Dinu Nicodin
Encyclopedia
Dinu Nicodin (ˈdinu nikoˈdin; pen name of Nicolae Ioanid; 1886–1948) was a Romania
n writer affiliated with the modernist
venue Sburătorul
. Having an aristocratic (boyar
) background, he was an eccentric and adventurous figure who only turned to literature as a hobby, and whose scattered works were generally well received by critics during his lifetime. Nicodin was a promoter of works by his younger colleagues, and cultivated close friendships with those of his generation, being primarily noted for his presence on the interwar
's social scene.
Nicodin's two novels, Lupii ("The Wolves") and Revoluţia ("The Revolution"), have earned praise for their erudition and their characteristic narrative style, but these traits have also made him hard to place in relation to 20th century currents in Romanian literature. The writer largely faded out of critical memory by 1950, although there has been a significant resurgence in interest in later decades.
, where his main residence was the Capşa Hotel
. He was reportedly a passionate hunter, sharing this hobby with the other surviving members of Romanian boyardom. His other activities centered on eccentric and adventurous pursuits: a duel
er and a horse rider, he was also a financial expert, and once tasked by the government with overseeing the liquidation
of a bank. Although discovered late in life, his literary ambition is said to have led him to consider writing not just novels, but also screenplays and studies, in several languages.
Cultivating a personal relationship with literary theorist Eugen Lovinescu
, Nicodin became a presence among the members of Lovinescu's literary circle, Sburătorul
. The two shared a book collecting
hobby and a love of fine paper
: Nicodin procured for his friend paper items made from Japan
ese silk, and financed bibliophile
editions of both their works. While attending the sessions of Sburătorul, Nicodin also pursued a romantic affair with female novelist Cella Serghi. His own debut came late in life: the 1934 novel Lupii, which elevated him to critical attention, and the prose poem Aghan.
Dinu Nicodin made his comeback to literature during World War II
, when he published a volume of short stories, Pravoslavnica ocrotire (approx., "The Orthodox Protection"). Seeing print two years later, Revoluţia was Nicodin's contribution to the historical novel
genre. His literary confirmation came later, after the August 1944 Coup
toppled the repressive Ion Antonescu
regime (see Romania during World War II
). In September, Nicodin was one of the writers newly admitted into the Romanian Writers' Society, and whose arrival followed the expulsion of authors considered fascists
or supporters of authoritarianism
.
Shortly before his 1948 death, Nicodin was in correspondence with young critic Ion Negoiţescu
. A disciple of Lovinescu and member of the Sibiu Literary Circle
, Negoiţescu had earlier given an enthusiastic review to Revoluţia. Nicodin was among those who tried to obtain Negoiţescu a scholarship
to study in France
, but their common project ultimately failed.
. One such reviewer, George Călinescu
, welcomed the novelist's 1934 debut as a display of "best quality humor, solid culture and an irony of rare acrimony." The same commentator later defined Nicodin as "bizarre" and "snob
bish beyond all belief".
Later voices in criticism expanded on such verdicts, while issuing various interpretations of Nicodin's contextual role. Nicolae Manolescu
notes that common perception has linked together Nicodin and another eccentric figure of his generation, Mateiu Caragiale
, but suggests that this comparison is "entirely senseless", the only such similarity being a "precious and sumptuous style" present in both Lupii and works by Caragiale. Ovid Crohmălniceanu primarily identified Nicodin's literary contribution by its "arty prose", which he believed akin to the styles of Caragiale and Emanoil Bucuţa. He notes that, in Nicodin's case, the marks of this approach include: "carefully staged phrasing", "archaic patina", "affected and snobbish" manner and "rare pictorial strength".
Lupii, a combination of travel literature
and satire
, made an instant impression on the reading public. The narrative pretext is a hunting trip into the northern reaches of Transylvania
region and into Maramureş
, during which the protagonist, a forestry clerk named Venetici (from venetic, "stranger") is confronted with differences in customs and the hostility of locals. In his 1934 review of the novel, Călinescu suggested that the theme of the book partly deals with a cultural tension between, on one hand, the "asperities" of character encouraged by the Habsburg
legacy in Transylvania and, on the other, the social characteristics introduced after the "Great Union
". Crohmălniceanu finds that a defining element of Lupii is the inhospitality of local characters, which offers Nicodin grounds for "ironic reflections with erudite references".
In his definitive history of Romanian literature (first published in 1941), Călinescu nuanced his positive appraisal of Lupii. His note on the subject deemed "puzzling" other critics' reactions to Nicodin's work, including comparisons made between the author and the 19th century Romantic
prose writer Alexandru Odobescu
. In effect, he argued, Lupii was "an amateur's modest party, soon after forgotten."
The author's interest in bookish themes is again evidenced in Aghan, where he adapts a Romantic theme from French author Gérard de Nerval
's La Main enchantée ("The Enchanted Hand"). A more ambitious project, Revoluţia was Dinu Nicodin's perspective on French Revolution
and the philosophy of history
. Writing from a Marxist
perspective, Crohmălniceanu argued that the novelist was constructing "precipitous ramblings", the signs of "reactionary
delirium". He nevertheless approved of "memorable scenes" such as the noyades
: "a somber painting, accomplished with extraordinary power of expression."
The volume was received with sympathy by some of the authors who were just then debuting. One of them, Pericle Martinescu
, called it "a European-level creation" and Nicodin's "capital work", but argued that the particularities of style made it untranslatable. According to a 2008 article by academic Andrei Terian, Ion Negoiţescu's early review of Nicodin's book erred by shifting critical attention toward "saucy and picturesque
" aspects, such as a glimpse into Jean Jacques Rousseau's sexuality. Negoiţescu also found "admirable" the pages which discuss the Great Fear
, and expressed further praise for Nicodin's approach to the Reign of Terror
(centered on graphic episodes such as one in which dogs drenched in human blood are chasing each other through the streets).
, wore the most expensive perfumes of Paris
, spoke with a studied foreign accent [and] carried out his correspondence on extra fine paper".
Dinu Nicodin was often ignored altogether in works of literary history published both before and after the establishment of Romania's communist regime
. Among the works of his day who did mention Nicodin's work, George Călinescu's 1941 synthesis, according to a later pronouncement by literary critic Cosmin Ciotloş, effectively "dismissed [it], with superiority, in just a couple of phrases." An exception to this rule is Nicodin's younger friend, Negoiţescu: his own overview study of Romanian literature, published after his self-exile to West Germany
, allocates more text to Nicodin's work than to the better-known works of Liviu Rebreanu
.
The partial recovery of Nicodin's work which followed the 1989 Revolution
and end of communism included a 2000 reprint of Revoluţia, published by Editura Albatros and edited by critic Ion Simuţ. In 2008, Nicodin was granted a sizable entry in Nicolae Manolescu
's own overview of Romanian literature. According to Ciotloş, Manolescu parted with his mentor, George Călinescu, by reinstating Nicodin to a more prominent position. Manolescu's text was itself a comment on Nicodin's legacy: "Without doubt, the man is [...] superior to his work. Without the man's reputation, it is probable that the novels, not to mention the short stories [...], would now be forgotten."
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n writer affiliated with the modernist
Modernist literature
Modernist literature is sub-genre of Modernism, a predominantly European movement beginning in the early 20th century that was characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional aesthetic forms...
venue Sburătorul
Sburatorul
Sburătorul was a Romanian modernist literary magazine and literary society, established in Bucharest in April 1919. Led by Eugen Lovinescu, the circle was instrumental in developing new trends and styles in Romanian literature, ranging from a new wave of Romanian Symbolism to an urban-themed...
. Having an aristocratic (boyar
Boyar
A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
) background, he was an eccentric and adventurous figure who only turned to literature as a hobby, and whose scattered works were generally well received by critics during his lifetime. Nicodin was a promoter of works by his younger colleagues, and cultivated close friendships with those of his generation, being primarily noted for his presence on the interwar
Interwar period
Interwar period can refer to any period between two wars. The Interbellum is understood to be the period between the end of the Great War or First World War and the beginning of the Second World War in Europe....
's social scene.
Nicodin's two novels, Lupii ("The Wolves") and Revoluţia ("The Revolution"), have earned praise for their erudition and their characteristic narrative style, but these traits have also made him hard to place in relation to 20th century currents in Romanian literature. The writer largely faded out of critical memory by 1950, although there has been a significant resurgence in interest in later decades.
Biography
The scion of an old and prosperous boyar family, Nicodin lived in BucharestBucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, where his main residence was the Capşa Hotel
Casa Capsa
Casa Capşa is a historic restaurant in Bucharest, Romania, first established in 1852. At various times it has also included a hotel; most recently, it reopened as a 61-room hotel 17 June 2003....
. He was reportedly a passionate hunter, sharing this hobby with the other surviving members of Romanian boyardom. His other activities centered on eccentric and adventurous pursuits: a duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
er and a horse rider, he was also a financial expert, and once tasked by the government with overseeing the liquidation
Liquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
of a bank. Although discovered late in life, his literary ambition is said to have led him to consider writing not just novels, but also screenplays and studies, in several languages.
Cultivating a personal relationship with literary theorist Eugen Lovinescu
Eugen Lovinescu
Eugen Lovinescu was a Romanian modernist literary historian, literary critic, academic, and novelist, who in 1919 established the Sburătorul literary club. He was the father of Monica Lovinescu, and the uncle of Horia Lovinescu, Vasile Lovinescu, and Anton Holban...
, Nicodin became a presence among the members of Lovinescu's literary circle, Sburătorul
Sburatorul
Sburătorul was a Romanian modernist literary magazine and literary society, established in Bucharest in April 1919. Led by Eugen Lovinescu, the circle was instrumental in developing new trends and styles in Romanian literature, ranging from a new wave of Romanian Symbolism to an urban-themed...
. The two shared a book collecting
Book collecting
Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given individual collector. The love of books is bibliophilia, and someone who loves to read, admire, and collect...
hobby and a love of fine paper
Fine paper
Fine papers are printing and writing paper grades based mainly on chemical pulps. Normally the content of mechanical pulps are below 10% and the amount of fillers in the range 5–25%.-Production:...
: Nicodin procured for his friend paper items made from Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese silk, and financed bibliophile
Bibliophilia
Bibliophilia or bibliophilism is the love of books. Accordingly a bibliophile is an individual who loves books. A bookworm is someone who loves books for their content, or who otherwise loves reading. The -ia-suffixed form "bibliophilia" is sometimes considered to be an incorrect usage; the older...
editions of both their works. While attending the sessions of Sburătorul, Nicodin also pursued a romantic affair with female novelist Cella Serghi. His own debut came late in life: the 1934 novel Lupii, which elevated him to critical attention, and the prose poem Aghan.
Dinu Nicodin made his comeback to literature during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when he published a volume of short stories, Pravoslavnica ocrotire (approx., "The Orthodox Protection"). Seeing print two years later, Revoluţia was Nicodin's contribution to the historical novel
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
genre. His literary confirmation came later, after the August 1944 Coup
King Michael's Coup
King Michael's Coup refers to the coup d'etat led by King Michael of Romania in 1944 against the pro-Nazi Romanian faction of Ion Antonescu, after the Axis front in Northeastern Romania collapsed under the Soviet offensive.-The coup:...
toppled the repressive Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
regime (see Romania during World War II
Romania during World War II
Following the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the Kingdom of Romania officially adopted a position of neutrality. However, the rapidly changing situation in Europe during 1940, as well as domestic political upheaval, undermined this stance. Fascist political forces such as the Iron...
). In September, Nicodin was one of the writers newly admitted into the Romanian Writers' Society, and whose arrival followed the expulsion of authors considered fascists
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
or supporters of authoritarianism
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
.
Shortly before his 1948 death, Nicodin was in correspondence with young critic Ion Negoiţescu
Ion Negoitescu
Ion Negoiţescu was a Romanian literary historian, critic, poet, novelist and memoirist, one of the leading members of the Sibiu Literary Circle. A rebellious and eccentric figure, Negoiţescu began his career while still an adolescent, and made himself known as a literary ideologue of the 1940s...
. A disciple of Lovinescu and member of the Sibiu Literary Circle
Sibiu Literary Circle
The Sibiu Literary Circle was a literary group created during World War II in Sibiu to promote the modernist liberal ideas of Eugen Lovinescu....
, Negoiţescu had earlier given an enthusiastic review to Revoluţia. Nicodin was among those who tried to obtain Negoiţescu a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to study in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, but their common project ultimately failed.
