Title: ³3ăOWLQL܈: The Quiet Delight of Conviviality´ Author: ȱò
How to cite this article: òǰȱ. 2000. ȃ3ăOWLQL܈ The Quiet Delight of Conviviality.Ȅ Martor 5: 32-44.
Published by: Editura MARTOR (MARTOR Publishing House), £ȱo©ȱ¦ (The
Museum of the Romanian Peasant)
URL: http://martor.muzeultaranuluiroman.ro/archive/martor-5-2000/
Martor (The Museum of the Romanian Peasant Anthropology Journal) is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1996, with a focus on cultural and visual anthropology, ethnology, museum studies and the dialogue among these disciplines. Martor Journal is published by the Museum of the Romanian Peasant. Interdisciplinary and international in scope, it provides a rich content at the highest academic and editorial standards for academic and non-academic readership. Any use aside from these purposes and without mentioning the source of the article(s) is prohibited and will be considered an infringement of copyright.
Martor ǻȱȂȱȱ·ȱȱ¢ȱǼȱȱȱȱ· ȱ¢¸ȱpeer-review ·ȱ ȱ ŗşşŜǰȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ Ȃȱ ȱ ȱ ǰȱ Ȃǰȱ ȱ ·ȱ ȱ ȱ ȱ dialogue entre ces disciplines. La revue Martor ȱ·ȱȱ ·ȱȱ¢ȱǯȱȱȱȱȱ ··ȱȂ¸ vers un riche contenu au plus haut niveau ȱȱȱȱ·ȱȱ·ȱȱȱ ȱ ǰȱ ·ȱ ȱ ǯȱ ȱ ȱ -de¥ȱ ȱ ȱ et sans mentionner la source ȱȱȱȱȱȱ·· une violation ȱȱȱȂǯ
Martor is indexed by EBSCO and CEEOL. The Quiet Delight of Conviviality
Photo: Ana Bl ida ru Andrei Plesu ' Rector of the New Europe College, Bucharest
an interview taken by Anca Manolescu
Photo: col l. 22
Born on August 23, 1948, in Bucharest, Romania
Education 1971: B. A. in hi story and th eory of art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Bucharest 1980: Ph. D. in Art Hi story at the University of Bucharest
Scholarships 1975-1977: Alexander von Humboldt Scholarship in Bonn, Germany 1983-1984: Alexand er von Humboldt Scholarship in Heid elberg, Germany 1992 (Feb.-Aug.): Guest of th e Rector of th e Wi ssenschaftskoUeg zu Berlin, Germany
Teaching experience 1980- 1982: Associate Professor, Acad emy of Fine Arts, Bucharest. (Expelled because of political reasons) 1991- 1997: Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Faculty of Philos- ophy, University of Bucharest 1994 (Oct.): Una 's Lecturer, University of Berkeley, Californi a, USA
Research experience 1971-1979: Scientifi c Resea rcher at the Institute for Art History, Bucharest 1984-1989: Scientifi c Researcher at the In stitute for Art History, Bucharest (in 1989: Exiled beca use of political reasons in a village in the north of Moldavia)
Marlor, V - 2000, Bucharest in communist times: resistance, normality, survival The Quiet Delight of Conviviality 33
Additional professional 1993-1997 (D ec.): Founder and Director of the weekly cultural activities magazine Dilema Since 1994: Founder of the New Europe Foundation and Rector of th e New Europe College, Bucharest
Positions held Dec. 1989-0ct. 1991: Mini ster of Culture of Romania Dec. 1997-Dec. 1999: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania
Professional 1997: Member of th e World Academy of Art and Science memberships 1998: Corresponding Membe r of the Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CA RI) 1999: Member of the Academie Internationale de PhiJosophie de !'Art, Geneva, Switzerland
Awards and Titles 1980: Prize for Art Criticism awarded by the Romanian Artists' Union, Bucharest 1980: Prize for Essay awarded by the Writers' Association of Bu charest 1991: Prize of th eAteneu Review, Bacau 1993: Prize of the Flaclira Rexiew, Bucharest 1994: Prize for Essay awarded by the Romanian Writers' Union, Bucharest 1994: Best Book of Th e Year Prize awarded for Limba plislirilor (The Language of Birds), Cluj- Napoca 1996: Prize of the Cuvantul Review, Bucharest 1996: Prize for Criticism and Essay of the Romanian Writers' Asso- ciation awarded for Chipuri §i mi'i§ti ale tranzi(iei (Faces and Ma sks of Transiti on), Bucharest 1996: Best Book Prize of th e Romanian Professional Writers' Asso- ciation fo r Chipuri $i mii$ti ale tranzi{iei 1999: Prize of the Pri virea Review, Bu charest 1999: Prize of the Group for Social Dialogu e, Bucharest
1990: Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres, Paris 1993: New Europe Prize for Higher Education and Research, award- ed by th e Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford; th e Institute fo r Advanced Study, Princeton; the National Humaniti es Center, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; the Neth erl and s Institute fo r Advanced Stud y in the Humaniti es and Social Sc iences (NIAS), Wa ssenaar; the Swed ish Collegium for Ad- van ced Stud y in th e Social Sciences (SCASSS), Uppsala , and the Wis- se nschaftskolleg zu Berlin. 1995: Prize for Essay awarded by the Moldavian Writers' Union, Kishinev, Republic of Moldova 34 Andrei
