu for its director, Buduca as editorial director and critic Tudorel Urian as editor in chief. Since Ţeposu's death in late 1999, Cuvântul pays him homage by mentioning him as "founding director" on the title page of each issue. Beginning with issues 3-4/2003, literary historian Mircea Martin was made senior editor, and gave the review its new editorial line, as explained during the first series of Cuvântul conferences; Buduca was at the time appointed editor in chief (replaced with Laura Albulescu in 2005, then Răzvan Ţupa in 2006). The subtitle was changed to Revistă de cultură şi atitudine ("Cultural and Opinion Magazine"). In 2006, however, Martin announced that tensions between himself and the management of Cuvântuls publishing company (Editura Cuvântul) caused the magazine to go on hold, and its editorial staff to resign. Martin and Laura Albulescu went on to establish a publishing venture, Editura Art. Their departure was received with regret by fellow literary magazines: Apostrof
called Martin's edition of the review "splendid" and its conferences "exceptional"; in a later article for România Literară
review, critic Ion Simuţ referred to the Cuvântul conference cycle as "famous". The last conference held under Martin's management was dedicated to the work and legacy of interwar literary theorist Eugen Lovinescu
.
In 2007, the magazine was published by the trio of Răzvan Ţupa, Cosmin Perţa and Teodor Dună, during which time its format grew to 48 pages. Beginning with issues 8-9/2008, Cuvântul inaugurated a third series, with Paul Cernat as editor in chief and the new subtitle Revistă de sinteză şi orientare ("A Magazine of Synthesis and Orientation"). The change also brought a new conference cycle, which focused on the historical development of Romanian culture
within its Central
and Eastern Europe
an context, with such themes as the cultural history
of Greater Romania
, the regional spread of modernism
, the characteristics of popular history
in European countries, or the interwar intellectuals' support for eugenics
and racism
. In this context, the magazine also launched the book collection ADDENDA Cuvântul.
Cuvântuls new projects were touched by controversy in 2008, when researcher Sorin Antohi
became involved in its "Greater Romania" conference. At the time, other press venues published revelations that Antohi had falsified some of his academic credentials, and that he had been, in his youth, an informer of the communist secret police (the Securitate
). In his column for Şapte Seri
magazine, Răzvan Ţupa noted that, based on such revelations, Cuvântul would discontinue its relationship with Antohi, and suggested that the infiltration of "sad Securitate people" on the review's staff was equivalent to the interwar Cuvântul having become a mouthpiece for the fascist
Iron Guard
.
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
and political
Political journalism
Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power....
monthly, published in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Tracing its origins back to 1990, it was successively edited by various figures in contemporary Romanian literature
Literature of Romania
Romanian literature is literature written by Romanian authors, although the term may also be used to refer to all literature written in the Romanian language.Eugène Ionesco is one of the foremost playwrights of the Theatre of the Absurd....
, among them Ioan T. Morar
Ioan T. Morar
Ioan T. Morar is a Romanian journalist, poet, dramatist, novelist, literary and art critic, and civil society activist. He is a founding member of the satirical magazine Academia Caţavencu and, since 2004, a senior editor for Cotidianul...
, Ioan Buduca, Radu G. Ţeposu and Mircea Martin. Since 2008, its editor in chief is literary critic Paul Cernat.
History
Cuvântul was created as an independent review, one of several to emerge after the December 1989 RevolutionRomanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
toppled the Romanian communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
. It counts as its immediate forerunner the political newspaper Opinia Studenţească ("Student Opinion"), published in the last days of 1989, but rejects all association with Cuvântul
Cuvântul
Cuvântul is a newspaper from Rezina, the Republic of Moldova, founded in 1995 by Tudor Iaşcenco.- External links :*...
, the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
newspaper of the interwar period
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
. The first issue of Cuvântul magazine, originally a weekly, saw print in January 1990, and its first editorial staff comprised Morar, Lorin Vasilovici and Florin Paşnicu; since the twin issue 8-9/1990, they were replaced with Ţeposu (as director), Buduca (editor in chief) and Dumitru Stan (editorial director, later replaced by George Ţara). In 1993, the staff was again restructured: Ţeposu kept his office as director, while Buduca became literary and artistic editor, and Mircea Ţicudean was made the editor in chief.