Work
Dinu Nicodin had an eccentric position in the field of Romanian literature, and has traditionally been described by literary critics and historians as a hard to classify figure, and found primarily interesting for using a distinctive stylistic category of the Romanian languageRomanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
. One such reviewer, George Călinescu
George Calinescu
George Călinescu was a Romanian literary critic, historian, novelist, academician and journalist, and a writer of classicist and humanist tendencies...
, welcomed the novelist's 1934 debut as a display of "best quality humor, solid culture and an irony of rare acrimony." The same commentator later defined Nicodin as "bizarre" and "snob
Snob
A snob is someone who believes that some people are inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons, including real or supposed intellect, wealth, education, ancestry, taste, beauty, nationality, et cetera. Often, the form of snobbery reflects the snob's personal attributes...
bish beyond all belief".
Later voices in criticism expanded on such verdicts, while issuing various interpretations of Nicodin's contextual role. Nicolae Manolescu
Nicolae Manolescu
Nicolae Manolescu is a Romanian literary critic. As an editor of România Literară literary magazine, he has reached a record in reviewing books for almost 30 years...
notes that common perception has linked together Nicodin and another eccentric figure of his generation, Mateiu Caragiale
Mateiu Caragiale
Mateiu Ion Caragiale was a Romanian poet and prose writer, best known for his novel Craii de Curtea-Veche, which portrays the milieu of boyar descendants before and after World War I. Caragiale's style, associated with Symbolism, the Decadent movement of the fin de siècle, and early modernism, was...
, but suggests that this comparison is "entirely senseless", the only such similarity being a "precious and sumptuous style" present in both Lupii and works by Caragiale. Ovid Crohmălniceanu primarily identified Nicodin's literary contribution by its "arty prose", which he believed akin to the styles of Caragiale and Emanoil Bucuţa. He notes that, in Nicodin's case, the marks of this approach include: "carefully staged phrasing", "archaic patina", "affected and snobbish" manner and "rare pictorial strength".
Lupii, a combination of travel literature
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
and satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
, made an instant impression on the reading public. The narrative pretext is a hunting trip into the northern reaches of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
region and into Maramureş
Maramures
Maramureș may refer to the following:*Maramureș, a geographical, historical, and ethno-cultural region in present-day Romania and Ukraine, that occupies the Maramureș Depression and Maramureș Mountains, a mountain range in North East Carpathians...
, during which the protagonist, a forestry clerk named Venetici (from venetic, "stranger") is confronted with differences in customs and the hostility of locals. In his 1934 review of the novel, Călinescu suggested that the theme of the book partly deals with a cultural tension between, on one hand, the "asperities" of character encouraged by the Habsburg
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
legacy in Transylvania and, on the other, the social characteristics introduced after the "Great Union
Union of Transylvania with Romania
Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared on by the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia.The national holiday of Romania, the Great Union Day occurring on December 1, commemorates this event...
". Crohmălniceanu finds that a defining element of Lupii is the inhospitality of local characters, which offers Nicodin grounds for "ironic reflections with erudite references".
In his definitive history of Romanian literature (first published in 1941), Călinescu nuanced his positive appraisal of Lupii. His note on the subject deemed "puzzling" other critics' reactions to Nicodin's work, including comparisons made between the author and the 19th century Romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
prose writer Alexandru Odobescu
Alexandru Odobescu
Alexandru Ioan Odobescu was a Romanian author, archaeologist and politician.-Biography:He was born in Bucharest, the second child of General Ioan Odobescu and his wife Ecaterina. After attending Saint Sava College and, from 1850, a Paris lycée, he took the baccalauréat in 1853 and studied...
. In effect, he argued, Lupii was "an amateur's modest party, soon after forgotten."
The author's interest in bookish themes is again evidenced in Aghan, where he adapts a Romantic theme from French author Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval
Gérard de Nerval was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.- Biography :...
's La Main enchantée ("The Enchanted Hand"). A more ambitious project, Revoluţia was Dinu Nicodin's perspective on French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and the philosophy of history
Philosophy of history
The term philosophy of history refers to the theoretical aspect of history, in two senses. It is customary to distinguish critical philosophy of history from speculative philosophy of history...