1996: Prize of the Brandenburger Academy of Sciences, Berlin, Germany 1998: Humboldt Medaille awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Bonn, Germany 1998: La Gran Cruz de la Orden "El Sol del Peru ", Lima, Peru 1999: Goethe Medaille awarded by th e Goeth e Institut, Weimar, Germany 1999: Ordre national de la Legion d'Flonneur of France (in March awarded as Commandeur and in December as Grand Officier) 1999: Corvinus Prize awarded by th e Europa ln stitut and th e Hun- garian Academy of Sciences 2000: th e Konstanti.n ]irecek Medal awa rd ed by th e Si.idosteu- ropa-Gesellschaft, Germany 2000: Dr. phil. honoris causa of the Albert-Ludwigs Universitat of Freiburg, Germany
Publications Books:
Coral. A Critical Anthology, London: Abbey Library, 1973
Calatorie in lumea fonnelor (Travel to th e World of Forms), Bu charest: Mer idi ane Publishing Hou se, 1974
Pi.toresc ri melancolie (Picturesqu e and Melancholy), Bu charest: Univers Publishing House, 1980; 2ND edition: Bucharest, Huma- nitas Publishing House, 1992
Francesco Guardi, Buchares t: Merid iane Publishing Hou se, 1981 (published in English, French, and German)
Ochiul lucrurile (The Eye and the Things), Bucharest: Meridiane Publishing House, 1986
Minima Moralia: Elemente pentru o etica a intervalului CWinima MoraJia: Elements for an Ethic of th e Interval), Buchares t: Cartea Hornan easca Publishing House, 1988; 2ND revi se d edition: Bucharest: Humanitas Publishing Hou se, 1994 Translations into French, German, and Swedish: L 'Etiqu e de Robinson, Paris: Edition L'Hern e, 1990 Rejlexion und Leidenschajt: Elemente einer Ethik des Int ervalls, Vienna: Deuticke, 1992 Tamrnas gava, Stockholm: Dualis, 1995
]urnalul de la Tes cani (The Tescani Diary), Buchares t: Humanitas Publishing House, ] 993 The Quiet Delight of Conviviality 35
Translations into German and Hungarian: Wer in der So/me steht wi1ft Schatten, Stuttgart: Ed. Tertium, 1999 Tescani napl6, Cluj-Na poca: Koinonia, 2000
Limba pasarilor (Th e Language of Birds) / Essays on language and th e philosoph y of culture/, Bu chares t: Hum anitas Publishing House, 1994
Chipuri mii*li ale tranzifiei (Faces and Masks of Transition) / Po- liti cal Essays/, Buchares t: Humanitas Publishin g Hou se, 1996
Studi es and Arti cles in Romanian and foreign journals and newspa- pers: Amjiteatru, Contemporanul, Romania literara, Luceafarul, Se- colul XX, Romania libera, Viata Romaneasca, ArtPress, Cahiers de l'Heme, Die Zeit, Neue Ziircher Zeitung, Tagesspiegel, Allgemeine Zeitung, Siiddeulsche Zeitung, Merkur, Leviathan, Re- presentations, Social Research, a.o. (information provided by New Europe College, Buchares t)
The group of A member of the remarkable inter-war generation (b y th e side of Paltini{' Mircea Eliad e, Emil Cioran , Mircea Vulcanesc u) , philosopher Con- stantin Noica will have to endure the measures whereby the com- munist regim e attempted a programmati c annihilation of the elites: for ced residence at Cimpulung-Muscel ( 1949-1958), then imprison- ment (19 58-1964). After he is released, he works for ten years (1965-1975) as a researcher for th e Academy Centre of Logic and th en withdraws to a mountain resort near Sibiu , in Tran- sylvania. Thi s win be th e fo cal point wh ere, from time to time, around Noi ca wiU gath er young philosoph ers Gabriel Lii ceanu and Andrei in parti cular, and also logician Sorin Vieru, Radu Bercea and Andrei Corn ea, art hi storians given to the study of oriental lan- guages, several others... Con stantin Noica will offer them a model of practising and living th e high , auth entic culture: direct study of the great philosophical and spiritual texts, free interpretation, 'exi stential wisdom' born out of culture. In 1983, Gabri el Liiceanu publishes the Paltini* Diary (Bu- charest, Cartea Romaneasca Publi hing House) where the debates, atmosph ere and rhythms of his and Andrei encounters with Noica are related, interpreted, meditated upon in order to build what th e author calls 'a mod el of paideutics in the humani st cul- 36 Andrei
ture'. Due to this book, the space will make quite an .impact upon the Romanian society and will be seen not only as a space of implicit resistance again st communist id eology, but also as a high model of formation and intellectual life. A second volume on AjJistolar (1987, Bucharest, Cartea Romaneasca Publishing House), also authored by Gabriel Liiceanu, including the correspondance of th e members of the gro up - among themselves and with other Romanian men of culture -is itself a proof for the quality of a reference point that th e experi ence had in the Romanian world. Towards the end of his life, Constantin No ica (1909- 1987) will be visited by more and more young peopl e eager to have a mom ent's ta ste of th e atmosphere of the place, to receive intellectual or spiri- tual guid ance, if not even legitimacy and solution for life.
