Virgil Gheorghiu on communism, capitalism and national socialism

Abstract

The focus of this publication is the study of Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu (1916– 1992), an important and controversial writer in contemporary Romanian literature, best known for his novel The 25th Hour. His writings are characterised by the condemnation of the horrors inflicted by Nazism and communism and his critique of capitalism. The book by Iuliu‑Marius Morariu presents Gheorghiu’s ideas on these three ideologies which dominated the twentieth century and highlights his contribution to the literature on the subject. Based on Gheorghiu’s analytical observations, Morariu attempts to identify similarities and differences between these political doctrines. The author poses three research questions: (i) what are Gheorghiu’s reflections on these ideologies, (ii) how relevant are they nowadays and (iii) how did the context influence him? Morariu undertakes this task through an inclusive, qualitative approach; given the interdisciplinary nature of this study, analytical–deductive, narrative and inductive methods were also employed in developing the arguments.