Achilles, There's a Hole in Your Armoured Sock

With Tchipsy's help I realized that I was mistakenly taking for reckless self-promotion a potential media push of major magnitude. Otherwise, indeed, one cannot explain the new dimension which Bucurenci's notoriety acquired today: a major Romanian newspaper will feature him as a weekly editorial writer. ("The Daily Event" is rumored to be the "official" paper nowadays in Romania, siding with the President and the Democratic Party.)

So. Let's get things straight: this guy is now on the payroll of the national public television and the mainstream newspaper. His previous career stints: webmaster at the British Council. Writer of a blog/novel. Oh, director of an environmental association set up with pals from "Catavencu". Even if we stopped considering the fact that his only formal education is high school, again, how would such a background turn one into a "member of the new Romanian elites"?

Oh, just for you to know: Norman Manea, Romanian author, winner of the Médicis prize this very year for "The Hooligan's Return", had nowhere near a tenth of the exposure given this Bucurenci person lately. Nobody in Romania interviewed him extensively. Nobody wrote heady introductions to his work. Nobody featured him as a member of any elites. He wasn't offered to do a TV show. The President didn't honor him (but he did bestow yet another honor on Liiceanu, of course. Read Manea's bio and his books and compare them, not to Bucurenci's, but to Liiceanu's, and then go explain Mr. President about the unfairness of his advisers' choices so far, I'm sure he'll hear you.) No half-page portraits of Manea's appeared in any magazine or newspaper and most people have no idea he exists.

But we do have Bucurenci as a "member of the new Romanian elites", everyone!

Pushed forward by the old elites, on the principle that "polenta doesn't explode", maybe.

This is getting VERY serious here.

At this point I might, of course, congratulate myself for my superior intuition, but as Tchipsy elegantly pointed out, I already proved enough hubris for a blog by not really doing a good job of endorsing my critique with a more serious literary analysis of the man's "work" -- I was THAT confident that I'm beyond any suspicion of jealousy. (Mea culpa, but I can't fix that right now, it will have to wait.) So, I sensed that this was MAJOR, that it was worth taking some action against, and now history rushes to prove me right (that was quick, about ten days).

I want to find a way to oppose this. Fight the Bucurenci brand and expose the system that pushes it.

My comment was rejected today on the "Evenimentul Zilei" site. Here it is (with an added link):

"Check out a sample of the man's writing, a proof of his limited intellectual quality and his disgusting posturing:

"Într-o civilizaţie dezvoltată armonios inginerii îşi cunosc foarte bine locul, dar cultura românească a ajuns într-un hal de minorat deplorabil în care clasa intelectualilor e compusă, faute de mieux, din doctori, avocaţi şi ingineri. Adică din tot felul de meşteşugari, oameni cărora, prin natura profesiei lor, le este interzis accesul la idee."

It's not that he didn't get a degree, as much as that he's just a crony, a "cultural brand" built and inflated to the point where some serious culture jamming is needed in order to free up room for more legitimate voices in that country.

If he's forced on you via EVZ too, you'd better snipe at every silly thing he puts out. He's not taking his time when writing, so in every piece there is some blatant bullshit, such as:

"Când nu e bântuit de platitudini absolute, inginerul e frământat de curiozităţi meschine."

So, okay, I was furious, but I was polite. I don't see my post as objectionable and non-compliant with their forum rules. But I'll be back every week, to be sure.

Unless Bucurenci magically turns into a good writer, and then, well, I'd have to congratulate him. Magic does happen, right? Especially now that Santa's closing in on us. Maybe he wished for an educated brain and some extra literary know-how, for "literature to open its vulvae" for him. (Dragos, dahling, "the vulvae" are not the issue. The external part of the female genitalia, as I'm sure Google might inform you, may be important, but not nearly as important as you make them sound.)

Oh, wait. Why would you want to screw literature, anyway? You already did that, remember? And you're doing it every time you try to turn out an essay. Why not take up ballet or painting, you could suck at that for a while?

Speaking of the aforelinked intro to DB, (from the national television's site, no less), let us revel in "a talent so atypical for Romania that the editors fear for his life". There is "pushing a brand", and then there is "shoving it down people's throats"...

And since we're at it, let's examine closely DB's pitch for Eliade:

"Votează cu Mircea Eliade pentru că:

“Până şi pentru Adrian Mutu viaţa acestui tocilar de geniu care a fost Mircea Eliade are numai subiecte tari: cum să-ţi refaci viaţa după ce ţi-ai dat singur foc la valiză şi cum să ajungi cel mai cunoscut român din întreaga lume. În materie de celebritate, fotbaliştii ar face bine să înveţe de la profesionişti!”.

I'll have fun translating for the joy of the non-Romanian masses:

"Vote for Mircea Eliade because:

Even for Adrian Mutu the life of the nerdy genius who was Mircea Eliade is full of hot topics: how to start your life over after shooting yourself in the leg and how to become the most famous Romanian in the whole world. When it comes to celebrity, soccer players had better learn from the professionals!"

If I were Adrian Mutu, I'd resent his "pana si pentru"/"even for" repeated endlessly on prime time national TV. Big time. Besides, it's Bucurenci who should pay attention, since he wants to be in the same business as Eliade. And that's the way you do it, by being a "nerd", studying, reading, and only afterwards writing.

Anyway, the good part about this turn of events is that by promoting Bucurenci with such ignominy the current cultural establishment may have committed its fatal error. This is a huge Achilles' heel, stomping in full sight for everyone to aim at.

Fire at will... You know you have to.