The novel in
question is Upstarts Old and New (Ciocoii
vechi si noi). Its author, Nicolae Filimon, was born 200 years ago on the 6th
of September 1819 in Bucharest. Somewhat younger than his creator, Dinu
Paturica has retained his relevance and is still seen as the symbol of some
unpalatable local customs. Nicolae Filimon, on the other hand, is still waiting
for his work to be completely discovered by literature lovers. From the same
generation as the literary figures who took part in the 1848 revolutions in
Wallachia and Moldavia, Filimon did not, however, join the protests. He did
make his voice heard through his professional activity. The literary critic
Paul Cernat tells us more:
Paul Cernat: The son of a priest, he was
a music commentator, our first music critic in fact. He was also a subtle and
diligent theatre reviewer and published in the Romanian press after 1850. As a
writer, his output was uneven, but marked the Romanian literature of the 19th
century through the diversity of the genres he approached. Unfortunately, he
died at 46 from phthisis, when he was at the height
of his creative powers. We should perhaps better highlight his work as a music
and theatre reviewer, for Filimon was a pioneer in this field in Romania.
The novel
Upstarts Old and New, with the subtitle That which is born of a cat will eat
mice, is the first Romanian novel written in the realistic style of the day.
It was first published in serial form in 1862 before appearing in one volume
one year later. At first, its impact was not very strong, for there were few
novels at the time and not very popular with readers. Literary critic Paul
Cernat explains:
Paul Cernat: Around
1840, several more or less successful attempts to write a novel had been made,
especially sentimental novels. Several novelists, Filimon’s contemporaries,
wrote texts that had certain qualities. The Romanian production as a whole was
poor and no critics sustained it. Filimon made his debut at a time when the
novel had rather a subordinated function. He tried to write a sort of
pedagogical novel, however a satirical novel that was exquisite from a moral
point of view. Subsumed to a kind of romantic antithesis, typical of the time,
he compared the decadent Romanian society prior to the 1821 revolution led by
Tudor Vladimirescu to society after the restoration of native rulers replacing
the Fanariot rulers, when justice was allegedly done and shortcomings were done
away with. Paradoxically however, the upstart Dinu Paturica, whom Filimon tried
to delineate as a negative character, gave proof of an amazing vitality. The
negative characters in that novel are the ones who really live, not the
positive ones.
Upstartism,
Paturica’s main trait, comes from the word upstart, a sort of servant or
tenant, who by dishonest means succeeds in overcoming the limitations of his
status, even harming his benefactor. The accuracy with which Filimon describes
the methods used by that upstart and places him against the background of his
time and the fact that the type of Paturica is still topical today have been
reasons for the novel to be appreciated over time. In the 20th
century, several leading novelists called Filimon their forerunner,
highlighting latent valences of his novel.
Paul Cernat:
Nicolae Filimon was an amazing prose writer of the early 19th
century Bucharest. From this point of view, he was followed by Romanian writers
after 1900, the interwar and even post war writers. So, Filimon’s fame
continued to increase. Even if his novel is imperfect, it has outlived its time
through its very imperfection. He also wrote some very interesting short
stories, unequal in terms of value though. Filimon’s novel Upstarts Old and
New continues to reveal its uncommon relish and surprising facets.