History of Lithuanian culture 9786094670312

Citation preview

History of Lithuanian Culture

VYTAUTO DIDŽIOJO

UNIVERSITETAS VERSUS AUREUS 2014

R eview ed by

Dr. Daiva Dapkutė (Vytautas Magnus University) Dr. Eugenijus Žmuida (The Institute o f Lithuanian Literature and Folklore) E d ited by

Dalia Kuizinienė Translated by

Jurgita Pcrskaudienė Vijolė Višomirskytė Jurgita Macijauskaitč-Bonda Approved by the Department o f Lithuanian Literature o f Faculty o f Humanities at Vytautas Magnus University on io March 2014 (Protocol No. 3). Recommended for printing by the Council o f the Faculty o f Humanities o f Vytautas Magnus University on 12 March 2014 (Protocol No. 1-2).

M o k s l a s - E konomika . S a n g la u d a

bukopos sąju n g ą

Kuriame Lietuvos ateitį Publication is supported by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Ministry o f Education and Science o f the Republic o f Lithuania. Project title: “Strengthening o f the Lithuanian (Baltic) studies activities with collaboration between universities abroad and Lithuania higher education institutions” (VP1-2.2-SMM-08-V-02-006). ISBN 978-609-467-031-2 (Online) ISBN 978-9955-34-485-8 (Online) ISBN 978-609-467-032-9 (Print) ISBN 978-9955-34-486-5 (Print)

© Edgaras Klivis, D alia Kuizinienė, Dalia Scnvaitytė, Vijolė Višomirskytė, Rasa Žukienė, 2014 © Translación, Jurgita Pcrskaudienė, Jurgita Macijauskaitė-Bonda, Vijolė Višomirskytė, 2014 ©Vytautas Magnus Univcrsity, 2014 © “Versus aurcus” publishers, 2014

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

CONTENT

DALIA K U IZIN IEN L

Preface / 7 DALIA SEN V AITYTE

Lithuanian Ethnic Culture / 9 RASA ZU KIEN E

The Trajectories o f Lithuanian A rt in the 2.0th Century / 51 EDGARAS KLIVIS

Development o f National Theatre / 105 DALIA K U IZIN IEN Ê

Lithuanian Theatre in Exile / 159 VIJO LE VISO M IRSKYTE

Lithuanian Literature and National Identity / 171 DALIA K U IZIN IEN È

Lithuanian Émigré Literature and Press / 213 Further Reading / 239

5

History o f Lithuanian culture

7

Preface

The H istory o f L ith u an ian Culture

was an idea o f five authors who aim to present a diverse overview o f Lithuanian culture o f the 2.0th century. Five scientists o f Vytautas Magnus University, who study

Lithuanian culture from various aspects, are the authors o f the book. Culture is a reflection o f the spiritual activity o f each nation. It reflects the forms o f the most significant historical memory. The book presents and reveals the most sig­ nificant development stages o f Lithuanian ethnic culture, art, theatre and litera­ ture o f the 20th century. Ethnologist Assoc. Prof. Dalia Senvaityté presents the concepts o f modern na­ tional culture and national identity, discusses Lithuanian ethnographic regions and the changes o f ethnic traditions until the present days by saying that “the perception o f national culture develops alongside the formation o f a modern na­ tion and the emergence o f self-awareness o f a modern nation”. A rt historian Prof. Rasa Zukiené focuses on the most important and the most significant development stages o f Lithuanian art history. The researcher discuss­ es the manifestations o f national romanticism in the early 20th century, as well as the manifestations o f modernization o f independence, Soviet modernization and the expression o f conceptual artistic ideas in contemporary art by present­ ing both art coryphaei and Lithuanian artists who create nowadays.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

8

Theatre researcher Assoc. Prof. Edgaras Klivis looks for the manifestations o f the formation o f national Lithuanian theatre from the second half o f the 19th century. He presents the most significant changes o f Lithuanian theatre o f the 20th century through the reconstruction o f the past in the theatre o f the early 20th century, as well as through the dissemination o f modern ideas in the con­ text o f Lithuanian theatre, the forms o f the Soviet theatre and the newest devel­ opment stages o f the present Lithuanian theatre. Literary scholar Dr. Vijolé ViSomirskyté presents the centenary history o f Lithuanian literature through the change o f national identity. She focuses on the Lithuanian national revival, the period o f independence, Soviet and modern literature. The most significant features are depicted through the analysis of ex­ pression o f national identity. Literary historian Assoc. Prof Dalia Kuiziniené introduces readers to the most important stages o f Lithuanian exile literature, the generations o f writers o f the second half o f the 20th century, the works o f authors who wrote in English, the rich press o f Lithuanian emigres and the most significant stages o f Lithuanian exile theatre. The author o f each monographic chapter presents his/her own attitude towards the depicted aspect o f Lithuanian culture. The volume o f the publication did not permit authors to develop their topics in more detail or to present the most prominent Lithuanian cultural personalities. Nevertheless, a comprehensive list o f literature with bibliographic references, which offers readers the opportunity to read about one or another topic in more detail, is provided in the book as well. The authors present literature in both the Lithuanian and English languages. The book also presents the references o f literary anthologies and Internet web­ sites, which give a chance to become acquainted with the works o f Lithuanian writers. D alia Kuiziniené

TheHistory «^Lithuanian CULTURE

DALIA SENVAITYTÉ

Lithuanian Ethnic Culture

History of Lithuanian

culture

11

Ethnic culture is the culture o f one or another concrete ethnos (nation) in a broad sense. Today the concept o f Lithuanian ethnic culture is also defined for­ mally, “Ethnic Culture includes the sum total o f cultural properties, created by the entire nation (ethnos), passed from generation to generation and constantly renewed, which makes it possible to preserve the national identity and con­ sciousness and uniqueness o f ethnographic regions” [Lietuvos etninės kultūros valstybinės globos pagrindų įstatymas // Valstybės žinios. Vilnius, 1999 m. rugsėjo 2 1 d., N r. 28, p. s ‘> L a w on the Principles o f State Protection o f Ethnic Culture No. VIII-1328 o f September 21, 1999 (as am ended on January 9, 2006 - by Law No. X-484)). The history o f ethnic culture is the history o f the everyday lifestyle. There is no doubt that people o f any nation have never all lived in the same way, therefore, this type o f history focuses on the peculiarities o f the majority’s way o f living. As the limited extent o f the book does not permit a description o f all the aspects of everyday living and its change, this chapter presents only the most characteristic features o f Lithuanian ethnic culture and the most important factors that have influenced its change. Even though this book is dedicated to the cultural his­ tory o f the 20th century, as traditional we consider features o f Lithuanian ethnic culture that had formed earlier than that. This is why the work inevitably deals with the previous period o f time and the features o f Lithuanians’ everyday life that have formed during that time. Individuals living, creating, and representing ethnic culture do not con­ sciously think about their culture. In order to distinguish one or another ethnic

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

12

culture and sec its specific features, a certain distance is needed. A n understand­ ing o f national culture develops together with the formation o f modern national identity and their self-consciousness. A present-day Lithuanian, singling himself out from other nations, identifies himself with Lithuanian descent and also spe­ cific cultural features, first o f all, the Lithuanian language, and then - certain imaginary features common to Lithuanian ethnic culture. On the other hand, the concept o f ethnic culture is not homogeneous. Its definition is a matter o f agreement among individuals who talk about it. In the Lithuanian language, along with the concept o f ethnic culture, the concept o f national culture is often used. Both concepts are often used as synonyms, but in certain cases ethnic culture is understood as an artificial construct, created by ideologists o f the modern nation on the basis o f traditional ethnic culture and representing the specifics o f the nations culture.

Modern National Identity and Ethnic Culture Theories o f national identity differ a lot. The theory o f cultural symbolic identity proposed by Anthony D. Smith (see Theories o f nationalism, 1971, and other works) is probably the one, which best explains the establishment o f mod­ ern Lithuanian national identity and employing ethnic culture as the basis of that identity. According to this theory, the formation o f a state is the result o f a long-term process; nations develop from ethnic communities (ethnoses), and the latter - from tribes. Nations are both constructs and the result o f a spontaneous process. Some elements o f the nation are artificial, however, while constructing them, national intelligentsia selected, codified, and propagated cultural tradi­ tions that had already existed before and did not invent any new ones. It also became an important factor in determining the successful spread o f the concept o f national culture. When modern Lithuanian national identity was being created in the 19th century, the new Lithuanian intelligentsia played a very important role, choos­ ing national symbols. One o f the most important criteria for creating national symbols, along with the Lithuanian language and ancient Lithuanian history,

Hiscory o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

13

was ethnic culture. Associating traditional ethnic culture, which at that time was related to the culture o f villagers, with the national identity helped to dis­ tinguish between “us” (Lithuanians), i.e., those who spoke Lithuanian (and at that time it was basically spoken only by peasants living in villages), and “them” (others, strangers), i.e. first o f all, Poles and those who spoke Polish. Tribal identity and, later, also the state identity o f Lithuania was different from that o f the i9lh-early 20th century. The Grand Duchy o f Lithuania (fur­ ther, GDL), formed in the I3ch- i 4 th centuries, was a multinational state where the Lithuanian ethnos made up only a small part o f its population. Therefore, ethnic self-consciousness was probably shared by separate and relatively small ethnic unities. Self-consciousness o f every such community was formed on the basis o f differentiation between the self and the other according to certain cultural characteristics (speaking, behaving, dressing, etc. in the way common among us and not among “others”). The notion o f “Lithuanian” was attributed to all inhabitants o f the G D L who spoke different languages. During the period o f the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the word “na­ tion” determined a community distinguished by its territory and social class. In the 16th century the nobility gradually started to speak Polish, whereas Lithua­ nian remained the language o f people living in Lithuanian villages. The national self-consciousness o f the Lithuanian nobility (Lith. bajorai) conformed to the self-consciousness o f the state. Building o f the modern Lithuanian national identity and its ideologists’ glance back to the rural culture took place under similar circumstances as the creation o f modern national identities in many other European countries. As Norman Davies has noted (Europos istorija [Europe: A History], p. 812,-82.1), modern nationalism was greatly stimulated by the French Revolution and then formed in the 19th century under the influence o f social and political changes in Europe. There were different forms o f nationalism, which could relatively be di­ vided into two groups: 1) state (civil) nationalism, supported by the states’ ruling classes; 2) ethnic (folk) nationalism moved by the requests o f communities liv­ ing in those states, directed against the politics o f the ruling powers. The latter type o f modern nationalism is common to many Central and Eastern European countries, as well as Lithuania.

14

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

The formation o f modern Lithuanian national identity was also influenced by the ideas o f Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann G. Fichte, Friedrich W. J. Schelling, Johann. G . Herder and others, which were popular in Europe during the 18th—19th centuries. A nation was started to be considered a community made up o f all o f its social estates. The spirit o f nation was thought to express itself through folk language, customs, mythology, and folklore, which in its turn in­ spired a romantic interest in the past, languages, customs, and folklore o f the European nations. In Lithuania interest in ancient Lithuanian history, language, and folklore grew as well. The uniqueness o f the past culture o f Lithuania be­ came an object o f pride. Gradually the idea was formed that Lithuanians are the same as every other nation, and have a natural right to have their own political organization - a state. It's noteworthy that in Lithuania the process o f formation o f the modern national identity took place under the conditions o f occupation by tsarist Rus­ sia. In tsarist Russia the internal administrative division o f the country was ar­ ranged in a way not corresponding to the ethnic borders and, therefore, divided the nations that made part o f it. In the second h alf o f the 19th century, even the name o f Lithuania was officially abolished and its territory, as the rest of the territory o f tsarist Russia that earlier belonged to the G D L , was called the “North-western Krai”. The authorities claimed that the land o f Lithuania from ancient times belonged to Russia and was Polonised later. It resulted in efforts to weaken the influence o f Poles, which were considered to be political enemies, by the “re-Russification” o f the land. However, such policy resulted in something undesirable for tsarist Russia; Russification o f the land eventually provoked the birth of the Lithuanian national movement. In the beginning the fight for the national liberation o f Lithuanians was closely related to the fight for the liberation o f Polish people (for instance, it may be seen in the aims o f the uprisings o f 1831 and 1863), however, in the second half o f the 19th century, the national aspirations o f Lithuanians and Poles gradually separated. The part o f participants o f the Lithuanian national revival movement looked back on Lithuanian-ness related to the pre-Polish and at the same time pre-Christian “Lithuania o f the dukes” (Lith. Kunigaiktfiy Lietuviî). Later on a new Christian trend oriented towards Lithuanian-ness started to form, and

History o f Lithuanian culture

15

church services in the Lithuanian language were introduced. Patriotic Lithua­ nians tried to define their cultural self-perception by juxtaposing their language, ancient history and ethnic culture against those o f Poles. In the 19th century Simonas Daukantas was the first to write about Lithuanian history and the ethnic culture o f Lithuanians in the Lithuanian language. W ith the help o f his works Daukantas tried to make Lithuanians proud o f their culture and the past. Specific attention was paid to the resist­ ance to the Russification o f Lithuania (for instance, Motiejus Valančius was the first bishop who did not idealize the pre-Christian times, but focused on Lithuanian-ness). The newly formed Lithuanian intelligentsia that was made up o f people who had originated from the common people living in the countryside and, the Lithuanian press that they published (the first newspapers published in the Lithuanian Language in the territory o f Lithuania Minor were “Aušra” (“The Dawn”) and “Varpas” (“The Bell”), which were carried illegally across the border to “Lithuania Major” together with other publications) and, at the same time, the standardization o f the Lithuanian language significantly contributed to the creation o f the modern Lithuanian national identity and its ideas. W hile pass­ ing into national identity, based on the Lithuanian language, the transforma­ tion o f people’s individual identities took place. For instance, Vincas Kudirka wrote I was saying that la m both Lithuanian and at the same time Polish, because it was history to unite Poles and Lithuanians. Later on he decided to become a Lithuanian, rejecting the Polish part o f his identity. During the process o f formation o f the Lithuanian national identity, very important significance was given not only to history and language, but also to ethnic culture, which, as it was already stated above, first o f all, was associated with Lithuanian rural culture. Since the second half o f the 19th century, record­ ing, (re-) construction, and animating o f various elements o f ethnic culture became an important form o f the expression o f the Lithuanian national iden­ tity. Enthusiasts o f national culture, inspired by the romantic understanding o f the nations spirit reflected in folk culture, collected old facts connected to the ancient Lithuanian culture and its folklore. The older relics were recorded, the more authentic they were considered, and, therefore, were more suitable to

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

16

represent the ideal picture o f the national culture, which was in the process of construction. Due to the fact that intense interest in Lithuanian ethnic culture and its collecting started in the 19th century, material recorded during that period, and later explicated as specifically national Lithuanian culture, first o f all had features common to the rural culture o f the 19th century. It is noteworthy that, on the one hand, the traditional rural way o f living had already undergone cer­ tain specific changes, determined by the abolition o f serfdom and the newly forming capitalist relations. On the other hand, old peoples memories about past times and the Lithuanian village still under serfdom also had an impact on the understanding and the imagination o f what that Lithuanian culture is/ was like. Besides, it also has to be kept in mind that folklore recorders o f that time collected material and published it in a rather selective way by picking out the phenomena, as they thought, proper to represent Lithuanian culture or, in other words, all the best that the nation had adopted often by ignoring “improper” cultural issues. The intelligentsia o f that time not only looked back to the ancient Lithua­ nian ethnic culture, but also set themselves as an object to “win back” cit­ ies from foreigners (because Lithuanians mostly lived in villages at that time, whereas most o f the urban population in towns consisted o f representatives o f other nationalities: Jews, Russians, Poles, Germans) and, therefore, moved to towns and created active associations there. Side by side with the construc­ tion o f national culture, based on ethnic culture, and attempts to adapt it to the new times, they also sought to create modern urban culture and develop “ high” national culture.

History o f Lithuanian culture

17

Features of Traditional Lithuanian Ethnic Culture (Until the 19thc.) The origins o f Lithuanian ethnic culture are closely related to the dawn and development o f the Lithuanian nation. The origin and culture o f Lithuanians is closely related to the Baltic tribes (first o f all - the Lithuanian tribe) and carry on the tradition o f the culture o f the Balts. The specific features o f Lithuanian ethnic culture were determined by the natural environment. Natural conditions determined the nature o f economic activities, varieties o f agricultural crops (rye, wheat, barley, oats, hemp, etc.), live­ stock (horses, cows, pigs, sheep, etc.), domestic birds, and, in consequence, the nature o f products and food. Accordingly, natural conditions determined the peculiarities o f architecture, the way o f dressing, etc. For instance, it is natural that in the land, which is still the land o f forests (and was especially wooded in the past), wood was the main building material, and most home items and work­ ing tools were also made o f wood. Lithuanian ethnic culture, from this point o f view, has much in common with the cultures o f neighbouring countries. In the flow o f time, different his­ torical conditions, administrational issues, contacts with other cultures, as well as technical and technological developments gradually changed and modified the Lithuanian lifestyle. In the traditional Lithuanian village subsistence economy predominated and people used to produce everything they would need for living themselves. More complicated works (reaping o f rye, pulling flax, building o f different struc­ tures, etc.), were performed with the help o f neighbours. Only very specific ar­ ticles were usually bought from artisans. Works used to be divided according to gender and age (for instance, women most often prepared food, spun, wove, did the laundry, and looked after children, men did the majority o f the agricultural and animal husbandry jobs, whereas children, depending on their age, helped the adults, herded animals, etc.). Traditional Lithuanian ethnic culture is especially closely related to the for­ mation o f the rural community and its way o f living. Researchers’ opinions on the time and circumstances o f the formation o f rural communities differ; how­

18

History of Lithuanian culture

ever, researchers tend to assume that a European type o f community appeared in around the n lh- i i th centuries, when the Western world was undergoing many important political, economic, and social changes, and the open-field system be­ came the prevalent agricultural system, which in turn stimulated the creation of rural communities. In Lithuania an intensive formation o f rural communi­ ties started approximately in the 16th century, after the agrarian Wallach reform, which was made a law in 1557. Intensive execution o f the reform drastically changed the farmers’ way o f living. The main aim o f the reform was to increase the efficiency o f agriculture and, in consequence, revenue to the state’s treasury. The reform abolished the hitherto chaotic land use and obliged farmers to use the three-field system. Every peasant family was provided a Wallach o f land (if it was able to cultivate it), which equalled the capacity o f separate households. A Wallach became a relative unit to calculate taxes; the amount o f the worked plot determined the peasant’s services to the landowner. The Wallach law did not permit peasants to change their location or residence without permission from the landowner, which, in turn, established a closed serfdom system. Based on the example o f State land reform, private landowners accordingly reformed their own lands. Noblemen’s farmsteads gradually turned into manors, where peas­ ants (serfs) lived and were obliged to perform corvée labour (i.e. for the privilege o f renting land, peasants had to perform certain tasks on the landowner’s manor without any pay and using their own farm animals and working tools). They also had to pay tribute in the form o f agricultural products and money. The reform drastically changed the Lithuanian landscape. Freely-settled villages (Lith. kupetiniai kaim ai) were being replaced with newly created lin­ ear villages (Lith. gatviniai rèziniai kaimai)\ peasants’ homesteads were trans­ ferred to the newly established and planned villages. A linear village usually had a street in the middle and the land and buildings o f the same homestead were situated on both sides o f that street. The dwelling house and the granary most often were built on one side o f the street and the shed and barns - on the other one (in order to diminish the possible damage caused by fires). The reform did not affect the villages settled by the so-called szlachta okoliezna (Lith. bajorkaimis), therefore, these villages preserved their old form and land tenure. Some scattered homesteads, left beyond the border o f the linear village due to natural

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

19

obstacles, also survived (especially in Samogitia). The latter were called the for­ eign land (Lith. uzusienis). The nobility’s homesteads comprised o f the manor house (the residence o f the noble family) and a folwark (Lith .palivarkas; all the cultivable farmland o f the manor as a separate farming unit) became peculiar territorial units. During this period new types o f dwelling houses started being built, name­ ly, the pirkia in the Aukštaitija region and the troba in Samogitia, which are now considered to be traditional. It is also noteworthy that in the i6th- i 7 th century in most cases houses in Aukštaitija still did not have chimney-stacks (chimneys). The walls were built from pine or fir tree logs, while oak logs or stones were used for the foundation. Roofs most often were built in the hip-roof form and were covered with straw. The common plan o f the traditional dwelling house was designed in the shape o f an oblong quadrangle by its transom walls divided into two or three parts. The living space was further divided into smaller rooms by wall partitions made o f wood planks. Traditional dwelling houses built in differ­ ent regions o f Lithuania had certain local characteristics (their design, heating system, external appearance, and names differed). The dwelling houses o f the Aukštaitians and Samogitians differed the most. The traditional interior was simple, the house usually did not have the ceiling and the floor, and illumina­ tion most often was obtained by burning a tiny piece o f lath (Lith. balana). Every homestead had several outhouses (Aukštaitians usually built fewer outhouses than Samogitians). Near the dwelling house usually stood a gra­ nary (Lith. klėtis, svirnas), a barn (Lith. kluonas, klojimas), a shed, a bathhouse (Lith. pirtis) and sometimes other subsidiary outhouses. The number o f out­ houses, their characteristics, and internal setting depended on peoples eco­ nomic wealth and traditions. Most o f the manorial domestic buildings were wooden too; however, in contrast to peasants’ homesteads, they could also be built o f stones or bricks. A t around the same period the Lithuanian ethnic costume was formed. Most often it was homemade and sewn from homespun linen or woolen cloth (bleached or dyed), even though mass-produced fabrics were used as well. Some­ times separate articles o f clothing, jewellery or other items were bought. In all the regions o f Lithuania the traditional costume consisted o f the same parts

20

History o f Lithuanian culture

and only its separate details, colours, modes o f sewing, and decoration differed. The traditional womens costume consisted o f a shirt, a skirt, an apron, a bod­ ice, a headdress, footwear, and outdoor clothes (a large shawl, a stole, a coarse homespun overcoat or a fur coat). Traditional men’s clothing consisted o f a shirt, trousers, a headdress, footwear, and outdoor clothes (a huckaback coat, a coarse homespun overcoat or a fur coat). A n inseparable part o f both women’s and men’s costumes was various sashes used to tie clothes. In cold weather knit­ ted socks, gloves, and wrist warmers were used. O f course, people’s clothing dif­ fered according to the social layer they belonged to and, therefore, reflected cer­ tain economic possibilities. The peasants’ costumes were also influenced by the clothing o f people living in the nearby manors, whereas the latter strived to keep up with foreign fashion trends. In addition, common everyday clothes differed from clothes worn on holidays. The basis o f people’s diet consisted o f food products and dishes deter­ mined by the natural and economic conditions and were similar to those o f the neighbouring countries. People ate what they produced in their farms. In time, under different circumstances, food products and dishes from further countries spread (for instance, via manors Lithuanian cuisine was influenced by Italian, German, French and other cultures). Rye bread (the term “ bread” in the Lithuanian language is a synonym o f food on the whole) and various grains, which were used for making porridge or frying pancakes, constituted the main source o f dietary fibre and carbohydrates. The sources o f proteins were mainly o f animal origin, mostly meat (first o f all, pork) and milk prod­ ucts (sweet and sour milk, curd, sour cream, cheese, etc.). The most commonly consumed vegetables were cabbages, beetroot, turnips, cucumbers, peas, beans, etc. Various spices were also used (onions, garlic, caraway seeds, parsley, dill, etc.) as well as nuts, berries, mushrooms, healing herbs and other products collected in the wild. The only sweetener was honey. Food was prepared by boiling, stewing, frying, fish and meat would be smoked (sausages and flitch [bacon] were especially popular ). In the peasant cuisine various soups, meat and groat dishes (for instance, Šiupinys - a mixture o f fatty meat, groats, pota­ toes, and some other ingredients) were very popular as well as different meals made o f flour, as for instance, pancakes, dumplings, etc. Sweet milk, sour milk,

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

21

kvass, sap and water were the most consumed drinks. In ancient Lithuania peasants drank mead as an alcoholic drink, whereas from the i6rh century the consumption o f beer (especially malty beer) and, later, vodka increased. It goes without saying that peasants’ diet varied according to their economic condi­ tions, the harvest o f the year, and seasons. There were differences in eating dur­ ing common days, on holidays, and during fasting time (during Advent and Lent Lithuanians did not eat meat and, quite often, milk products; animal fats used to be substituted by flax seed oil). It is noteworthy that people’s diet dur­ ing festive periods was considerably better than on ordinary days o f the year. Specific traditional dishes were prepared on the occasion o f certain festivals, for instance, K ūčia (a mixture o f boiled grain, most often wheat, sweetened with honey or sugar, in later tradition) and kūciukai (small baked wheat or rye flour balls) eaten with poppy seed milk were prepared for Christmas Eve sup­ per, the above mentioned šiupinys and, later, pancakes - for Shrovetide, eggs were decorated for Easter, etc. A n important ritual dish was scrambled eggs. Food choice also depended on specific local habits, as for instance, for break­ fast Aukštaitians liked to fry large pancakes, whereas Samogitians preferred various porridges. The change o f material life during the period after the Wallach reform had an impact on communication traditions. Meetings o f men for the discussion o f common village affairs and neighbours’ gatherings (Lith. talka) in order to help one another to perform a task (usually the most difficult agricultural jobs, as for instance, haymaking, rye harvesting, manuring, threshing, flax pulling, and flax breaking), which changed the common work o f the extended family, became widespread. Internal village community relationships were determined by the communal relations o f neighbours related to the norms o f the common law and its principle o f functioning that was based on the importance o f public opinion. The worldview common to the collective society regulated universal rules o f behaviour and thinking common to all the members o f the community and at the same time induced the constant transmission o f traditions. Village pub­ lic opinion condemned dishonesty towards other members o f the community, theft, not keeping one’s word, and similar misdeeds. The traditions o f hospitality

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

22

and rewarding were very vivid. It was universally accepted to treat guests well by offering food and drink. The nature o f serfdom duties had an impact on certain aspects o f the peas­ ant family. Defining duties according to the size o f the land resulted in the prevalence o f the common nuclear family as the prevailing family type in the i6th- i 7 th centuries. The amount o f extended families was relatively low. In the 18th century, when some manors fixed an obligatory number o f able-bodied men per farm unit, the percentage o f families bound by multi-linear ties o f kinship (which were widespread before the Wallach reform) increased again. The terms defining the relationships among the relatives and the kindred were very devel­ oped and defined the degree o f closeness among people o f several generations and side-line relatives. In families, people often used to address one another not by name but by the term indicating the relationship. According to an old tradi­ tion, the head o f the family was considered to be the oldest man in the family (until his health and age permitted him to perform the role). Families could be created only among the individuals belonging to the same social stratum. The confessional belonging was also important in this respect. In the i6th- i8 lh centuries the role o f Christianity became more and more important. Eventually the Reformation overcame the Counter Reformation, and the Catholic Church became dominant. The Church, along with the rural community, grew into an important institution regulating people’s worldview and behaviour, and spreading its traditions. Annual festivals related to agricultural tasks (such as sowing, harvesting, working the harvest, etc.) and characterised by specific local features gradually merged with Christian festivals (Christmas, Easter and other movable Christian festivals related to them, feast days o f various patron saints, and similar). How­ ever, folk religion preserved certain pre-Christian beliefs, relics o f rituals (for instance, sources from the i6th- i 7 th centuries mention ritual moments common to the pre-Christian tradition such as honoring fire, baking o f ritual bread, mak­ ing sacrifices (a hen, a rooster, etc.), drinking o f ritual bear, praying to ancient deities, etc.), and universal elements o f magic behaviour. The respective situation in the region o f Lithuania Minor is very well reflected in the work “Deliciae Prussicae or Prussian Theater” (end o f the 17th century) by Matthew Praetorius.

H isto ry o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

23

The celebration o f baptism, weddings, and funerals in churches spread along with Christianity. The most important events o f a person’s life were not important only to the individual, but also to the whole community. Therefore, almost all the village community took part in the wedding, funeral, and, par­ tially, baptismal rites. Baptismal rites were performed in order to make the new­ born child enter the community, wedding rites marked changes in the persons status within the community, whereas the aim o f funeral rites was to separate the departed from the community and to lead him or her to the afterlife. These rites had certain specific local features in different parts o f Lithuania. The number o f children in families was not limited to a certain number, and traditionally women were ready to bear “as many [children] as God will give them”. Children were educated and prepared for family life based on tradi­ tional pedagogy and customs. Much attention was given to children’s work and religious education.

The Change o f Ethnic Culture in the 19th Century Changes in the traditional way o f living started in the 19th century. First and foremost, they were connected with the abolition o f serfdom. In the Rus­ sian Empire, which comprised a major part o f Lithuania, serfdom was abolished in 1861 (in Suvalkija and Lithuania Minor it was abolished already at the begin­ ning o f the 19th century). The laws o f the reform established the right to personal liberty, and the right to dispose one’s own property. Even though the land re­ mained the property o f former landlords, organization o f land exploitation and land-tenure adapted to the new system o f farming gradually spread, and people from linear villages started to move back to scattered homesteads. The reform also opened the way to the spread o f market economy relations in Lithuania. However, it should be noted that the elements o f the market economy worked their way to the rural areas especially slowly and thus, in the second half o f the 19th century, the economic, social, and cultural situation in the Lithuanian coun­ tryside underwent only relatively insignificant changes compared to the previous times. The manor lost its importance, but the village community and the church

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

24

remained very significant. The church and especially the rural community were still the most important powers regulating villagers’ normative behavior. Besides, it is important to keep in mind that new social changes in sepa­ rate parts o f ethnographic Lithuania were not equivalent; Suvalkija, Samogitia, and Lithuania Minor were economically more developed than Aukštaitija and Dzūkija. In some areas agriculture was developed with more modern agricul­ tural techniques and mass-produced work tools, whereas in others people still used traditional handmade work tools. O f course, contacts with other cultures, the spread o f trade, advances in technique and technologies induced gradual changes in the material culture. Agricultural implements changed (for instance, scythes spread; horse mowers, crop reapers, and other agricultural machinery appeared). The features o f tra­ ditional dwelling houses also started to change (for instance, broken-hip roofs or semi-hip roofs and, later, span roofs spread; timbered houses started to be planked; chimneys started to be built in the traditional Aukštaitianpirkia; the tradition o f building masonry houses spread; masonry constructions in manors became especially popular, etc.). In the second half of the 19th century, the traditional costume started to change (for instance, women’s shirts o f the former type and bodices were changed by underclothes; jackets became popular; in many places wimples dis­ appeared, etc.). A lot o f clothes were sewn from purchased fabrics (cotton, velvet, silk, etc.); however, they were expensive and, therefore, were worn mainly on holidays. Aukštaitians and Dzūkians preserved their traditional clothing longer (in these regions it was possible to see traditional pieces o f clothing, as for in­ stance, skirts and aprons, until the mid-zoth century) than the inhabitants o f other regions o f Lithuania. Lithuanians’ traditional diet also changed. Potatoes and potato dishes be­ came a very important food and started to be considered the second bread in Lithuania. Christian festivals, without any doubt, eventually became the most im­ portant annual celebrations. The annual cycle o f festivals was shaped by Easter and other movable church festivals related to it (Ascension Day, Pentecost, and Corpus Christi) as well as Christmas. Christian festivals were also symbolically

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

25

used for counting time (from Easter to Ascension Day; from Pentecost to Cor­ pus Christi, etc.). Annual festivals related to certain patron saints (especially in parishes where they were linked to concrete church festivals) were important. Church festivals attracted people not only from the parish where they were held, but also from other more remote parishes. The key accent o f annual festivals was participation at Mass. People’s annual life cycle was also influenced by the pre-Easter Lent and the pre-Christmas Advent periods o f fasting. Some relics o f festive rituals related to the beginning o f work in the fields and harvesting were also preserved. Eating together still remained an important ritual, along with going to church. Much significance was also attributed to various forms o f entertainment, which had some regional peculiarities at the time discussed. The celebrating o f baptism, weddings, and funerals in churches had already gained strong positions; however, in a major part o f Lithuania these important aspects o f peoples’ life had still preserved the communal way o f celebration. Weddings, funerals, and funeral banquets were still attended by almost all the members o f the community. Ancient funeral traditions (for instance, still in the beginning o f the 20th century, the corpse o f the departed used to be laid out on a board and not in a coffin) and various folk beliefs were preserved longest o f all. The traditions o f commemoration o f the dead and mourning for the dead were widely practiced as well. The extended peasant family type disappeared almost completely. The nu­ clear family, consisting o f parents and children (i.e. a two-generation family) was established. Three-generation families were rarer (and remained so later). Childrens moral education, as earlier, was related to work and religious education. Children were taught to be obedient and to respect the elderly. Much attention was also paid to the development o f diligence. A s it was already mentioned, at the beginning o f the 19th century, mod­ ern Lithuanian national identity was started to be built, interest in traditional Lithuanian culture spread and, in consequence, it was started to be recorded and popularized.

History o f Lithuanian c u ltu r e

26

The Change o f Ethnic Culture at the Beginning of the 20th Century Cultural changes that had started in the second h alf o f the 19th century continued into the first decades o f the 2.0th century. One o f major changes that influenced the village lifestyle was the agrarian reform instituted during the tenure o f Pyotr Stolypin, Chairman o f the Prime Minister o f tsarist Russia (in Lithuania the reform was implemented from 1907 to 1914); one o f the aims o f the reform was to abolish the linear land-use, which was still widespread. Vil­ lages were intensively divided into scattered homesteads, which, in turn, led to the spread o f the capitalist economic system. However, the historical-political development o f separate regions o f Lithuania stayed uneven. In Suvalkija and Samogitia, where most villages had been divided into scattered homesteads already before the Stolypin reform, the development o f capitalist economy was more intense and faster. In these regions a more advanced economy and the implementation o f new methods o f farming were due to the geographical closeness o f Prussia. A t the beginning o f the 10 th century, various technical and technological innovations (innovative agricultural equipment, the newer internal equipment o f farm buildings, etc.) continued to gradually spread in all o f ethnographic Lithuania. Along with other agricultural plants, sugar-beets started to spread; a larger variety o f vegetables was grown for family needs (radish, tomatoes, let­ tuce, rhubarb, etc.). The traditions o f pasture also started to change. In the lo­ calities where villages had dispersed in scattered homesteads, the cattle were not pastured collectively anymore, but by tying the cattle out in the pasture. The interior and exterior o f dwelling houses, the traditional clothing (for instance, the amount o f bought details increased; aprons were started to be used as practi­ cal pieces o f clothing, which protect clothes while looking after the house), food products and dishes, etc. also changed gradually. Villagers used more mass pro­ duction dishes and cutlery for eating. A lot o f communal traditions started to disappear due to the decline o f the communal way o f living in Lithuanian villages. Where the economic progress was more rapid, communal customs disappeared more rapidly and vice versa.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

27

Christian customs were considered to be the most significant just like dur­ ing the last century. A ll the most important Catholic festivals (Easter and other moveable festivals related to it, Christmas, and church festivals) played an im­ portant role in people’s lives; the most important stages o f people’s lives were also related to Catholicism. Catholicism (which was already associated with Lithuanianity) continued to regulate most people’s everyday behavior and worldview. A t the same time, and even more intensely than in the second half o f the 19th century, the building o f the modern Lithuanian nation continued. A t the beginning o f the 20th century, by the common efforts o f the ecclesiastics and the intellectuals descended from the peasantry, the Lithuanian language gained im­ portance in the institutional structures o f the Church. Much attention was ded­ icated to Lithuanian history, language, customs, recording o f traditional Lithua­ nian culture (folklore collectors strived to record the most ancient Lithuanian traditions) and its popularization. Recording o f traditions related to ancient times was intensive and had different forms. For instance, in the World Fair o f 1900 in Paris certain elements o f Lithuanian history and traditional culture were exhibited (a traditional Lithuanian house - grinčia, pieces o f folk art, etc.), attention was also paid to the Lithuanian press ban. In 1904, when tsarist Russia legalized the Lithuanian press printed in the Latin alphabet, publication o f the Lithuanian press grew rapidly. The migration o f Lithuanian intellectuals to Vilnius became more intense; they created a lot o f different Lithuanian associations. One o f the most important among them was the Lithuanian Scientific Society founded in 1907 on the initiative o f Jonas Basanavičius, which united the intellectual forces o f Lithuania. Members o f the society collected Lithuanian folklore and ethnographic material, prepared and presented papers, conducted didactic activities, published the journal “Lietuvių tauta” (The Lithuanian Nation) where the research conducted by members o f the society were published, entered into relations with scientists from other countries, prepared the foundation for the future Lithuanian state (later 18 out o f 20 members o f this society signed The Act o f Independence o f Lithuania on February 16,1918), etc. Now a big part o f the material collected by the society is preserved in the Lithuanian Folklore Archives o f the Institute o f Lithuanian Literature and Folklore and in the archive o f the Department o f Ethnology at

28

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

the Lithuanian Institute o f History. Active Lithuanian societies, which popu­ larized the Lithuanian culture, spread the ideas o f Lithuanian-ness, encouraged citizens to be proud o f the Lithuanian language, culture, history, were also cre­ ated in other towns in Lithuania. The Lithuanian A rt Society founded in 1907 was another important society which took interest not only in professional art, but also cherished and popularized folk art. However, the cultural and social gap between the new Lithuanian intel­ ligentsia that originated from the countryside and the rest o f uneducated peas­ antry was becoming more evident. On the one hand, intellectuals proposed to consider the peasant culture (along with the language o f peasants - the Lithua­ nian language) the core o f the new “national culture”, but, on the other hand, criticized the habits o f peasants and strived to improve the peasantry. Much attention was paid to education: childrens education at school, education o f women, inducing sobriety, etc.

The Change o f Ethnic Culture during the Period o f the Independent Republic o f Lithuania When Lithuania regained its independence in 1918, peoples everyday life be­ gan to change more rapidly. Along with political independence, very significant were the agricultural reform o f 1912, the development o f commodity economy, and the popularization o f modern farming methods in the public discourse. The new agricultural reform aimed to completely destroy the remains o f serfdom and at the same time to reduce social differences between villagers by providing poor and landless peasants with land. A new small (scattered) plots land-use system was created instead o f the obsolete linear one. A t the same time, the parceling o f manors and folwarks took place. During the implemen­ tation o f the reform, more than 150,000 scattered homesteads were created. Farms o f around 10 -2 0 hectares became dominant. The reform was not im­ plemented only in south-eastern Lithuania, which was occupied by Poland at that time. For this reason, south-eastern part o f the country preserved many linear villages created during the Wallach reform (some o f them have survived

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

29

until today) and, as a consequence, communal traditions that were disappear­ ing elsewhere. This intensive creation o f scattered homesteads started a new stage in the development o f the cultural landscape o f Lithuania. In scattered homesteads, which were substituting linear villages, new types o f wooden and masonry hous­ es were built. Wooden buildings were planked with planks and colored in yellow, green, and brown. Glazed porches became popular. Roofs were covered with wood shingles, tin or tiles. A ll other aspects o f people s lifestyle also changed rapidly. For instance, the traditional clothing practically disappeared, the diet changed rapidly, and peo­ ple started to consume many purchased products. Spiritual culture also gradually changed. In Kaunas, which was the capital o f Lithuania at that time (and, partially, in other towns o f Lithuania) Lithua­ nian urban culture was intensively built. The celebration o f annual festivals in public urban spaces, restaurants and cafes, etc. became popular. Calendar fes­ tivals’ traditions that were not common before started to spread (for instance, Christmas tree decoration, festive illuminations, the buying o f Christmas presents, New Years celebration, etc.). The change o f customs in villages was influenced by urban culture, the obligatory education, the spread o f press and the traditions popularized in the press, advertisements, and the disappearance o f the communal lifestyle in linear villages. The customs o f the most important family festivals and those marking the most important periods in a person’s life were changing more slowly. The interest in ancient rural culture did not aim at raising national con­ sciousness and recreating the state on the basis o f nation as it was before (be­ cause it was already achieved), however, it was still important to create and to maintain state symbols based not only on Lithuanian history, language (in 1919 the Lithuanian language became the state language o f the Republic o f Lithua­ nia), but also traditional ethnic culture. The symbols o f Lithuanian-ness were re-interpreted and then presented to the peasantry as an indispensable part of its self-expression. Ethnic culture scholarship moved forward. In 1934 the Department of Ethnics (understood as the research into the nation, ethnology, and local his-

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

30

tory studies) was established at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. In 1935 the Lithuanian Folklore Archive was established and many scientific journals were published (Tauta ir žodis (Nation and Word), D arbai ir dienos (Works and Days), Tautosakos darbai (Folklore Studies). A lot o f attention was paid to the research into spiritual culture (first and foremost family customs) and folk art (the main researchers and popularisers o f traditions were Jonas Basanavičius, Paulius Galaunė, Balys Buračas, Jonas Balys, and others). The Šiauliai Local History Society and Aušra (The Dawn) museum established on the initiative o f Peliksas Bugailiškis were very active as well. This society published the journal Gimtasai kraštas (Native Land, 1933-1943), organized ethnographic expeditions, and performed numerous other activities. In many towns o f interwar Lithua­ nia, local history museums were founded; the legal basis for the protection and popularization o f material and non-material Lithuanian heritage started being established. The latter works o f ethnologists (who quite often were self-educated peo­ ple) gave rise to the creation o f national culture and became a source for the executors o f the politics o f national culture. Articles on ethnic culture were published not only in scientific, but also in science popularization magazines, national daily papers, weekly newspapers, monthly periodicals, etc. People were being invited not to forget ancient village customs, to record them, and, quite often, also to revive the vanishing customs o f their culture or the cus­ toms which had already disappeared. Many people who wanted to show a love for their country joined local history societies. In the recording o f and reviving traditions (first and foremost festivals) the role o f various youth or­ ganizations was significant. Some cherishers o f ancient culture proposed only to record ancient traditions and not to forget them, others invited people to revive old traditions without adding any innovations, whereas the third group was in favour o f modernization o f ancient traditions. Accordingly, more at­ tention was given to the relationship between old traditions and Christianity or to the pre-Christian tradition. Folklore revival was continued on the stage; elements o f folklore, customs, and folk art were used in individual artwork. A n important phenomenon o f national culture was the first Lithuanian Song Celebration held in Kaunas in 1924.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

31

The Chamber o f Agriculture founded in 1916, as an institution established to improve agriculture and represent farmers, also had a specific impact on peo­ ples’ everyday life. Its Department o f Home Industry strived to revive (or at least not to let disappear) traditional Lithuanian trades, to teach trades that were already forgotten, and to adapt them to the changing times. Courses on weav­ ing, knitting, housekeeping, etc. were being organized. The latter, organized in many bigger and smaller towns o f Lithuania, were dedicated to women; women were taught to prepare new dishes, which substituted many traditional foods that had been widespread before. During the courses, women and young girls were taught to prepare various sweets, bake cakes, prepare dishes that were unu­ sual at that time, and to bottle vegetables and fruits. Weaving courses induced women to preserve the ethnic features in textile production and to readjust them in national costumes. The Department o f Construction at the Chamber o f Agriculture had an influence on housing and architecture in interwar Lithua­ nia. The Department prepared regulations defining how various farm buildings should be built, equipped and technically prepared for exploitation, how vari­ ous projects should be prepared, etc. The Department o f Construction imple­ mented a new rural architecture policy, which comprised the formation o f new types o f dwelling houses and farm-buildings common to the entire territory of Lithuania; all buildings were situated around a quadrangular yard, houses were painted, new building materials (clay, bricks, stones, etc.) spread.

