{"product_id":"the-ballads-of-kukutis-by-marcelijus-martinaitis","title":"The Ballads of Kukutis by Marcelijus Martinaitis","description":"\u003cp\u003eKukutis made his appearance in the Stalinist era, at the height of the forced collectivization of Lithuanian farming by the occupying Soviet forces which saw the obliteration of whole rural communities, and the introduction of oppressive laws and regulations. Completely incapable of understanding, let alone abiding by, these strictures, Kukutis — the outsider, the trickster — functioned outside of regulation and moved between different worlds, unhindered by borders and limits.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn creating the character of Kukutis, Marcelijus Martinaitis found a voice which could articulate the anger, frustration and passions of the Lithuanian people, a voice which, contrary to all expectations, managed to escape the Soviet censor's pen and which, a decade after publication of \u003cem\u003eThe Ballads of Kukutis\u003c\/em\u003e, was to become the catalyst for revolution in the Baltics. Indeed, during the mass political rallies of the late 1980s and early '90s, poems from \u003cem\u003eThe Ballads\u003c\/em\u003e were chanted, sung and performed everywhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this volume, Martinaitis's witty, ironic and incisive poems are published together, in English in \u003cstrong\u003eLaima Vincë\u003c\/strong\u003e's superb translation, as a single collection for the first time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pushkin House Bookshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57273529467258,"sku":null,"price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0510\/3406\/3009\/files\/9781906570262.jpg?v=1789552004","url":"https:\/\/shop.pushkinhouse.org\/products\/the-ballads-of-kukutis-by-marcelijus-martinaitis","provider":"Pushkin House Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}