Tipologii mitologice în universul fantasy minor la Michael Ende și Răzvan Rădulescu

Abstract

This paper comparatively analyses two contemporary fantasy novels: Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story and Răzvan Rădulescu’s Teodosie cel Mic, focusing on their distinct approaches to world-building, mythopoeia, and narrative reflexivity. Ende’s work constructs an explicitly allegorical and universal secondary world (Fantásia), emphasizing the metaphysical power of imagination and the reader's role as a saviour. In contrast, Rădulescu employs a subtle technique, integrating the fantastic mode into a meticulously established urban realism, where mythological figures are disguised within the texture of contemporary Romanian society. Both authors draw extensively on folk culture, mythology, and cultural stereotypes, often utilizing irony and sarcasm to reinterpret ancient narratives. However, their use of mythological blending diverges significantly: Ende’s mixture is transparent, appealing to a global audience, while Rădulescu’s synthesis is deliberately ethno-centric and implicit, requiring the reader to actively discern non-native elements within the local context.