The Change of Ethnic Culture during the Period of Soviet Occupation Major changes in lifestyle started to occur during the period o f Soviet oc­ cupation. First and foremost, it is noteworthy that Lithuania, after having been annexed by the Soviet Union, lost its independence once again. In consequence, all modern changes in agriculture that had been started and implemented before stopped (the agricultural reform and the establishment o f scattered homesteads, the spread o f free market economy, etc.); the aim o f the authorities was to estab­ lish the communist system as soon as possible. Private property was abolished,

32

History o f Lithuanian CULTURE

land was nationalized, private trade was outlawed, and the relationships with other countries o f the Western world were broken off. In 1948, on the example o f the Soviet Russia, post-war forced collectiviza­ tion was started. People were deprived o f their lands, which were attached to large-scale collective farms (kolkhozy). In Lithuania, just like in other countries occupied by the Soviet Union, this Soviet agricultural reform was actually re­ lated not with the declared aim to diminish social differences, but rather with the aim to break down the opposition o f the occupied nations; the change of the common traditional way o f living had to eliminate national differences. For this reason, during the early Soviet period, a lot o f the inhabitants o f Lithuania were deported (major deportations took place after the Second World War; in 1944-1953, during several stages, a few hundred thousand people - men, women, and children - were deported to Siberia). The 7th congress o f the Communist Party o f Lithuania (Bolshevik) in 1952. announced that “the collective system has won in Soviet Lithuania”, even though the agricultural production failed to meet the planned objectives. It was as though the collectivization reform took peasants back to serfdom and serf­ dom duties. People were paid very little for their work at the kolkhoz farms. A collective farmer’s work was counted in so-called “workdays” (Lith. darbadienis). The pay for “workdays” was very low. Thus collective farmers procured their liv­ ing by working their small personal home farms (a homestead parcel, which per­ mitted to do a small trade o f agricultural production). Pay in money for the work in collective and state farms (sovkhozy) was established only in 1966. The creation o f collective farms greatly influenced the change o f the land­ scape, which was related to the development o f specific settlements. People from scattered homesteads were moved to artificially created typical plan layout set­ tlements. The main settlement o f the collective farm was called the central set­ tlement; it housed the board o f administration and all the agricultural equip­ ment and farming buildings were concentrated there. The second stage o f destroying scattered homesteads (which were consid­ ered to be a hindrance to “the new life”) started in 1967 and was related to an intensive land-reclamation. In consequence, almost all the traditional rural ar­ chitecture and lifestyle were completely destroyed.

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

33

A n especially intensive process o f urbanization, which started after the Second World War and continued throughout all the period o f Soviet occupa­ tion, caused even more significant changes in landscape and lifestyle. In 1958 in Lithuania already 39 per cent o f people lived in towns (whereas according to the general census o f 1923, only 17.3 per cent o f the population lived in towns). Moving to urban areas was partially related to the collectivization and land-rec­ lamation in villages, but it was even more connected to the active industrializa­ tion o f the country, which, first of all, was supposed to satisfy the large military needs o f the Soviet Union. During Khrushchev s era (or the Thaw), the growth o f industry was especially encouraged; the authorities strived to ideologically demonstrate the rapid progress o f the Soviet economy. During the Brezhnev era (or the so-called “mature socialism”), much attention was paid to Lithuania’s integration in the Soviet Union and thus the Lithuanian economy was devel­ oped in order to satisfy the needs o f the Soviet Union rather than Lithuania’s needs. More and more factories, mills, and military industrial enterprises were built, as well as enterprises which used raw materials brought from other coun­ tries and produced products, which were driven away to other countries o f the Soviet Union. The Union’s common energetic and road systems were developed accordingly. Towns were built according to stereotypical general plans developed by ar­ chitects. In 1956 the methods o f industrial construction were introduced and the construction o f prefabricated big panel blocks o f flats according to typical projects was started. A ll these blocks o f flats were pretty similar, as were the interiors o f the flats in these buildings. Products manufactured in Lithuania ended up in the Unions common stocks, therefore, regardless o f what was produced and in what quantities, shops usually lacked even the most essential goods. Articles necessary for living very often were distributed only under warrants or for coupons. People in one or another way related to the distribution o f those articles or those who had the so-called blat could get by more easily. A blat was important even in getting ac­ cess to certain food products, not to mention other things needed for domestic purposes. A whole system o f “non-official trade” was created. As it was especially difficult to get goods (housekeeping goods, clothes, foot-wear, etc.) made abroad

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

34

(not made in USSR), they were considered in deficient supply and were thus especially valuable. Accordingly, all that was produced or existed in the Western worldstarted to be idealised. On the other hand, people were able to make a lot o f things that could not be found in shops (for instance, the majority o f women were able to sew and knit clothes, bottle vegetables and fruits, men were engaged in do-it-yourself home improvements, etc.). The creation o f towns and the development o f industry oriented towards the Soviet Union resulted in the increase o f the urban population; not only people from rural areas, but also Russian-speaking newcomers were settling in towns. During 1945-1958, according to Soviet statistical data, around 150,000 Russian-speakers arrived and the total number o f Russians in the Republic o f Lithuania was around 231,000, which made up 8 percent o f the Lithuanian pop­ ulation o f that time. It also transformed the Lithuanian way o f living and ethnic consciousness in its own way. During the Soviet period, not only the material aspects o f life, but also spiritual culture changed or were changed consciously. Special attention was given to the public Soviet propaganda aimed at leveling the differences be­ tween the nations occupied by Russia and creating the “new Soviet person” without any formal national identity, but actually speaking Russian and con­ sidering Russia as their homeland (Lith. tėvynė; whereas Lithuania could be called only one’s native land, \ax\\. gim tine). In order to make the propaganda more efficient, the Soviet world was isolated from the outer world. Even though the rhetoric o f the Soviet regime slightly differed in different times, however, it was always similar in its essence. In the public discourse two interrelated as­ pects o f communist ideologies figured: 1) Soviet socialism as a substantiation o f the “historically progressive” system and the ideological justification for the incorporation o f Lithuania into the Soviet Union; 2) common postulates on the friendship o f the peoples o f the Soviet Union and proletariat internation­ alization. The control and the formation o f the public discourse were substantially financed and performed by the special repressive apparatus. A ll that was consid­ ered “politically harmful” was attentively observed and persecuted. The public space and the public discourse were separated from the real life situation, and

History of Lithuanian culture

35

the public sphere was purposefully used for the propagation o f Soviet ideology. It was felt in various spheres o f public life. Things happening in real life differed from those discussed publicly. Everything that was related to the Soviet lifestyle had to be represented, and only from the point o f view favourable to the Soviet system, whereas real things happening in Lithuania and the rest o f the world (which did not conform to the image created by the Soviet propaganda) were left aside and were not discussed. Certain purposeful single-minded informa­ tion was presented with pathos. The direct purpose o f the presented facts was to draw society’s attention away from what was happening around for real. I f some still prevalent difficulties were mentioned in public at all, they were attributed to internal (most often called “bourgeois nationalists”) or external enemies (i.e. capitalist powers as the opposite o f the Soviet system). Cultural life was especially ideologized, censored and entirely dependent on state institutions; all the creative work was used for political propaganda {Lietuvos kultūra sovietinės ideologijos nelaisvėje 1940-1990: dokumentų rinkinys [Lithuanian Culture in the Captivity o f Ideology in 1940-1990: A Collection o f Documents]:, p. 13. ). A ll spheres o f culture were strictly controlled and ad­ ministrated by the Central Committee o f the Communist Party o f Lithuania (directed by the communists o f Moscow) and with the help o f the K G B (i.e. Committee for State Security). Various institutions and forms o f Soviet propa­ ganda, such as the press, Marxism-Leninism Universities, the Departments o f Social Sciences at schools o f higher education, committees o f the party in vari­ ous enterprises and organizations, art, etc., served communist ideology. Various strategies were employed in order to hide the real Russification and to reduce the national resistance. One o f them was the formal and even demon­ strative emphasis on the coexistence o f national cultures in the Soviet Union. Demonstration o f the external forms o f culture (first o f all, stylized national clothes) rejecting their deep national content was popular. Ethnic (national) culture was named “folk culture” (because the society was divided into “ folk” and its “enemies”) during the Soviet time. In addition, the propaganda o f pro­ letarian internationalization was employed; it spread the idea that the Russian nation was the best and the most progressive nation in the world. The Central Committee o f the Communist Party o f Lithuania in its appeal claimed that the

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

36

Lithuanian culture, national in itsform and socialist in its content, is developing successfully. Since the eighth decade o f the 2.0thcentury the application o f the principles o f bilingualism, i.e. real Russification, became more intense. The Russian lan­ guage was being gradually introduced not only to various institutions, but also schools and even kindergartens. The sphere o f the usage o f the Lithuanian lan­ guage was constantly being narrowed and, eventually, it lost the status o f state language. In south-eastern Lithuania (in order to prevent the region’s integration into the Lithuanian culture by supporting and prompting the conflict between the Lithuanians and the Polish) the politics o f a Polonization o f Lithuanians was carried out; many Lithuanian schools were closed. Another vivid example o f the public demonstration of “fraternization” be­ tween the cultures o f the “Soviet peoples” was the organization o f Song Celebra­ tions. The Lithuanian Song Celebration previously related to the nationality of the Lithuanians, became during the period o f Soviet occupation formally associ­ ated with the anniversaries o f Lithuania’s transformation into a Soviet republic “on a voluntary basis”. During the Soviet time, the fight against Christianity and religion in gen­ eral was very intense. It was also supposed to help to destroy the fundamentals o f national-cultural identity. In the public discourse, especially active was the atheistic propaganda, claiming that Christianity is evil. Namely the fight with Christianity was the aim o f newly introduced Soviet festivals, which, as it was believed, had to help to detach people from their usual cultural identity pattern in order to create a new common Soviet identity. The former system o f calendar festivals, based on the pattern o f Christian calendar festivals, had completely disappeared from the public discourse. The most popular Lithuanian festivals, namely Christmas and Easter (as well as other ones), were as if “ forgotten” com­ pletely. Virtually speaking, the Soviet time was formally structured into quinquenniums and annual plans, and the two significant dates in the structure of the calendar year were the

I st

o f M ay and the annual commemoration o f the

Great October Revolution, which took place on the 7ch-8 th o f November. The number o f civic festive traditions gradually increased; quite often they were being created by employing traditional ethnic festivals. For instance,

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

37

the plan o f means o f atheist work, confirmed by the Central Committee o f the Communist Party o f Lithuania in 1957, beside other issues, proposed to organize massive holidays and “ folk outdoor fetes” in nature more often, to offer suggestions on how to celebrate the Harvest festival and St Joh n s Day, to revive “traditional wedding customs”, etc. (Streikus A . Krikščionybė oku­ puotoje Lietuvoje. Krikščionybės Lietuvoje istorija. [Christianity in Occupied Lithuania. The History o f Christianity in Lithuania] Vilnius: Aidai, 2006). A vivid example o f such a “revival” is the legalization o f the Festival o f St John (or Dews, Lith. Rasos). In 1957 the Central Committee o f the Communist Party o f Lithuania issued a decision that blessed the initiative o f the Pagėgiai District Committee o f the Party to hold the Festival o f St John on Rambynas H ill. A t the same time substitutes for other great Christian festivals were searched for. For instance, there were attempts to introduce the Spring festival as a substitute for Easter, the Festival o f Driving out Winter - for Shrovetide, Work Festival - for Pentecost; since 1962, as an alternative to A ll Souls’ Day, the days for the commemoration o f the dead were started to be organized of­ ficially on the last Sunday o f October, etc. Even though, since the very beginning o f the Soviet period, only civil mar­ riage and other civil customs were recognized, since 1963, along with the new presentation o f massive festivals, one more means for the secularization o f soci­ ety received serious discussion. Alternatives for the civil customs related to the sacraments o f baptism, confirmation, weddings, as well as funerals, were being invented (Streikus A . Krikščionybė okupuotoje Lietuvoje. Krikščionybės Lietuvoje istorija. [Christianity in Occupied Lithuania. The History o f Christianity in Lithuania] Vilnius: Aidai, 2006). Family customs were also influenced by the changes o f the economic-social situation. Personal preference became an important factor in choosing one’s marriage partner. The marital age fell, the number o f newborns decreased sig­ nificantly. During the after-war period, the man was still considered to be the head o f the family, however, in the flow o f time, more and more often it was women who were in charge o f the family budget (because during the Soviet time they were obliged to work). The traditional distinction between female and male jobs was gradually disappearing; however, more home jobs were performed by

38

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

women, because the amount o f traditional male home jobs in towns significant­ ly decreased. The education o f children more and more frequently was placed not into hands o f the family, but given over to other social institutions. Family customs and traditions underwent changes; rituals were becoming shorter and simpler. Certain elements from the whole o f customs o f one or another festival were falling out and new ones were being introduced. Innovations manifested themselves in one or another location (most often in towns), and then spread. W hile atheising the society, name-day celebrations were rarer; whereas the un­ derstanding and celebration o f the birthday, as a personal and family festival, was becoming more popular. Soviet ideologists allowed certain sanctioned research into “folk” culture (but not the nation, which could be associated with the nations self-dependence). The Communist Party and other subordinate structures supervised and ordered certain specific research studies (for instance, research into the present o f that time, striving to ideologize and use it for propaganda). Ethnology (etnika, tautotyra) was renamed ethnography, which corresponded to the Slavic tradition o f the discipline. Ethnography and folklore (Lith. tautosaka) were separated as well. Ethnography was related to history; its research object was not the research into nation or the cultures o f nations any more, but the research into “ folk cul­ ture”. The peculiarities o f folk culture could be explained only in the methodo­ logical frames o f historical materialism and social Darwinism supplemented by Marxist-Leninist ideas. Ethnographic research was developed under the super­ vision o f the N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute o f Ethnography at the Academy o f Sciences. Glavlit (the central institution o f censorship) censored all spheres o f cultural life and also research. The main science centres in Lithuania were the Department o f Ethnography o f the Institute o f History at the Academy o f Sciences o f the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, V. Kapsukas Vilnius State University, History-Ethnography Museum o f the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, etc. Employees o f those institutions organized expeditions, intensively collected ethnographic material, exhibits, and recorded folklore. Ten local history monographs were published on the basis o f the information collected during expeditions organized prior to 1972.. Material (traditional trades, diet, architecture, etc.) (by R Dundulienė,

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

39

R. Merkienė, A . Vyšniauskaitė, V. Milius, I. Butkevičius, etc.) and spiritual culture (first and foremost family and family customs) (by A . Vyšniauskaitė, P. Kalnius, R. Paukštytė, etc.) were being researched. A n important publication was the collective monograph Lietuvių etnografijos bruožai [Features o f Lithua­ nian Ethnography] prepared by the Institute o f History and published in 1964. Urban culture research was started in around the eighth decade o f the 20th cen­ tury (A. Daniliauskas, P. Kalnius, etc.). Research into folklore was conducted at the Institute o f Lithuanian Folklore and Literature (by D. Sauka, L. Sauka, K . Grigas, etc.). The Open A ir Museum in Rumšiškės was established in 1974. The museum buildings housed reconstructions o f interiors with furniture and homewares from the end o f the 18th to the beginning o f the 20th century. Other museums started to pay more attention to various forms o f folk culture too. During So­ viet times, creation o f groups representing folk art was allowed, thus express­ ing attention to the outer forms o f folk culture. Already during the early Soviet period, the song and dance ensemble “Lietuva” was established; the ensemble represented stylized folklore on the stage. During 1950-1960 a few dozen analo­ gous amateur ensembles were created. In the sixth decade, folk musicians took part in various folk music instrumental ensembles, folk dance groups o f elderly people appeared, etc. Various local history societies, which formally acted according to the Soviet ideology, were being created. For instance, in 1961 the Local History Society of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (that was called the Society o f Monu­ ment Protection and Ethnography) was established; the formal aim o f the soci­ ety was to collect material about revolutionaries, members o f the Communist Party and other related persons. In 1968-1969 the club o f local history studies “Ramuva” and the Hikers’ club in Kaunas were established. In the seventh decade, folklore collectives started being created. In 1968 the folklore ensemble “Ratilio” was established at Vilnius University, in 1974 - “Poringė” at Vilnius Pedagogical University, and, later, other folklore col­ lectives. The local history-folklore movement was joined by many employees and students from Vilnius University, the Institutes o f History and the Lithuanian language and literature, and other people. They not only took part in the activi­

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

40

ties o f folklore ensembles, but also actively participated in local history expedi­ tions organized by scientists. Thus an intensive neo-romantic folklore movement started. Keeping to the romantic position o f the 19th century, the participants o f the movement were still looking for traces o f antiquity and the ancient “authen­ tic” tradition (which was even believed to recall ancient Baltic traditions), even in village kolkhozes o f that period, striving to revive and cherish it. Concentration on the studies o f the relics of the past and the formal dem­ onstration o f ancient culture regardless o f the ideological aims o f the Soviets, maintained the patriotic attitudes o f Lithuanians. As V. Savoniakaitė (Lietuvos etnologijos ir antropologijos enciklopedija [Encyclopaedia o f Lithuanian ethno­ logy and anthropology], Vilnius, 2.011, p. 130) has noticed, it was an expression o f nationality that had been continuing since the beginning o f the 20th century. National peculiarity was being constructed on the grounds o f rural (or folk) traditions. The existence o f the “enemy” (i.e. invaders) in a certain sense even strengthened the feeling o f national community and “switched on” defense reactions that hindered the process o f assimilation. For instance, Lithuanians were seeking marriages with Lithuanians (as the research carried out by P. K al­ nius indicates, the rate o f intermarriages among Lithuanians was significantly lower than among people o f other nationalities), paid special attention to the Lithuanian language, ancient Lithuanian history, ethnic culture (interest in the works o f historians, archaeologists, and ethnographers was great), and, in a sense, perceived religion as a form o f resistance to occupation (by the way, the Catholic Church put a lot o f effort into maintaining national consciousness during the Soviet period). A major part o f people celebrated the great Chris­ tian festivals - Easter and Christmas - in their private home environments and understood them as Lithuanian national festivals, even though no one talked about it and, formally, it was not tolerated. However, in order to avoid repressions o f one or another kind, while celebrating these festivals, people very often left aside one important act, namely, going to a church, which, in consequence, detached the festivals from the sacral dimension, and, eventu­ ally, alienated people from Christianity and the related traditional customs. For this reason and as a result o f losing touch with the rural lifestyle and the

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

41

traditions o f agrarian festivals, over the course o f time, most people started to associate annual festivals only with the celebration that took place “at the table”, understood as abundant eating and/or drinking alcohol. Changes in the Soviet Union began in 1985, when Mikhail Gorbachev be­ came the formal leader o f the Soviet Union. In order to maintain the falling empire, the U SSR initiated political and economic reforms called “perestroi­ ka” (Lietuva 1940-1990: Okupuotos Lietuvos istorija [Lithuania 1940-1990: the History o f Occupied Lithuania]. Vilnius: Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras [The Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania], 1007, p. 550). The concept o f “publicity” entered and spread in politi­ cal rhetoric. Major changes in social relationships occurred after 1987, when new laws permitted individual work activities (Lietuva 1940-1990: Okupuotos Lietu­ vos istorija [Lithuania 1940-1990: the History o f Occupied Lithuania]. Vilnius: Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras [The Genocide and Resistance Research Centre o f Lithuania], 2007, p. 551). Various co-operative societies engaged in individual work activities began to be established. More and more liberty in public life made the Lithuanian intelligentsia become more active; for them perestroika meant something different than to people in Moscow. Basing themselves on the rhetoric o f perestroika that was propagated in Moscow, intellectuals began to raise problems relevant to Lithua­ nia {Lietuva 1940-1990: Okupuotos Lietuvos istorija [Lithuania 1940-1990: the History o f Occupied Lithuania]. Vilnius: Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rez­ istencijos tyrimo centras [The Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania], 1007, p. 553). Various non-formal associations and clubs started to gather. Since 1987-1988 numerous articles presenting the real Lithuanian his­ tory were published; they were talking about the occupation and the annexa­ tion o f Lithuania, reminded readers about various facts concerning Lithuanian culture, and Lithuanian national festivals. Eventually people initiated talking about the restoration o f Lithuanian independence with more and more con­ fidence. The Sąjūdis movement was created; a massive euphoric and long-suppressed striving for liberty broke out. On the 11th o f March 1990, the Act o f the Re-Establishment o f the State o f Lithuania was signed and gradually recognized by other countries o f the world.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

42

Ethnic Culture in the end o f the 2oth-beginning o f the 21st century In 1990, when the independent state o f Lithuania was re-established, the lifestyle and worldview changed significantly again. Private property (land too) was restored; the country returned to free market economy. An individualistic worldview, directly related to personal responsibility for ones own actions, grad­ ually started to spread. Some people quickly adapted to the changing conditions, whereas others encountered certain psychological difficulties, which made their adaptation to the changing lifestyle harder. However, the changed lifestyle differed significantly to that which existed before the Soviet period. A major part o f people already lived in towns. The second-third generation o f the inhabitants o f towns had grown up in an urban environment and, therefore, was not familiar with the rural lifestyle (related to the traditional ethnic culture). I f previously a large part o f the inhabitants o f towns were still associated with the countryside through grandparents and other relatives living in rural areas, at the beginning o f the century, the number o f such people was constantly decreasing. Opening o f the borders with foreign countries after the fall o f the So­ viet Union was another factor that had a big influence on the new changes in lifestyle. People could travel freely and see life in the countries o f the Western world, receive information from the media about the world existing on the other side o f the Soviet frontier that was hardly available before. The diverse influences o f the Western world started to make their way into post-Soviet Lithuania. The everyday lifestyle was also strongly influenced by the processes o f glo­ balization and the worldly processes o f the leveling o f cultures. The appear­ ance and the spread o f new technologies (particularly the Internet) had an especially strong impact. The lifestyle in Lithuania gradually became similar to that o f people living in the other countries o f the Western world. This is especially true with regard to the material culture (the living environment, household appliances, homewares, clothing, nutrition, etc.). O f course, as eve­ rywhere, some cultural peculiarities remained, depending on the social-eco­

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

43

nomic situation o f people, as well as other factors influencing peoples living conditions and traditions. A t the beginning o f the market economy, people s (especially the younger generations) aspiration to ensure better material living conditions as soon as possible was expressed very strongly, the culture o f consumption spread rapidly, people sought to acquire things and other products o f consumption they did not have before. On the other hand, real economic differences between people (that were less public during the Soviet times) became visible far more clearly than during the Soviet times. Spiritual culture during this period maintained some more traditional fea­ tures than material culture, but it also underwent major changes. The tradition transmitted from one generation to another was not preserved because o f the above-mentioned gap between the village and the town, and the gap between generations caused by the weakening tradition o f religious education. A t the beginning o f independence, when people were uplifted by feelings o f national enthusiasm, the number o f people attending churches and celebrat­ ing traditional calendar festivals slightly increased (however, traditional festi­ vals were more and more influenced and are still being influenced by the ideas popularizing the secular or the pre-Christian tradition, and even more by the influences o f other countries that reach the Lithuanian culture via populariza­ tion in the public space, as well as the various initiatives marketing specialists , and similar). Family traditions also started to change more rapidly. Matrimony as an institution was no more stable as it had traditionally been before (however, this tendency began to be visible already in Soviet times), non-registered marriages started to spread, the number o f children born out o f wedlock increased, etc. Due to the vanishing insularity o f traditional society, the number o f intermar­ riages increased (both on a national and religious basis). On the other hand, at the end o f the 20th century, the science o f eth­ nology carrying out comprehensive research into ethnic Lithuanian culture, started to be developed freely again. N o prohibited or censored methodologi­ cal approaches or fields o f research remained. The Marxist-Leninist interpre­ tation o f culture, which was obligatory during Soviet times, was renounced.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

44

Numerous various methodologies, interpretational standpoints, and different research topics appeared. In the classification o f sciences, ethnography was substituted by ethnology that became an independent science o f the field o f humanities since 1993. Much attention was paid to the research into spiritual culture - family customs (A. Vyšniauskaitė, R. Paukštytė-Šaknienė, P. K al­ nius, R. Račiūnaitė-Paužuolienė, etc.), calendar customs (J. Kudirka, A . Vai­ cekauskas, etc.), the traditions o f youth communication (Ž. Šaknys, etc.), mythology (N. Vėlius, G . Beresnevičius, N. Laurinkienė, etc.). Scientific mag­ azines and publications are being published - Liaudies kultūra [Folk Culture] (already since 1988), Etnografija [Ethnography], Lietuvos etnologija. Socialinės antropologijos ir etnologijos studijos [Lithuanian Ethnology: Studies in Social Anthropology and Ethnology], etc. Works o f emigrants that were not avail­ able during the Soviet period are being published. Important bibliographic publications o f ethnology appeared (V. Milius). Gradually more and more attention was paid to the analysis o f cultural phenomena o f new times, and modern folklore research (G. Kazlauskienė, L . Anglickienė, etc.). Important ethnology and folklore science centers include the Lithuanian Institute o f History, the Institute o f Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, the Department o f Culture Studies and Ethnology at the Faculty o f Humanities at Vytautas Magnus University, etc.

Territorial Distribution o f Ethnic Lithuanian Culture Ethnographic Lithuania (Kalnius, p. 104) is the territory where the histori­ cally developed phenomena o f traditional Lithuanian culture are concentrated. Currently the territory related to ethnic Lithuanian culture more or less cor­ responds to the territory within the borders o f the present Lithuanian state. It is noteworthy that, according to a widespread understanding, localities on the other side o f the eastern and southern border o f Lithuania inhabited by Lithua­ nians, and all o f Lithuania Minor should be considered ethnographic Lithua­ nia too. However, because o f political and other related reasons, this concept is rarely defined.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

45

The question o f the concept o f ethnographic Lithuania and its boundaries became very relevant at the end o f the i9th-beginning o f the 20th centuries, when the national revival took place (Kalnius, p. 106). The criteria for the definition o f ethnographic territory included people’s ethnic origin and the prevailing ethnic culture. The basis o f people’s ethnic origin was considered to be their autochthony. In 1917 the boundaries o f Ethnographic Lithuania were specified by the historian and lawyer Petras Klimas. According to his conception, not people’s language but their culture is the criterion that defines ethnographic territory. People’s ethnic origin is more important than their present day self-conscious­ ness. The linguistic assimilation o f autochthons cannot be the reason to neglect the attribution o f a certain territory to ethnographic Lithuania, but only i f it is discovered that ethnic Lithuanian culture still exists there. Denationalized Lithuanians should also be considered ethnic Lithuanians. Perceiving the real situation o f that time, there was no aim to re-establish the State o f Lithuania within the boundaries o f the former Grand Duchy o f Lithuania or to declare it ethnographic Lithuania hoping to reclaim the governorates o f Grodno and Suwalki. Therefore, the opinion that the State o f Lithua­ nia should be re-established within the much more precisely defined boundaries o f present time ethnographic Lithuania was crystallized. Ethnographic boundaries are not and cannot be obsolete; while the terri­ tory inhabited by Lithuanians was changing, they too had been changing and are still changing. Still in the end o f the 19th century, the territory inhabited by Lithuanians was significantly larger than it was in the mid-20th century. The fact that the question o f the boundaries o f ethnographic Lithuania was problematic is revealed by the information provided in the first publica­ tions o f statistical data in interwar Lithuania (P. Kalnius, Lietuvos etnologijos ir antropologijos enciklopedija [Encyclopaedia o f Lithuanian ethnology and an­ thropology], Vilnius, 2011, p. 107). The descriptions were limited to statements that Lithuanian lands spread in the former Kaunas and Vilnius Governorates, in the east o f the country partially including the Governorates o f Gardinas and Suwalki, and reaching Įsrutis and Labguva in the west. It was generally indicat­ ed that all the territory o f ethnographic Lithuania comprised the area o f around 83,000 square kilometres (the total area o f present day Lithuania is 6$,200

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

46

square kilometres). In the works o f the geographer Kazys Pakšas and linguist Kazimieras Būga, the area where the Lithuanian language is spread comprises ethnographic Lithuania too, but these boundaries were identical only until the end o f the 13th century. Later, linguistic Lithuania has always been smaller than ethnographic Lithuania. In 1964 in the USA, Bronius Kviklys, while preparing his four-volume work Mūsų Lietuva [Our Lithuania] also adopted the stand­ point that ethnographic Lithuania cannot be identified with the territory where the Lithuanian language is spoken. The latter is significantly larger. The area o f ethnographic Lithuania is still believed to be slightly bigger than that o f linguistic Lithuania. However, linguistic and ethnographic boundaries should not be identified with state borders and politics: state borders change more rapidly than ethnoses living in certain territories, the language o f the in­ habitants, and other related issues.

Lithuanian ethnographic regions The whole territory o f ethnographic Lithuania can be divided into distinct regions which, due to a variety o f (natural or historical) reasons, have peculiar cultural characteristics. Nowadays in Lithuania the concept o f an ethnographic region is officially regulated: A n ethnographic region is a historically-formed part o f territory, in which a distinctive dialect, traditions and customs have been preserved and the heritage o f the Baltic tribes has been integrated (Valstybės žinios [State News], n. 82, Vilnius, September the 21st 1999, p. 5). It is more or less commonly agreed that in the territory o f ethnographic Lithuania, five ethnographic regions (cul­ turally distinct ethnic provinces) can be distinguished: Aukštaitija (Highlands), Žemaitija (Samogitia), Dzūkija (or Dainava), Suvalkija (or Sūduva), and Lithua­ nia Minor (Mažoji Lietuva).

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

47

A u k š t a it ija D z ū k ija (D a in a v a ) M a ž o ji L ie t u v a S u v a lk ija (S ū d u v a ) Ž e m a it ija

□

Centres of thc Etnographic Regions

Rivers

© ETNINES KULTŪROS GLOBOS TARYBA © D . Pivoriūn as, i.Šaknys

F ig . i.

M ap o fth e ethnographic regions o f Lith u an ia

It is believed that the specific features o f these regions formed approximate­ ly during the I7lh- i9 th centuries; nonetheless their formal academic distinction was formulated only during the 1 0 th century. Among the first scholars to talk about the diffusion o f local cultural elements in Lithuania were the ethnolo­ gists Antanas Tamošaitis, Mikalina Glemžaitė, the ethnomusicologist Jadvyga Čiurlionytė, and others. Nowadays the borders o f the Lithuanian ethnographic regions are defined based on the dialects o f the Lithuanian language, and thc ethnographic pecu­ liarities o f the phenomena o f material and spiritual culture. In defining the

Hisrory of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

48

borders o f these regions the borders o f existing administrative elderships (with the exception o f the biggest cities) are equally taken into account. However, it should be admitted that the question about an appropriate demarcation o f the ethnographic regions and the definition o f their borders is not simple and un­ ambiguous. Certain cultural characteristics in different regions may overlap. In defining the borders o f the ethnographic regions, probably the most challenging problem is the mingling o f the manifestations o f the traditional culture near the borders (as an example, the definitions o f the borders between Aukštaitija and Samogitia, or between Dzūkija and Aukštaitija, and others are worthy of discussion). The formation o f distinct ethnographic regions in Lithuania was deter­ mined by different factors. Some differences in natural factors in Lithuania, even though not so marked, influenced certain aspects o f the local agriculture, specific trades, etc. (for instance, in Dzūkija because o f the woods and sandy soil, specific trades related with woods spread - forest beekeeping, collecting mush­ rooms and berries, growing buckwheat; in northern Lithuania the soil was more suitable for growing flax; in the lake region o f north-eastern Lithuania, as well as along the sea coast, an important trade o f local inhabitants was fishing, etc). As determined by the ethno-genetic factors, the process o f the creation o f the Lithuanian nation involved the assimilation o f the heritage o f different Baltic tribes; however, they left traces not only in the dialects o f the Lithuanian language, but, supposedly, also in certain ethnographic aspects (for instance, the peculiarities o f the Samogitians, especially those o f the north, were caused by the Curionian substrate, Dzūkians, most probably, were influenced by the Jotvingian substrate, whereas the population o f Suvalkija and Lithuania Minor was influenced by the migration o f the inhabitants o f Lithuania into the emp­ tying lands once inhabited by the western Baltic tribes, which took place in the 15th—i6ch centuries, etc.). Other factors relevant to the formation o f the peculiarities o f the ethno­ graphic regions were contacts with other cultures (i.e. Slavic and German), and the dependence to different political and administrative partitions in Lithua­ nian history. The latter factors had major importance in the formation o f the peculiarities o f Suvalkija and Lithuania Minor. Significant influence on the

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

49

formation o f the peculiarities o f the region o f Suvalkija had its assignment to Prussia after the 1795 partition o f the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and later, after the

i

8 iz

war with Napoleon, its integration in the Kingdom o f Po­

land as an autonomous unity o f Russia. The different political status o f this region determined an earlier abolishment o f the serfdom (in 1807), compared to other parts o f Lithuania, contributed to the faster development o f economy, the spreading o f more modern forms o f agriculture and the relations between inhabitants based on market economy, and the formation o f a wealthy farmers class from which originated a number o f Lithuanian intellectuals who initiated the formation o f the Lithuanian nation. The region o f Lithuania Minor formed in the 15th century in the lands o f the Balts (that, because o f the wars with the Crusaders, had become an uninhabited area) that were under the control o f the German Order at that time. The ancient culture o f the inhabitants o f Lithuania Minor basically did not differ from that o f the Lithuanians o f the neighbouring lands (first o f all because the emptying region o f northern Prussia was inhabited by emigrants from Lithuania), nonetheless in the flow o f time the contacts with German culture became stronger and stronger. The dependence to the Lutheran branch o f Christianity, and faster economic and cultural development shaped the specific features o f the region. A certain economic development o f one or another region was sometimes influenced by the specific situation in the neighbouring regions too. For instance, the vicinity to Livonia had an influence on the increase in the commerce o f flax in northern Lithuania. Despite the regional differences o f traditional ethnic culture, in Lithuania a national rather than regional consciousness predominates (only Samogitians have a somewhat more distinct regional identity). There arc no doubts about the fact that nowadays the daily life o f the inhabitants o f these regions is practically the same. The inhabitants o f the different regions are more evidently distinct by the peculiarities o f their dialects, the development o f a specific branch o f agri­ culture, one or another more or less widely spread tradition or a newly formed local tradition o f spiritual culture, and alike. Quite often people recognize one another’s regional provenience by the use o f a specific dialectal lexicon or phonetic peculiarities. For instance, even the

History of Lithuanian culture

50

same things (working tools, dwelling and farming buildings, etc.) in different re­ gions o f Lithuania sometimes have different local names, or, on the contrary, the same name can indicate different things. The studies carried out by A . Venskienė, Ž. Šaknys, and P. Kalnius indicate that nowadays, when distinguishing between ethnographic groups, apart from the language, people also give meaning to the “historical memory” and the supposed “ethnographic character” common to the inhabitants o f the region. Regional ethnographic identity nowadays is quite weak in the cities. The inhabitants o f the large cities have moved from different Lithuanian ethno­ graphic regions and, in consequence, they connect their regional identity more with their parents or grandparents’ regional identity, but not with the territory in which the city they live in is located (Venskienė, 2008, Šaknys, 2010). More problematic is the regional identity o f the inhabitants o f the cities whose par­ ents and grandparents have come from different ethnographic regions (not to mention the cases when they are o f different nationalities), and also that o f the people living in the periphery.

The History «»/Lithuanian c u l t u r e

RASA ZUKIENÈ

The Trajectories of Lithuanian Art in the 20th Century

51

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

53

Introduction Lithuania as well as Latvia, Finland and a large part o f Poland1 belonged to the Russian Empire at the beginning o f the 2.0th century. The tsars government officially called Lithuania Severo-zapadnyj kraj (Northwest region), while the name o f Lithuania was absent even in maps. After political upheavals in Rus­ sia in 1904-1906, the tsars government was forced to legalize and acknowledge ethnical-national corr ditions for the develoj

*

'

huanians. These were the precon­ pecially in Vilnius.

Lithuanian culture has always developed under the impact o f European cultural ideas. A t the beginning o f the 20th century, Lithuanians, as well as oth­ er small European nations, which have experienced the union o f empires, were overwhelmed with the idea o f the “spring o f nations” and a relevant desire to create Lithuanian national art. A rt was supposed to express the character o f the nation, discover the ways and forms o f expressions which would reveal “Lithua­ nian identity”. A t the beginning o f the 20th century, Lithuanian art developed in close re­ lation with the European and Russian art schools. Lithuanian painters (Lithua­ nians, Poles and Jews) during their studies in Munich, art academies in Krakow or while living in the studio L a Ruche in Paris with about two hundred artists from Central and Eastern Europe, even then felt the authentic pulse o f culture o f Western Europe1. Typically, neither the expressions o f traditional classic prin­ ciples, nor the features o f modern art were radical. They constantly intertwined and were expressed in moderate neo-romanticism, realism, symbolism, post-im­ pressionism and secession forms until World War I.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

54

Early 20th century. National Romanticism Vilnius has always been a city o f not only Lithuanians, but also a city o f Poles, Russians, Germans, Byelorussians, Tatar and Karaite communities. From a cultural perspective, the artistic life o f the Poles o f Vilnius was most noticeable at the beginning o f the 20th century. Russian, Polish and Jewish artistic unions were operating on an artistic basis. Lithuanians were active as well, although they did not participate in very great numbers in Vilnius. The so-called Pirm oji lietuvių dailės paroda (The First Exhibition o f Lithua­ nian Art), which gathered together Lithuanians and artists o f Lithuanian origin spread widely throughout Europe, was opened in the home o f Petras Vilei is (Antakalnio Street No. 6) in Vilnius in early 1907. The idea o f the exhibition was born in Krakow, the city where a number o f Lithuanians studied and where the Rūta society was operating. Lithuanians were a minority in Vilnius. The city was mostly inhabited by Poles, Jews, Russians, Germans, Byelorussians and Tatars. From a cultural perspective, the artistic life o f the Poles o f Vilnius was mostly noticeable at the beginning o f the 20th century. Therefore, the exhibition o f Lithuanian art was a big event, which caused both interest and dissatisfaction in the city. Pirm oji lietuvių dailės paroda was attended by both professional artists and rural craftsmen, i.e. wood carvers, weavers, knitters. The works o f self-taught craftsmen was an important support in the search for a national style for both Lithuanians and residents o f North and Middle Europe. Although at the be­ ginning o f the 20th century Lithuanian art developed rapidly from a peasantpatriarchal culture model towards western culture, traditional sections o f rural crafts were also included in all art exhibitions in 1907-1914. Both professional art and folk crafts were aimed to be validated as an important factor o f Lithua­ nian national self-awareness. A t the beginning o f the 20th century, Lithuanian art was balancing between the limit o f positivism and anti-positivism directions, which cover the same con­ ception o f neo-romanticism. In general, most o f the artists o f the beginning o f the 20th century tended to nurture romantic traditions in a broad sense. They focused on the artistic forms, themes and motives developed by the European

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

55

romanticists o f the 19th century: the motives o f dreams, legends, fairy tales and the lyrics o f nature in paintings were frequent. Classic art, folklore, romantic and realistic images were intertwined in the works o f the painters Adomas Varnas, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, Petras Kal­ pokas. For example, the painting Sielvartas (Nuliūdim as) (Sorrow [Sadness], 1906) by Žmuidzinavičius symbolically depicts a person who is attacked by folk monsters and cannot find a way out; Varnas in his paintings depicts stories with a focus on giving morals, the essence thereof was relevant and well understood by a person who lived in the early 20th century (Bangose. Autoportretas su žmona [In the Waves. A Self-Portrait with a Wife], 1912); D ailininkas ir elgeta [Artist and Beggar], 1906-1908), Fig. 1). The sculptor Petras Rimša in his sculpture Lietuvos mokykla 1864-1904 (Lithuanian School in 1864-1904, painted in 1906-1914, Fig. 2) depicted a mo­ ment taken from typical Lithuanian rural life: a peasant woman is working and teaching her son how to read. By this routine plot, the sculptor revealed a pain­ ful moment o f the Lithuanian nations existence when Lithuanian schools and the Lithuanian language were banned by the tsarist government. This particular example shows that a painting or a sculpture for the painters o f the 20th century was not only a process o f creation, but also an act o f resistance and a way to express encoded communication. Creation was closely related to the desires, vi­ sions, myths and sorrows o f the nation. Focus on the patriotic ideas is especially expressed in the works of Žmuidzinavičius and Varnas. Lithuanians, similar to Polish, Belgian or Dutch painters, loved to paint ethnographic motives and work scenes (Žmuidzinavičius. M arti [Daughter-In-Law], 1910, L in ų mynimas [Flax Scutching], 1906); Var­ nas. Senas kalnietis [Old Highlander], 1911), or symbolically represent their poor homeland through folk style and dramatic colouring (Žmuidzinavičius. Nelaim inga šalis [Unfortunate Country], 1910). Due to the neo-romantic mood o f artists, the motives o f nature with crosses and pillar-type crosses dominate in the landscape paintings o f Lithuanian painters. Lithuanian painters created melancholic landscapes o f spring and summer, suffused with bright sunlight

56

History of Lithuanian culture

Fig. i. A D O M A S VARNAS, A rtist a n d Beggar. 1906-1908

History o f Lithuanian CULTURE

Fig. z. PETRAS RIM SA .L ith u a n ia n School in 18 6 4 -19 0 4 . 1906-1914

57

58

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 3. ANTANAS ŽMUIDZINAVIČIUS. Old Cemetery o f Samogitians. 1914

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

59

and single verticals o f crosses (Žmuidzinavičius. Senos žemaičių kapinės [Old Cemetery o f Samogitians], 1914, Fig. 3). Generally, the choice o f scenes and plots aimed to reflect a certain relation between historic memory and contemporary problems. Painters in nature or their visions “discovered” the signs o f past glorious times. The topic in these works rep­ resents neo-romanticism. It also defines the inner content and deepness o f the work, which do not fully coincide with the range o f created artistic images. The pe­ culiarity o f Lithuanian art o f this period is as follows: realistic or even naturalistic images were created and perceived as symbolic images, while national and artistic self-awareness were conditioned by each other in the sculptures o f Rimša (Lietuvos artojas [Lithuanian Ploughman], 1907), in the paintings o f Žmuidzinavičius (Per kiaurų naktį [All through the Night], 1906) and in the works o f Varnas (Dailinin­ kas ir gamtininkas [Painter and Naturalist], 1911). These works reflected the emerg­ ing expectations o f the nation and revived neo-romantic ideals, i.e. love for ones country and national culture, spread the idea of serving ones nation, and elevated the approach towards the history of the nation.