Anca Manolescu There is a passage in yo ur Tes- id yll, an indoors atmosph ere, repl ete with th e cani Dim )' where is see n, in terms of pleasures of a warm room , in co nsonan ce with seaso n-wise symboli sm, as a sort of preparatory the frost outside when you see it as a spectacle of stage looking ahead to tim es to co me. 'Th e win- beauty, not as a threat to one's ph ys ical integrity. ter of philosoph y? ... Th e winter of circumstan- And there is a winter conviviality: sitting there ces? Maybe. But also th e winter of inner respite, in a warm room, in the co mpan y of a co upl e of of co mmunion; winter as a strategy for an active, friends, drinking tea or boiled fuica and talking if sheltered, survival until the coming of spring.' philosoph y. Rather than the fi erceness of th e Was th ere, back then, a sense of follow-up? Or season, or of the times, winter meant to us the were you experiencing the context, the moment fairy-tale ai r, th e inner co mfort that go with it and the meeting in th eir intrinsic substan ce? and are mad e of co nviviality and isolation within a private spa ce. We did not think of as AnclTei The fragm ent yo u are speaking of an outpost, as a place where yo u take arm s dates ba ck to 1989, when the episode against a world of circum stances, or as a waiting had already come to an end , but political change room where you keep looking out of the window still seemed improbable. Th ere was neve rtheless in expectation for th e train of history. It was nei- a sharper se nse of crisis and expectation than at ther. It was, indeed, a place wh ere we lived th e the beginning of the '80s. Some sort of edginess quiet delight of conviviality lt was winter see n filled the air, although I did not believe th en, in from behind the windowpanes, where it is warm Nove mber '89, at Tescani, that th e regim e was and you go about things you ta l e co mfort in. about to collapse. It's even less accurate to think Th e Palti epi sode was a truly invigorating ex- we li ved th e episode as a safe island , as perience for us. Each of its winters end ed up in some kind of 'station' on the way to libera tion. a se nse of pJ enitud e, a wealth of projects and th e We were simply enjoying what is gemu tlich, as stamina to do things. We aJways fcJt as if we went the Germans say, about winter. Th ere is a winter th ere for a re-loading of our batteri es, which we The Quiet Delight of Conviviality 37 lived for its own sake and in pure joy. 'Easing cratic society. Without placing things again st off' wa s th e key word of those times. There wa s their right co ntext, on e ca n only end up with nothing gr im or hardened abo ut our life in false images. lt was, after aU, a different sort of Nor abo ut our study. We did our read- world. ing and talking in a wa y th at had nothing of Lh e sourness, stiffn ess or grand manner of school Andrei lt is wrong to judge any moment proceedings - we did it, 1 will say it again, in in th e life and history of a reality by the data of co nviviality, co nvinced that we were offering anoth er moment. It is even wrong to judge th e ourselves primarily a time of joy. It was a space Romania of 1990 by today's criteria. It is even of joy and th erefore a toni c solar space, not on e less appropriate to use the sam e criteria in judg- of cramped attempts to survi ve . It was not su r- ing the period of the '80s. Unfortunately, this is vival: it wa s li ving, pure and simple, it wa s life in what we co nstantly do . I would like to say som e- the mo st substantial sense of th e word. thing here that I have already sa id on several oc- casions, but I feel the re-state ment is welco me. lt A.M. But wa s it not prec isely the adversity is not on ly criteria that mu st be adequate. We around, th e impossibility to do authentic work must never forget that any world , any type of in the offi cial space, that created the need for, world, including the concentration universe, th e and made imperative the existence of, a solution jail world, let us call it, is - potentially at least, like yet often actually - a whole world, a world in its entirety, co ntaining all th e elements of a com- Andrei One thing needs clarifying, es pe- plete world. Certa inly, the proportions differ, the cially today, when there is no encl to interpreta- recipes vary, but the inven tory of elements, th e tions of th e epi sode: we did not make a 'chemical' in ve ntory of th e 'worldly' is prese nt choice th en. We were not fa ced with several op- in an y type of unive rse . Well, the Romani an tion s for our lives. We did not say to ourse lve' : world in th e co mmunist yea rs, whi ch we co n- what shall we choose? Do we go out in th e demn today, and rightly so, was neverth eless a stree ts. do we venture acts of personal di ss i- whole world , in which joy was possible, and love dence, or do we se t for \lo! To us, was po ss ible, and culture wa s possible. Not that app eared as a des tinal It it was th e regime that mad e th em possible, not loom ed up as an occasion. It wa s a kairos. Th e that 'it wa sn't as bad as th ey say'. It wa s ve ry lu cky thing tor us was that we happened to be bad! But even a very bad world ha s its fi ss ures, perfectl y open to this occas ion, that we let it its reso urces, its opportunities that make poss i- seize us. aware that it wa s a gift and grateful to bl e th e saturation of the globa l rec ipe of a wo rld. find that thi s gift grew within and made us hap- So in we li ved th e tonic episode, th e pier men. was not a reaction - be it one epi sod e of joy and fr ee co mmitm ent that wa s of refu sa l, protest or evasion. It is only now, on possible in that so rt of wo rld . looking bacl . that it can be analysed as one of many alternatives for a Ii f'e und er communism. A.M. What's more. the fi ss ures, resources and But at that tim e we were not fa ced with a choice. opportunities that are th ere in a very bad world The only thing we opted for was to respond to will be explored with th e in tensity of the alte r- that occasion. native . Toda y, the offer is mu ch more varied, yet that leads to a Jess spectacular res ult in terms of A.M. Also, I find it inad equate to analyse the op- a qualitative search. tions_ mo ve ments and decisions mad e at that point usin g criteri a that are specific to a demo- Andrei Indeed, we enj oyed and benefited 38 Andrei Ples, u from that moment to a larger extent, and so did jects for each of them. Signs have actually be- the public. When the Paltini* Diary was pu- come visible of parallel Paltini( There was, for bli shed, the Romanian world shaked with a vi- instance, a Paltini$ of Vasi Zamfirescu, who even bration that one can no longer imagine today. wrote a book on it. Other vo ices keep being On the contrary, its effect now is more of a heard too, claiming regular contact with the place counter-vibration. I often feel that the Paltini!;) and correspondence with Noica. So Paltini$ wit- episo de and group are now scrutinised with a nessed a playing on more than one clavier, which rather severe, critical eye. But back then, the makes of it a reality that is so rich and so specifi c book and everything that happened in Paltini$ to that moment. A unique realit-y, too. brought about a sort of emulation in our world. In therapeutic, hygienic terms, that emulation A.M. At the end of the Dimy, a question was very important. I would say that both we and is raised by G. Liiceanu concerning the validity the surrounding world were enriched by that of the life configuration there: 'But was not this episode in a way that would no longer be possi- ,,liberation" (in spirit) a fleeing from hi story? ... ble today. This lateral, subdued and undertone liberation, that might be held guilty for its intellectual ego- A.M. For us, its readers, the Diary was tism, was and continues to be the form of sur- the proof that acts of high culture could be per- vival for some of the greatest values of today's formed that were alive and shaping. It was a sort Romanian spirituality'. of axis and a guarantee that we were intellec- tually ali ve, that we co uld participate in such a Andrei If that mean s we practi sed a form feat, be it only by mean s of our readings. of culture that was passive and escapi st, it is only now that such words can be said and such analy- Andrei This is indeed a thing to remem- sis undertaken. But, I will repeat it, we did not ber or to be reminded of in case it's been for- live that episode in circumstantial awareness, gotten. For the drive to judge that episode by a peeping over to the larger context. We acted in a sort of political exigency or 'political correctness' spontaneous and fully committed manner, fol- - which has nothing to do with its actual data, its lowing an inner necessity. Another th eme is real contour -is bound to fake things complete- worth discussing, though: to what extent philo- ly. If we cannot understand what truly happened sophy, which usually connotes also wisdom, is an not only with as such, but with its entire effi cacious existential attitude. I in particular was impact, the reverberation into a whole way of life stirred by this interrogative demon, as I was and thought it produced, we will analyse a phan- looking for very direct solutions of embodying tom, not a fa ct of life. wisdom, and not only for a living and exploring of it at the level of the text. That was, so to A.M. itself consisted of several circles. speak, my daily private mutiny, which Noi ca de- nied in its principle, saying that I was practising Andrei In this respect, Noica had a sort of a sort of search that was not 'disinterested', that symphonic genius. Without our realising it then, instead of allowing id eas to carry me along, I was he orchestrated several Paltini{ There are other always looking for 'recipes', always looking for groups, too, that claim participation in the techniques. But that was my search, and maybe atmosphere for themselves. Any of their that wa s not the appropriate place for it to exist. members could say, Et in ego. Noica was In there was no delivery of techniques, not necessarily keen on making these groups and neither was there a delivery of political pro- communicate, he had separate strategies and pro- grams, or conspiracies. What was delivered there The Quiet Delight of Conviviality 39 was what Noica him self called the 'pure joy of event, I could try and make Tescani an echo of culture'. He meant culture in its traditional just as a minor th eme echoes a major sense, so to speak: ideas, texts, dialogue. on e. For what l set for myselI th ere was a life of natural rhythms, I might say. I decid ed not to be A.M. After th e epi sode, th e grace of serious but as lo my readings and my most inti- whi ch wa s also due to its community life, you mate con cerns. I decided to let myself carri ed made your di ssid