To read Rilke: the literary taste in contemporary Lithuanian poetry

ENThis text investigates the relations between the literary taste and the reception of Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926) in Lithuania. Rilke’s reception extends to a century or even more, even if the exact date remains the cause of academic debates1. It is natural that over the years the attitude toward Rilke changed, as the generations of poets had changed too. They comprise admirers of Rilke’s works to (post)modern experimenters and sceptics. The question of “literary taste” is to be considered as analogous to the question of the “readers’ taste”. These readers are also the poets. Therefore, the more correct question to orientate this text would be how do they read? The central focus is the reading experience, the circulation, and the articulation of the Rilke’s texts read within the last three decades (1990–2020). The text is divided into two sections. The first section deals with those aspects of the reception of Rilke that are the most important and guiding in the present Lithuanian literary tradition. It elucidates why Rilke is so important a poet for Lithuanian authors, the impact of Heidegger’s text Wozu Dichter?, and the perspectives of literary taste. In the second section, examples from poems are presented and interpreted in order to accentuate the diversity of the literary taste of a certain Lithuanian poet. Keywords: Rilke; literary taste; reception; reading; Lithuania. [From the publication]