The Struggles of Young Polish Poets from the Vilnius Region with Tradition: Daniel Dowejko, Tomas Tamošiūnas

Abstract

The article is devoted to the works of two contemporary Polish poets from the Vilnius Region – Daniel Dowejko and Tomas Tamošiūnas – as representatives of contrasting artistic strategies in their engagement with the cultural and literary tradition of the region. Dowejko’s poetry is analysed as an expression of a contemplative return to roots, grounded in the symbolism of nature, spirituality, and familial memory.
Tamošiūnas’s poetry, in turn, is portrayed as a project of deconstructing traditional values and patterns, dominated by irony, grotesque, and linguistic experimentation. Despite their stylistic and ideological differences, both poets reflect on identity, memory, and language, inscribing their poetic quests into the palimpsestic space of the Vilnius Region. The article argues that contemporary borderland poetry is not merely a legacy, but a dynamic space of cultural reinterpretation and negotiation.