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Criterion Activity of 1933–1935: Politics, Exhibition, Symposia, Music and the Publication

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Book cover Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania

Part of the book series: Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe ((MOMEIDSEE))

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Abstract

Bejan explores the extent of the association’s further cultural and intellectual activities, as well as the creation of the publication bearing the same name. In January 1933, Criterion scheduled a series entitled ‘Trends.’ Due to the Griviţa riots, Criterion was not able to resume public activity until the following fall. Then, the association held two series: one artistic, ‘Major Moments of Music,’ and another geared more toward social and political issues. By then, the Iron Guard had secured a stronghold in Bucharest, including key members of Criterion, and the association’s activity came to a halt. Certain Criterionists decided to publish a journal. Bejan addresses the relationship between the association and publication and presents an in-depth presentation and analysis of the content within Criterion.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    PCJ, 80. Entry entitled ‘Towards the end of 1932.’

  2. 2.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC, XVIII Varia 16 f. 29.

  3. 3.

    AMNLR, Petru Comarnescu, Correspondence, Letters to Lucian Blaga 10/IV/197, 20.796, no date.

  4. 4.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XVI Varia 1 ‘Chitanţe, Facturi, Bonuri legate de activitatea Asociaţiei “Criterion”, 1932–1933’ ff. 15–37; BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XXXI Imprimate 1, f. 122.

  5. 5.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XV Varia 20 f. 43.

  6. 6.

    Ibid., f. 59; BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XXXI Imprimate 1 ff. 62–63.

  7. 7.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XV Varia 20 f. 43.

  8. 8.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XXXI Imprimate 1 f. 121.

  9. 9.

    Ibid., f. 131.

  10. 10.

    Zigu Ornea, The Romanian Extreme Right. The Nineteen Thirties, 138.

  11. 11.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC., XV Varia 20, f. 60.

  12. 12.

    Cuvântul, Year 9 No. 2796, February 5, 1933, 2. Cited in Vanhaelemeersch. A Generation Without Beliefs, 33–34. Constantin Mihai presents different dates with the first conference being held on January 25 and the last on April 5. For a list of conferences see Manuscriptum, nr. 1–2(102–103)/1996, Year XXVII, Mircea Vulcănescu Special Issue, 231–234 cited in Mihai, Europenism şi dileme identitare în România interbelică: gruparea Criterion, 84–86.

  13. 13.

    Mihai, Europenism şi dileme identitare în România interbelică: gruparea Criterion, 84–86.

  14. 14.

    Ornea, The Romanian Extreme Right, 138: ‘I have found a note in the Journal Dreapta which announced that, following state of emergency the February 8, 1933 symposium on Spiritual Orientation of the New Generation had been cancelled.’ Note that Ornea has the same date for this conference as Vanhaelemeersch, not Mihai.

  15. 15.

    Cuvântul, Year 9 No. 2824, March 5, 1933, 2. Cited in Vanhaelemeersch, A Generation Without Beliefs, 34.

  16. 16.

    There are two dates for this: Comarnescu claims it occurred on March 5 in BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XV Varia 20 f. 13 ‘5.III. Cerc restrins Criterion (Corso)’: Neo-classicism (Hamlet 1933) in ‘symposimul despre active spirituale al tin. Generație’; Vanhaelemeersch claims it occurred on March 6 in A Generation Without Beliefs, 34, citing Cuvântul, Year 9 No. 2824, March 5, 1933, 2. I defer to Comarnescu’s account.

  17. 17.

    PCJ, 81, January 1933.

  18. 18.

    PCJ, 101. Sunday, December 3, 1933.

  19. 19.

    Vanhaelemeersch, A Generation Without Beliefs, 33.

  20. 20.

    Vladimir Tismaneanu, Stalinism for All Seasons, 78.

  21. 21.

    Ibid., 81–82.

  22. 22.

    Vanhaelemeersch, A Generation Without Beliefs, 31.

  23. 23.

    Tismaneanu, Stalinism for All Seasons, 82.

  24. 24.

    Vanhaelemeersch, A Generation Without Beliefs, 32–33.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., 34. This was an expanded version of ‘Law Mârzescu’ initially adopted by the Liberal government in 1924. Critics in the press and within the National Peasant Party majority pointed out the irony of the situation. Vanhaelemeersch writes: ‘Ironically enough, the National Peasant Party, which owed its success in the 1920s to its being a broad front against the “anti-democratic” Liberal Party, now needed the Liberal measures for its own survival.’

