Harap Alb
Encyclopedia
"Harap Alb" or "Harap-Alb" (haˈrap ˈalb), known in full as Povestea lui Harap Alb ("The Story of Harap Alb"), is a Romanian-language fairy tale
. Based on traditional themes found in Romanian folklore, it was recorded and reworked in 1877 by writer Ion Creangă
, becoming one of his main contributions to fantasy
and Romanian literature
. The narrative centers on an eponymous prince traveling into a faraway land whose throne he has inherited, showing him being made into a slave by the treacherous Bald Man and eventually redeeming himself through acts of bravery. The plot introduces intricate symbolism, notably illustrated by the secondary characters. Among these are the helpful and sage old woman Holy Sunday, the tyrannical Red Emperor, and a band of five monstrous characters who provide the prince with serendipitous assistance.
An influential work, "Harap Alb" received much attention from Creangă's critical posterity, and became the inspiration for contributions in several fields. These include Ion Popescu-Gopo
's film De-aş fi Harap Alb, a Postmodernist
novel by Stelian Ţurlea and a comic book
by Sandu Florea
, alongside one of Gabriel Liiceanu
's theses in the field of political philosophy
.
originate with the antiquated Romanian
word harap, which, like its more common version arap, originates with the "Arab" and covers the sense of "Black person
" (or "Moor
"), and alb, meaning "white". The notion of Harap Alb has therefore often been translated as "White Moor" or "White Arab". Both arap and harap are akin to a narrative theme present throughout the Balkans
, from Turkey
in the south to modern Romania
in the north. Similar words exist in Albanian
(arap in the Tosk
, harap in Gheg
), and define a character in Albanian folklore
: a Black man often, but not always, portrayed in a negative light. The character, also bearing negative connotations, can be found in Bulgaria
n folklore as well; the Bulgarian-language
name is арап (arap) or арапин (arapin).
The use of harap in this case primarily refers to the protagonist's slave condition, in distant relation to the African slave trade
(see Slavery in Romania
). According to Romanian literary historian George Bădărău, it suggests the hero's state of "degradation and submission", leaving the story itself to outline his recovery of a "human status." Contrarily, comparatist
Vasile Măruţă underlines the implicit meaning of harap as "black", which leads him to translate the title as "White Black", and to propose that it stands as proof of an absurdist
tradition in local folklore.
and receives his alms. The woman then predicts that the youngest prince will become a glorious emperor, urges him to attempt his uncle's quest, but warns him that he should use only items his father had used as a groom: ragged clothes, rusty weapons and an old stallion. She subsequently disappears from the prince's sight, rising to the skies.
Following up on the beggar's advice, the young man confronts his father's ridicule, but eventually persuades him into giving his blessing and lending him his old items. The horse itself is identified using a test of character suggested by the old woman: it is the only one in the stable who will approach and eat off a tray of embers. The prince is initially disappointed by the stud's poor condition, but is pleasantly surprised when the animal "shakes three times" and turns into the most beautiful of its kind. There follows a discovery that the horse can talk to his new master, and test rides which see it leaping to the clouds and then to the Moon. Armed with such powers, the prince then reaches the bridge and braves the ruse, being congratulated by his emotional father, and receiving the bear skin as a trophy. As parting words, the father lets his son know that he is to beware "of the red man, and especially of the bald one".
that they would exchange roles: the Bald Man will be introduced as the king's son to his uncle, while the young man will become a slave under the name of Harap Alb. They proceed to the Green Emperor's palace, who innocently welcomes the Bald Man as his son. During the meeting, the master makes a point of mistreating and hitting his slave. This upsets the emperor's daughter, who asks him to behave with more reserve, and secretly begins to wonder about his actual identity.
The prince-servant's first challenge begins after banquet during which the Green Emperor shows his appreciation for the precious "lettuce form the garden of the bear". The Bald Man then brags about his slave's abilities in retrieving such items, and orders him to head off in search of the plant. Upon the end of this journey, his trusted stallion descends upon a lonely island, which holds a small moss
-covered house belonging to the old beggar at the beginning of the story. She reveals to the prince her miraculous identity, that of "Holy Sunday" (Sfânta Duminică), and helps him obtain lettuce by planning a ruse: while she dulls the ferocious bear's senses with a mixture of honey and milk, Harap Alb covers himself in his father's bear skin and roams through the garden in peace. The prince is again made to leave his uncle's palace once the Bald Man, envious of the Green Emperor's wealth of "gems from forest of the stag", claims that his slave can obtain the deer's skull and hide, with all the precious stones that cover them. The stallion again flies his master to meet Holy Sunday, who hands him "the helmet and sword of Statu-Palmă-Barbă-Cot" (a dwarfish character) and subsequently accompanies him into the forest. Following her directions, Harap Alb digs a deep pit nearby a the stag's water source and place of rest, proceeds to hide there, and attacks the animal in the night, decapitating him with a chop of the blade on the neck. Also instructed to avoid the stag's "poisoned eye", he again withdraws to the pit and waits there for another full day. This is the interval needed for the animal to die, during which it calls out with a human voice, attempting to lure its adversary into the reach of his poison.
The triumphant return with the gems in hand greatly increases Harap Alb's prestige, and positively impresses the Green Emperor himself. Envious, the Bald Man explains to the imperial court that the feats were entirely attributable to himself, the master, and to his stern ways. While the monarch agrees with the explanation, his daughter and her sisters are yet more skeptical, and decide to investigate further. Just prior to a feast, they ask the Bald Man to allow Harap Alb the honor of serving at their table, which he agrees to only after making the servant swear not to engage in conversation with the ladies. During the celebrations, the court is unexpectedly visited by an enchanted bird-like creature, Pasărea măiastră, who announces: "You are eating, drinking and enjoying yourselves, but you fail to think about the Red Emperor's daughter!" There follows a debate concerning the tyrannical Red Emperor and his daughter, during which some of the guests claim that the latter is a malevolent witch, and some still that she is the bird itself, on a mission to propagate fear. After witnessing this, the Bald Man proposes to send Harap Alb on a quest to capture the Red Emperor's daughter and reveal the mystery, the servant being forced to leave before the feast is over. While he is gone, the Bald Man continues to undermine his reputation, but also inadvertently sparks more suspicions about his background and character.
ant visits him and rewards his deed with one of its wings, guaranteeing that, should he ever need assistance, burning the item would instantly summon the entire colony to his aid. A similar encounter takes place after Harap Alb fashions his hat into a hive, to be used by a homeless swarm of bees: the grateful queen bee
presents him with another wing, with which to summon her and her subjects. Further down on his path, Harap Alb gradually collects a band of followers. The first among them is Gerilă (from ger, "frost", and the diminutive suffix -ilă), a man who shivers in summer, and whose cold breath, reaching the fury of a strong wind, can turn things into ice. Confronted with astonishment and some irony by the prince, Gerilă answers: "Laugh if you will, Harap Alb, but you'll not be able to accomplish anything without me where you're going." The reply prompts its recipient to change his mind, and creates a bond between the two characters. They are joined by Flămânzilă (from flămând, "hungry"; translated as "Eat-All"), who can consume huge amounts without satisfying his appetite. Next comes Setilă (from sete, "thirst"; also "Drink-All"), Flămânzilă's counterpart among drinkers. These in turn are followed by Ochilă (from ochi, "eye"), whose sight covers immense distances, and Păsări-Lăţi-Lungilă (from pasăre, "bird", a se lăţi, "to widen oneself" and a se lungi, "to lengthen oneself"), who can will himself to grow in any direction and reach heights only accessible to birds. They all persuade Harap Alb to discard his reticence by issuing forecasts closely resembling Gerilă's reply. The first effect of this reunion is however disastrous: the respective traits of the characters result in burning down entire forests, depleting the soil, draining the water, exposing all secrets and exterminating birds, with Harap Alb himself being the only one who "did not cause any disruption."
