Product Description

Ilinca Zarifopol-Johnston's critical biography of the Romanian-born French philosopher E. M. Cioran focuses on his crucial formative years as a mystical revolutionary attracted to right-wing nationalist politics in interwar Romania, his writings of this period, and his self-imposed exile to France in 1937. This move led to his transformation into one of the most famous French moralists of the 20th century. As an enthusiast of the anti-rationalist philosophies widely popular in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century, Cioran became an advocate of the fascistic Iron Guard.In her quest to understand how Cioran and other brilliant young intellectuals could have been attracted to such passionate national revival movements, Zarifopol-Johnston, herself a Romanian emigre, sought out the aging philosopher in Paris in the early 1990s and retraced his steps from his home village of Rasinari and youthful years in Sibiu, through his student years in Bucharest and Berlin, to his early residence in France. Her portrait of Cioran is complemented by an engaging autobiographical account of her rediscovery of her own Romanian past.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #582913 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 312 pages

Review
"Intellectual history at its best. Elegantly written, meticulously researched, and subtly nuanced, this book will be read by all those interested in the intellectual torments of the 20th century." Vladimir Tismaneanu, author of Fantasies of Salvation "Very valuable and beautifully written ... introducing her exciting subject in a context broad enough even for those who don't know much about Cioran." Irina Livezeanu, author of Cultural Politics in Greater Romania