The literature of small things: narrative construction in the works of jurgis kunčinas

The Literature of Small Things: Narrative Construction in the Works of Jurgis Kunčinas This thesis raises the assumption that Kunčinas' work can be studied through a principle of small things. The paper analyses the concept of small things, its broad meaning, the operating principle of them in Kunčinas' short stories. Two main questions are raised: what is a small thing, and short story to Kunčinas? Analysing the term small thing (mažmožis in lithuanian) and Kunčinas' relation to it, was discovered that small everyday objects are valued by Kunčinas more than expensive, higher value ones. The look at writers wall of small things revealed one common feature: undervalued objects that are common in everyday life. Through principle of readymade, irony and defamiliarization was dicussed the principle of transformation in Kunčinas' work. Short stories were analysed paying attention to their content and form. It was discovered that in each text by transforming a small thing, Kunčinas stated a new value or revealed a common one. For example, in his short story "White window" ("Baltas langas") a common belief about love at first sight is ironised. So a small thing to Kunčinas is an undervalued object that is common in everyday life, which is used as an ironic opposite to commonly known values. Analysis revealed that small things appear in different categories in Kunčinas's short stories. As objects, as information, as places, and as small things of language and discourse – gossip, newspaper article, idioms, melodrama, and fairytale. By answering the second question, it was discovered that Kunčinas created a new type of genre, a small thing-text; which at first appears to be comedy meant only to entertain but in reality states and reveals values of society