The group eventually reaches the Red Emperor's court, where Harap Alb makes known his intention of leaving with the girl. The father is displeased by the news, but undecided about how he should treat the visitors. In the end, he opts in favor of tricking them, offering them residence in a copper house, which he has ordered heated to an oven-like temperature. Gerilă, who has the foresight of entering ahead of his companions, proceeds to cool down the entire structure. In his attempt to delay the matter further, the Red Emperor then invites the group to a magnificent feast, and witnesses with alarm how his food and drink are rapidly consumed by Flămânzilă and Setilă. The emperor then decides to impose a test on Harap Alb and the others: that of sorting out a mierţă (some 200 liter
s) of poppy seed
from an equivalent quantity of fine sand in the space of one night, which Harap Alb manages with assistance from the ants. The monarch then tells the heroes that, if they want his daughter, they are to guard and follow for another night, letting them know that he does not know her ways. At midnight, the princess tuns into a bird and escapes the palace, but, even though she takes refuge in the most inaccessible places, from "the shadow of the rabbit" to the far side of the Moon
, she is tracked down by Ochilă and eventually grabbed by Păsări-Lăţi-Lungilă. As a final attempt at putting his guests on the spot, the princess' father then makes Harap Alb tell her apart from his adoptive daughter, who is her exact double. This the protagonist accomplishes with assistance from the queen bee, who sets down on the princess' cheek. A final challenge is presented by the girl herself, as a fantastical race between her turtle dove
and his horse, to obtain "from where the mountains bump head to head into each other" three scions of apple tree and measures of living and dead water
. Although slower, the horse forces the returning bird to hand him the items, and is first to return.
After taking the girl and parting with his five assistants, Harap Alb falls in love with his hostage on the way back to the Green Emperor's court. They are greeted by the Green Emperor and his entire entourage, at which stage the Red Emperor's daughter reveals the Bald Man's true identity and states her own affection for the destitute prince. As revenge, the Bald Man attacks the hero and chops off his head with the backsword of his sermon. The stallion resolves this situation by grabbing the enemy with his teeth and dropping him from "the height of skies". It then joins back the prince's head and body, reviving them with living water. The story ends with a magnificent wedding between Harap Alb, recognized as successor to the Green Emperor, and the Red Emperor's daughter—a feast which, according to the narrator's account, lasts "to this day".
[...] which has an accentuated ethical
, didactic
character." Bădărău, who discusses the work's "great thematic complexity", also argues: "in general lines, Creangă's fairy tale follows the archetypal
pattern of the popular fantasy tale." Similarly, researcher Mircea Braga notes that the text is one of many by Creangă where a traditional pattern of folkloric inspiration is closely followed. This, he believes, is structured around three narrative solutions, the first of which is a "perturbing situation"—here, the "extremely difficult journey" undertaken by the boy prince. The initial event is closely followed by a set of challenges invoking the action of forces larger than human life, "a whirlpool of events whose onset [the hero] cannot control, but which he dominates with support from supernatural beings and magical objects." A third element, the happy ending
, consecrates the victory of good over evil, and often distributes justice in an uncompromising and violent form. Braga also sees "Harap Alb" as a peak among its author's literary contributions, ranking it above writings with similar pretexts such as The Story of the Pig. According to literary historian George Călinescu
, the work also serves to illustrate Ion Creangă's interest in structuring each of his narratives around a distinctive moral
, in this case: "that the gifted man will earn a reputation under any guise."
The tale's narrative setting of has itself been subject to critical scrutiny. According to literary historian and critic Garabet Ibrăileanu
, it is "a projection into the fabulous of the peasant world, captured in its archaic stage, organized in Homer
ic fashion." The definitive version, which localizes dialectical patterns and bases the interactions between characters on the hierarchies of a village, allows critics to identify the setting as being the writer's native region of Moldavia
, and probably even the rural area around Târgu Neamţ
. The effect is underlined by Ion Creangă's recourse to orality
and its samples of Romanian humor: the narrative technique is enriched by descriptions, dialogue, the narrator's self-interrogation, interjection
s, jokes, fragments of folk poetry and various other picturesque
elements. George Călinescu makes special note of the manner in which Creangă's narrative relies on peasant speech, and how its nuances serve to distinguish individual characters, all of which, he believes, exists within the framework of "playful realism
". George Bădărău sees the writer's "pleasure of recounting [Bădărău's italics], verve and optimism" as instrumental contributions, likening Creangă's style to that of his predecessors François Rabelais
and Anton Pann
. Among the generic stylistic traits identified by Bădărău is the story's repeated and diverse use of "Homeric" hyperbole
, from the presence of supernatural beings to the happy ending's transformation into an eternal feast. Another defining element of the account is the pause for effect, visually marked by the ellipsis
and possibly originating from oral tradition
, where it may also have allowed narrators to rest their voices. According to French
academic Michel Moner, "Harap Alb" is one of the tales illustrating such techniques "to perfection".
Among the elements which localize the narrative landscape, the collection of objects handled by the destitute prince throughout his quest is seen by Bădărău as an essence of "archaic civilization" and "forgotten tradition", culminating in the grant of a backsword, the "symbol of knightly valor." In Mircea Braga's view, many of them are means to a goal, which "can be 'lost' without consequence for the later development of the narrative, as happens, for instance, with the helmet and sword of Statu-Palmă-Barbă-Cot". The animals themselves behave as he they supposed to, changing their behavior for the benefit of the plot: "the extraordinary horse will not be able to prevent getting lost in the forest" and "is not able to prevent the Bald Man's ruse", but "he will lead [the prince], without straying, to Holy Sunday's house" and "shall become the one to kill [the Bald Man]." Basing himself on previous studies, Braga also concludes that the bearing of hunting-related symbolism on both the quests and the objects serving to overcome them is a clue to the ancient origin of the tale. In the view of comparatist Liliana Vernică, these items represent several aspects of the universe. Thus, the objects inherited from the king are supposed to symbolize "nature" and "the father's virtues: intelligence (the horse), beauty (the clothes), virility (the weapons) and self-restraint (the bridle
)."
, or Făt-Frumos
, and through him of various other heroic figures in European folklore
. Citing the earlier assessment of researcher Emil Bucuţa, literary historian Virgiliu Ene spoke of similarities between Harap Alb, Făt-Frumos and Sigurd
of the Nibelungenlied
(who, Bucuţa and Ene note, also hides in a pit while waiting to kill the monster Fafnir
).
The eponymous hero's quest is seen by critics as equivalent to a rite of passage
, or more specifically to a coming of age
quest. The finality of this process, Bădărău notes, is Harap Alb's "social, ethical and erotic" fulfillment. According to Liliana Vernică, the process of reaching "spiritual maturity" is a complex one, involving three stages and, respectively, three narrative levels: the "suffering" Harap Alb evidences after being shamed by his brothers, the symbolic "death" which comes with giving in to the Bald Man's ruse, and the "rebirth" illustrated by his exploits. According to Bădărău, Harap Alb portrays the Romanians
' "national moral code", being characterized by "natural behavior" as opposed to "supernatural properties", evidencing "kindness, intelligence, sensibility, industriousness, patience, discretion" and "a moral sense, wittiness, joviality". Creangă's aim of rendering the prince as a familiar and sympathetic figure, the critic notes, is outlined by several elements in the story: "The protagonist sobs when he is scolded by his father, covers his mouth [in disbelief], falls victim all too easily to the Bald Man." Similarly, George Călinescu referred to the three princes' journeys as closely as equivalent to "a peasant from the Bistriţa
leaving on a logging
trip". Vernică, who notes that the king disguised as a bear guards "the threshold between the familial and social spaces", also observed that the prince's acceptance of his original quest, as depicted by Creangă's narrative, "is not out of his own own will [...], but more so in order to alleviate his father's grief".
