PANAIT ISTRATI. LITERATURE AND SOCIETY

Abstract

Panaït Istrati's contributions to literature extend beyond his creative works, and this quality is reflected in “Panaït Istrati: Littérature et Société. Literature and Society”, edited by Dana Radler, Aurora Băgiac and Teodora-Anca Șerban-Oprescu, and prefaced by Christian Delrue. All the five sections of the bilingual (French and English) volume (“Panaït Istrati Between Two Literary Formulas”, “Biography – Autobiography – Writing”, “Personal Life and Political Life”, “Hybrid Aspects and Folkloric Imaginary”, and “Panaït Istrati and Artistic Transposition”) will grab the reader’s attention from the very first sentence. One of the most complex Romanian writers, born in the Romanian town of Brăila in 1884, Panait Istrati is equally seen as a French writer. His work is influenced by a strong social message, laying a significant emphasis on the world of the proletariat and the disenfranchised. One can easily notice that, starting from between worlds and writing styles, the incursion in Istrati's world correlates his life and work with names such as Romain Rolland, Maryse Condé, Ahmadou Kourouma, and even George Orwell.