Condemned by contemporaries for immorality, Kate Chopin’s “Awakening” – for the first time in Lithuanian! | Culture

The action of the novel takes place in the 19th century. ed., it centers on Edna Pontelli and her desperate efforts to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox view of womanhood and motherhood with the social attitudes of the American southern states.

Although wife infidelity is no longer the shocking subject it once was, few novels delve as deeply into the psychology of a woman involved in a forbidden relationship as Kate Chopin’s The Awakening through insight, artistry, and candor.

Publishing house photo/Kate Chopin

In addition to its unusually candid presentation of a controversial subject, the novel is widely admired today for its author’s literary prowess. American literary critic Edmund Wilson described it as “rather free-spirited and brilliantly written, which seems to pave the way for English writer David Herbert Lawrence’s later exploration of the theme of infidelity”. However, the novel was considered controversial in its time. Even immoral.

Kate Chopin, who was born in Louisiana in the 1850s, left behind few works – two novels and two collections of short stories. She was widowed at an early age, and following her husband’s death, rumors began to spread regarding her romantic adventures. She became depressed following losing her husband, and writing was suggested by her family doctor – it was supposed to work therapeutically. After trying her hand at periodicals, Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening. There were compliments from critics, but the public condemned the author, considered the novel an insult, inappropriate for the values ​​of the time, established gender roles.

This novel was not successful during Kate Chopin’s short life. The author died of the disease at the age of 54 and had to wait a long time to wake up. The public rediscovered her debut novel only in the 1970s thanks to the Norwegian scholar Per Seyersted, who wrote a biography of Kate Chopin. Modern critics compare the writer to the author of “Little Women” Louisa May Alcott, poet Emily Dickinson.

Publisher’s photo/Kate Chopin “Awakening”

“Awakening” is widely recognized as a prominent manifestation of early feminism, which provoked a very controversial reaction from contemporaries and received a lot of merciless criticism. According to 2023 By Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver, with its laconic narrative, sharp social insights and deep psychology, this novel, as a forerunner of American modernist literature, paved the way for such literary greats as William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway, and also has links with contemporaries – Edith Wharton and Henry’ io James – works.

And as one of the first significant works in the literary tradition of the American southern states, it has links with later novels by Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter and Tennessee Williams.

According to Patricija Tilvikaitė, head of projects and social networks of the publishing house “Svajonių knogos” publishing house, which published the book, it was a long-standing dream to retell “Pabudima” in Lithuanian: “We publish a lot of classics that have never been heard in Lithuanian before.” Along with modern, popular novels, timeless classics also appear.

Some dreams, such as publishing Daphne du Maurier’s “Scapegoat”, which is not inferior to the author’s novels “Rebecca” or “My Cousin Rachel”, have already come true. Now it’s Kate Chopin’s turn.”

P. Tilvikaitė claims that the novel can appeal both to readers with particularly delicate tastes and to those looking for an interesting, sensual story: “This is one of those eternal novels that will still cause debate. Even if only with yourself. Kate Chopin, misunderstood in her time, condemned and having lived a rather painful life, is reborn for anyone who reads The Awakening.

And what a talent to write a piece that transcends age, transcends continent, race, class. I almost never say this, but this is a book worth reading. That Kate Chopin and Edna, the character in her novel, get the life they deserve. Even if it’s a little too late.”

A short, spare novel – not only skillfully written, but also fascinating in an excellent translation. Translator Jūratė Žeimantienė has interviewed authors such as Edith Wharton, Patricia Highsmith, Virginia Woolf. She translated Virginia Woolf’s novel Night and Day in 2022. was nominated in the “15min” book selection and was awarded first place by readers.

Enjoy an excerpt from The Awakening by Kate Chopin:

“Rober talked a lot regarding himself because he was young and not very good at holding a conversation. Mrs. Pontellier spoke little of herself for the same reason. But both were wondering what the other was saying. Rober shared his intention to travel to Mexico in the fall, where success is sure to await him. He always wanted to go to Mexico, but he always mightn’t. So for the time being he was content with a modest job in a trading house in New Orleans, where his good command of English, French and Spanish gave him an obvious advantage as a clerk in charge of correspondence with foreign partners.

As always, Robert spent his summer vacation with his mother on the Big Island. In earlier times, which he might not remember, the “house” had witnessed a lavish edition of the Lebrens’ summers. And now, when a good dozen cottages stuck to his side, always full of select guests from French Quarterthis allowed Mrs. Lebren to continue enjoying the easy and prosperous life that seemed to be her natural right.

Mrs. Pontellier told Robert regarding her father’s plantation in Mississippi and the house in the old Kentucky prairie where she had spent her childhood. American blood flowed through the woman’s veins with a small admixture of French, already almost completely diluted in previous generations. She read the interviewer a letter from one of her sisters, who lived in the eastern part of the country and was regarding to get married. Robert was interested and wanted to know more regarding her sisters, her father, and also how long it had been since her mother’s death.”

(Translated by Jūratė Žeimantienė, edited by Vaiva Markevičiūtė, published by “Dream Books”, 2024)

B. Kingsolver says: “Edna is only time away from us, but in every other way she is full of life. When I turn the first page, she is still gnawing at the bitterness of disappointment, seething with the desire to break something and eager to break the rules that are meant to be broken. She’s waiting to get in the water and wake up.”