The autobiographical texts of Algimantas Mackus and Liūnė Sutema, or pride in exile

Abstract

This article, analyzing the autobiographies and autobiographical texts of the poets Algimantas Mackus and Liūnė Sutema published in Lithuanian and émigré periodicals, focuses on the main issue of their self-understanding, Who am I, having chosen to emigrate? This question is ever-present in both their poetry and their life texts. With the help of some claims of existential philosophy, I aim to show that answering this question involves raising other questions whose lexical components are based on concepts drawn from existential philosophy, such as guilt, responsibility, freedom, absurdity, and revolt.