several months. The best known among the incrimi-Write, You Write, He, She Writes), Cele patru nated poems came to be the poignant "Children's Cru-aotimpuri (1977; The Four Seasons), Cea mai sade" in which the poet rose her voice against the of-frumoasã dintre lumile posibile (1982; The Most Beau-ficial natalist policy forced upon Romanian women at tiful of All Possible Worlds), and Coridoare de oglinzi times of economic and political disaster ("An entire (1984; Corridors of Mirrors); for this volume people not yet born, but doomed for birth, / already Blandiana was granted the 1984 Journalism prize of in columns before being born, fetus next to fetus . . . / the Writers Union. An entire nation which cannot see, cannot hear, / can-Blandiana's prose, centered upon moral medita-not understand, but which advances through / the tion and the quest for superior transparence raises cramps of woman's body by the blood and/womb of many of the acute ethical questions facing Romanian mothers which have not been asked"). Less explicit intellectuals today. It speaks in terms which deserve in its exasperated invocation of the commonplaces of future analyses about the strength to persist in not daily misery, the companion poem "Totul" (Every-winning (Calitatea de manor) and exposes the reader thing) remains an expression of the Eastern European to contrasting perceptions of Europe, Romania, and ghetto in which the political connotations of each of the United States by a traveler whose soul stays po-the members of the enumeration are hard to under-etic (Cea mai frumoasã dintre lumile posibile) or to stand for the Western readers who will perceive the the eternal dilemmas of choosing between speech and hiatus between two different worlds rather than the silence, acting and bearing, winning and losing which blunt Romanian context to which Blandiana refers ground not only Blandiana's art but also her (". . . leaves, words, tears,/cans, cats,/streetcarsfrom generation's basic encounter with life. time to time, queueing for flour / [with] ladybugs, empty bottles, speeches, / eternal T.V images, / Colo-

doi:10.4324/9781315050898-26

Chapter

several months. The best known among the incrimi-Write, You Write, He, She Writes), Cele patru nated poems came to be the poignant "Children's Cru-aotimpuri (1977; The Four Seasons), Cea mai sade" in which the poet rose her voice against the of-frumoasã dintre lumile posibile (1982; The Most Beau-ficial natalist policy forced upon Romanian women at tiful of All Possible Worlds), and Coridoare de oglinzi times of economic and political disaster ("An entire (1984; Corridors of Mirrors); for this volume people not yet born, but doomed for birth, / already Blandiana was granted the 1984 Journalism prize of in columns before being born, fetus next to fetus . . . / the Writers Union. An entire nation which cannot see, cannot hear, / can-Blandiana's prose, centered upon moral medita-not understand, but which advances through / the tion and the quest for superior transparence raises cramps of woman's body by the blood and/womb of many of the acute ethical questions facing Romanian mothers which have not been asked"). Less explicit intellectuals today. It speaks in terms which deserve in its exasperated invocation of the commonplaces of future analyses about the strength to persist in not daily misery, the companion poem "Totul" (Every-winning (Calitatea de manor) and exposes the reader thing) remains an expression of the Eastern European to contrasting perceptions of Europe, Romania, and ghetto in which the political connotations of each of the United States by a traveler whose soul stays po-the members of the enumeration are hard to under-etic (Cea mai frumoasã dintre lumile posibile) or to stand for the Western readers who will perceive the the eternal dilemmas of choosing between speech and hiatus between two different worlds rather than the silence, acting and bearing, winning and losing which blunt Romanian context to which Blandiana refers ground not only Blandiana's art but also her (". . . leaves, words, tears,/cans, cats,/streetcarsfrom generation's basic encounter with life. time to time, queueing for flour / [with] ladybugs, empty bottles, speeches, / eternal T.V images, / Colo-

Chapter

several months. The best known among the incrimi-Write, You Write, He, She Writes), Cele patru nated poems came to be the poignant "Children's Cru-aotimpuri (1977; The Four Seasons), Cea mai sade" in which the poet rose her voice against the of-frumoasã dintre lumile posibile (1982; The Most Beau-ficial natalist policy forced upon Romanian women at tiful of All Possible Worlds), and Coridoare de oglinzi times of economic and political disaster ("An entire (1984; Corridors of Mirrors); for this volume people not yet born, but doomed for birth, / already Blandiana was granted the 1984 Journalism prize of in columns before being born, fetus next to fetus . . . / the Writers Union. An entire nation which cannot see, cannot hear, / can-Blandiana's prose, centered upon moral medita-not understand, but which advances through / the tion and the quest for superior transparence raises cramps of woman's body by the blood and/womb of many of the acute ethical questions facing Romanian mothers which have not been asked"). Less explicit intellectuals today. It speaks in terms which deserve in its exasperated invocation of the commonplaces of future analyses about the strength to persist in not daily misery, the companion poem "Totul" (Every-winning (Calitatea de manor) and exposes the reader thing) remains an expression of the Eastern European to contrasting perceptions of Europe, Romania, and ghetto in which the political connotations of each of the United States by a traveler whose soul stays po-the members of the enumeration are hard to under-etic (Cea mai frumoasã dintre lumile posibile) or to stand for the Western readers who will perceive the the eternal dilemmas of choosing between speech and hiatus between two different worlds rather than the silence, acting and bearing, winning and losing which blunt Romanian context to which Blandiana refers ground not only Blandiana's art but also her (". . . leaves, words, tears,/cans, cats,/streetcarsfrom generation's basic encounter with life. time to time, queueing for flour / [with] ladybugs, empty bottles, speeches, / eternal T.V images, / Colo-

