Nuo sakymų prie rašymų: vieno žemaičio užrašai

LTSavamokslio žemaičio Jono Brežinskio rankraštinis palikimas iš XIX a. pradžios–XX a. pirmosios pusės leidžia jo autorių traktuoti kaip priklausantį kultūriniam tarpsluoksniui. Jo rašymai balansuoja ties riba tarp dviejų kultūros sistemų: tradicinės valstietiškosios ir modernesnės, būdingos inteligentijai. Kaip tik todėl atsiveria galimybė ne tik geriau įsižiūrėti į sakytinės ir rašytinės tradicijos sampynas pačiose valstietiškos raštijos užuomazgose, bet ir aptarti gimstančią naują kultūrinę pastangą – tiek susidarius tam tikroms sąlygoms, tiek šiuo konkrečiu atveju, iš pasyvios tautinės tapatybės rašant pereinama į aktyvųjį jos kūrimo lauką. Pasirinkta interpretacijos kryptis savaime verčia neišleisti iš akiračio bene svarbiausio rankraščiuose įsispaudusio autoriaus bruožo – žemaitiškojo mąstymo būdo, suteikiančio progą platesniam žemaitiškumo rodiklių apmąstymui. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: J. Brežinskis; Raštas, krikščionybė; Sakytinė kultūra; Tautosaka; Šaltiniai; Žemaitiškumas; Žemaičiai; Žemaičių spauda; Cristianity; Folklore; J. Beržanskis; Lowladness; Oral culture; Samogitians; Samogitians press; Sources; Writing.

ENArticle deals with a curious phenomenon in the context of the end of the 19th – the first half of the 20th century: namely, the written heritage of a self-educated Samogitian farmer Jonas Brežinskis, which he started to compose in the early years of the peasant literacy and continued until the tradition of writing was firmly established in the middle of the 20th century. Although being born in the peasant milieu and dealing with farming during his lifetime, Jonas Brežinskis (1878-1963) mastered means of communication and self-expression hardly available to the peasants of his time – i. e. writing, which he managed to use much like other, more famous enlightened people in Samogitia, leaving a vivid mark not only in the history of literacy. Besides factual autobiographical information, his manuscripts contain meteorological observations (monthly and annual), precise accounts of his farm’s spending, ethnographic descriptions of agricultural tasks, folklore, and didactic or educative compositions. There are also numerous rewritings of sermons, excerpts from the printed sources and abundant references to the works by Motiejus Valančius; as well as essays on the relevant topics of the time, including daily life, historical past and contemporary issues, e.g. significance of science, technology and book-printing. Priority in these discussions with the invisible addressee – his reader, was always given by the author to the religious imperative, maintaining that no progress could ever be possible without God’s will. Subsequently, even more interesting essays started appearing, in which dialog on various topics was suggestively escalated with the so-called materialists and atheists of the Soviet times.However, the most important part in the postwar written heritage by Brežinskis comprises his letters, which used to be sent to his relatives both deported to Siberia and having emigrated to the West. These letters were preserved by the addressees and brought back to Lithuania afterwards. Their author has even been named “ambassador of the deportees” in Lithuania because of his active correspondence. There are two essential basic choices defining the cultural reflexivity in Brežinskis’ writings: namely, his adherence to Catholicism and his heightened national consciousness. The author of the article ponders over the genre that such diverse written heritage could be attributed to: diary, memoirs, journalism, or just personal notes? Obviously, priority should be given to the genre of notebooks, equating Brežinskis’ writings to the manuscript books favored by the nobility of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of the 17th century; these books used as a rule to be named in Latin – Silva rerum, and the title was not translated. A separate chapter of the article deals with the creative expression of Samogitian identity in the writings by the Samogitian author, which involves not only usage of language, folklore, customs, but also his singular Samogitian thinking, characterized by its peculiar bread-andbutter, down-to-earth quality, which directly affects the inner demand of always acting in the most concrete and purposeful manner, unwaveringly following to the end the line of action that was once chosen or that was considered the only one possible, even if one should deplore this course afterwards. [...]. [From the publication]

• Etnologija / Ethnology
• Literatūrologija / Literary Studies