Alexandru Toma

Alexandru Toma (occasionally known as A. Toma, born Solomon Moscovici; February 11, 1875–August 15, 1954) was a Romanian poet, journalist and translator, known for his communist views and his role in introducing Socialist Realism and Stalinism to Romanian literature. Having debuted as a Symbolist, Toma was influenced by 19th century writer Mihai Eminescu, an admiration which came to characterize his entire work. The official poet during the early years of the Communist regime and appointed a full member of the Romanian Academy, he is considered by many commentators to have actually been a mediocre writer with a problematic legacy.

Toma was, alongside novelist Mihail Sadoveanu, one of the literary figures whose writings were associated with the early years of Communism in Romania. Officials equated him with Eminescu, whose poems he would often adapt to the Socialist Realist guidelines, replacing their pessimism with an officially-endorsed uplifting message. His other writings included positive portrayals of Stakhanovite workers, praises of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, as well as poems for children. Supported by the regime and widely publicized until shortly before his death, he fell out of favor and his work was gradually marginalized during the final years of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej's rule.

He was the father of Sorin Toma, a Romanian Communist Party activist and journalist himself noted for his commitment to Socialist Realism, as well as for his officially-endorsed attacks on the influential poet Tudor Arghezi. Alexandru Toma's nephew, Virgiliu Moscovici-Monda, was himself a Symbolist poet.

Biography

Toma was born into a Jewish family in Urziceni, where his father Leibu Moscovici worked as a grocer. [Boia, p.73, 81; Călinescu, p.845] Leibu's other son fathered Virgiliu Moscovici, who also pursued a career in literature during the interwar period, publishing several of his works under the pen name "Virgiliu Monda". [Cǎlinescu, p.844-845]

Toma's early life was reportedly marked by involvement in socialist circles and the Romanian Kingdom's labor movement, and eventually saw him joining the underground communist group. [Boia, p.73] However, in 1897, he is known to have authored a Romanian-language translation of poems by Elisabeth of Wied, the wife of King Carol I—this detail was not present in any of his later official biographies. [Boia, p.73]

Toma's literary debut was associated with Symbolism, and critics traditionally include him among the "proletarian" wing of the Romanian Symbolist movement.Paul Cernat, "Avangarda românească şi complexul periferiei: primul val", Cartea Românească, Bucharest, 2007, p.16. ISBN 978-973-23-1911-6] In 1902, he began corresponding with Symbolist poetess Elena Farago, whose career he closely followed; [Ion Pătraşcu, Mariana Leferman, [http://www.aman.ro/lucrari/farago_documentar.pdf "Documentar: Elena Farago, Coca Farago"] , Biblioteca Judeţeană "Aman", Craiova, 2000, p.6-7; retrieved December 1, 2007] Moscovici-Monda also adopted Symbolism, representing its late stages in local literature. [Călinescu, p.844-845] Toma's first edition of collected works, bearing the title "Poezii" ("Poems"), was published by Editura Cultura Naţională in 1926, being positively reviewed by modernist theorist Eugen Lovinescu in his "History of Contemporary Romanian Literature".Eugen Lovinescu, "Istoria literaturii române contemporane", Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1989, p.87. ISBN 973-21-0159-8]

As his wife Sidy later recounted to Communist Party officials, both she and her husband helped hide Party members in their home during the interwar period, when the movement had been outlawed.ro icon Christian Levant, [http://www.adevarul.ro/2006-09-05/Dosar/dosarul-toma-si-cateva-fise-de-cadre-celebre_197196.html "Dosarul Toma şi câteva fişe de cadre celebre"] , in "Adevărul", May 9, 2006; retrieved November 15, 2007] She also noted that it was Alexandru Toma who introduced his son Sorin to Marxism. The latter also became an activist of the Communist Party, taking refuge in the Soviet Union during World War II, fighting as a partisan after the start Operation Barbarossa, returning to Romania with the Red Army ("see Soviet occupation of Romania"), and later working as editor in chief of the Communist newspaper "Scînteia".Vladimir Tismăneanu, "Stalinism for All Seasons: A Political History of Romanian Communism", University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003, p.310. ISBN 0-52-023747-1]

