CONVOIUL (XIII) de Gheorghe Schwartz Tradus de / Translated by Eugene MATZOTA ▲▲▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.106, 06/2026 ▲▲▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură! Abstract Title: “THE CONVOY (XIII)” — Part I: The Body of the Snake (23) Author: Gheorghe Schwartz Translated by: Eugene Matzota Publication: ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE no. 106, 06/2026 “We still believe in culture!” Overview Sitting isolated in a quiet hotel lobby, the protagonist observes former members returning from the massive, collective entity known as "The Convoy" to rejoin civilian life—reunions that appear noticeably devoid of warmth or joy. With only three days of accommodation vouchers remaining, he faces growing uncertainty about his future while grappling with the reality of his covert recruitment by a secretive system. Through a communication device concealed as a business card, the protagonist learns why Convoy attire is heavily targeted by criminals: impostors use the uniforms to pose as law enforcement, carrying out robberies and murders under the guise of official authority. As he continues his assigned mission to investigate why individuals abandon the security of the Convoy for a life of hardship, the protagonist discovers that his own thoughts—and those of all marchers—are constantly harvested, processed, and analyzed by advanced computer algorithms, revealing a pervasive system of total surveillance.
Drumuri la mănăstiri (I) – Fragment din ”Omul de cenușă” ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.106, 06/2026 ▲
Drumuri la mănăstiri (I) - Fragment din ”Omul de cenușă” ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.106, 06/2026 ▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură! Abstract Title: “Monastery Tours (I)” — Excerpt from “The Ashman” Author: Nicholas Jordan Publication: ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE no. 106, 06/2026 “We still believe in culture!” Overview This excerpt follows a seasoned tour guide for "Globe" as he prepares to lead a Christmas circuit through the famous painted monasteries of Moldavia—renowned for their brilliant four-century-old blue frescoes. He delves into the unique, often difficult dynamics of holiday travel, where buses are filled not with typical vacationers, but with lonely solo travelers and dysfunctional couples seeking an escape. Before setting off, the protagonist meets in Malta with Red Ericson, an influential company figure, to lobby for a promotion to tour controller. Red bluntly denies the request, citing the protagonist's Eastern European background, his non-Western name (Ursache), and subtle physical mannerisms as invisible barriers to advancement within the company. Despite the rejection, the protagonist asks for a final favor, leaving the meeting with a challenging passenger list of 43 tourists—mostly single occupancy rooms—setting the stage for a demanding journey to Romania.
dacă e să subliniem iubirea, de Doria Șișu ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.106, 6/2026 ▲
dacă e să subliniem iubirea, de Doria Șișu ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.106, 6/2026 ▲ Noi mai credem încă în cultură! Abstract: The Subversive Architecture of the Everyday – A Reading of Doria Șișu’s Poetry In this poem featured in issue 106 of ALTCULTURE Magazine, Doria Șișu proposes a radical reconfiguration of the great human themes—love, war, death, and longing—through an aesthetic of the "red marker" and playful subversion. The author does not question these concepts from a distance; instead, she intervenes directly in their mechanics, proposing a "therapy of the absurd" as a form of resistance. The poem functions as a manifesto against the gravity with which we are accustomed to viewing tragedy: - Love becomes a matter of public signaling, a necessity that must be displayed "strategically on highways." - War and violence are countered with an armor of harmlessness ("gingerbread," "lollipops"), a strategy of "brainwashing" with gentleness that exposes, by contrast, the cruelty of reality. - Death is met not with resignation, but with the playful defiance of one who understands that life, being "free of charge," is a gift worth capturing in a "photo of us laughing." The poem's ending, marked by a liberating forgetting, functions as a philosophical conclusion: true freedom does not reside in preserving pain or the past, but in the capacity to erase the traces of everything that constrains us. Doria Șișu transforms the page of poetry into a workspace where, with a red marker, the reader is invited to rewrite the priorities of an existence often stifled by convention.
Polul de Putere (II) ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.106, 06/2026 ▲
Polul de Putere (II) de Claudiu Iordache ▲▲▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.106, 6/2026 ▲▲▲ Noi mai credem încă în cultură! Abstract: Power Poles – The Geometry of Ambition and the Archeology of Conflict In this analytical essay, Claudiu Iordache interrogates the nature of the "Power Pole"—a fundamental construct of human society that oscillates between the necessary management of collective ambition and the destructive escalation of conflict. Moving beyond traditional Marxist or post-Marxist readings, the author posits that the power pole is a structural manifestation of our deepest struggle: the attempt to transcend the "Inferior Time" of mere survival. The essay situates this struggle within a haunting mythological framework: the modern power pole finds itself face-to-face with the Sphinx, that eternal guardian of the Giza desert. Just as the Sphinx confronted Oedipus with the riddle of human existence, the current structures of power now stand at the threshold of a new millennium, awaiting a response that humanity has yet to articulate. While past empires have been content to answer with the sword, the modern pole of power faces the existential burden of a silent Sphinx, demanding to know where we come from and where we are heading. Iordache argues that for as long as humanity remains trapped in the geometry of the pyramid—the ritualization of power by an elite—access to the "Superior Time" remains perpetually deferred. This "Superior Time" represents the ultimate horizon: a state where power is no longer squandered in cyclical violence, but rendered obsolete by a new humanitarian consciousness. By reframing power as a reservoir of human resentment, the author challenges the reader to move beyond the prehistory of our current condition. The question remains: can humanity finally provide a response to the Sphinx that does not end in the oblivion of the individual, or are we destined to remain captives of the very power structures we have built to survive?
