Morometii
Encyclopedia
Moromeţii is a novel
by the Romania
n author Marin Preda
, one which consecrated him as the most important novelist in the post-World War II
Romanian literature.
In about a thousand pages, grouped in two parts, redrawing, over about twenty years, the slow and deep dissolution of an ordinary peasant family living in the village of Siliştea-Gumeşti
(Teleorman
), in the Wallachian Plain, Preda aimed to fulfil his credo ("without notions like history, truth, reality, prose would make no sense").
Ilie Moromete, his wife Catrina, their children Ilinca, Tita and Niculae, and Ilie's older sons from a previous marriage, Paraschiv, Nilă and Achim, seem to live, although not excepted from difficulties, a regular life. Their story, covering a couple of years in the late 1930s, is in some way the negation of the opening phrase of the novel: "In the Danube fields, a few years before World War II, it seemed that time was very patient with people; life was going on here without major conflicts".
Starting several pages later, time itself seems to have accelerated, with the rhythm of peasant life replacing that of nature. The Mormetes, like many other peasant families owning small plots of land, have to pay land taxes - which accumulate with each passing year. The debt, worsened by the low crop prices following the Great Depression
is only the starting point of Ilie's turmoil: he, a respected figure in the village community, has to face not only the shame of fighting the tax collector but, in what is the actual drama, the incomprehension of his family. Indeed, the three older sons do not stand their stepmother and her children, and want their father to sell a particular plot of land and split the sum with them - the brothers are also planning to start new lives in the capital Bucharest
. Braving Ilie's refusal, they run away from home with the family horses, stealing their stepsisters' dowry
. Moromete ends up selling a part of the land, paying back the tax debt, and ceding to his wife's request to pay tuition
for their youngest boy Niculae.
and socialist-obedient literary critics, the second volume is mainly a distinct novel from the first one : except for the action place, the village of Siliştea-Gumeşti
in Teleorman
, the structure, the narrative technique and the style itself are different from Moromeţii I.
Moromeţii II focuses on a collective character - the village. Following World War II, a new, communist-regime
world is being constructed, with its specific social ties and concerns. The moral conflict that constituted the theme of the first volume evolves into a social one, the land collective property, englobing the first. During forced collectivisation, a process that dramatically changed rural landscape, an aged Ilie Moromete, abandoned by his sons and his wife, left by his old friends, no longer seems to be able to fit.
Relevant pages describing Moromete make points against the "new society" credo of his youngest son Niculae, by now a young man sent to his own village by the Romanian Communist Party
to carry out propaganda
in favour of new collective farms. Denying merit to communism
and its goal to eliminate private land ownership and transform peasants into farm workers, Moromete dies proud of "having lived like an independent man".
and Liviu Rebreanu
) were centered on dramas involving acquiring plots, Moromeţii shifted focus on preserving ownership of the land. The example of Ilie Moromete, who sees his peasant mentalities and way of life (reliance on land ownership and family), traces the destiny of his social category between not long after the land reform
to what has later been deemed "the obsessive decade" of the 1950s; Moromete and his peasant dignity are crushed by deep changes brought about by capitalism
, industrialization, and finally communism
.
A minute and complex picture of the Romanian countryside life during the period, Moromeţii distinguished itself by the characters' depth and inner strength—especially those of the main hero, a contemplative archetype
of "man-living-of-land-labor". Preda heavily relies on the use of his characters' use of language (comprising their particular humor, reflexion, and subtle meditation on deep questions of existence). According to Alexandru Piru: "With Moromeţii Preda gives the proof that peasant world is not, as we were used to believe, governed by instincts, but is capable of great feelings, and that its soul reactions are infinite".
and with Victor Rebengiuc
as Ilie Moromete, was released in 1987.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by the Romania
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 author Marin Preda
Marin Preda
Marin Preda was a Romanian novelist, one of the best-known post-WWII Romanian writers.Preda was born in Teleorman county, in a village called Siliştea-Gumeşti, into a family of peasants. He first studied at school in his home village, then schools in Abrud and Cristur-Odorhei...
, one which consecrated him as the most important novelist in the post-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...
Romanian literature.
In about a thousand pages, grouped in two parts, redrawing, over about twenty years, the slow and deep dissolution of an ordinary peasant family living in the village of Siliştea-Gumeşti
Silistea Gumesti
Siliştea Gumeşti is a commune in Teleorman County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Siliştea Gumeşti. It was called Siliştea Nouă from 1968 to 1996....
(Teleorman
Teleorman County
Teleorman is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria.The name Teleorman is of Cumanic origin. It literally means crazy forest and, by extension, "thick and shadowy forest" in the Cuman language...
