In Jurgita’s latest book, there are no contradictions between culture, city, nature and man. Here, nature reveals itself as a close part of culture. In the city one discovers nature, in nature one discovers a level of one’s identity that was not grasped before. I know she is interested in mythology and folklore. She sings herself. And in this book, one can feel the attention to the ancestors, the layer of the past, one does not exalt one’s individuality, one does not try to stand out from the poets of one’s generation.
I ask Jurgita if she avoids contrasts and sharp corners only in poetry, or if it is also related to everyday life, or maybe those corners are there, only my view as a reader negates them. According to the poet, it may seem so because she writes her poems not in search of answers, but having already found them:
“Of course, everything I write in the texts is directly related to my worldview. It would probably be difficult to write about things that are not important or contradict your worldview. There are always corners in life, it can’t be otherwise. I don’t analyze myself when I write a text, but maybe I write it when I find the answer to how to stay all this in a way that makes me feel good. Maybe that’s why the corners disappear somewhere. But, if you look carefully, maybe they are sticking out somewhere like Stalin’s hand from the swamp (reference to Jurgita’s poem “Island. Zarasai”, – author’s post).”
I ask Jurgita what makes this book of poetry different from the previous ones. In response, the poetess, in 2020 awarded the prize of the mayor of the city of Vilnius for his poetic reflections of the capital in his second book “Eastern Gate”, he mentions his changed relationship with place, places and settlement: “In this book, I am no longer looking for a place to attach myself to, I did that very clearly with the first two books. That would be the most important distinguishing feature. But this is more my inner state. And it may be that the exterior—the texts themselves—does not necessarily express this difference directly. The change is important to me because the places continue to be mentioned, but it’s an internal thing for me to be in the same place and to let it go.”
The state named by Jurgita somewhat reminds me of the one captured in one of the poems of the book “The universe sits in the wrong place” about an old man watching the rain pour down on the chickens’ heads and not considering taking them inside or taking any other action. The poem says that it is not clear whether it is Buddhism or old age or depression, but he is beautiful. I think that maybe there is this in Jurgita’s poetic strategy.
For her, the ability to look at the same thing from different perspectives is really important: “What may seem bad and negative at one moment is not necessarily bad. It depends on the approach and the purpose of the searches. At a very elementary, domestic level, when evaluating farm work, it seems that one or the other is bad, it cannot be done like this, it needs to be managed. But once you leave that level, things can turn out to be quite different. And there is no single way to say what is good and what should really be done.”
I ask Jurgita what is the most important source of inspiration for her at the moment. She recognizes that nature is very important:
“I know when you say nature, it sounds like you’re not saying anything. However, nature and maybe even – in more detail – life itself. We are influenced by an anthropocentrist worldview and it seems normal that human life is more important than anything that surrounds us or even lives inside us, such as parasites, etc. And I like to step outside of anthropocentrism and see how the various laws work in general.
Right now, that’s exactly what’s so beautiful. If we think about nature as a really big, strong force, then life becomes equally important and there is no difference whether it is human or any other being. Mammals are easier for us to accept, but we still look at them as if they serve us, and all other creatures are mostly like a nuisance. But in fact, everything is a serious puzzle, without which the world would not work.
Now this is probably the biggest source of inspiration for me, because regardless of whether we evaluate it scientifically or philosophically, we still wouldn’t survive without the sun, without water, without the earth.”
Laura Vansevičienė’s photo/Guests at the poetess Jurgita Jasponytė’s
Jurgita, who has been working as a librarian for many years, has completed her philology studies at the then Vilnius Pedagogical University. I am curious as to what is the difference between current Jurgita and first-year philology student Jurgita. She admits that in the past she particularly avoided publicity:
“During school years, I wrote in a notebook. I didn’t even have an idea about any books and I didn’t try to share them with anyone. Well, maybe unless I was reading it to my friend on the bench. I was timid and not very self-confident, closed. During my college years, I sometimes lectured my roommates and once they pushed me to participate in some university poetry competition. Anyway, I read a few texts and ran away to the dorm – I didn’t intend to win, nor at all…
I thought I’d just leave when it was all over. The roommate she met congratulated her on winning third place. I was very offended when I thought that I was being mocked. Turns out, he wasn’t kidding. My low self-esteem reacted like this to everything. I avoided publishing the first book for a long time because I was afraid, I didn’t want publicity. I was afraid that I would have to go to an interview, as I am going now.”
I admit that Jurgita seems to me to be a very calm and harmonious person who feels her value and place in the value system, the world and the universe. And it is hard to imagine that there would be timidity next to seriousness and harmony. Has she come a long way in being brave creatively and personally, or does she still feel that fear? Jurgita reveals that it took time to believe that the world will accept her as she is:
Laura Vansevičienė’s photo/Aušra Kaziliūnaitė
“If we compare with the school years, I have come a long way. However, even if I don’t feel sure if the world accepts me for who I am, I have no intention of changing or pretending to be someone else or fitting in. I don’t have that flexibility. Maybe it’s bad, maybe it’s good, but when it’s like that, you just hide in your cave because you’re not sure you’ll be accepted. You will still be who you are. It took me a while to believe that the world would accept me for who I am. It was a kind of task for me. And I think I’ve dealt with it. I dared because I still won’t be something else.”
Listen to the entire interview “Believing that the world will accept me the way I am, it took me a while” on the Lithuanian Writers’ Union podcast Rašytnamis. Writer, philosopher, doctor of humanities Aušra Kaziliūnaitė talks with poet, translator, librarian Jurgita Jasponyte.
#Jurgita #Jasponytė #world #accept #Culture
2024-09-03 17:50:13
