| Title |
Literary portrait of Motiejus Valancius in the biographical novel The Shepherd by Juozas Jasaitis / |
| Translation of Title |
Літературний портрет Мотіюса Валанція в біографічному романі «Поводир» Юозаса Ясайтиса. |
| Authors |
Keturakienė, Eglė |
| DOI |
10.31866/2616-7948.2(8).2021.245855 |
| Full Text |
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| Is Part of |
Український інформаційний простір = Ukrainian Information Space.. Kyiv : Київський національний університет культури і мистецтв. 2021, № 2(8), p. 129-136.. ISSN 2616-7948. eISSN 2617-1244 |
| Keywords [eng] |
biographical novel ; literary portrait ; Bachtin ; Motiejus Valančius. |
| Abstract [eng] |
The article seeks for the analysis of a literary portrait of Motiejus Valancius, a famous Lithuanian writer, cultural figure, and bishop of the mid-19th century, depicted in the biographical novel The Shepherd by Juozas Jasaitis. The analysis of the main character portrait is related to the conception of the biographical novel genre offered by Mikhail Bakhtin. Juozas Jasaitis’ novel “The Shepherd” refers to the energetic type of biography discussed by Bakhtin. There are many details from the real-life of Motiejus Valancius which come to the memory of the main character. A wholistic portrait of the writer and bishop is revealed through the main character memories, the symbolical journey of his consciousness to the past envisaged by the reiterating topos of the flight of the soul, so well-known in the European poetic perception and allowing to transgress the real earthly time and transfer to the only reality given to a human being, namely, that of the soul. The author-narrator has designed a portrait, not of a hero, but a lonely man standing on the threshold of death. Following biblical poetics, the life story of the main character is depicted as a constant penetration of a human being from the darkness into the light. The whole life of Valancius is put into a single day expressed with the help of the dawn of the spring topos, so typical of the mythical and historical Lithuanian poetic perception of the 19th century. The biographical novel “The Shepherd” highlights the harmony of Lithuanian nationality and the catholic faith characteristic of Motiejus Valancius. The image of the diplomat of the Lithuanian nation created in the novel is close to the notion of a Lithuanian national identity formulated by Algirdas Julius Greimas. Much of the attention in the novel is dedicated to the meetings of the main character with the prominent figures of Lithuanian literature and culture in the 19th century. Original texts written by Valancius himself are weaved into the cloth of the narrative and thus support the genre of a biographical novel. The novel also contains original excerpts from Simonas Stanevicius‘, Antanas Baranauskas‘ works which indicate the author-narrator‘s attention to the Lithuanian poetic tradition of the 19th century. |
| Published |
Kyiv : Київський національний університет культури і мистецтв |
| Type |
Journal article |
| Language |
English |
| Publication date |
2021 |
| CC license |
|