Symbolism, A rt Nouveau visions Symbolism reached Lithuania through Russian, German and Polish sourc­ esJ. Symbolism was explained as an expression o f perfect being with a focus of convention o f symbolic artistic form and its relative autonomy4. However, the elegance o f symbolic images, which is noticed in the art o f the Western Europe at the turn o f the century, was still inaccessible for Lithuanian painters. Prob­ ably due to the strong relationship o f artists with a peasant outlook towards the village and local environment, as well as due to studies in St Petersburg, the Mu­ nich Academy o f Fine Arts and workshops, realistic depiction was not radically terminated in Lithuania. More conditional methods o f expression and A rt Nouveau tendencies de­ veloped in parallel with realism. Ideological links with A rt Nouveau and world­ view projections typical to A rt Nouveau were abundant in Lithuanian pictorial

60

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

arc and sculpture. Vitality o f everything and glorification o f life was one o f the main ideas. This idea is reflected in the pictorial images o f nature. Sculptors affected by A rt Nouveau loved to create allegoric sentimental groups o f figures, intended for small spaces (Juozas Zikaras. Apsaugok mus, Viešpatie [Protect us, Lord], 1909, Fig. 4); Frančeska da R im in i pragare [Francesca da Rimini in Hell], 1919), Antanas Vivulskis. Bėgančio nuo Šmėklos vyro aktas, Nuogas senis sėdi ant sfinkso [Act o f Running Man from Ghost, Naked Old Man is Sitting on Sphinx], both painted in about 1904). The works o f famous Lithuanian sculptor Rimša are also intended for small spaces. These are reliefs made by the metal incrusta­ tion technique, intended for room decoration. Reliefs are o f a picturesque A rt Nouveau style (Mėnesiena [Moonlight], circa 1908-1909). A t the beginning o f the twentieth century, the painter Petras Kalpokas studied in Mitava (now Jelgava) at the studios o f the Latvian painters Wilhelm Purvit, Janis Valters and Anton Azbe s studio in Munich. His works painted in 1904-1912 are close to the Latvian and Munich schools. Nature in Kalpokas landscape paintings is alive, changing and is trying to escape from its winter stagnation {Peizažassu upeliu (Audrota diena) (Landscape with Rivulet [Stormy Day], 1908), Žiemos peizažas [Winter Landscape], 1908), Namas pavakaryje [House in Eventide], 1912, Fig. 5). The motives are rather simple and typical to a conservative Germ an A rt Nouveau direction: a twisting forest rivulet, evening sun flashes though tree branches. By painting these images, the painter tried to reveal not only the dynamics and beauty o f nature, but also the symbolism o f na­ ture. These images symbolized Lithuania reviving after long years o f stagnation. City images are not frequent in the paintings o f Lithuanians, and those which were painted are the images o f the European cities, which are generally full o f sadness or uncomfortable mystery. Lithuanian artists, as well as many Euro­ pean artists, were not enamoured by the city spirit. The city seemed to be a distant , mysterious or even displeasing notion for many painters o f the beginning of the 20th century, who originated from villages. W hile living in Munich in 1908-1909, Žmuidzinavičius painted a landscape painting Miunchenas naktį (Munich at Night, 1908, Fig. 6) and exhibited it in the Kunstverein exhibition. The work is

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 4. JUOZAS ZIKARA S. Protect us, Lord. 1909

61

62

H istory o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 5. PETRAS KALPOKAS. House in Eventide. 1911

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 6. ANTANAS ŽMUIDZINAVIČIUS. Munich at Night. 1908

63

64

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

interesting for its intertwining o f realism and A rt Nouveau style and sensation o f mystery o f a big city close to symbolism. These two paintings alongside with the work o f Kalpokas (Namas pavakaryje [House in Eventide], 1912) are exceptional and among the most beautiful in Lithuanian A rt Nouveau painting. During the development o f neo-romanticism and symbolism, there were considerable A rt Nouveau manifestations in Lithuanian art. A rt Nouveau was expressed in relatively moderate forms, through a steady communication with historic styles and connection o f new style elements with folk art inspirations. Lithuanians, as well as the closest neighbours, i.e. Latvians or Poles, including artists o f other European nations, were fully involved in the creation o f a new, modern art and life during the period until World War I. The Paris World Fair in 1900 signifies the involvement o f Lithuanians in the international cultural movement. Lithuanians presented themselves to the world by exhibiting national products, their living environment and a typical rural house. By exhibiting home-made products, Lithuanians, consciously or not, echoed their modern artistic search: the initiative o f Lithuanians recalled the aims o f Arts and Crafts movement to connect craftsmanship with art and showed that folk art products can be also interesting to society. There were vivid signs o f actualization o f crafts in Lithuania. A school-workshop o f weavers was operating in Vilnius in about 1913. The painters Žmuidzinavičius and Ruszczyc worked there and accumulated samples o f national weaving5. By showing atten­ tion to craftsmanship, artists aimed to exalt handicrafts. They did not express their sympathy to the world developed by machines, ideas o f functionalism and standards. The members o f the Lithuanian A rt Society encouraged people in press not to forget their crafts and not to be tempted by factory products6. Painters discovered an inexhaustible source o f forms and ornamenta­ tion in folk art. W hile teaching in Russia, Antanas Jaroševičius used to travel around Lithuanian villages and painted ethnographic crosses during summer holidays. He issued an exclusive album Lietuvos kryžiai (Lithuanian Crosses) in 1912 (Fig. 7). Rimša was impressed by the so-called “Style o f Zakopane”. During World War I, he produced samples o f national furniture, carved armchairs and

H istory o f Lithuanian CULTURE

Lietuvių Dailės Draugijos Leidinys

LIETUVIŲ KRYŽI AI S U R IN K O A N T A N A S JA R O Š E V IČ IU S

ĮŽANGĄ PARAŠĖ D “ J . BASANAVIČIUS VINJETES IŠ TAUTINIŲ MOTIVŲ SUTAISĖ A. ŽMUIDZINAVIČIUS

V I L N I U S 1912

J. Zavadzkio spaustuvė A. Jura šalčio klišės

Fig. 7. Photograph. Album Lithuanian Crosses. 1911

65

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

66

vases. Later folk ornamentalism moved to the graphics, medals and book design projects o f Rimša. Painters-graphic artists, who created design o f books and magazines, illus­ trations, posters o f events and art exhibitions made a significant contribution to the achievement o f a new programmable style, which aimed to cover the entire life o f a person, to change that life and make it more beautiful and brighter. The attempt to orient towards the German or British book art was the most prominent tendency o f the Lithuanian press7. Lithuanian artists saw examples o f the new typography in the following A rt Nouveau magazines: German mag­ azines Pan and Jugend, Czech magazines M oderni revue, Volne srnery, Polish magazine Chimeroje, Russian magazine M ir iskusstva. The writer, philosopher Vydūnas, who lived in Tilsit, Lithuania Minor, played a significant role as well8. He published a magazineJaunim as (Youth, 1911-1914). During the first years o f the magazine, Vydūnas announced a competition for painters and began to print drawings o f Adomas Brakas, Petras Rimša, Paulius Galaunė in his magazine. Vydūnas drew the attention o f Lithuanian graphic artists to a popular Aubrey Vincent Beardsley, who has inspired such prominent European modern graphic artists as Thomas Theodor Heine, Otto Eckmann, Gustav Klimt. The magazine Jaunim as, which was edited by Vydūnas, remained only an important statement in Lithuanian graphic history, since it was published for a short period o f time. However, the aesthetic aims o f this magazine were further developed by later Lithuanian cultural publications: Teatras (Theatre, 1911-1914), Vairas (Rudder, 1914—1915) and Pirm asai baras (The First Bar, 1915). A rt Nouveau was expressed in Lithuanian graphic art quite moderately: the number o f lively waving lines was low; the decorations o f floral motives were moderate. Geometrically strict ornament and neo-romantic symbolic plots o f illustrations, similar to those which prevailed in painting, dominated. E.g. The cover o f the magazine Pirm asai baras, composed by Varnas, depicts the motives o f haymakers and a rising sun, while a headpiece represents not only threaten­ ing decorative birds, but also the images o f a castle and cypresses during a storm which are close to Arnold Bocklin s style. Vydūnas’ drama Prabočių šešėliai (Shadows o f the Ancestors) published in 1908 included the drawings o f the German painter Fidus (Hugo Reinhold

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

67

Karl Johann Hoppener, 1868-1948)9. Fidus and Vydūnas met in Berlin where Vydūnas studied at the universities in summer10. A rt for these two artists, who followed the so-called “life reform”, was not an aim for themselves, but a meas­ ure to declare their theosophical worldview and ethical ideas. W hile formatting a book o f Vydūnas, Fidus painted a front page, a dedication Tėvynei (Homeland), front pages for a prologue, individual parts and a final vignette, i.e. a portrait o f Vydūnas. The collaboration o f Vydūnas with a popular German artist shows that the writer understood well the polygraphic and artistic requirements for the printed matter o f the A rt Nouveau style. By introducing the works o f Fidus in the magazine, Vydūnas introduced Lithuanian painters with A rt Nouveau expression in print. The narrative Vasaros vaišės (The Feast o f Summer, 1914) written by Ingas Šeinius and formatted by Varnas and a book Lietuvoje (In Lithuania, 1908) writ­ ten by Sofija Čiurlionienė are good examples o f stylish A rt Nouveau (Fig. 8). The painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis was the author o f the books design. W hile creating the cover, he innovatively used the ornament o f the motive o f “tulip hearts”11, which was popular in folk architecture and paint­ ing. A mirror image o f the segment, i.e. the upside-down motive o f a tulip looks new and original in the composition. It meaningfully fits with the intention o f the author o f the book to reflect the cultural processes taking place in Lithua­ nia. By using rectangular geometric elements, the painter managed to achieve a moderate and strict style. Posters are important signs o f Lithuanian cultural life o f the beginning o f the century. Painters well understood their meaning in the education o f public taste; therefore, they were created by famous Lithuanian artists: Čiurlionis, Žmuidzinavičius, Ruszczyc, Rimša. These posters were expressive and formed the image o f art, which is elevated from everyday life, is noble and a kind o f na­ tional activity: the motives o f a rising sun, palette-sun, leaping rider, young man looking into the distance with art attributes were frequent. Special attention was also paid to colour choices and a high quality o f polygraphic production. Penktosios lietuvių dailės parodos plakatas (Poster o f the Fifth Exhibition o f Lithuanian A rt, 1911, Fig. 9) created by Rimša and Pom irtinės M .K Čiurlionio parodos plakatas (Poster o f Posthumous Exhibition o f Čiurlionis, 1913, Fig. 10)

68

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

S O F IA

CI U RLIA N IE N E

(K Y M A N T A I T E )

LIETUVO JE.

4^

4k

JU O ZA PO ZAVADZKIO SPAUSTUVĖS IŠLEIDIMAS. VILNIUS 1910.

Fig. 8. M IKALOJU S K O N S T A N T IN A S Č IU R L IO N IS . Cover o f Sofija Čiurlionienės book In L ith uania. 1908

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 9. PETR AS RIMSA. Poster ofthe Fifth Exhibition o f Lithuanian Art. 1911

69

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

70

Литовское йудожествеиное Обще­ ство - Вильно Завальная

Lietuvių Dailės •D rau gija-

LIteraskie Тошаrzystfflo Stfuk PiįKnych-Uilno

Zatualna Hr 2

№2

C> 20 окттяврі 190 гола

Raoswlai iM ne» 20 i (90 n.

W toto 20 puenenka 1913 raka

N U O LA TIN Ė

ВЫСТАВКА кортикъ H.ТУРЛЯНЮ У Ч * и 3 !t г

m

M. ČURLIOHIES Paveikslu PAROM >•*' « '• » • i Al i i i ni j k n d k u d m II *—

Fig.

io . U nknow n

- —

4iii J ,.„ ita*.

WYSTAWA obrazóo M. CZORLAHISA •m

t*L аГ М t, у , щ.f

•----------

author, a drawing o f Čiurlionis. Poster o f Posthumous Exhibition o f Čiurlionis. 1913

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

71

created by an unknown author, who used the drawing o f Čiurlionis who died in 1911, are distinctive for their exclusive decorativeness and stylish modernism. Until World W ar I, artistic poster in Lithuania was an example o f significant information transmission and liberal international education, because the in­ formation written in these posters was always presented in three languages (i.e. Lithuanian, Polish and Russian) which prevailed in Lithuania at the time.

The work of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis As far as Lithuanian art is concerned, special attention should be drawn to the personality and work o f the painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911). Čiurlionis is regarded as the most famous Lithuanian art­ ist. His works are distinguished for the suggestiveness o f images and mystery as well as for his exclusive artistic form o f works. The creative work o f this painter developed at the intersection o f symbolism and modernist ideas. He is known in the history o f European culture for his neo-romantic music and exclusive works o f art, i.e. paintings which have combined painting and music and went by musi­ cal terms (sonatas, preludes and fugues). Čiurlionis was distinguished for exceptional musical abilities already in childhood. Being 14 years o f age he already played at the Duke Michal Oginski orchestral school in Plungė, Samogitia. Financially supported by the Duke, the future artist studied composition at the Warsaw Institute o f Music in 1894-1899 and at the Leipzig Conservatoire in 1901-1901. Being 18 years o f age, Čiurlionis grew interested in painting and decided to study the fine arts. He studied at the painting studio o f Janas Kauzikas in 1901-1906 and entered the private Warsaw School o f A rt established by the painter Kazimieras Stabrauskas in 1904. Special attention in the teaching process was given to working in the open air and to the studies o f the moods o f nature. Students were encouraged to try their abili­ ties not only in painting, but also in the applied arts. Čiurlionis was one o f the best students o f the Warsaw School o f A rt: he was many times awarded for his compositions in 1904-1905.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

72

The Polish artistic environment that significantly developed at the intersec­ tion o f the 19th and 2.0th centuries had a strong impact on Čiurlionis. Coming from a rural environment, from the small resort town o f Druskininkai, he be­ came acquainted in Warsaw with the art trends and innovations which prevailed in Europe. W hile studying in Warsaw and Leipzig he was interested in history, astronomy, philosophy, read the works o f Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopen­ hauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, loved the works o f the poets Adomas Mickevičius, Julij Slowacki, the representatives o f Vilnius romanticism school, and read the works o f Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy. The cultural processes taking place in Poland as well as M loda Polska11 (Young Poland) had a great impact on all Lithuanian artists, who studied in Krakow or Warsaw. Čiurlionis was in especially close cooperation with the M loda Polska artists in Warsaw. They shared common intellectual interests. Čiurlionis was a frequent guest at the stu­ dio o f Kazimieras and Julija Stabrauskai, where he had conversations with Artur Gorski, Zenon Przesmycki, Stanislaw Franciszek Michalski, Tadeusz Miciriski, Boleslaw Lešmian and other Warsaw intellectuals. Their discussions on litera­ ture, music, Hindu philosophy or the Egyptian sun cult coincided with the crea­ tive interests o f Čiurlionis. Čiurlionis remained close to the neo-romantic shade o f Polish symbolism by way o f features such as lyricism, symbolism o f images, striving for national­ ity. The aforementioned features are the features o f neo-romanticism, which are typical not only to Polish artists, but also to Russian, Czech and Scandinavian artists. It can be said that the painters o f M loda Polska theoretically understood the main idea o f modern aesthetics which primarily focused on the aesthetic value; however, they did not find ways which could have helped to realize this idea, so they maintained naturalistic-realistic stylistics in their works. Mean­ while, Čiurlionis has practically come close to the target o f Polish symbolists, i.e. to modernism by changing the form o f the work. Čiurlionis, inspired by the Lithuanian National Movement, moved from Warsaw to Vilnius in 1907. Here he not only painted, but also participated in the cultural activity o f the Lithuanians o f Vilnius: he organized exhibitions of Lithuanian art, directed the choir, wrote articles for the Lithuanian press. How­ ever, living in Vilnius was rather difficult. Moreover, it was almost impossible

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

73

for this artist to receive understanding and acknowledgment in Vilnius, because the size o f the educated audience was still very minimal . In order to find an appropriate artistic environment and participate in major and significant exhi­ bitions, Čiurlionis went to St Petersburg in 1908. In the capital o f Russia he communicated with the Russian group o f artists M ir iskusstva (World o f Art), participated in the exhibitions o f the Union o f Russian Artists and Salon. How­ ever, his expectations o f being acknowledged did not materialize so easily. His symbolic and at the same time avant-garde creation, which synthesizes music and painting, was the object o f discussions among Russian artists. Some artists, e.g. Aleksandr Benua, the member o f M ir iskusstva group, called him “a living genius”, while others treated him as i f he was an irrelevant symbolist and did not understand his combination o f music and painting with a strong leaning towards the abstract. Hie years from 1907 to 1909 were the most important period for the crea­ tion o f the painter. He created his pictorial sonatas, preludes and fugues during this period. Čiurlionis is now frequently called one o f the initiators o f modern art. His name is mentioned among such artists as Frantisek Kupka, Paul Klee or Wassily Kandinsky. Some works o f Čiurlionis painted in 1907-1908 have the signs o f gradual shift o f the form to abstraction and purely formal elements of the image, which do not reflect visual reality (e.g. Mano kelias [My Road], So­ nata N r i [Sonata No. 1], both painted in 1907; Fuga [Fugue], 1908). The central composition o f a triptych Mano kelias (My Road, Fig. 11) is surprising for its sig­ nificance o f summarised view, line and rhythm. The artist in this triptych made a brave experiment by testing the possibilities o f interaction o f form and line. The application o f musical elements in the paintings o f Čiurlionis is also related with a tendency towards the abstract. Various aspects o f his relation­ ship with music are apparent: the names o f the first works reflect the external relation with music and the world o f sounds [Laidotuvių simfonija [Funeral Symphony], 1903, M iško ošimas [Murmur o f the Forest]. Meanwhile, the artist exclusively uses the visual analogue o f musical production form in his visual sonatas, preludes or fugues. By applying the principles o f composition in vis­ ual art, which are related to the structure o f musical forms (sonatas, fugues), Čiurlionis has created a completely exclusive cycle o f visual art, the so-called

74

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. n . MIKALOJUS KONSTANTINAS ČIURLIONIS. From thecycle TriptychMy R oadII

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

75

visual sonata. He united various motives o f reality, different space plans, time moments and contrasting symbolic images into one composite system (cycle) based on the dynamics o f rhythm {Allegro, Antante, Scherzo, Finale parts). The painter most probably, as sometimes suggested, did not intend to “paint music”; however, having the knowledge o f a composer, he made use o f the equivalents o f its expression: more abstract space, attention to rhythm and focus on the time dimension when the plot is being developed through several sheets o f a cycle (Figs. 12,13). In 1907-1909, Čiurlionis painted seven visual sonatas. The creative world o f Čiurlionis that strongly balances on the boundary of the older artistic tradition, symbolism and avant-garde style, which was emerging at the beginning o f the 20th century, can be said to be a peculiarity o f Čiurlionis’ art. On the one hand, his achievements suggested the appearance o f abstraction. The application o f structural and composite music elements made his visual art much more abstract. Nevertheless, none o f the so-called musical paintings are abstract, since the content o f the paintings is rather specific and is often related to natural phenomena and mythology. The idea behind his paintings is most often symbolic; the image structure is abstract, while small elements are very specific. However, it is very important for modern art history that Čiurlionis crystallized a specific method o f abstraction, which was not a colourful one, but graphic, spatial and presented one o f the most interesting ways o f applying the principles o f music in painting. Doing so, Čiurlionis has managed to intuitively come close to the threshold o f avant-gardism without any verbal declarations or explaining his creative ideas. Nevertheless, he did not trespass this threshold and remained one o f the most interesting and exclusive symbolists o f Middle Europe. Čiurlionis continued to use the visual narrative. These fantastic images, like a shroud, covered a rational, substantial and absolutely innovative idea o f a visual sonata at the beginning o f the 20th century. This Lithuanian artist with a fine musical education has intuitively crystallized this idea from the tangle o f general art composition principles. Some works o f this Lithuanian painter painted in 1907-1909 were rather innovative; therefore, he can be treated as one o f the fore-fathers o f abstract art. The painter died in 1911 at the age o f thirty six. His creative heritage cov­ ers about 300 paintings and graphic works. Most o f them are now stored in

76

History o f Lithuanian CULTURE

Fig. i i . MIKALOJUS KONSTANTINAS ČIURLIO NIS. Sonata No. 6. Allegro. 1908

H istory o f Lithuanian CULTURE

Fig. 13. MIKALOJUS KONSTANTINAS ČIURLIONIS. Sonata No. 6. Andante. 1908

77

78

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum o f A rt in Kaunas (Lithuania), while individual pieces o f art can be found in the museums o f Vilnius, Warsaw and St Petersburg.

The processes o f modernization in 1910-1940 The development o f art in 1910-1940 in Vilnius and Kaunas reflects the modernization o f Lithuanian art. These two cities during the period mentioned above belonged to different countries: Kaunas belonged to Lithuania, while Vilnius belonged to Poland. As a result o f a complicated political situation, the communication o f artists o f both cities was rather difficult. However, the news about a new, avant-garde art spread despite the existence o f any borders. Kaunas “woke up” to the phenomena o f modernism a little later than Vilnius. The first steps towards the development o f the avant-garde in Vilnius were made in early 1909 when Treugolnik (Triangle), the exhibition o f a group o f impressionists from St Petersburg, was held in this city. The exhibition o f Alexander Jawlensky and Mariana Veriovkina'3, the members o f the group D er blaue Reiter (Blue Rider), was held in Vilnius in 1914-1915. Generally, the works o f professors o f the Faculty o f A rt o f the local univer­ sity dominated in Vilnius. Neo-classicism and neo-romanticism were nurtured as well. Nevertheless, the works o f local painters and litterateurs o f the second decade o f the io ch century were already affected by the experiences o f World War I and the ideas o f the Russian revolution o f 1917. Fascination with futur­ ism, constructivism, technique, movement and speed became obvious as well. This is evidenced by the “Manifesto o f Futurism” o f Fillipo Tommaso Marinetti, which was published in Vilnius in 1913. Wystawa Nowej Sztuki (The Exhibition o f New A rt)'4, which was held in 1923, is the first pronounced exhibition o f the avant-garde art style in Vilnius. The exhibition was initiated and organized by two friends: Vytautas Kairiūkštis and Wladyslaw Strzeminski. They both studied in Moscow and became ac­ quainted with the Russian avant-garde there. The works o f three residents o f Vilnius and four residents o f Warsaw were ex­ hibited in Vilnius'5. Cubistic and constructive compositions dominated. Avant-

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

79

garde tendencies, which originated from Russia and the Western countries, have inter-crossed in the Wystauta Nowej Sztuki. The exhibition is significant because it gave a stimulus to both Polish and Lithuanian avant-garde artists. Kairiūkštis developed the principles o f cubism and Suprematism until around 1924. He also painted landscapes, portraits, still-lifes, created photo montages, advertisements and designed covers for publications. A famous can­ vas painting in the suprematist style Suprematistinė kompozicija (Suprematist Composition, 1922-1923, Fig. 14), painted in 1922-1923, is a geometric abstraction from several colour layers. It was reproduced in the Polish magazine o f construc­ tivist style Blok (1924). Kairiūkštis also taught the principles o f constructivism to his students at the painting studio, which operated at Vytautas Magnus Gym­ nasium in Vilnius in 1921-1928. The modernization o f art started in Kaunas in the third decade o f the twen­ tieth century when Kaunas became the capital o f the Republic o f Lithuania and the first generation of artists was educated at the Kaunas School o f A rt'6. The appearance o f new artists on the art scene was accompanied by the huge oppo­ sition o f the neo-romanticists and realists o f the older generation, who gained their artistic education at the beginning o f the 20th century in Western Europe or Russia. However, a new generation o f artists from the Kaunas School o f A rt gradually changed the nature o f painting and graphic art towards modernity. Artists who graduated from the Kaunas School o f A rt made use o f state support for further studies in the academies o f art and studios o f artists in Paris. There­ fore, these artists were well familiar with the artistic life o f French culture. The idea to establish a group o f modernists Ars (1932-1935) was originated by the Lithuanian painters Antanas Gudaitis, Viktoras Vizgirda, Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas and others, who studied in Paris at that time. The members o f the Ars group aimed to make Lithuanian art national and modern, which would be of equal value to the contemporary art o f Western Europe. It can be said that the artists o f a young independent country managed to achieve this. By learning from expression istic and neoclassical art o f Western Europe and inspired by the forms o f Lithuanian folk sculptures and folk textile colours, these painters cre­ ated modern painting works, which reflected the Lithuanian national character (Samuolis, Baltoji obelis [The White Apple-Tree], 1932; Samuolis. Geltona moteris

80

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 14. VYTAUTAS K A IR IŪ K ŠTIS. Suprematist Composition . 1911-1915

History of Lithuanian cu ltu r e

Fig. 15. A N T A N A S SAM UOLIS. Yellow ¡Vornan . 193?

81

82

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 16. VYTAUTAS K A Z IM IE R A S JO N Y N A S. Fairy Tale. 1931

Hiscory o f Lithuanian culture

83

[Yellow Woman], 1933, Fig. 15; Vizgirda. Kaim o gatvė su koplytėle [Village Street with a Chapel], 1939; Jonynas. Pasaka [Fairy Tale], 1931, Fig. 16). Paris for the pre-war Lithuanians was not only a place o f studies, but also a place o f active participation in the artistic life. Avant-garde magazine M U BA (Mūsų baro apžvalga [Review o f our Bar], 1928) was published in Paris in 1928. The poet Juozas Tysliava, who was the editor o f this magazine, was successfully adapted to the environment o f the avant-garde in Paris. Tysliava managed to gather together a huge number o f international personalities: Jean Cocteau, Paul Dermee, Kazimir Malevich, Vytautas Kairiūkštis, Piet Mondrian, Luigi Russolo, Michel Seuphor, Roman Suta, Ilarie Voronca, etc. The first edition in­ troduced the examples o f their artistic creation as well as promoted Lithuanian modernist poetry and art. The second M U B A edition is first o f all notable for its futurism and futurists. The modernization o f Lithuanian art was significant in 1910-1940. Moder­ nization was marked by the denial o f traditions, formation o f groups o f art­ ists on the basis o f creative ideas, a search for individuality, manifestos, artistic provocations, challenges and abilities to operate not only locally, but also on the international level.

Socio-political changes and art in 1940-1990 The year 1940 was fateful for the Republic o f Lithuania and its independ­ ent culture. The country was occupied by the Soviet Union in June. A natural cultural development o f a free country was suspended for fifty years. Life had to go on in accordance with the standards and values set by the ideologists o f the Soviet Union. Artists had to deal not only with the ethic position, but also with human survival issues. Painters were financially and ideologically dependent on the governing bodies for the entire fifty years o f occupation. However, the development of Soviet art did not occur at a level pace, since the political development o f the U SSR was also not o f a level pace over these fifty years. The Stalinist period (1945-1956) was the most difficult for culture: both ideas and topics were dictated, the requirements to educate society through art were raised.

84

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

artists were forced to create the art o f socialist realism, because it was believed that only this sort o f art could be understood by the proletariat. Painters had to be politically involved. Moreover, they were forced to forget European culture and follow the Russian realists (peredvizbniki) o f the end o f the 19th century. During this period, national Lithuanian art lost its real nature and unwillingly took on the features o f the socialist realism style. The painting Kolūkio steigiamasis susir­ inkimas (Meeting to Establish a Collective Farm, 1950, Fig. 17), painted by Vincas Dilka, is distinguished for its pomposity, dogmatism and is a good example o f how painting was turned into a real tool o f Soviet ideology. The painting depicts an op­ timistic decision o f peasants to become the workers o f a collective farm, although this particular moment was most often forced and sad in reality. The Stalin cult was criticized for the first time in 1956 and the idea of modernization o f the Soviet art was raised in Moscow. By the 1960s this idea was implemented in several directions. The first direction was developed along­ side the slogan “A rt for domestic life”. Specialists o f applied art, architects and designers o f items had to modernize the daily life o f the Soviet people. However, this task was utopian since people had lived under constant defi­ cit conditions. The second direction aimed to create visual art that would be ideologically trustworthy, but would also be distinguished for innovation o f forms and modernity. This led to the development o f modified socialist realism, now commonly referred to as “Soviet modernism”. Artists o f the Soviet Union were again allowed to study western impressionism as well as several trends o f classic modernism. Lithuanian painters turned back to the Lithuanian art o f the 1920s and 1930s and again recalled the things (i.e. fauvism, expressionism), which have been prohibited for almost twenty years. Painters again discovered a source o f “national spirit” in Lithuanian folk art as they did in the pre-war pe­ riod. Lithuanian art significantly modernized in the 1960S-1980S , since mat­ ters o f plasticity in a piece o f art were not a priority o f the Soviet censorship and this part o f creative expression p was not strictly regulated. However, no com­ promises or obscurities were allowed in the content or plot: art was supposed to further “serve the people”. This situation can be well illustrated by the painting Aktyvisto m irtis (Death o f an Activist, 1971, Fig. 18) by Silvestras Džiaukštas. The painting is modern, close to Italian neo-realism, the colours are active and

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 17. V IN C A S DILK A . M eeting to Establish a Collective Farm . 1950

85

86

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 18. SILVESTRAS D 2lA U K §TA S. Death o f a n Activist. 1971

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

87

forms are distinctly stylized. However, the title o f the painting and the content are still ideological: only communists and the members o f the young commu­ nist league referred to “activists” in the vocabulary o f Soviet Lithuania. On the other hand, the pieces o f art had two titles at the time: one title was for the Soviet censorship and art councils'7, and the second title, which reflected the inner beliefs o f an artist. I f we have a look to the painting o f Džiaukštas closer, it is difficult to say who that man was with a tragic fortune and who was guilty for his death. It seems that the artist tries to retreat from direct politicking in the painting and does not give vivid ideological and visual links for the spec­ tator. It seems that the author wants to make the spectators draw their own conclusions and follow their personal experience. Most o f the painters, who experienced “warming” during the period under Nikita Khrushchev’s rule, began to avoid ideological topics such as the revolution o f the proletariat, the establishment o f collective farms, the struggle o f the classes or portraits o f socialist labour heroes. Artists focused on the active creation of topics related to maternity and family (Fig. 19). They started to paint portraits o f Lithuanian cultural personas, friends or family members (Fig. 20). Sculptors had to break down huge ideological barriers in order to achieve that not only obligatory camps o f the leaders o f the October Revolution would appear in the cities, but also the monuments to Lithuanian historic personas, poets or paint­ ers. A monument to Čiurlionis built by Vladas Vildžiūnas in Druskininkai (1975, Fig. 21), as well as a monument to the poet Maironis in Kaunas (1977, Fig. 22) and a monument to the poet Adomas Mickevičius in Vilnius (1986), both built by Gediminas Jokūbonis, are valuable and have deep meaning. There were also expressions o f underground creation among the artists in the Soviet times in Lithuania. Abstractions were painted, as well as assemblages and the art o f an object were created despite the fact that these art forms were strictly forbidden and there were no possibilities to exhibit them publicly. The creation o f Kazė Zimblytė, Antanas Cukermanas, Valentinas Antanavičius, Vincas Kisarauskas and many others was later named as “Silent modernism”'8 by art critics. Their creative searches were radical, strictly discarding the rules o f the official art (Valentinas Antanavičius. Portretas su vado kakta ir juodais akiniais [Portrait with a Forehead and Black Glasses o f a Leader], Fig. 23, Vincas

88

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 19. ROBERTAS A N T IN IS (father). M aternity. 1970

H istory o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. zo. VYTAUTA S CIPLIJAUSKAS. Portrait o f L iu da s Truikys a n d M arijona Rakauskaitė, honoured artist o f the L ith uanian SSR . 1971-1974

89

90

History of Lithuanian culture

Fig. i i . VLADAS V IL D Ž IŪ N A S. M onum ent to M . K . Čiurlionis. 1975

H istory o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. zz. G E D IM IN A S JO K Ū B O N IS. M onum ent to M aironis. 1977

91

92

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 13. V A LENTIN AS A N T A N A V lC lU S. Portrait with a Forehead a n d Black Glasses o f a Leader. 1972

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 14. KOSTAS DEREŠKEVIČIUS. Thursday. 1976

93

94

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

i

Fig. zs. ALG IM A N TA S ŠVĖGŽDA. Green A pple in a B lu e Background. 1994

H istory o f Lithuanian CULTURE

95

Kisarauskas. Autoportretas [Self-Portrait], 1971). The younger generation o f art­ ists learnt from these painters how to express a non-conformist attitude, creative openness and the ways o f social criticism. Reality in the visual art in the 1980s when the Soviet times were already coming to an end was revealed through vari­ ous prisms . Some painters were interested in daily phenomena and completely de-romanticized daily events in their works (Kostas Dereškevičius. Ketvirta­ dienis [Thursday], 1976, Fig. 14 ; Algimantas Švėgžda. Žalias obuolys mėlyname fone [Green Apple in a Blue Background], 1994, Fig. 15). Other painters (Šarūnas Sauka, Mindaugas Skudutis, Raimundas Sližys) focused on the fantasticality of reality and saw only chaos, mimicry and a play o f dark forces in reality. From the plastic perspective, expressionism and surrealism, realism and pop-art ele­ ments were often combined. The pictorial art lost its ambitions and significantly dropped in an ideological sense and instead became auto-reflective. A s a result o f the beginning o f Mikhail Gorbachev s Perestroika (Restruc­ turing) in the Soviet Union in the middle o f the 1980s and the final collapse of the Soviet Union, a wide range o f information, cooperation and international ex­ hibition possibilities was again available to painters. The nature o f art started to change. Artists got interested in more intellectual artistic activities, exploration of reality and tried to make art and life come closer together. A stage o f active crea­ tion o f campaigns, performances and installations started in Lithuania at the end o f the 1980s. The group Post Ars (1989) was one o f the most significant creators in the activity mentioned above. Robertas Antinis, Česlovas Lukenskas and Aleksas Andriuškevičius, who were members o f this group, started to organize happenings in both galleries and streets, campaigns o f body and fabric and musical actions. They followed classic modernism: Dada, Fluxus, the ideas o f futurism. They creat­ ed mail-art, books of painters, video-films. Artists tried to involve the representa­ tives o f various social layers (i.e. musicians, actors, soldiers, schoolchildren) in their performances (Fig. 1 6). This Lithuanian group o f neo-avantgardists has signifi­ cantly contributed to the conceptualization o f creation process and to the expan­ sion o f the topics explored in Lithuanian art. They started to focus on the topics o f social intrigue, ecology, sores o f society, e.g. human detachment. Ekoprojektas (The Eco-project) in Ąžuolynas park in Kaunas (1990), the campaigns in Zatyšiai quarry (1989-1991) as well as the performance in Europe-Biennale Niederlausitz

96

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. z6. The Performance o f the Group “Post Ars”. zoo8, Art Gallery “ io i ", Kaunas

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

97

(Germany, 1993), where a symbolic piece o f arc L a n d A rt on the topic “Human being, civilization, nature, culture” was created from industrial waste found in nature desolated by industry, can be mentioned. The Post Ars group was awarded the grand prix. The group stopped its activity at the end o f the twentieth century. Currently, the members o f PostArs are working as artists individually.

Conceptual artistic ideas in contemporary art The sculptor Antinis, a member o f Post Ars, is the author o f one o f the best sculpture works which has again been created in independent Lithuania. His monument A ukos laukas (Field o f Victim, Kaunas, 2001, Fig. 27) is dedicated to commemorate a young man who died for the ideals o f freedom19. A historically significant area - a part o f the so-called City Garden near the Musical Thea­ tre in Kaunas - is surrounded with sculptural bronze plates similar to charred leaves o f paper. Eighteen metal knolls similar to stones are freely spread in the grass. This is a reference to the years o f the young man who has set himself on fire. A tree, by which the tragedy has occurred, is surrounded with a metal ring. By applying a strategy o f conceptualism, the measures o f sculpture and land art, Antinis has brought symbolism to the area. The monument does not dominate in the urban space, but tactically marks a historically significant place for the city and the entire country. Interdisciplinary and contextuality are important features o f Lithuanian contemporary art. Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonai, who are artists o f younger generation, have been creating interdisciplinary contemporary art projects which analyze problems relevant to culture and society since the end o f the 1990s. “Villa Lituania”, which is one o f the most famous projects o f the couple, was introduced in the Venice Bienalle in 2007. The artists in the exhibition area have symboli­ cally restored the history o f the former Embassy o f the Republic o f Lithuania in Rome10. A huge model o f the building, the stories o f witnesses and a fence o f crys­ tal vases reminding us o f the anti-tank fortifications have become indirect, but meaningful signs o f an indecisive situation. The artists have raised inconvenient aspects o f political history, and the complicated relationship between Lithuania

98

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Fig. 17. ROBERTAS A N TIN IS. Field o f Victim. A fragment o f the monument to Romas Kalanta. 1001

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

99

and the Soviet Union in the twentieth century. Similar art installations were de­ veloped by the Urbonas duo in Vilnius during the protest against the liquidation o f a particular cinema. By applying a strategy o f cooperation, which is prevalent in contemporary art, the artists gathered society for protests against the inten­ tion to occupy the public area. Naturally, by realizing these projects, which have overstepped the boundaries o f exhibition halls and touched political problems or business interests, the artists were no longer safe as individuals. However, this expansive, open and actual creation has played a significant role in the processes o f educating the consciousness o f post-Soviet society. Changes in applied art have also started since 1990. They are especially vivid in textile art. Textile artists focused on the conceptual tasks and art ten­ dencies typical o f the end o f the twentieth century, but did not forget the sub­ tleties o f craft: at the same time. The human body, personal and foreign, visible and felt, demonstrated and hidden one, has become the most important object o f works o f textile artists o f the younger generation. A n essential resistance to various stereotypes, which prevailed in art and society, was highlighted. The is­ sues related to the purpose o f contemporary art, the possibilities and limits of textile craft, the attitude towards a human being and towards both genders are investigated in textile. The feminine discourse in textile reveals the relation of our textile to relevant tendencies o f contemporary art: the search for cultural and sexual identity, privacy, inequality, aging and death, which were considered taboo by a civilized society. A great part o f Lithuanian textile works has become an interdisciplinary phenomenon.

Conclusions Lithuanian art until World War I developed not only in close contact with the processes taking place in European culture, but was also an integral part o f the artistic and exhibition life o f these processes. It coincides with the fact, which has been highlighted in the studies o f Lithuanian art so far, that Lithuanians tried to create national art at this period more than in any other period. Active discus­ sion o f this question and the positive answers which have been revealed also show

100

Hiscory o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

that Lithuanian artists were concerned with similar issues, the same as artists from other European countries. Lithuanian art, the same as art o f all o f Europe, has a greater number o f conservative works than modern ones. There were no precondi­ tions for searching for more radical modernistic ideas, because painters did not have any systematic possibilities to obtain an academic education. Moreover, there were no strong communities o f artists or private art centres. However, Lithuania can be still proud o f having interesting, distinctive and stylish examples o f symbol­ ism and o f tht A rt Nouveau style. The Lithuanian press o f the early twentieth cen­ tury is especially distinguished for the notion of artists’ subtle sense o f beauty, and rich, but subtle classic ornamentation. Lithuanian graphic artists have creatively combined the search for books and magazines with the search for harmonious unity. Painters in publications managed to create the unity o f separate elements, which is typical o f the A rt Nouveau style. Decorative books and the poster genre became the most significant manifestation o f modernism in Lithuanian culture. The process o f modernization in Lithuanian art was in a close cooperation with lit­ terateurs and painters. Moreover, Lithuanians have operated alongside audiences from various nations. On the whole, the path o f Lithuanian art modernization was close to the processes which took place in the art o f the other Baltic states until World War II. Modernism o f Lithuanian art is not radical. It is often intertwined with a tendency towards neo-classicism, since Lithuanians were present in Paris at the time when modernity fatigue and nostalgia for the classic were felt in French art. The activity o f Post Arsythe international movement o f artists in Vilnius and the M U B A magazine are considered to be the most significant factors in the mod­ ernization o f Lithuanian art. Two occupations brutally terminated these interesting and timely (if com­ pared with the neighbouring countries) processes in the mid-twentieth century. World War II had serious consequences: a natural development o f Lithuanian cul­ ture ceased and ideological requirements were demanded. It seems that a double art was formed within the fifty years o f the Soviet occupation: the official art, which was often pathetic or in compromise and “Silent modernism”, which was the work of those who failed or did not want to adapt to the existing system. Paradoxically, today when we speak about “Soviet modernism”, we speak about the artistic phe­ nomenon, which combines the features o f both official and unofficial art.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

101

After 1990, art faced radical changes in the development o f contemporary art. The international art area was primarily opened to the young generation and to those who had already graduated in independent Lithuania. Artists re­ fused the creation o f images in their works, while creation was understood as an interdisciplinary investigation. Painters and sculptors as well as artists working in the mediums o f graphic art, ceramics and textile art have become the creators o f objects, installations and performances.

List of figures i.

Adomas Varnas. Dailininkas ir elgeta (Artist and Beggar). 1906-1908. Oil on canvas, 115 x 85 cm. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas

1.

Petras Rimša. Lietuvos mokykla 1864-1904 (Lithuanian School in 1864-1904). 1906-1914. Bronze, 31 x 16 x 15.7 cm. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas

3.

Antanas Žmuidzinavičius. Senos žemaičių kapinės (Old Cemetery of Samogitians). 1914. Oil on canvas, 98.5 x 118.5 cm*M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Ž-743, Kaunas

4.

Juozas Zikaras. Apsaugok mus, Viešpatie (Protect us, Lord). 1909. Plaster, toning, 46 x 47 x 19 cm. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum o f Art, Ms-56, Kaunas

5.

Petras Kalpokas. Namas pavakaryje (House in Eventide). 1912. Oil on paper, 54 x 68 cm. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum o f Art, Mt-551, Kaunas

6.

Antanas Žmuidzinavičius. Miunchenas naktį (Munich at Night). 1908. Oil on canvas, 63.5 x 78 cm. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum o f Art, Ž-96, Kaunas

7.

Photograph. Lietuvos kryžiai (Album Lithuanian Crosses). 1912. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum o f Art, Kaunas

8.

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. Sofijos Čiurlionienės knygos Lietuvoje vir­ šelis (Cover of Sofija Čiurlionienės book In Lithuania). 1908. Pop., spauda, 18,2 x 19,6 cm. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum o f Art, Čpf-121, Kaunas

9.

Petras Rimša. Penktosios lietuvių dailės parodosplakatas (Poster of the Fifth Exhibi­ tion of Lithuanian Art). 1911. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas

10.

Unknown author, a drawing of Čiurlionis. Pomirtinės M .K. Čiurlionio parodos plakatas (Poster of Posthumous Exhibition of Čiurlionis). 1913. Pop., spauda, 80 x 71 cm. M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas

Hisrory o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

102

11.

M ik a lo ju s K o n s ta n tin a s Č iu r lio n is .

II).

From cycle Triptych My Road II (Mano kelias

T e m p e r a o n p a p e r , 5 4 x 4 5 .9 c m . M . K . Č i u r l i o n i s N a t i o n a l M u s e u m o f A r t ,

Č t-7 0 , K au n as 12 .

M ik a lo ju s K o n s ta n tin a s Č iu r lio n is .

Sonata No. 6. Allegro.

19 0 8 . T e m p e ra o n p a ­

p e r, 7 1 . 1 x 6 1 .4 c m . M . K . Č iu r lio n is N a t io n a l M u s e u m o f A r t , Č t-2 , K a u n a s 13 .

M ik a lo ju s K o n s ta n tin a s Č iu r lio n is .