ence expli cit and so had to away by th e imm ediate level of experience. By move away from Bu chares t: th e Tescani episod e what met th e eye. By the nature around. By se- followed, one that proved lo be mu ch more de- veral peopl e. By seve ral prima Jacies experiences. manding - an episod e of solitude. ls your act of In writing this Dicu y, I did not see k for any deep di ss id ence, and hence th e Tescani period , relat- probing, I did not care about profundities, even ed in an y way lo th e lesson? though th ere might be som e here and th ere in th e text. In short, although Tescani was less than Andrei It's a strange thing. In I in terms of scope covered - if only for wa s the on e who did not fit in completely to th e th e simple reason that I wa s alone - , although sc hema of the place. Or who had moments of th e mom ent had a different make, although my guilt)' inadequacy. At Tescani I becam e more of presence th ere was due to different reason s, in a man that I'd use to be while in spite of all these differences, the model wa s proper; I felt l wa s re-con stru ctin g th e mod el. ] th ere, underlying th e whole experience. mi ght not ha ve had the Tescani option without that mod el. After all, I wa s banished from A.M. It was also there implicit in the grace al- Bu charest and th e exile could have taken me lowing you , in tim es of dan ger and lon eliness, to an ywhere. The first variant was Ba cau. Tescani write about things you enjoy. The wisdom lying became possible al so due to the exi stence of the at th e core of th e Constantin Noi ca mod el was archetype of that wa y of life . I went there, here bein g tested and put to work. l did it with th e awareness that l wa s being of- fered a chance to recreate somethin g of th e Andrei Und oubtedly. oica taught a very way of life. Whi ch literall y happened. l, important lesson - one of whi ch th ere isn't for instan ce, am not in th e ve ry least fond of mu ch talk toda y, for if th ere were, the quite se- walking, but there I res pected a regular program ve re current anal ys is of th e politi cal echo his of cycli cal walks, as I did my program of rea ding presence had would take on an altogeth er diffe- and studyin g. Unfortunately I was deprived of rent quality. For it was precisely a lesson with th e chance of dialogue, exce pt in th e rare mo- politi cal import. In th e menta l spa ce of ments wh en l had visitors. And dialogue wa s a th e conce pt that was systematically 'deconstru ct- dec isive element of Even so, I remem- ed' - if J were to use current vocabulary - was ber bein g read y, wheneve r I had th e chance. to th at of victim. The language and psychology of rev ive the styli sti cs of dialogue, ei- refu se d thi s element. We did not go th er by rea ding from what I had written in Tes- th ere as victims of communism or as anticom- cani, or by provo kin g di sc ussions on a give n munist co mbatants. What drove us there wa s th eme. It wa s an almo st abstra ct need that precisely th e fe elin g that th ere were valu es and gras ped an y occasion prese nting itse lf in th e co mmitments th at could free you from th e vi- form of an interlocutor who chanced to pa ss by. cious circle exec utioner - victim, aggressor - ag- As a matter of fa ct, th e ve ry title of my book, gressed, di ctator - terrorised population. We Th e Tescani Dimy, is slightly ironical. I told my- broke out of thi s circle and lived joyfully and se lf that, although l wa s livin g a different type of fr ee at a level that, for us, at that moment, was 40 Andrei the supreme one. Tescani made me feel that this This was yet another of Noica's themes, i.e. that, lesson worked. And not only at a mental level. It given the scarcity of information, our advantage proved palpably efficient. I wa s talking of prag- wa s that we could stiU visit the class ics with in- mati c strategies, of putting things into practice. nocent minds. In th e West, you needed to be in- Not for one single moment did I ex perience th e formed on the latest commentaries on Ari stotle, Tescani episode from the position of the victim, whereas in Paltini7 we could keep to Aristotle of the 'doomed' character living a drama. My ex- himself. This exquisite pleasure of visiting the peri ence was, on the contrary, one of relaxation classics, of engaging in commerce with the ac- and of the effortl ess, quite spontaneo us refu sal of knowledged valu es, with an already shaped and th e status of the victim. Which is disappointing to accepted 'canon' was part and parcel of our for- some of th e readers of the Tescani Dimy. I met mation. Some younger coUeagues mi ght say that people who told me, 'I bought the book with th e it was only urifortunately so, since we are thus hope of finding there, besid es an on-go ing under- left more insensitive to the ca nonical revolutions textual Jeremiad, whole pages of political ,,oppo- of our days. I can't teU. But at that point, thi s sition", of militant anticommunist di scourse. But 'imposed' conversation with the major texts was I didn't. ' they found there was some mere- a vital one for us. ly sketched brushstrokes. This is one of the ef- fects of my 'inability', rather than decision, A.M. Is it so important to be tuned in to th e to interiorise the status of a victim. times'? en joyed th e privilege of th e in- termission. A.M. The Dimy, as well as the memorial or epi stolary literature published after 