Debesų Lietuva : Marius Ivaškevičius - mitų perkūrėjas

Abstract

The prose writer and playwright Marius Ivaškevičius (born in 1973) represents the generation of young Lithuanian writers. He restored the theme of Lithuania in the works of the writers in their thirties; he took a fresh look at the socio-cultural symbols of the nation’s history. Ivaškevičius is the author of seven books: three novels, five plays, a collection of short stories and a screenplay. All of his books are significantly different because each one of them is full of innovations while the language is treated as the stage. This is especially evident in the plays of a new type (there is virtually nothing happening in the plays all action being moved from the surface level into the linguistic one). The writer has a unique artistic program marked by conscious look at the role the poetic language plays in the text and the derivation of the essential creative images from nation’s identity basis. The first novel “Story From the Cloud”, a fable-like narrative, transforms the history of Lithuania: Lithuania once appeared with the rain falling from the cloud and returned into the cloud at the beginning of the third millennium. Ivaškevičius does not attempt to treat history as a romantic bestseller or as a summary of the nation’s heroic deeds and martyrdom. In his second novel “The Men in Green”, the author presents a controversial picture of the guerrilla war against the Soviet occupation. His narration is not focused upon patriotic pathos. Not only does Ivaškevičius refuse to canonize and dramatize historic events, he also rejects the notion of the ideological enemies: all are viewed as the victims of Stalinism. His style is marked by irony, pastiche, elements of absurdity, transformation of myths, and generous use of folk art. The way he exploits stylistic possibilities is especially striking in the play “Madagascar” where he uses the idea of moving Lithuania to Africa of the interwar geographer, traveler and geopolitician Kazimieras Pakštas. Ivaškevičius’ constructive, positive energy and a professional approach to his work single him out in the scene of contemporary literature.