Kristijono Donelaičio kūrybos ir jos sklaidos atodangos

LTNegalėtume skųstis, kad tyrėjai Kristijonui Donelaičiui kada nors skyrė ar dabar skiria per mažai dėmesio. Tiesa, to dėmesio šiek tiek padaugėja prieš jubiliejinius metus, kai įsitraukia didesnės žmonių grupės, tačiau visuomet buvo ir tebėra atkaklių nuolatinių Donelaičio žemės darbininkų. Ir jiems ginčijantis, ir sutartinai gilinantis į kokį nors klausimų sukasi amžinas tyrimų ratas. Visiems žinomų XIX ir XX a. mokslininkų darbai, vieni kitiems paklodami pagrindus, sąlygojo ir šiuolaikinių tyrimų atsiradimų. Dabar leidžiami nemenko mokslinio lygio „Raštų" tomai, neseniai pasirodė naujų ir savita požiūrį „Metų" rišlumo klausimu dėstanti Vaido Seferio monografija, buvo paskelbta įvairių autorių vertingų straipsnių. Taigi nuveikta tikrai labai daug, bet vyksmas negali sustoti. Ir ankstesni, ir naujausi darbai ne tik parodo tai, kų autoriams pavyko atrasti poetinėje Donelaičio žemėje, bet ir įgalina pamatyti naujas platesnes ar siauresnes jos sluoksnių atodangas. Be to, pasidaro įmanoma pasirausti ir po gretutinius sluoksnius, kurių atsiradimų nulemia ir kuriuos įvairiopai veikia pagrindinis klodas. Ši knyga ir yra skirta kai kuriems pagrindinio klodo ir gretutinių sluoksnių elementams tirti. [p. 7].

ENThe monograph is devoted to the study of some of the unexplored or little researched issues in Kristijonas Donelaitis's work. It consists of two parts. The first part, 'Some Aspects of Donelaitis's Work', attempts to reveal those peculiarities of the poem Metai (The Seasons) and the fables, which, in the author's opinion, have been overlooked or did not receive sufficient attention. The first chapter of this part argues that The Seasons is an epic of varying yet constant rebelliousness: it defies the king's orders, opposes the policy of ethnic assimilation, and expresses hate for all the foreign officials. Therefore, the author voices her doubts about the hypothesis raised by some scholars to the effect that Donelaitis sought to publish The Seasons. In her opinion, the poet was aware that such a publication would put him in serious danger. The energy of rebelliousness is related to the dynamism of the poetics of The Seasons, which is discussed in the second chapter. Not paying much attention to the colours and shapes of things, the poet focuses on the essential characteristic of the world and of all existence: the never stopping and never-ending movement of animate and inanimate matter on earth and in the sky. The poet refers to the natural outpouring, movement, activity, and triumph of the God-given vital forces as a celebration. [...] The theme of God is further explored by examining the echoes of the Bible in Donelaitis's fables. It is most prominent in the morals of four fables. The quotations and reminiscences from Scripture that proclaim unquestionable truths and give weight and significance to the author's moral statements show that he is not a mere teacher of the people but a spiritual leader of a community. [...].The ordering of nature and human life by a higher power is also depicted in the poem Les saisons (The Seasons) by the French poet Marquis Jean-François de Saint- Lambert (1716-1803), which appeared in 1769. A comparison of Saint- Lambert's poem and Donelaitis's The Seasons reveals some similarities: the motif of the Sun ordering the change of the four seasons, the serfs as protagonists, the respect for the peasants' toil, issues of social justice, the didactic attitude typical of the Enlightenment, and various moral and substantive guidance. Both poets emphasise that God, the Creator of the Universe, governs the earthly and celestial phenomena and the fate of humans; both refer reverently to him and conclude their works with prayers to him. [...] The second part of the book, "Some Factors in the Dissemination of Donelaitis's Work', begins with the examination of two little- known works by the devotees of Donelaitis in Lithuania. One chapter highlights the value of the epic by Juozas Balčikonis, which he wrote under Donelaitis's influence, while another discusses Franz Brender's excellent translation of one of Donelaitis's fables into Latin. The third chapter deals with the peculiarities of the translations of The Seasons into Russian. Only 201 lines of the typescript by Vyacheslav Ivanov, who was the first to translate Donelaitis into Russian at the beginning of the twentieth century, have survived. The examination of this fragment shows that the hexameter of the text is easy to read and the poet tried to reproduce the essential stylistic features of Donelaitis's poem. David Brodsky's translation of The Seasons appeared in the mid- twentieth century, and Sergei Isaev translated Donelaitis's epic again in the twenty-first century. [...] An overview of the translated epic formulae suggests that both translators failed to grasp the role of this essential element of epic stylistics. [...].To sum up, The Seasons embodies a highly condensed and extremely strong world of a Lithuanian community. The forces of that world pulsate unevenly: they bubble furiously, then simmer down, but never vanish. Outsiders and other strangers cannot overcome them nor are they able to break their stone-hard fortitude. The strong underlying layer could not but help create and influence the other layers. Not only did the powers of that layer fate the eternal life of Donelaitis's work, but they also sparked process of its dissemination in Lithuania and abroad.