Juditos Vaičiūnaitės ir Sigito Gedos Birutės
Judita Vaičiūnaitė's and Sigitas Geda's Birutės

Summary/Abstract: The article analyses texts written by two authors of the same generation who started publishing their writing at the Soviet time, Judita Vaičiūnaitė and Sigitas Geda. The chosen texts - poems Birutė ("Birutė"), Birutei ("For Birutė") by Vaičiūnaitė and extracts from a lyric poem Žalgiris, ("Žalgiris"), texts from a poem novel Žalio gintaro vėriniai (Raw Amber Beads): Birutė - imaginacinio paveikslo restauracija ("Birutė - Restoration of Imaginational Picture") and Siužetas Janio Rainio dramai, kurio jis negalėjo sukurti ("The Plot for Drama by Janis Rainis, which he was unable to create") by Geda - are devoted to the historical myth of Birutė, and the aim of the analysis is to reveal the peculiar relations to history of each of the authors. The paper is based on the principles of the immanent textual analysis and on the notions of cultural semiotics. In Vaičiūnaitė's poems Birutė is represented as a Lithuanian Madonna: she guarantees stability in the chaotic world, takes care of the lost, and the impression of her sanctity is intensifiedby addressing her in the form of litany. In the works by Geda Birutė is shown as the mother of Vytautas the Great and the stepmother of a glorious nation: the mighty nation of Lithuanians originates from the union of a god-like woman and an earthly man. Both authors, each by different means, establish a dialogue with the tradition of glorifying Birutė, expanding this tradition and remaining within it.

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