In Bădărău's view, the main characteristics setting Ion Creangă's account apart from its sources of inspiration is its treatment of the other characters: "With Creangă, the characters are no longer symbolic, abstract (as they are in popular fairy tales), but display a psychological, peasant-like [...] individuality, within a framework that blends the supernatural and the real." He sees this as being especially true for the prince's "five fabulous friends" (Ochilă, Setilă, Gerilă, Flămânzilă, Păsări-Lăţi-Lungilă), whose choice of names, "defining the character trait which individualizes them", is "a particularity of Creangă's fairy tale [Bădărău's italics]." Braga underlines the serendipitous nature of these characters' presence within the story, which he also believes is relevant for Holy Sunday and Harap Alb's horse: "[they all] are nothing but 'helpers', with more or less unnatural powers, they appear to us as forces whose exercise is invoked by the very development of the 'ordeal'." In Vernică's interpretation, they may also represent anthropomorphized
manifestations of the hero's own "energies", which he is supposed to be putting to use. Critic Simona Brânzaru places the representations of Flămânzilă and Setilă, both of whom "seem somewhat content to have gotten their friend out of trouble", in connection with the ideas of Russia
n philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin
on the "philosophy of the Gaster" (that is, belly), while noting: "As in any fairy-tale, be it in its cultivated variant, nothing is accidental."
with Harap Alb, being, according to Bădărău's definition, "the symbol of evil, a cunning, intimidating, violent, arrogant, dictatorial man." Liliana Vernică also sees in the villain
a "double" of the protagonist, one who takes complete control of his victim's mind through persuasion. Historian Adrian Majuru however provides an ethnographic
theory regarding the figure, placing it in relation to Romanian history. He thus compares the Bald Man and other hairless antagonist
s in Romanian folklore with negative images of the raiding Tatars
, who, in contrast to their Romanian adversaries, customarily shaved their skulls. According to ethnologist
Pavel Ruxăndoiu, the characteristic baldness also has the attribute of an omen
, corresponding to a traditional view that God marks dangerous men. He draws a similar conclusion in respect to the fragment in which the Bald Man doubles as the "red man", noting that it could be read as a proverb
(in a line with various attested Romanian sayings, which caution against keeping company with "wild" or "insane" people).
Described by researcher of children's literature Muguraş Constantinescu as "evil and cunning", the Red Emperor is the story's secondary antagonist. The adjective designating him evidences a folkloric tradition which associates a range of negative or malignant features with the color red. In this context, several other local fairy tales refer to a perpetual conflict between a Red Emperor on one side, and a Green or White one on the other. According to linguist Lazăr Şăineanu
, the monarch designated as "red" is portrayed by such accounts as "the cruelest tyrant of his time", and a common theme involves him forcing the hero to solve "enigmas" on the pain of death. In Creangă's version, George Călinescu notes, such attributes are accompanied by the character's manner of expressing himself with "crass vulgarity" (the critic cites him invoking the devil and commenting on his daughter's sexual availability in dialogues with the prince).
Majuru, building on observations initially made by Şăineanu, notes that the Red Emperor, as well as the cryptic "red man" omen, allude to another aspect of ethnic strife: a possible early medieval
conflict between locals and the intruding Khazars
, or "Red Jews
". The emperor's daughter is believed by Vernică to be standing for the prince's achievement of his ultimate goal, that of controlling his own life, with their marriage being a "hireogamy
between the Virgin-Mother-Earth and the Aquarius-Father-Sky."
."
Resembling the Green Emperor to a certain degree, Holy Sunday also illustrates a positive vision of old age. The character makes an appearance in another two of Creangă's tales ("The Story of the Pig" and "The Old Man's Daughter and the Old Woman's Daughter"), but, according to Muguraş Constantinescu, her depiction in "Harap Alb" is "the most complex". The researcher discusses the intricate religious representations of Holy Sunday, as evidenced by "Harap Alb" and the other texts: the narratives alternate between the themes Christian mythology
(the sacred position of Sundays in the liturgical calendar
) and paganism
(the queen of fairy
creatures, or zâne
). In Constantinescu's assessment, Holy Sunday is "an earthly being, attached to the plants and flowers", whose abode on the island is "a symbol of isolation and happy solitude", but also an "aerial being" displaying "the lightness of clouds". According to Vernică, she and Harap Alb's stallion are both key figures on the first narrative level, and who "emerge from the realm of the real as manifestations of energies." Her first appearance in the story, the researcher proposes, borrows from the imagery from angel
s, and stands for "an enlightenment
of the mind by God". George Bădărău sees in Holy Sunday as "a gifted woman" who plays an essential part in the coming of age rituals of traditional rural society, but also as a holy woman "under the guise of a peasant".
In addition, Constantinescu places stress on the alternation of youthful and old age attributes: "Despite her multicentennial age, she manifests rather astonishing liveliness and physical agility". According to the same commentator, the saint's literal charm over the prince stems from her "bewitching" discourse, which is "half-humble, half-ironical" in content, as well as from her other "supernatural powers".
, through its presence in critical commentary, as well as through homages in other works of fiction. It also touched other areas of local culture
, beginning in the interwar period
, when composer Alfred Mendelsohn turned it into a ballet
. Several ideological interpretations of the narrative surfaced after World War II
, in both Romania and the Soviet
Moldavian SSR
(a part of the Bessarabia
n areas, later independent as Moldova
). Partly replicating official Marxist-Leninist
interpretations in the latter region, literary historian Vasile Coroban
described Harap Alb the character as an exponent of class struggle
, seeing his victory over the Red Emperor as premonitory for "the fall of the bourgeois-landowning regime". During the final two decades of Romania's communist period
, under the rule of Nicolae Ceauşescu
, the recovery of nationalist
discourse into national communist
dogma also encouraged the birth of Protochronism
, a controversial current which a claimed Romanian precedence in culture. In a 1983 volume by one of its theorists, Edgar Papu, "Harap Alb" is seen having anticipated The Open Work, an influential volume by Italian
semiotician
Umberto Eco
—a conclusion which literary historian Florin Mihăilescu later described as a sample of Papu's "exegetic obsession", lacking in both "sense of humor" and "sense of reality."
First brought to the Romanian stage in the eponymous adaptations of Ion Lucian (one of the first productions premiered by the Ion Creangă Children's Theater) and Zoe Anghel Stanca, "Harap Alb" was also the subject of a 1965 Romanian film
, directed by celebrated filmmaker Ion Popescu-Gopo
. Titled De-aş fi Harap Alb, it was noted for its tongue-in-cheek references to modernity (for instance, when showing Păsări-Lăţi-Lungilă using a three-stage
arrow). The film starred Florin Piersic
, who was on his third collaboration with Popescu-Gopo, in the title role. Later, the original story was also used by artist Sandu Florea
as the basis for a comic book
, earning him a Eurocon
award. Igor Vieru, one of the Moldavian SSR's leading visual artists, was also noted for his illustrations to the story, which his disciples later turned into murals for Guguţă Coffee House in Chişinău
. Additionally, the story influenced a song by Mircea Florian, included on the 1986 album Tainicul vîrtej.
"Harap Alb" continued to impact on political and social discourse in Romania after the 1989 Revolution
toppled communism. In a 2004 essay later included in his Despre minciună ("On Lies") volume, philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu
used a sequence of the story, that in which the Bald Man succeeds in convincing everyone that he is the king's son, to construct a critical metaphor of Romania's own post-communist history
. Accusing the political system which had emerged in 1989 of promoting political corruption
instead of reform, Liiceanu contended: "The 'Sign of the Bald Man' is the sign of incipient tyranny, originating with the cathartically
interrupted act of the December Revolution and a Harap Alb who has been silenced. [...] But [...] there does come a time when corruption becomes extreme, when it becomes glaring for anyone to see, when everyone finds out that the Bald Man is the Bald Man is the Bald Man and not Harap Alb. At that moment in time, a people should have an extraordinary chance in finding a living Harap Alb". The metaphor also drew a parallel between the fairy tale protagonist and Niccolò Machiavelli
's theories about the ideal prince
, both taken as symbols of men capable to act against public perception for the greater good (see Machiavellianism
). Commenting on this vision, essayist and political analyst Arthur Suciu argued that the "living Harap Alb" Liiceanu was referring to may have been Traian Băsescu
, elected President of Romania
during the 2004 election
. Another interpretation of the story in relation to 21st century realities comes from India
n scholar Jacob Srampickal. He evidences the manner in which the protagonist and his fellowship cooperate, and choosing "Harap Alb" as "one of the best metaphors" for interdisciplinarity
, notes: "while each participant played his role at the right time, the awareness of the mission belonged always to the hero".
