by Mircea Martin
excerptsFondane's departure was the result of a personal choice, decision made in absolute freedom, without any pressure from the outside. And, because he was Jewish, we must add that his departure was not triggered by an anti-Semitic gesture against him or by any anti-Semitic wave. There is no hint in his testimony or letters at any such manifestation, except for a passage where he mentions the name of A.C. Cuza, a notorious nationalistic ideologue, who was a professor at the IasiUniversity, and who unjustly asked him a question he could not answer at an exam.The issue of Fondane being Jewish and of such hints in his work is extremely interesting.There was an important Jewish tradition cultivated as such in Fondane's maternal family, which he was sensitive to. His grandfather was a Hebrew scholar and one of his mother's brothers was an editor of Jewish periodicals.The nickname he chose, Fundoianu, from the land estate of Fundoaia, proves he did not emphasize his Jewish descent. Neither did he seek an exclusive integration into the Romanian culture; he contributed to Jewish magazines in Romania, publishing articles or translations from Yiddish poetry.In his desire to discover a Jewish tradition and adhere to it, Fondane turned to the Bible. Later, he wrote: "I have returned not to Zionism, but to Judaism. Zionism is nothing but a political challenge. Judaism is an existential one." (1919).His passion was to demonstrate and interpret, not to adhere. Jewish themes are dealt with freely, like a free thinker, a man who refuses any and all constraint.There are biblical themes and even images in Fondane's Romanian poems, especially when his heart was filled with joy and he exulted in the beauty of the landscape. In his memorable Psalm of a Leprous Man, written in 1920, no autobiographical note can be identified. This image of the damned, stigmatized man will be a recurrent one in his French poetry. It is at that time that the feeling of his Jewish identity seems to emerge. His Messianic appeals multiply, the tone of a biblical litany becomes a constant in his poems. Life as a journey, as a tragic peregrination, is the central theme in two volumes, Ulysses and Titanic. "Of course you are Jewish, Ulysses." This time the autobiographical connotation is undeniable.The change of his nickname, of his name in fact, is also significant. Fundoianu was explicitly Romanian, it was a place name, a space that the poet evoked and even mentioned concretely in his short lyrical poems describing nature; but Fondane, which is a mere adaptation of the Romanian name to the French spelling, is a neutral name, that neither suggests, nor hints. He also got a new nickname, Isaac Laquedem, to publish articles in Paul Eluard's Europe magazine and in clandestine magazines under the occupation.Becoming a French citizen in 1939, fighting on the front against the German occupants, Fondane needed to place himself, which is yet another challenge, in the paradigm of the Wandering Jew. Could that prove that he felt exiled in France?Benjamin Fondane, the star of the intellectual circles in Paris, identified with his threatened race. And he had been so keen on his independence all his life!Was this a metaphysical exile? Of course, but it is worth mentioning that this is an exile of the Jewish condition, which is elevated to the level of the human condition. Of course, that equivalence was never more justified than during those terrible years.His most emblematic verse said that his approach was out of any "camp." Now we know all too well what camp history chose to liquidate the man who had one of the most disquiet and disquieting minds, albeit never unhappy, always lucid, severe but serene, and which tragically exploded in the middle of the 20th century. from Euresis, Cahiers roumains d'études littéraires, 1-2/1993, Univers Publishing HouseTranslated from French by Monica VOICULESCU
by Mircea Martin
by Mircea Martin