Entre déracinement et errance.

Le dilemme du personnage dans les romans de Norman Manea

Abstract

For a writer, to live in the cultural climate of a universe similar to a concentration camp means
acquiring for ever the features of the environment in which he has formed himself. In his novels, Norman
Manea creates characters captive in a universe which is both externally and internally closed. These limits
give rise to a permanent need for getting away from what they perceive as a restrictive universe. A
comparative analysis indicates this desire to get away as a main feature of the characters life. Overcoming
the limits is, nevertheless, impossible for these characters and the attempt to leave calls for alienation,
wandering around without a definite purpose and it creates the dilemma of belonging to a formative
universe.