In 2004, Creangă's story was subjected to a Postmodern
interpretation, with Stelian Ţurlea's novel Relatare despre Harap Alb ("A Report about Harap Alb"). The plot devices separating it from the original include locating the events in various real locations (from South America
to the Arctic Ocean
), hidden quotation from classical writers such as François Rabelais
, William Shakespeare
and Pierre Corneille
, and depictions of the Bald Man as a Machiavellian character (in the negative sense) and of the Green Emperor as revered Moldavian Prince Stephen the Great
. A new stage adaptation of the original tale, directed by Cornel Todea to the music of Nicu Alifantis, premiered in 2005 at Bucharest
's Ion Creangă Children's Theater.
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
. Based on traditional themes found in Romanian folklore, it was recorded and reworked in 1877 by writer Ion Creangă
Ion Creanga
Ion Creangă was a Moldavian-born Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher. A main figure in 19th century Romanian literature, he is best known for his Childhood Memories volume, his novellas and short stories, and his many anecdotes...
, becoming one of his main contributions to fantasy
Fantasy literature
Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...
and 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....
. The narrative centers on an eponymous prince traveling into a faraway land whose throne he has inherited, showing him being made into a slave by the treacherous Bald Man and eventually redeeming himself through acts of bravery. The plot introduces intricate symbolism, notably illustrated by the secondary characters. Among these are the helpful and sage old woman Holy Sunday, the tyrannical Red Emperor, and a band of five monstrous characters who provide the prince with serendipitous assistance.
An influential work, "Harap Alb" received much attention from Creangă's critical posterity, and became the inspiration for contributions in several fields. These include Ion Popescu-Gopo
Ion Popescu-Gopo
Ion Popescu-Gopo was a Romanian graphic artist and animator, but also writer, movie director and actor born in Bucharest, Romania. He was a prominent personality in the Romanian cinematography and the founder of the modern Romanian cartoon school. He was, together with Liviu Ciulei and Mirel...
's film De-aş fi Harap Alb, a Postmodernist
Postmodern literature
The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain characteristics of post–World War II literature and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature.Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is hard to define and there is little agreement on the exact...
novel by Stelian Ţurlea and a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
by Sandu Florea
Sandu Florea
Sandu Florea is a Romanian-American comic book and comic strip creator, also known as an inker and book illustrator. A trained architect and a presence on the science fiction scene during the 1970s, he became a professional in the comics genre with albums such as Galbar, and was allegedly the only...
, alongside one of Gabriel Liiceanu
Gabriel Liiceanu
Gabriel Liiceanu is a Romanian philosopher.He graduated from University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy in 1965, and from Faculty of Classical Languages in 1973. He earned a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Bucharest in 1976....
's theses in the field of political philosophy
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
.
Name
The title of the work and name of the protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
originate with the antiquated Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
word harap, which, like its more common version arap, originates with the "Arab" and covers the sense of "Black person
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
" (or "Moor
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
"), and alb, meaning "white". The notion of Harap Alb has therefore often been translated as "White Moor" or "White Arab". Both arap and harap are akin to a narrative theme present throughout the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, from Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
in the south to modern 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...
in the north. Similar words exist in Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
(arap in the Tosk
Tosk Albanian
Tosk is the southern dialect of the Albanian language. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is the basis of the standard Albanian language.- Tosks :...
, harap in Gheg
Gheg Albanian
Gheg is one of the two major varieties of Albanian. The other one is Tosk, on which standard Albanian is based. The dividing line between these two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Albania....
), and define a character in Albanian folklore
Albanian folklore
Albanian mythology comprises myths and legends of the Albanians. The elements of Albanian mythology are of Paleo-Balkanic origin and almost all of them are pagan....
: a Black man often, but not always, portrayed in a negative light. The character, also bearing negative connotations, can be found in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n folklore as well; the Bulgarian-language
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
name is арап (arap) or арапин (arapin).
The use of harap in this case primarily refers to the protagonist's slave condition, in distant relation to the African slave trade
African slave trade
Systems of servitude and slavery were common in many parts of Africa, as they were in much of the ancient world. In some African societies, the enslaved people were also indentured servants and fully integrated; in others, they were treated much worse...
(see Slavery in Romania
Slavery in Romania
Slavery existed on the territory of present-day Romania from before the founding of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia in 13th–14th century, until it was abolished in stages during the 1840s and 1850s. Most of the slaves were of Roma ethnicity...
). According to Romanian literary historian George Bădărău, it suggests the hero's state of "degradation and submission", leaving the story itself to outline his recovery of a "human status." Contrarily, comparatist
Comparative literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the literature of two or more different linguistic, cultural or national groups...
Vasile Măruţă underlines the implicit meaning of harap as "black", which leads him to translate the title as "White Black", and to propose that it stands as proof of an absurdist
Absurdism
In philosophy, "The Absurd" refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek value and meaning in life and the human inability to find any...
tradition in local folklore.
Beginning
The narrative begins by introducing two rulers, an unnamed king and his brother, the Green Emperor, whose domains are located in on separate "margins" of the Earth, being separated by desolate lands. Sensing himself at death's door and not having any male children, the emperor addresses a letter to the king, asking him to send either of his three sons, and promising to grant the one who would reach him his entire country. The eldest son agrees to follow up on his uncle's request, and embarks on the journey. Deciding to use the occasion as a test of his progeny's courage, the king heads off on the same path and, having disguised himself in a bear skin, blocks the prince's path at the end of a bridge. The latter makes a terrified return home, and the monarch subsequently plays the same trick on his second son, with much the same result. Without revealing his ruse, the parent makes known his disappointment, which prompts the junior to burst out into tears and run out into the palace's garden. He is visited there by an old woman beggar, who suggests that she has the powers of a fortune tellerFortune-telling
Fortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
and receives his alms. The woman then predicts that the youngest prince will become a glorious emperor, urges him to attempt his uncle's quest, but warns him that he should use only items his father had used as a groom: ragged clothes, rusty weapons and an old stallion. She subsequently disappears from the prince's sight, rising to the skies.
Following up on the beggar's advice, the young man confronts his father's ridicule, but eventually persuades him into giving his blessing and lending him his old items. The horse itself is identified using a test of character suggested by the old woman: it is the only one in the stable who will approach and eat off a tray of embers. The prince is initially disappointed by the stud's poor condition, but is pleasantly surprised when the animal "shakes three times" and turns into the most beautiful of its kind. There follows a discovery that the horse can talk to his new master, and test rides which see it leaping to the clouds and then to the Moon. Armed with such powers, the prince then reaches the bridge and braves the ruse, being congratulated by his emotional father, and receiving the bear skin as a trophy. As parting words, the father lets his son know that he is to beware "of the red man, and especially of the bald one".
In bondage to the Bald Man
The next leg of the journey takes the prince into a deep forest inhabited by the evil Spânul, or Bald Man. There follow three consecutive encounters between the protagonist and the Bald Man: after twice refusing the latter's insidious offer of services, the prince is eventually forced by dire circumstance into accepting it. After another elaborate deception, the creature is able to trap the prince into a well, and only leaves him out in exchange for swearing on his backswordBacksword
A backsword is a sword with a blade on one edge, or an "edge-and-a-quarter." The back of the sword is often the thickest part of the blade and acts to support and strengthen it....
that they would exchange roles: the Bald Man will be introduced as the king's son to his uncle, while the young man will become a slave under the name of Harap Alb. They proceed to the Green Emperor's palace, who innocently welcomes the Bald Man as his son. During the meeting, the master makes a point of mistreating and hitting his slave. This upsets the emperor's daughter, who asks him to behave with more reserve, and secretly begins to wonder about his actual identity.
