Lithuanian stories about Siberia : between memoir and autobiography

• Main Author: Gustaitienė, Asta
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Lithuanian fiction; Autobiographies; Literary fairy-tale; Exiles in literature; Filologija / Philology (H004); Vorkuta; Siberia
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12259/47330

The article focuses on the Siberian stories published in the period of independent Lithuania. The main attention is paid to three works published at the beginning of the 21st century: 'Oi, ta Vorkuta' (Oh, That Vorkuta, 2002) by Viktoras Alekna, 'Virš mūsų poliarinė pašvaistė' (Polar Lights Above Us, 2005) by Nijolė Ambrazaitytė, and 'Nelaukta kelionė' (Unexpected Journey, 2007) by Juzė Avižienytė-Žukauskienė. The article does not refer to the books written by various former Soviet agents of nomenclature, where they try to justify or provide an explanation of their activity and to create a rather pleasant image of themselves. The generic characteristics of the Siberian stories are discussed applying E. D. Hirsch's theory. The article aims to show the blurred boundaries of the genre (between a memoir and an autobiography). Though the main features of memoir literature-reflections of external processes and expression of collective consciousness or collective offence-are stronger in the analyzed stories, these stories also demonstrate some characteristics of autobiographical novel: the personal history of an individual or attempts to experience God. Besides, the narrators of these stories use various elements and structural details characteristic of the genres of fairytale, anecdote, short story or others Lituanistikos katedra Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas