The individual destiny and the intellectual biography of Benjamin Fondane allow us to reconstruct his existential pathway as a sequence of three fundamental stages, marked by three emblematic cities: Bucharest-Paris-Auschwitz. The last one represents an infernal, ominous topos, a place of no return. Bucharest and Paris were the cities that profoundly shaped his cultural identity. In the capital of his first country he assiduously attended to the birth and development of several modernist and avant-garde artistic groups. On the other hand, from the late 1920s on, the City of Lights made it possible for Fundoianu-Fondane to assert himself as a philosopher within the frames of existentialism and to be recognised as an essayist of European stature. His transfer to Drancy (1944), which then led to his being sent to the gas chambers of the Nazi concentration camp from Auschwitz-Birkenau, marked the beginning of a personal experience which precipitated into a brutal and atrocious end. This study will present a few documentary texts, published in literary journals of the French Resistance, such as "Les Lettres Françaises" and "Les Cahiers du Sud". We will also include other aspects relating to Benjamin Fondane’s contributions to the periodical publications of the French Resistance, revealing the vocation of some cities and personalities to become entrenched in collective memory as benchmarks of moral revolt and intransigence.
Il destino individuale e la biografia intellettuale di Benjamin Fondane consentono di ricostruire il suo percorso esistenziale come successione di tre tappe fondamentali segnate da altrettante città: Bucarest-Parigi-Auschwitz. L’ultima rappresenta piuttosto un topos infernale, un non-luogo funesto. La capitale del paese d’origine, dove ha partecipato pienamente alla manifestazioni dei gruppi artistici modernisti e d’avanguardia e la Città dei Lumi che ha permesso, a decorrere dalla seconda metà degli anni Venti, l’affermazione del filosofo nell’orbita dell’esistenzialismo e la sua scoperta come saggista di portata europea sono state le città con particolare rilevanza formativa e identitaria per Fundoianu-Fondane. Il passaggio a Drancy (1944), che lo portò poi alle camere a gas del lager nazista di Auschwitz-Birkenau, segna l’inizio di una vicenda personale che precipita brutalmente verso una fine atroce. Saranno, infine, fornite alcune testimonianze pubblicate nelle riviste della resistenza francese "Les Lettres Françaises" e "Les Cahiers du Sud". Il tema introdurrà altri aspetti che riguardano la partecipazione di Benjamin Fondane alle pubblicazioni periodiche della Resistenza francese, rivelando la vocazione di alcune città e personalità ad essere coordinate geografiche e rispettivamente punti di riferimento della rivolta e dell’intransigenza morale del pensiero libero.
L’errance éternelle du destin juif dans "Le Mal des fantômes". Benjamin Fondane: Bucarest-Paris-Auschwitz
Emilia David
2018-01-01
Abstract
The individual destiny and the intellectual biography of Benjamin Fondane allow us to reconstruct his existential pathway as a sequence of three fundamental stages, marked by three emblematic cities: Bucharest-Paris-Auschwitz. The last one represents an infernal, ominous topos, a place of no return. Bucharest and Paris were the cities that profoundly shaped his cultural identity. In the capital of his first country he assiduously attended to the birth and development of several modernist and avant-garde artistic groups. On the other hand, from the late 1920s on, the City of Lights made it possible for Fundoianu-Fondane to assert himself as a philosopher within the frames of existentialism and to be recognised as an essayist of European stature. His transfer to Drancy (1944), which then led to his being sent to the gas chambers of the Nazi concentration camp from Auschwitz-Birkenau, marked the beginning of a personal experience which precipitated into a brutal and atrocious end. This study will present a few documentary texts, published in literary journals of the French Resistance, such as "Les Lettres Françaises" and "Les Cahiers du Sud". We will also include other aspects relating to Benjamin Fondane’s contributions to the periodical publications of the French Resistance, revealing the vocation of some cities and personalities to become entrenched in collective memory as benchmarks of moral revolt and intransigence.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
