Mircea Eliade și prizonierii politicii: Începuturile cazului „felix culpa” (I)

The name and work of Mircea Eliade (1907–1986) were banned in Romania following the establishment of the communist regime. Both his writings and his person were subject to ideological criticism, though without being accorded significant attention. (That is, within the context of an article or book; no article was ever dedicated exclusively to him.) The present paper explores, for the first time, his reception in socialist Romania after the lifting of the ban imposed on him.The first part examines the period from September 1967 to July 1970, when a new ban was imposed, and after that until March 1972, when the ban was lifted once more. The English term “captive” translates the Romanian word “prizonier”, which includes among its primary meanings “slave” or “enslaved”. It refers to the members of the two “fronts” – pro and con – involved in the struggle over the acceptability of Mircea Eliade within a communist culture like that of Romania during that era. The main figures at the forefront during this period were Miron Constantinescu (1917–1974), who opposed Eliade, and Adrian Păunescu (1943–2010), who supported him. The second part of the article focuses on other protagonists – both from Romania and abroad – active in the period following March 1972 and leading up to the fall of communism in December 1989.