Sonata No. 6. Andante.

19 0 8 . T e m p e ra o n

p a p e r , 7 3 .5 x 6 2 .5 c m , M . K . Č i u r l i o n i s N a t i o n a l M u s e u m o f A r t , Č t - 3 , K a u n a s 14 .

Vytautas Kairiūkštis. Suprematistinė kompozicija

15 .

A . S a m u o lis .

(S u p r e m a tis t

C o m p o s itio n ) .

19 2 2 .- 19 2 3 . P a p e r , o il, 38 x 3 1 c m . L it h u a n ia n A r t M u s e u m , T - 6 7 0 2 , V iln iu s

Geltona moteris ( Y e l l o w

W o m a n ) . 19 3 3 . O i l o n c a n v a s , 1 0 0 x 7 4 .5 c m .

M . K . Č iu r lio n is N a t io n a l M u s e u m o f A r t , M t-6 2 7 , K a u n a s 16 .

V y ta u ta s K a z im ie r a s Jo n y n a s .

Pasaka ( F a i r y

T a le ). 19 3 1. C o lo u r fu l w o o d c a r v in g ,

2 1 x 1 6 c m . M . K . Č iu r lio n is N a t io n a l M u s e u m o f A r t , K a u n a s 17 .

V in c a s D ilk a .

18 .

S ilv e s tra s

Kolūkio steigiamasis susirinkimas ( M

e e t in g t o E s t a b lis h a C o lle c t iv e

F a rm ). 19 5 0 . O il o n c a n v a s , 17 5 x 238 c m . L ith u a n ia n A r t M u s e u m , T -3 0 0 7 , V iln iu s

Diiaukstas. Aktyvisto mirtis ( D e a t h

o f a n A c t iv is t) . 19 7 2 . O il o n c a n v a s ,

15 5 x 16 5 c m . L i t h u a n i a n A r t M u s e u m , T - 4 5 3 4 , V i l n i u s 19 . 20.

R o b e r t a s A n t i n i s (fa th e r ).

Motinystė ( M

a t e r n it y ) . 19 7 0 . G r a n it e , h - 13 0 c m . K a u n a s

Vytautas Ciplijauskas. LTSR nusipelniusios artistės Marijonos Rakauskaitės ir Liudo Truikio portretas ( P o r t r a i t o f L i u d a s T r u i k y s a n d M a r i j o n a R a k a u s k a i t ė , h o n o u re d a r tis t o f th e L ith u a n ia n S S R ) . 1 9 7 1 - 1 9 7 4 . O il o n c a n v a s , 12 2 x 1 7 0 cm . L ith u a n ia n A r t M u s e u m , T -4 8 6 6 , V iln iu s

2 1.

V la d a s V ild ž iū n a s .

PaminklasM . K. Čiurlioniui ( M

o n u m e n t to M . K . Č iu r lio n is ) .

19 7 $ . B ro n z e . A r c h it e c t R im a n ta s D ič iu s . D r u s k in in k a i 22.

G e d im in a s Jo k ū b o n is .

Paminklas Maironiui

(M o n u m e n t

to

M a ir o n is ) . 19 7 7 .

M a r b le . A r c h it e c t R im a n ta s D ič iu s . K a u n a s 23.

V a le n tin a s A n t a n a v ič iu s .

Portretas su vado kakta ir juodais akiniais ( P o r t r a i t w i t h

a F o r e h e a d a n d B la c k G l a s s e s o f a L e a d e r ) . 1 9 7 2 . M i x e d t e c h n iq u e , 5 0 x 35 c m . P riv a te p r o p e r ty 24.

K o s ta s D e r e š k e v ič iu s .

Ketvirtadienis ( T h u r s d a y ) .

1 9 7 6 . O i l o n c a n v a s , 8 8 .5 x 9 9 . $ c m .

M o d e r n A r t C e n tre , V iln iu s 25.

A lg im a n t a s Š v ė g ž d a .

Žalias obuolys mėlynamefone ( G r e e n

A p p le in a B lu e B a c k ­

g ro u n d ). 19 9 4 . O il o n c a n v a s , 7 0 x 9 0 c m . M . K . Č iu r lio n is N a t io n a l M u s e u m o f A r t, M t-6 4 3 8 , K a u n a s

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

103

26.

The Performance o f the Group “Post A rs”. 2008, A rt Gallery “101”, Kaunas

27.

Robertas Antinis. Aukos laukas (Field o f Victim). A fragment o f the monument to Romas Kalanta. 2002. Bronze. Architect Saulius Juškys

References I t a l r e a d y l o s t t h e s t a t u s o f t h e s t a t e a t t h e e n d o f t h e 1 8 th c e n t u r y a f t e r t h e t h i r d p a r t i t i o n o f t h e R e p u b lic s o f L it h u a n ia a n d P o la n d ( P o lis h - L it h u a n ia n C o m m o n w e a lt h ) . I t w a s a r e s u l t o f p o l i t i c a l e v e n t s i n t h e 1 8 t h —1 9 t h c e n t u r i e s : t h e p a r t i t i o n o f t h e P o l i s h - L i t h u a ­ n ia n C o m m o n w e a lt h a n d u n s u c c e s s fu l r e b e llio n s o f P o le s a n d L it h u a n ia n s a g a in s t ts a r ­ is t o c c u p a t io n ( 18 3 1 a n d 18 6 3 ). M a n y s t u d e n t s f r o m t h e V i l n i u s S c h o o l o f D r a w i n g c h o s e f u r t h e r s tu d ie s in P a r is a t th e e n d o f t h e 1 9 th c e n t u r y . N a c h u m A r o n s o n s t u d i e d i n B o g u s z - S ic s t r z c n c c w ic z

in AcadémieJulien, w h i l e

Ecole des Arts Décoratifs, S t a n i s l a v

L e o p o ld B e r n s h t e in - Z in a je v a s s tu d ie d

a t D a lo u a n d R o d in . B o le s la w B a lz u k ie w ic z , B o le s la w B u y k o a n d Z o f ija D e m b o v s k y t ė R o m c r i c n ė , t h e f o r m e r a r t i s t s o f V i l n i u s , s e t t l e d i n P a r i s i n t h e f i r s t d e c a d e o f t h e 2 0 th c e n tu r y ( 19 0 2 - 1 9 0 4 ) . Ja c q u e s L ip c h it z (19 0 9 ), C h a im S o u tin e a n d E m m a n u e l M a n c - K a tz (19 13 ) r e a c h e d P a r is ju s t b e fo r e W o r ld W a r I . S e e m o r e i n L a u č k a it ė s b o o k

X X amžiauspradžioje ( A r t o f V i l n i u s i n

Vilniaus dailė

E a r l y 2 0 th C e n t u r y ) . V i l n i u s : B a l t o s l a n k o s , 2 0 0 2 .

L e o p o ld a s A n d r ija u s k a s , S t a n is la v B o h u s z - S ic s t r z c n c e w ic z , e tc . a ls o s t u d ie d in p r iv a te s t u ­ d i o s i n M u n i c h a t t h e e n d o f t h e 1 9 th c e n t u r y . I n t h e e a r l y 2 0 th c e n t u r y , P e t r a s K a l p o k a s a n d J o n a s Š i l e i k a a ls o t r a v e lle d t o t h e c a p it a l o f B a v a r ia t o s t u d y . J u s t i n a s V ie n o ž in s k is , A d a l ­ b e r ta s S t a n c ik ą , I g n a s Š la p e lis w e r e t h e s tu d e n ts o f t h e K r a c o w A c a d e m y o f A r t . A t h e o r y o f s y m b o lis m w a s c o n s id e r e d b y t h e p h ilo s o p h e r R a m ū n a s B y t a u t a s i n t h e m a ­ g a z in e

Draugija i n

19 0 8 in o r d e r t o b e t te r u n d e r s t a n d th e s y m b o lic c r e a t io n o f Č iu r lio n is .

S e e B y ta u ta s . A p l i n k m ū s ų d a ilė s p a r o d ą // D r a u g ija . 19 0 8 . N r . 17 . p . 2 4 . L a u č k a it ė L . V iln ia u s d a ilė X X a m ž ia u s p r a d ž io je . V iln iu s : B a lt o s la n k o s , 2 0 0 2 , p . 14 5 . G r . A .M o la it ė s 25 m e t ų d a r b a v im o s s u k a k t u v ė s / / L ie t u v o s ž in io s . 19 13 . N r . 1 2 9 - 1 3 0 . P a d ė k it e m u m s t a is y t i d a ilė s p a r o d ą / / V ilt is . 19 12 . N r . 37. W h ile d is c u s s in g th e V iln iu s P re ss F a ir in 1 9 1 4 , a d v ic e w a s g iv e n t o fo llo w e x a m p le s o f th e G e r m a n p re s s in t h e m a g a z in e

Viltis. S e e

D a ilė s s p a u d in ių v e r t ė / / V i l t i s , 19 13 . N r . 16 0 .

I t is a W e s t e r n p a r t o f L i t h u a n i a , w h i c h w a s u n d e r t h e i n f l u e n c e o f a s t r o n g e r G e r m a n c u lt u r e fo r m a n y y e a rs. T h e p a in t e r F id u s w a s a n illu s t r a to r o f t h e G e r m a n t h e o s o p h ic a l m a g a z in e w o rk er o f

Die Schôncheit. H e

R ė k la itis P. F id u s -

Sphinx a n d the c o -

h a s c r e a te d a g r e a t n u m b e r o f v ig n e tt e s , e x -lib ris a n d p o s te r s.

V y d ū n o iliu s tra to r iu s // R ė k la it is P. P ra r a s t o s L ie t u v o s p ė d s a k ų

b e ie š k a n t / s u d . V . J a n k a u s k a s . V i l n i u s : V i l n i a u s d a ilė s a k a d e m ijo s le id y k la , 1 9 9 9 , p . 35 1.

History o f Lithuanian culture

T h i s is t h e n a m e o f a n o r n a m e n t c r e a t e d b y f a m o u s L i t h u a n i a n a r t h i s t o r i a n P a u l i u s G a la u n ė .

M loda Potska

( Y o u n g P o la n d ) , a m o v e m e n t o f P o lis h lit e r a t u r e a n d a r t c o v e r in g t h e y e a rs

fr o m 18 9 0 t o 19 18 , w a s a t r e n d o f d is t in c t iv e m o d e r n is m , w h ic h a im e d t o c re a te n a tio n a l lit e r a t u r e a n d a r t b a s e d o n P o lis h r o m a n t ic is m a n d f o lk a r t a ft e r s h if t in g id e a s o f s u c ­ c e s s io n a n d s y m b o lis m t o t h e P o lis h e n v ir o n m e n t . T h e w o r k s o f v is u a l a r t in c lu d e d th e fe a t u r e s o f n e o - r o m a n t ic is m , s y m b o lis m , im p r e s s io n is m , s u c c e s s io n a n d e x p r e s s io n is m . M a r i a n a V e r i o v k i n a is c l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o L i t h u a n i a . S h e g r e w u p i n V i l n i u s a n d u s e d to sp e n d su m m e rs at a m a n o r n e a r U te n a . S h e u se d to v is it h e r b ro th e r, th e fo r m e r g o v e r­ n o r - g e n e r a l o f K a u n a s i n t h e e a r l y i o rh c e n t u r y , t o o . T h e a r t i s t p a i n t e d s e v e r a l p a i n t i n g s fe a t u r in g L i t h u a n i a n m o t i f s . T h e e x h ib it io n o f h e r e x p r e s s io n is t ic w o r k s w a s s t o r e d in t h e h o u s e o f t h e g o v e r n o r - g e n e r a l ( n o w - T h e H i s t o r i c a l P r e s id e n t ia l P a la c e ) . T h e e x h ib itio n w a s o p e n e d o n th e fo r m e r A d o m a s M ic k e v ič iu s A v e n u e (n o w G e d im in a s A v e n u e ), in th e fo rm e r c in e m a C o r s o . V y t a u t a s K a ir iū k š t is , W la d y s la w S t r z c m in s k i, M a r ia P u c ia t y c k a , re s id e n ts o f V iln iu s , an d H en ryk

Stazew ski M

i e c z y s l a w S z c z u k a , K a r o l K r y n s k i , T e r e s a Ž a r n o v e r o w n a , r e s i­

d e n ts o f W a rsa w , p a r t ic ip a t e d in th e

E xh ibitio n o f N ew A rt i n

V iln iu s .

T h e K a u n a s S c h o o l o f A r t w a s e s t a b lis h e d b y th e p a in t e r J u s t in a s V ie n o ž in s k is in 1 9 1 1 . T h e s c h o o l h a d d iv is io n s o f b o t h s e c o n d a r y a n d h ig h e r e d u c a tio n . T e a c h e r s o f a r t a s w e ll as a rt­ is t s ( p a i n t e r s , s c u l p t o r s , a r t i s t s o f g r a p h i c s a n d c e r a m i c s ) w e r e e d u c a t e d a t t h e s c h o o l . T h e o r g a n iz a t io n o f e x h ib it io n s in t h e S o v ie t U n io n w a s s t r ic t ly s u p e r v is e d b y t h e C o u n ­ c il o f A r c . T h e e x h ib itio n s w e r e fo r m e d fr o m th e a r t is ts lo y a l t o th e s y s te m b y th e d iv i­ s io n s o f t h e U n io n o f A r t o f e a c h r e p u b lic o f t h e S o v ie t U n io n . T h e r e v ie w o f w o r k s a n d s e le c t io n o f t h o s e t h a t w o u l d p a s s c e n s o r s h ip f o r e x h ib it io n s w a s t h e m a i n f u n c t io n o f th e C o u n c il o f A r t . T h e c o p y r ig h t o f th e t e r m b e lo n g s t o t h e a r t c r it ic D r . E lo n a L u b y t ė . A n e ig h t e e n - y e a r o l d m a n , n a m e d R o m a s K a l a n t a , s e t h i m s e l f o n f i r e n e a r t h e M u s i c a l T h e a ­ t r e i n K a u n a s i n s p r i n g 1 9 7 Z . T h e s u ic id e w a s h i s p r o t e s t a g a i n s t t h e S o v i e t g o v e r n m e n t . W h e n L it h u a n ia w a s o c c u p ie d b y t h e S o v ie t s ( 1 9 4 0 ) , th e b u ild in g s o f it s e m b a s s ie s w e re tr a n s fe r r e d t o t h e o w n e r s h ip o f th e S o v ie t U n io n . A t t h e t im e w h e n t h e U r b o n a s ’ c a r r ie d o u t t h is p r o je c t, t h e b u ild in g in R o m e s t ill b e lo n g e d t o R u s s ia .

TheHistory o/Lithuanian CULTURE

EDGARAS KLIVIS

Development of National Theatre

105

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

107

Traditional historiography looks for the origins o f Lithuanian theatre in the late 19th century when Lithuania was colonized by Tsarist Russia and outside its borders, in the movement o f cultural societies and amateur Lithuanian soirees popular in the great imperial cities and industrial centres o f foreign countries. Despite the fact that professional troupes were working in Vilnius, Kaunas and German Klaipėda before the movement o f Lithuanian soirees by the late 19th century and regardless o f the existence o f networks and routes o f tours intend­ ed for the audience o f local cities and towns, historians o f Lithuanian theatre tend to see this theatrical culture as a relic o f the old culture o f the Grand Duchy o f Lithuania. This is because most members o f those theatrical troupes were not o f Lithuanian origin. Moreover, most often they were not even locals and performances were staged in the Polish, Russian (in Vilnius and Kaunas) and German (in Klaipėda) languages. Modern Lithuanian theatre emerged in a completely different environment. It arose in the generation o f new national intellectuals who graduated from Russian universities and started to construct the concepts o f a modern national identity, Lithuanian culture, history and language o f the nation and published the first Lithuanian newspapers. In other words, it emerged in the context o f a movement o f cultural nationalism o f the modern Lithuanian nation. In the early period (as o f 1880), Lithuanian soirees were spontaneously or­ ganized by the societies o f intelligentsia (mostly students) in the largest cities o f the Russian Empire and other countries which gave shelter to emigrants. The first soirees took place in private apartments or rented venues. The programme

108

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

consisted o f folk songs and dances but eventually included recitations and acting o f small scenes. A charitable society o f Lithuanians and Samogitians founded in St Petersburg in 1892 as well as the society Aušra founded earlier (1881) in Riga with the purpose o f cherishing Lithuanian songs marked a new stage: alongside the spread o f societies (Riga alone had about nine charitable, temperance, educa­ tional, cultural and Lithuanian societies established from 1881 to 1910. Societies were also active in Liepaja, Mitau, Moscow, Odessa, Warsaw (Poland), Tilsit (Germany), Plymouth, Mahanoy City, Chicago, Baltimore, New York (USA), etc.), the communities o f Lithuanian diaspora started the organization o f peri­ odic and systematic theatrical soirees. In the last decade o f the i9rh century, soi­ rees with performances were organized within the territory o f ethnical Lithua­ nia, initiated by foreign intellectuals, i. e., students on vacation or local activists. During the time when the Lithuanian press in the Latin alphabet was banned, the first organizers o f such events were persecuted, thus soirees became more fre­ quent after 1904 when this ban was lifted (even though Tsarist authorities con­ tinued to control every event). The first public soiree took place on August 20, 1899 in the Palanga resort, which belonged to the Courland Governorate and where the press ban was not so strict. This date was marked in the traditional historiography o f Lithuanian theatre as the symbolic starting point o f modern Lithuanian national theatre. Lithuanian soirees were a massive grassroots movement during which the Lithuanian-speaking population (led by their own intelligentsia) circumvented the obstacles o f the tsarist authorities (including the press ban and political perse­ cutions) and started to represent itself symbolically in drama and on the theatri­ cal stage, introducing for the first time the concept o f homogeneous Lithuanian culture as the basis o f a new internal unity and external political autonomy. Even though, as according to Benedict Anderson, nationalism was usually related to the press (the Lithuanian press had indeed an important role in the context o f the national rebirth), other forms o f national imagination (painting, music, ar­ chitecture, etc.) should not be forgotten, among which, in the late 19th century, the emphasis o f Lithuanian culture fell on widely spread theatrical performances. During these performances, the nation was represented not only on the stage but also by the audience, which consisted o f various social classes, different regions

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

109

and education, and became a metonymy o f national community: a gathering of emigrated intellectuals in one place embodied the integrity o f the national com­ munity and active work o f nation building. Abundant messages and articles in the press frequently marked the especially emotional public reaction to drama performed in the early Lithuanian language. It was the first time in Lithuanian soirees, when language “appeared on stage” on such a wide scale, turning from a variety o f dialects to the part o f a new homogeneous high culture. In addition to language, Lithuanian soirees raised important questions about other elements o f cultural identity, i.e. costumes, rural life, customs and history. The theatrical programme o f Lithuanian soirees and societies aimed not only at representing the concept o f a new and modern nation, but also func­ tioned as an immediate public space: people not only celebrated their newly dis­ covered (or invented) ethnical identity, but also solved relevant social problems. Using didactic humour, the new playwrights Aleksandras Fromas-Gužutis, Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė (Žemaitė), Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, Juozas Vilkutaitis-Keturakis, Liudvika Didžiulienė-Žmona and many others critically actualized various social problems, for example a lack o f education, alcohol­ ism and the corrupt tsarist government. Balys Sruoga idealized this new public sphere in his historical study: when creating Lithuanian performances, accord­ ing to the historian, unified by a common aim, all the parties become friends: “the right and the left do the same work” by trying to raise new Lithuanian soli­ darity1. Yet a more critical look reveals that this newly emerging civil society involved the development of a system with the predominance o f the new local intelligentsia. In this sense, soirees o f Lithuanian societies could be understood not only as public gatherings o f citizens, but also as a means or political instru­ ment to influence and control the masses. Not coincidentally, the movement of Lithuanian soirees chronologically coincided with a theatrical movement, which was initiated by the then Russian intelligentsia and spread throughout the Rus­ sian Empire in the late 19th century. By this means, the Russian intelligentsia aimed to control rebellious citizens, observe and regulate their behaviour, teach them to despise immoral pleasures and discipline their bodies for honest work1. Early on, Lithuanian soirees and theatrical events organized by societies focused on charity, i.e. on social protection. However, individual societies which,

110

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

besides charity, started putting an emphasis on cultural and literary activities, emerged during the first years o f the zolh century both abroad (in the Russian cities) and in Lithuanian cities. It marked a new stage o f early development of new national theatre. In 1901, the most talented initiators o f theatrical activity o f mutual benefit joined the Lošikų būrelis (A Group o f Players) in St Peters­ burg, i.e. a regular collective, which used to stage performances systematically and thus could constantly improve their performance. In 1911, the members o f different societies gathered in the Theatrical Commission, the most important aim o f which was “to organise a constant group o f theatre lovers with the pur­ pose to serve unconditionally the needs o f society from the artistic perspective, to develop artistic attempts to improve the sphere o f the stage”5. Increasing demands to improve the artistic level o f theatre in these societies meant that the dominating intelligentsia felt the need to discipline not only the masses but themselves as well. Critical prompts appeared in the press encourag­ ing paying less attention to the profits o f societies and more to the artistic level and development o f taste. It is also noteworthy that differentiation during this period between elite culture and popular folk entertainment became evident in the cultural and theatrical events organized by societies. The artistic activities of these semi-professional collectives gradually involved professionals who gradu­ ated from Russian theatrical schools and worked in Russian theatres. These pro­ fessionals included, for example, Kastantas Glinskis, the actor and director of the St Petersburg Little Theatre, Mikas Petrauskas, the author o f the first Lithua­ nian opera Birutė (staged for the first time in Vilnius in 1906) who studied in the conservatory o f St Petersburg (and later in France, Italy and the USA). The first Lithuanian theatrical studio-school was founded in St Petersburg in 1916, the head o f which was Juozas Vaičkus (the former head o f the amateur Skrajo­ jan tis teatras (The Flying Theatre)), who studied in the Imperial Russian School o f Theatre. Eighteen students o f this private studio (including Ona Kurmytė, Petras Kubertavičius, Juozas Stanulis, Antanina Vainiūnaitė, etc.) together with members o f other theatrical studios founded in Vilnius by professional actor and director Glinskis, later formed the nucleus o f the troupe o f the National Theatre. A ll these factors can be considered as important steps towards the founding o f a national theatre. The first professional Lithuanian theatre, the Drama Theatre,

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

111

was founded by the society o f Lithuanian Creators o f A rt in 1920. In 1922, it became the National Theatre and the first official national theatre o f the newly created society. The official date o f the institution o f the national theatre is De­ cember 19, 1920, when the performance Joninės (St Johns Day; based on the play by Hermann Sudermann) directed by Vaičkus was performed in the former palace o f the city theatre in Kaunas. The National Theatre with drama, opera and (since 1925) ballet troupes established in Kaunas was the only state-funded theatrical institution and the main institution o f professional theatre in Lithuania until 1940 when the Soviet State Theatre o f Vilnius (the predecessor o f the present National Lithuanian Theatre) was established after the first Soviet occupation. Branches o f the Na­ tional Theatre were also established in Šiauliai (1931) and Klaipėda (1935). Both the Drama Theatre (opened in 1920) and later the National Theatre were established in the premises o f the Kaunas C ity Theatre. Although the in­ terior was reconstructed and renewed several times, the main structure o f the auditorium remained the same as in other public national theatres o f Europe, where they reflected , only on a smaller scale, the structure o f society so that “the viewers o f all castes” could find their place. The theatre functioned as a reduced model o f national society, symbolically reconstructing homogeneous national unity. The elite public, which gathered in the auditorium, represented the great national entirety. Just like a parliament, the physical gathering in the theatre hall meant that new ideas that originated here would spread via the representa­ tives o f various social classes throughout the territory o f the state and different social groups. However, the fact that the National Theatre was the only theatri­ cal institution stably funded by the state during twenty years o f independence shows that the nature o f this public sphere was highly centralized and instru­ mental: the theatre was a tool to control social imagination and was used not only to deal with public issues but also to set necessary directions. N ot all theatre creators and artists were satisfied with such state control. For example, Antanas Sutkus stated in 1917 that for a national theatre, the most appropriate thing to do would be a form o f public theatre rather than that o f the state. This public theatre would be based on the autonomy o f artists and would be free from state

112

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

control. In 1919 and later repeatedly from 1923 to 1924, Sutkus founded an alter­ native Theatre o f the Nation and later (from 1920 to 1925) he ran an independent satirical theatre Vilkolakis (Werewolf), which was a highly popular improvisational theatre o f miniatures, satirically depicting contemporary political life and social chronicles o f bourgeois life in Kaunas. Besides the institution o f the State Theatre, there were non-state amateur troupes, which gathered theatre lovers o f different organisations (e. g. Military Theatre, Theatre o f the Riflemen’s Union), student troupes (University Acting Studio), folk theatres, variety troupes, childrens theatres and theatres o f the mi­ norities (among which Jewish theatres should be mentioned separately, as dur­ ing the first period o f independence, there were at least six operating theatres o f this sort). Some o f the non-state theatre companies had a vision o f creating an al­ ternative to the official National Theatre (e. g. Theatre o f the Nation by Sutkus) or they worked as experimental studios (Youth Theatre, Experimental StudioTheatre o f Drama). One o f the most successful aesthetic experiments was related to the Marionette Theatre founded by Stasys Usinskis. It was distinguished for unique puppets and later turned to unique projects o f puppet cinema.

Reconstructions of the past in Lithuanian theatre in the early 20th century Since the very first performances, history, rather than the present, had be­ come the most significant issue o f Lithuanian drama. Therefore, the most im­ portant and frequently staged performances in the national theatre o f the 20th century belonged to the genre o f historical drama. The creation o f common historical representations expressed the attempt to create a national homogene­ ous society, which would either consolidate the nation for the move towards complete liberation from foreign authority or would find consensus to overcome social stratification and internal fragmentation. Since the early times o f Lithuanian soirees, reconstructions o f national history had taken the central position in the theatrical project o f nation build­ ing. Historical plays by Marcelinas Šikšnys-Šiaulėniškis, Aleksandras Fromas-

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

113

Gužutis as well as other performances encouraged discussions and demanded enthusiasm amongst the performers, critics and the audience, because they re­ quired a creative approach to decorations, historical costumes, massive scenes and special effects (including fires, sounds o f a thunderstorm or horse tram­ pling) and most importantly, historical imagination. In 1912, Glinskis and the Theatrical Commission o f St Petersburg created a historical performance based on the tragedy Kęstutis, written by Polish author Adam Asnyk. This staging was not limited to accidental, borrowed decorations and costumes; folk clothes and footwear were brought from Lithuania, the costumes were made according to the old drawings and the crooked staff (hazel cane with two horns) was used as well. By recreating mythological and semi-mythological stories adapted from the early literary works o f Polish writers (Ludwik Kondratowicz, Jozef Kraszewski, etc.), Lithuanian authors started to emphasize different things, debate and correct the motifs o f the Polish tradition and learn higher standards o f drama at the same time4. The aim o f the early period o f Lithuanian historical drama was to present a unified visual and dramatic representation o f the past o f the na­ tion placing emphasis on the greatness o f narratives o f the past, their authentic­ ity and ancientness. The medieval history o f the Grand Duchy o f Lithuania as well as political and military activities o f the great dukes seeking to preserve the independence o f the country and expand its territory served this purpose best. Lithuania ruled by Vytautas the Great (a contest to write a historical play in honour o f this grand duke was announced in 1930, and the winning drama was staged in the National Theatre) was a culmination o f this history. Meanwhile, as a result o f the union with Poland, later ages were perceived as a period o f gradual decline and, consequently, attracted less attention from playwrights and direc­ tors in Lithuania. A great number o f original Lithuanian operas were also dedi­ cated to the theme o f the Middle Ages (Birutė by Mikas Petrauskas, Gražina by Jurgis Karnavičius, Trys Talismanai [Three Talismans] by Antanas Račiūnas). The myth o f self-creation o f the nation was revealed by depicting on stage the vision o f combative greatness o f Lithuania, sacrifice o f its men and women when the homeland was in danger, also the homely and unique background o f its his­ torical past related to manors, customs and landscape. It allowed the audience to

114

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

fortify themselves with the physical and spiritual power from the past, in other words, to maintain and control the shape o f national identity. However, besides this official thematic line worshiping the past and sup­ ported by the authorities during the interwar period, there also existed alter­ native visions o f the national past. First, we can distinguish the attempt to reconstruct, or to be more precise, invent theatrical representations, o f the most ancient, pagan and mythological origins o f the nation. This approach has formed the specific genre o f historical mysteries. Philosopher and playwright Vydūnas, who was highly influenced by the theosophical movement, Indian Vedas and the tendencies o f modern German literature, depicted a mystical birth o f the spirit o f the nation from the elements o f the primal landscape in his dramatic trilogy Probočių šešėliai (Shadows o f the Ancestors) - later this spirit experienced a painful encounter with the threats o f the modern era. Vydūnas’ performances took on the form o f an ancient ritual. The author staged his plays himself together with the amateur society o f Tilsit singers, performed them in nature, near Rambynas H ill, to which the procession would move from Tilsit, singing and carrying flags and moving across the Nemunas River by boats. Other important theatrical works could be also considered as histor­ ical mysteries, including dramas by Juozapas Albinas-Herbačiauskas, Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas and Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius. These plays required nontraditional stating techniques and did not permite trust in realistic theatrical codes - they were influenced by Ibsen, Strindberg and the dramas o f Russian symbolists. These historical representations were related to universal mytho­ logical structures o f humankind and symbolic archetypes, while the destiny o f the nation was depicted as a generalized fate o f a collective individual (the Nation) with her downfalls and rebirths. The mysteries, emphasising the uniqueness o f the national spirit (as it was described by Johann Herder who had a great influence on Lithuanian national­ ism), were also inclined to point out the contrast between the historical past and today (i.e. the contrast between the images on the stage and the spectators in the auditorium). Dramatic discrepancy between the noble heroes o f the past and the contemporary Lithuanian bourgeois became the basis o f critical evalu­ ation o f the present: society perceived that the gap, separating the ideal o f na-

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

115

čionai identity from the political, social and economic shapes o f the Republic o f Lithuania, was increasing. In 1923, Antanas Sutkus attempted one more time to establish an alternative Theatre o f the Nation. He aimed to make this theatre more democratic with a greater autonomy (i.e. a theatre that belongs to the na­ tion and society rather than the state) and would follow Vydūnas’ drama, which would be free from canons. Besides these historical models o f the drama, there were works by Lithua­ nian authors, which did not match with the heroic and mythological interpre­ tation o f history, but rather stressed the ambiguous relation o f the hero to his/ her tradition, surroundings, society and even himself/herself. Such plays also marked a shift from (neo) romantic principles to the principles o f modern his­ torical drama, demythologisation o f history, ironic representation o f charac­ ters and historical figures. A historical play Šarūnas (written in 1911 by Vincas Krėvė-Mickevičius and staged in 1929 by Andrius Oleka-Zilinskas in the Na­ tional Theatre) became the most important historical theatre performance dur­ ing the interwar period. It depicted the legendary duke, who tried to create the state through the will o f individual rebellion, the conflict with the community, traditions and even gods.

Modernist ideas in the intercultural context Šarūnas (and other works by Oleka-Zilinskas in Kaunas) was also consid­ ered as a special case, where the ideal o f national theatre (i.e. the reconstruction o f local history directed towards the past) is combined with the principles o f modern theatre (i.e. the experiments facing thefutu re and drawing energy from the processes o f the international art world). The performance was character­ ized by fragmentation, rejection o f realistic representation, stylistic innovations, as well as ensemble acting. Yet, the concept o f modern direction as synthetic unity o f all the elements o f performance was the most important. This concep­ tion permitted Balys Sruoga (who was the greatest contemporary authority o f the theatrical world and dedicated the entire publication to Šarūnas) to use knowledge gained in the lectures o f the first theatre theoreticians in Germany

116

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Vincas Krėvė Šarūnas, directed by Andrius Oleka'Žilinskas, State Theatre, «929. Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Film Museum

H istory o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Vincas Krėvė Šarūnas, directed by Andrius Oleka-Žilinskas, State Theatre, 1919. Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Film Museum

117

118

History of Lithuanian cu ltu r e

and to prove to local audiences that the director in the modern theatre stages his/ her own vision rather than just illustrates the text o f the play. Thus, Šarūnas included the same historical past o f the nation with dukes, prophets, priestesses and castles, and yet supplemented it with the principles o f modern direction. On the one hand, the critics compared the fragmented struc­ ture o f the play with an old folk song. On the other hand, it was compared to cinematography because as Faustas Kirša wrote, spectators themselves would have to find a link between the different episodes (similarly as in Eisenstein’s films). This synthesis o f tradition and modernism guaranteed Šarūnas an excep­ tional place in the history o f the development o f national Lithuanian theatre. However, the synthesis o f local national theatre and theatrical modern­ ism containing an international character was not always so successful. It was personally experienced by Oleka-Žilinskas, a pupil o f Stanislavski, who was un­ doubtedly the brightest modernist figure in the short course o f development o f the theatre o f the interwar period. Seeking to modernise Lithuanian theatre Oleka-Žilinskas applied his experience gained in Russia (in the First Studio o f Moscow A rt Theatre and the Second Moscow A rt Theatre, which he left in 1919 to take the position o f the director and head o f the National Theatre in Kau­ nas). He was not only raising the claim for European modernist standards in his performances, but was also inviting Russian artists to work in the National theatre. For example, he invited M ikhail Chekhov, who worked in the National Theatre and lectured in the acting school in 1931-1933. In addition, he was an actor and director who created an original system o f role building (which has re­ mained important in Lithuania to the present days) and was a well-known figu­ re o f modern theatre. However, the works o f both artists attracted ambiguous evaluations in press, while N aujoji Rom uva, a conservative journal, started a real campaign against the invasion o f foreign elements (especially cultural elements o f Bolshevik Russia as they would put it) in national theatre, the most impor­ tant purpose o f which, after all, was to shape and maintain Lithuanian identity. In the modernist version o f H am let by Chekhov (with Oleka-Žilinskas in the main role), some critics heard “hysterical intonations” which were character­ istic to the radio speakers o f Bolshevik broadcasts. Meanwhile, The Government Inspector by Chekhov was explained as communist propaganda. This attack was

History o f Lithuanian CULTURE

William Shakespeare Hamlet, directed by Michael Chekhov, State Theatre, 1932. Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Film Museum

119

120

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

partially a reason why their careers were so short in Lithuania: in 1933, Chek­ hov moved forward to Western Europe (and later reached the USA, Hollywood, where he taught Marilyn Monroe, Anthony Quinn, Clint Eastwood, Elia Ka­ zan, etc.) and later in 1935, Oleka-Žilinskas moved to the West as well. The contexts o f theatrical modernism influenced Lithuanian theatre before the arrival o f Oleka-Žilinskas. In 1913, Antantas Sutkus entered the acting studio o f Fyodor Komissarzhevsky in Moscow where he became acquainted with the lat­ est ideas o f modernist theatre, the aesthetics o f retheatralization (Max Reinhardt, George Fuchs, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Alexander Tairov) as well as the historical forms o f theatre and the theatrical traditions o f the East. Sutkus constructed aes­ thetics and shapes o f the modernist cabaret in his theatre o f political satire and im­ provisation Vilkolakis (Werewolf), which operated from 1910 to 192.5. The ideas of the theatricalization o f theatre, retaken from Vsevolod Meyerhold s experiments in St Petersburg also had some influence on Borisas Dauguvietis. After the departure o f Oleka-Žilinskas, Lithuanian theatre o f the late 1930s returned to conservative theatrical model. Borisas Dauguvietis was the most prominent and the most productive director o f this period. Even though he selected and staged a great number o f serious classical and modernist plays and communicated with innovative set designers (Stasys Ušinskas and Liudas Truikys), Dauguvietis was not able to overcome the stereotypes o f the tradition­ al Russian theatrical school. Meanwhile, a young and progressive direction was represented by the pupils o f Oleka-Žilinskas (namely, Romualdas Juknevičius and Algirdas Jakšcvičius), who were the first directors who matured and started their creative careers in independent Lithuania. Characteristic o f modernists, both pupils o f Oleka-Žilinskas also studied abroad. During 1934-1936, they were both trained in Moscow (e.g. Juknevičius worked with Meyerhold). Later Jakševičius also studied and worked in New York. Although young directors staged just a few performances before the begin­ ning o f the Soviet occupation and war, these performances proved that ideas of modernist theatre (overtaken mostly from the contexts o f Russian modernism) were powerful and strong. W hile staging O ’N e ils Marco M illions, Jakševičius used poetics o f modern theatricality, creating a stylized and gracious specta­ cle and emphasising the aesthetic autonomy o f art. Viltis (The Good Hope) by

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

12 1

Herman Heijermans, based on the ideas o f modern psychological Stanislavskian theatre, was the most famous production by Romualdas Juknevičius in this period. To conclude, the creation o f national theatre out o f almost nothing, as it was impossible to follow both the early traditions o f Lithuanian soirees and the theatrical traditions o f the Grand Duchy o f Lithuania, was the most important theatrical achievement o f the interwar period. Due to a modern and flexible rep­ ertoire, an important position in public life as a state-funded theatrical institu­ tion, modern notion o f theatre (the importance o f director, psychological acting, experiments o f stage setting), close critical reflection in press and, finally, active communication with the local public, the National Theatre turned into an insti­ tution on par with the national theatres in other states o f Eastern Europe.

Theatrical life in Lithuania after the first Soviet occupation and during German occupation In Lithuanian theatre the epoch o f Soviet occupation started with a hope­ ful event. On October 6, 1940, Vilnius State Theatre was solemnly opened by cantata o f Balys Sruoga Lietuvos keliu (On Lithuanian Road) and Heijermans’ play Viltis (The Good Hope) directed by Romualdas Juknevičius. After the war (in 1955), the Vilnius State Theatre was renamed as the State Academic Drama Theatre o f the Lithuanian SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic) and after the Independ­ ence, in 1998, it became the Lithuanian N ational Dram a Theatre. Ironically, the most important theatrical institution representing art o f the state was moved to the actual capital o f Lithuania, when statehood was lost and culture o f the state started to be shaped according to the model o f Soviet culture. The nucleus o f a new theatre consisted o f the former actors o f the Kaunas Drama Theatre. Most o f them were from the Young Theatre, which was active for a short pe­ riod in 1933 (Algirdas Jakševičius, Kazimiera Kymantaitė, Aleksandras Kerna­ gis, Mečys Chadaravičius, Balys Lukošius, Petras Zulonas, etc.) and Romualdas Juknevičius, the leader o f the Young Theatre, was appointed as the head o f the theatre in the capital.

History o f Lithuanian culture

122

In 1940-1941, important administrative reforms were implemented. They were initiated by the People’s Commissariat o f Education, Board o f A rt Affairs and other new institutions established by the communist government5. As in other cultural areas, all decisions were made and all decrees regarding theatre were issued by the puppet government and coordinated with the highest, cen­ tral government o f the U SSR {The Union o f Soviet Socialist Republics), which included the Central Committee o f the (Bolshevik) Communist Party o f the Soviet Union and the Council o f People’s Commissars (CPC). Therefore, the first aim o f the administrational reform in 1940 was to implement the Soviet cultural vision and accomplish tasks o f cultural politics, set by the totalitarian empire, which occupied the country. The first o f the tasks was to create a central­ ized, submissive, easily controlled network o f cultural and artistic institutions, which would reach as many people as possible and serve as means o f propaganda. For this purpose, the Brigade o f Agitation and Propaganda was founded in July 1940, while usual theatrical repertoire was supplemented with obligatory agita­ tion concerts and events. For example, during the campaign for the election to the Supreme Soviet o f U SSR, the actors o f the Vilnius Drama Theatre prepared a satiric performance, where the members o f the bourgeoisie, who appeared on the stage and campaigned to vote for them, were eventually swept out o f the stage by a watchman, encouraging to vote for peoples candidates6. Instead o f independent artist societies, new creative unions based on the Soviet model were founded already in 1940. They became a convenient tool to manipulate artists and control their work. Only artists who were the members o f such unions were acknowledged officially. During the period o f the first Soviet occupation, the following new thea­ tres were founded: Theatre o f the Young Spectator in Kaunas, Theatre o f M usi­ cal Comedy, Drama Theatre o f M arijam polė and Dram a Theatre o f Panevėžys. Besides classical well-known plays by Heijermans, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chek­ hov, Friedrich Schiller, and Lithuanians Sofija Čiurlionienė-Kymantaitė, Petras Vaičiūnas, Kazys Binkis, Kazys Inčiūra and Juozas Petrulis, the first works o f the Soviet propaganda and socialist realism by Aleksei Arbuzov, Vsevolod Ivanov, Konstantin Simonov, Nikolaj Pogodin and Alexander Korneychuk were staged in these theatres. Šarvuotis 14-69 (Armoured car 14-69) by Ivanov (directed by

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

123

Juknevičius, Vilnius Theatre) and Boris Lavreniov’s Lūžis (The Break) (directed by Viktoras Dineika and Stasys Čaikauskas, Kaunas Theatre) were celebrated as the most famous examples o f the new course in Lithuanian theatre. Revolution­ ary romantics in these plays were visualized by massive scenes, technologies o f dynamic scenography, texts full o f pathos and with the help o f characters who did not go into compromises and embodied powers o f history. In 1941, one totalitarian regime was replaced by another one. The regime o f Nazi Germany introduced new decrees o f censorship and requirements for institutions o f theatre. Most o f the artists o f the theatre who sympathized with the Soviet regime retreated further to Russia, where they would organise propa­ ganda performances, concerts and radio shows broadcasted from Moscow. The majority o f local Lithuanian theatres received a new administration; however, the artists remained the same. Juknevičius worked in Vilnius, Juozas Miltinis worked in Panevėžys, while actor Petras Kubertavičius became a chief director o f the theatre in Kaunas. A t the end o f World War II, a number o f artists o f Lithuanian theatre with­ drew to the West. In DP (Displaced Persons) camps in Germany in 1945, there were performances organized with the participation o f actors, stage managers and directors, who emigrated from Lithuania: Young Theatre o f Lithuanians Atžalynas was founded in the international camp in Hanau, the professional Lithuanian drama theatre Aitvaras was established in Detmold, while other theatrical companies were founded in Augsburg, Ravensburg and Würzburg. The following emigrants from Lithuania worked in these theatres: Henrikas Kačinskas, Juozas Palubinskas, Antanas Škėma, Kazys Vasiliauskas, Elena Žalinkevičaitė-Petrauskienė, Antanas Rūkas, Jurgis Blckaitis, Algimantas Dikinis, Dalia Kubertavičiūtė, etc.

Socialist realism in drama and theatre During World War II in the Soviet Union, the control o f intellectual life slightly lost its alertness and became a little bit freer. Yet, during the first post-war decade, the ideological supervision o f culture as well as compulsory aesthetics of socialist realism had reached its peak. The war forced people to forget the cultural

124

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Nikolai Pogodin K rem lin Chim es, directed by Mečislovas Chadaravičius, Kazimiera Kymantaitė, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre, 1947. Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Film Museum

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

125

ascent o f Soviet Russia o f the 1920s and avant-garde experiments, since the ma­ jority o f Russian representatives o f the avant-garde who had left a great influence on the artists o f Lithuanian theatre were killed before the war. Cultural life was controlled by the orthodox henchmen o f Stalinism, such as Alexander Fadeyev, the First Secretary in the Union of Soviet Writers. These people tightened cen­ sorship and centralisation rules and formed the expression o f the personality cult o f Stalin in art and literature. The most important landmarks and priorities in cultural politics o f the new country were set by C C o f C P SU decrees on the is­ sues o f culture and literature (for example in August 1946, the issue discussed was the repertoire o f drama theatres and means o f improving them) and the vi­ sion o f true socialist art as defined by the specialist o f ideology and propaganda Andrei Zhdanov. The main idea o f these decrees, which were published in the newspaper Kultura i Zhyzn (Culture and Life) issued by the Department of Propaganda and Agitation o f C C o f C P SU and translated into Lithuanian7, was that the entire culture, including art, science, media and sport events, must serve the party and implement its policies. According to the basic tenets o f MarxistLeninist art theory, no art could exist beyond political decisions and all aesthetic choices were perceived as political. Even entertainment and recreation had to be educational and there were excursions to “the sites o f revolutionary fights”, “new five-year construction sites” and “leading kolkhozes” offered by Soviet tourist agencies. Traditional religious holidays were replaced with the days o f kolkhoz workers and celebrations o f the Soviet youth. Such political/aesthetic identifica­ tion was provoked by the position o f the regime itself, which attempted to extend the controlling power o f the state to all the areas o f public and private lives. It was done in order to politicize even the smallest aesthetical choices, e.g. the selection o f dramas, performing actors as well as the choice o f music. Everything had to be open and accessible to the “legal” controlling power. A s it was usual to all totalitarian regimes, Soviet ideologists sought for total “purity”, reticence and absolute control, so the greatest attack was led against the appropriation o f Western modernism on the local stage, perceived as “influence from abroad”, “servility to the West”, “decadent tendencies” and "petty indi­ vidualism o f the bourgeois”. In order to avoid all those vices, all works by foreign playwrights had to be removed from the repertoires o f theatres. From 1946 to

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

126

1956, when the L SSR State Academic Drama Theatre staged the play The Cru­ cible by the American playwright Arthur Miller, the classics such as Goldoni, Calderon and Balzac were the only Western authors allowed in the repertoires... “Formalism” (i.e. any emphasis on aesthetic reality, style and form) and “cosmo­ politanism” (the artistic elements o f European classics and modern culture) were the greatest vices retaken from “decadent” Western theatre. E.g. the sketches for decorations for the operas Romeo and Ju liet (Charles Gounod) and The Bartered Bride (Bedrich Smetana) made by Liudas Truikys were criticized as “petty ex­ amples o f formalist arts with the elements o f cosmopolitan mysticism”8. Plays based on historical themes were also under great supervision, especial­ ly i f they included national history or its creators (noblemen and dukes). History understood as the existence o f a nation in time, as it was represented in earlier dramas, were now announced as dangerous reflections o f nationalist ideology. Instead theatre performances had to contribute to the process o f rewriting gen­ eral history, reflecting the vision o f development o f Marxist society and new he­ roes who rose from the working class. Yet the most important requirement for the theatre was to reflect modern contemporary life and the new Soviet reality. Russia in this new historical vision had to take the most important place. Dramas and theatrical performances had to show that the Russian nation played an important part in the development o f other nations. It was basically a typical example o f imperialistic policy and reflection o f intensive Russification. Tradi­ tions o f the Russian theatre had to be reflected in the artistic choices o f Lithua­ nian theatre. In 1945, the most important cultural ideologists (i.e. Kazys Preik tas, Ideology Secretary o f C C o f CPL; Juozas Banaitis, the Head o f the Board o f A rt Affairs and Antanas Sniečkus, the First Secretary o f C C o f CPL) adopted a general resolution on the soviétisation o f Lithuanian art. According to this resolution, various institutions were obligated to translate the works o f Russian classics and Soviet playwrights. Moreover, the resolution aimed to send famous theatrical artists to study Russian theatre, music and traditions o f art in Moscow and Leningrad, invite groups o f specialists from Russia to host seminars and lectures on the issues o f socialist art, assign Russian directors and pedagogues to the theatres o f Kaunas and Vilnius and establish a Russian Drama Theatre in Vilnius.

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

127

Directors and the administration o f Lithuanian theatres could choose Rus­ sian classics, including Maxim Gorki, Chekhov, Nikolai Gogol or Alexander Ostrovsky; however, the majority o f plays which flooded the repertoires were shoddy, formulaic dramas created by frightened playwrights written according to the regime s requirements. The officially suggested dogma o f socialist realism in drama and theatre put artists in a position between a rock and a hard place. I f all the requirements o f socialist realism were fulfilled literally, the play could become likened to a piece o f propaganda rubbish. However, any subtler artistic attempts would constitute a distortion o f the party line. For example, according to the logic o f the regime, in Soviet countries, when class differences were overcome, the preconditions o f any social conflict would have to disappear; therefore, the theatrical stage had to depict a happy life in society, one which had overcome all conflicts (“Theory o f the conflict-less state o f being”). A ny escape towards more popular genres, like comedy or intimate issues were not tolerated either. For this reason, writers and directors did not have any other choice but to depict the absurd fight between “the good and the better”. Anksti rytelį (Early in the Morning; the play by Juozas Baltušis, staged in 1953 directed by Kymantaitė) depicted a conflict between a mother who was the president o f leading kolkhoz and her young daughter, encouraging progress, who arrived to work at the same kolkhoz, was a fine example o f such model.

Institutional situation o f Lithuanian theatre during Soviet times and censorship o f the theatre Unlike Western Europe o f the post-war period where culture administra­ tion and funding as well as new cultural policy tried to decentralise and deinstitutionalise artistic culture so that it would reach as many people as possible (“démocratisation o f culture”) or that people themselves would initiate creation o f culture (“cultural democracy”), Soviet institutions o f art were the hostages o f a centralised hierarchical bureaucracy. Although there was a network o f “houses o f culture” (similarly to Maisons de la Culture which were established by Andre Malraux, the Minister o f Culture o f France in the 1960s) spread throughout the

128

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

country and despite the fact that activities o f various popular collectives and popular amateur theatres were well funded and promoted, creative expression was divided into isolated sectors which were managed much like an industry. New amateur collectives would appear on the initiative o f the local bureaucracy in order to implement five-year plans and other requirements provided by the party authorities. Professional theatre had to submit to the “logic o f the factory”, while a spectator was perceived primarily as a passive consumer. On the one hand, institutionalisation o f theatrical phenomena guaranteed stability, security and continuity o f companies and artists as well as state protection (which was frequently missed after the Recovery o f Independence). On the other hand, it was a destructive factor, which undermined the very functioning o f theatre in society and the basis o f what could be called theatrical culture. During the Soviet decades, the functioning o f Lithuanian theatre was based on isolated, uncompetitive theatrical communities, the inertia and conservative collectivism o f which became a natural brake o f many original creative projects. The absence o f any commercial pressure as well as centralized control formed a distorted work environment o f creative collectives and individuals. Unified administrative, financial and organisational principles thrust artistic activities into canonized shapes and determined their assimilation and monotony. To implement its policy, Soviet censorship applied the same institutional­ ised system in the entire Eastern Bloc. The system applied the following meas­ ures: legal and administrative fines for individuals or institutions, which over­ stepped the limits {criminal/postfactum censorship) or prelim inary (preventive) censorships which permitted to avoid potential outbursts o f disobedience, by the means o f members o f the party taking official posts in cultural institutions, a secret index o f unacceptable and forbidden authors and directors (“The Talmud” o f censors), repertoire which complied with ideological schemes, a system o f “re­ views” and ideological criteria for evaluation o f art, etc. Every play and every performance had to go through the institutional network before meeting the audience, which had to guarantee that “politically harmful, ideologically unac­ ceptable, idealess, cheap works o f art distorting Soviet reality”9 would not be publicized. A wide range o f institutional activities o f Soviet censorship allowed the use o f various and different means o f functioning. This institutional organi­

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

129

sation o f control was based on and regulated by three main powers or centres, i.e., the Communist Party o f the Soviet Union, K B G (Soviet Committeefor State Security) and Glavlit (General Directorate for the Protection o f State Secrets in the Press). A ll Soviet censorship and art control were institutionally based on the structure o f a pyramid. Its top consisted o f the secretariat o f C C o f C P L and the First Secretary, the Department o f Culture and Science, which was directly related to culture control, the Department o f Propaganda and Agitation and the Secretary responsible for ideology. The resolutions o f the “ Policy o f culture” were published via official newspapers: The Communist, Truth and directly by executive authorities during C P L congresses. The most important unit in this pyramid used for culture control consisted o f the Board o f Ministers and the Board o f A rt Affairs which used to directly control art institutions and the main function o f which was the transfer o f decisions o f party bodies to subordinate institutions (theatres were controlled by the Supreme Board o f Theatres and Repertoire-Editorial Board). Glavlit and Supreme Commission o f Repertoires (Glavrepetkom) were operating in parallel to the Board o f Ministers and the Ministry o f Culture. The function o f Glavrepetkom was direct censorship of production and feeding information to the C C about violations. K G B operated independently as a body o f ideological counterespionage. The basis o f the pyramid consisted o f the Creative Union and its party or­ ganisation, particular institutions (i.e. art committees and party organisations in theatres, which were also related not only to state organisations o f control but also to the local ones, i.e. executive committee o f a city or a region, committee secretary responsible for ideological control o f culture and local Department of Culture and Education). The Board o f Creative Union o f Theatre Employees (Society o f Theatre o f U SSR o f Lithuania) and its party organisation were re­ sponsible for shaping o f “ideological face” o f the members o f society, commu­ nication with the members o f other republican creative unions, political and aesthetic education and ideological “purity”. A rt committees in theatres included members from the Boards o f A rt Af­ fairs, trade union and party committees, also directors o f theatre, artistic direc­ tors, dramaturges, set designers, composers, directors and actors. A public dis-

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

130

play o f performance was possible only when it was “accepted” by the bodies of the Committee o f A rt Affairs under the Ministry o f Culture, where the final word belonged to the representative o f C C o f CPL. Besides centralisation, institutionalisation and political censorship, the ex­ istence o f theatrical phenomena in the Soviet Lithuania could be also described as extreme isolation. There were festivals and tours from “ brotherly republics”; however, there were no possibilities to go beyond the Iron Curtain or to become acquainted with the global phenomena o f theatre and drama o f the second half o f the twentieth century. During the time o f the second Soviet occupation, the only centre o f theatri­ cal education for actors and directors from Lithuanian theatre could be higher schools in Moscow and Leningrad, especially the State Institute o f Theatrical A rt in Moscow (GITIS). In these schools, the applicants sent from Lithuania had preferential conditions and were exempted from admission exams.

Rebirth o f classic and national drama. Theatre of poetry in the 1950s After the death o f Stalin and the famous speech by the First Secretary N i­ kita Khrushchev in the 20th congress o f the party (1954), where the cult o f per­ sonality and the bloody crimes o f the regime were condemned, a processes o f limited liberalization took place, which were named after a novel The Thaw by Ilya Ehrenburg. For the creative intelligentsia, the new times brought enthusi­ asm, relief and new braver experiments. Moreover, the heads o f the party itself started criticising extensively constrained, lifeless and unproductive cannon o f socialist realism. A new generation debuted in literature and art. It sought to neutralise the excessively ideological vision o f the world and human beings. This new generation actualized interpersonal dimensions, encompassing previously forbidden horizons o f cultural memory. The first and the most prominent features in Lithuanian theatre were the new characters on stage, which changed the old, heroic, monolithic, one-dimen­ sional revolutionaries and kolkhoz workers. The environment o f these new char­ acters and the way it was depicted on stage changed as well: urban landscape,

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Justinas Marcinkevičius The Tw entieth Sp rin g , directed by H enrikas Vancevičius, Lithuanian National D ram a Theatre, 1958. Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Film Museum

13 1

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

132

represented by abstract elements, streets and interiors o f communal houses were populated with young city dwellers, students and intellectuals. The dramatic poem Dvidešimtas pavasaris (The Twentieth Spring by Justinas Marcinkevičius; 1958) directed by Henrikas Vancevičius represented life o f young intelligent­ sia, like Simas Kairys (performed by Laimonas Noreikia) and Irena (Gražina Balandytė). The conflict o f the play still revolved around “ bourgeois nationalists” and their intrigues. Yet, it is important to highlight that the action took place in a student dormitory, where Gediminas Castle could have been seen through the window and the characters wore checked jackets and high heels. Easy life o f students was the topic o f the comedy Silva studentauja by Kazys Saja, (Silva is a Student; 1957; directed by Kymantaitė in Lithuanian State Drama Theatre). This performance referred to and mocked the revived interest in progress and novelties, fashion and style, urban comfort, entertainment, the culture o f youth cafés and magazines. Besides the contemporaries o f young spectators, there were classical plays revealing the dilemmas o f young people staged in theatres. In 1959, the first post-war H am let (directed by Juozas Rudzinskas) was staged. The role o f the prince o f Denmark was played by Henrikas Kurauskas, while Eugenija Šulgaitė performed Nora in the Panevėžys Drama Theatre in 1957. Modern content of classical plays in these performances was firstly actualized through vivid, psy­ chological acting. Psychological realist theatre based on the school o f psychological acting of Konstantin Stanislavski (in which the actor reveals the dynamics o f emotions, their sequences and controversies to depict a sensitive landscape o f internal life o f the literary character) drew great approval from Lithuanian society and grad­ ually became the mainstream o f Lithuanian theatre. The entire generation o f young actors proved their ability to create sensitive and live characters despite the absurd requirements o f the regime and became stars o f the local stage (and later o f Soviet cinema). Acting based on the method o f Stanislavski permitted them to reveal the psychological experience o f a person not as a monolithic and mechanical reflection o f ideological discourse, but as the depth o f fears, intui­ tion, sadness and joy. The characters on stage retrieved the human face without violating the essential schemes o f Soviet ideology.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

133

One o f the most important symptoms o f the theatre during the period o f the Thaw was exaltation o f national drama, Lithuanian heroes, historical per­ sonalities, which were understood and appreciated as a partial recovery o f na­ tional memory from the Marxist discourse imposed by the regime. By this time, representations o f national identity were tolerated by new party authorities and even promoted by the local nomenclature. These representations were impor­ tant to society as recovery o f dignity, as a symbolic compensation for traumas o f the post-war period and painful and ambiguous status o f the citizens o f the occupied country. Certainly historical plays by Lithuanian authors still had to repeat Soviet schemes or at least not to contradict them. For example, Blinda by Gabrielius Landsbergis-Žemkalnis (1958, directed by Kymantaitė) andApyaušrio dalia (The Fate o f the Dawn, 1956, directed by Juknevičius) also depicted the episodes o f clashes between the classes; however, these episodes were playful and not primitive or schematic. A t the Kaunas Drama Theatre (1957), Vancevičius directed Herkus M antas based on the tragedy by Juozas Grušas. The play depict­ ed Prussians fighting Christianity and the Teutonic (German) Order; therefore, it complied with ideological position o f the regime, whereas for Lithuanian au­ dience the play was important as exaltation o f national pride and symbolic iden­ tity. Yet the greatest recognition was received during later decades in the 1960s and the 1970s with the trilogy o f historical dramas by Justinas Marcinkevičius, Mindaugas (1969, directed by Vancevičius and 1969, directed by Povilas Gai­ dys), Katedra (Cathedral, 1970, directed by Vancevičius) and M ažvydas (1976, directed by Gaidys and 1978, directed by Vancevičius). These performances were important as the culmination o f the theatre o f poetry.

Alternatives to the mainstream: Juozas Miltinis, Jonas Jurasas, Modris Tenisons Two decades o f the governance by Leonid Brezhnev (from 1964-1982.) co­ incided with the most important changes on the stage o f Lithuanian theatre. The period was framed by the first staging by Jonas JuraSas (the first promi­ nent representative o f modern metaphorical theatre which in the future was to

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

134

become a manifest sign o f Lithuanian theatre) at the Šiauliai Drama Theatre (1966) and the tour o f Nekrošius together with the troupe o f the Youth Theatre to the international theatre festival B IT E F in Belgrade (1984) as it foresaw the forthcoming liberation o f Lithuanian theatre and culture from blind isolation. The period from the 1960s to the 1980s was marked by special attention from so­ ciety to theatre, queues at the booking offices and even a certain “cult o f theatre”. On the other hand, despite such interest in theatre, the decades o f Brezhnev s governance meant stagnation and a “death point” o f the totalitarian period for society, culture and theatre. In the 1960s, the performances o f psychological realism established themselves as the main trend in Lithuanian theatre for long years and were supported by both the audience and regime. However, in the 1960s, there were also alternative theatrical projects, which looked for inspiration in other con­ texts, broke aesthetic norms and got involved in conflicts with party authori­ ties and censorship. The Miltinis Theatre based in Panevėžys was officially criticized as being apolitical and prone to elite western drama. In 1932, Juozas Miltinis, being a typical modernist, went to Paris and later to London in order to become ac­ quainted with the international world o f theatre. During his journey, he saw performances directed by M ax Reinhardt and while in Paris, worked in the study o f Charles Dullin, met Jacques Copeau, Jean-Louis Barrault and other representatives o f French modern theatre. Upon his return to Lithuania, M ilti­ nis established a drama studio in Kaunas. In 1940, he left for the Panevėžys Drama Theatre, taking his student actors with him. He worked in Panevėžys until 1980. Miltinis* ideas about theatre as a monastic commune, constant selfeducation and sacrifice o f an actor, the need for intellectual discipline, stage dy­ namics between imagination, kinetics, aesthetics, and intellect and eventually Aristos as the highest intellectual and ethical form o f existence and scenic and education practice o f theatre based on these ideas were radically different from official ideology o f regime. Enclosed in a provincial industrial city, which had 40,000 inhabitants in the 1940s, Miltinis remained a man o f classical European culture and representative o f intellectual elite. H is fine knowledge o f classical and modern drama and charismatic personality drew those who longed for in-

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

135

spiring thoughts from Lithuania and the other Soviet republics to Panevėžys. Miltinis followed the ideas o f the perfection o f modernist form and originality he learned in France and considered theatre to be autonomous from the political and social environment. Therefore, Miltinis tried to avoid politicization o f his works and his relations with the regime were opportunistic. During the most severe years o f Stalinism, Miltinis, like other directors, staged the same dramas o f socialist realism. Yet his most famous performances created in the 1960s and the 1970s (i.e. Lauke už durų [The Man Outside, 1966] by Wolfgang Bochert, Fizikai [The Physicists, 1967] by Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Kom ivojažieriaus mirtis [Death o f the Salesman, 1968] by Arthur Miller, H edda Gabler [1971] by Henrik \bscn. M irties šokis [The Dance o f Death, 1973] by August Strindberg, Oedipus R ex [1977] by Sophocles) reached creative heights revealing specific aesthetics. The basic principle o f aesthetics in Miltinis’ theatre was a strong orientation to the word as the most important element o f scenic expression. This orientation expressed a great respect to the author and the text o f drama. Analysing the text, Miltinis would expand its meanings to wide contexts o f psychology, psychoa­ nalysis, philosophy and literary history. By this, he raised the level o f the direc­ tor s interpretation o f the literary play. A perfect knowledge o f both classical and modern drama set a new intellectual standard for theatre. A n actor was also an important part o f Miltinis’ theatre. In order for the word to unclose and have an effect on the audience, the actor would have to charge it, providing it with his/ her own psychic energy, using articulation and physical expression. Yet this did not mean a return to the canons o f the old rhetorical academic theatre. Miltinis’ actor was characterized by synthetic acting; he/she was supposed to be an intel­ lectual and an acrobat in one person. By educating the members o f his troupe, using the methods he undertook from Charles Dullin, Miltinis appeared as a pedagogue who did not accept any compromises. Improvisation, which was one o f the most important methods o f his work with actors, was developed within the limits o f intellectual tension and requirements. The discipline and social iso­ lation required by Miltinis would also apply to actors’ everyday personal life outside the theatre - the actors o f the troupe lived in Panevėžys as in a monastic commune, involved in permanent training and self-education. Because o f ascetic ideal o f Miltinis, psychological tension would constantly prevail in the theatre.

136

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Nevertheless, this way the director managed to educate a number o f Lithuanian theatre celebrities o f the time, including Donatas Banionis, Bronius Babkauskas, Eugenija Šulgaitė, Dalia Melėnaitė, Stasys Petronaitis, etc. The creative career o f Jonas Jurašas in Lithuania lasted only 9 years. It started in 1963, when he staged his diploma performance in the Russia Drama Theatre and later until 1972 when he retreated from the theatre and emigrated to the West. As his colleagues, Jurašas studied in Russia, yet his aesthetics and techniques as stage director were influenced by the alternative underground cul­ ture o f Moscow and the new tendencies o f the Thaw era in literature and theatre o f Eastern Europe. This influence was first displayed in the allegorical parables o f the absurd, namely, in Slawomir Mrozek’s Tango (1967) and M am utų medžioklė by Kazys Saja (The Hunt o f Mammoths, 1968, State Drama Theatre o f Kaunas). These performances employed ironical allegorical figures and visions to criti­ cally reflect Soviet reality (similarly to the contemporary theatres o f Poland and Czechoslovakia) and the fate o f an artist in Soviet reality (Mikhail Bulgakov’s M olière, 1968, State Drama Theatre o f Kaunas). Bitter satire was used to mock the party nomenklatura and the absurd o f Soviet life. Although censors did not favour this kind o f satire, it was enthusiastically met by the audience. Anoth­ er notable trend in the productions o f Jurašas were theatrical/poetical stagings {Grasos nam ai [The House o f Menace] by Juozas Glinskis, 1970 and Barbora Radvilaitė by Juozas Grušas in 1972, State Theatre o f Kaunas), which deliber­ ately disintegrated the codes o f traditional realistic representation by employ­ ing associative logic, metaphorical figures, mythical narratives and an individual aesthetic style. The concept poetical did not refer to the literary genre but rather to the performance text created by Jurašas, which was full o f hints, ambigui­ ties, allegorical meanings and historical associations. The critique expressed by ambiguities, implications and allegories allowed the connection o f the works by Jurašas to the so-called technique o f Aesopian language, i.e. the technique o f double coding o f political message with the help o f figurative language, which was at that time employed in various ways not only in the theatre but also in literature, fine arts and cinema. The works o f Jurašas also marked a shift from text and actor oriented thea­ tre (emphasizing the psychological dynamics o f the role and words o f the play-

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Kazys Saja Huntfo r Mammoths, directed byJonas JuraJas, Kaunas State Drama Theatre, 1968. Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Film Museum

137

138

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

wright) co theatre centered around visual language and individual symbolism o f director. A t this point the productions by Jurašas can be related to tendencies o f Central and Eastern European theatre. After his emigration to the U SA in 1974, Jurašas managed to establish himself as a director and worked in theatres like La Mama Theatre in New York (one o f the most famous off-Broadway theatres; Macbeth, 1977) also in Broadways theatres like A N T A , where he staged The Suicide by Nikolai Erdman. Also in 1983, Jurašas worked in Japan in collabo­ ration with Tadashi Suzuki s theatre company, living there for three summers and experimenting with Three Sisters by Chekhov, relating Western avant-garde theatre to traditional Japanese theatre. In the 1980s, Jurašas worked in the thea­ tres o f Western Europe, Germany and Holland. The works o f the pantomime troupe o f Modris Tenisons rejected the lit­ erary word altogether and turned to mime expression and visual codes/icons. Tenisons, who was the apprentice o f Robert Ligers, the director o f the Riga Pan­ tomime Theatre, came to Vilnius in 1966. O n the initiative o f Tenisons and Au­ relija Ragauskaitė, the head o f Vilnius State Youth Theatre, there was a contest to gather a pantomime group, which was finally formed and debuted in 1967 with its performance Ecce Homo. This performance earned the name o f profes­ sional collective from the Ministry o f Culture o f the LSSR . In 1967, the troupe moved to the Kaunas Academic Drama Theatre and broke up in 1971. Tenisons preferred the new course o f pantomime, i.e. synthetic pantomime influenced by Etienne Descroux. H is course was collective, non-literary pantomime, not seek­ ing individualisation o f characters and dissociated from traditional mime exer­ cises like “flower picking”. A predominant thematic course o f performances o f Tenisons’ troupe was an allegorical story about a non-historic individual and his/ her unavoidable conflict with the crowd governed by dark instincts and machin­ ery o f violence. This m otif was apparent in the first performance and later re­ peated in the following three shows o f the troupe: Sapną sapnai (Dreams o f the Dreams, 1968), X X amžiaus capriccio {Capriccio o f the 20th Century, 1970) and Koliažas (Collage, 1971). Yet the technique and structure o f the image became more elaborate and the performance involved various creative techniques, like the use o f projections o f the pictures o f Hieronymu Bosch or Francisco Goya and collages o f documentary photography.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

139

The theatre o f pantomime and stage directing by Modris Tenisons can be related to the avant-garde theatres from Eastern Europe as it was also based on the idea o f collective creation. The pantomime theatre troupe worked and even lived together. Moreover, the troupe was involved in intensive intellectual selfeducation and other difficult and complicated training. In addition, the panto­ mime company actively participated in the cultural life o f the city, reacted with improvisations to the most important facts o f this life and worked with various local artists. The members o f the troupe also collaborated with Jurašas (in the play M am utų medžioklė), soloists o f musical theatre, a boys choir, a Moscow jazz trio and photographers like Vitas Luckus, Romualdas Rakauskas and filmmak­ ers, like Vidmantas Bačiulis. The troupe could improvise a performance, even if the topic was an exhibition o f graphic works. They would also stage etudes, per­ formances in Ąžuolynas Park, Pažaislis and Kaunas Castle or youth cafeterias. Romas Kalantas suicide in 1972 shocked Lithuanian society. Massive man­ ifestations and repressions also left a mark in the history o f theatre. The unrest in Kaunas was discussed in the assembly o f L SSR active party members on June 14 ,19 7 2 . Sniečkus named “the culprits” o f this unrest. First, they were named as humanitarian intellectuals o f Kaunas and, secondly, literary and theatrical circles o f Kaunas, which would make “formal” artistic experiments. By naming theatrical society and playwrights as the main culprits o f unrest, Sniečkus stat­ ed “it is time to forbid ambiguous works entering the stage since they ruin the youth and give a basis to the growth o f all sorts o f hooligans”10. Upon the CPLs campaign against the creative intelligentsia, Jurašas ended his creative career in Kaunas Drama Theatre. He rejected his authorship o f the performance Barbora Radvilaitė that had been deformed by the censors, sent an open letter to the M inistry o f Culture and emigrated to the U SA a few years later. H is short ca­ reer as a director in Lithuania can be considered to be the first more prominent model o f non-conformist theatre in Lithuania. Shortly afterwards, the Kaunas Pantomime troupe was also disbanded.

140

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

The national stage in the 1970s: looking for authenticity A strong impulse for theatre in the 1970s was based on the search o f na­ tional identity, authentic memory o f the nation as the source o f creativity and community. Here, overtly simple, decorative, harmonized folk songs and danc­ es in widely spread folk art collectives were dismissed and the course towards archaic, primitive, unconventional forms o f the representation o f the nation was taken. The signs o f interest in more authentic signs o f ethnos already in the 1960s were reflected in the ethno-cultural movement and in societies and clubs o f amateur ethnographers. The ethno-cultural movement can be best dis­ cerned in the works o f Povilas Mataitis and the Lietuvių etnografinis ansamblis (Lithuanian ethnographic ensemble; named as Theatrical Troupe o f the L SSR Museum o f Folk Music in 1974) and renamed the Lithuanian Folk Theatre in 1987. Dramatic compositions o f folk theatre were constructed according to authentic texts o f i9lh-century folk songs, including also the elements o f folk theatre, storytelling, tableau vivant, sketches, games and dances {Baudžiavos am žininkų pasakojimai, dainosy žaidim ai iš įva irių Lietuvos vietovių [Stories o f Contemporaries o f Serfs, Songs, Games from Various Places o f Lithuania, 1977], Scenos vaizdeliai [Sketches, 1978], Lietuvių gaidos: 2 dalių m uzikinis folkloro spektaklis pagal A . Sabaliausko lietuvių liaudies dainų rin kin į [Lithua­ nian Musical Notations: 2-part Performance o f Musical Folklore Based on the Collection o f Lithuanian Folk Songs by Sabaliauskas, 1982]). The perform­ ance Nukrėskime rasą apie rugių lauką (Lets Shake the Dew o ff the Rye Field) staged in 1987 invited the audience to a nocturnal outdoor performance with pagan rituals. Meanwhile, the performance Apgiedokim e Prūsijos žūtį (Lets Sing about the Death o f Prussia, 1989) creatively interpreted ethnic Baltic cos­ tumes, rituals and motifs o f folk art. Set designer Dalia Mataitienė was an active member in the activities o f the folk theatre. She created a unique notion o f scenery based on conceptual fusion o f natural materials, archaic signs and the aesthetics o f primitivism. Her unique scenery for the play Valdovas (The King; written by Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas; directed by Ragauskaitė in 1974), for which Mataitienė used rough linen fabric reminding o f the surfaces and textures o f the old architecture, and armour as

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

L et's Shake D ew on the R ye F ie ld D ow n, Lithuanian Folklore Theatre, 1987.

Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Film Museum

14 1

142

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

well as her sec design for the opera-poem Strazdas - žaliaspaukštis (The Thrush is a Green Bird, Bronius Kutavičius and Sigitas Geda, directed by Jonas Vaitkus, 1985) expressed a new creative relationship with the cultural heritage o f the na­ tion, using the shapes o f primitive folk sculptures, masks and domestic items. These performances did not attempt to mimic the domestic life o f the peo­ ple. O n the contrary, it created a stylized spectacle and looked for a mythical and eternal dimension. Even when a particular period and personalities were in question (historical like poet Antanas Strazdas in Grasos nam ai [1970] directed by Jurašas; artist Mykalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis in Svajonių piligrim as [Pil­ grim o f the Dreams; 1975] directed by Vaitkus or the legendary Šarūnas [play o f the same title by Vincas Krėvė; 1980] directed by Vaitkus) these productions emphasized not so much a historical detail but rather the poetic archeology of memory where the past and the present interflow. Archaic images and forms o f folk art in performances o f the 1980s were of­ ten combined with avant-garde aesthetics. Strazdas - žalias paukštis by Vaitkus was based on a poem by Geda but the mise-en-scene o f the performance was a metaphorical synthesis o f freely associated elements, creating an autonomic visual text. Heteromorphism combinations o f sculptures o f folk devils, geomet­ rical dance figures, white wooden birds, masks o f monsters, stuffed lambs as well as operatic soprano, combined with the records o f noises (drone o f aircrafts) and dialectical speech - remind o f shocking combinations o f unrelated objects in the artistic productions o f Dada or Surrealism.

Stage metaphors and dramaturgy of stage imagery Modern directors theatre, which was started in Lithuania by Jurašas and Tenisons, was based on an articulated spatial/visual language o f stage images. It was later developed by the following generation o f directors who started their artistic careers in the 1970s: Jonas Vaitkus, Eimuntas Nekrošius, Dalia Tamulevičiūtė, Gytis Padegimas and Saulius Varnas. The metaphorical theatre created by these directors was one o f the most prominent courses o f modern Lithuanian theatre. Visual/metaphorical forms o f theatre in the Lithuanian

History o f Lithuanian c u ltu r e

H enrik Ibsen The M aster B u ild e r Solness, directed by Jonas Vaitkus, Kaunas State D ram a Theatre, 1980. Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Film Museum

143

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

144

stage o f the 1970S-80S were influenced by the political context o f the Soviet re­ gim e, which discredited verbal language and encouraged directors to look for more authentic forms o f expression, which would be more resistant to control and censorship like stage metaphors, figures o f figurative speech and multiple­ meaning symbols. The impulse for visual and plastic experiments in the Soviet Lithuanian theatre was the urge to actualise topics and ideologies as well as individual worldviews, which did not match or contradicted the official culture o f the re­ gime. The emphasis on visual (rather than verbal) narrative as well as the spatial and physical language o f the mise-en-scene in metaphorical theatre resulted in a pluralistic zone open to interpretations and less subordinate to censors than was text-oriented theatre. The preference o f visuality/physicality over verbality/ textuality or at least the equivalence o f the two in the context o f the 1970s in Lithuanian theatre signalled a very significant breakaway o f metaphorical thea­ tre from the older generation o f Vancevičius and Miltinis, or the whole para­ digm o f literary Lithuanian theatre, where, according to Vydūnas, the word was “a sprout o f life”. The visual, metaphorical and articulated performance o f text used by the directors o f the new generation can be seen now as a unique form o f Lithuanian local late theatrical modernism. The metaphorical style outlived the Soviet times (when, in the meantime, a great part o f theatre inherited from the Soviet period was forgotten after 1990) and it is to this day an important part o f Lithuanian theatre. Its creators are still active and make a great influence on contemporary theatre practice. Eimuntas Nekrošius has been acknowledged as a theatre director throughout all o f Europe. Stage metaphor as a particular technique o f the directors o f this generation is primarily a visual sign, relating two things, objects or images having nothing in common, i.e. stage elements which are not linked to each other by realistic logic. For example, in H am let staged by Nekrošius in 1999, the Ghost o f the Father handed the prince o f Denmark a dagger frozen in a rectangle o f ice. This con­ nection o f ice and dagger was metaphorical, associative, reminding o f Dadaistic collages, Surrealist images-hieroglyphs, and montage in film (when two unre­ lated shots are connected) or the ideograms o f Imagists. In a broader sense, every element in metaphorical performance could be removed and replaced with any

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

145

other one. Meanwhile, the things were related not according to the usual logic but according to their associative similarity; therefore, the performance obeyed not to the laws o f linear drama narratives but poetic dynamics, requiring the creative participation o f spectator. A performance Smėlio klavyrai staged by Jonas Jurašas in 1990 depicts things and characters from different epochs, which are plunged into tons of sand, filling the entire stage and the auditorium. The performances directed by Vaitkus in the first decade o f the 21st century, P ati pradžios pradžia (The Very Beginning o f the Beginning) and Dem onai. N elabieji. Apsėstieji. Kipšai (Demons, Evil Spirits and the Possessed; 2005, based on the works o f Dos­ toyevsky) reveal the technique o f collage, which was developed by contrast­ ingly juxtaposing different images, ripped out from different contexts o f space and time. These images were put side by side together with video projections in order to achieve different multi-layered and, at least looking from the per­ spective o f the perceiver, accidental, aleatoric, spatial and visual collage. This collage also juxtaposed archaic elements (e.g. the icons by Andrei Rublev) and the images generated by modern technologies (simultaneous camera, when images were filmed and then projected on the screen above the head), as well as elements o f kitsch and sacral art. By disintegrating continuity o f space and time (when the details from modern and historical, mythical and real contexts were juxtaposed on the stage with the objects, coming from different documentary, public, private and memory spaces), they mixed the order o f things (of the everyday and the dream, document and myth), breaking the logic o f the integral psychological character as well as the idealistic integral perspective o f the spectator s sight. Consequently it can be said that metaphorical theatre returned the Lithua­ nian stage to the course o f modern Western theatre from Surrealism to the Theatre o f Images.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

146

Institutional development o f Lithuanian theatre alter the recovery o f independence During the years o f Sąjūdis and national revival (1988-1990), the matter o f how cultural and art institutions o f the soon-to-be independent country should look like was already discussed. However, after the recovery o f independence in 1990, the changes in the theatrical sphere were very slow and the system o f theatres o f the Soviet times continued to be used further despite the fact that this system did not meet the needs o f society. A t the beginning o f the 1990s, there were two active attempts to reform the theatrical system o f Lithuania. Jo ­ nas Jurašas, who came back from the U SA where he became acquainted with a different pattern o f the organisation o f theatre (taking the market approach), was one o f the initiators o f these reforms. Jonas Vaitkus, the second one, was the most famous contemporary pedagogue o f Lithuanian theatre. He sought to create a system, which would accept the young generation o f his pupils and meet their requirements. The main idea o f the reform by these two artists was to change the old Soviet institutions o f theatre, setting them according to the mar­ ket economy, which at that time was replacing the Soviet planned economy in every other sphere. The directors sought that actors, who used to be considered “employees for life” in the Soviet theatre (regardless o f their talent, thoroughness, creativity or the number o f competitors) would now sign terminated contracts. This decision was supposed to shake up the established and slow theatrical life and allow new talent to take a proper place (and earn more), welcome new crea­ tors to the theatre as well as their new ideas, and finally, to help the theatrical community to save some money (it was especially important during the time o f the economic blockade). However, theatrical institutions o f Lithuania in 1992 were not entirely ready to accept these sudden changes. Both theatres, where these reforms had to take place experienced a rebellion: the actors o f the Vilnius Academic Drama Theatre applied to the government demanding help for honoured artists, celeb­ rities o f the national theatre, who supposedly were on the verge o f losing their jobs after years o f selfless work. The actors o f the Kaunas Drama Theatre sued Jonas Jurašas and he had to emigrate again. When in the same year Algirdas

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

147

Brazauskas, the former leader o f the Communist Party, returned to government with the Democratic Labour Party, the new government refused to support the reforms or at least give them a chance. The eventual result was the same old prioritized and supported system o f state theatres, which has survived until the present days. Yet the most advanced and interesting artists o f Lithuanian theatre realised very clearly the disadvantages o f this system (the most dominant element o f this system was a collective o f actors, seeking to protect their privileged status and safe work positions and the failure to adopt any innovative ideas). Therefore, the most famous directors started to gradually retreat from state theatres. Eimun­ tas Nekrošius, an international celebrity by then, was one o f the first to leave the structure o f state supported institutions. He retreated to a new independent theatrical institution, namely an international festival o f theatre L IF E , which operated with almost no state support. This move came as a shock to Lithua­ nian theatre society. Later (1998) Nekrošius founded his own theatre Meno fo rtas, dedicated to the production and distribution o f his works and aesthetics. Independent theatres were also founded by Rimas Tuminas (Vilniaus mažasis teatras [Small Theatre o f Vilnius], established in 1990), Oskaras Koršunovas (OKT, 1999), Cezaris Graužinis (Cezario grupė [Group o f Ceasar], 1003), Gin­ taras Varnas (U TO PIA [Utopia], 2007), etc. W hat those new theatres signified was not only the possibility for a new institutional structure - they also meant that the largest theatrical institutions o f the country, which received most o f the funding from the state and maintained large troupes, an elaborate admin­ istrative apparatus, the best infrastructure and historical buildings, were basi­ cally left without gifted directors. It is no wonder that the creative victories o f these theatres are nowadays quite accidental and rare. The general artistic level o f the provincial theatres, which flourished in Soviet times (e.g. those o f Šiauliai, Klaipėda or Panevėžys), decreased dramatically and their audience is doomed to cheap and poor productions. After 1990, a possibility occurred to create an independent theatre and it attracted artists who felt that conservative frames o f traditional theatre were too narrow, whereas they wanted to experiment, create interdisciplinary, per­ formative, alternative theatrical projects. During 1991-1997, new independent

148

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

theatres included: Edmundo studija į founded by Edmundas Leonavičius and Audronė Bagatyrytė in Šiauliai; in 1993, Valentinas Masalskis gathered a group o f theatre artists Menas į šoną (later renamed as M enų sambūris) in Kaunas; in Klaipeda, there was Gliuką teatras founded by a representative o f avant-garde Benas Šarka and open from 1991 to this day; in 1989, there was a troupe o f actors, Keistuolių teatras, founded in Vilnius (it is oriented to the audience o f children and the youth and is still very popular today); in 1995, an artist and a painter Vega Vaičiūnaitė founded a unique site-specific theatre M iraklis, which was ac­ tive until the death o f its founder in 2.004; two projects were created by a short­ lived (2.001 and 2004) troupe K A R M A N . In terms o f institutions, these troupes and projects took a marginal position. From the aesthetic point o f view, they founded an alternative theatre, which reflected modern Western ideas, trans­ gressing the traditional concepts o f drama theatre (the works o f these groups could be best characterized by the concept o f “performance”, which does not submit to the logic o f drama and can rather be described as post-dramatic), ac­ tor (turning rather to perform er because he/she rejects traditional roles) or stage (performances take place in non-traditional spaces). For example, Benas Šarka created and performed his works in non-theatrical spaces, digressed from literary theatre and the embodiment o f traditional characters. The way Šarka performed certain actions on the stage, relating the text, gesture, manipulation with objects and communication with the audience, are similar to a circus performance. Ac­ tors in the performances by Vega Vaičiūnaitė were amateurs coming from differ­ ent artistic backgrounds or just from the street. She also used puppets, but, most importantly, her performances were conducted in different places o f Vilnius, like streets, parks, ruins o f buildings and frequently the specific site would become the most important inspiration o f the performance itself. A ll norms o f tradition­ al theatre in the work Tabula Rasa by K A R M A N were rejected - it was a free connection o f the elements o f different arts and live performance with electronic media and dance and the final result was reminiscent o f a M T V video. After the recovery o f independence, there were many new attempts to create alternative institutional environments besides these alternative theatre troupes. Their aim was to shift theatrical practice towards modern creative industries, rather than the old model o f the Soviet theatre and inspire new communication

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

149

between the artists o f theatre and the audience and between local and inter­ national theatre. Among such organisations, it is worthwhile to mention the following ones: international festivals o f theatre L IF E and the currently active festival SIR EN O S, also Teatro ir kino informacijos ir edukacijos centras (Infor­ mation and Educational Centre o f Theatre and Cinema) as well as the centre o f modern arts M enų spaustuvė. M enų spaustuvė, located in the former printing house o f the communist newspaper Tiesa in Vilnius, contains the open centre o f performing arts, operating as non-governmental art incubator for young per­ formers, providing them with spaces, stages, technique and organising their per­ formances. The centre also welcomes alternative projects from abroad and hosts public discussions and educational activities for people o f every age. In contrast to traditional Lithuanian institutions o f theatre, it is a project-based and open organisation. A ll these new institutions, which diverged from the Soviet system o f state theatres and formed decentralised alternatives, point out the fact that the time has come for reforms in funding, communication and institutional structure. Although the greatest attention during the time o f revival and the first years o f independence was paid to the concept o f national theatre (i.e. thea­ tre dedicated to the Lithuanian nation, which has reborn and freed itself from the Soviet empire) and despite the fact that the Vilnius Academic Drama Thea­ tre was eventually renamed as the National Theatre o f Lithuania in 1998 (from 2.012, the Kaunas Drama Theatre also received the status o f national theatre), the last decade has revealed that the concept o f national theatre has become prob­ lematic in itself and difficult to explain. The same problem could be detected in other Eastern European countries, which all o f a sudden encountered the effects o f modern globalisation and transnationalism. New forms o f communication, which are provided by digital media, the In­ ternet, the global entertainment industry (Hollywood cinema, cable T V shows, popular music), the industries o f tourism and cheap flights, free access to West­ ern Europe, as well as political organisations (EU, N A TO , W TO ) and economic globalisation, resulting in huge amounts o f emigration, force us to re-evaluate the communication o f culture, its limits and future development. It becomes evident that national theatre as it was, dedicated to the elite audiences o f Vilnius and financially prioritized by the state, can be barely justifiable today under these

150

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

new conditions. Moreover, the nation itself, to which this theatre is supposed to be dedicated and to which it should appeal, is not as homogenous as in previ­ ous historical times. The political fragmentation, social stratification and variety o f lifestyles today could not be imagined cither during Soviet times, or during the period o f the first independence. Naturally, it becomes harder to understand what is the target audience o f national theatre today and what in particular it could say to this audience. This ideological crisis o f national theatre in contem­ porary Lithuania resulted in the operation o f the national theatre as a question­ able institution, lacking clear goals and under attack by critics. Now, since 2.010, when Martynas Budraitis became the head o f the Lithuanian National Theatre, this theatre is trying to recover its former prestige and find new validation for its status. Firstly, the theatre invites and allows the most famous Lithuanian direc­ tors to stage their performances (therefore, it has become a particular protective organisation, offering its troupe and infrastructure to the most important direc­ tors from Lithuania and abroad). Secondly, the current managers o f the national theatre are trying to recover the previous prestige o f the theatre by concentrating on political decisions and social issues. The national theatre is now operating in Lithuania as a part o f the public sphere, which allows discussions o f the most im­ portant issues in broader society. Such performances are Išvarymas (Expulsion; 2011) by Oskaras Koršunovas based on the play by Marius Ivaškevičius and dedi­ cated to the problem o f emigration, or Visuomenėspriešas by Ibsen (An Enemy of the People; 2011), which critically analyses the problem o f corruption.

Post-totalitarian generation in Lithuanian theatre Despite o f slow institutional changes in Lithuanian theatre, sudden and substantial changes took place in terms o f theatrical language, dramatic mate­ rial and themes after the restoration o f independence. These changes were re­ lated to the abolition o f censorship, allowing the analysis o f historical questions, which were previously ignored and the young generation o f artists in the theatre, which brightly and boldly invaded the stage. This generation started its work during the last years o f the Soviet occupation or already after the recovery o f in­

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

151

dependence. For them, the totalitarian system was the past, yet not the past that could be forgotten. On the contrary, the shapes o f consciousness, deformed by totalitarianism, were a constant m otif in the works o f this generation. Together they attempted for the first time to reconsider the psychic heritage o f the Soviet period, rejecting the earlier moral prejudices. The first performances o f Oska­ ras Koršunovas could be considered as a prominent manifestation o f this young post-totalitarian generation. These performances were based on the works of Daniil Kharms and Alexander Vvedensky, the writers o f a Russian avant-garde group O BER IU , which existed in the 1 9 2 0 - 3 0 S . It can be said that these works were the first instances in Lithuanian theatre, when such a radical turn was taken towards the aesthetics o f absurd theatre. They rejected aconsistent drama narrative, psychological characters and other forms o f traditional theatre. An intertextual space was offered instead. In this space, Oskaras Koršunovas and his actors (including Remigijus Bilinskas, Andrius Nakas, Algirdas Dainavičius, Saulius Mykolaitis, etc.), the composer Gintaras Sodeika, set designers Aidas Bareikis, Julius Liudavičius and Žilvinas Kempinas used expressionist cinema, optical art, Russian avant-garde, projections o f visual art, antique rituals and a Beckettian atmosphere. These heterogeneous elements were not overtly related, while understanding the meaning o f the entire performance and its fragments was usually left to the audience. Theatre critics related such expression to manifestations o f Western post­ modern aesthetics. Yet the early performances o f Oskaras Koršunovas also expressed a post-Soviet world-view and the mental condition o f Eastern Euro­ pean society, which experienced historical trauma as well as the identity o f his generation. It was especially obvious in Koršunovas’ performance, which was created in collaboration with another representative o f the post-totalitarian gen­ eration, poet, dramatist and essayist Sigitas Parulskis R S. Byla O .K (P.S. Case O .K.; 1997), the title o f which contains the initials o f these authors. This stage production did not follow the logic o f a dramatic narrative and stable limits of characters. Various classical motifs mostly related to the theme o f patricide and infanticide (Hamlet, Oedipus, Abraham) were interconnected with a shocking authentic experience, which was articulated by the author o f the play Parulskis himself, when he served as a paratrooper in the Soviet Army.

152

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

After the collapse o f the Berlin Wall, Eastern Europe was flooded with the consumerist culture o f images. It became clear that the old metaphoric language in the theatres o f Nekrošius, Vaitkus and Tuminas, which was formed in a closed society while trying to conform to the requirements o f the Soviet control o f culture, had become too exotic and abstract. D uring the last decade o f the 20th century and early 21s1 century, when a generation matured which considered watching cable T V shows 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, the fashion and entertainment industry, an unbridled process o f consumerism and alienation in a rationally administered world a fine routine, Chekhovian subtexts and hermetic metaphors appeared as elitist anachronisms. Theatre for the post-totalitarian generation started to look as overtly abstract and dissoci­ ated from the live social experience. The young generation o f artists expressed belief in different, edgy, critical theatre, which would turn back to the real social life. In 2002, the director Ignas Jonynas claimed that Lithuanian theatre was dissociated from reality. Accord­ ing to him, instead o f reality, the metaphorical theatre o f the older established generation offered narcissistic mystifications o f directors. W hile opening his in­ dependent theatre in 1999, Oskaras Koršunovas announced his own manifesto o f the generation (borrowing certain ideas from the German stage director Tho­ mas Ostermeicr). According to the manifesto, theatre in Lithuania had turned into a culinary art, designated for a small circle o f gourmands: “I think that theatre becomes real only when it manages to return to the issues o f social life.” In pursuit o f a new theatrical reality o f social life, young directors turned to modern drama, for example, The N ew Brutalism and hyper-realist aesthet­ ics. The most famous performance o f this movement was Koršunovas’ Shopp in g a n d Fucking (1999) based on the play o f the same title by M ark Ravenhill. During the performance, the characters were surrounded by television screens and vomited real salad and everything was crowned with naturalistically re­ enacted oral homosexual intercourse. Although critics agreed that the aes­ thetics o f British brutalism entered the Lithuanian stage too early (because it spoke about issues, which have not been experienced by society so far), this new brutalism was a prominent attempt to not only question metaphoric aes­ thetics, which was established in Soviet times, but also to turn to social top­

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

153

ics, which were ignored in the Lithuanian theatre for many years and also to resonate events in Western Europe.

National topics varying between modernism and postmodernism During the decades o f independence, Western theatre provided the Lithua­ nian stage with new topics, and more importantly, postmodernist aesthetics or at least its fragments, announcing a different theatrical approach. According to Jurgita Staniškytė, who analysed the topic o f postmodernism most thoroughly, contemporary Lithuanian theatre consists o f pre-modern, modern and post­ modern elements as a hybrid totality. Not all the ideas that came from modern Western theatre resonated among artists o f Lithuanian theatre. Some o f them were overtaken superficially and without any corresponding social experience, others fitted perfectly in the theatrical self-reflection o f a society, which had freed itself from the Soviet empire (e.g. visuality, intertextuality). The postmod­ ern impact also changed the representations o f national theatre, stories, images and heroes. German theatre researcher Hans-Thies Lehmann generalized the changes in contemporary Western theatre in his influential book Postdramatic Theatre published in 1999. One chapter was dedicated to Eimuntas Nekrošius. The au­ thor emphasized that the leading role belonged to music rather than to the text o f drama in the performances (e.g. in the adaptations o f Shakespeare) o f this director. Such “musicalisation” o f the performance as a basis for directing con­ tradicted the concept o f traditional theatre, where the most important role, de­ termining the shape and realisation o f the performance, belonged to the text o f a drama. The text in the performances directed by Nekrošius makes one “track” o f signs; however, not the dominant but rather the equivalent to other “tracks” o f visual and aural articulations. When watching H am let (1997) by Nekrošius, we, on the one hand, witness a story narrated by Shakespeare, which we could follow, while enjoying interpretation o f the drama by actors and the director. Yet, on the other hand, to the dismay o f the fans o f Shakespeare’s canon, there was

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

154

another alternative parallel story in the performance told by Nekrošius himself. This alternative version was told by the director, who employed a manipulation o f various objects on stage as well as o f the bodies o f the actors. These two stories by Shakespeare and by Nekrošius sometimes interrelated and sometimes diverged to different directions. Nekrošius told his own story by not following the logic o f drama and plot, but rather by employing visual and musical “logic”. Therefore, while watching Ham let, the context o f Shakespeare would not be enough as it would not be able to explain why there was a circular saw hanging above the actors or why the Ghost o f the Father kneeled down and licked Hamlet’s hands as a dog. Such behaviour might seem revolting for the fans and protectors o f the canon o f Shakespeare, to others, this “barbarian in Shakespeare’s garden”, as Nekrošius was named by one critic, excited inspiring thoughts. Nekrošius’ theatre, which rejected a dominance o f drama, could be reasonably considered as “postdramatic”. Younger generations o f theatre artists continue to develop this balance between visuality and textuality, considered to be a characteristic feature o f Lithuanian theatre, which has developed from catholic rituals (as contrary to protestant religions which are more text-oriented) and attempts to overstep Soviet censorship using elaborate visual signs o f figurative meaning. Visuality o f this new post-Soviet theatre was influenced by other sources and contexts: popular culture, T V shows, advertisements, public relations in politics, develop­ ment o f digital culture and the influence o f Western postmodernist theatre. The visuality o f Nekrošius and Vaitkus “grew out” o f a literary text in one or another way (even i f this visuality gained quite an independent form) but at least the posture o f direction in terms o f text was respectful (even after losing humility o f “the maid”). The young generation created performances, in which the balance o f visuality and textuality gained a more controversial form. The set o f the performance Oedipus K in g (2002) by Oskaras Koršunovas based on a classical tragedy by Sophocles, depicted a childhood playground o f the director in a communal area o f Vilnius with swings and sand boxes. The choir wore masks o f Mickey Mouse, the coryphaeus was dressed as a giant shabby teddy bear. Tiresias jumped unexpectedly out o f sand box in a creepy shape o f Pinocchio, whereas Oedipus himself (who was played by one o f the most talented

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

155

actors o f his generation Dainius Gavenonis) was very similar to the controversial mayor o f Vilnius, Artūras Zuokas. A change in other theatrical elements can be noted in modern Lithuanian theatre as well as their shift from the Aristotelian modern theatre to postdramatic expression, performance, theatre o f images and postmodernist aesthetics. E.g. the first decade o f the 2.1st century marks the be­ ginning o f new ideas o f acting, performing, stage action or being in the space o f the stage. The representatives o f late modernism (e.g. Nekrošius) were interested in the authenticity o f actors performance on stage. N ot being satisfied with tra­ ditional acting and hiding behind the mask, Nekrošius would frequently seek to consciously create uncomfortable, intense or even dangerous acting conditions for his actors, which would not allow emerging into the character and would draw to the daylight the actual and personal experience. Nekrošius’ decision to assign the role o f Hamlet to a non-professional theatre actor, musician Andrius Mamontovas, was a sort o f scandal among the people o f theatre. By inviting unprofessional actors, Nekrošius attempted to avoid the “professionalism” o f actors, theatricality and fiction o f stage action, emphasising reality, the self, un­ certainty and authenticity. By employing unprofessional actors “from the street” (e.g. in Roberto Zucco (1998), a local roller-skater rolled around the track built in the middle o f the scene) Koršunovas allowed them to be themselves and to stop embodying other characters, or to turn into one o f the abundant visual elements o f the stage. Sometimes unknown figures that appear in the performance would provide dramatic interpretation with a local nuance and bring fictional action closer to the world beyond the limits o f theatre. New theatrical genres appeared, questioning the traditional limits be­ tween fiction and reality. Atviras ratas (Open Circle), a group o f young perform­ ers, whose first showwas based on the fragments o f childhood and adolescence memories o f the actors themselves (Atviras ratas, 1004), is the most famous ex­ ample o f devised theatre and the strategies o f documentary theatre. They reject­ ed all decorations in this improvisation based on autobiographical stories and performed while sitting on chairs placed in the middle o f the audience. One af­ ter another, they would tell funny or shockingly intimate memories and would gradually involve the audience.

156

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Such openness and intcrtcxtuality o f the structure, rejection o f tradition­ al drama became a challenge to the traditional viewer because it also changed the communicative situation. The meaning in modernist performances by Nekrošius, Jonas Vaitkus and Jurašas had existed and was recorded by these directors-authors in stage signs and was accessible or at least anticipated by view­ ers, whereas communication in the works o f Koršunovas, Varnas or representa­ tives o f the younger generation (i.e. Jankevičius, Areima or Aidas Bareikis) is no longer based on already existing meanings, which were selected by the director in advance while staging the performance. Accordingly, it can be stated that a lot o f people who saw the performance would perceive it differently. E.g. G in­ taras Varnas likes using large spaces or spaces o f unusual shapes so that viewers, independently o f their place, would always see a different performance and the best places, which would guarantee one perspective o f suitable realisation, do not exist at all. For a similar purpose (to deconstruct, divide unified perspective o f perception, provide each viewer with unique experience), not only untraditional spaces (the audience sat on the stage and the action took place in front o f them in an empty hall), but also simultaneous projections, which doubled things o f what the audience saw on stage, are used in the performance Nusikal­ timas ir bausmė (Crime and Punishment, Z004) directed by Varnas. Thus, the sight o f viewers was divided and out o f focus so it would be barely possible to speak about the audience in a traditional sense (in the sense that the audience was understood by directors o f Lithuanian theatre in the 2.0th century). Simi­ larly, a different situation applies to meaning. Dominance ofvisuality, a network o f intertextual connection, personal memories and associations turn the viewer into the actual creator o f real meaning, and the network o f meanings created by each viewer is unique and uncommunicative. Maybe it permits us to express the hope that the construction o f Lithuanian identity, consolidation o f national community, resistance to the aggression o f the Russian Empire and collective historical images, which remained as the most important characteristic features throughout the entire 2.0th century, today can finally yield to reflections on more complex identities and theatre can be a place allowing introspection into the most diverse, contradictory and dramatic meanings o f being a human being.

History of Lithuanian cu ltu r e

157

References S ru o g a B .

L ietu vių teatras Peterburge, 18 9 2-1918 .

S e c A n t h o n y E . S w ift,

K a u n a s , 19 3 0 , p . 8 - 9 .

P opu lar Theatre an d Society in Tsarist Russia.

U n iv e r s it y o f C a l i ­

f o r n ia P re ss , 2 .0 0 1 , p . 5 1. M aknys V.

R aštai, 1

M a r tiš iū tė A .

. 1 . V iln iu s , 1 0 0 9 , p . 17 5 .

Pirm asis lietu vių dram aturgijos Šim tm etis. V i l n i u s :

L i e t u v i ų l i t e r a t ū r o s ir

ta u to s a k o s in s t u t it a s , 2 0 0 6 , p . 1 1 0 - 1 3 3 . A ls o : Š a r ū n e T r in k ū n a it ė , L ie t u v ių is to rin ė s d r a ­ m o s p r a d ž i a : l e n k i š k o s i š t a k o s i r l i e t u v i š k o s k o r e k c i j o s . M enotyra, 2 0 0 5 , t . 4 1 , n o . 4 . See

Lietuvos kultūra sovietinės ideologijos nelaisvėje 1940-1990. D okum entų rinkinys, e d .

J . R . B a g u š a u s k a s , A . S t r e ik u s . V il n iu s : L ie t u v o s g y v e n t o jų g e n o c id o i r r e z is t e n c ijo s t y r i­ m o c e n tra s, 2 0 0 $ , p . 11. P c tu c h a u s k a s M . P ir m a s is t a r y b in is t e a tr o s e z o n a s .

L ietu vių tarybinis teatras 1940-1936.

V iln iu s : M in t is , 19 7 9 , p . 27. See

Tarybinis teatras ir dabartis. N utarim ų ir straipsnių rinkinys.

K a u n a s : V a ls t y b in ė

g r o ž in ė s lit e r a t ū r o s le id y k la , 19 4 8 . L K P ( b ) C K s e k r e t o r ia u s V . N iu n k o s r a š t a s V K P ( b ) C K g r o ž in ė s lit e r a t ū r o s i r m e n o s k y r ia u s v e d ė ju i V . K r u ž k o v u i d ė l d a ilin in k o L . T r u ik i o f o r m a lis t in ių p a ž iū r ų .

kultūra sovietinės ideologijos nelaisvėje 1940-1990. D okum entų rinkinys,

Lietuvos

ed. J. R . B ag u ­

š a u s k a s , A . S t r e i k u s . V i l n i u s : L i e t u v o s g y v e n t o j ų g e n o c id o i r r e z is t e n c ijo s t y r i m o c e n t r a s , 2 0 0 5 , p . 16 0 . И н ст р ук ц и я о по рядке ц ен зор н о го ко н тр о л я п р ои звед ен и й и скусства //

р и я советской полит ической цензуры: Документ ы и комент арии,

И ст о­

М . РО С С П Э Н ,

1 9 9 7 . с . 5 2 8 - 5 3 2 , с . 5 19 . A n t a n a it is К . S o v ie t in ių p a r t in ių in s t it u c ijų r e a k c ija į 1 9 7 2 m . į v y k iu s K a u n e / /

istorijos m etraštis, p. 14 .

K auno

t. 4 . K a u n a s : V y t a u t o D id ž io jo u n iv e r s it e t o le id y k la , 2 0 0 3 , p . 1 5 - 2 6 ,

TheHistory ¿/Lithuanian c u l t u r e

DALIA KUIZINIENÊ

Lithuanian Theatre in Exile

159

History o f Lithuanian c u ltu r e

Lithuanian theatre in exile has undergone several stages. Temporariness was typical to theatre collectives in exile. A s a result o f emigration, the majority of collectives existed for a very short period o f time and later their activities were again discontinued several years later. A ll the theatres that used to exist in exile consisted o f both professionals and amateur artists. Troupes and collectives of Lithuanian émigrés were established in the U SA ; however, theatrical activities were also active in Canada and Australia. Moreover, certain attempts to organ­ ize theatre troupes and stage performances were also made in Europe, Great Britain and Germany. The origins o f Lithuanian theatre in exile go back to 1889 when the first Lithuanian performance (a drama Be sumenès, arba kaip ant svieto einasi per­ formed by Antanas Turskis) was staged in Plymouth. This performance was performed in many Lithuanian colonies which also gave birth to various ama­ teur theatre clubs. The same year, Chicago Lithuanians established Theatrical Society and staged a play K ova po G runvaldu (Battle at Grunwald) by Jonas Grinius.Am erikapirtyje (America in the Bathhouse) by Robertas Keturakis was first performed in Pittsburgh in 1895. Bigger and better known theatre collec­ tives gathered in Boston (iGabija), Chicago (Birutè), Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Waterbury in the late 19th century. Single theatrical groups were also active in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit and smaller colonies. The majority of these movements were amateur. They staged simple plays that reminded specta­ tors o f life in Lithuania, raised religious and patriotic feelings, and recovered the historical memories o f Lithuanians living abroad. Plays and performances

161

162

History of Lithuanian culture

were much easier to understand than books or newspaper by the mostly illiter­ ate Lithuanians who had but a poor education. “The first performances, indeed, were tenuous and primitive. The majority o f performers were those who have never seen the theatre before. Emigrants during their spare time used to organ­ ize various entertaining events, which involved both rural musicians, singers, tukoriai (jokers) and storytellers. Lithuanian performances helped them develop their innate talents and learn a slightly better Lithuanian language” Stage activity in the early 20th century was a significant social cultural field for the diaspora at the time. It was an important part o f life o f those people since the theatre o f those times used to educate and nurture society and looked for acceptable and well understood acting forms. Larger Lithuanian colonies had their own theatre societies, Lithuanian choirs, charitable and congregational organizations which used to organize performances. Operetta significantly re­ vived theatrical activity in exile. Operettas were especially popular after 1907 when Mikas Petrauskas arrived in the USA. Theatrical amateur activity was highly encouraged, promoted and nourished by the then Lithuanian public or­ ganizations. E.g. Lietuvos Vyciai (Knights o f Lithuania) had drama sections at their companies; theatre activity was supported and nourished by the Union o f Lithuanian Socialists, the members o f which participated in the activities of theatrical collectives (e.g. 168 companies o f this union staged 89 performances in 1914). Due to a great number o f theatrical groups, they were forced to intensely compete for spectators. Moreover, political organizations hoped to attract more members through theatre and the organization o f attractive performances. Professional actors and stage directors started participating in theatrical activities in the early 20th century. They revived and made theatrical life in com­ munities more active by involving theatre workers who came from already exist­ ing amateur collectives. They also staged new performances and added variety to the repertoires. A theatrical club run by Dr. Vincas Kudirka, which staged Am erikapirtyje, was established in the beginning o f 1909. The establishment of the Association o f Lithuanian Dramatic Societies in 1914 was an especially sig­ nificant date in the theatre history o f American Lithuanians. It was supposed to be a centre which would include all the theatre unions in the USA. The associa­ tion used to publish a magazine Veidrodis (Mirror) from 1914 until 1915. How­

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

ever, due to arguments and disunity, the aforementioned association existed for only a short period o f time. Bronius Laucevičius-Vargšas started to work in Chicago from 1908. A little bit later (from 1923 until 1928) Juozas Vaičkus worked in Brooklyn. A group o f drama actors (Antanas Vanagaitis, Juozas Olšauskas and Viktoras Dineika) ar­ rived in the U SA in 1924. The aforementioned three dramatists and Jonas Dikinis established a troupe D zim dzi D rim dzi, which went on tour across America in 1924. It was akin to a vaudeville theatre that used to entertain the audience and revived patriotic feelings through the patriotic part o f their performances. The program o f performances consisted o f several vaudeville performances o f two or three acts. They were supplemented with songs, couplets and musical in­ terludes. This collective had exceptional success in the USA. The members o f the troupe were the creators o f stage scenery as well. The troupe was active until 1931. Lithuanian theatre in the U SA faced a huge crisis after the end o f this collective’s activities. Single old theatrical unions were operating as well, yet they failed to reach such great popularity. Actor Stasys Pilka worked in the U SA from 1926 until 1929. He staged performances in Chicago and Brooklyn. He also helped Antanas Vanagaitis with the drama sections o f the Birutė choir, directing and acting as well. Theatrical activity at the German DP camps (camps for Displaced Per­ sons). Many Lithuanian theatre professionals retreated from Lithuania after World War II. They began to gather into drama theatre collectives in Augsburg, Hanau, Kassel, Detmold and Ravensburg in 1945-1946. The majority o f per­ formances were re-staged and plays staged in Lithuania were renewed. About 40 professional theatre actors departed from Lithuania to Germany. Seven drama collectives were also established at German DP camps within five years. The col­ lectives o f Augsburg and Detmold consisted o f professional actors, while theatre troupes o f Ingolstadt and Hanau consisted o f only stage amateurs. Drama theatre o f Augsburg’s Lithuanians. Juozas Palubinskas gathered ac­ tors who lived in Augsburg. He staged and performed a prologue o f the play Kudirka by Kazys Inčiūra as well as some other sketches with Augsburg’s Lithua­ nians. He decided to establish a theatre group a little bit later. The following ac­ tors were invited to join the group: Antanas Škėma, Henrikas Kačinskas, Romas

163

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

164

Veselauskas (Viesulas), Zita Kėvalaitytė, Elena and Anastazija Dauguvietytė. The collective staged 12 premiere performances and performed 140 perform­ ances within four years. After the currency reform in 1948, the conditions to stage performances and go on tour to other camps became difficult. Thus, some theatre actors (Henrikas Kačinskas, Alfas Brinką, Antanas Škėma, Vitalijus Žukauskas) organized a literary cabaret Klum pė (Clog). The collective per­ formed 139 performances at various Lithuanian camps within four months. The composition o f the Augsburg Lithuanian theatre varied constantly since actors used to depart. The collection did not have a permanent director, while their repertoire covered works staged in Lithuania. A drama theatre Aitvaras (Kite) founded by professional theatrical person­ alities Jurgis Blekaitis and Antanas Rūkas was active for several years. It con­ sisted o f ten professional actors. Henrikas Kačinskas was assigned as artistic director o f the troupe, while Jurgis Blekaitis was employed as a director. The members o f the troupe translated five works into Lithuanian language. Rūkas is the author o f a comedy Bubulis ir Dundulis (Bubulis and Dundulis), which was especially popular. 33 performances were performed at various camps within a short period o f time. A drama studio o f Ravensburg’s Lithuanians was founded by Antanas Gus­ taitis in 1945. Aleksandra Zdanevičiūtė-Gustaitienė was appointed as artistic di­ rector o f the studio. The studio consisted o f amateur actors who had a chance to become acquainted with the basics o f acting and start their own acting careers. The studio staged 8 works and performed 17 performances within two years. Translated works were performed as well. The plays Sekm inių vainikas (The Wreath o f Pentecost) by Antanas Gustaitis and Gintaro žemės pasaka (A Tale o f Amber Land) by Petras Babickas were written exclusively for this troupe. Meanwhile, a drama studio founded by Ipolitas Tvirbutas in Kassel staged 12 performances within two years o f its existence. The following plays were staged in the studio: Petras Vaičiūnas’ play Tuščiospastangos (Futile Endeavors), which was staged several times in the independent Lithuania; the play Pažadėtoji žemė (Promised Land) by W illiam Somerset Maugham and Žmogus, kurį užmušiau (A man, who was killed by me) by Maurice Rostand. The troupe consisted of both amateur and professional actors. A collective o f stage amateurs o f Ingol-

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

A to u r o f the theatre A itvaras in Oldenburg in 1946. Archive o f V M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

165

166

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

stack’s Lithuanians was founded in 1945. The troupe was directed by Zuzana Arlauskaitė-Mikšienė. Nine plays and 2.2. performances were performed within more than two years. A complicated work Valdovo sūnūs (Sons o f the Ruler) by Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas and a play Šykštuolis (The Miser or the School for Lies) by Molière were staged as well. A theatrical troupe Atžalynas (The Under­ growth) was founded by Jonas Kelečius at the Hanau camp in 1945. The follow­ ing professional directors were invited to stage performances: Vytautas Valiukas, Antanas Škėma, Stasys Pilka, Jurgis Blekaitis. Several performances were staged. Generalinė repeticija (The Dress Rehearsal) by Kazys Binkis and Tariamasis li­ gonis (Fake Patient) by Molière were the most famous o f them. Temporariness was typical to the theatre at the time. Theatre collectives gathered spontaneously at various German camps. They united both profes­ sional and amateur actors, who were taught acting and stage art techniques. The composition o f drama troupes varied constantly since troupe members departed to other camps or to other foreign countries. Thus, the success o f the perform­ ance frequently depended on the enthusiasm o f actors and their diligent work. “The performances indeed were created from nothing: there were neither proper premises for acting, nor assets, property or helpers. Actors became the masters of various crafts: woodworkers, electricians, plumbers, etc. They were in charge of every task that needed to be done in order to stage a performance. They worked without asking “why” until their time for emigration had come. Perhaps this was a reflection o f their nature, the love o f their work or attempts to remain loyal to their profession”1. Theatre audiences at the time however, were benevolent. Popular performances staged in Lithuania were often re-staged and performed. Atžalynas was the only collective from those named that moved from Ger­ many to the USA. A great number o f different performances were staged: Aukso žąsis (Golden Goose) by Birutė Pūkelevičiūtė, and the one act dramas Pypkė (The Pipe) and Žaliojoj lankelėj (In the Green Meadow) by Kostas Ostrauskas. Vytautas Valiukas was invited to be a director of the troupe, yet he did not make it to Chicago. One the main actors, Jonas Kelečius, also withdrew from the troupe and founded a modern experimental theatre consisting o f two actors, with his friend actor Nijolė Martinaitytė.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Staging o f Kostas Ostrauskas' play The G ravediggers. Directed by Jurgis Blckaitis and Dalia Sruogaitė-Bylaitienė. Archive o f V M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

167

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

168

Satirical theatre traditions were continued by the troupe Antras kaimas (The Second Village) established in Chicago in 1963. The program consisted of a satire, humour and short humoristic sketches. Texts for performances, which ironically depicted the issues o f Lithuanian life abroad, were written by actors themselves. The troupe, directed by Algirdas Titus Antanaitis, frequently went on tours in émigré colonies, as well as visiting Lithuania in 1989. New collectives were founded here as well. The majority o f theatre troupes gathered in Chicago, yet larger or smaller groups formed in other larger set­ tlements o f Lithuanians. Despite a great number o f professional theatrical fig­ ures who came to the U SA , the establishment o f a professional theatre failed here. “Professional actors spread through the great America and there were no organizations or single individuals who would gather them into theatre life. Moreover, disagreement among the theatre people, personal ambitions, the negation o f authoritative persons and other issues o f a life in exile had a great impact on this fact”*. Lithuanian performances in the U SA were staged zx.Atžalynas, the Lithua­ nian Theatre, Theatre o f Chicago Lithuanians and Theatre o f Stage Employees. The majority o f performances were staged by the following directors: Stasys Pilka (30 performances), Vytautas Valiukas, Antanas Škėma, Jurgis Blckaitis, Alfas Brinką, Algimantas Dikinis, Antanas Rūkas, Ipolitas Tvirbutas, Birutė Pūkelevičiūtė. The Council for Culture o f the Lithuanian Community vividly made numerous attempts to gather the theatre persons into one theatre. The de­ cision to gather as many actors at the Lithuanian theatre in Chicago was taken. The decision was approved by the majority o f actors and directors. Nineteen ac­ tors were gathered and Rūkas was assigned as the head o f the theatre. Several performances were staged: Buhalterijos klaida (Accounting Mistake) by Vytau­ tas Alantas, P rieš srovę (Swimming Upstream) by Juozas Petrulis. However, due to a lack o f money and internal disagreements, the Lithuanian theatre ended its activities in Chicago. Lithuanian theatrical troupes operated in other U SA cities as well. A stu­ dio o f Henrikas Kačinskas was active in Boston for some time. Later a drama collective o f Lithuanians directed by Asta (Aleksandra) Gustaitienė was also

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Juozas Kclcčius, Vytautas Valiukas, Leonardas Andriekus, A ntanas Gustaitis, Stasys Santvaras, A ntanas Rimydis, H enrikas Nagys, Vytautas Marijošius in Boston in 1971. Archive o f V M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

169

Hiscory o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

170

founded in Boston. A modern drama theatre o f Lithuanians, founded and directed by by Beatričė Kerbelienė, was active from 1965 until 1967. This par­ ticular troupe staged the plays o f Wilder, Giraudout and Algirdas Landsbergis. Three actors (Žukauskas, Škėma and Vasiliauskas) founded a troupe in Brook­ lyn. Later Škėma and Vasiliauskas withdrew from this troupe and it remained a one-person theatre (in the hands o f Žukauskas). Žukauskas went on tour to different Lithuanian colonies in the USA. His satirical and comic improvisa­ tions were especially popular. Theatre collectives which existed for a longer or shorter period o f time were also founded in Cleveland, Detroit, Waterbury and Los Angeles. Most often they focused on similar issues, while actors continued the tradition o f acting and direction brought from Lithuania, which was named as “moderate scenic realism” by Stasys Santvaras. Only one or two directors tried to experiment (e.g. Blekaitis and Arnoldas Giedraitis, the founder o f avant-garde theatre).

References V a š k e lis B . J A V lie tu v ių t e a tr o p r a d ž ia ( 19 8 9 - 19 8 9 ) / / V a š k e lis B .

Ž vilgsn is iš atokiau, t . 2 .

V i l n i u s : V e r s u s a u r e u s , 2 0 0 5 , p . 35. V a š k e lis B . L ie t u v ių s t o v y k lin is d r a m o s te a tr a s V o k ie t ijo je / / V a š k e lis B .

kiau , t .

Ž vilgsn is iš ato­

3. V in iu s : V e rsu s au re u s, 2 0 12 , p . 9 4 .

S a n tv a r a s S . D r a m o s te a tra s // d ijo s le id y k la , 19 6 8 , p . 6 7 0 .

L ietu vių enciklopedija, 1

. 1$ , B o s to n a s : L ie t u v ių e n c ik lo p e ­

TheHistory «/Lithuanian c u l t u r e

VIJOLÉ VlSO M IRSKYTÉ

Lithuanian Literature and National Identity

171

172

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

C o m e , I w i l l le a d y o u i n s p ir it t o w a r d s a s t r a n g e , m is t y , v e ile d , m u r m u r i n g la n d . A b e a t o f o u r w in g s , a n d w e s h a ll fly o v e r a c o u n t r y w h e re a ll th in g s b e a r th e d u ll c o lo u r o f m e m o ry . A n o d o r o f li l i e s , a m is t o f m o u ld e r i n g f o r e s t s u r r o u n d s u s . I t is L i e t u v a , t h e la n d o f G e d i m i n a s a n d J o g a ila . T h e p a le , in d iffe r e n t s k y o f t h e p e n s iv e c o u n t r y t h a t o p e n s b e fo r e u s h a s a ll th e b r ig h t­ n e ss o f t h e g a z e o f p r im it iv e p e o p le s ; it k n o w s n o t h in g o f th e s u m p t u o u s s a d n e s s o f r ip e n in g . A f t e r s e v e n w in t e r m o n t h s ’ le t h a r g y , it a w a k e n s w it h a b o u n d t o t h e s u d d e n b e a u t y o f S p r in g ; a n d fr o m t h e m id d le o f S e p t e m b e r o n w a r d s , t h is fe r t ile r e n e w a l, w h ic h n e v e r g a v e b ir t h to S u m m e r , a lr e a d y b e g in s t o r e c a ll, w it h t h e v o ic e s o f c r o w s , th e s e v e n lo n g m o n th s o f W in t e r . T h e n , t h e L i t h u a n i a n s u m m e r s c e n t o f h o n e y g iv e s w a y t o t h e o d o r o f A u t u m n w h i c h is lik e t h e s o u l o f L it h u a n ia . A b itte r s w e e t s c e n t, lik e a n o ld t r e e o v e r t u r n e d a n d b u r ie d b e n e a th m o ss; l i k e a r u i n a f t e r t h e d o w n p o u r o f s u m m e r ’s e n d . A w a n l i g h t c o v e r s t h e p l a i n ; a s u l p h u r o u s f o g s le e p s o n t h e f o r e s t s , t h e p a l l o r o f t h e i d e e f i x e s w a m p s t h e s u n ’s s i l e n t f o r c e . A l t h o u g h t h e r e i s n o t y e t a n y s n o w , th e s le ig h r e p la c e s th e c a r t o n f lo o d e d r o a d s . T h e o d o r o f fla x r o t t i n g o n th e r iv e r s p re a d s a c ro s s th e c o u n t r y s id e . T h e n fin a lly t h e N o v e m b e r s n o w a p p e a rs , a n d t h e w a tc h ­ d o g s t a k e u p t h e i r i n t e r m i n a b l e c o l l o q u i e s w i t h t h e w o l v e s o f a n c i e n t f o r e s t s l o s t i n t h e f o g 1.

O . V . d e L . M i lo s z " L i t h u a n i a ” , 19 19

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

173

A modest little country by the sea. It has its snow, an airport, telephones, its Jews. A tyrants brownstone villa. A statue of a bard is there as well, who once compared his country to his girlfriend. The simile displayed, if not good taste, sound geography: for the southerners make Saturday the day to go up north, from whence, a little drunk, on foot, they have been known to stay into the West a good theme for a sketch. Here distances arc well designed to suit hermaphrodites. Noonday in springtime. Puddles, banked-up clouds, stout, countless angels on the gables of countless churches. Here a man becomes a victim of a jostling crowd, or a detail of the homemade baroque.1 Josiph Brodsky “Lithuanian Divertissement”, 1971

From the island it is convenient to sec Lithuania as an island: a closed enough, culturally and economically limited community with its “fear o f abroad”, damaged interrelations, painful self-remorse, and alongside this - with the pride of a fancied centre. The island is characterized by a long-lasting and exhausting dispute “with itself” because islanders imagine that the Other as though does not touch them. Maybe it does not touch them with its borders, but inevitably affects it with cultural and economical influence. Finally, it touches them through God embodying the universal values. (...) It seems to me that today, as never before, the im a g in a b le and the im a g in a ry have become my everyday preoccupation and life5. Dalia Staponkuté “Globalization and Nothing”, 10 0 7

174

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

The three extracts, chosen to begin this short overview o f the issue o f Lithuanian literature and national identity, are taken from the literary texts presenting the image o f the country from outside: they were written from a distance and only the third one - in the Lithuanian language. Although each o f them was created in a different place, time, language, genre form, and by authors, whose relation to Lithuania is also quite different; still all three texts share the use o f landscape as a way to represent the country. The verbal and visual representations o f land­ scapes have a strong impact upon the way we imagine the nation: N a t i o n a l i d e n t i t i e s a r e c o - o r d i n a t e d , o f t e n l a r g e l y d e f i n e d , b y ‘ l e g e n d s a n d l a n d s c a p e s ’, b y s t o r ie s o f g o ld e n a g e s , e n d u r in g t r a d it io n s , h e r o ic d e e d s a n d d r a m a t ic d e s t in ie s lo c a t e d i n a n c ie n t o r p r o m is e d h o m e - la n d s w i t h h a llo w e d s it e s a n d s c e n e r y . T h e s y m b o lic a c t iv a t io n o f t im e a n d s p a c e , o f t e n d r a w i n g o n t h e r e lig io u s s e n t im e n t , g iv e s s h a p e t o th e ‘ im a g in e d c o m m u n it y ’ o f t h e n a tio n . A s e x e m p la r s o f m o r a l o r d e r a n d a e s th e tic h a rm o n y , p a r t ic u la r la n d s c a p e s a c h ie v e t h e s t a t u s o f n a t io n a l ic o n s .4

A ll three different landscapes, represented by Milosz, Brodsky and Staponkute, are vivid in Lithuanian literary and cultural imagination. The first one - Lithuania as an agrarian country o f woods and swamps - has been established as a national icon in the 20th century; the second - Lithuania as an urban country o f churches and homemade baroque - could be seen as a counterpart to this myth; and the third - Lithuania as an island - is quite recent, but it strongly operates in Lithuanian literary works o f the last two decades. The contrasting prototypical landscapes could be considered as “distinctive forms o f pastoral or outback nationalism”5, which are important because “retreat informs our sense o f community”6; i.c., the environmental imagination can be read as a “ barometer o f national imagination”7. These (and other) national pastorals strongly correlate with the socio-political his­ tory o f Lithuanian culture. The images o f a young, primitive, pagan, immature country in Milosz’s “Lithuania”, the figure o f tyrant in Brodsky’s “Lithuanian Divertissement”, and the word “globalization” in the title o f Staponkute s essay mark different political historical times, when these texts were written: Milosz’s lyrical piece appeared in his lecture delivered on March 29,1919, in Paris, a year after the establishment of

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

175

the Republic o f Lithuania, a newly bom state8; Brodsky wrote his poem in 1971, after one o f his visits to Lithuania, when it was occupied by the Soviet Union; Staponkute published the first version o f her text in 2004, the same year, when Lithuania became a member state o f the European Union. Although “literature is a historic substance”9, still the historical explana­ tion o f literature has its limits as literary work is “seized in the temporal com­ plication o f its now”10. W hile reading the following discussion on literature and national identity, Jonathan Cullers commentary on what is literature should be kept in mind: “ Literary works are products o f the past but their writing is never over and functions in the present - reading s now is the destiny o f a literary text while orienting readers towards a past as well as a future (the interpretation tak­ ing shape), leaving the readers o f literature in several times at once”11. *****

The three extracts were chosen not only to illustrate different imagined landscapes o f Lithuania, but also to highlight a certain distance, which is needed for artistic exploration o f national identity or any other issue. Eugenijus Alisanka, a poet, essayist and translator, describes distance as essential for the verbal art in his essay “The Genius Loci o f Lithuanian Literature” (2006): L it e r a t u r e s t a r t s w h e r e lif e e n d s , t h a t is , i n t h e m a r g in s o f lif e . W h e n I lo v e , w h e n I t a c k le e v e r y d a y is s u e s , o r w a l k a l o n g t h e s e a s h o r e l o o k i n g a t t h e s u n s e t , l i t e r a t u r e d o e s n o t e x i s t . I t e m e rg e s o n t h e h o riz o n w h e n a d is t a n c e a p p e a rs b e tw e e n lif e a n d m y s e lf, w h e n th e p e r s o n a li t y d o u b le s , w h e n y o u c a n d is s e c t y o u r o w n li f e a n d t h e liv e s o f o t h e r s w i t h o u t t h e f e a r o f p a in .11

This transgressive dissection is also marked by Sigitas Parulskis, a prolific con­ temporary Lithuanian author o f many different genres, in the annotation to his book o f essays Nuogi drabuziai (The Naked Clothes, 2002): t o c r e a te t r a n s g r e s s in g s u p e r s t it io n s , o n e s o w n fe a r s , c o m p le x e s , o w n b o d y , s h a m e , n o t fe e lin g s h y o f t in y d is c o v e rie s a n d a b it fo o lis h g r ie v a n c e s , - I r e a lly k n o w , t h a t a ll t h is i s n o t o n l y m i n e , t h i s is t y p i c a l t o a l l o f u s , s o m e t i m e s b e i n g a f r a i d t o a d m i t , t o c o n f e s s , a n d f in a lly - t o t a m e , t o h u m a n iz e w h a t w e c a ll n a t u r e , in s t in c t s , th e s o u l. E a c h p e r s o n

176

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

is u n i q u e , b u t , a c c o r d i n g t o W i t o l d G o m b r o w i c z , i n l o n e l i n e s s n o b o d y i s a p e r s o n a l i t y . F r o m h e r e c o m e s a w i s h t o s h a r e . 1*

Literary writing is an intimate and communal act. A literary work creates a po­ tential Active world or universe with particular characters and situations, invites the reader to interpret this world as illustrative o f something else, and identify with it: “Poems and novels address us in ways that demand identification, and identification works to create identity: we become who we are by identifying with figures we read about.”14 A work o f literature is illustrative, but it never says what it is illustrative of. Literature does not prove anything and does not witness its righteousness as this is alien to its spirit. In a literary text there always compete unsolved oppositions; there is always a tension. It is our interpretations, cultural interpretative schemes, masterplots, which we often put on the works, seeing coherent categories and stories in them. (Thus, considering the question o f national identity and literature not only the literary texts themselves are im­ portant, but also the critical writing and all the other agents o f the field o f liter­ ary production, as they also shape the perception o f Lithuania.) The institution o f literature has been given two diametrically opposed functions - establishing national identity and contesting it,s. Both o f these functions are analyzed in more detail in the following discussion. Taking into consideration Gintaras Beresnevičius’ idea that the aesthetic exploration o f national self-consciousness “needs a certain distance, space, per­ spective, playfulness, elegant, graceful, refined incompleteness”, it should be noted that during the 19th and 20th centuries it was almost impossible for writ­ ers to create this distance in Lithuania, as “all this was prevented by the internal tensions, external pressure, and the needs o f the society”'6. During the times o f fighting or oppression - and in the 19th and 2orh centuries the former continu­ ally changed the other - in Lithuania there was no place for literary writing, which would artistically explore, question, bend, reshape and undo the habitual ways o f thinking about national identity. Just looking at the 20th century, we can see that it gave roughly thirty years o f independent existence with breaks (1918-1940 and from 1991 onward). These breaks are metaphorically envisaged by Milosz: “After seven winter months’

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

177

lethargy, it awakens with a bound to sudden beauty o f Spring; and from the mid­ dle o f September onwards, this fertile renewal, which never gave birth to Sum­ mer, already begins to recall, with the voices o f crows, the seven long months of Winter“. In 1995 Lithuanian poet Marcelijus Martinaitis reflects on these breaks in cultural development and their effects: ...here, in this country, almost all o f the bonds between the heritage of generations, social groups, and even between the words are constantly breaking or being broken. Only in this century has everything been mixed up several times here. [...] ...The internal circulation in culture breaks up, therefore those tics are restored slowly, heavily, and hardly notably. It is usual that in such conditions society unites according utopias and mythologized ideas they believe in, rather than to views, interests and estimated aims. From an impartial point of view, it may seem that life in Lithuania is more often projected according to the logic and laws of the myth, which helped while living and surviving during the years of various occupations and disturbances. Art in a way shades that mythic image of the country, which sometimes seems to be the other side of the present and all possible limits o f life.”

