| Abstract [eng] |
This master’s thesis examines the confessional poetry of Giedrė Kazlauskaitė. It is observed that contemporary Lithuanian poetry has increasingly become more confessional and personal. However, there are no comprehensive studies in Lithuania that address either contemporary confessional poetry or Kazlauskaitė’s work in this context. In light of critical reception, it is evident that the poet’s work is associated with openness, autobiographical elements, intimacy, and themes that engage the readers. Therefore, this paper introduces the relatively new concept of metamodernism, proposed by Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker, to describe contemporary culture—particulary its association with openness and sincerity. This framework allows for a closer examination of the defining features of contemporary confessional poetry and those attributed to Kazlauskaitė’s poems. Given to the novelty of metamodernism, the thesis conceptualizes features observable in the literary field, identifying key characteristics of contemporary literature: the structure of feeling, the oscillation between modernism and postmodernism (the reworking of past styles or conventions), the sense of threat, affectivity and subjectivity, post-irony, and the auto-reflexivity. These features are used to define contemporary Lithuanian confessional poetry. This concept is applied in a semiotic analysis of two poems: “Barstykime žiedlapiais gatves...” from “Heterų dainos” (2008) and “Silentium” from “Meninos” (2014). Prior to the detailed analysis of the poems, the authorial texts on the back covers of each book are examined. Signed under the name of Giedrė Kazlauskaitė and employing a speaking ‘I’ as well as concrete references to reality, these texts create a structural feeling of confession and suggest appropriate reading strategies for the poems. This study observes that “Barstykime žiedlapiais gatves...” produces an ambivalent feeling of confession, yet experiential affectivity and thematic openess. Meanwhile, “Silentium” displays pronounced subjectivity and affective, entering dialogue with the literary tradition of Fyodor Tyutchev’s poem “Silentium!” and Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas’s autobiographical novel “Altorių šešėly” (In the Shadow of Altars). Intertexts are used to establish a new relationship with the present—a confession of the unspeakable, a frankness veiled in poetic imagery, yet without the pathos of the Romantic tradition. The two poems are united by their reliance on the reader’s knowledge of the author’s biography, which reinforces the poems’ inherent affectivity, invites interpretation, and fosters engagement. This thesis concludes that Kazlauskaitė’s poems can be regarded as examples of contemporary confessional poetry, and it offers a newly defined conception of the genre. It also suggests the value of further analysis of other poems from the aforementioned collections, as well as examination of the poet’s more recent work. Finally, the study outlines possible directions for future research and raises questions concerning characteristics and further development of confessional poetry in Lithuania. |
