The Making of the Lithuanian national poet: Maironis

ENThis article aims to contextualize the formation of Maironis's position in the canon of national literature, and connect this process to the Lithuanian national rebirth, also raising the question as to the way external factors (sociocultural phenomena, such as the circulation of texts) interact with internal meanings encoded in the texts to form the status of a national poet. The main focus of this article will be his early reception - up to 1913. The definition of canon as a socio-cultural phenomenon (rather than understanding it as something "naturally occurring") is recently becoming more widespread, so ideas about the "making" of Maironis are also arising, especially in view of all of Lithuania celebrating the 150th anniversary of Maironis's birth in 2012. Brigita Speičytė's research and Šeina's texts6 dedicated to the canonization of the author are especially relevant to this article and the tradition of Maironis's studies overall. Since the Lithuanian national bard has already received sufficient attention in other research, this article offers just a brief survey tracing the origins of the making of his canonical position. [Extract, p. 257]