The Republic of Užupis by Haïlji

Published in Korea in 2009; published in translation by Dalkey Archive Press on October 14, 2014

I can't pretend that I understood The Republic of Užupis but I enjoyed it. I'll try to explain why although I'm not certain that I can.

The Republic of Užupis is at least in part about the disappearance of nations and the loss of identity experienced by a nation's inhabitants once the nation no longer exists. Užupis is actually a poor but artistic neighborhood in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania (the word užupis means "the other side of the river" in Lithuanian). Užupis declared itself an independent republic on April Fool's Day in 1997 -- a declaration that no country, including Lithuania, takes seriously, despite Užupis' adoption of a constitution, currency, a flag, and a president.

The novel's protagonist, Hal, insists that Užupis is an actual republic. While the story follows Hal's search for Užupis, the novel offers insight into the impact of conquest and political change on people who lose their homelands, an experience common to many Eastern Europeans as borders have been redrawn and divided nations have gained new names or lost old ones. The question that Haïlji contemplates is serious -- What becomes of a people who have lost their country? -- but he explores it with a playful (if puzzling) touch that makes The Republic of Užupis a pleasure to read.

Hal, an English speaking Asian from the country of Han, lands in an unwelcoming Lithuania and promises immigration officials he will soon depart for the Republic of Užupis. He isn't sure where to find Užupis but he has a postcard that says he can take a taxi across the border from Vilnius. Although nobody he talks to knows where Užupis might be found, a taxi driver takes Hal on a roundabout trip to the Hotel Užupis. A group of drinkers at the hotel bar assures Hal that Užupis is no republic and that "the Republic of Užupis" is a mocking reference to the poorest area in Vilnius.

Hal insists that he was born in Užupis and has family photos to prove it. He even has his father's medal, awarded by the President of Užupis. He wants to return to bury his father's ashes if only he can find his homeland. He meets people who claim to know about the history of Užupis but they are vague when asked where it is. Others deny it ever existed. Hal hears the Užupis national anthem and encounters several people who speak Užupis, a language he understands perfectly although he can't speak a word of it.

The story achieves new levels of weirdness when Hal learns that another Asian once came to Vilnius in search of Užupis -- an Asian very much like Hal. A number of similarities between past and present events occur that seem strange to the reader if not to Hal. They give the novel the air of an absurdist mystery, as do the arguments characters have about whether certain other characters are living or dead. Was the poet Urbanos just seen in Užupis or did he die years ago in Belarus? Is his famous poem about Belarus or Užupis? And if he is long dead, who fathered the young boy who is said to be his son?

How does one regain a lost country? That's the central question in this charming novel. One character answers that the key lies in regaining the country's lost poetry. There is a certain poetry in this novel -- meaning is very much a matter of interpretation; like poems, the novel can be understood in different ways. I don't know that I ever developed a good theory about its meaning (particularly the foreshadowed ending) but I easily became lost in the narrative and enjoyed being baffled by it all.

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