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- Title
Liminalumas šiuolaikinėje lietuvių (e)migracinėje literatūroje.
- Authors
MIKULSKAITĖ, Eglė
- Abstract
This paper analyzes how the liminality that appears in modern Lithuanian migrant literature is understood as an intermediate, undefined, and transitional interval. We endeavor to discover how the liminality of the characters surfaces in their relationship with specific places and their communities while keeping in mind that the place itself plays an important role in the subject's definition of himself or herself. We look into how the liminal period affects the understanding of one's identity and highlight the identity tensions that are caused by the transitional period. Applying the geocritical approach shows that the essay collection "Rain Versus Sun" ("Lietumi prieš saulę") by Dalia Staponkutė, a writer from an older generation, accords significant meaning to the identity of the place and its community, although identification is not possible either with the Cypriot or with the Lithuanian community. The places are regarded as incarcerating, as limiting the individual and the opportunity for them to become independent. Remaining in the liminal phase takes place, although at the end there is an increasing drift towards the island of Cyprus. Contrary to an almost marginal experience caused by liminality in D. Staponkutė's collection, the novel "Stasys Šaltoka: One Year" ("Stasys Šaltoka: vieneri metai") by a writer of a newer generation, Gabija Grušaitė, depicts this period as a rejection of identity guidelines expressed as an ambiguous and conflicting relationship with yourself and the environment. In this case, the identity of the place and the idea of a home become irrelevant by taking on more of a global, nomadic identity, rejecting the environments and their communities or even "consuming" them. The liminality in the novel is emphasized more through a temporal rather than a spatial perspective - by stepping out of it after creating connections with people, settling down in Thailand, and stepping beyond the threshold of age. Notably, both literary works show an attempt to create one's own "me" that is far from the identity of the place.
- Subjects
CYPRUS; THAILAND; GROUP identity; LIMINALITY; ESSAY collections; CYPRIOTS; LITHUANIANS
- Publication
Oikos: Lithuanian Migration & Diaspora Studies, 2022, Vol 32, Issue 2, p113
- ISSN
1822-5152
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.7220/2351-6561.32.7