Latviešu dzejas kopkrājumi lietuviešu valodā

Abstract

Three major ways how Latvian poetry reaches Lithuanian readers exist: 1) translations in periodical and serial publications, almanacs, 2) translated books of single Latvian authors, 3) translations making up collections of various kinds and profiles. The aim of the present research, which may be called research conducted in a traditional comparative manner, is to reveal the chronology of the third way as well as its main characteristics. The article covers seven major and several minor sources; poetry collections, such as “A Muse Approaches from the Daugava” (Lith. “Mūza ateina nuo Dauguvos”, 1963), “The Bells” (Lith. “Varpai”, 1968), “We Arrived in This World” (Lith. “Mes atėjome į šį pasaulį”, 1983), “Spring Will Come as Usual” (Lith. “Pavasaris bus kaip visuomet”, 2012) and “A Ball Lightning into the Soul” (Lith. “Rutulinis žaibas į sielą” (2019), are considered to be the most significant ones. The work of the compilers and translators of the collections is assessed, also introducing the most active, best representatives in the field: Kostas Korsakas (1909–1986), Arvydas Valionis (b. 1945), Erika Drungytė (b. 1971). One of the main conclusions of the article: collections of Latvian poetry published in the Lithuanian language most extensively reflect creative pieces by poets who lived and live in Latvia in the second half of the 20th–21st centuries; Latvian diaspora is less represented, and poetry of the 19th–first half of the 20th centuries is represented even less, except for poems by Jānis Rainis (real name Jānis Pliekšāns, 1865–1929).