Two Samples of Queer Ecology in Romanian Contemporary Literature. From Silenced Witness to Redeemer

• Published in: Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory 2023-12, Vol.9 (2), p.167-177
• Main Author: Chirteș, Denisa Artemisa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Comparative Study of Literature; Language and Literature Studies; Romanian Literature; Studies of Literature
• ISSN: 2457-8827; 2457-8827
• DOI: 10.24193/mjcst.2023.16.11

This paper will analyse the intersection between two components (queer and ecological) by reviewing two texts, both describing themselves as “ecological queer,” therefore, settling a new paradigm in Romanian literature, aiming beyond the aesthetic sphere. The examples are Copiii ecosistemului (The Children of the Ecosystem) by Ilinca Mănescu and the anthology Luminișuri (Glades), published under Cenaclul X. The main stake of the thesis is to identify and detail the similarities between the two ideologies, as a new phenomenon in Romanian literature and anthropology (as these critical lenses have been used before in world literature). A central convergence comes as a result of capitalism and colonialism, expanding the violence in human and non-human forms. To simplify, the queer community and nature are victims of the same system, which explains the constellation between the two. The interdisciplinary conjunction “ecoqueer” stands against heteronormativity and embraces the diversity of nature, and this article will focus on its development in the Romanian literary space, through the two examples, concerning both poetry and prose. Furthermore, this literary form has been exported from the West to the East-Central European periphery, highlighting Romanian literature’s status as a semi-peripheral literature, but on the other hand benefiting from this import and broadening the progressive ideology in the cultural space.