'On the outskirts of the Empire': Joseph Brodsky and Lithuania. Issue 3 (3rd July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Klots, Yasha
• Is Part Of: Journal of Baltic studies. Volume 48:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 331
• Page End: 349
• Publication Date: 2017-07-03
• Subjects: Exile -- geography -- language -- architecture -- empire -- literary dialogue; Baltic States -- Periodicals; 947.9005
• DOI: 10.1080/01629778.2016.1178654
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0162-9778

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article explores the role of Lithuania in Joseph Brodsky's life and works before and after his exile from Russia in 1972. As a former Soviet republic, Lithuania represented an intermediary space for Brodsky both culturally and geographically, contributing to his realization that it was a 'rehearsal' for his actual emigration. However, Brodsky's notion of Lithuania changes when, after 1972, instead of representing a simulacrum of the 'abroad, ' the poet sees Lithuania as a 'home' from afar. Emigration, in Brodsky's case, thus became a realization of the myth of exile implicit in his earlier texts about Lithuania.