1989, also Andrei Under those circumstances, yes, it refers to the theme of the circulation of publica- was a privilege. It is by no means co mpulsory to tions: as coming from abroad, passed on to be tuned in to the times. Yet, I think it isn't wi se fri ends, commented upon. not to take evolutions into account. Wh eneve r T find myself in a critical mood as to the develop- Andrei Noi ca had his almost candid way ments of 'post-modernity', I feel guilty too. My about these things. He managed to stay in touch concern is not to slip into the classic generation with his fri ends from abroad, who sent him ga p, wh ere every generation discards whateve r some periodicals. He was, for instance, a ve ry co mes afte r. l believe that the century is much pass ionate reader (a pass ion that we n eve r more interesting and challenging than we ca n shared) of Science et Vie. He wanted to be up- imagine and that, without indiscriminately em- dated not so much on th e strictly philosophical bracing it, w e need to face and vigorously as- sid e of the intellectual life in the 'other' Europe, sume it. Any solution that grows out of with- as on what was happening in scientific inquiry. drawal, nostalgia or false solemnity can only be The world goes on, there is a modernity ever unhealthy. more gloriously outlined and the 'philosopher' needs to be informed, to be updated ... On the A.M. Moreover, our gene ration has had th e other hand, 1 would say that, curious as it might chance to live in two differe nt worlds. seem, it wa s not th e access to the latest informa- tion, or the more or less illicit reading of bits of Andrei That is a big chance, indeed, Western European bibliographies that kept us which we will nevertheless be the only ones to th ere. Being aware that this wa s chance infor- have enjoyed. We can already see that this type mation that we could not get on a regular, reli- of experience cannot be imparted. The genera- able basis, we chose to be safe with th e classics. tion that happens to be situated in onl y one con- The Quiet Delight of Conviviality 41 text ca nnot help not being blind to th e preceding course yo u conce ived then did not prepare us for . context. The yo ung people who are now in their today's world either. ' I agree . I had the sam e twenti es ma y well wonder what we mean wh en feeling my self. Back th en, we did not think we speak of th e 'other' world. I have to admit, strategicall y about the future. we did not plan an- though. that it was not our case (to be part of oth er world. this sad scenario of the generation gap). Most of Neverth eless, there is a visibl e outcome of us grew in famili es who in stilled in us, from th e Paltini$ in tod ay's world. It is different from ea rli es t age. th e no stalgia of another epoch. what people in general expected or even from Even though we had not bee n direct participants what we ourselves thought it would be. It did not in that epoch, we were rai sed in a world which trigge r what Noica hoped for, that is the mem- overtl y bore its marks. To me, the inter-war pe- bers of th e group to pursue brilliant acad emi c ri od, the famil y life from before WWII was alive caree rs. That is what 1 oi ca ultimately expected thanks to th e tales told over each and every of us. For Gabriel, he envi saged th e history of lunch. This is hi story now. And maybe we are to philosop hy. As for me, he was a bit un easy about blame fo r tha t. \Vhat were we in spired with in my resistance to any clea r track, as he saw it. At th e 'SOs and '60s? With th e memory of a world any rate, he ex pected of me to make a clear that did well and should be revived. Whereas choice of, and work hard inside. a well-defin ed what we have to say about the world we lived in domain. Things turned out differently. But th ey is, and cannot be other than, a nega tive dis- did turn out so mehow: we caught this feve r of es- course. We speak of an ugly world that had bet- tablishing institution s, whi ch he had too, but in ter be abandoned. On e ca nnot but rese nt thi s a hostile mili eu. He kept repeating, 'I could set type of' discourse . The yo ung generat ion now up foundations in plenty.' He always lived with does not care to listen to analyses of times past the fru stration of not bein g able to give a body to that use an exclusively nega tive language . That is his proj ects. We ourselves, while in Paltinis, look so mething to refl ect on and should urge us to over so mething of his un embodi ed proj ects; we look for the discourse we can offer. We would conceive editorial plans, imagin e philo- need to give so me more co nsistent th ought to a sophical association s... We never got to actually type of message that is toni c. affirm ative, sin ce achi eve any of th ese things, but the mere think- th e di scourse of 'the wound ed who lived a sore ing of what they would be like made us happy. li fe· is extrem ely spiteful , a kind of discourse After 1989, the moment had come for us to put that ha s no shap ing power. those projects into practi ce. I would say that at least some of th e inspired dreaming in Paltini$ A.M. It see ms to me that after 1989, both Ga- finally came tru e, since Gabriel Lii ceanu ha s re- bri el Lii ceanu and yourse lf' initiated in stitutional alised a great editorial project and has thus bee n proj ects that we re first conceived in and able lo publish books th at were esse ntial to our thu s appear to be th e actu al res ult of that type of formati on and that might shape others too. lt so positi veness. hap pened. or we made it happen so .. that all of us who li ved in Pal tin is ultimately managed to Andrei Thi s is worth a thou ght: things found something. I'd say that the New Europe usuall y come into being in forms different from College is itself a sort of Paltinis differently si- what you first planned. But they do. Tt is a com- tuated, adjusted so as to suit present conditions. It ing into bein g that includes eve n deviations is not a school for wi sdom, yet the idea of an in- from th e project. A young man wrote a letter to tellectual community and of open debate on whi ch Gabriel Lii cea nu , saying, did not pre- it is founded com es from my Paltinis experience. pare you for today's world. And the kind of di s- 42 Andrei
A.M. Coming back to that young man 's letter fulfil. I ca nnot eat for som eone else, I cannot you mentioned. It's worth noticing that in those think for someon e else, I cannot build for some- tim es, even in countries like Czecho slovakia - on e else. I can do aU those things uniquely on wh ere the opposition clearly shaped and ex- my behalf, merely hoping that th ey wiU radiate pressed political thought - the techni cal skill of effectively. The yo un g generation is ri ght in de- government, the pragmati c abil ity to efficiently manding reference points, in expecting som e organise things was not ensured by the preced- kind of orientation around. Yet it should not de- ing theoretical reflections. Vaclav Havel himself pute the issue of its own destin y to some abstract sa id it, during a Bucharest encounter with Emil mentors. Co nstantinescu and Nicolae Manolescu. A.M. I will ask yo u a rh etori cal qu es tion: is Andrei Indeed. Yet, we may well raise the still poss ible toda y? qu estion of our potential guilt here. In there was no project for another world, nothing Andrei No! Definitely not! And it's for th e wa s conceived of in terms of preparatory strate- better it isn't. First of all, becau se th e idea to gy . Such projects did exist in other co untries of clone a moment of grace is in co nsistent. Th e th e 'communist ca mp'. People or eve n whole ca- valu e of Paltini$ also resides in its being unre- tegori es of people did exist there who could ap- peatable. lf we seri ali se Paltini$, the model itself proximate, eve n though only th eoretically or wiU decay, the seriali sation will work again st it as mentally, a poss ibl e change, who co uld envisage well. Secondly, because we live in a different it in political term s. There were no such people world and, of co urse, Noica is no lon ger around. here. That is wh y, as far as we are concerned, And the figure of th e mentor is cru cial here. we may well kee p up the question mark on our After all, we no longer live under th e same sky relu ctance to think in practical terms of the and the stars play a different tune ... Reiteration probable state of affairs after th e change. Take seems to be both impossible and und es irabl e. Poland. They proved capable of political think- But if today's is called New Europe Col- ing that was mu ch more practical and strategi- lege, th en ves! caUy substantial. Another va riant is th e Hungar- ian one: they did not have a proj ect like the A.M. Th e New Europe College is, ind eed, a Pal- Poles, but th ey had a communist government ti n of our times, in th e sense th at it is a scien- th at adjusted itself to new trend s, allowing a mi- tifi c reunion of fe Uows that is quite alive, truly nimal reform project to work slight changes into in vigorating and highl y competent; ye t, it is not its own body of assumptions. And that led to a ba sed on perso nal affinities or comm on intellec- less dramatic turning point. Th e id ea of reform tu al interests, it does not involve a special hu- was not ali en to people in the very leading appa- man bondage. welcomed a type of en- ratus. Or, Romania had neither a well-articulated counter that wa s informal, ab solutely free and opposition outsid e government, as Poland did , that held on thanks to shared eve nts. Today, nor a reforming wing in sid e gove rnment, as it . eve rything in th e intell ectual domain is or tends happened in Hunga ry. And this is why we are to be in stitutionali sed. We are no longer very stiU in transit today. l een on th e informal. It is probably th e normal These being sa id , I would also add, in re s- course of things: we have invested in th e public pon se to the yo un g man, that th ere are things space what we were not allowed to expose pre- whi ch no on e else can do for you. H people ex- viously, and we tend to feel that whatever lacks its pect us to make efforts that should spare th em geometry and prestige is of a minor importan ce. any effort, th en this is an expectation we cannot The Quiet Delight of Conviviality 43
