Keywords
Ioan Cantacuzino,
early modernity,
Romanian poetry,
nationalism,
indirectlyricism,
literary influence,
literary pioneering,
poetic primitivism
early modernity,
Romanian poetry,
nationalism,
indirectlyricism,
literary influence,
literary pioneering,
poetic primitivism
Abstract
The article discusses Ioan Cantacuzino’s New Poems a collection of poetry printed in 1795 in Dubasari While the collection has in the seven decades since its rediscovery been predominantly studied in a literary historical perspective I propose to look at it as a part of the transnational fluxes of European and world modernity and of their dynamic based on affiliation influence and differentiation To this end I follow two directions Firstly I am interested how Cantacuzino sees his own initiative to adopt modern Western poetry in Romanian the hardships he faces the creativity he employs to surpass them Secondly I investigate how Romanian criticism appraised Cantacuzino’s poetic endeavour its shortcomings and its achievements.