The prince-servant's first challenge begins after banquet during which the Green Emperor shows his appreciation for the precious "lettuce form the garden of the bear". The Bald Man then brags about his slave's abilities in retrieving such items, and orders him to head off in search of the plant. Upon the end of this journey, his trusted stallion descends upon a lonely island, which holds a small moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
-covered house belonging to the old beggar at the beginning of the story. She reveals to the prince her miraculous identity, that of "Holy Sunday" (Sfânta Duminică), and helps him obtain lettuce by planning a ruse: while she dulls the ferocious bear's senses with a mixture of honey and milk, Harap Alb covers himself in his father's bear skin and roams through the garden in peace. The prince is again made to leave his uncle's palace once the Bald Man, envious of the Green Emperor's wealth of "gems from forest of the stag", claims that his slave can obtain the deer's skull and hide, with all the precious stones that cover them. The stallion again flies his master to meet Holy Sunday, who hands him "the helmet and sword of Statu-Palmă-Barbă-Cot" (a dwarfish character) and subsequently accompanies him into the forest. Following her directions, Harap Alb digs a deep pit nearby a the stag's water source and place of rest, proceeds to hide there, and attacks the animal in the night, decapitating him with a chop of the blade on the neck. Also instructed to avoid the stag's "poisoned eye", he again withdraws to the pit and waits there for another full day. This is the interval needed for the animal to die, during which it calls out with a human voice, attempting to lure its adversary into the reach of his poison.
The triumphant return with the gems in hand greatly increases Harap Alb's prestige, and positively impresses the Green Emperor himself. Envious, the Bald Man explains to the imperial court that the feats were entirely attributable to himself, the master, and to his stern ways. While the monarch agrees with the explanation, his daughter and her sisters are yet more skeptical, and decide to investigate further. Just prior to a feast, they ask the Bald Man to allow Harap Alb the honor of serving at their table, which he agrees to only after making the servant swear not to engage in conversation with the ladies. During the celebrations, the court is unexpectedly visited by an enchanted bird-like creature, Pasărea măiastră, who announces: "You are eating, drinking and enjoying yourselves, but you fail to think about the Red Emperor's daughter!" There follows a debate concerning the tyrannical Red Emperor and his daughter, during which some of the guests claim that the latter is a malevolent witch, and some still that she is the bird itself, on a mission to propagate fear. After witnessing this, the Bald Man proposes to send Harap Alb on a quest to capture the Red Emperor's daughter and reveal the mystery, the servant being forced to leave before the feast is over. While he is gone, the Bald Man continues to undermine his reputation, but also inadvertently sparks more suspicions about his background and character.
Final trials and conclusion
The prince's journey begins with an act of pity: upon preparing to cross a bridge, the hero notes that it is home to an ant colony, and, fearful of destroying it, opts instead to cross through the riverbed. An alateAlate
An alate is a winged reproductive of a social insect . Alate females are typically those destined to become queens , whereas alate males are occasionally referred to as "drones"...
ant visits him and rewards his deed with one of its wings, guaranteeing that, should he ever need assistance, burning the item would instantly summon the entire colony to his aid. A similar encounter takes place after Harap Alb fashions his hat into a hive, to be used by a homeless swarm of bees: the grateful queen bee
Queen bee
The term queen bee is typically used to refer to an adult, mated female that lives in a honey bee colony or hive; she is usually the mother of most, if not all, the bees in the hive. The queens are developed from larvae selected by worker bees and specially fed in order to become sexually mature...
presents him with another wing, with which to summon her and her subjects. Further down on his path, Harap Alb gradually collects a band of followers. The first among them is Gerilă (from ger, "frost", and the diminutive suffix -ilă), a man who shivers in summer, and whose cold breath, reaching the fury of a strong wind, can turn things into ice. Confronted with astonishment and some irony by the prince, Gerilă answers: "Laugh if you will, Harap Alb, but you'll not be able to accomplish anything without me where you're going." The reply prompts its recipient to change his mind, and creates a bond between the two characters. They are joined by Flămânzilă (from flămând, "hungry"; translated as "Eat-All"), who can consume huge amounts without satisfying his appetite. Next comes Setilă (from sete, "thirst"; also "Drink-All"), Flămânzilă's counterpart among drinkers. These in turn are followed by Ochilă (from ochi, "eye"), whose sight covers immense distances, and Păsări-Lăţi-Lungilă (from pasăre, "bird", a se lăţi, "to widen oneself" and a se lungi, "to lengthen oneself"), who can will himself to grow in any direction and reach heights only accessible to birds. They all persuade Harap Alb to discard his reticence by issuing forecasts closely resembling Gerilă's reply. The first effect of this reunion is however disastrous: the respective traits of the characters result in burning down entire forests, depleting the soil, draining the water, exposing all secrets and exterminating birds, with Harap Alb himself being the only one who "did not cause any disruption."
The group eventually reaches the Red Emperor's court, where Harap Alb makes known his intention of leaving with the girl. The father is displeased by the news, but undecided about how he should treat the visitors. In the end, he opts in favor of tricking them, offering them residence in a copper house, which he has ordered heated to an oven-like temperature. Gerilă, who has the foresight of entering ahead of his companions, proceeds to cool down the entire structure. In his attempt to delay the matter further, the Red Emperor then invites the group to a magnificent feast, and witnesses with alarm how his food and drink are rapidly consumed by Flămânzilă and Setilă. The emperor then decides to impose a test on Harap Alb and the others: that of sorting out a mierţă (some 200 liter
Litér
- External links :*...
s) of poppy seed
Poppy seed
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy . The tiny kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years...
from an equivalent quantity of fine sand in the space of one night, which Harap Alb manages with assistance from the ants. The monarch then tells the heroes that, if they want his daughter, they are to guard and follow for another night, letting them know that he does not know her ways. At midnight, the princess tuns into a bird and escapes the palace, but, even though she takes refuge in the most inaccessible places, from "the shadow of the rabbit" to the far side of the Moon
Far side of the Moon
The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that is permanently turned away, and is not visible from the surface of the Earth. The far hemisphere was first photographed by the Soviet Luna 3 probe in 1959, and was first directly observed by human eyes when the Apollo 8 mission orbited the Moon...
, she is tracked down by Ochilă and eventually grabbed by Păsări-Lăţi-Lungilă. As a final attempt at putting his guests on the spot, the princess' father then makes Harap Alb tell her apart from his adoptive daughter, who is her exact double. This the protagonist accomplishes with assistance from the queen bee, who sets down on the princess' cheek. A final challenge is presented by the girl herself, as a fantastical race between her turtle dove
Turtle Dove
The European Turtle Dove , also known as Turtle Dove, is a member of the bird family Columbidae, which includes the doves and pigeons.-Distribution & Status:...
and his horse, to obtain "from where the mountains bump head to head into each other" three scions of apple tree and measures of living and dead water
Apa Vie
In Romanian mythology, apa vie means the water from which heroes drink so that they come back to life after healing their wounds....
. Although slower, the horse forces the returning bird to hand him the items, and is first to return.
After taking the girl and parting with his five assistants, Harap Alb falls in love with his hostage on the way back to the Green Emperor's court. They are greeted by the Green Emperor and his entire entourage, at which stage the Red Emperor's daughter reveals the Bald Man's true identity and states her own affection for the destitute prince. As revenge, the Bald Man attacks the hero and chops off his head with the backsword of his sermon. The stallion resolves this situation by grabbing the enemy with his teeth and dropping him from "the height of skies". It then joins back the prince's head and body, reviving them with living water. The story ends with a magnificent wedding between Harap Alb, recognized as successor to the Green Emperor, and the Red Emperor's daughter—a feast which, according to the narrator's account, lasts "to this day".
Generic traits
Owing to its sampling of intricate narrative traditions and its use of symbols, "Harap Alb" has been a traditional target of critical interest, and has produced various interpretations. George Bădărău, who calls the story in its recorded form a "cultured fairy tale", discusses it as a "concise adventure novelAdventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
[...] which has an accentuated ethical
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, didactic
Didacticism
Didacticism is an artistic philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature and other types of art. The term has its origin in the Ancient Greek word διδακτικός , "related to education/teaching." Originally, signifying learning in a fascinating and intriguing...
character." Bădărău, who discusses the work's "great thematic complexity", also argues: "in general lines, Creangă's fairy tale follows the archetypal
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
pattern of the popular fantasy tale." Similarly, researcher Mircea Braga notes that the text is one of many by Creangă where a traditional pattern of folkloric inspiration is closely followed. This, he believes, is structured around three narrative solutions, the first of which is a "perturbing situation"—here, the "extremely difficult journey" undertaken by the boy prince. The initial event is closely followed by a set of challenges invoking the action of forces larger than human life, "a whirlpool of events whose onset [the hero] cannot control, but which he dominates with support from supernatural beings and magical objects." A third element, the happy ending
Happy ending
A happy ending is an ending of the plot of a work of fiction in which almost everything turns out for the best for the protagonists, their sidekicks, and almost everyone except the villains....
