[Cz-L] Norman Manea

Dear Czernowitzers,

Yesterday I went to a lecture which was to be given by Norman Manea, a
Czernowitz author who writes in Romanian and currently lives in the US.
Norman Manea, did not give the lecture, he was absent because of ill health,
but his lecture was read, and I learned that he was born in either 1935 or
1936, his first language was Romanian, he and his parents were in
Transnistria during the war and when they returned in 1944 he went to the
Russian school in Czernowitz.

Can anyone explain, or does anyone know, why a Czernowitzer born at that
time would have spoken Romanian as his mother tongue? It was my impression
that we only spoke Romanian when we absolutely had to.

I think that some in this group are the same age as Norman Manea and also
went to the Russian school, does anyone remember him?

Another item in the lecture which drew my attention was Norman Manea's
assertion that he was annoyed when some of his writings in translation,
were included in a book published in Israel under the name "Jewish authors
in Romania", apparently he did not want to be considered a Jewish author.
Does anyone have more information or comments on this subject?

All the best,

Mimi
Received on 2006-03-23 10:51:41