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The novel “Wasserzeichen” was published at the Pop Publishing House in Ludwigsburg, Germany, in 2018. The destiny of the main character of the aforementioned literary work is undoubtedly linked to the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca. After finishing high school in Brașov, the young Eginald – who is not the same as the author of the novel – arrives in Cluj-Napoca where he first goes to the Faculty of Protestant Theology, from which he is relegated; afterwards, he starts the courses of another faculty, but before finishing his studies he is arrested by the Securitate. The life story of the young Transylvanian Saxon turns out to be a troubled one – full of defining experiences for his existence. Due to the relationships with the people whom he meets there, the romantic entanglements, and the betrayals he experiences, he matures quickly. The 1st person narrator becomes a true man in this predestinate space.
This article deals with the representation of motherdaughter relationships in novels by Herta Müller, Aglaja Veteranyi, Carmen Francesca Banciu and Gabriela Adamesteanu, all of them born in Romania. Herta Müller and Aglaja Veterani constantly wrote in German, while Carmen Francesca Banciu changed her language after emigrating to Germany and Gabriela Adameºteanu’s language has always been Romanian. Mother-daughter relationships are analysed in regard of female genealogy, but also considering their complexity and ambiguity. It is shown that representations of mother-daughter-relationships are depending rather on individual and psychological criteria than the author’s cultural or ethnic affiliation. Maybe a larger study, which could not be made in this article, could reveal more detailed results.
This article is dedicated to the intercultural aspects of Paul Schuster’s stories (1930-2004), a German writer, born in Sibiu, regarded by German literary historians and criticists as one of the most talented prose writers descending from the small German cultural enclave of Transylvania. His work is thematically focused on events of the past century; The German minority he belongs to plays a decisive role, but also its cohabitation with different ethnic groups in Romania as well as the interethnic relations between them. Interculturality in Paul Schuster's stories is revealed on several levels: cultural exchanges between different ethnic groups, aspects of interethnic collaboration, imagology, linguistic interferences and translations from Romanian authors.
Oscar Walter Cisek evolved as a German speaking author and art critic in the joint domain of two cultures. With his exquisite education and through his temperament doubled by aesthetic expertise Oscar Walter Cisek stood for the great European man, who acted as a go-between sitting astraddle the Eastern and Western parts of our continent. His effort for the publication of the German written monthly review Kulturnachrichten aus Rumänien (Cultural News from Romania) represents a unique event in the German culture from Romania. Unfortunately this periodical appeared only between 1925-1928 and rather at odd intervals but it had a decisive contribution to the promotion of the Romanian cultural heritage abroad. Beside the literary references current issues in the field of fine arts were also offered, which were partially identical to Cisek’s essays published in the Romanian press. Cisek undertakes a unique attempt among the German writers from Romania by making Romanian culture known to the Transylvanian Saxons by means of several essays published in the Kronstädter Zeitung (The Brasov Newspaper).
In the novel "The Land of Green Plums" (1994) the author renders an apocalyptic image of Romania during the communist dictatorship, Timişoara representing the tragic background of the narrated events. From this perspective, language becomes for Herta Müller a way of distancing from the dictatorial system, the author managing to express, through specific processes of language, the circumstances hat generated those events. The aphorisms and the idioms used in the text express the wrong behavior and communication mechanisms of the protagonists, demonstrating the presence of the security forces and of the dictatorship. The author often appeals to repetitions to highlight the continuous threat and the repression force of the authorities. Thus, the language is for Herta Müller a form of resistance against the totalitarian regime and the only place of expressing freedom, even under the dictatorship.