Lithuania, its culture and art, to put it in Milosz’s words, does not know “the sumptuous sadness o f ripening”. The latter metaphor also captures the young character o f Lithuanian literature. However, Milosz’s metaphor o f “ im­ mature” signifies not only youth, but also the primitive as ancient, which could be related to the archaic structure of the Lithuanian language, which is the most ancient living Indo-European language in the world. [...] Its highly inflecting character allows for a completely free word order, a range of open vowels and diphthongs together with a complex system of accentuation that allow for endless variations of singing rhymes and alliterations. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why poetry was always an important part of the cultural identity o f Lithuanians.'8

The richness o f this archaic language (“the 1 0 volumes (about 22. thousand pages) o f the Dictionary o f the Lithuanian Language contain more than h alf a million words, expressing the unique character o f the Lithuanians’ world view, ways of

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

178

life, their experience, feelings and aspirations”19) in a way is captured in Milosz’s metaphor “autumn is the soul o f Lithuania”. A s it can be seen, the literary im­ age, created by Milosz (as also those by Brodsky and Staponkute) manifests the incompatible oppositions, a tension at the heart o f heterogeneous Lithuanian identity. * * * * *

Language is important talking both about i) literature, and z) national identity: i) Language is the semiotic medium, in which and with which a writer works: A

w r it e r is a d e s p o t in a p e r m a n e n t s tru g g le w it h

la n g u a g e a n d lit e r a t u r e , s e e k in g

a b s o lu t e p o w e r , r e g a r d le s s o f t h e f a c t t h a t h e o r s h e a l m o s t a lw a y s lo o s e s . T h u s , h e is n o t b o t h e r e d m u c h w h e t h e r h e l i v e s i n L i t h u a n i a o r I c e l a n d , i n t h e 2 1 st o r t h e i 6 rh c e n t u r y , a n d w h e t h e r h e w r it e s in E n g lis h o r L a t g a lia n . H e r e I d o n o t r e fe r t o c e r t a in p o lit ic a l, c u l t u r a l o r p o l it i c a l d e c is io n s , w h e n a w r it e r , c o n s c io u s ly o r p e r fo r c e , c h o o s e s a la n g u a g e o r a c o u n t r y . W h a t I m e a n is t h a t t h e w r i t e r a c c e p t s t h e s e c o n d i t i o n a l i t i e s , s o g e n e r o u s l y to sse d t o h im b y fa te , a s s o m e t h in g g iv e n , s o m e t h in g th a t sh e h a s t o liv e w it h , a n d n o t s o m e t h i n g t o l i v e f o r . M a y b e I s h o u l d b e p r o u d t o l i v e i n t h e 2 1 st c e n t u r y ? S h o u l d I w r i t e t o k e e p t h e L i t h u a n i a n l a n g u a g e a l i v e ? 10

Here the poet AliSanka highlights the struggle o f a writer with a language, no matter which language he writes in. Contesting the categories, which a language prescribes, and mastering them in ones own way as the characteristic function o f verbal art is also conceptualized in literary theory: L a n g u a g e is n o t a “ n o m e n c l a t u r e ” t h a t p r o v i d e s l a b e l s f o r p r e - e x i s t i n g c a t e g o r i e s ; it g e n e r a t e s it s o w n c a t e g o r i e s . B u t s p e a k e r s a n d r e a d e r s c a n b e b r o u g h t t o s e e t h r o u g h a n d a r o u n d t h e s e t t in g s o f t h e ir o w n la n g u a g e , a s t o s e e a d iffe r e n t r e a lit y . W o r k s o f lit e r a t u r e e x p lo r e th e s e t t in g s o r c a t e g o r ie s o f h a b it u a l w a y s o f t h i n k i n g a n d fr e q u e n tly a t t e m p t t o b e n d o r r e s h a p e t h e m , s h o w i n g u s h o w t o t h i n k s o m e t h i n g t h a t o u r la n g u a g e h a d n o t p r e v io u s ly a n t ic ip a t e d , fo r c in g u s t o a t t e n d t o t h e c a t e g o r ie s t h r o u g h w h ic h w e u n t h i n k i n g l y v i e w t h e w o r l d . L a n g u a g e is t h u s b o t h t h e c o n c r e t e m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

179

i d e o l o g y - t h e c a t e g o r i e s i n w h i c h s p e a k e r s a r e a u t h o r i z e d t o t h i n k - a n d t h e s i t e o f its q u e s t i o n i n g o r u n d o i n g . ” 11

i) Language, being the main means for human communication, is essential for a nation as community: Benedict Anderson, one o f the major theorists o f nation­ alism, argues that “from the start the nation was conceived in language, not in blood, and ... one could be ‘invited into’ the imagined community”12, “through that language, encountered at mothers knee and parted with only at the grave, pasts are restored, fellowships are imagined, and futures dreamed”25. However, he warns that “ it is always a mistake to treat languages in the way that certain na­ tionalist ideologues treat them - as emblems o f nation-ncss, like flags, costumes, folk-dances, and the rest. Much the most important thing about language is its capacity for generating imagined communities, building in effect particular solidarities.”24 Anderson also specifies that not a particular language per se, but “print-language is what invents nationalism”25: the novel and the newspaper were two forms, which “provided the technical means for ‘re-presenting’ the kind o f imagined community that is the nation”26 N ot only nationalism, but also literature (especially novels) is inseparable from print language, or the written word. A s the realistic novel does not flower in Lithuania, the role o f newspapers, in which literary works also appeared, is extremely important, especially during the period o f the Russian tsarist ban on Lithuanian publications in the Latin alphabet (1864-1904). A t that time Lithuanian newspapers, poetry, prose, calendars were published in East Prus­ sia (Lithuania Minor), and “clandestinely brought over to Lithuania proper by patriotic smugglers, who carried both contraband goods and the new dawn o f the country on their backs across the border”27. The book Lietuvos knygnešiai ir daraktoriai 1864-1904 (^Lithuanian Book-carriers and Daractors o f 1864-1904) lists 6,131 surnames o f those28, who in the years from 1864 to 1904 “acted as organizers, book-carriers, daraktoriai, workers, publishers o f the banned Lithua­ nian press, as well as its supporters and members o f illegal cells for dissemination o f Lithuanian books. Among them were people o f different estate: noblemen, citizens, countryfolk, from wide known cultural and social personae to poor beggars“29. Probably most Lithuanians today could find their relatives listed in

180

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

this book. The path o f the Lithuanian printed word to the people is metaphori­ cally represented by Henrikas Radauskas in his poem “The Word” (1955): Even hacked to bits with an axe. Then locked in with a bronze key, The word still hammered a stone wall To the swing of an undying step. Crops dropped to their knees before it. Birds grew still, whenever An echo carried its note across In silver song from blind households. A child carried it under his shirtfront In the quiet o f a western dawn. Time itselfsaw it through winter By roots under the ground. The sun cracked its lead crust open. Juices started roaring as they used to, Flooding the skyline with branches, Covering earth in blossoms.30

The images o f “western dawn”, “silver song”, “crops”, “ blind households”, and “blossoms o f Spring” point to the to the periodical Ausra (The Dawn, 1883-1886) published in Lithuania Minor (geographically it is to the west o f Lithuania) and Maironis, who was born into a well-to-do peasant family, debuted with his po­ ems in The Dawn and made his reputation as a national poet with his collection o f lyrics Pavasario balsai (The Voices o f Spring), first published in 1895 and then many times republished thereafter. Lithuanians should give thanks to the publicist writing at the ends o f the 19th and 20th centuries (namely, writing in The Dawn and Varpas (The Bell, 1889-1905), or publicistic writing from 1988-1991), for its great contribution to Lithuanian statehood. The Lithuanian press has contributed greatly to the

History o f Lithuanian culture

181

shaping o f courage, unity, political solidarity and the consciousness o f national distinctiveness. The publicists - Motiejus Valančius, Simonas Daukantas, Vin­ cas Kudirka - all passionately wanted to change the status o f the nation and the state, and consciousness o f the nation, so in the underground and later the official press, calendars, books, the idea o f our own history was raised, the goal o f our own state, and publicistics here became not only a tool for education and persuasion, but it was a tool for saving the nation s life in a real sense o f the word, rather than fostering o f national self-esteem and self-awareness in an aesthetic point ofview 3'.

Constituting the literary and the nation:

Maironis and Žemaitė The bard, about whose statue Brodsky writes in his “Lithuanian divertisse­ ment”, is Jonas M ačiulis-M aironis (1862-1932)31. A nd the poem in which the metaphor o f the fatherland Lithuania as a girlfriend is used is “His first love” (later renamed “Nobody will ever love you this way”). Traditionally most writers and scholars see Maironis as the starting point o f the history o f Lithuanian poetry: the work of the romantic poet Maironis perhaps most organically fused the Lithuanian folk song tradition with European syllabotonic poetic forms, and for many people Maironis became the general symbol of what it was to be a Lithuanian poet. He completed the evolution of the classical stage of our poetry (classical in the sense of the adaptation of an arsenal of forms).*3

With Maironis, Lithuanian literary language “ had come into self-conscious ex­ istence”34. In Lithuania poetic traditions are strong thanks to him (not Kristijo­ nas Donelaitis, who actually was not known to Lithuanian readers till the first h alf o f the 20th century, or Antanas Baranauskas). A nd looking at the develop­ ment o f Lithuanian professional poetry, the “blossoming” o f Lithuanian poetry in the middle o f the 20th century would be impossible without Maironis, who is like a seed o f Lithuanian poetry:

History o f Lithuanian culture

182

Yet, a special, outstanding event has happened: Lithuania, extremely backward in terms of professional poetry, at the second half o f the io lh century exploded in regard to poetry - from Mieželaitis [...] and Marcinkevičiaus [...] to absolutely supernatural flowering of poetry in the verses by Geda, Martinaitis, Patackas, Kajokas, Juskaitis (I’m afraid to continue - there will not be enough space). I f somewhere in Heaven’sJerusalem the histories of world literature are written, that do not regard languages and dialects, then there Lithuania takes a high place, I think, in the last decades competing with Russians, French, and Anglosaxons in corpore. [...] the upcoming poets arc not bad, and some are strikingly deep, vivid. Their appearance would not be possible without idem Maironis.55

Lithuanian writers perceive Maironis as an originator not only o f Lithuanian poetry, but also o f the nations spiritual life: “Our nations spiritual life o f fullvalue begins with Maironis (as the maturity o f the language also means spiritual maturity). And after Maironis that thread o f the spiritual life o f full value has never broken”*6. The poet and essayist Jonas Kossu-Aleksandravičius in his essay “Maironis” (1935) equates Maironis to Don Quixote, Lithuania being his lady love Dulcinea: For him Lithuania is dear and irreplaceable, and in Maironis’, so-called satires, one can feel his first love o f the fatherland in The Voices o f S p rin g and The Young L ith u a n ia ; in these words there is a cry o f Don Quixote: Dulcinea is white as snow; just people dressed her in the clothes of a simple countrywoman! Lithuania for him is that naive fair-haired, blue-eyed girl, only the quarrels between parties made her so simple and quotidian.57

This metaphor, equating Lithuania to Dulcinea, illuminates the concept o f na­ tion as an “ imagined community“, which comes into being, only because some­ body imagined it as something else. O f course, Maironis was not alone, and Kossu-Aleksandravičius uses the name metonymically in plural form (Maironiai). Lithuanian literary critics, sociologists, historians have written a lot about Mai­ ronis’ formative power*8. In Lithuanian literary texts the representation o f Mai­ ronis creates a strong image o f Maironis as genius locP9. It could be related to the fact that Maironis himself almost in all his texts was trying to evoke the spirit of

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

183

place - “the shadow, which runs by the side”. But Maironis becomes thzgenius loci o f Lithuanian literature only because he goes out o f the Lithuanian literary tradi­ tion: many writers agree, that his roots are in the European literary tradition. Maironis is not the only Lithuanian national poet; other poets - Brazdžionis, Marcinkevičius, and Martinaitis - who wrote patriotic, apostrophic poetry, also have been given this status. Beresnevičius’ literary anecdote A pie M aironį (About Maironis, 2.005) captures the power of the poetic word and apostrophe: Maironis went to a barrow, and he had a wish to revive any forefather. Arise, forefather, - seriously said Maironis. The forefather got up and, offering his hand, went to Maironis. Forefather, - said forefather. Maironis, - introduced himself Maironis.40

Actually, Maironis in his poems apostrophically addressed many objects o f the past, sometimes even creating them. For example, his poem about Jūratė and Kastytis, about the origin o f amber, at the end makes a connection between the pre-historical mythical ancient past and present-day Lithuanians (it should be noted, that this legend is not o f folkloric, but literary origin, and it recurs nu­ merous times in Lithuanian artistic representations): The Lithuanian girl today Wishing her boy to stare with wonder Likes sometimes in her charming way To deck herselfwith beads of amber. But when a song of love she sings, As sad as a lament it rings. When concealing Her sweet feeling She can find no word to utter. Yet she loves with deep emotion, Sometimes stormy as an ocean, Like the legendized Jūratė.41

184

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Today, it is sometimes hard to believe (even for those who actually participated in the Singing revolution), that in those days poems (especially) united; books were published and bought in such enormous numbers, poems were recited and put into the songs, known by heart by almost all the people. One explana­ tion o f this is the power o f the apostrophe and its function: to animate what is abstract and what is not alive. By addressing the nation, Lithuania, the poems give a voice, animate this abstract thing, which is not alive; and after the in­ dependent State o f Lithuania was restored, these poems do not function the same way, there is no need to animate, because it already exists. The same way the staged plays by Juozas Grušas (“Herkus Mantas”, “Barbora Radvilaitė”) and Justinas Marcinkevičius (“Mindaugas”, “Mažvydas”, “Katedra” (“Cathedral”)) functioned during Soviet times. Just the utterance o f the word Lietuva had a performing and animating power; it was a symbol in itself. These poems are not read so much these days; still we cannot say that the images created somehow vanished from the consciousness o f the nation. And sometimes they take quite unexpected twists and turns in crisscrossing with other images in literary works and in other non-literary discourses, and in cul­ tural consciousness in general. In short, they do not vanish. Sometimes the way they work is more unconscious than conscious. As Maironis exists not so much in books, but in the minds o f the people, Maironis’ speech and symbolism42, remains in the “substratum” o f Lithuanian consciousness. Maironis’ demanding shadow follows Lithuanian writers: the poet’s figure and his paraphrasis reappear in novels by modernist and postmodernist writ­ ers. In the canonical Lithuanian modernist novel Balta drobulė (White Shroud, 1956) by émigré writer Antanas Škėma the protagonist, a writer, quotes Mai­ ronis’ texts, for him Maironis is a judge. This novel also shows that Maironis as spirit o f place cannot be transferred to another place. The postmodernist novel Paruzija (Parousia, 2.005J by Gintaras Beresnevičius can be read as an allegorical and ironical paraphrasing o f Maironis’ poem “I Would Like to Awaken”, show­ ing what could happen when you awaken the dead past. Maironis’ figure in Lithuanian literary texts underlines the formative power o f Maironis’ poetical word and its relation to national identity. Especially those Lithuanian writers, who look for possibilities for renewal, who are concerned

Hiscory of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

185

with Lithuanian literary consciousness, cannot do without Maironis’ image in their texts. They are “responsible”, in the words o f A . J. Greimas, in two mean­ ings o f the word: self-consciousness and response. They are talking to Maironis, writing “a response” to his words “nobody w ill mention me”43. When speaking about poets, this comes as no surprise, but in prose texts, especially novels, it becomes an important sign, marking the engagement o f a prose writer in the de­ velopment o f Lithuanian culture, the “responsibility” o f their prose “for the de­ velopment o f cultural forms o f their own nation”44. And responsibility is related to the concept o f identity. In 1970 writing an obituary to Henrikas Radauskas (1910-1970)45 semiotician Algirdas Julius Greimas begins with a quote from the Babylonian Talmud: I f I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am T?

Like Maironis’s name is associated with the beginnings o f Lithuanian poetry, so the name o f Žemaitė (the pseudonym46 o f Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė, 1845-1921) marks the beginning o f Lithuanian prose: “Her work signified a radi­ cal turn in Lithuanian prose away from educational teachings to the portrayal o f the great problems o f society and individual fate, from static description to a multi-coloured plastic art. Žemaitė had a marked influence on twentieth-cen­ tury Lithuanian literature and was one o f the most sturdy foundations o f the democratic, realistic tradition to the writers.”47 In her works, foremost her short stories, Žemaitė “created an epic panorama o f turn-of-the-century Lithuanian life. She brought in people from all social classes and conditions: peasants, es­ tate servants and masters, clergy, city dwellers and representatives o f the tsarist government.”48 Žemaitė is a realistic writer, she does not portray (create) the ancient history o f the nation, nor does she explicitly declare her love for Lithuania like Maironis and other patriotic writers. Nevertheless, her narrative texts are o f fundamen­ tal importance in the construction o f group identity, if we take into account A . J. Greimas’ concept on the role o f the descriptions in narrative: “the discursive sequence called ‘description’ is in fact, a micro-narrative comprising the entire history o f the society in question: the institution o f the collective wanting and

History o f Lithuanian culture

186

figurativized subject; the demonstration o f its social doing; and finally the social sanction o f this victorious doing.”49 The descriptions construct the social being the modes o f existence and functions o f collective actants in a realistic narrative. Take, for example, the beginning o f her short story Sučiuptas velnias (The Devil Captured)50: An old cale has it that until St.Johns Day folks can shout for rain to no avail, while after St. Johns a good wife’s prayer whispered from a chimney corner will bring it pouring at once. But this year the legend did not work. St. John’s and even St. Peter’s passed, and not a drop fell. At times the sun plunged into the clouds and the wind roared as i f to announce a storm; then the sun would rise in the morning, bright and radiant, looking as i f it had bathed in the night mist. And it would beat down all day, without the smallest cloud in its path. Then all the plants and grasses, their leaves scorched and withered by the heat, lay on the dry earth, which had begun to crack. The muddy bogs hardened everywhere. People were in a hurry to gather hay, because the rye stood white and harvest was almost upon them. Farmers watched the rye with eager eyes, for many were short of bread. One task followed another, and families bemoaned their lost mid-day rest; they yearned for a heavy rain that would bring some respite. And each day, against all hope, the sun rolled across the immaculate vault of heaven as if she had melted the clouds with her fiery wings. The manor rye-field had paled, and the ripe ears bent low. They seemed to observe the earth to which their grains would soon return and endure the winter. One impatient ear had scattered its grain and now, lighter, stood erect. The dried straw had begun to redden; it soughed and whispered as it swayed in the wind. The master, his stomach thrust forward, watched the steward apportion strips to the workers for scything, and calculated his profits from the grain: so and so many carloads to Riga, and so many to Liepaja. I f only the Kuršėnai Jews, who had paid him long ago, wouldn’t hear of the bumper crop... As for the manor workers and their families, odds and ends would remain for their bread...s*

The textually rich descriptions o f Žemaitės realistic stories construct the col­ lective actant and its values, and fuse the world outside the short story with the world inside.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

187

Žemaitės oeuvre is as much important for Lithuanian prose as Maironis’ works for Lithuanian poetry (maybe even more, because there were instances o f quite good poetry before Maironis). And in terms o f constituting the nation, Žemaitės texts are important, if we take into account Anderson’s ideas and Ricouer s concepts on narrative time, which shapes the abstract calendar time. Both Maironis and Žemaitė are important for Lithuanian literary language and Lithuanian identity, as they were consciously responsible for the development o f their nation’s literary forms. Žemaitė, who gave a harsh social and feminist critique o f Lithuanian ru­ ral patriarchal Catholic society, is an outstanding figure not only in Lithua­ nian literature (short story narrative), culture (this was acknowledged by the first Lithuanian Republic, her image being on one litas (compare i dollar Washington), but also in European and world literature. This uniqueness comes from Žemaitės life experience: as though being from gentry, having good education, she married a former serf, and actually lived the life o f a peas­ ant for a while. W hile Maironis has been compared to Horace, Dante, Hölderlin (poets who expressed and formed the very spirit o f national language), so too Žemaitė in our literature could be compared to i9ch-century English novelists and even to Virginia Woolf. It could be argued that Žemaitės life story and her texts (writing as an act and as a word) have taught Lithuanian writers the lessons of WoolPs “Woman and literature” in A Room o f Ones Own. In Lithuanian cul­ tural and literary discourses, Žemaitės name has been used metonymically in plural to signify both maturity, and hardships o f the woman writer’s work (even contemporary Lithuanian writers compare themselves to Žemaitė: “we are like those Žemaitės“51). Her metaphors, created characters and plots are pervasive in the literary and cultural imagination. Žemaitės figure and the paraphrases o f her texts, like Maironis, reappear in Lithuanian literature. For example, Marius Ivaškevičius’ play Madagascar begins with a scene o f a Lithuanian village at the turn o f the 2.0th century, where the setting, characters and action echo the beginning o f one the best known o f Žemaitės short stories, The Daughter-in-law.

History o f Lithuanian CULTURE

188

* * * «* « «*

During the interwar period (1918-1940), as the state o f Lithuania gained its momentum and most writers, artists and people o f culture received their edu­ cation in Germany and France, Lithuanians’ own cultural life emerged, and ac­ cordingly its reflections, the aesthetic reflexion upon the question o f national identity appeared. Mostly it was concerned with one or another problem o f cul­ tural life, shock o f civilization, when the lifestyle began to concentrate in a city (particularly in one city - Kaunas, the capital o f Lithuania during the interwar period); the aesthetic exploration o f national identity (its questioning, not only affirmation o f one truth) appeared as a graceful, ironic, satiric comment. In the 1930s the first modernists began to express themselves: They made up the futurist “Four Winds” group, whose most prominent members were Kazys Binkis, Sigitas Šemcrys, and Juozas Tysliava. Alongside them wrote other original poets, who had adopted the traditions o f folk songs and ofEuropcan or Russian symbolism: Jurgis Baltrušaitis, who wrote in Russian and in Lithuanian, Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas, Balys Sruoga, Faustas Kirša, later Jonas Kossu-Alcksandravičius (Jonas Aistis), Bernardas Brazdžionis, Salomėja Nėris [...], Antanas Miškinis and Henrikas Radauskas. They held themselves to a post-Maironian Lithuanian poetic tradition. Although they also found inspiration in some European poetry.”

In addition, many poets worked as journalists - Bronys Raila, Jonas KossuAleksandravicius, whose book o f articles about Lithuanian writers D ievai ir sm uikeliai (Gods and Pensive Christs, 1935) were real, classic, reflective essays54, the level o f which, according to Beresnevičius, Lithuanian essayists could not surpass till Venclova55. The poet Juozapas Albinas Herbačiauskas should also be mentioned, who was strongly influenced by Polish culture and occultism, who wrote original, passionate, poetic and difficult-to-read essays56. Prose writers Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, Petras Cvirka, Vincas Krėvė-Mic­ kevičius, Antanas Vienuolis-Žukauskas, Kazys Boruta, Jurgis Savickis, Ieva Simonaitytė and others continued the path broken by Žemaitė. “Being very self-conscious about national identity, Liudas Gira and Vincas Krėvė turned to the sources o f oral tradition with the intent o f grasping the spiritual traits

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

189

o f the Lithuanian national character. Gira tried to achieve this mainly by imi­ tating folksongs and Krėvė by stylizing and recreating legends, folksongs and folktales.”57 * * * * *

After W W II, having moved across the Atlantic or having stayed in Eu­ rope and in the territory occupied by U SSR, writers continued their work under very different conditions. US-based Lithuanian emigration managed to break down into the currents, political trends, cursing or ignoring one another, and again in Lithuanian literature overseas, little literary polemics were revived, the aim o f which was not to play, not to shine with a thought or a paradox, but to smash the opponent. A n exception was Greimas’ literary essays58. There are parallels (the motifs o f native land, ones roots, ones home) between literature written in emigration and in Soviet Lithuania; and it is not surprising because in both cases cultural identity was displaced. Talking about literature and the development o f its genres in post-war So­ viet Lithuania, it should be kept in mind that “pseudomarxist ideology demand­ ed an active affirmation o f new truths in the eviscerated Orwellian newspeak, stuffed with ideological jargonisms and cliches.”59 N o writing which would aes­ thetically explore the questions o f Lithuanian identity was wanted or needed, and yet during the so-called Khrushchev’s Thaw6° period (from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s), certain germs o f literary writing, which were reshaping the established categories o f thought, appeared and stayed until perestroika (started in 1986). The poet Vytautas P. Bložė (b. 1930), whose works were not allowed to be published until 1981, reflects upon the rights or missions o f which the poets were deprived in Soviet Lithuania: a poet has the right to speak for all even those deprived of their right to speak or mute

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

190

a poet has the right to live the life of all even those who ve killed themselves or forgotten to live a poet has the right to know whats known to all or what you know your own way to be61

The affirmation o f national Lithuanian identity in literature during the Soviet period took two major forms: • glorification o f the native town or village, o f the landscape and familiar natural settings in general; • another source o f inspiration and admiration was the objects of Lithuanian cultural heritage62. A number o f poets (Janina Degutytė, Jonas Juškaitis, Judita Vaičiūnaitė and oth­ ers) wrote several cycles o f poems interpreting and meditating on the paintings o f Mikalojus K . Čiurlionis. “Other poets devoted their efforts to the glorification o f the lives and works o f famous personalities in the history o f Lithuania. For example, in several rather lengthy poems the historical veracity o f a considerable number o f events was recreated in such a manner that on the historical, anecdo­ tal, or semi-legendary base a mythological aura was superimposed. That is to say, great Lithuanian historical individuals appeared as epic heroes with mythologi­ cal powers rather than as mere mortals.”63 Literature often used themes taken from nature, and was often sentimental and excessively emotional: a considerable volume of literature which could justly be called romantic was created. This literature was characterized by the use o f shared concepts: homeland, nation, spirit, earth, bread, and the appeal to shared experiences and aspirations. In that romanticism it was possible to see a specific Lithuanian current that could be called idyllic. It was characterised by that same enjoyment of shared concepts, an insistent lack of conflict, and humble ideals. The nations vital strengths - patience and lyricism were glorified, consistently avoiding (and in fact this was prohibited by censorship) speaking about

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

191

desire for freedom, dignity, and higher spiritual aspirations (which is characteristic of romanticism), because at the time the sorry condition of those things would become painfully clear. To practice idyllic romanticism appeared to most poets, even those who distinguished themselves as belonging to such a mind-set, [...] quite simply, dishonest, yet they were kept from any other by censorship.64

There could be separately mentioned Eduardas Mieželaitis, who had received the Lenin Prize o f the U SSR for his book o f poems Žmogus (Man) in 1962, and gained relative freedom at least in his searches for form. Thick volumes o f his works on the periphery between poetry and prose, sketches, fragments, as well as his book Čia Lietuva (Here Lithuania, 1974) in the form o f essays recount Lithuanian cultural figures o f the i9ch-2 0 th century, quite freely treating the subject itself and relatively distancing itself from ideology. Relatively, because the rhetoric is still affirming the uniqueness o f a person with such words as “big”, “magnificent”, “major”, the “main”, etc. But it should be noted that the literary analysis o f the writers’ works is really masterful. The form o f his book is similar to Kossu-Aleksandravičius’ book Gods and Pensive Christs, and to the later pub­ lished Tomas Venclovas Forms o f Hope. These books and also Greimas’ Iš arti ir iš toli (From Near and From Far, 1991), especially its sections on Lithuanian literature, are very suited to studying Lithuanian literature and culture, because they in literary essay form, not in academic jargon, discuss Lithuanian literary problems. Unfortunately, they are not translated into English. Lithuanian intellectuals in the Soviet Union were familiar with Western literature (though there was censorship, and many books written abroad were banned, still some were readily available in Russian “samizdat”), for those, who knew French and German languages, the books were easily accessible through capitalist countries bookshops, libraries, through the bookstores network “Friendship”, and French, Anglo-Saxon, Latin American writers, translated into Polish. Looking at the situation o f the book during Soviet period we can see that, though the censorship was different from the Lithuanian press ban, but there are some similarities: a book o f the free word was valued. Having, keep­ ing or reproducing a book from the list o f banned books would easily result in punishment.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

192

A n important work o f the last decade o f the 20lh century for aesthetically exploring the concepts o f nation has become the poet s Tomas Venclova s Forms o f Hope6s, published in Lithuania in 1991. The book was a collection o f liter­ ary essays, written and published in the West several decades ago. According to Beresnevičius, This book also brought to light a controversy, because at that time in Lithuania the dominant approaches to Lithuania itself, national minorities, the Poles and the Russians were different from the ones suggested by Venclova. And with his sarcastic, critical, original-at-any-cost work, Venclova soon met his enemies and worshipers; such a dual position - from reviling to absolute devoted adoration - remains to this day, both talking about Venclovas essays, and his poetry: his new essays and his actions only add fuel to the fire. This shows that the problems lie in the personal more so than in the nature of an objective assessment; on the other hand, intellectual provocation is Venclovas style66.

By the time when finally memoirs and lost, unknown literature was writ­ ten down and published, literary explorations o f national identity entered the scene. Around 1995 a very conditional but tacit peace settled, slowly Lithuania began to move away from the events that had shocked her, though, there was no distance from the still-shocking present; once this distance was gained, work under different economical, social, political conditions started, and new novels and poems, written under the conditions o f freedom, started being published67. In 2006 Eugenijus Ališanka wrote about the changed status and role o f literature after the restoration o f Lithuanian independence: The last few years of independence have changed radically the position of literature in society. During the Soviet occupation, under the conditions of strict censorship, it played a peculiar role in resistance, by trying to preserve the national identity through language. In the years of independence, it has become “just” literature. During the transition period, there was upset and disappointment regarding literature’s declining role and falling print runs. Today, most works by Lithuanian authors are published only with state subsidies, while most translations, with the exception of one or two special books, are published in the hope that if they do not bring in a profit, they will at least break even. In bookshops, local literature is drowning among the translated books. The book business is flourishing, yet Lithuanian literature has been pushed into some sort of reservation. Ina manner of

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

193

speaking, such a situation is favourable to the writer: she can devote herself to literature without [the] headaches caused by ideological, religious or any other meta-missions. In other words, he or she can start with literature, and not with something else.68

O f course it is not only connected with independence, but also with the changed function and role o f literature because o f other more powerful and more popu­ lar media discourses. The creative reshaping o f social, historical, cultural stereotypes, literary writing in general needed not only some temporal distance, but also courage. In­ tellectuals’ speeches, trying to erase the “black-white” categories, with which all the press and all the speeches were checked, were fiercely attacked. “During the period o f opposition Vytautas Landsbergis - Algirdas Brazauskas, the positions o f intellectuals used to be also treated applying the antithesis “pro-Russian” vs. “good”, “ours”. Very soon you could end up in the ranks o f the “nations enemies”, until the vast majority o f the people were written down into it.”69 The literary essay genre took a very important role, as it has become “a place o f social criticism, intellectual game, and breaking o f the historical, ethnic, and literary stereotypes”70. Such contemporary Lithuanian essayists as the poet Ro­ landas Rastauskas, scholar, mythologist and writer Gintaras Beresnevičius, phi­ losopher Arvydas Juozaitis, poets and literary critics Sigitas Parulskis, Valdas Kukulas, a poet, translator and literary critic Sigitas Geda, art critic and poet Alfonsas Andriuškevičius; publicist Gintarė Adomaitytė, prose writers Herkus Kunčius and Jurgis Kunčinas, literary critic Regimantas Tamošaitis, Giedra Radvilavičiūtė, Dalia Staponkutė and others aesthetically reflect upon the issue o f national identity in their works.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

194

Rebellious narrative strategies in the Lithuanian novel during the last three decades What do post-Soviet Lithuanian novels tell us about modern Lithuanian society? Looking at the narrative strategies chosen by the novel writers o f the post-Soviet period and analyzing the components and elements o f novels some common features become vivid. Any literary narrative tells a concrete, particular life story o f one or more people, a story which as an exemplary construction becomes universal. The novels (Parulskis’ Three Seconds o f the Heaven, Ivaškevičius’s The Green, Beresnevičius’ Paruzija, Šerelytė’s A Nam e in the D ark and Bluebeard’s Children, Zingeris’ Playing Duo, Ivanauskaitės The Castle o f Sleeping Butterflies) telling the stories o f particular characters, also talk about the traumatic collective (national) expe­ riences. The tropes and narrative structures o f kinship and home are o f particu­ lar importance in imagining the nation. The metaphor o f nation-family is most simple and usual, but together they create a community, uniting. The Mother Fatherland (motina tėvynė), whose children are all the people o f the nation. The parallel between the story o f a family and the history o f the nation/Lithuania can be seen in novels. Every person has his or her parents, the ones he or she is born from (though maybe childless). In the post-Soviet Lithuanian novel “or­ phanhood” o f the characters is marked. W hile in earlier periods, the parents were very important, and took quite a lot o f space in the story-world, in most post-Soviet Lithuanian novels the char­ acters’ parents (mother and father) are absent, no matter what kind o f magical, fantastic, virtual, fictional worlds these novels project. There should be noted that absence o f certain (basic to human life) things in a text is equally important as their emphasis. W hy no characters’ parents are present? A possible answer lies in Sigitas Parulskis’ novel Three Seconds o f Heaven (1003): in this novel, the narrator and protagonist talks about parents in general as about parents o f “our generation”, o f the whole lost generation. The parents symbolize the Soviet pe­ riod, they do not act as a figure, do not have a body, shape, they are amorphic. However, in this novel we hear the voice o f the protagonist’s grandmother. So

History of Lithuanian cu ltu r e

195

the parents’ parents do act: grandmother in Three Seconds o f Heaven and in Ivaškevičius’ Historyfrom the Cloudy the grandparents in Beresnevičius’ Parousia and Serelyte’s Bluebeards Children. So, though the characters are not total orphans, but there is a jump over one generation, which marks the break in na­ tional identity. * * * * * * *

The trope o f Lithuania as a beloved woman, which was constructed by Maironis, and marked by Brodsky, also operates in the post-Soviet Lithuanian novels - Vilniaus pokeris (Vilnius Poker) by Ričardas Gavelis (1950-2002), Tūla (Tūla) by Jurgis Kunčinas (1947-2002), and Paruzija (Parousia) by Gintaras Beresnevičius (i96i-20o6)7' - drawing a parallel between the torn apart pieces o f the body o f the murdered beloved woman and Lithuania. In Lithuanian literary studies those novels have been discussed separately and in comparison, paying attention to issues such as postcolonialism, nationalism, gender identity, representation o f the city (Vilnius and Kaunas), otherness, and postmodernist narrative techniques. A ll three novels arc very rich liter­ ary texts, providing a strong critique o f the system, o f Soviet and post-Soviet mentality. Maybe it is paradoxical that in the novels, providing such a harsh critique o f the Soviet system or any system, the main characters (those who are like outsiders) turn into animals. It could be argued that the strategy o f the deployment o f the image o f turn­ ing into an animal is one o f the underlying principles in the construction o f these narratives (the importance o f the animal and becom ing-an im alin the texts is marked by their inscription at the beginning and end o f the novels, as if framing the narrative) and the becoming-animal is a kind o f destruction o f the stereotype that to become an animal is a kind o f “degradation” or “degenera­ tion”73. Sovietism has had many metaphors related to animals in different dis­ courses and countries. In Lithuanian culture, gyvuliniai vagonai (wagon trains for animals), on which people were deported to Siberia starting from 1940, is one o f the strongest images showing the dehumanizing treatment o f people like animals, or more precisely like cattle, not metaphorically, but literally. How is

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

196

this treatment o f people like animals or making them into cattle represented in post-soviet Lithuanian literature almost after half o f century, almost two gener­ ations later after those first deportations? And what images o f becoming-animal arc used? In Lithuanian both words - gyvūnija andgyvülija - have the same general meaning the fauna, the animal kingdom (including men, dog, birds, flies, fish, snakes, etc...) - they both have the same root gyv, and gyvis is a living thing - but in everyday usage gyvulys is used talking about domestic animals (nam iniai gy­ vuliai), and gyvūnas - about wild animals (laukiniai gyvūnai). Besides, gyvulys is also used for a man to insult him or her, meaning “ brute” or “beast” These meanings o f the words especially their insulting performative power are impor­ tant in the following discussion o f becoming-animal. Though all three novels present criticism o f the totalitarian system, the image o f becoming-animal is definitely different from the image o f animals, which George Orwell described in his political allegory A n im alfarm : a fa iry story (1945). Still, this vision by Orwell cannot be put aside when talking about the becoming-animal in the Soviet system, because it is one o f the strongest and best known allegories o f the Soviet regime. Besides, A nim alfarm could be called transgressive fiction, “where the disruption o f everyday reality makes it possible to create another world which responds not to natural laws, but to principles specific to the text. In such a world, removed from physical and/ or organic constraints, transgression may cast social behaviour in a different light.”74 The concept o f transgressive fictions is also useful talking about the nar­ ratives, where becoming-animal is represented, especially because it is a kind o f transgression itself, if we consider the animal as not human. Transgressive fic­ tions “are located in the nebulous area between two distinct realms, into which literary production was divided during the last decades o f the 20th century: (1) general (or ‘mainstream’) literature, which respects the limits imposed by ‘re­ ality’, that is the limits imposed by considering the world in its historical and socio-psychological dimensions; and (2) imaginary literatures (fantasy, the fan­ tastic, science fiction, magical realism, metafiction), which overstep those limits, operating under their own sets o f rules.”75

History o f Lithuanian culture

197

Talking about turning into an animal in post-Soviet novels, not only Or­ well’s work should be kept in mind, but also Kafka’s animalistic stories. It could be argued that the Kafkaesque dominant is really strong in the three novels un­ der discussion, and also in other Lithuanian novels, exploring the issues o f iden­ tity and the state apparatus. In Kafka’s stories the becoming-animal designates the “possibility o f an escape”: “to the inhumanness o f the “diabolic powers”, there is the answer o f becoming-animal: to become a beetle, to become a dog, to become an ape, “head over heels and away”, rather than lowering one’s head and remaining a bureaucrat, inspector, judge or judged”76.

Reincarnation into Dog in Gavelis’ Vilnius Poker The becoming-animal does not take much space in this narrative text. Only the last, fourth chapter - the shortest one (p. 373—399) - “Vox Canina” presents the story narrated by the fourth player o f Vilnius poker - Gediminas Riauba, re­ incarnated as a dog. The title o f the chapter echoes the Lithuanian saying “šuns balsas į dangų nekyla” (a voice o f dog does not rise to the sky). Gavelis chooses a dog, man’s best friend. The word friend is important here, because friend has Soviet Russian communist connotations [comrade]. A ll Gavelis’ characters are under the power, are subjected and cannot escape the Soviet system. But this dog, though being domestic animal, is a vagrant dog, a dog without a master. And the act o f public suicide, which the dog commits at the end o f the novel, the act, which “no human-being was able to commit”77 echoes Romas Kalantas suicide in 197278. The escape from all rules (to “transgress all rules’"79) is possible only after becoming an outsider in the community o f people. Though the becoming-animal in Vilnius Poker is Gediminas Riaubas re­ incarnation after death and the suicide appears as i f it doubles this death, but the last sentence, written in capital letters D O G S DO N O T D IST IN G U ISH D R E A M S FRO M R E A L IT Y , which could be interpreted, that everything was just a dream, a nightmare, and this way can deny the reality o f events which were told, and the connection o f dogs with children at the beginning o f the novel (“A ll children build or feel these sorts o f escapes, these acts o f becoming-

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

198

animal”80), gives hope in the overall dark and sombre narrative: “Though it is better once again, after one hundred reincarnations, to be reborn as a human. W ith all their foolish hopes and weaknesses. Most importantly - with foolish hopes. It is better though...”8' A nd this hopeful vision is possible only after rein­ carnation as an animal. In many discussions o f Vilnius Poker these reincarnations, this becominganimal are interpreted in the light o f Orwell’s vision as a total defeat, as a deg­ radation, metamorphosis to “ lower” beings81, and it is easy to notice, that the last chapter o f the novel is almost neglected by the critics, trying to find one coherent final signifier or plot to the whole narrative, though the text itself re­ sists such literary interpretation. The concept o f becoming-animal by Deleuze and Guattari and Brook’s notion o f plot as a dynamic structuring principle of the narrative illuminate Vilnius Poker with different, even opposite meanings, providing hope and transgression o f all the rules, but this escape is possible only by changing. Dogs are the ones, which are not seen by or interesting to them, the authorities o f the Soviet system, who are so powerful in the other three chapters o f the novel.

