Papers by Luminita Munteanu
Analele Universității din București. Limbi şi Literaturi Străine, 2024
The story of the novel Veba Geceleri by Orhan Pamuk, published in 2021, takes place in 1901, duri... more The story of the novel Veba Geceleri by Orhan Pamuk, published in 2021, takes place in 1901, during the third plague pandemic, on an imaginary island in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is claimed to be a part of the Ottoman Empire. The outbreak of the plague, which is brought, like many other similar scourges, by sea, triggers a crisis of epic proportions within the small island community, forcing its vital limits and causing it to assert its identity (among other things through declaring independence and breaking away from Ottoman tutelage). Orhan Pamuk calls on all the resources of the epidemic and of the collective imaginary in times of restriction (the plague brought "from outside", the plague as a foreigner, the foreigner as a scapegoat or as a possible agent of the plague, quarantine and the opposition to quarantine, the relations between the authorities and the population, the idea of authority, its forms, implications and risks in times of social anomie, the isolation of individuals and their loneliness in an age of distress, humanitarian disaster as the germ of social implosion, etc.) in order to create a novel that nurtures the ambition to enroll, through its explicit and implicit references, the great pandemic literature of the world.
O istorie a traducerilor în limba română în secolul al XX-lea (ITLR), vol. II, 2022
Analele Universității București. Limbi și literaturi străine, 2021
Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Efendi became famous in the Western world because of the account of his ... more Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Efendi became famous in the Western world because of the account of his successful embassy in Louis XV's France in 1720-1721, account which is better known as sefaretnâme, « book of the embassy ». This account, which was meant to be a « mission report », presents the stages of the Ottoman diplomatic mission, its exceptional circumstances due to the last outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe (this one hit Marseille in the summer of 1720 and lasted until 1722), the observations of the Ottoman emissary, his enjoyable experiences in company with his gracious hosts, as well as his appreciation for the achievements of the Western civilization. The account of Yirmisekiz Mehmed Çelebi Efendi also encompasses a wide range of interesting observations about the sanitation structures and the quarantine system put into service by French authorities in order to bring the epidemic under control. His insistence on the sanitation measures taken at local level in response to the spread of the disease suggests that he would have been more than pleased to see them put into practice also in his country. Unhappily, this never happened during his lifetime; this kind of measures became a reality more than a century later, especially after 1851, when the Ottoman Empire participated in the first International Sanitary Conference, which was held in Paris.
In Honorem Octavia Nedelcu, 2022
Abstract: One of the most heated debates which polarized the Turkish society during the last deca... more Abstract: One of the most heated debates which polarized the Turkish society during the last decades of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century concerned the abolition of the Islamic veil, as part of the modernization process. In this context, the veil was highly ideologised, both by European visitors of Turkey and by some Turkish-Ottoman feminists. However, not all the representatives of the feminist intellectual elite were supporting the idea of unconditional unveiling and, furthermore, the idea of a tight connection between the veil, regarded as a gendered symbol of the social enslavement of women, and the feminist movement as a whole, which basically aimed at abolishing the polygyny and integrating the woman in the public sphere. Halide Edip Adivar, who was not only a briliant writer and an ardent nationalist, but also a storied feminist, can hardly be considered as an enemy of the veiling and, generally speaking, of the traditional attire of the women in the Near Eas; she was rather a civil-rights activist, who merely fought for individual freedom. As a young woman in insecure times, she used to make use ot the black veil in order to disguise and protect herself. She kept along her entire life a close and, somehow, natural affinity with the traditional garments of the women in her country, as a possible connection to her past and to a civilization which was about to disappear in the history.