Starting 1995, the magazine became a monthly. Its new series, carrying the subtitle Revistă de cultură ("Cultural Magazine"), had Ţeposu for its director, Buduca as editorial director and critic Tudorel Urian as editor in chief. Since Ţeposu's death in late 1999, Cuvântul pays him homage by mentioning him as "founding director" on the title page of each issue. Beginning with issues 3-4/2003, literary historian Mircea Martin was made senior editor, and gave the review its new editorial line, as explained during the first series of Cuvântul conferences; Buduca was at the time appointed editor in chief (replaced with Laura Albulescu in 2005, then Răzvan Ţupa in 2006). The subtitle was changed to Revistă de cultură şi atitudine ("Cultural and Opinion Magazine"). In 2006, however, Martin announced that tensions between himself and the management of Cuvântuls publishing company (Editura Cuvântul) caused the magazine to go on hold, and its editorial staff to resign. Martin and Laura Albulescu went on to establish a publishing venture, Editura Art. Their departure was received with regret by fellow literary magazines: Apostrof
Apostrof
Apostrof is a monthly literary magazine published in Cluj-Napoca, Romania under the Romanian Writers' Union patronage. It was founded in 1990 by Babeş-Bolyai University professor Marta Petreu, who is also its editor in chief and main columnist...
called Martin's edition of the review "splendid" and its conferences "exceptional"; in a later article for România Literară
România Literară
România literară is a cultural and literary magazine from România founded in 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași between January 1, 1855 until December 3, 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared in October 10, 1855 as a continuation of Gazeta literară...
review, critic Ion Simuţ referred to the Cuvântul conference cycle as "famous". The last conference held under Martin's management was dedicated to the work and legacy of interwar literary theorist Eugen Lovinescu
Eugen Lovinescu
Eugen Lovinescu was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the Sburătorul literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the uncle of Horia Lovinescu, Vasile Lovinescu, and Anton Holban...
.
In 2007, the magazine was published by the trio of Răzvan Ţupa, Cosmin Perţa and Teodor Dună, during which time its format grew to 48 pages. Beginning with issues 8-9/2008, Cuvântul inaugurated a third series, with Paul Cernat as editor in chief and the new subtitle Revistă de sinteză şi orientare ("A Magazine of Synthesis and Orientation"). The change also brought a new conference cycle, which focused on the historical development of Romanian culture
Culture of Romania
Romania has a unique culture, which is the product of its geography and of its distinct historical evolution. Like Romanians themselves, it is defined as the meeting point of three regions: Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, but cannot be truly included in any of them...
within its Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an context, with such themes as the cultural history
Cultural history
The term cultural history refers both to an academic discipline and to its subject matter.Cultural history, as a discipline, at least in its common definition since the 1970s, often combines the approaches of anthropology and history to look at popular cultural traditions and cultural...
of Greater Romania
Greater Romania
The Greater Romania generally refers to the territory of Romania in the years between the First World War and the Second World War, the largest geographical extent of Romania up to that time and its largest peacetime extent ever ; more precisely, it refers to the territory of the Kingdom of...
, the regional spread of modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
, the characteristics of popular history
Popular history
Popular history is a broad and somewhat ill-defined genre of historiography that takes a popular approach, aims at a wide readership, and usually emphasizes narrative, personality and vivid detail over scholarly analysis...
in European countries, or the interwar intellectuals' support for eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
and racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
. In this context, the magazine also launched the book collection ADDENDA Cuvântul.
Cuvântuls new projects were touched by controversy in 2008, when researcher Sorin Antohi
Sorin Antohi
-Biography:Antohi was born in Târgu Ocna. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Iaşi and a DEA from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. He taught history at the University of Michigan, at the University of Bucharest and at the Central-European...
became involved in its "Greater Romania" conference. At the time, other press venues published revelations that Antohi had falsified some of his academic credentials, and that he had been, in his youth, an informer of the communist secret police (the Securitate
Securitate
The Securitate was the secret police agency of Communist Romania. Previously, the Romanian secret police was called Siguranţa Statului. Founded on August 30, 1948, with help from the Soviet NKVD, the Securitate was abolished in December 1989, shortly after President Nicolae Ceaușescu was...
). In his column for Şapte Seri
Sapte Seri
Şapte Seri is a free leaflet-sized weekly magazine about goings-on in Bucharest, Romania. It is written largely in Romanian with some English....
magazine, Răzvan Ţupa noted that, based on such revelations, Cuvântul would discontinue its relationship with Antohi, and suggested that the infiltration of "sad Securitate people" on the review's staff was equivalent to the interwar Cuvântul having become a mouthpiece for the fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
.