| "Kir Ianulea" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Ion Luca Caragiale | |
_1969.jpg) Cover of a 1969 standalone edition of the story, published by Editura Tineretului | |
| Country | Romania |
| Language | Romanian |
| Genre(s) | fantasy, historical fiction, satire |
| Publication | |
| Published in | Viața Românească |
| Publication type | periodical |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | 1909 |
Kir Ianulea or Kyr Ianulea (Romanian pronunciation: [kir jaˈnule̯a]) is a fantasy and historical fiction novella or short story, published by Romanian author Ion Luca Caragiale in 1909. Borrowing the elements of a fairy tale, satire and frame story, it has become recognized as one of Caragiale's leading contributions to short prose, and is often described as one of the seminal works written by him during the last decade of his life. While its narrative structure is largely based on Belfagor arcidiavolo, a story by 16th century writer and political thinker Niccolò Machiavelli, Kir Ianulea employs additional elements such as anecdotes to evolve into a social fresco of late 18th-century Wallachia and the Ottoman-ruled Balkans as a whole. Caragiale primarily adapts Machiavelli's theme, which is a fable about the innate unreliability of women, to the realities of the Phanariote epoch, focusing his attention on the interactions between Greeks and Romanians while offering additional insight into the process of acculturation.
Structured around its protagonist and named after his main alias, Kir Ianulea recounts how one of the lesser devils is assigned the mission of assessing the evil and negativity of women. In order to accomplish this task, he must live the life of a mortal, and chooses Bucharest as his city of residence. The main part of the story recounts his unhappy marriage to the tyrannical and dishonest Acrivița, his realization that his future among humans was compromised, and his narrow escape from his creditors. The third part shows the devil possessing aristocratic young women as part of a scheme to reward his one-human benefactor, the peasant Negoiță. The narrative ends with a fall-out between Negoiță and Ianulea, and the latter's hasty return to Hell upon being threatened by a potential reunion with Acrivița.
Caragiale's tale has been the target of critical interest since its publication, being discussed for its relation to Machiavelli's original story, its particular Neoromantic aesthetics and picturesque elements, its ambivalent take on feminism, as well as the various allusions to concrete social realities. Among the latter are its original insight into the urban culture of Romania in the pre-Westernization period, the recovery of Greek or Turkish influences on the Romanian lexis, and the possible intention on Caragiale's part to depict Ianulea as his alter ego. The story has had its own sizable impact on local literature and the culture of Romania, notably serving to inspire writers such as Radu Cosașu and Radu Macrinici, and being turned into a 1939 operetta by composer Sabin Drăgoi.