, consecrates the victory of good over evil, and often distributes justice in an uncompromising and violent form. Braga also sees "Harap Alb" as a peak among its author's literary contributions, ranking it above writings with similar pretexts such as The Story of the Pig. According to literary historian George Călinescu
George Calinescu
George Călinescu was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies...
, the work also serves to illustrate Ion Creangă's interest in structuring each of his narratives around a distinctive moral
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
, in this case: "that the gifted man will earn a reputation under any guise."
The tale's narrative setting of has itself been subject to critical scrutiny. According to literary historian and critic Garabet Ibrăileanu
Garabet Ibraileanu
Garabet Ibrăileanu was a Romanian-Armenian literary critic and theorist, writer, translator, sociologist, Iaşi University professor , and, together with Paul Bujor and Constantin Stere, for long main editor of the Viaţa Românească literary magazine between 1906 and 1930...
, it is "a projection into the fabulous of the peasant world, captured in its archaic stage, organized in Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
ic fashion." The definitive version, which localizes dialectical patterns and bases the interactions between characters on the hierarchies of a village, allows critics to identify the setting as being the writer's native region of Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, and probably even the rural area around Târgu Neamţ
Târgu Neamt
Târgu Neamţ is a town in Neamţ County, Romania, on the Neamţ River. It had, , a population of 20,496. Three villages are administered by the town: Blebea, Humuleşti and Humuleştii Noi.- History :...
. The effect is underlined by Ion Creangă's recourse to orality
Orality
Orality is thought and verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy are unfamiliar to most of the population. The study of orality is closely allied to the study of oral tradition...
and its samples of Romanian humor: the narrative technique is enriched by descriptions, dialogue, the narrator's self-interrogation, interjection
Interjection
In grammar, an interjection or exclamation is a word used to express an emotion or sentiment on the part of the speaker . Filled pauses such as uh, er, um are also considered interjections...
s, jokes, fragments of folk poetry and various other picturesque
Picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
elements. George Călinescu makes special note of the manner in which Creangă's narrative relies on peasant speech, and how its nuances serve to distinguish individual characters, all of which, he believes, exists within the framework of "playful realism
Literary realism
Literary realism most often refers to the trend, beginning with certain works of nineteenth-century French literature and extending to late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century authors in various countries, towards depictions of contemporary life and society "as they were." In the spirit of...
". George Bădărău sees the writer's "pleasure of recounting [Bădărău's italics], verve and optimism" as instrumental contributions, likening Creangă's style to that of his predecessors François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
and Anton Pann
Anton Pann
Anton Pann , was an Ottoman-born Wallachian composer, musicologist, and Romanian-language poet, also noted for his activities as a printer, translator, and schoolteacher...
. Among the generic stylistic traits identified by Bădărău is the story's repeated and diverse use of "Homeric" hyperbole
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally....
, from the presence of supernatural beings to the happy ending's transformation into an eternal feast. Another defining element of the account is the pause for effect, visually marked by the ellipsis
Ellipsis
Ellipsis is a series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word, sentence or whole section from the original text being quoted. An ellipsis can also be used to indicate an unfinished thought or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence...
and possibly originating from oral tradition
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
, where it may also have allowed narrators to rest their voices. According to French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
academic Michel Moner, "Harap Alb" is one of the tales illustrating such techniques "to perfection".
Among the elements which localize the narrative landscape, the collection of objects handled by the destitute prince throughout his quest is seen by Bădărău as an essence of "archaic civilization" and "forgotten tradition", culminating in the grant of a backsword, the "symbol of knightly valor." In Mircea Braga's view, many of them are means to a goal, which "can be 'lost' without consequence for the later development of the narrative, as happens, for instance, with the helmet and sword of Statu-Palmă-Barbă-Cot". The animals themselves behave as he they supposed to, changing their behavior for the benefit of the plot: "the extraordinary horse will not be able to prevent getting lost in the forest" and "is not able to prevent the Bald Man's ruse", but "he will lead [the prince], without straying, to Holy Sunday's house" and "shall become the one to kill [the Bald Man]." Basing himself on previous studies, Braga also concludes that the bearing of hunting-related symbolism on both the quests and the objects serving to overcome them is a clue to the ancient origin of the tale. In the view of comparatist Liliana Vernică, these items represent several aspects of the universe. Thus, the objects inherited from the king are supposed to symbolize "nature" and "the father's virtues: intelligence (the horse), beauty (the clothes), virility (the weapons) and self-restraint (the bridle
Bridle
A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the Oxford English Dictionary, the "bridle" includes both the headstall that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit....
)."
The protagonist and his aides
The prince figure around whom the plot revolves has been defined by various researchers as a variant of the Romanian Prince CharmingPrince Charming
Prince Charming is a stock character who appears in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to rescue of the damsel in distress, and stereotypically, must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell...
, or Făt-Frumos
Fat-Frumos
Făt-Frumos is a knight hero in Romanian folklore, usually present in fairy tales....
, and through him of various other heroic figures in European folklore
European folklore
European folklore or Western folklore refers to the folklore of the western world, especially when discussed comparatively.There is, of course, no single European culture, but nevertheless the common history of Christendom during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period has resulted in a number...
. Citing the earlier assessment of researcher Emil Bucuţa, literary historian Virgiliu Ene spoke of similarities between Harap Alb, Făt-Frumos and Sigurd
Sigurd
Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...
of the Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied
The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poem in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Siegfried at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Kriemhild's revenge....
(who, Bucuţa and Ene note, also hides in a pit while waiting to kill the monster Fafnir
Fafnir
In Norse mythology, Fáfnir or Frænir was a son of the dwarf king Hreidmar and brother of Regin and Ótr. In the Volsunga saga, Fáfnir was a dwarf gifted with a powerful arm and fearless soul. He guarded his father's house of glittering gold and flashing gems...
).
The eponymous hero's quest is seen by critics as equivalent to a rite of passage
Rite of passage
A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....
, or more specifically to a coming of age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
quest. The finality of this process, Bădărău notes, is Harap Alb's "social, ethical and erotic" fulfillment. According to Liliana Vernică, the process of reaching "spiritual maturity" is a complex one, involving three stages and, respectively, three narrative levels: the "suffering" Harap Alb evidences after being shamed by his brothers, the symbolic "death" which comes with giving in to the Bald Man's ruse, and the "rebirth" illustrated by his exploits. According to Bădărău, Harap Alb portrays the Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
' "national moral code", being characterized by "natural behavior" as opposed to "supernatural properties", evidencing "kindness, intelligence, sensibility, industriousness, patience, discretion" and "a moral sense, wittiness, joviality". Creangă's aim of rendering the prince as a familiar and sympathetic figure, the critic notes, is outlined by several elements in the story: "The protagonist sobs when he is scolded by his father, covers his mouth [in disbelief], falls victim all too easily to the Bald Man." Similarly, George Călinescu referred to the three princes' journeys as closely as equivalent to "a peasant from the Bistriţa
Bistriţa River (Siret)
Bistrița is a river in the Romanian region of Moldavia. Near Bacău it flows into the Siret River. It flows through the counties Suceava, Neamț and Bacău...
leaving on a logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
trip". Vernică, who notes that the king disguised as a bear guards "the threshold between the familial and social spaces", also observed that the prince's acceptance of his original quest, as depicted by Creangă's narrative, "is not out of his own own will [...], but more so in order to alleviate his father's grief".
