Ugnies giesmės : tūkstantis Sigito Gedos veidų

LT„Ugnies giesmės. Tūkstantis Sigito Gedos veidų“ – monografija, skirta vienam ryškiausių XX a. lietuvių poetų. Tačiau tai – ne Sigito Gedos biografija ir ne jo kūrybos analizė. Rimantas Kmita sako: Šis pasakojimas apie maištą, apie kūrybinį pyktį, kovą, konkurenciją, įsitvirtinimą kultūroje, apie derybas ir konfliktus ne tik su kitais, bet ir su savimi. Svarbiausias knygos klausimas – iš kur visa tai ateina, kur Gedos fenomeno šaknys? Rimantas Kmita siekia ne aprašyti, bet suprasti poetą. Suprasti, kodėl jo gyvenimas buvo toks – aštrus, konfliktiškas, maištingas, galbūt – suprasti, kokios buvo Sigito Gedos viduje kunkuliavusių gaivalų priežastys ir ištakos. Vienas raktinių žodžių čia yra pyktis. Jis lėmė nesitaikstymą su neteisybe, nuolatinį konflikto su aplinka (ir su savimi) ieškojimą, tačiau kartu ir skatino vidinę ugnį, be kurios nebūtų poezijos. Pyktis S. Gedos kūryboje analizuojamas ne tik kaip kultūrinė, psichologinė ar fizinė sąvoka, bet ir sociologiniu aspektu – kaip kūrybos sąlyga, veikimo kultūroje būdas. Konkretaus laiko politiniame ir visuomeniniame kontekste poetas išties įgauna ne vieną, o visą tūkstantį veidų. Todėl ši knyga iš dalies – ir apie tą kainą, kurią už kūrybą sutiko mokėti poetas, o kartu ją mokėjo ir jo artimieji. Ir apie tą laiką, kuriame klestėjo Sigito Gedos poezija, apie santvarkų kaitą, apie vaikystę ir senatvę, apie gyvenimą, kuris buvo kaip nuolatinė kova ir niekad negęstanti ugnis. [knygos.lt]

ENEven to his friends, Sigitas Geda had always remained a mystery. “What forces are wrestling within him?” many wondered in their recollections and conversations. Sigitas Geda (1943-2008) was one of the most important Lithuanian poets. His poetry transformed the Lithuanian poetic language, revealed the range of its flexibility, and opened up seemingly boundless riches of imagination, in which came together different historical epochs, subconscious images, symbols of ancient cultures and fragments from the lives of ordinary people. Geda was able to overcome many taboos of Soviet censorship, and open up opportunities for other poets to write more freely, not shying away from open confrontations with cultural bureaucrats. Relying on the concept of rage as revised in Peter Sloterdijk’s book Rage and Time (Zorn und Zeit, 2006), this monograph sets out to shows that, in the poetic worldview of Sigitas Geda, the world and culture are perceived as a fabric woven from anger and other strong emotions, while the multifaceted and polyphonic, constantly shifting “I” is seen as a multifarious entity, like in ancient Greek culture, that views person’s integrity as problematic and that is constantly permeated and overwhelmed by external energies and emotions. The issue of rage is also linked here to the poet’s desire for glory, which is interpreted as ancient Greek striving for self-immortalisation in people’s memory, explaining the unconventional stance that Geda maintained in the literary field. Another analytical pillar here is the study The Neurotic Personality of Our Time by psychoanalyst Karen Horney, which allowed to expand the concept of rage and analyse the broader phenomenon of neurosis, encompassing the symptoms of internal discord and the struggle to reach a compromise with oneself and the world.Sigitas Geda himself stated that “true creation strives to reconcile several moments: one’s psychological singularity (talent), lessons learned in life and cultural experiences. In their interplay, in their harmony, a crystal - an art form - flashes from time to time ”. Thus, creation arises at intersections between the human psyche and life, personal history. Horney’s pondering over “what psychological disturbances cultural structures cause an individual” further supports this formula. Thus, relying on memoirs, unpublished letters, archival material and other sources, and based mainly on Karen Horney’s research combining psychology and sociology, as well as Carl Gustav Jung and Joseph Campbell, familiar and close in spirit to Geda, this book aims to explain the development of Geda’s work and personality, analysing the reasons behind shifts. Childhood poverty and big ambitions, later conflicts with censorship, constant pressure, anxiety about the future and the project of realising his poetic talent, were the elements that shaped Geda’s personality and destiny. This monograph analyses his attempts to overcome anxiety with alcohol and by taking on a gigantic, almost backbreaking workload, also looking at his pervasive desire for renown and uncontrollable symptoms of inferiority, which turned him particularly susceptible, his short temper, unshakeable conviction about his righteousness, which used to drag him into disputes with others and himself, arguments over recognition, accolades, forms of appreciation. That was especially evident in Lithuania following its independence from Soviet rule.For Geda, freedom seemed to be a conflict between incompatible aspirations. Colliding here were his preexisting desire to break free from censorship with the wish to receive from the newly established state the same attention to literature and writers; the arrival of political conditions suitable for creating freely with the sudden emergence of new economic constraints and obstacles; the democratisation of all spheres of life with the poet’s desire to firmly establish a receptive field for his literary canon. Yet the deeper conflict could have been Geda’s desire to create a distinct literary canon, the history of the Soviet era, bringing to the forefront the victims and positioning himself as one of them, despite realising that there were good, promising writers who had suffered much more due to their political beliefs, who were not given a chance to become established because of their gender, or character, who were actually pushed to the margins. Geda was aware of contradictions existing inside him yet did not try to overcome or resolve them. On the contrary, it fuelled his sense of weakness, of having been wronged, that his was a tragic fate, just like the fates of the figures he revered greatly, Francois Villon, Charles Baudelaire or Antanas Strazdas. His inclination was that he lived at the mercy of higher forces, but this book suggests that this was largely due to his belief that great art was impossible without tragic destiny. Unfortunately, equally impossible was leading a harmonious life. [From the publication]