DOI link for several months. The best known among the incrimi-Write, You Write, He, She Writes), Cele patru nated poems came to be the poignant "Children's Cru-aotimpuri (1977; The Four Seasons), Cea mai sade" in which the poet rose her voice against the of-frumoasã dintre lumile posibile (1982; The Most Beau-ficial natalist policy forced upon Romanian women at tiful of All Possible Worlds), and Coridoare de oglinzi times of economic and political disaster ("An entire (1984; Corridors of Mirrors); for this volume people not yet born, but doomed for birth, / already Blandiana was granted the 1984 Journalism prize of in columns before being born, fetus next to fetus . . . / the Writers Union. An entire nation which cannot see, cannot hear, / can-Blandiana's prose, centered upon moral medita-not understand, but which advances through / the tion and the quest for superior transparence raises cramps of woman's body by the blood and/womb of many of the acute ethical questions facing Romanian mothers which have not been asked"). Less explicit intellectuals today. It speaks in terms which deserve in its exasperated invocation of the commonplaces of future analyses about the strength to persist in not daily misery, the companion poem "Totul" (Every-winning (Calitatea de manor) and exposes the reader thing) remains an expression of the Eastern European to contrasting perceptions of Europe, Romania, and ghetto in which the political connotations of each of the United States by a traveler whose soul stays po-the members of the enumeration are hard to under-etic (Cea mai frumoasã dintre lumile posibile) or to stand for the Western readers who will perceive the the eternal dilemmas of choosing between speech and hiatus between two different worlds rather than the silence, acting and bearing, winning and losing which blunt Romanian context to which Blandiana refers ground not only Blandiana's art but also her (". . . leaves, words, tears,/cans, cats,/streetcarsfrom generation's basic encounter with life. time to time, queueing for flour / [with] ladybugs, empty bottles, speeches, / eternal T.V images, / Colo-

several months. The best known among the incrimi-Write, You Write, He, She Writes), Cele patru nated poems came to be the poignant "Children's Cru-aotimpuri (1977; The Four Seasons), Cea mai sade" in which the poet rose her voice against the of-frumoasã dintre lumile posibile (1982; The Most Beau-ficial natalist policy forced upon Romanian women at tiful of All Possible Worlds), and Coridoare de oglinzi times of economic and political disaster ("An entire (1984; Corridors of Mirrors); for this volume people not yet born, but doomed for birth, / already Blandiana was granted the 1984 Journalism prize of in columns before being born, fetus next to fetus . . . / the Writers Union. An entire nation which cannot see, cannot hear, / can-Blandiana's prose, centered upon moral medita-not understand, but which advances through / the tion and the quest for superior transparence raises cramps of woman's body by the blood and/womb of many of the acute ethical questions facing Romanian mothers which have not been asked"). Less explicit intellectuals today. It speaks in terms which deserve in its exasperated invocation of the commonplaces of future analyses about the strength to persist in not daily misery, the companion poem "Totul" (Every-winning (Calitatea de manor) and exposes the reader thing) remains an expression of the Eastern European to contrasting perceptions of Europe, Romania, and ghetto in which the political connotations of each of the United States by a traveler whose soul stays po-the members of the enumeration are hard to under-etic (Cea mai frumoasã dintre lumile posibile) or to stand for the Western readers who will perceive the the eternal dilemmas of choosing between speech and hiatus between two different worlds rather than the silence, acting and bearing, winning and losing which blunt Romanian context to which Blandiana refers ground not only Blandiana's art but also her (". . . leaves, words, tears,/cans, cats,/streetcarsfrom generation's basic encounter with life. time to time, queueing for flour / [with] ladybugs, empty bottles, speeches, / eternal T.V images, / Colo-

ABSTRACT

several months. The best known among the incriminated poems came to be the poignant "Children's Crusade" in which the poet rose her voice against the official natalist policy forced upon Romanian women at times of economic and political disaster ("An entire people not yet born, but doomed for birth, / already in columns before being born, fetus next to fetus . . . / An entire nation which cannot see, cannot hear, / cannot understand, but which advances through / the cramps of woman's body by the blood and/womb of mothers which have not been asked"). Less explicit in its exasperated invocation of the commonplaces of daily misery, the companion poem "Totul" (Everything) remains an expression of the Eastern European ghetto in which the political connotations of each of the members of the enumeration are hard to understand for the Western readers who will perceive the hiatus between two different worlds rather than the blunt Romanian context to which Blandiana refers (". . . leaves, words, tears,/cans, cats,/streetcarsfrom time to time, queueing for flour / [with] ladybugs, empty bottles, speeches, / eternal T.V images, / Colorado bugs, gas, / little flags, the European championship [soccer] cup, / buses running with propane cylinders, / same old portraits, / apples not accepted abroad, / newspapers, rolls, / fake oil, carnations, / airport welcomes, cico lemonade, [chocolate] sticks, / Bucharest salami, diet yogurt, / Gypsy women selling Kent cigarettes, Crevedia eggs, / rumours, / the Saturday T.V serial, / surrogate coffee, / the peoples' struggle for peace, the choirs, / the yield crop, Gerovital; the cops on Calea Victoriei, / the "Singing of Romania," adidas, / the Bulgarian compote, political jokes, Ocean fish, / everything").