Alexandru Toma's moment of prominence occurred by the time he was in his seventies, when the newly-established Communist regime came to promote him as a paramount representative of Proletkult literature and as the greatest Romanian poet alive. This coincided with a cultural campaign partly replicating the Soviet Zhdanov Doctrine, during which Romanian culture was purged of influences deemed reactionary ("see Socialist realism in Romania"). [Boia, p.71-73] Thus, Toma's works were for the first time introduced in the school textbooks, where, alongside those of Communist short story writer Alexandru Sahia and the left-leaning novelist Sadoveanu, they stood as the sole samples of 20th century Romanian literature. [Boia, p.72]

In the 7th grade textbook of 1953, local literature was represented by twelve writers: alongside the writers considered classics before and since (Eminescu, Ion Luca Caragiale, Alexandru Vlahuţă, Grigore Alexandrescu, George Coşbuc, Vasile Alecsandri, Ion Creangă, Nicolae Bălcescu and Sadoveanu himself), Toma, Sahia and Dumitru Theodor Neculuţă were selected for their political convictions. [Boia, p.71-72] Toma was not allocated as much space as Eminescu and Sadoveanu, but his entry matched those on Caragiale and Alecsandri. [Boia, p.72] The textbook ended with an anthology of newer literary works by authors in favor with the regime—alongside poet Mihai Beniuc, these included Maria Banuş, Aurel Baranga, Mihail Davidoglu, Dan Deşliu, Petru Dumitriu, Eugen Jebeleanu, Veronica Porumbacu, as well as a few others—and a similar overview of Soviet literature. [Boia, p.72]

Virtually all of Toma's literary contributions were published in one volume, titled "Cântul vieţii" ("The Song of Life") and prefaced by the Communist essayist Ion Vitner, which went through three editions between 1950 and 1954. [Boia, p.75, 78] According to literary historian Ion Simuţ, the 1951 print reached 15,000 copies, which was exceptional for its time. [ro icon Ion Simuţ, [http://observatorcultural.ro/informatiiarticol.phtml?xid=2115&print=true "Simptome. De ce sînt secrete tirajele cărţilor?"] , in "Observator Cultural"; retrieved November 15, 2007] Also unusually for the period, the book was also circulated abroad, in state-sponsored translations (Hungarian in 1955 and 1955, German and Russian in 1956; an English-language translation saw print in 1951). [Boia, p.75] In addition to "Cântul vieţii", some of Toma's poetry was collected in "Poezii alese" ("Selected Poems"), published in 1952 and 1953, while his works for children were featured in various separate editions. [Boia, p.75] Toma also published translations from classical French literature, including a rendition of Molière's "Tartuffe". [Ion Brăescu, "Clasicismul în teatru", Editura Meridiane, Bucharest, 1971, p.134. OCLC|1984225]

The most important moment on Alexandru Toma's career came on February 14, 1950, when the Romanian Academy celebrated his 75th birthday (with a three-day delay). The occasion was marked by the speeches of Academy President Traian Săvulescu, literary historian George Călinescu, and Mihai Beniuc, and culminated with the poet's own address. [Boia, p.76-77] Toma, who displayed a dose of self-criticism over various moments of weakness in his career, underlined his own role in "the careful, masterful, cultivation of a renewed, simple, clear form, well-suited to Socialist Realism and Revolutionary Romanticism." [Boia, p.76] The last words of his speech were comments on Stalin and the Soviet claim to stand against nuclear armament: "Only the titan-like hands of Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin, as a trustee of his people and of the entire human race, can stop the monstrous atom bomb in flight, can envelop it, can suffocate it, can extinguish it." [Boia, p.76-77]

Poetry

During his time as a Symbolist, Toma was part of a "proletarian" generation active within the movement. It also included George Bacovia, Traian Demetrescu, Mihail Cruceanu and Andrei Naum, contrasting to both the Parnassian school of Alexandru Macedonski and the balladesque style associated with Ştefan Octavian Iosif. This period was also marked by echoes from the works of traditionalist poets. Eugen Lovinescu proposed that, while being the "direct inheritor" of Eminescu's creation, and placed under his "overwhelming influence", Toma's "Poezii" also showed his admiration for George Coşbuc, Alexandru Vlahuţă, Panait Cerna, Corneliu Moldovanu and D. Nanu. The result was "a «conceptual» poetry, that is to say a rationalist poetry, one of problems solved through dramatic means, through moral means, through psychological means [...] or even through sheer anecdote [...] ." Noting the similarities between Toma's concepts and those built upon by his fellow poet Haralamb Lecca, Lovinescu also argued that "Poezii" evidenced "a great and honest professional consciousness, an inspiration of intellectual quality, laid out in impeccable volutes". However, he also criticized the volume for lacking "the element of innovation in sensitivity and expression." Early in the 1950s, Toma was especially known for poems illustrating the regime's ideological priorities. One of these, the 1950 "Silvester Andrei salvează abatajul" ("Silvester Andrei Rescues the Coal Face"), depicted Stakhanovite socialist competition and heroic self-sacrifice, while alluding to inter-ethnic brotherhood among mine workers. [Boia, p.74] Part of it read:

Toma, whom the regime often described as a new Eminescu, [Boia, p.73] added a new perspective in his version:

As a children's author, Alexandru Toma notably contributed the poem "Cântecul bradului" ("The Song of the Fir Tree"), a reference to the Christmas tree—a symbol and custom condoned despite Christmas being frowned upon by the Communist authorities. It read:

Legacy

Endorsement and decline

In a collection of studies investigating the official discourse of Communist Romania, historian Lucian Boia noted that Alexandru Toma's endorsement by the cultural authorities was specifically meant to fill the gap left by the purging of other, more talented, writers from the curriculum. [Boia, p.72] He noted that this was in close connection with the claim that socialist society was naturally superior to the "bourgeois-landowning society", and further enhanced by several major cultural figures having refused to collaborate with the regime. [Boia, p.72-73] Historian Vladimir Tismăneanu, who referred to Toma as "the official bard of the Stalinist epoch in Romania", described him as "a poet of meager talent but huge ambitions". He also credited him with having authored the lyrics to the first of Communist Romania's national anthems, "Zdrobite cătuşe".

Arguing that the Communist Party fabricated the "Toma myth" in order to provide a poet whose scale would match that of the prose writer Mihail Sadoveanu (himself noted for his close connection with the regime), Boia pointed that, in contrast, important poets such as Tudor Arghezi or Lucian Blaga, who refused collaboration, were originally left "completely outside the game". [Boia, p.72-73] He also proposed that Toma's promotion was indicative of a will to replace "the "natural" order of things [italics in the original] ", and "no less abhorrent" than other major Communist projects to reshape Romania—citing among these the restructuring of Romanian economy on the basis of Marxian guidelines (with the collateral attempt to turn Romania into a major producer of steel), the unsuccessful plan to reclaim the Danube Delta, and the completion of a massive House of the People during the 1980s. [Boia, p.78] Also according to Lucian Boia, Toma's belonging to one of Romania's ethnic minorities was of further interest to the regime, at a time when proletarian internationalism was highlighted in official discourse: "the recourse to «other nationalities» seemed to the new masters as an ideal method to crush the traditional cultural patterns." [Boia, p.73]

Alexandru Toma was fading out of official discourse by the moment of his death. He happened to die in August, at a time when the regime was preparing to celebrate the 10th anniversary of an event which it considered its founding moment, the King Michael Coup of 1944. [Boia, p.80] It was largely as a result of this that his obituary was not featured on the front page of cultural magazines such as "Contemporanul", and its text was both cut short and less complimentary than many previous articles. [Boia, p.80] Around that time, the regime could count on the affiliation of younger and more prestigious poets, of whom Nicolae Labiş was the prime example, as well as eventually gaining the allegiance of Arghezi. [Boia, p.80] Later, Alexandru Toma's position as a supporter of proletarian internationalism came to clash with the recuperation of nationalism by Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and especially by Nicolae Ceauşescu. [Boia, p.80-81]

A last edition of his works was published in 1959, as part of a collection for schoolchildren, after which his name was almost never invoked in officially-endorsed literature. [Boia, p.80] His "Cântecul bradului" enjoyed more genuine success, and was famous for a while. [Boia, p.75] Alexandru Toma's name was assigned to a street in Bucharest and to a school in Ploieşti. [Boia, p.80]

