Transnational agency and the experience of “double otherness” in the discourse of contemporary Lithuanian writers

Abstract

The article analyzes the prose and public discourse of contemporary Lithuanian writers living (or having lived) abroad after the 2000s, including Akvilina Cicėnaitė, Dalia Staponkutė, Vaiva Rykštaitė, Jolita Herlyn, and others. Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of transnationalism and rooted cosmopolitanism, the paper problematizes the assumption of seamless mobility and highlights the inner tension and suspension in between spaces caused by transnational agency. The phenomenon of “double otherness”, where the transmigrant feels foreign both in the country of origin and the hostland, is also discussed. This existential ambiguity directly affects the form of the literary works, dictating a fragmented narrative structure. Finally, the article distinguishes three trajectories of rooted cosmopolitanism (the cases of Herlyn, Staponkutė, and Rykštaitė), revealing that ethnic origin under the conditions of transnational agency can become a foundation enabling creative activity abroad.