Lithuanian literature - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Lithuanian literature concerns the art

Art

Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....

of written works compiled by Lithuanians

Lithuanians

Lithuanians are the Baltic ethnic group native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,765,600 people. Another million or more make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Russia, United Kingdom and Ireland. Their native language...

throughout their history.

Latin language

A wealth of Lithuanian literature was written in Latin, the main scholarly language in the Middle Ages.

Lithuanian language

Lithuanian literary works in the 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...

were first published in the 16th century. In 1547 Martynas Mažvydas

Martynas Mažvydas

Martynas Mažvydas Martynas Mažvydas Martynas Mažvydas (1510 near Žemaičių Naumiestis (now in Šilutė district municipality) - May 21, 1563 in Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) was the author and the editor of the first printed book in the Lithuanian language....

compiled and published the first printed Lithuanian book The Simple Words of Catechism, which marks the beginning of printed Lithuanian literature. He was followed by Mikalojus Daukša

Mikalojus Daukša

Mikalojus Daukša was a Lithuanian and Latin religious writer, translator and a Catholic church official...

in Lithuania Propria with his Katekizmas. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Lithuanian literature was primarily religious. The 18th century witnessed a modest increase in secular publications, including dictionaries. Kristijonas Donelaitis

Kristijonas Donelaitis

Kristijonas Donelaitis was a Prussian Lithuanian Lutheran pastor and poet. He lived and worked in Lithuania Minor, a territory in the Kingdom of Prussia, that had a sizable minority of ethnic Lithuanians...

wrote the first Lithuanian poem Metai
The Seasons (poem)
The Seasons ' is the first Lithuanian poem written by Kristijonas Donelaitis around 1765–1775. It was published as "Das Jahr" in Königsberg, 1818 by Ludwig Rhesa, who also entitled the poem and selected the arrangement of the parts. The German translation was included in the first edition of the...

(The Seasons, 1818), thus laying the foundations for Lithuanian poetry. The University of Vilnius promoted the usage of the language and the creation of literary works in the first half of the 19th century. However, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

announced a 40-year ban on the printing of Lithuanian language

Lithuanian language

, for fear of an uprising from Lithuanian nationalists. As a result, publishing was transferred to East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

and Lithuanian books were delivered to Lithuania by book smugglers

Knygnešiai

Book smugglers were people who transported Lithuanian language books printed in the Latin alphabet into Lithuanian-speaking areas of the Russian Empire, defying a ban on such materials in force from 1866 to 1904...

20th century literature

When the ban against printing in the Lithuanian language using the Latin alphabet

Lithuanian press ban

The Lithuanian press ban was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania at the time. Lithuanian-language publications that used the Cyrillic alphabet were allowed and even encouraged...

was lifted in 1904, various European literary movements such as Symbolism

Symbolism (arts)

Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...

, impressionism

Impressionism

Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...

, and expressionism

Expressionism

Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...

each in turn influenced the work of Lithuanian writers. The first period of Lithuanian independence (1918–40) gave them the opportunity to look into themselves and their characters more deeply, as their primary concerns were no longer political. An outstanding figure of the early 20th century was Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius

Vincas Kreve-Mickevicius

Vincas Mickevičius , better known by his pen name Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius, was a Lithuanian writer, poet, novelist, playwright and philologist...

, a novelist and dramatist. His many works include Dainavos šalies senų žmonių padavimai (Old Folks' Tales of Dainava

Dainava

Dainava may refer to:*Dainava an alternative name for Dzūkija, Lithuanian region,*Dainava an elderate in Kaunas city....

, 1912) and the historical dramas Šarūnas (1911), Skirgaila
Skirgaila
Skirgaila , also known as Ivan; ca. 1353 or 1354 – 11 January 1397 in Kiev; baptized 1383/1384 as Casimir) was a regent of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for his brother Jogaila from 1386 to 1392. He was son of Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his second wife Uliana of Tver.-Biography:After...

(1925), and Mindaugo mirtis (The Death of Mindaugas

Mindaugas

Mindaugas was the first known Grand Duke of Lithuania and the only King of Lithuania. Little is known of his origins, early life, or rise to power; he is mentioned in a 1219 treaty as an elder duke, and in 1236 as the leader of all the Lithuanians...

, 1935). Petras Vaičiūnas was another popular playwright, producing one play each year during the 1920s and 1930s. Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas

Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas

Vincas Mykolaitis known by his pen name Putinas was Lithuanian poet and writer. He was also a priest, but renounced his priesthood in 1935.-Biography:...

wrote lyric poetry, plays, and novels, including the novel Altorių šešėly (In the Shadows of the Altars, 3 vol., 1933), a remarkably powerful autobiographical novel.

The self-educated Žemaitė

Žemaite

Žemaitė - a pen name of Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė; in Bukantė near Plungė — 7 December 1921 in Marijampolė) was a Lithuanian writer. Born to impoverished gentry, she became one of the major participants in the Lithuanian National Revival...

(1845–1921) published a number of short stories in the early 20th century; her frank and compassionate stories of Lithuanian village life were commemorated by her image on the 1-litas note.

The Keturi vėjai
Keturi vejai
Keturi vėjai was a Lithuanian literary movement and literary journal, active from 1924 to 1928.Keturi vėjai movement began with the publication of The Prophet of the Four Winds by Kazys Binkis...

movement began with the publication of Prophet of the Four Winds by the talented poet Kazys Binkis

Kazys Binkis

Kazys Binkis was a Lithuanian poet, journalist, and playwright. He used the pseudonyms K.Alijošius, K. Papilietis, Kazys, Kazys Roviejietis, Nedarbininkas, Neklaipėdietis, Nelatvis, Nepartyvis, Ras Desta, Riza Chanas and others.-Biography:...

