A witness to the paired
totalitarianisms of the 20th century, Norman Manea is a writer of survivals. His
medium is Romanian. He belongs to the world. With Gogol he shares the ability to
express life’s absurdity while rendering—while constituting—overwhelming
humanity. This in the face of the nullity and mediocrity essential to vast
tracts of the human condition.
His prose offers a deep insight into
the abnormal essence of a totalitarian society where the political factor exerts
overwhelming control over daily existence, down to the finest details of personal
life. His work focuses on the dissolution of identity, intimacy and inner life
under the dreadful pressures that force people to hide their true selves behind
masks. Preoccupied with personae, the sensitivity of Norman Manea’s prose goes beyond the stance, style
and technique of which it is made and materializes as the willingness and
necessity to live inner truth—by all means.
Manea’s
style lacks an overt metaphorical dimension. The author seeks, rather, to
render humanity’s darkness, inextricably linked to the pettiness of human
beings. A manifold meditation on the nature of evil, identity and memory,
Manea’s novels, essays and stories create a gripping image of alienation in a
world where everything seems to obscure the simple truth of human life. “What
label do I wear and why by all means do I have to wear one?” wonders Manea, a
Romanian who suffered doubly: for being a Jew and for living in under a
communist regime. His voice is humane, powerful and impassioned. His artistry
conveys a compelling ethics.
