Andrei Mladin

 

Andrei Mladin

Main character: Andrei Mladin
Country of origin: Romania
Main location: Bucharest

Creator: George Arion
Born in: Tecuci, Romania
Born on: April 5 1946
Nationality: Romanian

Literary series started in: 1983, Atac în bibliotecă [Eng. transl. Attack in the Library]
Original language: Romanian
Publisher: Cartea Românească, Bucharest, Romania
Number of books (original editions): 7
Latest title published in: 2019, Umbrele din Ada Kaleh [Eng. transl. The shadows of Ada Kaleh]
Translations: No

Film title: Enigmele se explică în zori [Eng. transl. At Dawn the Enigmas are Solved]
Film produced in: 1987
Producer: Casa de filme 5 (Romania)
Director: Aurel Miheles
Script: George Arion
Transnational distribution: No

Film title: Atac în bibliotecă [Eng. transl. Attack in the Library]
Film produced in: 1992
Producer: Delta Film MSK, Studioul Cinematografic București s.a. (Romania)
Director: Mircea Drăgan
Script: George Arion
Transnational distribution: No

Television series title: Enigmele se explică în zori [Eng. transl.: Enigmas are Explained at Dawn]
Television series started in: 2001
Producer: TVR, Romania
Directors: Silviu Jicman, Doina Teodoru
Number of episodes: 10
Latest season/ episode broadcast in: 2001
Transnational distribution: No

Case study rationale:

Andrei Mladin is a witty and well-read journalist who is willing to question even the reasons of his love interest’s behaviour in order to reveal the truth in an ill-defined situation. According to his creator, writer George Arion, he is a “reluctant detective”: he starts investigating on his own when faced with injustice in his own private life, or whenever he senses a scoop for his newspaper. His unsubmissiveness, his clever puns and his determination to challenge the corrupt system have made him a highly popular character in Romania, with Arion confessing that he receives greeting cards on Saint Andrew, Andrei Mladin’s name day. Many writers and critics have disclosed that Arion’s first novel in the series (Atac în bibliotecă, 1983) could be seen as an act of covert symbolic dissent back in the times of Socialist Romania. It alluded to the fact that the citizens, not the authorities should debate and define social justice. The books also ironically engage a wide array of gender and class stereotypical representation of Communist and post-Communist Romania. Andrei Mladin’s popularity survived the fall of the Ceaușescu regime in 1989, and resulted in the continuation of the series. The feature films and the TV series based on Arion’s books did not dot match the linguistic charm of the novels and did not reach transnational circuits. However, the translations of literary series, even if still very partial, have been welcomed by international readers and critics.

Online research resources

 

Watch

Atac în bibliotecă film presentation by TVR, the Romanian public broadcaster [in Romanian]:

Atac în bibliotecă film presentation by TVR, the Romanian public broadcaster [in Romanian]:

Short presentation of the French translation La Vodka du Diable (2014), translated by Sylvain Audet [in French]:

Short presentation of the French translation La Vodka du Diable (2014), translated by Sylvain Audet [in French]:

George Arion interviewee in the Identități TV show on the TVR channel [in Romanian]:

 

George Arion interviewee in the Identități TV show on the TVR channel [in Romanian]:

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