(1893–1942). It was a rebellion against traditional poetry. The theoretical basis of Keturi vėjai initially was futurism

Futurism (art)

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...

which arrived through Russia from the West; later influences were cubism

Cubism

Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...

, dadaism, surrealism

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

, unanimism

Unanimism

Unanimism is a movement in French literature begun by Jules Romains in the early 1900s. It is based on ideas of collective consciousness and collective emotion, and on crowd behavior, where members of a group do or think something simultaneously...

, and German expressionism

Expressionism

. The most influential futurist in Lithuania was the Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n poet Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Mayakovsky

Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...

.

Oskaras Milašius (Oscar Vladislas de Lubicz Milosz)

Oscar Milosz

Oscar Vladislas de Lubicz Milosz was a French-Lithuanian writer and representative of Lithuania at the League of Nations. His literary work was concerned with symbols and associations. A recluse, his poems were vibrant and tormented, concerned with love, loneliness and anger. Milosz was primarily...

(1877–1939) was born and spent his childhood in Cereja (near Mogilev

Mogilev

Mogilev is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants...

, Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

) and graduated from Lycée Janson de Sailly

Lycée Janson de Sailly

Lycée Janson de Sailly is a lycée located in the XVIe arrondissement of Paris, France. It is generally considered as one of the most prestigious lycées in Paris...

in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. In 1920, when France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

recognized the independence of Lithuania, he was appointed Chargé d’Affairs for Lithuania. His publications included a 1928 collection of 26 Lithuanian songs, Lithuanian Tales and Stories in 1930, Lithuanian Tales in 1933, and The origin of the Lithuanian Nation in 1937.

Vytautė Žilinskaitė (b. 1930) received two Šarūnas Marčiulionis

Šarunas Marciulionis

Raimondas Šarūnas Marčiulionis is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player. He was one of the first Europeans to become a regular in the North American National Basketball Association...

prizes for her children's books, a 1972 state prize for works described as humorous or satiric, and a 1964 Journalists’ Union prize. In 1961 she published Don’t Stop, Little Hour, a collection of poetry.

Tomas Venclova

Tomas Venclova

Tomas Venclova is a Lithuanian scholar, poet, author and translator of literature.Tomas Venclova is son of poet and Soviet politician Antanas Venclova. He was educated at Vilnius University. As an active participant in the dissident movement he was deprived of Soviet citizenship in 1977 and had...

, born in Klaipėda

Klaipeda

Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....

, is a poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. While a professor at 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....

, he became involved in the Helsinki Group, a human rights organization that included protests against Soviet activities in Lithuania amongst its activities. His involvement led to conflicts with the government, but in 1977 he gained permission to emigrate to the US and became a professor at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

. The Sign of Speech, a volume of poetry, published in Lithuania before his departure, was followed by other volumes of poetry, essays, and translations published in the US. Several compilations of these works were published in Lithuania after it achieved independence. His literary criticism includes a study of Aleksander Wat

Aleksander Wat

Aleksander Wat, was a Polish poet, writer and art theoretician, one of the precursors of Polish futurism movement in early 1920s....

.

Jurgis Kunčinas

Jurgis Kunčinas

Jurgis Kunčinas was a poet, novelist, and essayist. His works, originally published in the Lithuanian language, have been translated into English, German, Russian, Estonian, Belarussian, Swedish, and Polish.Kunčinas received the Lithuanian Writers Union' prize in 1994 for the novel Tūla, set...

, Ričardas Gavelis

Ricardas Gavelis

Ričardas Gavelis was a writer, playwright, and journalist.Gavelis was the author of Vilniaus džiazas, Vilniaus pokeris, and other novels...

, and Jurga Ivanauskaitė

Jurga Ivanauskaite

Jurga Ivanauskaitė was a Lithuanian writer.She was born in Vilnius, Lithuanian SSR, Soviet Union. Studying at the Vilnius Art Academy, her first book was The Year of the Lilies of the Valley, published in 1985. She subsequently published six novels, a children's book and a book of essays...

wrote novels exploring the Lithuanian condition during the late 20th century.

Lithuanian literature in exile

A body of work exists by those Lithuanians

Lithuanians

who were compelled to leave the country or emigrated with their parents in childhood. These authors include Antanas Škėma

Antanas Škema

Antanas Škėma was a Lithuanian writer, stage actor and director. His best known work is the novel The White Shroud .-Early life and career:...

, Alfonsas Nyka-Nyliūnas, Marius Katiliškis, Kazys Bradūnas

Kazys Bradunas

Kazys Bradūnas was a Lithuanian 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.,...

, Bernardas Brazdžionis

Bernardas Brazdžionis

Bernardas Brazdžionis was a Lithuanian poet. Bernardas Brazdžionis also used various pen names, such as Vytė Nemunėlis, Jaunasis Vaidevutis.-Biography:...

, and Henrikas Radauskas

Henrikas Radauskas

Henrikas Radauskas was a Lithuanian poet and writer.After Lithuania reestablished its independence following the First World War, his family returned to Lithuania. There he studied Lithuanian, German and Russian literatures at the Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas...

External links

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