In 1948, as editor of "Scînteia", Sorin Toma took an active part in condemning Arghezi for noncompliance with the cultural guidelines.ro icon Paul Cernat, [http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?data=2005-10-13&id=186463 "Un fost militant comunist se explică"] , in "Ziua", October 13, 2005; retrieved November 15, 2007] ro icon Ruxandra Cesereanu, [http://phantasma.ro/caiete/caiete/caiete3/25.html "Maşinăria falică "Scânteia"] , in "Caietele Echinox", Vol. 3, 2002, at the Babeş-Bolyai University's [http://phantasma.ro/ Center for Imagination Studies] ] He also fell out of favor with the Communist Party (of whose Central Committee he had been a member in 1949-1960). Purged by the new uncontested leader Gheorghiu-Dej due to his support for Ana Pauker's group, he was expelled from the Party in 1963, and eventually immigrated to Israel. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, exposed to criticism over his stances, and accused of having attacked Arghezi in order to promote his father, Sorin Toma claimed that he was just following orders from Party boss Iosif Chişinevschi (a defense notably present in his 2005 book of memoirs, "Privind înapoi", "Looking Backwards").

Toma and George Călinescu

George Călinescu's position in support of Toma, alongside other situations where he endorsed the Communist regime, has been the target of controversy. The literary historian did not include Alexandru Toma in his minute "History of Romanian Literature", which he had completed in 1941, seven years before Romania became Communist—there, Toma was only present in a bibliographical note. [Boia, p.77] Speaking during the 1950s, he indicated that he had since come to "understand" the poet, and that he had been helped in this "by the lesson of the times". [Boia, p.77] Lucian Boia noted that Călinescu's point made a distinction between purely aesthetic criteria, which Communism had come to associate with "the bourgeois era", and the supposed value of poets as "announcers and creators [...] of a new world". [Boia, p.77]

Nevertheless, Călinescu was constantly ambivalent toward the Socialist Realist poet, and may have used his position to produce veiled criticism of Toma and the quality of his poetry. A minor scandal arose in early 1950, after Communist officials came to suspect that his Romanian Academy speech in honor of Toma was punctuated by double entendres. In his book of memoirs, Academy member and historian David Prodan recounted how, when speaking of how Toma had "selected his own path", Călinescu made a gesture that seemed to mimick a horse with blinders. [Boia, p.77] Also according to Prodan, Toma was described by the speaker as having "coated himself in Eminescu chlamyde robe", which he had "tightened to fit his own body". [Boia, p.77] The address alarmed members of the cultural establishment: Traian Săvulescu, urged on by the official historians Mihail Roller and Constantin Daicoviciu, asked George Călinescu to explain himself (the latter subsequently reiterated Toma's merits as a poet). [Boia, p.77, 79]

Boia argued that other samples of Călinescu's address may have been evidence of "mockery", hidden among eulogistic arguments—while noting that these did little to shadow his role in promoting Toma as a major poet, and that his overall attitude reminded one of "doublethink" (a concept coined by George Orwell in his dystopian novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four"). [Boia, p.78] In reference to these two contradictory aspects, he cited Călinescu saying to Toma: "Not only are your lyrics indescribably beautiful artistically, but they highlight a combatant gray hairness, in love with the turmoil, instigating to an acute fight, a burning trust in progress. You are, allow me to say this, a master of clandestine poetry, enduring to this day as a professor of energy." [Boia, p.77-78]

In the same context, Călinescu himself endorsed the parallel drawn between Alexandru Toma and Eminescu, while comparing the difference between their attitudes on life to Toma's advantage. [Boia, p.79] Boia considered this stance especially problematic, given that the speaker was, at the time, the undisputed authority on Eminescu, and "the greatest literary critic alive". [Boia, p.79]

After Toma's downfall and until the time of his own death, George Călinescu no longer made any noticeable reference to the poet. [Boia, p.81] The revised edition of his "History of Romanian Literature", written during the 1960s and republished by Alexandru Piru in 1982, included an abrupt mention of Toma, simply indicating his family and place of birth. [Boia, p.81. The mention is part of an entry on Virgiliu Moscovici-Monda (Călinescu, p.845).] According to Lucian Boia, this was Călinescu's way of "avenging his own cowardice from the years when he had contributed to launching «the new Eminescu»." [Boia, p.81]

Notes

References

*Lucian Boia, "Un nou Eminescu: A. Toma", in Lucian Boia (ed.), "Miturile comunismului românesc", Editura Nemira, Bucharest, 1998, p.71-81. ISBN 973-569-209-0
*George Călinescu, "Istoria literaturii române de la origini pînă în prezent", Editura Minerva, Bucharest, 1986