Andrei I have already spoken of th e com- sandwi ches by hi s sid e, and digressions are wel- munity side of Paltini$. Tt had th e qu ality of the com e, so that everybody's personal life enters an colloquial, the grou p th ere had become a unitary Einklang with philosophical debate. Such an ex- organi sm. I fe el bo un d lo say th at th ere is some- perience is an organi c, integral one. It is not one thing we lack nowadays as a premi se fo r a of strict speciali sati on. We did not specialise in community of th e same type. Paltini$ wa s a com- any direction in Paltinie. We were not th e con- munity space, yet on e of its ingredi ents wa s lone- scientious students oI a profess ional master. We liness as well. We were toge th er there, and were that now and aga in , too, but this is not Paltini$ became, at some poin t, a place for pil- what defined our relationship in Palti ni e. We grimage , yet, circum stances considered, it was, were a group that opted fo r a shared complete within the context of the day, a moment of soli- experience during certain tim e intervals. Noi ca tud e too. It wa s Noica's soli tud e, his 'winter', would som etimes caII these intervals, fun ction of surrounded by our small ce ntripetal solitudes. how many days they la sted, Tris meron, Hexa- When I say solitude, I mean good solitude, in meron, Decwneron. They were 'clays', we co uld this case. Parl of our li ves was also th e aware- say 'works and days'. But th ose 'da ys' meant ness th at what we did there could not turn into whatever is part of a day: dinner, walks, chatter- an in stitu tion. could not have direct bearing on ing, amusement and so on. our public li ves. that it wa a solitwy experi ence. Now, it see ms, the good fa ce of solitud e is shad- A.M. It becomes transparent in the ed away. People have lost their se nse of the Diary that he felt somehow res ponsible fo r yo ur benefi c solitude, that is of th e indi vidual's con- destiny, ju st as you yourselves felt responsible in fro ntation with hi s question, with hi s star, with a way for one another's destiny. hi s wager. Emph asis is now pl aced differently, hi erarchi es have changed, things go by other Andrei He in particul ar would take our rh ythm s and, fo r the tim e bein g, th ere is a loss destinies upon himself and of course that wa s a of solitude setting in . The info rm al type of group chall enge fo r us too; we wo uld tall a lot, even cann ot exist unl ess three or fo ur people agree to when he wa sn't arou nd, and , without va ni ty or ex perience good soli tud e togeth er. tenseness, we would consid er wh at we had to do. The uniqueness of th e epi sode is also deter- A.M . Bond s mu st have bee n created among min ed by the initial resemblance of th e partici- these solitudes that are of a qu ali ty less and less pants. You don't get together wi th someone un- likely to be obtain ed today. less you are already together with him in some sense, or respond to him already. Gabriel and I Anch·ei Sure. We now tend to repl ace our are quite di fferent persons, but we do have friend ships with ' pa rtnershi ps·. T beli eve fri end- something essenti al in comm on, whi ch is th e ship to be a vital matter fo r th e li fe of the spirit, premise of a strong bond and makes common ex- fo r the realisation of what i best in each of us. perience possibl e. This is. . again, a gift, even Paltini$ needs to be un derstood in th ese term s though Noica thought he wa s the cause of it, too . It was th e background again st whi ch a very simply because he had decid ed that we should special sort of hu ma n relati onshi p developed. become fri end s. He mi ght not have succeeded in Friend ship is different from pa rtn ership , dif- that. Not aII of Noica 's projects were successful, fe rent from collabora ti on, and surely different especially when it came to peopl e. Yet, with us, from the 'gang'. It is vitally importa nt that one Gabriel and I, th e project was successful. And I can run an informal se minar on Pl otinus while suppose that, in a larger se nse, even though it's so mebod y else is makin g coffee or preparing not the same type of relati onship, it worked with 44 Andrei peo ple like So rel Vieru , as well as with th e gro up extreme decay, structuring refe rence points are of And rei Co rn ea, Radu Bercea, Thomas KJ ei- spontaneously generated. Wh en th ere is a ninger and so on. great... I would not say need ... but lack of mo- dels, the mod els will appear. I would call it an al- A.M. Let us come ba ck to th e th eme oJ con- most natural process, which occurs even in th e tra sts. Amid the gloo min ess and deri sion of the abse nce of di sc iples who are hi ghl y capable and official life before '89, yo u mad e th e experi ence ready to be th e rece ptacl es of tho se mod els. Th e of intellectual and personal auth enti city. Toda y, master appears anyway. So it ma y be that no one is fa ced with mu ch more num erous and di- masters are to be foun d today not because th ere verse op portunities, yet of a more unifo rm qua- are no people to wi sh for th em. I remember stu- lity, whi ch no longer encourage such epi sodes. dents I had in '92-'93 saying, 'Weren't you lu cky to have Noica! Why aren't we that lu cky?' So th e Andrei This makes me think of th e sub- need see ms to be th ere. What we lack are th e tler side of a 'common place' related to th e qu es- contrasts th at engend er fo rm ative quakes and tion of initi ation. Th ey say it takes a need of a storm s. What we have is a sort of superfi cial dy- ma ster in ord er that the master appear. Not nami c homogeneity that di scourages th e tension quite. Sometimes th e master appears as a point of auth enti c qu est, whiJ e onJ y favouri ng a fev e- of contrast, not of aspiration . I mean to say that ri sh craving for profitable solutions. a personal aspiration is not absolutely necessary. When an atmosphere or a mili eu is in a state of Translated by So rana Corn eanu