Juozas Baltušis’s Novel „Sakmė apie Juzą“ [Saga about Juza]: an Archetypal Expression of the Nation’s Vitality

Abstract

Juozas Baltušis (1909-1991), a well-known Lithuanian writer, political and public figure, created dozens of prose and drama works, which were translated into many languages of the world and have been awarded various prizes. The novel Sakmė apie Juzą [The Saga Of Juza] (1979) received the LSSR State Prize in 1980 and the prestigious French prize in 1990. In Lithuania, the Saga gained particular popularity as an original myth poem, which erupted as an expression of the archetypal Lithuanian worldview, became a secret sign of resistance. At that time, J. Baltušis reached the peak in the political establishment: in 1980-1990, he was a member of the Supreme Council of the Lithuanian SSR. At the beginning of the Sąjūdis the writer tried to be loyal (1988), but he did not understand the new political winds, turned towards the Moscow ideologists and he and his books were rejected by society as of the traitor to the nation.

After nearly three decades, it is worth to return to the analysis of the writer’s proficiency, regardless of time policy or Soviet ideology. The paper will analyse the mythopoetic archetypicality of the novel The Saga Of Juza, which manifests with feelings of Lithuanian nature, the vitality and richness of the lexis, melodiousness, traditional ethics, etc. The work will be based on G. Dručkutė, M. Jackevičius, A. Juodytė-Žižienė, V. Karbusicky, V. Kubilius, J. Lubienė, D. Sakavičiūtė, M. Tamošaitis, S. Valentas, W. Wolf, etc. works. The comparative methodology will be used. The article concludes that J. Baltušis’s The Saga Of Juza is not only a manifestation of secret national resistance to Soviet ideology, but should be regarded as a testamentary heritage of Lithuanian culture due to its language beauty, richness, mythical archaic worldview and musicality, and is considered to be the masterpiece of Lithuanian literature.