), in the Wallachian Plain, Preda aimed to fulfil his credo ("without notions like history, truth, reality, prose would make no sense").
Moromeţii - volume 1 (1955)
Moromeţii I is the first novel in the series, written at the time when Preda was known to the public and critics for his short stories.Ilie Moromete, his wife Catrina, their children Ilinca, Tita and Niculae, and Ilie's older sons from a previous marriage, Paraschiv, Nilă and Achim, seem to live, although not excepted from difficulties, a regular life. Their story, covering a couple of years in the late 1930s, is in some way the negation of the opening phrase of the novel: "In the Danube fields, a few years before World War II, it seemed that time was very patient with people; life was going on here without major conflicts".
Starting several pages later, time itself seems to have accelerated, with the rhythm of peasant life replacing that of nature. The Mormetes, like many other peasant families owning small plots of land, have to pay land taxes - which accumulate with each passing year. The debt, worsened by the low crop prices following the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
is only the starting point of Ilie's turmoil: he, a respected figure in the village community, has to face not only the shame of fighting the tax collector but, in what is the actual drama, the incomprehension of his family. Indeed, the three older sons do not stand their stepmother and her children, and want their father to sell a particular plot of land and split the sum with them - the brothers are also planning to start new lives in the capital Bucharest
Bucharest
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....
. Braving Ilie's refusal, they run away from home with the family horses, stealing their stepsisters' dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
. Moromete ends up selling a part of the land, paying back the tax debt, and ceding to his wife's request to pay tuition
Tuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
for their youngest boy Niculae.
Moromeţii - volume 2 (1967)
Published twelve years later (the author wrote two more novels in the meanwhile) and surprising censorshipCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
and socialist-obedient literary critics, the second volume is mainly a distinct novel from the first one : except for the action place, the village of Siliştea-Gumeşti
Silistea Gumesti
Siliştea Gumeşti is a commune in Teleorman County, Romania. It is composed of a single village, Siliştea Gumeşti. It was called Siliştea Nouă from 1968 to 1996....
in Teleorman
Teleorman County
Teleorman is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria.The name Teleorman is of Cumanic origin. It literally means crazy forest and, by extension, "thick and shadowy forest" in the Cuman language...
, the structure, the narrative technique and the style itself are different from Moromeţii I.
Moromeţii II focuses on a collective character - the village. Following World War II, a new, 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...
world is being constructed, with its specific social ties and concerns. The moral conflict that constituted the theme of the first volume evolves into a social one, the land collective property, englobing the first. During forced collectivisation, a process that dramatically changed rural landscape, an aged Ilie Moromete, abandoned by his sons and his wife, left by his old friends, no longer seems to be able to fit.
Relevant pages describing Moromete make points against the "new society" credo of his youngest son Niculae, by now a young man sent to his own village by the Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
to carry out propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
in favour of new collective farms. Denying merit to communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
and its goal to eliminate private land ownership and transform peasants into farm workers, Moromete dies proud of "having lived like an independent man".
Major themes
If previous Romanian novels with similar themes (those of Ioan SlaviciIoan Slavici
Ioan Slavici was a Transylvanian-born Romanian writer and journalist. He made his debut in Convorbiri literare , with the comedy Fata de birău...
and 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...
) were centered on dramas involving acquiring plots, Moromeţii shifted focus on preserving ownership of the land. The example of Ilie Moromete, who sees his peasant mentalities and way of life (reliance on land ownership and family), traces the destiny of his social category between not long after the land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
to what has later been deemed "the obsessive decade" of the 1950s; Moromete and his peasant dignity are crushed by deep changes brought about by capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, industrialization, and finally communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.
A minute and complex picture of the Romanian countryside life during the period, Moromeţii distinguished itself by the characters' depth and inner strength—especially those of the main hero, a contemplative archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
of "man-living-of-land-labor". Preda heavily relies on the use of his characters' use of language (comprising their particular humor, reflexion, and subtle meditation on deep questions of existence). According to Alexandru Piru: "With Moromeţii Preda gives the proof that peasant world is not, as we were used to believe, governed by instincts, but is capable of great feelings, and that its soul reactions are infinite".
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
A screen version of Moromeţii I, directed signed by Stere GuleaStere Gulea
Stere Gulea is a Romanian film director and screenwriter.-Filmography:*Weekend cu mama *Stare de fapt , also screenplay*Vulpe - Vânǎtor...
and with Victor Rebengiuc
Victor Rebengiuc
Victor Rebengiuc is an award-winning Romanian film and stage actor, also known as a civil society activist. Since 1957, he has been a member of the Bulandra Theater company, acting in more than 200 roles on that stage alone...
as Ilie Moromete, was released in 1987.