Justinas Marcinkevičius on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Justinas Marcinkevičius (10 March 1930 – 16 February 2011) was a prominent Lithuanian poet and playwright.
Having grown up during the post-war period, Marcinkevičius evokes in his poetry a romanticized version of childhood spent in the Lithuanian countryside, of first love, of man's relationship with nature. In his poetry specific and solid peasant thinking is combined with a mind seeking to draw broad general conclusions, and the tradition of Lithuanian poetry singing the Earth's praises with contemporary modes of poetic thought. As a poet, he has sought to grasp the essence of national experience and give it fresh artistic expression. In his lyrical verse Marcinkevičius strives to comprehend the real meaning of what is going on inside man and society and moves the reader with his ardent lyrical confessions.
For most his life Justinas Marcinkevičius lived and wrote during the complex times of
Justinas Marcinkevičius Biography
Retrieved on 2007-09-24 *"HONOR AND SUFFERING,The Second Part of the Drama-Poem MINDAUGAS," Lituanus 17,4 (1971)
Retrieved on 2013-03-15 *"Mindaugas," translated by Ona Čerškutė-Spidell, introduced by Rimvydas Šilbajoris, in Alfreds Straumanis, ed., Fire and Night: Five Baltic Plays (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1986), pages 145-208. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcinkevicius, Justinas 1930 births 2011 deaths Burials at Antakalnis Cemetery Lithuanian male poets Lithuanian dramatists and playwrights Recipients of the Lithuanian National Prize Vilnius University alumni People from Prienai District Municipality Grand Crosses of the Order of Vytautas the Great 20th-century poets 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Herder Prize recipients Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 2nd Class
Justinas Marcinkevičius (10 March 1930 – 16 February 2011) was a prominent Lithuanian poet and playwright.
Life and career
Marcinkevičius was born in 1930 in Važatkiemis, Prienai District. In 1954, he graduated from the Faculty of History andPhilology
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
of Vilnius University
Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...
with a degree in Lithuanian language
Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 mill ...
and literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
. He joined the Communist Party of Lithuania
The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...
in 1957. He worked for a number of years as vice-chairman of the board of the Union of Lithuanian Writers. Marcinkevičius is regarded as one of the most prominent members of Sąjūdis
Sąjūdis (, "Movement"), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis), is the political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was es ...
. He died in Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
.
Literary style and themes
Having grown up during the post-war period, Marcinkevičius evokes in his poetry a romanticized version of childhood spent in the Lithuanian countryside, of first love, of man's relationship with nature. In his poetry specific and solid peasant thinking is combined with a mind seeking to draw broad general conclusions, and the tradition of Lithuanian poetry singing the Earth's praises with contemporary modes of poetic thought. As a poet, he has sought to grasp the essence of national experience and give it fresh artistic expression. In his lyrical verse Marcinkevičius strives to comprehend the real meaning of what is going on inside man and society and moves the reader with his ardent lyrical confessions.
For most his life Justinas Marcinkevičius lived and wrote during the complex times of Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regu ...
. He defended the cultural self-awareness of his nation. The poet brought back humanistic idea in describing a man, continued on the romantic and lyric poetry
Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person.
It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...
tradition, valued the aesthetic side of literature, as opposed to the heroic and propagandistic style of socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...
. Marcinkevičius wrote poems in a romantic and modern style.
Awards and acknowledgements
*Lithuanian National Prize
The Lithuanian National Prize ( lt, Nacionalinė kultūros ir meno premija), established in 1989, is an award granted for achievements in culture and the arts. It has been awarded annually in six categories since 2006 (between 1989 and 2006 there w ...
* Herder Prize 1998
* Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature, the Arts and Science (2001)
* National Advancement Prize in Culture (18 May 2008)
Works of note
After the emergence of Marcinkevičius' first book ''I Plead for a Word'' in 1955, he has published fourteen collections of poetry, three historical plays, two collections of essays, a novella and various translations into Lithuanian.Poetry and compilations
*''Liepsnojantis krūmas'' (The Burning Bush; 1968) *''Gyvenimo švelnus prisiglaudimas'' (The Gentle Cuddle of Life; 1978) *Rhymed trilogy of historical dramas: **''Mindaugas'' (1968, English translation of Part 2 in 1971) **''Mažvydas'' (1977) **''Katedra'' (The Cathedral; 1971)Novels
*''Dienoraštis be datų'' (A Diary Without Dates; 1981) *''Tekančios upės vienybė'' (Unity of a Flowing River; 1994) He has also translated into Lithuanian works ofAdam Mickiewicz
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish Ro ...
, Alexandr Pushkin, Sergei Yesenin, Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...
, and the Finnish Kalevala
The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and ...
legend.
References
* Year of Lithuanian bookJustinas Marcinkevičius Biography
Retrieved on 2007-09-24 *"HONOR AND SUFFERING,The Second Part of the Drama-Poem MINDAUGAS," Lituanus 17,4 (1971)
Retrieved on 2013-03-15 *"Mindaugas," translated by Ona Čerškutė-Spidell, introduced by Rimvydas Šilbajoris, in Alfreds Straumanis, ed., Fire and Night: Five Baltic Plays (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1986), pages 145-208. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcinkevicius, Justinas 1930 births 2011 deaths Burials at Antakalnis Cemetery Lithuanian male poets Lithuanian dramatists and playwrights Recipients of the Lithuanian National Prize Vilnius University alumni People from Prienai District Municipality Grand Crosses of the Order of Vytautas the Great 20th-century poets 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Herder Prize recipients Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 2nd Class