Vatra, 1-2 (574-575), 2019
Authentique récréation compatible Avec la vérité d'un texte non trahi, Sans obtenir, toujours, l'... more Authentique récréation compatible Avec la vérité d'un texte non trahi, Sans obtenir, toujours, l'exacte concordance, Impossible à capter en sa totalité. Traduire est exprimer, autant que concevable, Un identique sens, en termes étrangers, Approximation, forcément imparfaite En laquelle il n'est vu que le moindre défaut. Aussi précisément que l'on y puisse atteindre Avec l'honnêteté dont il est coutumier: Un Constantin Frosin se révèle l'orfèvre Et le plus éminent des maîtres truchements. René Bonnet de Murlive Grand Prix de l'Académie Française Luminița MUNTEANU Despre stilul sau amprenta traducătorului
Zeyneb Hanoum (Hanım), one of the muses and also main characters of the novel Les
désenchantées b... more Zeyneb Hanoum (Hanım), one of the muses and also main characters of the novel Les
désenchantées by Pierre Loti (1906), whose real name was Hadice Zennur, has fled Turkey in january 1906,
before the publication of the above mentioned book, in company with her younger sister, Nuriye Neyrünnisa,
better known in the Occident as Melek Hanoum and, later, as Nouriyé Rohozinska, in order to escape Sultan
Abdülhamid’s persecution. The two Ottoman ladies, who were partly of French descent and had been given a
progressive, liberal education, travelled a while around Europe, visiting and also staying for different
intervals of time in France, Switzerland, Italy, London, Brussels, Spain. Unlike her sister, who married in
1908 a Polish aristocrat and composer and adapted herself to Paris lifestyle, Zeyneb Hanoum was greatly
disappointed with her Western and, in particular, French experience, all the more so as « her Occident »,
primarily based on book knowledge, proved to be a distant mirage. Disenchanted with both the « Orient » and
the « Occident », she has decided to go back to Turkey six years later, in 1912, and to get on with her life ;
she never returned in Europe until her death, in 1923. Our article deals with her « European impressions »,
published in 1913 in London, with the support of the British journalist Grace Ellison.
Nous pleurions toutes les trois. Cette aventure, où nous étions entrées en riant, est cause d'ail... more Nous pleurions toutes les trois. Cette aventure, où nous étions entrées en riant, est cause d'ailleurs que nous avons beaucoup pleuré. Et, pour avoir voulu faire vivre à Loti un roman, il s'est trouvé que c'est nous qui l'avons vécu. » (MARC HELYS, Le Secret des « Désenchantées »)
Romano-Arabica, 2017
The demon best known in Turkey under the names of alkarısı and albastı has long been considered a... more The demon best known in Turkey under the names of alkarısı and albastı has long been considered a personification of puerperal fever and is generally associated with childbirth and its dangers. It is said to attack pregnant women, women in labour and newborn babies, but also has a reputation of occasionally harassing other humans, especially men, by sitting at night on their chests and inducing them asphyxia, nightmares and a large variety of disorders; in this last form it is equally believed to attack young girls. Some other legends pretend that the demon amuses itself by riding the horses of the locals in the hours of darkness and plaiting their manes and tails. When attacking women in labour or women after childbirth, it steals their liver and takes it across a running water (stream, river), sometimes a lake, or soaks it in it; if it succeeds in its actions, the woman dies, her rescue becoming impossible. Although the majority of Turkish scholars consider that this evil spirit, which is also known in Armenia and other Caucasian countries, in Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia, is of Turkish origin, we maintain and try to demonstrate that it is nothing but a late version of an ancient Mesopotamian demon (or family of demons), which survived by virtue of the Jewish successive reinterpretations of Babylonian demonology. In other words, the Turkish alkarısı is a local adaptation of the primeval Lilith, which became notorious especially in the Middle Ages.
unibuc.ro
... Par exemple, suivant un leader 'Alevî d'Alamut (village dans la région de A... more ... Par exemple, suivant un leader 'Alevî d'Alamut (village dans la région de Aydın), un Bektaşî (dont l'appartenance confessionnelle suit son libre choix et n'est pas héréditaire, comme il arrive chez les 'Alevî) est autorisé à assister au rituel liturgique 'Alevî, sans participer, pour ...
Antonie Pandoleon Petrov(eanu), known as Anton Pann (d. 1854), was one of the last representative... more Antonie Pandoleon Petrov(eanu), known as Anton Pann (d. 1854), was one of the last representatives of Romanian traditional storytelling, but also of the old way of understanding and writing literature, based chiefly on compilation. He wrote a kind of border literature, reflecting the tastes and habits of a large urban class, consisting of craftsmen, merchants, petty bourgeois, teachers, etc. Their cultural heritage had a consistent Turkish background, which had served for centuries as a bridge between various Balkan peoples, but also between East and West. Anton Pann and his literary works are typical of this “world of yesterday”, full of colour, variety, joy, and a very characteristic versatility.
