Magda Cârneci: A Romanian Lispector
SOME PEOPLE MAY THINK that Magda Cârneci’s
FEM belongs to the philosophical essay genre rather than that of fiction under which it is marketed. Others in the Anglophone world may call it an “experimental” novel. But for those familiar with modern French culture and literature, it is obvious that Cârneci writes within a French tradition. A historian of art, Cârneci has a PhD from the prestigious École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, and between 2007 and 2010 she led the Romanian Cultural Institute in Paris. She is the author of numerous collections of essays and poetry, two of which have been translated into English by Adam Sorkin in collaboration with the author, and a single book of prose: