ABOUT REAL AND IMAGINARY WORLDS AND KAUNAS WITH A DOUBLE BOTTOM. A CONVERSATION WITH ALEKSANDRA FOMINA

Aleksandra Fomina is the Lithuanian fiction and essay writer and translator from the 1980s generation. Her novel "Mes Vakar Buvome Saloje" (2011) discusses the life of the post-soviet youth in Kaunas and suggests a unique picture of the city of that time.  We speak with A. Fomina about real and imaginary worlds, relationship with the native Kaunas that has a double bottom and life in Vilnius.

How much reality, experience of yourself and others, do you place in the worlds, characters and situations you create?

The boundary between the world to me is very fragile, I cannot describe it. In general, if we speak about rationality and fiction non-fiction to me is funny: as if someone could be completely objective and evaluate it, like this actually happened and this is completely made up. How can you guarantee that another person will see the world the same as you?

Artificially crafted fictions do not appeal to me, because there are various nuances around, so it only takes to understand what are the other ways to see the world. It is important for me to share, show how people can feel the same situation, maybe this will help them to understand better how others see, think and not to try to change one another. And if something moves me greatly, I cannot forget it, I want to show it for others to notice. This is what happened with descriptions of Kaunas: I lived in it and thus I was hurt when people from other cities talked that Kaunas is not a city and that everything is wrong there, all people wear tracksuits and there is nowhere to go. Writing about Kaunas was like sharing: just look how can you see the city where "nothing happens". Because actually Kaunas has its peculiarities, just like other cities, something of its own, that you may not see so simply, passing by, sliding through the surface. I feel good writing about familiar things and I also wanted for Kaunas to stay in literature as I saw it, because I feel how everything is changing. I wanted to capture some legends of my own and my friends, also places that we visited, the period itself, but I cannot tell that I know Kaunas well. As I mentioned in the novel, it is a city with a double bottom, so I am sure that I don't know many things about this city.

Could you describe your relationship with your native Kaunas. Is Kaunas your home? Do you feel like a writer of Kaunas?

People are not trees, they do not have to be in one place and it is important for me not where to live, but with whom. In Kaunas, I visit friends, I do not communicate with my family, so it is hard to say if Kaunas is my home. Yes, it was pleasant for me to go back, walk and see how everything changes, meet old friends but I could not live in Kaunas every day because I already have my space in Vilnius. There is my work, people who became my friends without knowing the social status of my family, the school I graduated from and from which district I am. I feel a part of Kaunas, because I care about what happens there, I would gladly go to literary events if I was invited and I am happy that readers of my novels recognise the places I write about. I have noticed that in literature, most people sing about Vilnius and I don't think it is fair because other cities seem as not worthy of attention.

I do not quite understand what is the "writer of Kaunas": should I talk about Kaunas all the time? I have something to say about it, both good and bad,  just like about any other place or thing. Yes, for the residents of Vilnius I gladly say that I am from Kaunas but I do not like to emphasise it or represent something. I represent only myself and I have the right to speak from a certain position, rather than that of the patriot of Kaunas.

Currently you live in Vilnius. Can you say that there is a difference between the capital and Kaunas? You speak about this difference in your novel, but what is your own opinion?

My novel says what I actually think. It is not a somewhat special opinion created for characters included for the sake of composition or other literary nuances. When living in Kaunas, most of us felt disadvantaged, because all the investment would go to Vilnius, and its residents coming from Vilnius mocked us as a province having seen only a couple of streets. Naturally, I would react more sensitively to the differences, so this is maybe I think that Kaunas is my territory. But actually, everything changes there. There are lots of new places, I have friends who come from Vilnius or Klaipėda to live and study in Kaunas and feel great. Of course, that there is this difference exists just like in all countries of the world between the capital and other cities. I think that in Kaunas, people are more honest, communicate more openly they do not care so much about your social status, work, political beliefs and other external things. In Kaunas, people come into contact quicker and easier, they invite guests sooner and if you became someone's friend, you can expect that this person will not forget you, call, ask and take care.  In Vilnius, at the beginning it was hard to merge into the public life: I have heard the question "Whose daughter are you?" more than once. Here people are snobs (even though the snobbery of Žaliakalnis ladies is notorious as well), there are more of them (even though you meet people like that in Kaunas) and you have to prove that you are worthy of their attention. They look suspiciously at you and if you cannot express yourself as special, interesting and unique, you will be forgotten after ten minutes. And time goes differently here: maybe communication is different here as well; when they get together, they speak for half an hour and run away from one another. In Vilnius, there is a lot of tension, more movement, naturally you develop workamania and become used to constant rush. In Kaunas, you board a bus and you know that you will not get stuck in the traffic, you come in time, people come to meet you and explain where to go and in Vilnius, there is little attention to a person: it is more important what he or she works, creates, what new he or she has to tell.

What specific places in Kaunas you love, find dear and beautiful?

Dear and lovely places in Kaunas include the Old Town: especially the embankment with the legendary budkė, a transformer substation on a hill where neformalai used to gather. Next, there is Nemunas Island, I had my places there, it is a pity that there is less and less nature remaining there. I lived in the centre, next to Laisvės Alėja, so the nearby Žaliakalnis was also important. I went to extracurricular art classes on Partizanų Street, on warm days, I used to come back home on foot. Emotionally important place is Kalniečiai neighbourhood, Savanorių Avenue, areas around Urmas. It may seem strange that something good can happen in industrial districts, but I experienced a lot wandering there. Also, maybe Petrašiūnai, even though I went there only to visit my friends. Kaunas libraries will always remain important: the public one, which I miss to this day, also Musical Library, where I discovered hippie music and the great VMU library, where I once said I wanted to live. There were so many great publications in it.

The full interview is published in the master’s thesis of Justina Petrulionytė "Space and location in the novel by Kazimieras Barėnas Dvidešimt viena Veronika and in the novel by Aleksandra Fomina Mes vakar buvome saloje", 2013.