The experiences of World War II in the works of Eduardas Mieželaitis: the conflict of bolshevik ideology and the reader’s expectations

Straipsnyje, remiantis archyvine medžiaga, aptariama Eduardo Mieželaičio kūrybos, sukurtos Antrojo pasaulinio karo metu Sovietų Sąjungoje, recepcija fronte, ryškinamas bolševikinės ideologijos ir skaitytojo lūkesčių konfliktas. Analizuojamas ir paties poeto vidinis konfliktas: tarp asmeninės, individualios patirties ir ideologizuotų reikalavimų kūrybai. Įtampą tarp eleginės būsenos ir privalomo kūrybos kovingumo liudija ne tik archyviniai dokumentai, bet ir nepriklausomoje Lietuvoje prieš mirtį parašyta memuarinė Mieželaičio knyga Nereikalingas žmogus (2003). Joje, prisimindamas karo korespondento sovietų armijos 16-ojoje Lietuviškoje divizijoje patirtį bei tuomet privalomą rašytojo propagandisto poziciją, poetas kritiškai įvertino ir savo, kaip žurnalisto, darbą ir, pasak jo, ne širdimi, o tuo pačiu žurnalisto pieštuku kovoti raginusios poezijos dalį. Straipsnyje palyginama, kaip kito fronto realybės vaizdavimas Mieželaičio karo metų publikacijose, vėlesnėse Raštų redakcijose ir nepriklausomoje Lietuvoje rašytuose prisiminimuose.In this paper the author discusses the reception at the war front of that part of Eduardas Mieželaitis’ work which he wrote during World War II in the Soviet Union, and highlights the conflict of Bolshevik ideology and the reader’s expectations. The inner conflict between the poet’s experience, on the one hand, and the ideological requirements put on his artistic work, on the other, are also examined. The tension between the elegiac condition and the mandatory combative nature of his poetry manifest themselves not only in archival sources, of which the author makes ample use, but also in Mieželaitis’ autobiographical book Nereikalingas žmogus (The Unnecessary Man, 2003) which he wrote in independent Lithuania shortly before his death. Reminiscing about his experiences as a war correspondent in the 16th Lithuanian division of the Soviet army and about the then required standpoint of a propagandist writer, the poet took a critical look at his work as a journalist and, in his own words, at that part of his poetry which called to arms, yet the call was coming not from his heart, but from his, then a journalist’s, pencil. The article analyzes how the depiction of frontline reality was changing from Mieželaitis’ war reporting, to the later editions of his collected works and to his memoirs, written in independent Lithuania