Kazys Bradunas
Encyclopedia
Kazys Bradūnas was a Lithuania
n émigré
poet and editor. He was born in Kiršai, Vilkaviškis
.
He graduated from Vilnius University
where he studied Lithuanian language
and literature. During the post-war period he lived in Displaced Persons camps in Germany
. In 1944 Bradūnas emigrated to the U.S.
, and lived in Baltimore
and Chicago
. In 1995 he returned to Lithuania and then lived in the capital, Vilnius
, until his death.
in Chicago
.
He was one of the most virile émigré editors of collective works on poetry and literature. Bradūnas together with the literature critic and professor of Ohio State University
, Rimvydas Šilbajoris, edited an anthology Lietuvių egzodo literatūra, 1940–1990 (Literature of Lithuanian Exodus, 1940–1990) published in Chicago, 1992.
published in 1951 in Los Angeles
. The participants of the "Žemė" anthology were Kazys Bradūnas, Juozas Kėkštas, Vytautas Mačernis (post-humously), Henrikas Nagys, Alfonsas Nyka-Niliūnas.
The movement was advocating Lithuanian poetry with distinct roots in the earth, drawing its strength from Lithuania's agricultural heritage and folklore
. "They fused the Lithuanian spirit with the pathos
of the modern world's poetic forms and, it can be said, laid the foundation for the modern poetry to be written later in Lithuania" (http://www.efn.org/~valdas/modern.html) (per Kornelijus Platelis).
Rimvydas Šilbajoris wrote about Bradūnas’ poetry in Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences "Lituanus
": "Lyric poetry, consisting as it does of brief statements of experience, was able to respond most quickly and sensitively to the fact of exile
. Some poets reacted in simple and naive anguish, like small children awakened suddenly in an unfamiliar place.
Of these, Bradūnas communicated most directly the physical sense of loss which overwhelms a farmer torn away from the familiar objects in his native house and field. His first book in exile, The Alien Bread (1945), is full of small painful vignettes of daily experience where the smell of a flower, a bend in the river, or the pale light of the morning would deceive and comfort the traveler by their intimate familiarity — only to shock him afterwards with the realization that the flower was not known at home, the river bears some strange German name, and the morning promises another day of hard labor for alien masters. Naturally enough, the dispossessed farmer, Bradūnas, was at the center of the new mythology.
In several collections of poetry entitled Nine Ballads (1955), Marshland Fires (1958) and The Silver Bridles (1964), he elaborated the concept of man's existence as a sacrifice at the altar of life and thus also at the altar of both pagan and Christian God, in the native land, over the course of centuries.
His poems are complex in their implied references to the continuum of life through all the Lithuanian generations which had sacrificed themselves in order that their land should prosper green again and again" (http://www.lituanus.org/1972/72_1_04.htm).
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
poet and editor. He was born in Kiršai, Vilkaviškis
Vilkaviškis
Vilkaviškis Until 1940 the city had a large Jewish Community which was annihilated by the Nazis and their local collaborators. The whole Jewish population was killed in a single day,, after the entry of the Germans into the city.-Names:...
.
He graduated from Vilnius University
Vilnius University
Vilnius University is the oldest university in the Baltic states and one of the oldest in Eastern Europe. It is also the largest university in Lithuania....
where he studied Lithuanian language
Lithuanian language
Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
and literature. During the post-war period he lived in Displaced Persons camps in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In 1944 Bradūnas emigrated to the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and lived in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. In 1995 he returned to Lithuania and then lived in the capital, Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, until his death.
Editorial work
Bradūnas edited literary and cultural journals Literatūros lankai, Aidai and the Saturday cultural supplement of the Lithuanian daily DraugasDraugas
Draugas is the only Lithuanian daily newspaper published abroad. It is read not only in the United States, but in Canada, South America, Australia, and Europe as well.-History:...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
He was one of the most virile émigré editors of collective works on poetry and literature. Bradūnas together with the literature critic and professor of Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, Rimvydas Šilbajoris, edited an anthology Lietuvių egzodo literatūra, 1940–1990 (Literature of Lithuanian Exodus, 1940–1990) published in Chicago, 1992.
