Magical realism and the othering of the academic in three Romanian postcommunist novels

Pages: 71 - 84

Language: eng

This article discusses three academic novels by the Romanian authors Anton Marin, Alexandru Mușina, and Codrin Liviu Cuțitaru. Their novels pertain to the third and most recent “magical realist” stage in the development of the Romanian postcommunist academic novel, coming after what I have elsewhere identified as the “realist” and “metafictional” phases. In this phase, the Romanian academic novel evinces extreme instances of othering, as academics variously morph into grotesque creatures, ranging from Kafkaesque cockroaches to mythical vampires, from stand-alone eyes to gorillas. The article explores these practices of othering with an eye to the ways they were shaped by postcommunist experience. In the process, it considers the links between postcommunism, postcolonialism, and magical realism.

Selejan, C. 2025. Magical realism and the othering of the academic in three Romanian postcommunist novels. In World Literature Studies, vol. 17, no.1, pp. 71-84. 1337-9275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/WLS.2025.17.1.6

Selejan, C. (2025). Magical realism and the othering of the academic in three Romanian postcommunist novels. World Literature Studies, 17(1), 71-84. 1337-9275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31577/WLS.2025.17.1.6

Publisher: Ústav svetovej literatúry SAV, v. v. i.