On July 10, 2008, the Romanian Embassy in The Hague hosted the presentation of the anthology Moderne Roemeense verhalen (Modern Romanian Stories), selected and translated by Jan Willem Bos and published by Atlas Publishing Company, Amsterdam. The anthology includes authors from the late nineteenth century Junimea (‘Youth’) movement to representatives of contemporary writing, and the stories were clearly selected to introduce the Dutch and Flemish readers to the diversity of Romanian literature. The stories also illustrate the development of Romanian society during the past century, from the early modern epoch, through the dynamic inter-war years, the bitter communist period and the sometimes bumpy transition to the democratic and booming society Romania is today – every period with its own characteristics and challenges.
The anthology contains some of the classics of Romanian literature, like ‘Remember’ by Mateiu I. Caragiale, ‘Dr. Honigberger’s Secret’ by Mircea Eliade and ‘The Re-enactment’ by Horia Pătraşcu. The latter formed the basis for a film script that was made into a movie by the famous director Lucian Pintilie, but which was quickly repressed by the communist authorities.
