J. Marcinkevičius’s “Writings” – both a never-published diary and a letter that was allowed to be published only after his death | Culture

According to Gytis Vaškelis, the head of the publishing house of the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, the idea of ​​this publication was born regarding three years ago: then the editorial board and the compilers of the individual volumes of “Rašti” were assembled, who began to select the most significant works of J. Marcinkevičius’s great creative legacy, which have a lasting impact. artistic value.

The best monument to the poet is his work

This impressive ten-volume collection of “Writings” was published in an edition of 1,000 copies, and when all the backs of the books are placed side by side, the poet’s own signature is formed.

Volumes 1-4 contain the poetry of J. Marcinkevičius, selected by Elena Baliutytė-Riliškienė, volume 5 consists of the writer’s poems selected by Donata Mitaitė, volumes 6-7 – dramas selected by Aušra Martišiūtė-Linartienė, to 8 The prose and essays of J. Marcinkevičius, selected by Valentinas Sventickas, were included in the 9th-10th volume, and in the 9th-10th volumes you can find a diary written in 1947, letters and a bundle of creativity for children, selected by the poet’s granddaughter Salomeja Bandoriūtė-Leikienė.

Paulius Peleckis/BNS photo/Justin Marcinkevičius Writings

It is this post-war diary, written by the then seventeen-year-old Justin, as well as letters from the following years, addressed to various personalities, that are being published for the first time. A letter is also published here, which J. Marcinkevičius himself allowed to be published only following his death.

According to G.Vaškelis, although the bundle of letters written by the poet has survived quite a lot, only a small part of them was selected for “Raštus” based on the “criterion of public appeal”.

In the last volume, you can also find facsimiles of the poet’s manuscripts and photographs from various years of his life. Only the translations of J.Marcinkevčius, of which there are quite a few, were not included in these “Writings”.

Paulius Peleckis/BNS photo/Justin Marcinkevičius Writings

However, according to the head of the publishing house, these ten volumes should be viewed as an indivisible whole of creation, which reflects his contribution to the history of our culture.

True, G.Vaškelis admitted that readers will not find some of the poet’s texts, written mostly in the early period of his work and favorable to the Soviet system, here. According to him, the compilers of the individual volumes of “Rašta” had complete freedom to choose what they thought was the most significant in the poet’s work.

“Each compiler has presented a detailed analysis of J. Marcinkevičius’ work, in which he clearly names those works that were not included in his volume, and explains the reasons and essential criteria for this. All this gives an opportunity to evaluate the creator himself and his time not only in black and white, but to look at everything much more broadly and more carefully. Therefore, I hope that these “Writings” will become a significant monument to the poet himself, and at the same time a pretext to talk regarding the choices of creators and their work during different occupations”, said the head of the publishing house.

Paulius Peleckis/BNS photo/Justin Marcinkevičius Writings

He also noted that one of the volumes also publishes the manuscript of the current preamble to the Constitution, which was also written by J. Marcinkevičius. Unfortunately, according to G. Vaškelis, few people today know or remember this.

“Now, when evaluating history, it is often possible to get the impression that Lithuanians would have had enough to sit in the forest for fifty years and everything would have taken care of itself. However, this was not really the case. The rebirth of Lithuania is a great miracle, so today we should not look for those who are to blame for everything, but look at why and how we have remained”, said G. Vaškelis.

Paulius Peleckis/BNS photo/Justin Marcinkevičius Writings

Is every poet a hero?

According to the head of the publishing house, during the preparation of “Raštus” for the press, there were once more a number of discussions in society, the epicenter of which was the personality of J. Marcinkevičius.

When asked how he assesses the ever-renewing public debates regarding the past of some writers and their relationship with the Soviet government, G. Vaškelis said that it is determined by more than one aspect today.

“There is already a grown up generation that did not live in the Soviet era, so sometimes they do not fully understand how various mechanisms worked back then. For example, Lithuanian basketball players played in the Soviet Union national team and won the world basketball championship titles in Seoul. Therefore, looking at the letter, we should consider them as members of the USSR team. In this case, in the long run, we will find something to blame for all those who lived in the Soviet era. However, if we start looking from a bigger perspective, first of all, we would see how we defeated the Soviet Union”, said G. Vaškelis.

Paulius Peleckis/BNS photo/Justin Marcinkevičius Writings

He emphasized that the recent discussions regarding Petros Cvirkas, Salomeja Nėrias and Justin Marcinkevičius are one-sided and rather populist.

“It seems that if we remove the monument or change the name of the street, then the Soviet era will disappear from our minds as well. However, this is not the case, and everything we try to hide sooner or later comes out the other end. After all, Putin did something similar before starting the war in Ukraine – he banned any information regarding Hitler’s Germany, its signs and research works. Why? Because Putin’s signs, ideas and texts have become very similar to Hitler’s,” said the head of the publishing house of the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore.

According to him, until now in Lithuania the value of creators, especially writers, is usually determined not based on their work, but from a political perspective, so these discussions always cause ideological passions. However, according to G.Vaškelis, it is important to change this attitude and, first of all, to evaluate creativity by realizing the time and circumstances in which the creators themselves lived.

“It would be naive to want a poet to be a hero. Every poet is, above all, a human being and a poet,” said G. Vaškelis.

He also pointed out that simply worshiping those literati who left for the West and scorning those who remained will not get us very far.

“We are too small a nation to afford to throw talent around looking for where, when and how any of them slipped up.” Therefore, we must create an evaluation algorithm for ordinary occupation and be ready to act even in conditions of oppression. After all, how else will we preserve our language, traditions and remain a nation? In this sense, J. Marcinkevičius is a good example that allows us to look at the work of a talented writer in the Soviet era and at the same time his active and consistent involvement in the liberation movement when the right time came,” said G. Vaškelis.