Inventaire provisoire, analogies formelles et symboliques, hypothèses LuminiŃa Munteanu À l'origi... more Inventaire provisoire, analogies formelles et symboliques, hypothèses LuminiŃa Munteanu À l'origine de cette étude se trouve un « signifiant » dont l'aspect « téléologique » nous semblait suffisamment vague au début pour attirer l'attention du spécialiste du domaine, à savoir l'évolution particulière du motif de la « tête coupée » (kesik baş) chez les Turcs d'Asie Mineure. Ce n'était pas uniquement sa fréquence qui nous intriguait -en définitive, le motif est attesté dans maintes cultures, depuis la nuit des temps -, mais l'absence de tout rapport de continuité entre le culte dévolu à la tête à partir d'un certain moment de l'histoire des Turcs, d'une part, et l'imaginaire préislamique, puis islamique sur lequel il était censé reposer, d'autre part. On pourrait même affirmer que, dans ce cas, la solution de continuité se substituait nettement au rapport de continuité, ce qui semble assez étrange pour une population fort ancrée dans ses traditions. Il convient aussi de signaler que le sujet de notre recherche connaît une large diffusion dans les milieux ruraux ; l'influence livresque sur sa genèse reste donc un véritable point d'interrogation. Même s'il était question d'un transplant livresque, le « greffon » n'aurait eu aucune chance de s'imposer sans bénéficier d'éléments d'accrochage compatibles dans l'imaginaire du menu peuple. Reste la supposition d'un emprunt à un autre fonds culturel, survenu après la migration des Turcs en Asie Mineure. Ce sont ces incertitudes et, en quelque sorte, ces perplexités qui ont donné le branle à notre entreprise, qui n'est pas encore achevée. En essayant de déceler les configurations symboliques du motif qui nous intéresse, ses particularités et, surtout, ses origines, nous nous sommes confronté à bon nombre de données, pour arriver finalement à une hypothèse surprenante, qui reste à vérifier par des investigations plus poussées, dans des domaines connexes que nous n'avions pas envisagés au début.
L'histoire d'une communaute humaine est presentee, Ie plus souvent, com me une succession de vict... more L'histoire d'une communaute humaine est presentee, Ie plus souvent, com me une succession de victoires et de defaites, Ie long d'une spirale de l'evolution dont Ie sens reste toujours obscur. Elle n'est, sans doute, que la partie visible et, en quelque sorte, rassurante, par sa materialite, de I'iceberg. Mais cette partie, dont la coherence interne est forcee par les chroniqueurs, n'existe pas et ne peut pas exister sans l'autre partie, perdue dans les profondeurs, sans Ie fondement d'o~elle est issue et qui soutient son apparition singuliere. Ce fondement, souvent ignore, a, lui-aussi, son histoire, qui echappe, parfois, a notre capacite de comprehension ou de perception, mais qui pourrait fournir, ala rigueur, une explication possible de l'evolution du cote qui s'offre a la contemplation, dont il est inseparable.
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Papers by Luminita Munteanu
désenchantées by Pierre Loti (1906), whose real name was Hadice Zennur, has fled Turkey in january 1906,
before the publication of the above mentioned book, in company with her younger sister, Nuriye Neyrünnisa,
better known in the Occident as Melek Hanoum and, later, as Nouriyé Rohozinska, in order to escape Sultan
Abdülhamid’s persecution. The two Ottoman ladies, who were partly of French descent and had been given a
progressive, liberal education, travelled a while around Europe, visiting and also staying for different
intervals of time in France, Switzerland, Italy, London, Brussels, Spain. Unlike her sister, who married in
1908 a Polish aristocrat and composer and adapted herself to Paris lifestyle, Zeyneb Hanoum was greatly
disappointed with her Western and, in particular, French experience, all the more so as « her Occident »,
primarily based on book knowledge, proved to be a distant mirage. Disenchanted with both the « Orient » and
the « Occident », she has decided to go back to Turkey six years later, in 1912, and to get on with her life ;
she never returned in Europe until her death, in 1923. Our article deals with her « European impressions »,
published in 1913 in London, with the support of the British journalist Grace Ellison.
désenchantées by Pierre Loti (1906), whose real name was Hadice Zennur, has fled Turkey in january 1906,
before the publication of the above mentioned book, in company with her younger sister, Nuriye Neyrünnisa,
better known in the Occident as Melek Hanoum and, later, as Nouriyé Rohozinska, in order to escape Sultan
Abdülhamid’s persecution. The two Ottoman ladies, who were partly of French descent and had been given a
progressive, liberal education, travelled a while around Europe, visiting and also staying for different
intervals of time in France, Switzerland, Italy, London, Brussels, Spain. Unlike her sister, who married in
1908 a Polish aristocrat and composer and adapted herself to Paris lifestyle, Zeyneb Hanoum was greatly
disappointed with her Western and, in particular, French experience, all the more so as « her Occident »,
primarily based on book knowledge, proved to be a distant mirage. Disenchanted with both the « Orient » and
the « Occident », she has decided to go back to Turkey six years later, in 1912, and to get on with her life ;
she never returned in Europe until her death, in 1923. Our article deals with her « European impressions »,
published in 1913 in London, with the support of the British journalist Grace Ellison.