Norman Manea and Petru Dumitriu: Reissues of Romanian Literature in France

Éditions du Seuil reissues Norman Manea's 'Le Thé de Proust' with four previously untranslated stories, alongside Petru Dumitriu's 'Incognito'. Manea, a Romanian-born writer, draws on his childhood deportation to Transnistria camps in 1941 and subsequent disillusionment with Soviet communism. His stories explore trauma, fear, and the nonlinear nature of time, as in 'Le Portrait de l'abricotier jaune' where the narrator confronts aged classmates. Dumitriu's novel, originally published in French in 1962, follows a communist party member who faces a moral choice between organized lies and conscience, leading to reeducation camps. The reissues highlight the enduring power of Eastern European literature confronting totalitarianism.