In Bădărău's view, the main characteristics setting Ion Creangă's account apart from its sources of inspiration is its treatment of the other characters: "With Creangă, the characters are no longer symbolic, abstract (as they are in popular fairy tales), but display a psychological, peasant-like [...] individuality, within a framework that blends the supernatural and the real." He sees this as being especially true for the prince's "five fabulous friends" (Ochilă, Setilă, Gerilă, Flămânzilă, Păsări-Lăţi-Lungilă), whose choice of names, "defining the character trait which individualizes them", is "a particularity of Creangă's fairy tale [Bădărău's italics]." Braga underlines the serendipitous nature of these characters' presence within the story, which he also believes is relevant for Holy Sunday and Harap Alb's horse: "[they all] are nothing but 'helpers', with more or less unnatural powers, they appear to us as forces whose exercise is invoked by the very development of the 'ordeal'." In Vernică's interpretation, they may also represent anthropomorphized
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
manifestations of the hero's own "energies", which he is supposed to be putting to use. Critic Simona Brânzaru places the representations of Flămânzilă and Setilă, both of whom "seem somewhat content to have gotten their friend out of trouble", in connection with the ideas of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin
Mikhail Bakhtin
Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin was a Russian philosopher, literary critic, semiotician and scholar who worked on literary theory, ethics, and the philosophy of language...
on the "philosophy of the Gaster" (that is, belly), while noting: "As in any fairy-tale, be it in its cultivated variant, nothing is accidental."
The enemies
Although voicing his lines in a colloquial manner deemed "peasant speech" by Călinescu, the Bald Man is depicted in antithesisAntithesis
Antithesis is a counter-proposition and denotes a direct contrast to the original proposition...
with Harap Alb, being, according to Bădărău's definition, "the symbol of evil, a cunning, intimidating, violent, arrogant, dictatorial man." Liliana Vernică also sees in the villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
a "double" of the protagonist, one who takes complete control of his victim's mind through persuasion. Historian Adrian Majuru however provides an ethnographic
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
theory regarding the figure, placing it in relation to Romanian history. He thus compares the Bald Man and other hairless antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
s in Romanian folklore with negative images of the raiding Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
, who, in contrast to their Romanian adversaries, customarily shaved their skulls. According to ethnologist
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
Pavel Ruxăndoiu, the characteristic baldness also has the attribute of an omen
Omen
An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...
, corresponding to a traditional view that God marks dangerous men. He draws a similar conclusion in respect to the fragment in which the Bald Man doubles as the "red man", noting that it could be read as a proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
(in a line with various attested Romanian sayings, which caution against keeping company with "wild" or "insane" people).
Described by researcher of children's literature Muguraş Constantinescu as "evil and cunning", the Red Emperor is the story's secondary antagonist. The adjective designating him evidences a folkloric tradition which associates a range of negative or malignant features with the color red. In this context, several other local fairy tales refer to a perpetual conflict between a Red Emperor on one side, and a Green or White one on the other. According to linguist Lazăr Şăineanu
Lazăr Şăineanu
Lazăr Şăineanu was a Romanian-born philologist, linguist, folklorist and cultural historian. A specialist in Oriental and Romance studies, as well as a Hebraist and a Germanist, he was primarily known for his contribution to Yiddish and Romanian philology, his work in evolutionary linguistics, and...
, the monarch designated as "red" is portrayed by such accounts as "the cruelest tyrant of his time", and a common theme involves him forcing the hero to solve "enigmas" on the pain of death. In Creangă's version, George Călinescu notes, such attributes are accompanied by the character's manner of expressing himself with "crass vulgarity" (the critic cites him invoking the devil and commenting on his daughter's sexual availability in dialogues with the prince).
Majuru, building on observations initially made by Şăineanu, notes that the Red Emperor, as well as the cryptic "red man" omen, allude to another aspect of ethnic strife: a possible early medieval
Romania in the Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages in Romania spans the period from the withdrawal of the Roman administration from the province of Dacia in the 271–275 AD, thenceforward modern Romania's territories were to be crisscrossed by migrating populations for almost 1,000 years...
conflict between locals and the intruding Khazars
Khazars
The Khazars were semi-nomadic Turkic people who established one of the largest polities of medieval Eurasia, with the capital of Atil and territory comprising much of modern-day European Russia, western Kazakhstan, eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, large portions of the northern Caucasus , parts of...
, or "Red Jews
Red Jews
The Red Jews were a legendary Jewish nation that appear in vernacular sources in Germany during the medieval era until about 1600. According to these texts, the Red Jews were an epochal threat to Christendom, and would invade Europe during the tribulations leading to the end of the world.Andrew...
". The emperor's daughter is believed by Vernică to be standing for the prince's achievement of his ultimate goal, that of controlling his own life, with their marriage being a "hireogamy
Hieros gamos
Hieros gamos or Hierogamy refers to a sexual ritual that plays out a marriage between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities. It is the harmonization of opposites...
between the Virgin-Mother-Earth and the Aquarius-Father-Sky."
Other characters
The Green Emperor's characteristics heavily contrast with those of his evil counterpart. He is, according to Constantinescu, "good, charitable, welcoming", "a perfect host" and "a sage who, with responsibility and serenity, foresees the proper order of things". Building on an earlier comment by George Călinescu, Constantinescu sees the monarch figure, his association with the color green and his appreciation of lettuce, as epitomizing a healthy lifestyle and the preservation of vitality in old age. In his implicit agreement to have the prince act as a suitor for the Red Emperor's daughter Vernică sees proof that the "wise old man" plays a role in Harap Alb's sexual awakening, and in "stripping away [the prince's] egoId, ego, and super-ego
Id, ego and super-ego are the three parts of the psychic apparatus defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche; they are the three theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction mental life is described...
."
Resembling the Green Emperor to a certain degree, Holy Sunday also illustrates a positive vision of old age. The character makes an appearance in another two of Creangă's tales ("The Story of the Pig" and "The Old Man's Daughter and the Old Woman's Daughter"), but, according to Muguraş Constantinescu, her depiction in "Harap Alb" is "the most complex". The researcher discusses the intricate religious representations of Holy Sunday, as evidenced by "Harap Alb" and the other texts: the narratives alternate between the themes Christian mythology
Christian mythology
Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. In the study of mythology, the term "myth" refers to a traditional story, often one which is regarded as sacred and which explains how the world and its inhabitants came to have their present form.Classicist G.S. Kirk defines a...
(the sacred position of Sundays in the liturgical calendar
Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar
The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Associated with each date are passages of Holy Scripture, Saints and events for commemoration, and many times special rules for fasting or feasting that correspond to the day of...
) and paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
(the queen of fairy
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
creatures, or zâne
Zâna
Zână is the Romanian equivalent of the Greek Charites. They are the opposite of monsters like Muma Padurii. These characters make positive appearances in fairy tales and reside mostly in the woods...
). In Constantinescu's assessment, Holy Sunday is "an earthly being, attached to the plants and flowers", whose abode on the island is "a symbol of isolation and happy solitude", but also an "aerial being" displaying "the lightness of clouds". According to Vernică, she and Harap Alb's stallion are both key figures on the first narrative level, and who "emerge from the realm of the real as manifestations of energies." Her first appearance in the story, the researcher proposes, borrows from the imagery from angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s, and stands for "an enlightenment
Enlightenment (spiritual)
Enlightenment in a secular context often means the "full comprehension of a situation", but in spiritual terms the word alludes to a spiritual revelation or deep insight into the meaning and purpose of all things, communication with or understanding of the mind of God, profound spiritual...
of the mind by God". George Bădărău sees in Holy Sunday as "a gifted woman" who plays an essential part in the coming of age rituals of traditional rural society, but also as a holy woman "under the guise of a peasant".
In addition, Constantinescu places stress on the alternation of youthful and old age attributes: "Despite her multicentennial age, she manifests rather astonishing liveliness and physical agility". According to the same commentator, the saint's literal charm over the prince stems from her "bewitching" discourse, which is "half-humble, half-ironical" in content, as well as from her other "supernatural powers".
Cultural impact and tributes
The "Harap Alb" story made a sizable impact on later Romanian literatureLiterature 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....
, through its presence in critical commentary, as well as through homages in other works of fiction. It also touched other areas of local 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...
, beginning in 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....
, when composer Alfred Mendelsohn turned it into a ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
. Several ideological interpretations of the narrative surfaced after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in both Romania and the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Moldavian SSR
Moldavian SSR
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic , commonly abbreviated to Moldavian SSR or MSSR, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union...
