CONVOIUL (X) de Gheorghe Schwartz Tradus de / Translated by Eugene MATZOTA ▲▲▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.103, 03/2026 ▲▲▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură! Abstract: The Convoy (X) – The Body of the Serpent Part I: The Serpent’s Body (Episode 18) In this tenth installment of the series, the hypnotic cadence of the march—"Left, right, left, right"—serves as the rhythmic heartbeat of a narrative steeped in surveillance and existential dawning. The protagonist finds himself caught in a psychological tug-of-war between the rigid discipline of his own "Convoy" and the magnetic pull of a parallel column moving on the horizon, the "Mirror Convoy." Key thematic layers explored in this chapter include: - The Architecture of Surveillance: The protagonist’s neighbors in the line—the "Guard," the "Redhead," and the "Giant"—act as more than fellow travelers; they are ideological buffers designed to obstruct his vision and warn him against the "malicious plans" of the opposition. - The Ouroboros Metaphor: The General’s cryptic promise of a future where "the serpent swallows its tail" introduces a chilling cycle of eternity. The protagonist grapples with the meaning of this totality: is it a state of perfection or a trap of infinite circularity? - The Subversive Gaze: Moving away from the programmed obedience of looking only at the ground or the back of the person in front, the protagonist begins to look "left and right." This peripheral awareness is triggered by the recurring presence of a solitary woman on the opposite side of the road—a figure dismissed by his peers as a "paid lure," yet perceived by him as a silent, persistent witness to his own existence.
România pierdută (XIV) ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.103, 03/2026 ▲
România pierdută (XIV) de Claudiu Iordache ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.103, 03/2026 ▲ Noi mai credem încă în cultură! Abstract: Lost Romania (XIV) By Claudiu Iordache A profound and visceral meditation on national identity, Lost Romania (XIV) serves as both a stinging critique of social hypocrisy and a spiritual call to arms. Claudiu Iordache moves beyond the mere recovery of civil liberties, proposing a "messianic" evolution of the Romanian soul. He views the nation not as a collection of historical ruins or functional utilities, but as a living destiny—a "Heir Child" that remains unfinished and often abandoned by its own people. The text navigates several key philosophical dimensions: - The Responsibility of Love: The author distinguishes his "filial exigency"—a harsh, demanding love born from high expectations—from the "comfortable love" of the masses that tolerates decay. - The Metaphysics of Freedom: Freedom is described as an inward escape, a return to the source. Iordache warns that Romania "withers in the hands of those who do not desire it," framing the nation as a fragile reality that requires constant, conscious cultivation. - The Revolutionary Legacy: Reflecting on the 1989 Revolution, the author describes it as the nation’s "crown," a moment of self-redemption. However, he warns of a continuing "hemorrhage of energy" and a looming Choice where a single wrong step could lead to the ultimate loss of the country. Concluding with a haunting epilogue from the balconies of the Timișoara Revolution, Iordache’s work is an "exalted consent to defeat" that paradoxically seeks to plug the void through which nothingness enters humanity. It is a testament to a "strange inheritance" that can only be preserved through absolute responsibility and unconditional, yet lucid, devotion.
CONVOIUL (IX) ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.102, 02/2026 ▲
This is the nineth part of the "The Convoy" series, presented in a bilingual Romanian-English format. "The Body of the Snake" continues the metaphorical exploration of a human column on a perpetual march, guarded by "Keepers". The narrative delves into themes of individual apathy versus the collective drive for survival, illustrating a moment where external incitements to rebellion are met with both longing and resignation. As the convoy moves from restrictive paths to expansive, multi-lane roads, Schwartz masterfully examines the shifting nature of social control and the internal psychological landscape of those caught in the march. CONVOIUL (IX) de Gheorghe Schwartz Tradus de / Translated by Eugene MATZOTA ▲▲▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.102, 02/2026 ▲▲▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură!
România pierdută (XIII) ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.102, 02/2026 ▲
Lost Romania (XIII) Written in 1995, this visceral philosophical essay serves as both a political indictment and a metaphysical excavation of a nation in decay. Dedicated to the "hypocrites" and "false purveyors of Romanian love," Iordache explores the "lost country" not as a geographical failure, but as an internal prison—an ontological "shattered asphalt" where the individual and the collective soul have decomposed into a single, agonizing image. The narrative establishes a stark tension between the Ugly Reality and the Subterranean Sacred: The Lugubrious Howl: Represented by the "vraiște" (disarray) of the streets and the sudden violence of a world that "schilodește" (maims) the innocent, marking the "double suicide" of both the self and the state. The Deep Pulse: The author posits that "Heaven is beneath us"—a buried patrimony of a "greedy genius" where all that was and will be is stored, waiting for an observer to "rise to their feet" and reclaim it. Ultimately, Iordache proposes a radical Socio-Spiritual Reversal. He argues that "masculine insolence" is an exhausted currency and that the only path to surmounting the national deficit of energy is to invoke the "defeated force" of the woman. By refusing to "copulate with the desecrators," the feminine principle represents the final, impossible revolt against the "hierarchy of misfortune" that governs the relationship between the exploiter and the exploited. România pierdută (XIII) de Claudiu Iordache ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.101, 02/2026 ▲ Noi mai credem încă în cultură!
