Paul Goma: An Übermensch Between Childhood Utopia and Dissident Dystopia

Abstract

Paul Goma has been considered a “Romanian Soljeniţîn” since the 1970s. Although more than four decades have already passed, he did not return to Romania and does not intend to do so. This once anticommunist warrior, who became a star of international dissidence, has been working all this time on a seamless piece of writing which is harmonious in both meanings and details. But what does the portrait of an anti-totalitarian athlete of liberty look like? Like an Übermensch, a complete and polyvalent individual that has won a superior conscience and is capable of making subtle connections. Unfortunately, thirty years after the fall of communism in Europe, exiles still have reasons to write and fight. The fragility of liberty is still a poignant reality.