An Omnipotent Tradition
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An Omnipotent Tradition The Illustrations of Kristijonas Donelaitis’s Poem Metai and the Creation of a Visual Canon Giedrė Jankevičiūtė and Mikas Vaicekauskas Kristijonas Donelaitis’s poem Metai [The Seasons] (written c. 1765– 1775; first published in 1818) is widely regarded as Lithuania’s greatest literary work. The poem gained recognition as early as the nineteenth century, but its reputation was not cemented until 1940, a critical time for Lithuania.1 The author’s treatment of peas- ant culture, which was considered fundamental to the Lithuanian national culture, was then judged to be the major topic of the poem, and any other interpretations were discarded. The present article seeks to examine the historical formation of the interpretive tradi- tion of Donelaitis’s poem and its expression in the “material body” of the text, i.e., the editions of the poem in Lithuanian and other languages. Most of our attention is devoted to two editions from 1940 and 1956 which built and established the “bibliographic code” of the work. Early editions of Metai Donelaitis was born in 1714 in the now-extinct village of Lazdynŝliai in Lithuania Minor, in the present-day Kaliningrad region in Russia.2 From 1731 to 1736 Donelaitis attended Königsberg’s (Kaliningrad’s) Cathedral College; from 1736 to 1740, he studied theology at Königsberg University. Between 1740 and 1742 he served as cantor at the Stalupŝnai village school and became rector of the school in 1742. He held this position until 1743, when he was appointed 1 On 15 June 1940 Lithuania was occupied by the Red Army, and on 22 June 1941 it was invaded by the German army. 2 Lithuania Minor (Mažoji Lietuva in Lithuanian, Preussisch Litauen in German), in northeast Prussia, was home to a Lithuanian minority. Lithuania Minor never belonged to the Lithuanian state. Almost all Lithuanians in that region were peasants (either free farmers or serfs). 211 212 VARIANTS 10 (2013) pastor of the Lutheran parish of Tolminkiemis.3 Donelaitis lived in Tolminkiemis until his death in 1780. In addition to his priestly duties, which acquainted him with the material and spiritual lives of his peasant parishioners, he was involved in construction and mechanical works, and in gardening. He also built scientific and musical instruments (e.g., barometers and harpsichords) and com- posed some literary works, writing, apart from Metai, six fables in Lithuanian and three poems in German. None of his writings were published during his lifetime; they survive only in manuscript form and in copies made by the German pastor Johann Friedrich Hohlfeldt (1767–1829).4 The most significant work of Lithuanian literature, the didac- tic and epic poem Metai is noted for the originality and mastery of its language and imagery. In metrotonic hexameters, which Done- laitis adapted to the Lithuanian language (see Girdenis 1993), the poem offers a realistic description of the daily lives of peasant serfs in Lithuania Minor. Donelaitis describes, for every season, the peas- ants’ work, their surroundings, their daily activities and celebrations. Metai also highlights the perfect order of the world, which could not exist but for the will of God, and depicts earthly joys and hardships, good and bad behaviours. The peasants’ lives are evaluated from several viewpoints — religious, moral, social, and ethnic. In addi- tion, through his several, detailed descriptions of the circumambi- ent nature during the four seasons, the poet shows the power and wisdom of God. The poem was addressed to the peasants of Done- laitis’s parish — who must have found its themes, style, and voice congenial — as well as to his closest friends, who were familiar with the reality depicted in the poem. Metai conflates several styles. Its structure, based on the four sea- sons, is reminiscent of classicism; in it, hyperbole, rustic language, Enlightenment didacticism and a baroque aesthetic are all mingled with with realist traits. Its styles and means of expression are deter- mined by the poem’s subject matter (the life of the peasantry), the 3 The jurisdiction of the Tolminkiemis (or Tollmingkehmen) parish cove- red some 30 villages and 3,000 inhabitants, of whom two thirds were German and one third Lithuanian. 4 For further information on the posthumous publication of Donelai- tis’s works, see Vaškelis 1964; Lebedys 1977, 194–316; Gineitis 1990, 204–249; Doveika 1990; Vaicekauskas 2001; and Vaicekauskas 2009. .