The Intertext of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis in the Late Twentieth-Century Lithuanian Poetry: Ideological and Interpretative Directions

Abstract

This article analyzes the intertext of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis in Lithuanian poetry of the late twentieth century, focusing on the processes of literary modernization during the Soviet era and raising the question of whether the poets’ fascination with the phenomenon of the Čiurlionis’s work could have contributed to this. The object of the study is poetic texts in which Čiurlionis’s work is made relevant as an intermedial phenomenon, including references to his paintings, ego-documentary, musical compositions, or commonly perceived principles of interaction between the arts. Based on texts published in commemorative anthologies (Saulėtos vizijos and Žvaigždynų sonatos), the article discusses two dominant approaches in the interpretation of Čiurlionis’s artistic ideas: turning the motifs of Čiurlionis’s paintings into ideological emblems and artistic interpretations of the paintings, characterized by varied degrees of dramatization and self-reflection. The study has revealed that the political context of the Soviet era had an impact on the content of the interpretations—the stereotypical and romantic reception of Čiurlionis as a cultural figure. However, the interpretation of ekphrasis confirms that the artist’s allegorical work created favorable conditions for the development of ambiguity and encouraged both culturally contextual and more subjective interpretations of themes in Lithuanian poetry.