Arhitectura Verticalității în Era „Conținutului”, de Eugen Matzota ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.105, 05/2026 ▲
Arhitectura Verticalității în Era „Conținutului”, de Eugen Matzota ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.105, 05/2026 ▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură! Editorial: The Architecture of Verticality in the Age of "Content" "DO NOT LET THE WORLD DESIGN YOU – BUILD YOURSELF!" ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE No. 105, 05/2026 Abstract: In this issue’s editorial, the focus shifts from the mere responsibility of building within a chaotic world to an explicit declaration of war against the superficiality of the digital age. The text diagnoses a tragic confusion in contemporary society: mistaking the easy access to information for the mastery of knowledge. By critiquing the current educational and cultural landscape—which favors "surface competencies," algorithmic popularity, and hollow "engagement" over depth and character—the author calls for a return to the "pedagogy of effort." To counter the disintegration of values, the editorial proposes four radical gestures of resistance: the recovery of slow time, the embrace of rigorous discipline, the rejection of egalitarianism in favor of an authentic hierarchy of values, and the necessity of creative isolation. ALTCULTURE 105 stands not as a vessel for "content," but as a manifesto for those who refuse to be mere dust in the wind of algorithms. It is an urgent invitation to every reader to stop seeking shortcuts, to reclaim the right to think clearly, and to assume their duty as the Architects of their own destiny.
Eu parcă simt că vine ceva…, de Ciprian Cristea ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.105, 05/2026 ▲
Despre iubire, memorie și rezistență în „EstePi”, de Eugen Matzota ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.104, 04/2026 ▲ Noi mai credem încă în cultură! Abstract Title: Of Love, Memory, and Resistance in "EstePi" Author of Review: Eugen Matzota Subject: The Dictatorship of Silence – EstePi Love by Ciprian Cristea In this compelling review, Eugen Matzota introduces a new voice in contemporary literature, Ciprian Cristea, whose debut into the world of philosophical dystopia marks the beginning of an ambitious nine-volume series. Matzota, who acted as a mentor to the author, explores the manuscript titled The Dictatorship of Silence – EstePi Love, a work that transcends simple storytelling to become an urgent radiological examination of the present. The text analyzes a frozen, perfectly administered world where human essence—emotion, longing, and identity—has been surgically removed in exchange for a sterile and controlled order. In this universe, individuals are stripped of their names and reduced to mere statistical functions—exemplified by the chilling identification of a loved one as "7-241." Matzota argues that Cristea’s work is not merely a projection of a bleak future, but a meditation on the dissolution of the soul within a society that confuses absolute control with happiness. Ultimately, the review highlights the central theme of the novel: love as the most radical and illegal act of spiritual resistance against a world governed by algorithms and programmed conformity.
CONVOIUL (XII) ▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.105, 05/2026 ▲
CONVOIUL (XII) de Gheorghe Schwartz Tradus de / Translated by Eugene MATZOTA ▲▲▲ ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE Nr.105, 05/2026 ▲▲▲ Noi încă mai credem în cultură! The Convoy (XII) by Gheorghe Schwartz Translated by Eugene MATZOTA ALTCULTURE MAGAZINE No. 105, 05/2026 Abstract: In this introspective chapter, the protagonist navigates the unsettling reality of life after exiting the "Convoy"—a regimented, utopian-like structure he refers to as the "Body of the Serpent." Trapped in a city that feels both alien and hauntingly familiar, he seeks refuge in a hotel lobby during a relentless rainstorm, searching for answers among other defectors. His attempt to decode the motives behind their "unthinkable" abandonment of a secure life culminates in a strained, enigmatic encounter with a fellow exile—a man of refined, diplomatic demeanor who embodies the very contradictions of their shared past. Through their dialogue, the story masterfully explores the existential cost of uniformity, the illusion of personal initiative in a world governed by rigid hierarchies, and the subtle, psychological surveillance that transcends the boundaries of the Convoy itself. This segment serves as a profound meditation on the struggle to maintain one’s individuality—and the "small habits" that anchor it—within the crushing pressure of a controlled society.