DINCOLO DE GARDUL SISTEMULUI, de Eugen Matzota ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.101, 01/2026 ▲
Beyond the System’s Fence – A Manifesto for the Unrepeatable Soul Author: Eugen Matzota With the release of issue 101, ALTCULTURE moves beyond the symbolic milestone of survival into a stage of "interrogation without anesthesia." This editorial serves as a searing critique of the modern "System," which has evolved from ideological barbed wire into a sophisticated web of pixels and algorithms. The author introduces the concept of the "Absolute Mirror"—a technological promise of perfection that subtly strips humanity of its ability to wonder and its capacity for authentic emotion. To illustrate the danger of intellectual conformity, the text revisits a dark chapter of Romanian history: the 1951 Academy meeting. Led by Mihail Sadoveanu, the cultural elite of the time—including figures like George Călinescu—voted to symbolically "execute" the genius of Constantin Brâncuși, deeming him unworthy of the title of sculptor simply because he did not fit the party’s rigid ideological framework. By contrasting the "bent spines" of the past with the algorithmic traps of the present, the manifesto argues that honor and the "wound" of imperfection are the only true seals of originality. Issue 101 stands as a refusal to accept pre-packaged truths, choosing instead to seek the "Source" with a sharp mind and an upright spine, even when swimming against the current. DINCOLO DE GARDUL SISTEMULUI, de Eugen Matzota ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.101, 01/2026 ▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură!
Romanian Blues – Fragment din ”Omul de cenușă” (I) ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.102, 02/2026▲
Abstract: Chapter 14 – "Romanian Blues" From The Book of Ash (Cartea de Cenușă) by Nicholas Jordan Editor’s Note: Highly acclaimed by some of the most prominent figures in contemporary Romanian literature, Nicholas Jordan’s "The Book of Ash" is a masterclass in existential travelogue and gritty realism. Critics have praised the work for its "surgical precision of observation" and its ability to blend the mundane with the metaphysical. In Chapter 14, titled "Romanian Blues," the narrator finds himself abruptly exiled from the canals of Venice back to the stark, grey reality of late-Soviet Russia. Set against the backdrop of a nascent Perestroika, the story captures a world in transition—where Western nylon stockings and blue jeans begin to appear on Moscow’s streets, yet the taps of Hotel Bucharest still run with rust-colored water and the shadows of miniaturized microphones linger in the luminators. The narrative takes a sharp, darkly comedic turn when an occupational hazard of the "professional guide" life—a contracted venereal infection—leads the protagonist to the decaying corridors of Leningrad’s Polyclinic No. 3. Treated by a pragmatic Soviet doctor with a cocktail of penicillin and methylene blue, the narrator embarks on a literal and metaphorical "Blue Period." As the medication turns his world (and his anatomy) a vivid, Technicolor blue, the chapter evolves into a profound reflection on alienation. Jordan masterfully weaves together the raw discomfort of the body with high-culture references—from the haunting lyrics of Janis Joplin’s "Me and Bobby McGee" to the melancholic depths of Picasso’s Blue Period. Through the lens of "the blues," the author explores the mechanics of migration, the physics of light, and the inevitable bitterness of a "good man feeling bad." "Romanian Blues" is a poignant, witty, and unapologetic dissection of the human condition, trapped between the crumbling walls of the East and the hollow promises of the West. Romanian Blues - Fragment din ”Omul de cenușă” (I) ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.102, 02/2026 ▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură!
CONVOIUL (VIII) ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.101, 01/2026 ▲
This is the eighth part of the "The Convoy" series, presented in a bilingual Romanian-English format. "The Body of the Snake" continues the metaphorical exploration of a human column on a perpetual march, guarded by "Keepers". The narrative delves into themes of individual apathy versus the collective drive for survival, illustrating a moment where external incitements to rebellion are met with both longing and resignation. As the convoy moves from restrictive paths to expansive, multi-lane roads, Schwartz masterfully examines the shifting nature of social control and the internal psychological landscape of those caught in the march. CONVOIUL (VIII) de Gheorghe Schwartz Tradus de / Translated by Eugene MATZOTA ▲▲▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.101, 01/2026 ▲▲▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură!