ROMAN

I put my head – I pledged my head – in a bowl of plaster, right ear first, then left ear. The molding caught my hair and I had a hard time taking my head out; I had to cut my hair. Then I had to crop it, and from the cuttings I added to what had been caught in plaster,

Queer figures constitute the salt and pepper of literature since, at least, Petronius's Satyricon and Apuleius's The Golden Ass. Writers are mesmerized by irregular minds, behavioral oddities and abnormalities because people at large crave for the dark side. From

Time. Lighting. The artist. Coercion. An indefinable instinct (common sense?). Arousal. Prurient interest, as defined in the Roth or Miller tests. The function (sexual proxy) assigned by the individual viewer or reader. Beauty, shape, or truth versus lust. Communication

Just like all the other peoples, when they don't hate them outright, many Romanians have less than a high opinion of their neighbors: Bulgarians are seen as coarse – but resourceful – vegetable growers, Hungarians – as bloodthirsty (but proud, hardworking, reliable)

The evolution of the traditions, cross-influences and mutual borrowings of the Romanians' centuries-old cohabitation with the 20-odd national minorities is worth looking into because it may offer spectacular surprises. Owing to the blend of very different nationalities

C'est un fait reconnu depuis longtemps: les plus grands accomplissements culturels des Roumains ont presque toujours transité la culture française dans leur parcours vers le monde. Brancusi, Enescu, Ionesco, Cioran sont les figures de proue de ce que l'on pourrait

For the Romanian cultural psyche, the interwar period still appears, after so many decades of indefatigable exegesis, as a real, alluring and embarrassing hortus conclusus, a closed garden of paradisiacal, yet so venomous intellectual flourishing. Major cultural achievements

Are there places in the universe where the endurance of legends can overcome an often hostile reality? This issue was inspired by Romania's good luck in owning the Danube Delta, combined with its fear that this territory may not be protected to the extent required

(not for children's use) For many years after the fall of communism, the association between Romania and children meant a hellhole: European champions of neonatal and infant mortality (16. 7 % in 2003, down from 26. 9 % in 1990), juvenile AIDS (almost 9000 cases of

Centrul Naţional al Cărţii a sprijinit traducerea şi publicarea a peste 235 de cărţi în străinătate, prin programele TPS (Translation and Publication Support Programme), 20 de autori, Publishing Romania. Lista completă şi detalii despre acestea se află pe siteul

ArgumentWOLFGANG ISER – Culture: a recursive process CHRISTIAN MORARU – Cultural Studies Goes Global CĂLIN-ANDREI MIHĂILESCU – Unpacking knowledge JAN GORAK – Johnson on Shakespeare: The Use and Value of Spectatorship ANCA BĂICOIANU – Here, There, and Everywhere:

Evenimentele din Ucraina, care se desfăşoară sub privirile îngrijorate ale întregii lumi şi care vizează integritatea teritorială, independenţa şi suveranitatea ţării, pot avea consecinţe grave, în primul rând, pentru ţările din sud-estul european. Anul