LOCALIZING POSTMODERNISM IN MĂNĂŞTUR
(Abstract)

The concept of postmodernism was discussed rather late in Romanian culture in comparison to other Western cultures (it is only at the beginning of the 80’s that the first relevant articles on this subject are published in literary magazines). This paper focuses on determining and analyzing the evolution of theories concerning postmodernism in the limited cultural context of Cluj-Napoca, because we find here what can be called a privileged cultural space. Ironically, the Communist Party had allocated throughout the years apartments for most university professors (considered simple laborers) into apartment-buildings in the working district of Mănăştur. Thus, when referring to Cluj-Napoca’s professors from that time it is not wrong to refer almost exclusively to the district of Mănăştur. I will analyze articles from literary magazines, Liviu Petrescu’s The Poetics of Postmodernism (probably, the first book dedicated entirely to the concept of postmodernism in Romania), along with several works by Ioana Em. Petrescu (one of the few Romanian theorists who discuses deconstruction in relation to postmodernism). In my analysis I will focus on the relationship between the articles or books and the context in which they were written, thus proving that biographical, political, or even geographical aspects determine key points of these theoretical texts.

Keywords: postmodernism, Mănăştur, Cluj-Napoca, Ioana Em. Petrescu, Liviu Petrescu.