New ISF Article: second part of “Short (Hi)Story of Romanian Speculative Fiction”

As promised, here it is the  second part of the article by Cătălin Badea-Gheracostea called “Short (Hi)Story of Romanian Speculative Fiction”. In the second part of this article, Cătălin speaks about Dan Dobos!

This great pamphlet of Romanian Speculative Fiction was presented in Croatia, during the

Eurocon 2012, and aims to “raise awareness, to inform and to be liked”.

We will present the full pamphlet in a series of chapters, published once a week.

The Editor in Chief: Roberto Mendes

  

Short (Hi)Story of Romanian Speculative Fiction

told for strangers, aliens and secluded scholars

by

Cătălin Badea-Gheracostea

 

(Second Part of the Article)

 

A Case Study: Dan Doboş

One Breath on Manner

An attentive reader, or only just another Romanian scholar or even a Romanian cultural journalist, might say that my look over the last 20 years of Romanian speculative fiction is very partisan as it shows only writers who have their debut after 1989. It is true, the previous generations’ writers published too in the given period of time, some of them – their best books. However, I think it is important to see the new seeds of every season, so I will keep this convention: one writer will be shown with all his books in the chapter of his debut’s generation.

One of the common fears of any historian and, in this case, of a storyteller, is that the very same thing could have been (better) said using other words, examples, books, authors, all in one, using other references. Choosing of whom you are talking is a privilege, but also a curse. I would rather stay privileged, so I am going to use Dan Doboş and his books as examples of an in-depth presentation and analysis.

Dan Doboş, The Human

The „Person” or the „Man” were my first two choices, yet „The Human” sounds better to describe a speculative and science fiction writer fromRomania, in 2012.

See www.dandobos.ro, the personal site of my case study and you realise why: all of a sudden you get to know him with his family life, with his job and profession, with likes and dislikes, with a full joy of being here and now shared with the world not only by his books, but definitely supporting the creation of these books.

There is no English page, so I’ll be the guide.

The home page bears the name of the site, Dan Doboş – Digital Abode (… – sălaş digital), with an interesting choice of a photo for background – ruined walls under a scorching sun, in a desert… Above and underneath, two taskbars with six and four buttons to click for the site’s content. The page itself is a classical two asymmetrical columns space with the newest articles or opinions Dan Doboş has written balanced with the trivia links and likes a respected site should have.

Clicking on the bars is where the fun begins: above we have a „Bio”, a „Biblio”, one „DemNet”, one „Magazin”, plus one „Trilogia Abaţia” (The Abbey Trilogy) entries. This is the writer’s portal, very neat, very professional. Underneath, four buttons with a more relaxed style: “Goodies and Meanies” (“Bunătăţi şi răutăţi”), „Left Biffs” („Directe de stânga”), „Mentations and sci-fi” („Panseuri şi sefeuri”) and „I lose weight writing” („Slăbesc scriind”).

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