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Full Description
Kukutis made his appearance in the Stalinist era, at the height of the forced collectivization of Lithuanian farming by the occupying Soviet forces which saw the obliteration of whole rural communities, and the introduction of oppressive laws and regulations. Completely incapable of understanding, let alone abiding by, these strictures, Kukutis - the outsider, the trickster - functioned outside of regulation and moved between different worlds, unhindered by borders and limits. In creating the character of Kukutis, Marcelijus Martinaitis found a voice which could articulate the anger, frustration and passions of the Lithuanian people, a voice which, contrary to all expectations, managed to escape the Soviet censor's pen and which, a decade after publication of 'The Ballads of Kukutis', was to become the catalyst for revolution in the Baltics. Indeed, during the mass political rallies of the late 1980s and early '90s, poems from 'The Ballads' were chanted, sung and performed everywhere. In this volume, Martinaitis's witty, ironic and incisive poems are published together, in English in Laima Vince's superb translation, as a single collection for the first time.
Contents
IntroductionKukutis's Farm / 15 The World's Pain in Kukutis's Lost Amputated Leg / 19 Kukutis's Barren Bread / 21 Kukutis's Lament Under the Heavens / 25 And Earth Went Up to Heaven / 27 Kukutis in Forced Labour / 29 Kukutis's Words / 31 Instructions for Kukutis Released from Forced Labour / 33 How Kukutis Regained His Senses / 33 The Story I Came Up With to Cheer Up Hanged Kukutis / 35 The Confusion of Tools, Words, People in the Kukutyne / 39 Kukutis's Swallow's Hymn / 41 Kukutis's Application for Temporary Relief Aid / 43 Kukutis's Sermon to the Pigs / 47 Kukutis, Where Did You Put Your Kukutis? / 51 Many Kukutises and One / 53 Kukutis Wants to See His Homeland / 57 Kukutis Opens His Eyes / 59 Kukutis Drives Fast / 61 How Kukutis Became Estranged from His Consciousness / 63 Forbid Him! / 65 Kukutis's Might / 67 An Experiment / 69 Morning in Kukutis's Cottage / 75 Kukutis and the World's Fair / 77 Kukutis at His Funeral / 83 Kukutis Tells About His Cottage / 85 Night at Kukutis's Farmstead / 89 Kukutis's Last Day / 89 The Women of Zuveliskes Mourn Kukutis / 91 How To Bury Kukutis / 93 Kukutis's Testament / 97 Kukutis's Sorrows on a Dark and Stormy Night / 97 Kukutis Addresses His Life / 101 Kukutis's Sinful Soul / 103 Kukutis Teaches a Child How to Pet a Moose / 107 A Pony in Kukutis's Ear / 109 Kukutis's Old Man with a Tin Awl / 111 Kukutis's Song / 115 Unhappy Kukutis in the Potato Patch / 115 Kukutis Needs a Woman / 117 Kukutis Mourns the Loss of Threshing Machines / 121 Kukutis Avoids Responsibility / 123 Kukutis Gazes at a Stewardess / 125 Kukutis Tells About His Woman / 127 Kukutis's Trip on the Samogitian Highway / 129 Kukutis's Visit to Vilnius / 131 Kukutis Rides a Full Trolleybus / 133 Kukutis Dreams Up Zuveliskes Village in the Cathedral Square / 137 Kukutis's Diagnosis / 143 Kukutis Beats the Agent's Dog / 145 Kukutis's Appeal to the Alphabet / 147 A Last Farewell to Kukutis / 149 Translator's Notes / 152 Biographical Notes / 154
