Le destin de la fable roumaine au XIXe siècle: allégorie, satire ou parodie ?

Abstract

The Romanian lyrics of the XIXth century has been influenced by the Western Europe’s lyrics as the
species developed by the foreign literatures have, at that time, drawn the attention of the Romanian writers. Out
of these, Gr. Alexandrescu has put himself on record by choosing the fable as way of presentation, but also as
symbol of the versified irony. Thus, the contents of its oeuvre have, besides the mission of education and
instruction, another, perhaps more important role: that of amusing. Being greatly influenced by La Fontaine,
Gr. Alexandrescu has determined the destiny of the Romanian fable, managing to create a political satire of that
historical period. By presenting different conflicts of versified and dialogued ideas, the most important figures of
the time, symbols of the époque’s spirit, were hyperbolized and have created – in literary terms – dramatic
political clashes, but with a sudden and unexpected – for the reader, ending. Another important characteristic of
Alexandrescu’s writing is the irony of a spiritual person who knows to satirize and “make fun”, playing with the
words – trait revealed by the subtle allusions and the poetical language present in his masterpieces.