Publication details
The Borderland between Conflicting Canons : Kristijonas Donelaitis
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Literary Canon Formation as Nation-Building in Central Europe and the Baltics : 19th to Early 20th Century |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Conference Paper Abstracts |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004457713_015 |
| Keywords | Donelaitis; Donalitius; Lithuanian literature; Literary canon; Baltics; Baltic literatures; Lithuanian |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Kristijonas Donelaitis and his literary work are considered as cornerstones of the Lithuanian culture. Yet the significance of Donelaitis’ work is perceived in different ways. There are three main deciphering codes applied to Donelaitis in order to include his work into one of the cultural canons: a) Donelaitis as the representative of the classical Lithuanian language; b) as the representative of the classical Lithuanian literature; c) as the representative of the Prussian culture. These patterns of Donelaitis’ readings show interesting interrelations through the history and reveal different mechanisms of constructing and reconstructing the literary canon, may it be Lithuanian or Prussian. Donelaitis work becomes the symbolic “borderland”, where its readers engage in enthusiastic cooperation and passionate conflicts, trying to reveal its “true” nature. Our paper will inquire relations between those three reading patterns, their origin and their influence on the interpretative perspective. |