  26. 26.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XXXI Imprimate 1 f. 76: ‘O descindere a parchetului militar—conferinţe interzise. Nu rupeţi afişele,’ Cuvântul, February 10, 1933, and f. 78: ‘Criterion îşi suspendă activitatea,’ Cuvântul, February 10, 1933.

  27. 27.

    ‘Criterion îşi suspendă activitatea,’ Cuvântul, February 10, 1933. BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XXXI Imprimate 1 f. 78.

  28. 28.

    ‘O nouă mişcare la CFR,’ Lupta, Year 12 No. 3390, February 16, 1933, 4. Cited in Vanhaelemeersch 33.

  29. 29.

    Vanhaelemeersch, A Generation Without Beliefs, 33.

  30. 30.

    Tismaneanu, Stalinism for All Seasons, 82.

  31. 31.

    In 1944 Dej escaped and became the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party after the installation of the communist regime in 1948. Dej ruled until his death in 1965, when Nicolae Ceauşescu became Romania’s second communist dictator. See Dennis Deletant, Communist terror in Romania: Gheorghiu-Dej and the police state, 1948–1965 and Ceauşescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965–1989.

  32. 32.

    MEAI, 280.

  33. 33.

    Vanhaelemeersch, A Generation Without Beliefs, 271.

  34. 34.

    PCJ, 81.

  35. 35.

    Ibid.

  36. 36.

    Ibid., 91. September 5, 1933.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., 96. October 29, 1933.

  38. 38.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XVIII Varia 16, f. 30.

  39. 39.

    PCJ, 96.

  40. 40.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XXXI Imprimate 1, f. 106.

  41. 41.

    MEAI, 277. Eliade incorrectly remembers the dates and claims Comarnescu closed the series, when he in fact opened it.

  42. 42.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XXXI Imprimate 1, f. 14.

  43. 43.

    Radu Georgescu, ‘Cronica Muzicală,’ Revista Fundatiilor Regale, Year I No. 1, 1934, 220–222.

  44. 44.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XXXI Imprimate 1, ff. 47–53.

  45. 45.

    It would appear that this had two şedinţe [sessions], though I have been able to recover only the second date and also find the exact date of when Byzantine chant was examined. Radu Georgescu covers it in his Revista Fundaţiilor Regale review, lauding M. Cocorascu’s execution.

  46. 46.

    MEAI, 278.

  47. 47.

    Ibid.

  48. 48.

    Ibid.

  49. 49.

    PCJ, 97.

  50. 50.

    Ibid.

  51. 51.

    Dan Botta, ‘Cronica Muzicală: Expresionism şi nou clasicism musical,’ Calendarul, October 14, 1933. Found in BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC. XXXI Imprimate 1, f. 107.

  52. 52.

    Ibid.

  53. 53.

    Radu Georgescu, ‘Cronica Muzicală,’ Revista Fundatiilor Regale, Year I No. 1, 1934, 221.

  54. 54.

    Ibid.

  55. 55.

    PCJ, 93. October 30, 1933.

  56. 56.

    Ornea, The Romanian Extreme Right, 137.

  57. 57.

    Ibid. Ornea claimed he was unable to reconstitute the rest of the symposia, what follows is my own attempt but surely there are still some details missing needing to be filled in by future scholars.

  58. 58.

    Vanhaelemeersch, A Generation Without Beliefs, 276.

  59. 59.

    PCJ, 96.

  60. 60.

    Mircea Vulcănescu, Dimensiunea românească a existenţei, Vol. 2, Chipuri spiritual, 254. Cited in Matei. Europenism şi dileme identitare în România interbelică: gruparea Criterion, 106.

  61. 61.

    It is very possible that the ‘Neoclassicism’ and ‘Classicism’ conferences were the same conference as the date I found for ‘Classicism’ is also November 11.

  62. 62.

    ‘De la Criterion’ Credinţa, Year I No. 4, December 6, 1933, 2. Advertising Criterion’s symposium on ‘Race.’

  63. 63.

    PCJ, 100.

  64. 64.

    See Marius Turda, Modernism and Eugenics.

  65. 65.

    F.S.C. Schiller, ‘Eugenics as a Moral Idea: The Beginning of Progressive Reform.’ Arhiva pentru ştiință şi reformă socială, Year 4 No. 4 1931. Translated by Petru Comarnescu for Cronica on 636. Quote from 489.

  66. 66.

    PCJ, 83.

  67. 67.

    Ibid., 84.

  68. 68.

    PCJ, 100.

  69. 69.

    BAR Ach. 17/2001 APPC., XXXI Imprimate 1, 91) ‘Criterion,’ October 22, 1933, by Mihail Sebastian, most likely in Cuvântul.

  70. 70.

    PCJ, 102. January 2, 1934. ‘My relationship with Gina has intensified.’

  71. 71.

    Ibid., 92. ‘Zaharia Stancu’s attack on Gusti disgusts me horribly.’ Mentioned again on 97.

  72. 72.

    Mircea Eliade, ‘Dizolvarea Gărzii de Fier,’ Axa, December 25, 1933, 1. Found at USHMM.

  73. 73.

    MEAI, 280.

  74. 74.

    Ibid.

  75. 75.

    Casa Verde was under construction in 1933–1934 and inaugurated in 1936. The initial headquarters was at Gutenberg 3, the house of Cantacuzino-Graniceru, a rich supporter of the Iron Guard.

  76. 76.

    MEAI, 280.

  77. 77.

    Ibid.

  78. 78.

    Ornea, The Romanian Extreme Right, 139.

  79. 79.

    The lower right corner of page 5 of Criterion, Year I No. 1, October 15, 1934.

  80. 80.

    ‘Notă introductivă pentru rubrică “O Ideie,”’ unsigned. Before Mircea Vulcănescu ‘Spiritualitate,’ Criterion, Year I No. I, October 15, 1934, 3. And Petru Comarnescu ‘Experienţa,’ Criterion Year I No. 2, November 1, 1934, 3.

  81. 81.

    M.V. ‘…Şi cîteva puncte de vedere,’ Criterion, Year I No. 2, November 1, 1934, 6. Reprinted under the title ‘Grupul Criterion,’ in Mircea Vulcănescu, ‘Tânăra Generaţie,’ Marin Diaconu, ed., 189–191.

  82. 82.

    Ibid.

  83. 83.

    Ibid.

  84. 84.

    Ibid.

  85. 85.

    Ornea, The Romanian Extreme Right, 139.

  86. 86.

    Ibid.

  87. 87.

    Vanhaelemeersch, A Generation Without Beliefs, 278.

  88. 88.

    Petru Comarnescu, ‘Experienţa,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 2, November 1, 1934, 3–4.

  89. 89.

    Ibid., 4.

  90. 90.

    Mircea Vulcănescu, ‘Spiritualitate,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 1, October 15, 1934, 3–4.

  91. 91.

    Ibid.

  92. 92.

    Ibid.

  93. 93.

    Mircea Vulcănescu, ‘Generaţie,’ Criterion Year 1 Nos. 3–4, November 15–December 1, 1934.

  94. 94.

    Ibid.

  95. 95.

    Ibid.

  96. 96.

    Ibid.

  97. 97.

    Ibid.

  98. 98.

    Constantin Noica, ‘Moartea omului de mâine,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 1, October 15, 1934, 5.

  99. 99.

    Ibid.

  100. 100.

    Alexandru-Christian Tell, ‘Viaţa omului de mâine,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 1, October 15, 1934, 35.

  101. 101.

    Ibid.

  102. 102.

    Ibid.

  103. 103.

    Mircea Eliade, ‘Poimâine,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 1, October 15, 1934, 5.

  104. 104.

    Ibid.

  105. 105.

    Eliade, ‘Poimâine.’

  106. 106.

    This is precisely why it is regrettable and also incomplete that in his comprehensive investigation of the philosophy of experience, Vanhaelemeersch failed to address the political implications of experienţa. The philosophy also, as demonstrated by this article by Eliade, encompassed the meaning and sense to ‘experiment’ with political theories, ideas and forms that could be integrated in and activated in history.

  107. 107.

    Eliade, ‘Poimâine.’

  108. 108.

    Ibid.

  109. 109.

    Mircea Eliade, ‘De ce sunt intelectualii laşi?’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 2, November 1, 1934, 2.

  110. 110.

    Ibid.

  111. 111.

    Ibid.

  112. 112.

    Mircea Eliade, ‘Să ne inchipium că…,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 5, December 15, 1934, 2.

  113. 113.

    Ibid.

  114. 114.

    Ibid.

  115. 115.

    Petru Comarnescu, ‘Dezacordul dintre adevărurile spiritului şi fenomenele prezentului,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 1, October 15, 1934, 1.

  116. 116.

    Anton Golopenţia, ‘Situaţia intelectualilor români,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 3–4, November 15–December 1, 1934, 1–2.

  117. 117.

    Ibid.

  118. 118.

    Ibid.

  119. 119.

    In Romanian: problematica. In English: a ‘research question,’ with the belief that of applying rigorous analysis in order to arrive at an answer to the question.

