Mythological worlds in Gintaras Beresnevičius' novel "Astonishing Adventures and Seeings of Tomas Vagabundas"
Abstract
In a commentary included in Gintaras Beresnevičius' novel "Astonishing Adventures and Seeings of Tomas Vagabundas" Regimantas Tamošaitis writes that after reading the novel's introductory part it is possible to reconstruct its mythological contours. When R.
Tamošaitis further speaks about the introductory part he describes it as a "conceptual imitation of cosmogenic myths". The references to mythology are important components of G.
Beresnevičius' prosaic work and wandering between (mythological) worlds through time and space represents a specific motif in the above-mentioned novel. The paper points out the importance of mythological components and their complexity which proves the author used various mythological sources.
The introductory part, written later than the rest of the novel, begins with a philosophical reflection: We can see a hero falling down from the sky, who was cast down in order to search for answers to his essential, nevertheless difficult to formulate, questions (about meaning, love, searching for knowledge). Although at first glance the introductory part's symbolism might seem to be apparently Christian - we can see a primordial whale - if we look at its function and history, it is possible to see other cultural space as well, other nations mythologies' (such as German mythology) features.
Particularly the parts connected to space and creating "mythological worlds" are analysed in the paper. These spaces are clearly visible when the author "jumps" from the first world to the next.
We can quite often see one religious motif being important, whose origin might be found not only in the world mythology, but in Lithuanian folklore as well - reincarnation, which is repeated throughout the whole book. By itself the reincarnation represents a bridge between our world and the otherworld and is a theme to which a closer attention is paid in this paper.