Ričardas Gavelis’s "Vilniaus pokeris": from rashomon structure to deconstructive narrative

In this article the author analyzes Ričardas Gavelis’s 1989 novel "Vilniaus pokeris" (Vilnius Poker; transl. 2009), paying close attention to the narrative structures and construction of the text. Material that the author came across in Gavelis’s archives became something of an Ariadne’s thread, an idea which in itself offers one method of analyzing the labyrinthine narrative. The author notes that Gavelis borrowed his unusual style of narration from Akira Kurosawa’s film "Rashomon" (1950). Drawing on the cinematographic "Rashomon" narrative model, the author analyzes narrative technique in "Vilniaus pokeris", pointing out that the novel surpasses "Rashomon" narrative structure in its multiplicity and ambiguous complexity, so that the cinematic model is insufficient for describing what J. Hillis Miller would call the novel’s internal narrative lines. In order to comprehend the latter, the author draws on the principles of deconstruction, which allow her to reveal phenomena of repetition and complexity and to establish that "Vilniaus pokeris" is, itself, a deconstructive space. The author draws the conclusion that Gavelis transcends the monovalent "Rashomon" narrative model by creating a labyrinthine, never-ending, deconstructive narrative that denies single truths and the existence of a single, central meaning. The "Rashomon" principle inspired Gavelis to search for a unique form of expression and other models of structuring narrative. In the author’s opinion, with "Vilniaus pokeris" Gavelis experimented with an interesting combination of "Rashomon" and labyrinthine narration – one which would inform all of his subsequent writing, including "Paskutinioji žemės žmonių karta" (The Last Generation of People on Earth, 1995)