The hieroglyphic history, by Dimitrie Cantemir. Imaginary versus (I)mediated knowledge: the dialogue of epistemes
Article:
About the Author:
Nina CORCINSCHI 
dr habil.
Institutul de Filologie „Bogdan Petriceicu-Hasdeu” al USM
E-mail: nina.corcinschi[@]sti.usm.md
Abstract: Dimitrie Cantemir’s Hieroglyphic History is a complex, multi-layered novel that involves a double hermeneutic: the symbolic and the empirical, the documented. To understand this novel in all its nuances, it is necessary to consider the medieval system of knowledge, sensibility and imagination, as well as the historical, religious, ideological and cultural context of the 18th century. Cantemir’s philosophical scope and universalist openness went far beyond the level of local culture. Christian dogmas, the symbolic way of relating to the world that was specific to his time are the starting point for his fictional vision. With writing strategies and techniques, Cantemir uses elements of tradition to construct a new world that is symbolically and allegorically “phosphorescent”. Cantemir’s bestiary is populated by animals that acquire hybrid, strange, phantasmagorical dimensions that correspond not to reality, but to an ethical vision of the author. In order to exemplify a morally degraded reality, he employs a creative approach to transform an entire religious paradigm and traditional code of relating to existence. This first novel of Romanian literature far surpasses the period of 1705 and illustrates the strong lines of development of European artistic reflection. At that time, the author was already aware of his status as a scribe, being in Romanian culture “the first writer in the true sense of the word”.
Keywords: medieval knowledge, imaginary, bestiary, novel, animals,