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Matei Călinescu

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Călinescu in 1967

Matei Alexe Călinescu (June 15, 1934 – June 24, 2009) was a Romanian literary critic and professor of comparative literature at Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana.

Biography

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Călinescu was born in Bucharest, Romania, the son of Radu Călinescu, an engineer, and Dora Călinescu (née Vulcănescu), a homemaker.[1] He attended the Ion Luca Caragiale High School in Bucharest,[2] obtaining his diploma in 1952. He then pursued his studies at the University of Bucharest, graduating in 1957.[3] Călinescu became an assistant professor in the Department of Universal and Comparative Literature at the University of Bucharest, and made his literary debut in Gazeta literară [ro]. He was offered a Fulbright grant and defected to the United States in 1973.[4]

From 1973 to 1975 Călinescu was a visiting professor at Indiana University Bloomington, before becoming an associate professor there in 1976, and a full professor in 1978.[1] He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1975. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1980.[1] Upon his retirement he became an Emeritus Professor at Indiana University. He lived with his wife in Bloomington, Indiana, and died there in 2009.

Selected bibliography

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  • Matei Călinescu, Matthew's Enigma: A father's portrait of his autistic son., Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2009, 210 p. ISBN 978-0-253-22066-0
  • Matei Călinescu, Eugène Ionesco: Teme identitare și existențiale (Eugène Ionesco: Identity and Existential Themes) Iași: Junimea, 2006, 491 p.
  • Matei Călinescu, Ionesco: Recherches identitaires, Paris: Oxus, 2005, 348 p.
  • Matei Călinescu, Un fel de jurnal, 1973–1981 (A Diary of Sorts, 1973–1981), Iași: Polirom, 2005.
  • Matei Călinescu, Ion Vianu, Amintiri în dialog (Memories in Dialogue), Bucharest: Editura Litera, 1994; 2nd ed. with preface and two new chapters included as an Epilogue, Iași: Polirom, 1998; 3rd edition, Iași: Polirom, 2005.
  • Matei Călinescu, Tu: Elegii și invenții (You: Elegies and Inventions, poems), Iași: Polirom, 2004.
  • Matei Călinescu, Mateiu I. Caragiale: recitiri, Cluj: Biblioteca Apostrof, 2003, 160 p., 2nd ed., Cluj-Iași: Apostrof-Polirom, 2007.
  • Matei Călinescu, Portretul lui M (The Portrait of M, a memoir), Iași: Polirom, 2003.
  • Matei Călinescu, Rereading, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993, 336 p. Translated into Romanian as A citi, a reciti. Către o poetică a (re)lecturii, Iași: Polirom, 2003. ISBN 0-300-05657-5
  • Matei Călinescu, Despre Ioan P. Culianu și Mircea Eliade. Amintiri, Lecturi, Reflecții, Iași: Polirom, 2002, 177 p., 2nd ed., Iași: Polirom, 2002, 231 p.
  • Vlad Georgescu, Matei Călinescu, The Romanians: a history, Ohio State University Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8142-0511-9
  • Matei Călinescu, Exploring Postmodernism, (co-edited with Douwe W. Fokkema), Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1988, 270 p., Paperback edition, 1990.
  • Matei Călinescu, Five Faces of Modernity: Modernism, Avant-Garde, Decadence, Kitsch, Postmodernism, Duke University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8223-0767-7
  • Matei Călinescu, Faces of Modernity: Avant-Garde, Decadence, Kitsch, Indiana University Press, 1977. ISBN 0-253-32087-9
  • Matei Călinescu, Selections of Poetry translated into English in Mundus Artium, 1976; New Letters, 1976; Seneca Review, 1981; Correspondences, 1982; and 2 PLUS 2, 1983.
  • Matei Călinescu, Umbre de apă, poeme, (Water Shadows, poems), Bucharest: Editura Cartea Românească, 1972.
  • Matei Călinescu, Versuri (Lines), Bucharest: Editura Eminescu, 1970.
  • Matei Călinescu, Viața și opiniile lui Zacharias Lichter (The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter), a short novel, Bucharest: Editura Pentru Literatură, 1969. Translated into Hungarian, 1971; Polish, 1972; French excerpts, in Cahiers de l'Est, 1, 2, 1975; and English, 2018. 2nd ed., enlarged, Bucharest: Editura Eminescu, 1971; 3rd ed., with new preface, 1995, Iași: Polirom, 1995; 4th edition, Iași: Polirom, 2004.

Awards

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  • 1969: Romanian Writers' Union Prize for Fiction, for Viața și opiniile lui Zacharias Lichter (The Life and Opinions of Zacharias Lichter)[1]
  • 1975: Guggenheim Fellowship[1]
  • 2006: Writers' Union Prize for Essay and Criticism, for Eugène Ionesco: Teme identitare și existențiale (Eugène Ionesco: Identity and Existential Themes)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Matei (Alexe) Calinescu." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Retrieved via Biography In Context database, 2018-03-31.
  2. ^ "Alumni". www.cnilcb.ro (in Romanian). Ion Luca Caragiale National College Bucharest. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  3. ^ "Matei A. Călinescu 1934–2009". comparativeliterature.indiana.edu. Department of Comparative Literature, Indiana University Bloomington. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  4. ^ "Nu știam niciodată ce se va produce în poezie" (in Romanian). Observator Cultural. March 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
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