What’s wrong with the West? Is the Western world in its final stage
\nof decline? Are we seeing the death throes of the Western civilization? Is Western
\nEurope going to be Islamized, Africanized or taken over by millions of migrants
\nfrom Africa or Asia? Are we witnessing the disappearance of the white race? As
\na journalist with Radio France Internationale, Romanian playwright Matei
\nVisniec is facing questions like these on a daily basis. In his latest volume, ‘The
\nLast Days of the West, which appeared at the Polirom Publishing House, Matei
\nVisniec has tackled these questions, this time with the instruments of a
\nwriter, through philosophical fables, short stories and confessions. The launch
\nof his volume was another occasion for writer and journalist Matei Visniec to
\nmeet his Romanian readership. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of the meetings, hosted by the Humanitas
\nbookshop, was moderated by critic Ion Bogdan Lefter, who also made a
\npresentation of the volume.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Matei Visniec tells us he felt the need to write about these
\nthings using the prose genre. He has published on this theme before, both
\nessays and articles, also at Polirom. He is returning to it now, albeit in
\nliterary form, and he is not trying to pass judgment or make dark prophecies,
\nbut to place before us texts that discuss topical themes: ethnic, linguistic
\nand cultural diversity, migration, the past and the present, values, reason and
\nthe excess of rationality.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Settled in France in 1987, where he has been working as a journalist
\nfor Radio France Internationale, Matei Visniec told his Romanian readers how he
\nlives between two cultures, two professions and two languages, and how a
\ntopical issue can be turned into fiction:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I try to save the first part of the day by writing
\nfiction, which sometimes is rooted in current realities too. However, in the
\npast years I have been mostly interested in depicting paradoxes and dilemmas in
\nthe messages I get at RFI, in the newspapers I read and in the commentaries I
\nhear. So, I’m detecting dilemmas and
\nparadoxes in the current reality, just like those who find gold using special
\ntools. Because what interests me the most are not the problems of the society.
\nBecause problems, just like in mathematics, have solutions. Therefore, I am
\ninterested in dilemmas, because dilemmas have no solutions, and we know that
\nfrom the Greeks. That’s why I am interested in social, human, psychological dilemmas and I believe this is how I started writing the book. I started
\ncompiling all these dilemmas that I discover in the surrounding environment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
With his life split between France and Romania for
\nmore than 30 years, Matei Vi\u015fniec says today’s Bucharest sparks in him a
\nmixture of pain and joy:<\/p>\n
Unlike all the other European
\ncapitals that I know, perhaps with the exception of Belgrade, I think Bucharest
\nis moving very slow. But I still come to Bucharest with great pleasure, because
\nthere is so much positive energy, so many people that I like, so much
\ncreativity. This is an old theory of mine, that Romania has more talented kids
\nper thousand inhabitants than other countries have, precisely in order to make
\nup for the fact that there are more corrupt politicians per thousand capita.
\nSo, in an organic manner, the Romanian land strives to balance up the two
\nsituations, and it creates more talents, more creativity to offset the
\nincompetence and destructiveness of politicians. So to me, Romania is, as I
\noften say, the place where I come to charge my batteries to fill myself with
\npositive energy. It is a launching pad for the playwright Matei Visniec,
\nbecause theatre festivals in Romania are very important. The Sibiu Theatre
\nFestival, for instance, is an extraordinary international festival. Also, an
\nincreasing number of foreign stage directors come to Romania, where they can
\nhave essential meetings. So Romania has managed to create important cultural pilgrimages.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Matei Visniec’s plays have been translated and staged in more than
\n30 countries. As a writer, Visniec is the recipient of a great number of
\nawards. His first such distinction was in 1984, when he received the Romanian
\nWriters’ Union Prize for Poetry for his debut volume, The Wise Man at Tea time.
\nIn 1998, Visniec also received the Romanian Academy Prize, and in 2016, Visniec
\nwas awarded the Romanian Theatres’ Union Prize for the contemporary playwright with
\nthe biggest number of plays staged. In France, Visniec was, a couple of times,
\nthe recipient of the Press Award at the International Theatre festival in
\nAvignon. In 2009, Visniec scooped the European Prize awarded by the Society of
\nStage Authors and Composers. In 2016, Matei Visniec’s novel, ‘The merchant of
\nnovel openings’ was awarded the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What’s wrong with the West? Is the Western world in its final stage of decline? Are we seeing the death throes of the Western civilization? Is Western Europe going to be Islamized, Africanized or taken over by millions of migrants from Africa or Asia? Are we witnessing the disappearance of the white race? As a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":162113,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44685],"tags":[44929,44931,44930,42404],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-162112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-of-culture","tag-the-last-days-of-the-west","tag-critic-bogdan-lefter","tag-humanitas","tag-matei-visniec"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n