Special Issue: In Memoriam – Dumitru Ciocoi-Pop

Dumitru Ciocoi-Pop (1943-2019), Rector of Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu between 1992 and 2004, was a man of many talents; above all, he was a scholar endowed with a far-sighted vision, who will be remembered for the books he authored along the years. His most important contribution to the field of literary criticism remains his exegesis of Aldous Huxley’s fiction entitled Aldous Huxley’s Literary Ideology (1994). Dumitru Ciocoi-Pop was not only an insightful critic, but also a very refined translator, whose rendering of Lucian Blaga’s poetry into English is one of the finest to date, his creative and recreative work infusing the poems with a new life that is worthy of their subtle nature. His remarkable translation of Blaga’s poetry should be read in the context of his being himself a poet, whose two volumes of poems written in English – Doubting Certainties (1994) and Love Never Fails (1999) – testify to his sensitivity as well as to his outstanding mastery of the English language. His translations of English-language prose (Aldous Huxley, Herman Melville) as well as his editing, together with the late Sever Trifu, of A Bilingual Anthology of Romanian Poetry (1997), add to the image of a highly sophisticated intellectual. He was also one of the founding editors of the East-West Cultural Passage journal.

Among the many awards he was granted, mention should be made of the Doctor Honoris Causa degree bestowed upon him by the University of Missouri at Columbia, USA, in 1996. “He has distinguished himself among his peers in Romania and meets the highest academic and professional standards of excellence,” the laudatio read. “He has demonstrated exceptional vision, courage and leadership in introducing and initiating many changes at the University of Sibiu, in a time when the University needed new ideas and courageous individuals who would risk advocating change.”

This special issue of the East-West Cultural Passage journal seeks to honor the scholar and the begetter of scholars that Dumitru Ciocoi-Pop was in his remarkable teaching career but also the academic leader who has put Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu on the international map. Therefore, we invite papers focusing either on his literary and critical work, or on broader literary or cultural issues.

Articles will be subject to a blind peer reviewing process and must not be under consideration for any other publications. Please refer to the author submission guidelines Please refer to the author submission guidelines on the East-West Cultural Passage journal website, https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/ewcp/ewcp-overview.xml?lang=en. Complete manuscripts, of up to a maximum of 7500 words including bibliography, are requested by December 20th, 2019. Please include a biographical note of up to 200 words, accompanied by an abstract (200 words) and a list of 10 key words/concepts. Enquiries and submissions are to be directed to Dr. Alexandra Mitrea, Faculty of Letters and Arts, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, alexandra.mitrea@ulbsibiu.ro, and copied to ewcp@ulbsibiu.ro.Authors will be notified within two weeks of the closing date.