Insects and plants in Lithuanian poetry : metabletical aspect

Abstract

The present article aims at revealing the most important aspects of Metabletics or the theory of changes suggested by the Dutch phenomenologist and psychologist Jan Hendrik van den Berg (1914) and applying it to the analysis of the possible interp retations of the images of .insects.. Metabletics could be described as a systematic study of the changing nature of phenomena of human life as they are lived and experienced. Regarding literature as a phenomenon we chose some poetry texts by Kristijonas Donelaitis, Antanas Baranauskas, Maironis, Stasys Santvaras, Juozas Žlabys, Salomėja Nėris, Janina Degutytė, Antanas Kalanavičius, Aldona Ruseckaitė, Kęstutis Navakas, Valdas Daškevičius and Enrika Striogaitė containing the images of insects and of plants. The analysis made it clear that the so called .mirroring. of insects during the period of more than hundred years has not changed or the changes were really subtle: we cannot observe any vivid changes . bugs and insects sustained their main characteristics and remained almost the same as in Donelaitis. poetical text, written in the 18th century, only the frequency of the use of such images varies . insects and bugs were rarely mentioned in the first half of the 20th century and .revived. at the beginning of the 21st century, in the era of high technologies. After this pilot research we can make a conclusion that the main principles of Metabletics could be applied only after a deep and precise analysis of different periods of history and culture, producing research on really important cultural symbols (such as a symbol of tree) or specific events. Nevertheless, even this sketchy research reveals particular changes in our minds reflected in literary texts that seem to vindicate the influence of electronic intelligence on our human consciousness . the smallest ones in some ways became closer and even bigger.