The Borderland between conflicting canons: Kristijonas Donelaitis

ENThe aim of this paper is to reveal the most important moments of the canonization of Donelaitis in the early years of his literary reception (up to 1918) and to show the context in which this writer's work and life were interpreted. Firstly it is important to remember that Donelaitis lived and wrote in Prussian Lithuania. This term applies to the eastern part of the former Prussian kingdom, where the ethnic Lithuanian minority lived in close quarters. The most important administrative and cultural centers in Prussian Lithuania were the towns Tilžė, Gumbinė, Jsrutis and Ragainė (Tilsit, Gumbinnen, Insterburg and Ragnit). Donelaitis was a citizen of the Kingdom of Prussia. He studied Theology at Königsberg University, then worked as a school teacher in Stalupėnai (Stalupoehnen), and from 1743 until his death he was the pastor of the parish in the village of Tolminkiemis (Tollmingkehmen). Donelaitis was a Prussian Lithuanian writer. At that time the larger part of the Lithuanian nation lived in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which after the division of 1795 became a part of the Tsarist empire. Cultural exchanges between Lithuanians living in Prussian Lithuania and ethnic Lithuania were relatively poor. These two ethnic Lithuanian groups were divided by a national border and by religion - Prussian Lithuanians were mostly Lutherans, while ethnic Lithuanians were mostly Catholics. [Extract, p. 231]