(a part of the Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
n areas, later independent as Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
). Partly replicating official Marxist-Leninist
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
interpretations in the latter region, literary historian Vasile Coroban
Vasile Coroban
Coroban, Vasile was a writer from Moldova.- Biography :He graduate from the University of Iaşi in 1935 and became a member of the Moldovan Writers' Union in 1954.-Works:...
described Harap Alb the character as an exponent of class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
, seeing his victory over the Red Emperor as premonitory for "the fall of the bourgeois-landowning regime". During the final two decades of Romania's communist period
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...
, under the rule of Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
, the recovery of nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
discourse into national communist
National communism
The term National Communism describes the ethnic minority communist currents that arose in the former Russian Empire after Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik Party seized power in October 1917....
dogma also encouraged the birth of Protochronism
Protochronism
Protochronism is a Romanian term describing the tendency to ascribe, largely relying on questionable data and subjective interpretations, an idealised past to the country as a whole...
, a controversial current which a claimed Romanian precedence in culture. In a 1983 volume by one of its theorists, Edgar Papu, "Harap Alb" is seen having anticipated The Open Work, an influential volume by Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
semiotician
Semiotics
Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of signs and sign processes , indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication...
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
—a conclusion which literary historian Florin Mihăilescu later described as a sample of Papu's "exegetic obsession", lacking in both "sense of humor" and "sense of reality."
First brought to the Romanian stage in the eponymous adaptations of Ion Lucian (one of the first productions premiered by the Ion Creangă Children's Theater) and Zoe Anghel Stanca, "Harap Alb" was also the subject of a 1965 Romanian film
Cinema of Romania
The cinema of Romania is the art of motion-picture making within the nation of Romania or by Romanian filmmakers abroad.As upon much of the world's early cinema, the ravages of time have left their mark upon Romanian film prints. Tens of titles have been destroyed or lost for good...
, directed by celebrated filmmaker Ion Popescu-Gopo
Ion Popescu-Gopo
Ion Popescu-Gopo was a Romanian graphic artist and animator, but also writer, movie director and actor born in Bucharest, Romania. He was a prominent personality in the Romanian cinematography and the founder of the modern Romanian cartoon school. He was, together with Liviu Ciulei and Mirel...
. Titled De-aş fi Harap Alb, it was noted for its tongue-in-cheek references to modernity (for instance, when showing Păsări-Lăţi-Lungilă using a three-stage
Three-stage-to-orbit
The three-stage-to-orbit launch system is a commonly used rocket system to attain Earth orbit. The spacecraft uses three distinct stages to provide propulsion consecutively in order to achieve orbital velocity.-Examples of three stage to orbit systems:...
arrow). The film starred Florin Piersic
Florin Piersic
-Biography:His family left Cluj when it was ceded to Hungary in 1940, and moved to Cernăuţi after the city's occupation by Romania the following year. There, his father was appointed to the role of chief municipal veterinary. Later they returned home, and Florin graduated from the High School for...
, who was on his third collaboration with Popescu-Gopo, in the title role. Later, the original story was also used by artist Sandu Florea
Sandu Florea
Sandu Florea is a Romanian-American comic book and comic strip creator, also known as an inker and book illustrator. A trained architect and a presence on the science fiction scene during the 1970s, he became a professional in the comics genre with albums such as Galbar, and was allegedly the only...
as the basis for a comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
, earning him a Eurocon
Eurocon
Eurocon is an annual science fiction convention held in Europe. The organising committee of each Eurocon is selected by vote of the participants of the previous event. The procedure is coordinated by the European Science Fiction Society. The first Eurocon was held in Trieste, Italy, in 1972. Unlike...
award. Igor Vieru, one of the Moldavian SSR's leading visual artists, was also noted for his illustrations to the story, which his disciples later turned into murals for Guguţă Coffee House in Chişinău
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
. Additionally, the story influenced a song by Mircea Florian, included on the 1986 album Tainicul vîrtej.
"Harap Alb" continued to impact on political and social discourse in Romania after the 1989 Revolution
Romanian 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 communism. In a 2004 essay later included in his Despre minciună ("On Lies") volume, philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu
Gabriel Liiceanu
Gabriel Liiceanu is a Romanian philosopher.He graduated from University of Bucharest's Faculty of Philosophy in 1965, and from Faculty of Classical Languages in 1973. He earned a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Bucharest in 1976....
used a sequence of the story, that in which the Bald Man succeeds in convincing everyone that he is the king's son, to construct a critical metaphor of Romania's own post-communist history
History of Romania since 1989
- 1989 revolution :1989 marked the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. A mid-December protest in Timişoara against the eviction of a Hungarian minister grew into a country-wide protest against the Ceauşescu régime, sweeping the dictator from power....
. Accusing the political system which had emerged in 1989 of promoting political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
instead of reform, Liiceanu contended: "The 'Sign of the Bald Man' is the sign of incipient tyranny, originating with the cathartically
Catharsis
Catharsis or katharsis is a Greek word meaning "cleansing" or "purging". It is derived from the verb καθαίρειν, kathairein, "to purify, purge," and it is related to the adjective καθαρός, katharos, "pure or clean."-Dramatic uses:...
interrupted act of the December Revolution and a Harap Alb who has been silenced. [...] But [...] there does come a time when corruption becomes extreme, when it becomes glaring for anyone to see, when everyone finds out that the Bald Man is the Bald Man is the Bald Man and not Harap Alb. At that moment in time, a people should have an extraordinary chance in finding a living Harap Alb". The metaphor also drew a parallel between the fairy tale protagonist and Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was an Italian historian, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He is one of the main founders of modern political science. He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a civil servant of the Florentine Republic...
's theories about the ideal prince
The Prince
The Prince is a political treatise by the Italian diplomat, historian and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. From correspondence a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus . But the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after...
, both taken as symbols of men capable to act against public perception for the greater good (see Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct", deriving from the Italian Renaissance diplomat and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, who wrote Il Principe and other works...
). Commenting on this vision, essayist and political analyst Arthur Suciu argued that the "living Harap Alb" Liiceanu was referring to may have been Traian Băsescu
Traian Basescu
Traian Băsescu is the current President of Romania. After serving as the mayor of Bucharest from June 2000 until December 2004, he was elected president in the Romanian Presidential Elections of 2004 and inaugurated on December 20, 2004...
, elected President of Romania
President of Romania
The President of Romania is the head of state of Romania. The President is directly elected by a two-round system for a five-year term . An individual may serve two terms...
during the 2004 election
Romanian presidential election, 2004
A presidential election was held in Romania on November 28, 2004. 12 candidates competed for the office. As no candidate won more than 50% of the votes, a run-off was held on December 12, 2004, between the two leading candidates: prime minister Adrian Năstase of the ruling Social Democratic Party...
. Another interpretation of the story in relation to 21st century realities comes from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n scholar Jacob Srampickal. He evidences the manner in which the protagonist and his fellowship cooperate, and choosing "Harap Alb" as "one of the best metaphors" for interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity
Interdisciplinarity involves the combining of two or more academic fields into one single discipline. An interdisciplinary field crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged....
, notes: "while each participant played his role at the right time, the awareness of the mission belonged always to the hero".
In 2004, Creangă's story was subjected to a Postmodern
Postmodern literature
The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain characteristics of post–World War II literature and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature.Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is hard to define and there is little agreement on the exact...
interpretation, with Stelian Ţurlea's novel Relatare despre Harap Alb ("A Report about Harap Alb"). The plot devices separating it from the original include locating the events in various real locations (from South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
to the Arctic Ocean
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...
), hidden quotation from classical writers such as François Rabelais
François Rabelais
François Rabelais was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor, Renaissance humanist, monk and Greek scholar. He has historically been regarded as a writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, bawdy jokes and songs...
, William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
, and depictions of the Bald Man as a Machiavellian character (in the negative sense) and of the Green Emperor as revered Moldavian Prince Stephen the Great
Stephen III of Moldavia
Stephen III of Moldavia was Prince of Moldavia between 1457 and 1504 and the most prominent representative of the House of Mușat.During his reign, he strengthened Moldavia and maintained its independence against the ambitions of Hungary, Poland, and the...
. A new stage adaptation of the original tale, directed by Cornel Todea to the music of Nicu Alifantis, premiered in 2005 at 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....
's Ion Creangă Children's Theater.