BOOK REVIEW: LIVIU MALIȚA (ED.), "ENCICLOPEDIA IMAGINARIILOR DIN ROMÂNIA V. IMAGINAR ȘI PATRIMONIU ARTISTIC". GENERAL EDITOR: CORIN BRAGA. IAȘI, POLIROM, 2020, 469 P.

Abstract

Any instance in the course of civilization will be, once picked out, both pregnant with a rich background to legitimize its being and grounded in its stead. Should a needle pierce through a map at random, the puncture point will reveal layers at once minuscule and indispensable to the whole. To borrow a paradox from Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea, the shot arrow will hover, frozen in midair, at every coordinate of its trajectory until reaching the destination. A seminal work for a society at the juncture of authenticity and dissimulation, the fifth and final volume of Enciclopedia Imaginariilor din România [The Encyclopaedia of Romanian Imaginaries] is an incursion in arguably the most essential building block for the identity of a people, in terms of individuality, personhood, interpersonal relations and belonging within the geography of a nation: the artistic imaginary.