The Earth Literary Movement
Bradūnas was one of the founders of the "Žemė" (Earth) literary movement and one of the editors of the same name anthologyAnthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
published in 1951 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The participants of the "Žemė" anthology were Kazys Bradūnas, Juozas Kėkštas, Vytautas Mačernis (post-humously), Henrikas Nagys, Alfonsas Nyka-Niliūnas.
The movement was advocating Lithuanian poetry with distinct roots in the earth, drawing its strength from Lithuania's agricultural heritage and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. "They fused the Lithuanian spirit with the pathos
Pathos
Pathos represents an appeal to the audience's emotions. Pathos is a communication technique used most often in rhetoric , and in literature, film and other narrative art....
of the modern world's poetic forms and, it can be said, laid the foundation for the modern poetry to be written later in Lithuania" (http://www.efn.org/~valdas/modern.html) (per Kornelijus Platelis).
Poetry
Linguist, author and professor at Ohio State UniversityOhio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
Rimvydas Šilbajoris wrote about Bradūnas’ poetry in Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences "Lituanus
Lituanus
Lituanus is an English language quarterly journal dedicated to Lithuanian and Baltic languages, linguistics, political science, arts, history, literature, and related topics. It is published by the non-profit Lituanus Foundation, Inc., and has a worldwide circulation of about 3,000 copies per...
": "Lyric poetry, consisting as it does of brief statements of experience, was able to respond most quickly and sensitively to the fact of exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
. Some poets reacted in simple and naive anguish, like small children awakened suddenly in an unfamiliar place.
Of these, Bradūnas communicated most directly the physical sense of loss which overwhelms a farmer torn away from the familiar objects in his native house and field. His first book in exile, The Alien Bread (1945), is full of small painful vignettes of daily experience where the smell of a flower, a bend in the river, or the pale light of the morning would deceive and comfort the traveler by their intimate familiarity — only to shock him afterwards with the realization that the flower was not known at home, the river bears some strange German name, and the morning promises another day of hard labor for alien masters. Naturally enough, the dispossessed farmer, Bradūnas, was at the center of the new mythology.
In several collections of poetry entitled Nine Ballads (1955), Marshland Fires (1958) and The Silver Bridles (1964), he elaborated the concept of man's existence as a sacrifice at the altar of life and thus also at the altar of both pagan and Christian God, in the native land, over the course of centuries.
His poems are complex in their implied references to the continuum of life through all the Lithuanian generations which had sacrificed themselves in order that their land should prosper green again and again" (http://www.lituanus.org/1972/72_1_04.htm).
Poetry collections
- Vilniaus varpai : sonetai. (1943)
- Pėdos arimuos : eilėraščiai. (1944)
- Svetimoji duona : eilėraščiai. (1945)
- Apeigos : eilėraščiai. (1948)
- Devynios baladės. (1955)
- Morenų ugnys : eilėraščiai. (1958)
- Sidabrinės kamanos. (1964)
- Alkana kelionė : [eilėraščiai]. (1976)
- Užeigoje prie Vilniaus vieškelio (1981)
- Prierašai : [eilėraščiai]. (1983)
- Krikšto vanduo Joninių naktį : [eilėraščiai]. (1987)
- Duona ir druska : poezija. (1992)
- Apie žemę ir dangų : eilėraščiai. (1997)
Selected works
- Įaugom Nemuno upyne : rinktinė. (1990)
- Prie vieno stalo : poezijos rinktinė. (1990)
- Iš grumsto ir iš dvasios. (1994)
- Lietuviškoji trilogija. (1994)
- Sutelktinė : eilėraščiai. (2001)
Poems
- Maras : poema. (1947)
- Sonatos ir fugos : susitikimai su Čiurlioniu. (1967)
- Donelaičio kapas : eilėraščiai. (1970)
- Pokalbiai su karalium : anno domini 1323-1973. (1973)
Edited works of poetry and literature
- Žemė (1951)
- Lietuvių poezija išeivijoje, 1945–1971 (1971)
- „Poezija“ by Vytautas Mačernis (1961)
- Lietuvių literatūra svetur, 1945–1967 (1968)
- Antologija „Keturi“ (1986)
- Lietuvių egzodo literatūrą, 1940–1990 (1992)
Awards and honors
- National Prize Laureate (1993)
- Winner of National Poetry Contest for Poetry Spring (2002)