Mircea Eliade  

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Mircea Eliade (March 9 [O.S. February 24] 1907 – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religious studies that persist to this day. His theory that hierophanies form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time, has proven influential. One of his most influential contributions to religious studies was his theory of Eternal Return, which holds that myths and rituals do not simply commemorate hierophanies, but, at least to the minds of the religious, actually participate in them. In academia, the Eternal Return has become one of the most widely accepted ways of understanding the purpose of myth and ritual.

His literary works belong to the fantasy and autobiographical genres. The best known are the novels Maitreyi ("La Nuit Bengali" or "Bengal Nights"), Noaptea de Sânziene ("The Forbidden Forest"), Isabel şi apele diavolului ("Isabel and the Devil's Waters") and the Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent, the novellas Domnişoara Christina ("Miss Christina") and Tinereţe fără tinereţe ("Youth Without Youth"), and the short stories Secretul doctorului Honigberger ("The Secret of Dr. Honigberger") and La Ţigănci ("With the Gypsy Girls").

Early in his life, Eliade was a noted journalist and essayist, a disciple of Romanian far right philosopher and journalist Nae Ionescu, and member of the literary society Criterion. He also served as cultural attaché to the United Kingdom and Portugal. Several times during the late 1930s, Eliade publicly expressed his support for the Iron Guard, a fascist and antisemitic political organization. His political involvement at the time, as well as his other far right connections, were the frequent topic of criticism after World War II.

Remarkable for his vast erudition, Eliade had fluent command of five languages (Romanian, French, German, Italian, and English) and a reading knowledge of three others (Hebrew, Persian, and Sanskrit). He was elected a posthumous member of the Romanian Academy.

Sacred and profane

Eliade argues that religious thought in general rests on a sharp distinction between the Sacred and the profane; whether it takes the form of God, gods, or mythical Ancestors, the Sacred contains all "reality", or value, and other things acquire "reality" only to the extent that they participate in the sacred.

Eliade's understanding of religion centers on his concept of hierophany (manifestation of the Sacred)—a concept that includes, but is not limited to, the older and more restrictive concept of theophany (manifestation of a god). From the perspective of religious thought, Eliade argues, hierophanies give structure and orientation to the world, establishing a sacred order. The "profane" space of nonreligious experience can only be divided up geometrically: it has no "qualitative differentiation and, hence, no orientation [is] given by virtue of its inherent structure". Thus, profane space gives man no pattern for his behavior. In contrast to profane space, the site of a hierophany has a sacred structure to which religious man conforms himself. A hierophany amounts to a "revelation of an absolute reality, opposed to the non-reality of the vast surrounding expanse". As an example of "sacred space" demanding a certain response from man, Eliade gives the story of Moses halting before Yahweh's manifestation as a burning bush (Exodus 3:5) and taking off his shoes. This is a bibliography of works by Mircea Eliade.

Scholarly works

• The Comparative History of Yoga Techniques, 1933
• Oceanografie, 1934
• Alchimia Asiatică, 1934
• Yoga: Essai sur les origines de la mystique indienne, 1936
• Cosmologie şi alchimie babiloniană, 1937
• Fragmentarium, 1939
• Comentarii la legenda Meşterului Manole, 1943
• Techniques du Yoga, 1948
• Traité d'histoire des religions, 1949 - Patterns in Comparative Religion
• Le Chamanisme et les techniques archaïques de l'extase, 1951 - Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy
• Images et Symboles, 1952 - Images and Symbols
• Forgerons et alchimistes, 1956 - The Forge and the Crucible
• Cosmos and History: The Myth of the Eternal Return, translated: W.R. Trask. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1954. Originally published as Le Mythe de l'eternel retour: archétypes et répetition, 1949.
• Yoga, Immortality and Freedom, translated: W.R. Trask. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958. First published in French as Yoga: Essai sur l'origine de la mystique Indienne in 1933.
• Rites and Symbols of Initiation (Birth and Rebirth), translated: W. Trask, London: Harvill Press, 1958. The publication of Eliade's 1956 Haskell Lectures at the University of Chicago, Patterns of Initiation.
• Patterns in Comparative Religion, translated: R. Sheed, London: Sheed and Ward, 1958.
• The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, translated from French: W.R. Trask, Harvest/HBJ Publishers, 1957 ISBN 0-15-679201-X.
• Myths, Dreams and Mysteries: the Encounter between Contemporary Faiths and Archaic Realities, translated: P. Mairet, London: Harvill Press, 1959.
• Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism, translated: P. Mairet, London: Harvill Press, 1961.
• Patanjali et Yoga, 1962 - Patanjali and Yoga
• Myth and Reality, translated: W. Trask, New York: Harper and Row, 1963.
• Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, translated: W.R. Trask. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1964. Originally published Le Chamanisme, 1951.
• The Two and the One, translated: J.M. Cohen, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1965.
• The Quest: History and Meaning in Religion, London: University of Chicago Press, 1969.
• De Zalmoxis à Gengis-Khan. Études comparatives sur les religions et le folklore de la Dacie et de l'Europe orientale, Payot, 1970
• Zalmoxis, The Vanishing God, The University of Chicago Press, 1972.
• Australian Religions, Cornell University Press, 1973
• Occultism, Witchcraft and Cultural Fashions, The University of Chicago Press, 1976
• A History of Religious Ideas, vol. I, From the Stone Age to the Eleusinian Mysteries, translated: W. Trask, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1978.
• A History of Religious Ideas, vol. II, From Gautama Buddha to the Triumph of Christianity, translated: W. Trask, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1982.
• The History of Religious Ideas, vol. III, From Muhammad to the Age of the Reforms, translated: A. Hiltebeitel and D. Apostolos-Cappadona, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
• Symbolism, the Sacred, and the Arts, edited by Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, The Crossroad Publishing Company, N.Y., 1986. ISBN 0-8245-0723-1
• Encyclopedia of Religion (editor-in-chief), New York: Macmillan, 1987.
• From Primitives to Zen (full text).
• The Harpercollins Concise Guide to World Religions, 2000 (with Ioan P. Culianu, Hillary S. Wiesner)

Fiction

• 1921, Cum am găsit piatra filosofală. (How I Found the Philosophers’ Stone). Eliade’s first story to be published when he was fourteen years old. RR p.40.
• 1924, Romanul adolescentului miop. (Novel of the Nearsighted Adolescent). Published in serial form in the periodicals Cuvântul, Viaţa Literară, and Universul Literar. Published in French: Le roman de l'adolescent myope. Paris: Acte Sud, 1992. RR pp.48–73.
• 1927, Itinerar spiritual. (Spiritual Itinerary) Cuvântul (Sept.- Nov. 1927). RR pp.245–270.
• 1928, Gaudeamus. A sequel to Romanul adolescentului miop, first published in 1986 in Revista de istorie şi teorie literară. RR pp.56, 198-201.
• 1928, Apologia virilităţii (Apology for Virility) In Gândirea, 8 (1928):8-9. RR pp.216–223.
• 1930, Isabel şi apele diavolului (Isabel and the Devil’s Waters). Editura Naţională Ciornei, Bucharest. RR pp.414–436.
• 1932, Într-o Monastire din Himalaya, (In a Himalayan Monastery) Editura Cartea Românească, Bucharest.
• 1932, Întoarcerea din rai (Return from Paradise). Written in late 1932 and published in 1934, Editura Naţională Ciornei, Bucharest. The first part of a projected trilogy with Huliganii (The Hooligans) and Viaţa Nouă (New Life). RR pp.677–707, 1035-1040.
• 1933, Maitreyi. Editura Cultura Naţională, Bucharest. Translated from the Romanian by Alain Guillermou — La Nuit Bengali, Lausanne: Gallimard, 1950. Translated from the French by Catherine Spencer — Bengal Nights, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. RR pp.464–486, pp.535–541.
• 1934, Lumina ce se stinge (The Failing Light), Editura Cartea Românească,Bucharest. RR pp.436–460.
• 1934, Şantier (Work in Progress, an "indirect novel"), Editura Cugetarea, Bucharest, 1935. RR pp.752–755.
• 1935, Huliganii (The Hooligans), Editura Naţională Ciornei, Bucharest. RR pp.1007–1035.
• 1935, Domnişoara Christina (Miss Christina). Mademoiselle Christina. Paris: L’Herne 1978. (French introduction by Eliade, 1978.). RR pp.1045–1052. In Mystic Stories: The Sacred and Profane. Tr. Ana Cartianu, edited by Kurt Treptow. Classics of Romanian Literature Series, Vol. II. Boulder: East European Monographs, 1992.
• 1936, Şarpele (The Serpent). Editura Naţională Ciornei, Bucharest, 1937. Andronic et le Serpent. Paris: L’Herne 1979. (Introduction by Sorin Alexandrescu). RR pp.1057–1073.
• 1937, Aventura (An Adventure) and Întâlnire (An Encounter). Both published in the back of the original edition of Şarpele. RR pp.1041–1042.
• 1938, Nuntă în cer (Marriage in Heaven). RR pp.1160–1178. Won the Elba-Brignetti prize for the best novel in Italian 1983, Nozze in Ciello. Also published in German: Hochzeit in Himmel.
• 1939, Iphigenia. Play, first published as Iphigenia: piesǎ în trei acte. Valle Hermosa, Argentina: Editura Cartea Pribegiei, 1951. Also published as Ifigenia: piesă în trei acte: cinci tablouri. Bucharest: 1974. RR pp.1178–1185.
• 1940, Nopţi la Serampore (Nights at Serampore). Translated by William Ames Coates, in Two Strange Tales. Boston and London: Shambhala, 1986.ISBN 0877733864 RR pp.1185–1193.
• 1940, Secretul doctorului Honigberger (The Secret of Dr. Honigberger). Translated by William Ames Coates, in Two Strange Tales. Boston and London: Shambhala, 1986.
• 1943, Oameni şi pietre (Men and Stones) Play. RR pp.1193–1199.
• 1945, Un om mare (A Great Man). Translated by Eric Tappe. In Fantastic Tales. London: Dillon’s, 1969. RR pp.1199–1203.
• 1946, Fratele risipitor (The Prodigal Brother). Luceafărul, 2, 1949, pp. 162–70.)
• 1951, 1241 (A Play in One Act) in Caiete de dor, 4 (1951): 10-14. Republished in Revista de istorie si teorie literară XXXIV (April-September, 1986): 2-3.
• 1952, Douăsprezece mii de capete de vite (Twelve Thousand Heads of Cattle). Translated by Eric Tappe. In Fantastic Tales. London: Dillon’s, 1969.
• 1954, Noaptea de Sânziene (The Forbidden Forest), Ioan Cusa, Paris, 1971. Translated by M. L. Ricketts and Mary Park Stevenson. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1978.
• 1955, Fata căpitanului (The Captain’s Daughter). Published in La Ţigănci şi alte povestiri, Bucharest: Editura pentru Literatură, 1969.
• 1955, Adio (Goodbye) in La Ţigănci şi alte povestiri, translated by M. L. Ricketts in Imagination and Meaning. The Scholarly and Literary Works of Mircea Eliade, edited by Norman Girardot and M. L. Ricketts. New York: The Seabury Press, 1982.
• 1960, La Ţigănci (With the Gypsy Girls). Translated by William Ames Coates. In Tales of the Sacred and Supernatural. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1981.
• 1963, O fotografie veche de 14 ani (A Fourteen Year Old Photograph). First published in Nuvele, Madrid; Colecţia Destin, 1963. Translated by M. Ricketts. The Louisberg College Journal, vol. VIII (1974): 3-15.
• 1963, Ivan in Nuvele, Madrid, Colecţia Destin: 1963.
• 1963, Podul (The Bridge), in La Ţigănci şi alte povestiri, Bucharest.
• 1963, Ghicitor în pietre (The Man Who Could Read Stone) in Nuvele, Madrid, Colectia Destin: 1963. Translated by Mac Linscott Ricketts in Changing Religious Worlds: The Meaning and End of Mircea Eliade, ed. Bryan Rennie. Albany, NY: 2000.
• 1964, Într-o cazarmă (In a Barracks) in Destin (Madrid), 13-14 (1964): 84-92.
• 1967, Pe Strada Mântuleasa (The Old Man and The Bureaucrats). Translated by Mary Park Stevenson. Notre Dame and London: University of Notre Dame Press, 1979.
• 1968, În curte la Dionis (In Dionysus’ Court — a collection of short stories), Editura Cartea Românească, Bucharest.
• 1970, Coloana nesfârşită (The Endless Column), in Coloana nesfârşită, Editura Minerva, 1996. Play. Translated by Mary Park Stevenson in Dialectics and Humanism 10, 1 (1983): 44-88.
• 1971, Uniforme de general (Two Generals’ Uniforms), in În curte la Dionis (In Dionysus’ Court — a collection of short stories), Caietele inorogului IV, Paris, 1977.
• 1974, Incognito la Buchenwald (Incognito at Buchenwalt), in În curte la Dionis, Caietele inorogului IV, Paris, 1977.
• 1975, Pelerina (The Cape), in Nuvele inedite, Editura Rum-Irina, Bucharest, 1991. Translated from the Romanian by Mac Linscott Ricketts in Youth without Youth. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1988.
• 1976, Les Trois Grâces in În curte la Dionis, Caietele inorogului IV, Paris, 1977. Translated by Mac Linscott Ricketts. In Tales of the Sacred and Supernatural. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1981.
• 1976, Tinereţe fără de tinereţe (Youth Without Youth) Translated by Mac Linscott Ricketts in Youth without Youth. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1988.
• 1979, Nouăsprezece Trandafiri (Nineteen Roses) Translated by Mac Linscott Ricketts in Youth without Youth. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1988.
• 1979, Dayan in Nuvele inedite, Editura Rum-Irina, Bucharest, 1991.
• 1982, La umbra unui crin (In the Shadow of a Lily) in Nuvele inedite, Editura Rum-Irina, Bucharest, 1991.
• 2012[1946], Aventura Spirituală (A Spiritual Adventure). Unpublished newly discovered and translated into English play by M. L. Ricketts. Theory in Action -the journal of the Transformative Studies Institute., vol. 5 (2012): 2-58.

Other

• 1942, Salazar, Editura Gorjan
• 1943, Os romenos, latinos do oriente