What type of study is this?

This is a Literature Review study.

August 17, 2025Open Access

Time, Memory, Illness and Death in the Diary Writing of Two Romanian Diarists

Puntos clave

Diaries explore the themes of time and memory, particularly in the context of illness and death.
Matei Călinescu and Radu Vancu articulate their perceptions of mortality shaped by personal and societal challenges during crises.
Analysis focuses on the intimate connection between diary writing and emotional experiences amid the passage of time.
Insights from these diaries provide reflections on how individuals confront illness and the realities of life and death.

Resumen

Keeping what the French call a journal intime, writers of all cultures and ages write against the ticking of the clock, the passage of time, and disappearance. It is in the intimate space of the diary that they record their experiences while those are fresh and immediate. This paper purports to look into the diaries of two Romanian diarists whose main purpose was to explore the subtlest transformations and nuances of their own perceptions of time. Matei Călinescu’s Un altfel de jurnal. Ieşirea din timp (Another Kind of Diary. Escaping Time) (Humanitas Press, 2016) and Radu Vancu’s Boala & războiul. Jurnal, 2020-2024 (Illness & War. A Diary, 2020-2024) (Polirom Press, 2024) are troubling testimonies of what it means to literally write against the clock, while a terminal illness eats at your body (Matei Călinescu’s situation) or the suffering, isolation and death brought about by the COVID epidemic is a constant reminder of one’s mortality and impending death (Radu Vancu’s situation shared by a whole planet).

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