. Writing from a Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
perspective, Crohmălniceanu argued that the novelist was constructing "precipitous ramblings", the signs of "reactionary
Reactionary
The term reactionary refers to viewpoints that seek to return to a previous state in a society. The term is meant to describe one end of a political spectrum whose opposite pole is "radical". While it has not been generally considered a term of praise it has been adopted as a self-description by...
delirium". He nevertheless approved of "memorable scenes" such as the noyades
Noyades
Noyades were drownings superintended during the Reign of Terror at Nantes, between November 1793 and January 1794, by the attorney Jean-Baptiste Carrier, the representative-on-mission....
: "a somber painting, accomplished with extraordinary power of expression."
The volume was received with sympathy by some of the authors who were just then debuting. One of them, Pericle Martinescu
Pericle Martinescu
Pericle Martinescu was a Romanian writer and journalist.Pericle Martinescu studied Literature and Philosophy at the University of Bucharest. His first poems appeared in Gazeta Transilvaniei, a local magazine...
, called it "a European-level creation" and Nicodin's "capital work", but argued that the particularities of style made it untranslatable. According to a 2008 article by academic Andrei Terian, Ion Negoiţescu's early review of Nicodin's book erred by shifting critical attention toward "saucy and picturesque
Picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
" aspects, such as a glimpse into Jean Jacques Rousseau's sexuality. Negoiţescu also found "admirable" the pages which discuss the Great Fear
Great Fear
The "Great Fear" occurred from 20 July to 5 August 1789 in France at the start of the French Revolution. Rural unrest had been present in France since the worsening grain shortage of the spring, and the grain supplies were now guarded by local militias as rumors that bands of armed men were...
, and expressed further praise for Nicodin's approach to the Reign of Terror
Reign of Terror
The Reign of Terror , also known simply as The Terror , was a period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of...
(centered on graphic episodes such as one in which dogs drenched in human blood are chasing each other through the streets).
Legacy
Present in Lovinescu's various autobiographical texts, Dinu Nicodin is also briefly mentioned in the memoirs of female novelist Lucia Demetrius, whose debut was also under the auspices of Lovinescu's circle. Demetrius, who describes the aged author as a "very elegant" man, also reports that Nicodin gave a good reception to her unpublished work, but also notes feeling "stunned" that Lovinescu, who mediated between his two associates, callously intervened in their correspondence. Nicodin is referred to in the autobiographical notations of another novelist, I. Peltz. He described his colleague as "well-built, with the calm gaze of men who have seen and are aware of many things", and recalled: "he dressed himself in accordance with the latest fashion in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, wore the most expensive perfumes of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, spoke with a studied foreign accent [and] carried out his correspondence on extra fine paper".
Dinu Nicodin was often ignored altogether in works of literary history published both before and after the establishment of Romania's communist regime
Communist Romania
Communist Romania was the period in Romanian history when that country was a Soviet-aligned communist state in the Eastern Bloc, with the dominant role of Romanian Communist Party enshrined in its successive constitutions...
. Among the works of his day who did mention Nicodin's work, George Călinescu's 1941 synthesis, according to a later pronouncement by literary critic Cosmin Ciotloş, effectively "dismissed [it], with superiority, in just a couple of phrases." An exception to this rule is Nicodin's younger friend, Negoiţescu: his own overview study of Romanian literature, published after his self-exile to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, allocates more text to Nicodin's work than to the better-known works of Liviu Rebreanu
Liviu Rebreanu
Liviu Rebreanu was a Romanian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and journalist.- Life :Born in Târlișua , Transylvania, then part of Austria-Hungary, he was the second of thirteen children born to Vasile Rebreanu, a schoolteacher, and Ludovica Diuganu, descendants of peasants...
.
The partial recovery of Nicodin's work which followed the 1989 Revolution
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
and end of communism included a 2000 reprint of Revoluţia, published by Editura Albatros and edited by critic Ion Simuţ. In 2008, Nicodin was granted a sizable entry in Nicolae Manolescu
Nicolae Manolescu
Nicolae Manolescu is a Romanian literary critic. As an editor of România Literară literary magazine, he has reached a record in reviewing books for almost 30 years...
's own overview of Romanian literature. According to Ciotloş, Manolescu parted with his mentor, George Călinescu, by reinstating Nicodin to a more prominent position. Manolescu's text was itself a comment on Nicodin's legacy: "Without doubt, the man is [...] superior to his work. Without the man's reputation, it is probable that the novels, not to mention the short stories [...], would now be forgotten."