Research Programs
Anarchetypes. Reevaluation of marginal literary forms and genres
Acronym: ANTIP
Grant UEFISCDI no. PCE 63 / 2022
Director: Prof. Corin Braga
June 2022-December 2024
Research Domain: SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
Subdomain: SH5 Cultures and Cultural Production. Literature, philology, cultural studies, study of the arts, philosophy
Main research aria: SH5_2 Theory and history of literature, comparative literature
Abstract:
The ANTIP research project starts from the realization that today the concepts of archetype and archetypal hermeneutics are dismissed as intellectual constructs lacking solid metaphysical or psychological foundations. However, it was based on their authority and prestige that the concepts of structural center and organic composition articulated the most important aesthetics and poetics of European culture, from Aristotle and Horace to N. Frye and R. Ingarden. Archetypes have been used as value criteria for shaping and organizing literary canons, while a series of literary works and genres which do not endorse the idea of structure have been relegated to the canonical margins. In 2006, I coined the concept of anarchetype in an attempt to reassess and recuperate these “anarchical” forms. In contrast with archetypal works, which have an inbuilt structure, a plot and an overarching meaning that can be easily grasped by readers, anarchetypal works are loose compounds whose components are anarchically related and deliberately avoid models and preexisting conventions, as well as a unique, monolithic, or coherent sense. The ANTIP project pursues the axiological revalorization of such atypical works. The 9 members of the team (3 senior and 6 junior researchers) will analyze several historical literary corpuses: Alexandrine and chivalric romances, extraordinary voyages and adventure romances, modernist and postmodernist novels, fantasy and SF literature. The team will produce 2 books (published in France and Romania), 3 issues of Caietele Echinox (journal indexed by CNCS A, ISI, ERIH+, EBSCO, MLA) and 25 studies in ISI and BDI journals. Organized by the Phantasma Center in Cluj, the program will disseminate its results through several publications and the participation of its members in conferences organized mainly by the CRI2i network (Centre de Recherches Internationales sur l’Imaginaire), therefore organically integrating the Cluj Center into international scholarship.
Keywords:
- Cultural paradigms
- Archetype
- Anarchetype
- Literary genres
- Literary canon
Host Institution:
Babeș-Bolyai University, str. Kogălniceanu nr. 1, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Phantasma. The Center for Imagination Studies, Faculty of Letters, str. Horea 31, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Members of the research team:
Senior researchers
– Prof. Corin Braga
– Conf. Borbély Carmen-Veronica
– Lector Laura T. Ilea
– Lector Conkan Marius-Dan
Junior researchers
– Postdoc Toderici Radu-Ioan
– Postdoc Părău-Olar Călina
– PhD student Onețiu Elena
– PhD student Văsieş Alexandru Florin
– PhD student Barbu Maria