Kitas lietuvių prozoje

LTNepaisant jau kelis dešimtmečius trunkančio postkolonijinių studijų dominavimo Vakarų akademiniame diskurse, lietuvių literatūrologija išgyvena „postkolonijinio įtarumo“ (K. Račevskis) būseną. Nors Lietuvoje ir pripažįstama, kad apmąstyti praeitį bei ją įvertinti yra svarbu suvokiant tiek nacionalinį, tiek asmeninį identitetą, postkolonijinių kategorijų taikymas Baltijos šalims daugiausia vis dar yra Vakaruose gyvenančių mokslininkų rūpestis. Šio darbo išeities tašku pasirinkusi kitas vs savas binarinę opoziciją, vieną svarbiausių postkolonijizmo teorijos kategorijų, bandau pagrįsti tokios opozicijos svarbą bei reikšmę formuojant lietuvių nacionalinį identitetą bei apskritai kultūrą.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvių proza; Svetimas; Kitas; Skirtumas; Reprezentacija; Stereotipai; Diskursas.

ENPostcolonial theory brought to the forefront "Other worlds", such binary oppositions as the following: colonizer/colonized, friend/foe, self/other, and Occident/Orientalism, etc. Before postcolonialism, these binary oppositions were excluded, overlooked, and marginalized. The main concern of my work is over representations of the Other - here the Other refers to ethnic groups (such as Jews, Gypsies [Roma], Poles, Russians, Byelorussians, Litvaks [Lithuanian Jews], Tuteišiai) in Lithuanian literature. The representation of the Other in Lithuanian literature is not as obvious as it appears at first sight. It is rather difficult to find a piece of Lithuanian fiction which would have a clear representation of the Other (except for a few works by canonical Lithuanian authors such as Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius' short story "Silkės" or Vincas Kudirka's satires). Therefore, it is rather difficult to find elaborate descriptions of the Other in the works of Lithuanian authors. In order to depict the Other in Lithuanian literature, I use the term latent employed by Edward Said in his famous book on Orientalism (1978). The term describes the dreams and fantasies about the Orient, that, in Said's view, have remained relatively constant over time. In opposition to manifest Orientalism, latent Orientalism is a hidden perception of the Other that can be found at a deeper level. Regardless of when (time) and how (form) a literary work was written, the overall representations of the Other in Lithuanian literature have not changed. Ziauddin Sardar shows the following five internal traits that Western culture has continuously used to oppress the Other: representation, duality, control, instrumentation, and the gaze.According to him, since there is nothing but representation, all interpretation is misinterpretation. The representation of the Other is a distinctive construct of the native people, an image based on knowledgeable ignorance. The construction of a distorted image of the Other reflects the internal insecurity of the Lithuanians that forces them to see everything in terms of duality. The Other is not just different, it is oddly different - unusual, sometimes even fantastic and bizarre. If Lithuanians see themselves as rational, sensible, and familiar, the Other (a Jew, a Gypsy or a Byelorussian, etc.) is irrational, extraordinary, and abnormal. Unable to face the real Other, Lithuanians had to create an artificial image, designed according to its own categories and concepts, to which the Other could relate. The other most common way to perceive the Other is through stereotypes. The stereotypes of the Other focus on typical perceived weaknesses such as cowardliness, laziness, untrustworthiness, laxity, and fickleness, etc. The Other becomes an indistinguishable part of a mass, anonymous, and demonized. Further marginalization of the Other in Lithuanian literature is obtained by humor, irony and ridicule. It has been a characteristic of the "gaze" in Orientalism that the object of its interest has been seen to be passive. In Lithuanian literature the Other is often extremely passive - first, s/he is represented not by herself/himself but by the others (Lithuanians); secondly, in most cases, he/she is silent. Sardar calls this situation "the silence of the Other".The discovery of the Other, if properly understood, according to Leonidas Donskis, is a self-discovery. Therefore, by capturing the representations of the Other in Lithuanian literature, I also show the self-representations of the Lithuanians. I reveal a huge gap between us and them - a time-honored tradition of Lithuanians' self-centeredness, selfrighteousness, and self-victimization. I portray Lithuanians' unwillingness to introduce a dialogue which is a sign of their indifference, intolerance, suspicion, and stereotyping of the Other. [From the publication]