Brochure of the Coin

a few words. Here there was adaptation, expansion of the boundaries of freedom and
a conscious effort to preserve the native language. Lithuanian literature, written in
the most difficult conditions, continued to grow, mature, it significantly contributed
to the act of restoring Independence. From 1988–1989 the whole of literature began
to include that, which had been banned by censure — the works of political prisoners (lagerininkai), exiles, immigrants, religious literature, translations of world literature
that hadn’t been dear to the Soviets. It was openly said that part of the significant
literary works were written by writers who had to emigrate to the West (Jonas Aistis,
Bernardas Brazdžionis, Marius Katiliškis, Antanas Škėma and many others). It became
clear that even those who were fostered by the regime couldn’t publish everything.
For example, a collection of poems by Salomėja Nėris, Prie didelio kelio (The High
Road), was kept in a drawer from 1944 to 1994. One of the chapters
was begun by the poet with the following two lines:
Oh my writing, so winding and twisted,
As the wind blows you shall buzz again...
What is literature among all sorts of other worldly treasures?
Let us remember the biographies of famous people. They
often mention a book that determined their future way.
Therefore, with this coin you can purchase a book that has
the power to encourage you to fly upwards.
Valentinas Sventickas
5 EURO COIN,
DEDICATED TO LITERATURE
FROM THE SERIES
“LITHUANIAN CULTURE”
Silver Ag 925
Quality proof
Diameter 28.70 mm
Weight 12.44 g
Lithuanian
Collectors
Coins
On the edge of the coin:
LIETUVOS KULTŪRA * LITERATURE*
(LITHUANIAN CULTURE *LITERATURE*)
Designed by
Rytas Jonas Belevičius
Mintage 4,000 pcs.
Issued 2015
Information is available at the Bank of Lithuania
Tel. +370 5 268 0316
El. p. [email protected]
www.lb.lt
The coin was minted at the
UAB Lithuanian Mint
www.lithuanian-mint.lt
Lithuanian Collectors Coins
© Bank of Lithuania, 2015
Coins photographed by Arūnas Baltėnas
Designed by Liudas Parulskis
The publication uses photographs by Ona Pajedaitė,
Liudas Parulskis, Deimantė Rybakovienė (photograph
of Justinas Marcinkevičius’ manuscript),
illustrations by Stasys Krasauskas
Published by the Bank of Lithuania, Gedimino pr. 6, LT-01103 Vilnius
Printed by UAB LODVILA, www.lodvila.lt
5 EURO COIN,
DEDICATED TO
LITERATURE
literature
What is the first thing that comes to our minds when we speak of the word literature?
We think of the art of words and glance towards our bookshelves. A corner for prose,
poetry, drama. This is fiction (belles-lettres). We perceive dictionaries, reference books,
non-fiction writing as something else.
What is literature, as an art among other art? It stands out. Its only instrument is language, and through language understanding of the world is expressed. This way literature becomes a mirror of the conciousness of people and the passing of time.
This is its modern perception. It would be flat if we were to forget history and those
meanings of concepts that do not disappear. Literature for a long time was the name
for everything that was written, as well as the oral creations of all nations, folklore. The
passing of time strengthens some of these meanings, while others are weakened. But,
until now it wouldn’t be a mistake to include scientific works, journalism, etc. in literature. Nevertheless, at the end of the 18th c., in the perception of the concept it became
clear that fiction had the upper hand. At the same time it began to draw away from religious writing. In literary reflections the names of genres appeared: novel, short story,
poem, verse, play. The criteria of aesthetic value, which first was of importance to the
romanticists, continued to be defined.
What is the difference between the language of
fiction literature and the language of interaction,
announcements? In literature, words have indirect meanings, express things that haven’t been
said, they grow into symbols and images, work
in the harmony of sounds. The intonation and
stylistic originality of the author’s language is
important — an informational text doesn’t need
it at all. The clearest difference is felt in reading
works in verse.
The word literature, carved into a coin, may seem
like a paradox. This is because money marks
usefulness, while literature — does it have any
use and does it aim to have one? No, it rather
is drawn away from practical use and almost
seems to say that other, spiritual values are substantially important. But some historical functions of literature — cognitive, educational, ideological — can be assessed from the aspect of usefulness. We couldn’t assess this
way the aesthetic function; we would have to speak only about the joy of reading. Only
or even? Famed modern theoreticians, in attempting to answer the question as to what
is the mission performed by literature, often finish profound considerations simply in
the following way: in reading good literature we become better. Let us assume, that for
the general state of society, this would be useful. Although it is priceless.
In Lithuania’s history there wasn’t any other period similar to the present one in terms
of the growth of fiction and its publishing. All types and genres of literature are developing freely, there is a variety of topics, methods, styles. The value of the appearing
publication and books is different and varied.
If, in drawing a view of modern Lithuanian literature, we will limit ourselves to the
new works that appeared in the 21st c., we will see that a large part of them was written by writers who were born in the previous century. Prose writers — Juozas Aputis, Petras Dirgėla, Juozas Erlickas, Ričardas Gavelis, Romualdas Granauskas, Leonardas
Gutauskas, Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Grigorijus Kanovičius, Vytautas Martinkus. Poets —
Sigitas Geda, Antanas A. Jonynas, Donaldas Kajokas, Justinas Marcinkevičius, Aidas
Marčėnas, Marcelijus Martinaitis, Jonas Strielkūnas, Tomas Venclova. However, there
is a lot of fresh creative energy — both in terms of the problems and literary expres-
sion — brought in by the younger generation,
which expressed themselves most in the past
two decades, such as Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė,
Marius Ivaškevičius, Andrius Jakučiūnas, Herkus
Kunčius, Sigitas Parulskis, Kristina Sabaliauskaitė,
Rimvydas Stankevičius, Renata Šerelytė, Alvydas
Šlepikas. In the period of changes, an important
phenomenon is the abundance of essays. Another clear shift — the interest of readers in literature of fact. The field of entertainment lecture
materials is expanding. Literature is disclaiming
its ideological services, didactics, boosting of its
aesthetic purpose.
The primary organiser of literary life is the Lithuanian Writers Union (Lietuvos rašytojų sąjunga). It
cares for the professional and social situation of writers, which has established several periodical literature publications, a publishing house and a Writers Club, which organises meetings with writers. The most ambitious annual event is the Poetry Spring,
which has been taking place since 1965.
This multifaceted Lithuanian literary life seems exceptional, because it, if we were
to compare it to world literature, is very young. The first Lithuanian book — Martynas Mažvydas’ The Catechism — appeared only in 1547. Another amazing feature
— the masterfully intricate forms of the works from Lithuania’s literary beginnings.
An acrostic is incorporated into Mažvydas’ preface in verse (thus making it the first
Lithuanian poem): the first letters of the 3–19 lines, when looked at vertically, reveal
the author’s name. Kristijonas Donelaitas, who between 1765 and 1775 dedicated
his life to creative work, wrote the poem Metai (The Seasons) in hexameter, as if
Lithuanian literary language and the art of versification has been improved on for
the longest time. These are signs of great creative energy and rapid growth, which
were taken over by later generations.
The index of historical growth is in part reflected by the portraits of writers that
we could see on the Lithuanian litas banknotes (from 1993). These were Motiejus
Valančius (1801–1875), Žemaitė (1845–1921), Vincas Kudirka (1858–1899), author of
the Lithuanian national anthem, Maironis (1862–1932), Vydūnas (1868–1953).
The period of Soviet occupation was so dramatic, that it cannot be described in just