  120. 120.

    Constantin Noica, ‘Problematica,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 5, December 15, 1934, 3.

  121. 121.

    Ibid.

  122. 122.

    Mircea Vulcănescu, ‘In jurul filosfului Blaga,’Criterion, Year 1 No. 5, December 15, 1934, 4.

  123. 123.

    Mircea Eliade, ‘Reabilitarea Spiritualităţii,’ Criterion, Year 2 Nos. 6–7, January–February 1935, 1.

  124. 124.

    Ibid.

  125. 125.

    Ibid.

  126. 126.

    Ibid.

  127. 127.

    Dan Botta, ‘Puterea Cuvântului,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 5, December 15, 1934, 1.

  128. 128.

    Petru Comarnescu, ‘Tirania formulelor—capcane,’ Criterion Year 2 Nos. 6–7, January–February 1935, 5.

  129. 129.

    Ibid.

  130. 130.

    Henri H. Stahl, ‘Gheorghe Popovici,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 1, October 15, 1934, 4.

  131. 131.

    Ibid.

  132. 132.

    Henri H. Stahl, ‘Prilej de îndoială,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 2, November 1, 1934, 1.

  133. 133.

    Henri H. Stahl, ‘Satul,’ Criterion, Year 2 Nos. 6–7, January–February 1935, 3–4.

  134. 134.

    Ibid., 4.

  135. 135.

    Ion I. Cantacuzino, ‘Ceva despre lirica naţionalistă,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 5, December 15, 1934, 2.

  136. 136.

    Octav Şuluţiu, ‘Limba românească în Ardeal,’ Criterion, Year 2 Nos. 6–7, January–February 1935, 2 and 4.

  137. 137.

    Ion I. Cantacuzino, ‘De două mii de ani,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 1, October 15, 1934, 2.

  138. 138.

    Reprint of quote from ‘Tintar’ from Petru Manoliu’s review of Nae Ionescu’s preface to Sebastian’s De două mii de ani published in Credinţa, September 28, 1934 in ‘Tintar’ section; found in M.V. [Mircea Vulcănescu] ‘…Şi cîteva puncte de vedere,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 1, October 15, 1934, 6.

  139. 139.

    PCJ, 107.

  140. 140.

    Mircea Vulcănescu, ‘Pentru Eugène Ionesco,’ Familia, Year 2 Nos. 5–6, September–October 1934, 94–101. Republished in Mircea Vulcănescu, Dimensiunea românească a existenţei, Vol. 2, Chipuri spirituale, 148–154.

  141. 141.

    Eugen Ionescu, Nu. The first part of the book includes studies on Tudor Arghezi, Ion Barbu and Camil Petrescu. The second part is more introspective, entitled ‘A False Critical Itinerary’ [Fals Itinerar Critic].

  142. 142.

    Ion I. Cantacuzino, ‘Nu,’ Criterion, Year I No. 2, November 1, 1934, 2.

  143. 143.

    Ion I. Cantacuzino, ‘Premiul Nobel: Luigi Pirandello,’ Criterion, Year 1 Nos. 3–4, November 15–December 1, 1934, 7.

  144. 144.

    Ibid.

  145. 145.

    Mircea Eliade, ‘Două cărţi italieneşti,’ Criterion, Year 1 Nos. 3–4, November 15–December 1, 1934, 7.

  146. 146.

    Ibid.

  147. 147.

    Mircea Vulcănescu, ‘Un desen,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 1, October 15, 1934, 4.

  148. 148.

    Henri H. Stahl, ‘O mască,’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 2, November 1, 1934, 4.

  149. 149.

    Petru Comarnescu, ‘Un desen [de Brâncuşi],’ Year I Nos. 3–4, November 15–December 1, 1934, 2.

  150. 150.

    Dan Botta, ‘O Statuie [de Michelangelo],’ Criterion, Year 1 No. 5, December 15, 1934, 2.

  151. 151.

    Ion I. Cantacuzino, ‘O gravură [de Goya],’ Criterion, Year 2 Nos. 6–7, January–February 1935, 5.

  152. 152.

    For the sake of space I do not cite each entry individually and encourage the reader to consult the comprehensive index printed with the republication of Criterion in 1991, edited by Marin Diaconu.

  153. 153.

    PCJ, 135. Entry from 31 January 1935.

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    Cristina A. Bejan

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Bejan, C.A. (2019). Criterion Activity of 1933–1935: Politics, Exhibition, Symposia, Music and the Publication. In: Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania. Modernity, Memory and Identity in South-East Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20165-4_5

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