Romanian science fiction began in the 19th century and gained popularity in Romania during the second half of the 20th century. While a few Romanian science fiction writers were translated into English, none proved popular abroad.
Early years
The country's earliest science fiction story is Al. N. Dariu's ''Finis Romaniae'' (1873), an alternate history short story which presents the history of Romania after the sudden death of Carol I and a revolution against the new prince, which declares Romania a republic.
The following story was '' Spiritele anului 3000'', a
utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...
written two years later, in 1875, by a teenager under the pen name "Demetriu G. Ionnescu", who would later become the statesman
Take Ionescu
Take or Tache Ionescu (; born Dumitru Ghiță Ioan and also known as Demetriu G. Ionnescu; – 21 June 1922) was a Romanian centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Starting his ...
. The short story is set in the year 3000, when the earth is populated by humans of small stature who reach maturity by age 15. Politically, the monarchies have been abolished, with all the states being republics and part of a world confederation. Religion and wars have disappeared and
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...
, a garden city, is the capital of a Romania within its natural (ethnic) borders, following a ruling from a Supreme Tribunal.
In the early 1900s, Victor Anestin was a notable popularizer of science who, apart from writing hundreds of articles and books about science, wrote three science fiction novels: ''În anul 4000 sau O călătorie la Venus'' ("In the year 4000, or A trip to Venus", 1899), ''O tragedie cerească, Poveste astronomică'' ("A Celestial Tragedy, An Astronomical Story", 1914) and ''Puterea ştiinţei, sau Cum a fost omorât Răsboiul European, Poveste fantastică'' ("The Power of Science, or How the European War was Killed, Fantasy Story", 1916). ''A Celestial Tragedy'' had one of the earliest descriptions of the possibility of using atomic power for war purposes, being published in February 1914, the same year as
The World Set Free
''The World Set Free'' is a novel written in 1913 and published in 1914 by H. G. Wells. The book is based on a prediction of a more destructive and uncontrollable sort of weapon than the world has yet seen. It had appeared first in serialised ...
moon landing
A Moon landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon. This includes both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 2, on 13 September 1959.
The United S ...
.Manolescu, p. 231-233
Communist era
After World War II, the new communist regime supported science fiction, using it as a means of popularizing science and of ideological indoctrination. A weekly science fiction magazine, '' Colecţia de povestiri ştiinţifico-fantastice'' was founded; this was an important factor in the promotion of science fiction in Romania.
The most popular writers of the era, I.M. Ştefan and Radu Nor, wrote sci-fi adventure novels which sometimes included a Marxist ideological bent.Adrian Rogoz, Sergiu Fărcăşan and Camillo Baciu were the most important science fiction writers of the era, while Vladimir Colin was the first major writer of fantasy.
During the 1980s, the most notable publication of science fiction was the yearly ''Anticipaţia'' almanac, edited by Ioan Albescu. Many of the writers of the 1980s had scientific studies, which meant that their writings tended to be closer to
hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...
. They were not very fruitful as during the 1980s, it was very difficult to get published and during the 1990s, they moved on to other fields. (For example,
Cristian Tudor Popescu
Cristian Tudor Popescu (; often referred to as CTP; born October 1, 1956) is a Romanian journalist, essayist, engineer, short-story writer and political commentator. Author of science fiction stories during his youth, he also hosted talk shows f ...
became a well-known journalist.)
After 1989
After the
Romanian Revolution
The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred ...
, initially, the science fiction genre experienced a boom, as many translations which had not been accepted by the communist authorities were published. Notably, between 1992 and 2003, the Nemira publishing house turned out hundreds of translations and a few Romanian novels, among which ''Aşteptând în Ghermana'' by Dănuţ Ungureanu, the steampunk novel ''2484 Quirinal Ave'' and the cyberpunk novel ''Cel mai înalt turn din Baabylon'' by Sebastian A. Corn."Pe fundaţia SF-ului românesc este ştanţat logo-ul URSS" ''
Gândul
''Gândul'' (, "The Thought") is a Romanian online newspaper published in Bucharest. It was founded in May 2005 by Mircea Dinescu, who used to write a daily editorial called "Vorba lu' Dinescu", and Cristian Tudor Popescu
Cristian Tudor Popes ...
'', January 31, 2008
Currently, there is a trend to focus more on fantasy rather than science fiction, with only a few publishing houses still publishing Romanian science fiction writers, among them being Amaltea and Tritonic.
Notes
References
*Florin Manolescu, ''Literatura S.F.'', Editura Univers, Bucharest, 1980
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