Turning into a flying mouse in Kuncinas Tula Quite different use o f the becoming animal and its connotations exist in the other novel about Vilnius - Tula, written around the same time, and discussing similar problems but in a different style and not giving such a dark, sombre, pessimistic view. In Tula the becoming-animal is given much more space in the narrative world than in Gavelis’ novel. The narrator explains his turning into a bat as the response to the loss o f the woman he loves: “We said good-bye to each other, Tula, but only because o f this I learned, i f I wanted to, to turn into a flying mouse with a heart o f a bird and teeth o f a beast”8}. The narrator, becoming a small bat, can escape the prison, can see things upside down hanging on the ceiling, can see through the body o f human. The image o f a flying mouse (bat) is an ironic counterpart to the predominant image o f writer as bird in Lithuanian poetry, where a poet is equated to dainius (the

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

199

one who sings). A bat is not a bird, but still having wings, it is able to fly. Para­ doxically this image o f bat, which is the only species o f flying mammals living in Lithuanian territory, is much closer to the idea o f a writer than a bird. The narrator-bat knows his difference from other people, but also stresses his dif­ ference from other real bats. He wants this feeling o f community, friendship (either with the bats or the humans), but they are not friendly to him. Real bats respond to him the same way as people: Yesterday, while I was flying back to the Second Section I have been attacked by my colleagues - some real bats - c h i r o p t e r a , t h e b r o w n N y c t a l u s - having not wanted to recognize the stranger in t h e i r o w n possessions, maybe they were from the pan-Slavic organization “Severozdpad”? Now my arm and shoulder were aching, but I still made ready for the journey to the city - I was tired o f the evenings hearing the howling and laughing by the real madmen, sent out for the evening walk into the wire aviary [....] For the third week already this barrack of summer cottage type was my crib and my lair.84

But he still longs to see others, who are nearby in his world, and looks for re­ lationships, in other words, looks for an identity. The becoming-bat in Tula can be considered as a kind o f transmutation, though ancestry and genes have nothing to do with this. The transformation is caused by the environment (the narrator is in the Second Sector, the “prison for alcoholics”85), this becoming is driven by the love for and longing for a woman. Still, there are textual inter­ relations between Tula and the Soviet system. A t the end o f the novel the act o f digging up her remains takes place in the forest, where senior officers o f So­ viet Lithuania are hunting, and nameless narrator feels like a hero, who pen­ etrates into the war zone. Taking her out o f the militarized zone o f hunting, finding a calm resting place for Tula’s remains to be buried at home, reburying her at her house at the end o f the novel is a metonymical act o f finding a calm demilitarized territory, home for the many, not only one Lithuanian woman (in Lithuanian the word tula means dazna, ne viena [frequent, not one, but many]), and for Lithuania itself.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

200

Transmutation into a wolf with amber eyes in Beresnevičius’ Parousia In Beresnevičius’ novel the becoming-animal is most developed and governs the entire story-world. Transmutation is both a great and a wonderful way out, when you, chased and pressed from within by ancestries and genes, arc becoming a werewolf with amber eyes, and your loneliness becomes hard, as hard as a diamond, and it becomes tangible, so tangible, that you can already share it with others.I...] I saw as through mist, I was in the mist and saw only shadows, which were boring, but wanted, that I would behave with them as i f they were real. The world is a dim museum of former things, the reflector of the past times, having nothing in common with them, and haven’t yet grown to itself and will never grow up to. Shadows, shadows.86

The am ber eyes o f the werewolf refer not only to the national identity, but also to the author’s first name - Gintaras (literally amber), exposing the material activ­ ity o f the author as the ultimate ontological grounding o f this fictional world and probing ontological issues. The eyes, as metonymy o f the werewolf, mark the seeing ability (in all three novels the seeing, the perspective, is stressed). The marking o f ancestries and genes, which make you become-animal (the use o f the second person narration is important here) distinguishes Beresnevičius’ novel from Kunčinas and Gavelis, where becoming-animal was not reflected as related to the past or national (that is, group) identity. Prigim tis - the word, which in Lithuanian means not only nature, but also nationality (the words genes and ancestries stress this meaning o f the word). Besides, mutation in biology is ex­ plained as changing o f genes under the influence o f environment, while reincar­ nation has nothing to do with the environment or genes. Sharing with others is a social, communal act: And in the meantime I need to gather my owns, which are the powerful ones, which have transmutated, who not see, but behold, and who do not stammer, but act, and who do not flutter in an inter-material intoxication, but arc new with their bodies and future, to gather my own ones and to invite them for a party of game. Or for the game party.87

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

201

The becoming-animal is explicitly reflected as a way out, as an escape. The other fragment o f the text explains, from what: Neat straight drive. There are few variants, the order is not transgressable, and when you try not against the stream, but just only obliquely - then nothing good comes o f it. A system exists in order to crush you. I f you are a part of it, still, you arc already half-broken. It is like that - neither good, nor bad, it breaks in two. Unless - you would pull over the wolf fur. Unless - you would create an island for yourself. Becoming-wolf is like producing a layer. I think, this is also a beginning, also going still by sense of touch, but to the target, “to become-wolf“ in Lithuanian also means to wear, and “to wear“ [dėvėti] - this is a word, leading through becoming-god [dievėjim ą] toward god [dievo p i]; werewolves - the old one mystics, the priests and shamans of the old religion, whose footprints in brains arc still dry, but they let themselves to be revived; a werewolf is a dreamer looking for god, running in the thicket o f woods with its fur tousled by the fingers of moon.88

Parousia could be also characterized as a postmodern allegory, because it invites us to read allegorically but refuses to satisfy our drive. One more thing that is stressed and relates to the becoming-animal in all three novels is the descriptions o f a womans death. The women characters in all three novels are the love objects o f the main characters. In these descriptions the womans body is defragmented into parts, and is described as meat. But this death - in all cases murder - has different meaning, causes and consequenc­ es. W hile in Tūla and Vilnius Poker it is a mysterious death - the reader never knows, who really is guilty for the death o f Lolita and Tūla (there are different versions), in Parousia it is Azas, who, when transmuting into a w olf kills Indrė. But this murder is treated as a light and clean act: Becoming wolf has also one more meaning, this is becoming-wolf as rapacity —for something, but also becoming-wolf for freedom and nature, opened till the end. Rapacity is characteristic to wolf, but less than to man. You are rapacious sometimes, when you need it, when others need it, you are silent in your cave and silently monitor the environment, waiting while your turn will come to become involved and to unmake. To transform. To become-wolf maybe very close to death; in one and in other case there are acquired more powers and love. Coldish one, looking from this side.89

202

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

This rapacity, this murder is seen as necessity not only for Azas, but for oth­ ers too. Besides, murder as “destruction opens construction. Destruction shows how the structure was created. Both its advantages and disadvantages.”90 While in Tūla and Vilnius Poker the living together with a woman is impossible and impotence, childlessness is stressed, Azas and Indrė are a family and have a son Medūziukas, who is born in a cemetery, after Azas buries Indrė. Besides, in the novel Azas not only transmutes into a werewolf, but has other incarnations, like other characters o f the novel: Anyway - Indrė is Ilona, and Ilona - Indrė, and it is natural, because Zvorūna is Medeina, Diana - Artemis; Azas-Tadas-Pūzras. It was his incarnations, avatars, but, unfortunately, having acquired an independent vision of the world and having chosen their own path. After all, you never know who is else you in this world. Maybe it is a unique charm, perhaps a source of longing. Azas - the one, which I am - I am sufficient. I can start. Although I had already started, from ancient times.91

So Indrė is the dead-living, living-dead, who after her death gives a birth to a child, who opens wide his medusa eyes at the end o f the novel, killing everybody. This whole story about life and giving birth after death, and also the title o f the novel (Parousia - as a second coming, having connotations o f Lithuania’s second Independence) at first seems to distinguish Beresnevičius’ novel from the novels by Kunčinas and Gavelis, which were written in Soviet times and published just in the first years after Lithuania restored its independence. Still, the idea o f sec­ ond life or second death, life after death or suicide after death is also employed by Kunčinas and Gavelis. The only thing that distinguishes those novels is the figure o f a child. And living after death. The strategy o f using the image o f the becoming-animal in the three novels, which tell the stories about Soviet and post-Soviet Lithuania, could be explained in the light o f the theory o f performatives: performative s link with the past implies the possibility of deflecting or redirecting the weight of the past, by attempting to capture and redirect the terms that carry an oppressive signification .... Its not that you become autonomous by choosing your name: names always carry historical weight and are subject to the uses others

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

203

will make o f them in the future. You can’t control the terms that you choose to name yourselves. But the historical character of the performative process creates the possibility o f a political struggle.91

The idea about the deflecting or redirecting signs is reflected in Beresnevičius’ novel in relation to werewolf-ness - confusing the signs as finding the way out: ...the confusion o f signs also protects, as an introduction to transmutation. Signs show that you find yourselfon your own island. The mastery of the werewolfness, weathers, thoughts, rain - everything obeys you on that island. [...] The werewolves are players, but even the island does not know what to expect from them.93

The becoming-animal - reincarnation as a dog, becoming-bat, and transmuta­ tion into a werewolf - is needed for the characters to transgress all the rules (Vilnius Pokerjt imprisonment {Tūla) and the system {Parousia), and to win a different being and different experience. Such transgression is possible by choos­ ing to become an animal, who in all three novels is aware o f his being different from real animals, but is also different from humans. In both realms, he is differ­ ent from others. The becoming-animal in the novels is represented as a creative and the only possible way out, not only for the one who becomes an animal but, what is more important, for those who are just human - the community o f peo­ ple he lives or lived with. Thus, the becoming-animal as a transgressive act has collective value, casting social behaviour in a different light, and as a performa­ tive act is political, redirecting the term animal’, which carries oppressive Soviet significations.

History of Lithuanian culture

204

Creating an Island The distant and unfamiliar land Lithuania- such is the reading strategy o f Ma­ rius Ivaškevičius’ play “Madagascar” (2004) offered in the author’s foreword: How should “Madagascar” be read? As in 2 0 8 4 a man would read a story about us, who think that all the nonsense ended fourteen years ago. (...) it is possible to read this play also in this way. As if we had actually been moved and now with the help of the theater, they arc trying to turn us back.94

So the reader is suggested to move in time and space: to remember and to emigrate. This writing strategy is used by the author himself. In both cases the play is about Lithuanians, about unknown, strange to ourselves. Such seeing o f oneself as the other, as a stranger is both distressing, and the beginning o f selfknowledge. Self-reflection is only possible thanks to relocation, tearing oneself from the well-known, prominent personalities, texts. A ll the prototypes o f the major characters in the play are easily recognizable pre-war Lithuania personali­ ties or characters o f the literary works. Their surname or names are changed, as if crossed, but not erased. A ll these characters have an abundance o f controversy in common. They have been surrounded (and still are) by either adoration, or a curse. They appear to disrupt either/or opposition. Probably all the characters in the play live in a menacing weightlessness: the evaluation o f both o f them as cultural phenomena, and o f the things they represent, is painfully weightless in Lithuanian culture. Lithuania itself is being pulled in different directions - Pokštas invites peo­ ple to take to the seas, to Madagascar, Oscar - to the moon, and Sale - trans­ ports it as a dowry to Joseph “Everythingdevouring”. The opposition “love o f the nation” vs. “love o f a woman, human” is very strong. Ivaškevičius usually writes about those things, which have not been de­ scribed, sensitive (both in the sense o f pain/trauma, and relevance) to the na­ tion, national identity, Lithuanian historical memory. He “enacts” what has not been enacted, what makes the obstacles, not allowing to be the “self”; the things, which presses the nation’s memory. The play rewrites the cultural mem­ ory o f the people, going way back into the past and opening the nation’s mental

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

205

space for possible forms o f renewal. Literature (and Ivaškevičius as one such au­ thor in Lithuanian literature) treats the cultural, historical traumas o f the na­ tion, helps to understand them, and for Lithuanians to see themselves as the other. Ivaškevičius among modern writers can be distinguished by the fact that he has a particular interest in Lithuanian history from various times. (Herkus Kunčius is also close to Ivaškevičius in his writing strategy.) The story is told in a way as we tell friends our family’s story with love and pride, but without any pathos, choosing famous people and relatives, and with irony, because we already know how their heroic adventures ended up. It is most interesting to speak and hear about the ones that do not seem to fit into the standards and break the established norms. Historical, literary, cultural memo­ ry is rewritten. A nd this is a form o f rebellion. We cannot go back to the past. Interwar Lithuania is presented as being as unfamiliar as Madagascar, dis­ tant in time, space, and perception. The title o f the play draws attention to the fact that each generation lives in a different country, a different Lithuania, not only in a different time, but also in a different area. The language o f the play is the first thing that draws attention. It is a familiar yet obsolete language. A t first glance, it seems discovered, invented, created. However, it appears more like a language adapted from that time. Pakštas speaks using the words o f his pro­ totype Kazys Pakštas (1893-1960), a Lithuanian geographer, traveller and the originator o f professional geography in Lithuania, Salė - the poems by Salomėja Nėris (1904-1945)95. W hy “Madagascar” today? Does it reflect todays mass emigration o f Lithuanians? O r does it open new forms for renewal, reflecting the past?

History o f Lithuanian culture

References Milosz, Oscar V. de L. “An extract from Lecture on Lithuania given in the rooms of the Geographical Society” cited from The N o b le T raveller. The L ife a n d W ritings o fO . V. d e L . M ilo sz , ed. by Christopher Bamford. New York: Lindisfarne Press, 1985, p. 455-456. Brodsky, Joseph. “Introduction” to "Lithuanian Divertissement", translation of the poem from Russian by Alan Myers. Cited from Tomas Venclova “Lithuanian Divertissement” by Joseph Brodsky in R evision es 04,2008, p. 96-97. U RL: http://dspace.unav.es/dspace/ bitstrcam/ioi7i/i8452/i/8.%2oRcvisioncs%2004%2o%3A%2oTomas%ioVenclova.pdf Staponkutė, Dalia. “Globalizacija ir niekas" (Globalization and Nothing) in L ietu m i p rie š sa u lę (Rain versus Sun): [essays]. Vilnius: Apostrofa, 2007, p. 90. The first version of this text was published in Šia u rės A tė n a i in 2004. Here and hereinafter, if not indicated otherwise, the translation is my own - V. V. Daniels, Stephen. F ield s o f V ision : L an dscape Im agery a n d N a tio n a l Id e n tity in E n g la n d a n d U n ited States. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1993, p. 5. Buell, Lawrence. The F u tu re o f E n v iro n m e n ta l C riticism : E n v iro n m e n ta l C risis a n d L it ­ era ry Im a gin a tio n . Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005, p. 16. Ib id , p. 1 4 5 -

p. 16. The translation of full text o f the lecture can be found in Milosz, Oscar. “Lithuania. Lec­ ture in the Hall of the Geographic Society Paris. 29 March, 1919” translated from the French by Christopher John Barnard in V iln iu s , 1995/3, Winter, p. 129-133. Dubreuil, Laurent. “What Is Literature Now?” in N e w L ite ra ry H istory, Vol. 38, No. 1, Winter, 2007, p. 58. Ib id ,

Ib id .

Culler, Jonathan. “Commentary: What Is Literature Now?” in N e w L ite ra ry H istory , Vol. 38, No. 1, Winter, 2007, p. 234. Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stabIc/20057997 Ališanka, Eugenijus. “The Genius Loci of Literature” in The V iln iu s R ev ie w : N e w W ritin gfro m L ith u a n ia , 2006 Autumn-Winter, No 20, p. 82. URL: http://www.ebooksfromIithuania.lt/en/e-books/periodical/the-vilnius-review/the-vilnius-revicw-no-20-491/ preview Parulskis, Sigitas. N u o g i d ra b u ž ia i (The Naked Clothes): essays. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 2002. Culler, Jonathan. L ite ra ry theory: A V ery Sh o rt In trodu ction . Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 114.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

207

Culler, Jonathan. “Commentary: What Is Literature Now?” in N e w L ite ra ry H istory, Vol. 38, No. i, Winter, 2007, P- 2.29. Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Stable U RL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20057997 Although Beresnevičius develops this idea writing about one particular genre of Lithu­ anian literature - a literary essay, still his concepts illuminate the development not only o f this genre, but of Lithuanian literature in general. Especially important to the pres­ ent discussion are his marked aesthetic dimension of literature as verbal art in fostering national self-respect and self-consciousness; its difference from journalistic writing; and the conception of literary text as not stating one truth, but rather creating indetermi­ nacy and erasing the categories o f “black and white”. See Beresnevičius, Gintaras. “Eseis­ tikos tendencijos moderniojoje Lietuvoje” (The Tendencies of Essay Writing in Modern Lithuania) in V ilk ų sau lu tė (The Wolves’ Little Sun): [essay collection]. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla/Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 2003, p. 282. The essay was first published in Lithuanian Writers’ Union weekly L itera tū ra in m enas (Litera­ ture and Art) in August 23, 2002, No. 2913. U RL: http://cia.libis.lt:8o8o/archyvas/vicsas/20iio62002232i/http://www.culturc.lt/lmcnas7?lcid_id=29i3. The text can be also found on the website tckstai.lt: šiuolaikinės lietuvių literatūros antologija (an anthology o f contemporary Lithuanian literature): http://www.tekstai.lt/tekstai-apie-tekstus/2127gintaras-beresnevicius-eseistikos-tendencijos-modemiojoje-lietuvoje Martinaitis, Marcelijus. L ith u a n ia n P aradoxes. Vilnius, 1995 Winter, p. 8. “About Lithuanian books” in B o o k sfro m lith u a n ia .lt : http://www.ebooksfromlithuania. lt/en/about-lithuanian-books Ib id .

Ališanka, Eugenijus. “The Genius Loci of Literature” in The V iln iu s R ev ie w : N ew W rit­ 2006 Autumn-Winter, No 20, p. 83. URL: http://www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/e-books/pcriodical/the-vilnius-review/the-vilnius-review-no-20-491/ preview in g fro m L ith u a n ia ,

Culler, Jonathan. L ite ra ry theory: A Very Sh o rt In trodu ction . Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 59-60. Anderson, Benedict. Im a g in ed C om m u n ities: R eflectio n s on th e O rig in a n d S p rea d o f N a ­ tio n alism . London, New York: Verso, 1992, p. 145. Ib id ., 154. Ib id ., p. 133. Ib id ., p. 134. Ib id ., p. 25. Šilbajoris, Rimvydas. A Sh o rt H istory o f L ith u a n ia n L itera tu re. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 2002, p. 30.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

208

¿8

19

30

3'

31

33

34

35

36

37

38

According co the data of The Russian Imperial Census of 1897 in the territory of ethnic Lithuania (91,100 km2) the population was 3.79 min. people, among them 63 % Lithua­ nians. Cited from “Lithuanian Book-carriers and Daractors of 1864-1904. Summary” in Ben­ jaminas Kaluškevičius, Kazys Misius. L ietu vo s kn ygn ešiai ir d a ra k to ria i 18 6 4 -19 0 4 . Vil­ nius: Diemedis, 1004, p. 7-11, 667-668. URL: http://www.spaudos.lt/Daraktoriai/ Summary_katalogo.htm. The edited and digitalized version o f the same catalogue could be found: http://www.spaudos.lt/Daraktoriai/Duomenu_bazc_ivadas.htm Radauskas, Henrikas. “The Word” in B rea th in g F ree: Poem s fro m th e L ith u a n ia n . Select­ ed and translated by Vytautas Bakaitis. Vilnius: Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 1001, p. 139. Beresnevičius, Gintaras. “Eseistikos tendencijos moderniojoje Lietuvoje” (The Tenden­ cies of Essay Writing in Modern Lithuania) in V ilk ų sau lu tė (The Wolves’ Little Sun): essay collection. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla/Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 1003, p. 182-183. The Poems by Maironis in English (“The Earth is Sleeping”, “From Birutė H ill”, “Trakai Castle", “I’ll Vanish like Smoke”, “Spring", “Jūratė and Kastytis"), translated by Lion­ ginas Pažūsis, can be found in The V iln iu s R eview , No. 31, p. 84-91. URL: http://www. ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/e-books/periodical/the-vilnius-rcvicw/the-vilnius-review00-31-572./- Also see Maironis texts in English: http://members.efn.org/~valdas/maironis.html Platelis, Kornelijus. “About Modern Lithuanian Poetry”, transl. by Jonas Zdanys in L it h ­ u a n ia in H e r O wn W ords: A n A n th olog y in C ontem porary L ith u a n ia n W ritin g, cd. by Laima Sruoginis. Vilnius: Tyco alba, 1997, p. 28. Anderson, Benedict. Im a g in ed C om m u n ities: R eflection s on th e O rig in a n d S p rea d o f N a ­ tion alism . London, New York: Verso, 1992, p. 132. Beresnevičius, Gintaras. “Teisuolių pasaulis” (The Righteous People’s World) in V ilkų sau lu tė (The Wolves’ Little Sun): essay collection. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla/Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 2003, p. 273-274. Venclova, Tomas. “Laimei, Maironis” (Luckily, Maironis) in V ilties fo rm o s (Forms of Hope). Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla, 1991, p. 286. Kossu-Alcksandavičius, Jonas. “Maironis” in D ie v a i i r sm u ik elia i (Gods and Pensive Christs), orig. published in 1935, three years after Maironis death. Cited from Jonas Ais­ tis. M ilfo rd o gatvės elegijos (Ellcgics of Milford Street). Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjunga, 1991, p. 21-22. Aistis (literary A estia n , a designation from Tacitus for the remote Baltic tribes) is a pseudonym o f Jonas Aleksandravičius, which he took after his emigration. For example, Artūras Tereškinas. “Gendering the Body of the Lithuanian Nation in Maironis’s (1862-1932) Poetry” in L itu a n u s. Volume 45, No. 2, Summer 1999. URL: http://www.lituanus.org/1999/99_2_04.htm, and also in H istory o f th e L ite ra ry C u l-

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

turės o f E a st-C en tra l E u ro p e: Types a n d stereotypes, ed.

209

Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neu-

bauer. John Benjamins Publishing, 2010, p. 183-192. 39

4°

41 41 43 44

More on Maironis as g en iu s lo ci sec: Višomirskytė, Vijolė. “Maironio kaip gen iu s loci vaizdinys lietuvių eseistikoje” (The Image of Maironis zs gen iu s lo ci in Lithuanian Essays) in Č eslovo M ilo šo ska itym ai 5,2012, p. 9-18. U RL: http://vddb.library.lt/obj/LT-eLABaoooi:J.0 4 ~ 2 0 I 2 ~ISSN _ 2 0 2 9 -8 6 9 2 .N_ s .PG_ 9 -i 8 Beresnevičius, Gintaras. “Apie Maironį”, “2. Iš gyvenimo rašytojų Lietuvos” (From the Life of Writers of Lithuania), I dalis. Istorijos tikrasis veidas (Part I. The True Face of History) in Pabėgęs d varas (The Runaway Manor House). Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla/Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 2005, p. 137. „Maironis nuėjo pas milžinkapį ir jam užsinorėjo prikelti kokį senolį. Kel­ kis, senoli, - rimtai tarė Maironis. Senolis atsikėlė ir, tiesdamas ranką, priėjo prie Maironio. Senolis, - tarė senolis. Maironis, - prisistatė Maironis.“ Maironis. “Jūratė and Kastytis”, translated by Lionginas Pažūsis in The V iln iu s R eview , No. 31, p. 91. Venclova, Tomas. “Laimei, Maironis” (Luckily, Maironis) in V ilties fo rm o s (Forms of Hope). Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla, 1991, p. 285. Maironis poem „Išnyksiu kaip dūmas“ (I’ll Vanish like Smoke). Greimas, A. J. “Henrikas Radauskas” in I š a r ti i r iŠ to li (From Near and From Far). Vil­ nius: Vaga, 1991, p. 273.

45

A Lithuanian high modernist poet p a r excellence , who could be compared to T. S. Eliot in English poetry.

46

Žemaitė literally meansfe m a le S a m o gitian ; Žemaitija or Samogitia (literally “lowlands”) is one of the five ethnographic regions of Lithuania; located in northwestern Lithua­ nia. This region has a long and distinct cultural history, reflected in the existence of the Samogitian dialect. Žemaitės choice of this pen name marks her conscious identification with this region and its people. Vanagas, Vytautas. “Literature of the National Movement", transl. by Rita Dapkutė in L ith u a n ia n L itera tu re. Vilnius: Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, 1997, p. 101. Ib id , p. 98. Greimas, A. J. “Description and Narrativity: ‘The Piece of String’” in N e w L ite ra ry H is­ tory, Vol. 20, No. 3, (Spring, 1989), p. 615-626. The fragment o f this short story is presented as an example, because it is one of the pub­ lished English translations of Žemaitės work. The difficulty of translation of her work into English is related both to the Samogitian dialect and to the tcxtuality of her descrip-

47

48 49

50

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

210

cions and richness of language, which is much more difficult to translate than Maironis’ poems. Žemaitė. “The Devil Captured”, adapted by Althea van Boskirk and Clark Mills in Se­ lected L ith u a n ia n S h o rt Stories, ed. by Stepas Zobarkas. New York: Manyland Books,

S1

1963, p- isJūratė Baranova, a philosopher and essayist, writing a review on Dalia Staponkutė’s book in 2007. URL: http://www.bernardinai.lt/straipsnis/2007-05-14-rcccnzija-juratebaranova-intelektualioji-benamyste/10012/print Platelis, Kornelijus. “About Modern Lithuanian Poetry”, transl. by Jonas Zdanys \n L ith ­ u a n ia in H e r O wn W ords: A n A n th ology in C ontem porary L ith u a n ia n W ritin g, ed. By Laima Sruoginis. Vilnius: Tyto alba, 1997, p. 29. Beresnevičius, Gintaras. “Eseistikos tendencijos moderniojoje Lietuvoje” (The Tenden­ cies of Essay Writing in Modern Lithuania) in V ilk ų sau lu tė (The Wolves’ Little Sun): [essay collection]. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla/Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 2003, p. 284-285. Ib id , p. 285. Ib id .

S«

59

60

61

6}

Vaškelis, Bronius. “Folklore in Lithuanian Literature” in L itu a n u s, Vol. 36, No. 4, Win­ ter 1990. U RL: http://www.lituanus.0rg/1990_4/90_4_06.htm Beresnevičius, Gintaras. “Eseistikos tendencijos moderniojoje Lietuvoje” (The Tenden­ cies of Essay Writing in Modern Lithuania) in V ilk ų sau lu tė (The Wolves’ Little Sun): essay collection. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla/Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 2003, p. 285-286. Ib id ., p. 283. Although this sentence was written about Lithuanian essay, but actually it is true thinking about Lithuanian literature in general. Lots of what the Soviet Lithuanian literature was praised, especially its Aesopian kind of language, which here Beresnevičius renames into Orwellian newspeak, cannot be read and understood by today students, mainly it was literature written just for the community, and had its function, but still it lacked the aesthetic level, distance. Here again we confront the metaphor of cold winter as a sign for the time of Soviet oc­ cupation. Bložė, Vytautas P. [Untitled] in B rea th in g F ree: Poem s fro m th e L ith u a n ia n , selected and translated by Vytautas Bakaitis. Vilnius: Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 2001, p. 225. Vaškelis, Bronius. “The Assertion of Ethnic Identity via Myth and Folklore in Soviet Lithuanian Literature”, in L itu a n u s, Vol. 19, No. 2, Summer 1973. U RL: http://www. lituanus.0rg/1973/73_2_02.htm Ib id .

History of Lithuanian culture

211

64

Platelis, Kornelijus. “About Modern Lithuanian Poetry", transi, by Jonas Zdanys in L ith ­ u a n ia in H e r O w n W ords: A n A n th ology in C ontem porary L ith u a n ia n W ritin g, ed. by Laima Sruoginis. Vilnius: Tyto alba, 1997, p. 30-31.

65

Alas, the English translation of this book docs not include the essays on Lithuanian liter­ ature. The title of the book is also symbolic, thinking about the national identity. Tomas Venclova is a writer, who emigrated in 1977 to the United States. Brodsky’s “Lithuanian Divcrstisscmcnt", cited at the beginning o f this entry, is dedicated to him. Beresnevičius, Gintaras. “Eseistikos tendencijos moderniojoje Lietuvoje” (The Tenden­ cies of Essay Writing in Modern Lithuania) in V ilk ų sau lu tė (The Wolves’ Little Sun): essay collection. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla/Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 1003, p. 2.88. Ib id ., p. 189. Ališanka, Eugenijus. “The Genius Loci ofLiteraturc” in The V iln iu s R eview : N ew W ritin g fro m L ith u a n ia , 1006 Autumn-Winter, No 2.0, p. 84. URL: http://www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/cn/c-books/pcriodical/thc-vilnius-rcvicw/the-vilnius-review-no-20-491/ Beresnevičius, Gintaras. “Eseistikos tendencijos moderniojoje Lietuvoje” (The Tenden­ cies of Essay Writing in Modern Lithuania) in V ilk ų sau lu tė (The Wolves’ Little Sun): essay collection. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla/Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 1003, p. 290.

66

67 68

69

70

Ib id .

71

Gavelis’s novel was first published in 1989, later it was edited by the author and published for the second time in 1990; T u la was published in 1993. The publication dates show that V iln iu s P o k er and T ū la were written before Lithuania restored its independence (especially if we consider the fact how long it took to publish a book at that time). Still in this discussion these novels are considered as post-soviet, especially because they could not be published as such during the Soviet times. Beresnevičius’ P arou sia was published in 2005. The concept becom in g-an im al is developed by Gilles Dcleuzc and Felix Guattari in K a f­ k a : T o w ard a M in o r L itera tu re. Minneapolis: University o f Minnesota Press, 1986, See ViŠomirskytė, Vijolė. “Becoming-animal as a Transgression in Three Post-Soviet Li­ thuanian Novels : (Vilnius Poker, Tūla and Parousia)" in C om p arative studies. Daugav­ pils: Daugavpils university academic press Saule, 2012, Vol. 4, iss. 1, p. 181-194. Berthelot, François. “Transgresive fictions” in: Herman D., J. Manfred, M. L. Ryan (eds.) R ou tledge En cyclopedia o f N a rra tiv e Theory. London and New York: Routledge, 2008, p. 614. Ib id ., p. 613. Deleuze, Gilles and Felix Guattari. K a fk a : T ow ard a M in o r L itera tu re. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1986, p. 12.

71

73

"4

75

76 77

Gavelis, Ričardas. V iln ia u s p o k eris. Vilnius: Vaga, 1990, p. 399.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

212

78

79

80

81 8z

8} 85

86

87

90 91 91 95 94

95

Romas Kalanta (1953-1971), protesting Soviet regime in Lithuania, committed an act of public suicide by self-immolation. His death provoked the largest post-war riots in Lithu­ ania. He became a symbol of the Lithuanian resistance. Gavelis, Ričardas. V iln iau s pokeris. Vilnius: Vaga, 1990, p. 399. Deleuze, Gilles and Felix Guattari. K a fk a : T ow ard a M in o r L itera tu re. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1986, p. 12. Gavelis, Ričardas. V iln ia u s pokeris. Vilnius: Vaga, 1990, p. 399. SamalaviČius, Almantas. “Ričardo Gavelio proza ir dekolonizacija: kūno atradimas” (Ričardas Gavelis’ Prose and Decolonization: the Discovery of Body) in: Gavelienė N., A. A. Jonynas, A. SamalaviČius (eds.). B liu z a s R ič a rd u i G a v e liu i: atsim in im a i, u žraša i paraštėse, la išk a i, eseistika, kūrybos a n a liz ė (Blues for Ričardas Gavelis: memoirs, notes on the margins, letters, essays, and the analysis of his creative work). Vilnius: Tyto alba, 1007, p. 259. Kunčinas, Jurgis. T ū la . Vilnius: Tyto alba, 1007, p. 44. Ib id ., p. 118. In Lithuanian literature in general a drunken body is often used as a metaphor for ideo­ logically intoxicated consciousness. Beresnevičius, Gintaras. P a ru z ija . Vilnius: Tyto Alba, 2005, p. 81. Ib id ., p. 89. Ib id ., p. 205. Ib id ., p. 206. Ib id ., p. 89. Ib id ., p. 176. Culler, Jonathan. A Very Sh o rt In tro du ctio n to L ite ra ry Theory. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 106. Beresnevičius, Gintaras. P a ru z ija . Vilnius: Tyto Alba, 2005, p. 206-207. Ivaškevičius, Marius. “Autoriaus įžanginis žodis" (Authors introduction) in M a d a ­ gaskaras (Madagascar). Vilnius: Apostrofa, 2004, p. 15-16. More on Ivaškevičius’ play and other contemporary Lithuanian rebellious writing see in Višomirskytė, Vijolė, “Kaip šiandien maištauja rašytojai” (How do the writers Revolt today?) in D a rb a i i r dien os 42 (2005), p. 165-173.

Die History ç/Xithuanian c u l t u r e

DALIA KUIZINIENÊ

Lithuanian Emigré Literature and Press

213

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

215

Lithuanian émigré literature is a significant part o f Lithuanian heritage created abroad. The works o f Lithuanian writers reflect relevant historical, cultural, identity issues as well as the junction o f Lithuanian reality and western influ­ ences. Lithuanian literature which was created and is still being created abroad is distinguished for a great diversity o f topics and genres. Cognition and study o f this literature permit us to get a deeper understanding o f the circumstances o f living abroad and the intellectual history o f émigrés. The texts o f the Lithuanian diaspora reveal the experiences o f living abroad, their values and how they have changed. Lithuanian émigré literary life is extremely varied. It consisted o f at least several significant development stages. Soviet occupation and World War II forced intellectuals to withdraw from the Baltic countries. After the war, over 2.00,000 residents from the Baltic countries stayed at German D P camps (camps for Displaced Persons). O f these, about 60,000 were Lithuanians, who spread all over Germany, which was then divided into American, British and French zones. A period for Lithuanians, who stayed at D P camps in Germany, was especially productive and intense. Western culture and exile experiences influenced art created abroad: the older generation continued the tradition o f creation brought from Lithuania, while the young generation o f Lithuanian authors turned to­ wards modernisation. Many Lithuanian social and cultural organizations were restored in Europe. The period o f life in German DP camps is distinguished for a great number o f periodicals and books. The period is also unique for the diversity o f press,

216

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

which covered the following publications: one-off leaflets o f wall newspapers with important information, rotaprinted publications ofvarious camps, weeklies {M intis, Tėviškės garsas, Žiburiai), cultural magazines, literary almanacs. A idai, published in Munich and relocated to America in late 1949 (published here until 1999 and in 1992. united with a religious and cultural magazine Naujasis židinys which was published in Lithuania), was one o f the most popular cultural maga­ zines and had the biggest circulation at that time. About twenty cultural maga­ zines, which are distinguished for their huge variety, were published during this period. Some publications generally focused on fiction and gathered together the representatives o f different attitudes towards creation {Pėdsakai, Gintaras), while other publications were published by authors with similar attitudes and those who were inclined to experiment (avant-garde magazine Žvilgsniai). Many Lithuanian writers published their works and critical articles, reviews o f west­ ern culture as well as evaluations o f European and world literature in cultural magazines. Cultural publications were full o f polemic debates, while numerous facts o f the then cultural life were censored and discussed. Already the very first years o f retreat from Lithuania are marked with a vivid tendency o f writers (es­ pecially the young generation) to go beyond the Lithuanian tradition and try to integrate into the context o f European culture. The Society o f Lithuanian Writers in Exile, which was active during this pe­ riod, published an anthology o f fiction Tremties metai (Years o f Exile) in 1947, which included over 70 poems, short stories, novels or drama fragments by writers who had retreated from Lithuania. The appearance o f Tremties metai at German DP camps was indeed a significant event in the cultural life at the time. It received both praise and criticism. The annual publication revealed a panorama o f litera­ ture o f the first years o f exile and general trends o f literature as writers o f different generations and different creative attitudes published their works there. Dozens o f Lithuanian publishing offices published 218 fiction books in Western Europe during 1945-1950. The extent o f publishing o f books reached the level o f the Lithuanian independence period: books were published in 5-4 thousand copies. One o f the most famous printing houses, Patria, published 4 4 books within five years. The books o f this particular publishing house were distinguished for their quality polygraphy and included illustrations o f the fol-

*

-

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Congress o f the Lithuanian W riters' Union in Augsburg in 1947. Archive o f V M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

217

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

218

lowing artists: Vytautas Petravičius, Telesforas Valius and others. In 1948, Patria participated in the World Book Fair and represented publishing houses o f for­ eigners in Germany. Lithuanian writers located at D P camps looked for possibil­ ities to translate their books into German and English. The need for Lithuanian writers to join the international PE N club o f writers was raised in 1945. After great efforts, the Association o f Lithuanian Writers was finally admitted to this international organization in 1955. The following several anthologies o f short stories by Lithuanian writers were published in Germany in the German lan­ guage: Novellen vom Baltischen M eer (1948), Das Teufelmoor (1951). A much de­ bated novel K ryžiai (Crosses) by Vincas Ramonas was also translated into Ger­ man and published. From 1948 Lithuanian writers began to collaborate with the Estonian cultural newspaper Our L ife published in the English language and with other publications. Literary life in Western Europe was especially productive for many Lithua­ nian writers o f different generations. Especially huge amounts o f poetry and short story books were published during this period. These genres managed to better and faster reveal the moods and experiences o f those who lived abroad at the time. The lost homeland, the pain o f this loss and obscurity were best depicted through poetic images. Brazdžionis, Kirša, Vaitkus and other poets, who gained recognition during the years o f independence, published several books o f poetry and the public patriotic m otif became stronger in their works. Young writers flexibly and willingly adopted and applied the positive things, which they learnt during studies in German universities, while reading books, by looking for public cultural parallels with Lithuanian culture in exile in various tendencies, and by trying to answer questions on what is the place o f Lithuanian culture in the world. Such was the individuals relationship with the living reality o f the time, by feeling a part o f that context, by experiencing a constant tension between ones Lithuanian identity and world citizenship. The flexibility o f young writers permitted them to adopt the positive and new things from their foreign environment, while older generation writers focused on the Lithuanian tradition and thus narrowed their view. The topic o f the lost Lithua­ nia predominated in their works.

Hiscory of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

219

The work o f authors who debuted in poetry was influenced by existential­ ism, which was revived in post-war Europe. A person who cannot find his place and loss o f home were the main topics in the lyrics o f Alfonsas Nyka-Niliûnas and Henrikas Nagys. The lyrics o f Kazys Bradūnas focus on a mystical relation w ith land, by lifting this image to a symbolic level. A panorama o f colours and the smell o f the homeland, work in the fields, and the landscape are revealed in

Semeniškių idilės (Idylls o f Semen iškės) by Jonas Mekas. It seems that the author tries to stop the past years through these images. The topics o f the lost Lithuania in post-war prose are frequently replaced with the motifs o f war, occupation, retreat from Lithuania and the topics o f living abroad. These experiences in the works o f several authors merge with a single m otif o f a catastrophe when explication o f feeling becomes a centre o f creation rather than an event o f external reality (novels by Marius Katiliškis, Anatanas Škėma). The changes in topics have frequently influenced genre modifications: the fairy­ tale genre is originally used in the works o f Julius Kaupas, Jonas and Adolfas M e­ kas. Landscape is merged with a human world as an undivided unity in the lyrical stories by Pulgis Andriušis, whereas Nelė Mazalaitė continues the neo-romantic tradition in her prose. She writes stylized legends, which universally raise the prob­ lems o f Lithuanian history, the fate o f the nation, etc. The number o f novels published within the first five years o f living abroad is not great. The novel K ryžiai (Crosses, 1947) by Ramonas was much discussed at that period. The novel spoke about the confrontation o f two ideologies and world-views: the Catholic and the atheistic or liberal. Moreover, the author re­ vealed important problems o f self-decision regarding world-view, as well as expe­ riences o f the Soviet occupation before retreating to the W est in this work. R a­ monas’ book is traditional in its composition, yet the author reveals exceptional talent by psychologically reasonably creating his characters amid the background o f occupation. The static characters o f the novel are ranked at both sides o f the barricades and their ideological confrontation provokes the main conflict. A novel o f short stories Naktis ant morų (1948) by Jurgis Jankus depicted the recent events o f the Soviet and Nazi occupations. Scenes o f torture and vio­ lence are revealed surrealistically, yet the author looks for human manifestations in each situation. Terrible events o f the recent past are also depicted in the work,

220

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Julius Kaupas. Archive o f V M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

221

$ In

Am anas Škėma. Archive o fV M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

222

and those separate parts are united by an introductory short story. A person in Jankus’ work faces either the Soviet or N azi occupation. Recent past events are depicted with a huge artistic suggestion, whereas catastrophic experiences o f the epoch are revealed through different ways o f telling the story.

Literary life at German DP camps, which faced new influences that turned that life towards modernization, was distinguished for a natural continuation o f further development o f emigre literature. The years which were spent by Lithua­ nian writers in Europe were transitional. A further emigration started in around the 1950s: most Lithuanian writers settled in the USA, others in Canada and Australia.

Poetry W hile living abroad, older generation poets Bernardas Brazdžionis, Jonas Aistis, Mykolas Vaitkus, Faustas Kirša, Gražina Tulauskaitė and others main­ tained the manner o f w riting and stylistics which had formed in the independ­ ent Lithuania. A patriotic m otif which frequently turned into pathetic, predic­ tive or sentimental rhetoric became stronger in their poetic works. Intimacy and lyricism in the exile lyrics o f the two greatest Lithuanian neo-romanticists Aistis and Brazdžionis are replaced w ith sociability, identification o f yourself with a nation and its drama. A patriotic m o tif in the works o f these poets intertwines w ith religious experiences. O nly several poems written by these poets in exile managed to reach the same poetic heights which were reached while living in Lithuania. The poet Henrikas Radauskas represents the same generation o f poets. He debuted in independent Lithuania, but reached his creative maturity in exile. Radauskas entrenched aesthetical perception o f reality in his lyricism. H is po­ ems are full o f allusions to the realities o f the history o f world culture. Ironic and surrealistic reception o f the world is replaced w ith a system o f values that used to prevail in Lithuanian poetry thus far. The domestic life o f and being in an exile society are ironically depicted in the collection o f satirical poems by A ntanas Gustaitis. H e ironically speaks

History of Lithuanian cu ltu r e

Poet H enrikas Radauskas, 1969. Archive o f V M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

223

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

224

about patriotism declared by public émigrés and his contemporaries. The po ­ ems w ritten by Gustaitis in a classic form unite playfulness, aphorism and irony. The lyrics o f Antanas Jasm antas (Maceina) and M ykolas Vaitkus depict the deepness o f religious experiences. Their lyrics are hermetic to the realities o f the external world. Faustas K irša and Kotryna Grigaitytė remained loyal to their stylistics. The motives o f living abroad, exile, nostalgia for the homeland are obvious in the lyrics o f Stasys Santvaras. Exaltation and sentimentality are intertwined in his lyrics. A Lithuanian poetry anthology Žem ė (The Land, 1951) was published by the following five poets o f the same generation having similar approaches towards literature: Bradūnas, Nyka-Niliūnas, Nagys, Kėkštas ir Mačernis. The authors o f the anthology tend to new, associative forms o f poetical expression having a philosophical context. These authors matured and started their creative path in Lithuania, but debuted in post-war Europe w ith their first collections. Some o f them were especially demanding for literature critics (Nyka-Niliùnas, Nagys). The authors o f the anthology and other their contemporaries were named in exile as the generation o f Žem ininkai (land poets). The poetry o f Bradūnas focuses on a consequent dominant o f the land mo­ tif, a synthesis o f pagan and Christian traditions, and a reflection o f the histori­ cal fate o f the nation. A public-social cross-section o f the life at the time based on composite contrasts prevails in the poetry o f Kėkštas. Nagys’ lyrics, which were highly influenced by the Germ an expressionism tradition, are fu ll o f dramatic tension, which is frequently revealed through the contrast o f the present and memories and through the m o tif o f death. The images o f bird and brother are frequent in the works o f this author. These images express the inner state o f a re­ bellious lyrical person who tries to find his place. The poetry o f Nyka-Niliūnas, which was under the influence o f the French literary context, focuses on the top­ ics o f loss and home, which are revealed through a multi-layered metaphor that unites confrontations and a philosophical deepness o f thought. The poets o f the

Žem ininkai generation are related by a common attempt to renew the poetic language o f Lithuanian lyrics, refuse declarations, and the excessive and banal usage o f the patriotic topic.

History o f Lithuanian c u ltu r e

225

The generation o f the Žem ininkai can be also associated w ith the follow­ ing contemporaries: Vincas Kazokas, Paulius Ju rkus, Jon as M ekas and V la­ das Šlaitas. The lyrics o f the aforementioned poets are distinguished for nar­ ration, m inim al un ity o f poetical expression, authenticity o f the usage o f the epic word in lyrics and poetics o f daily phenomena. The collections o f lyrics o f the writer o f prose and poet Albinas Branauskas are distinguished for his stylistics o f incomplete sentences, implications and an unexpected poetization o f landscape. Deepness o f religious experiences dominates in the poetry o f Leonardas Andriekus. Traditional motifs o f Lithuanian literature (archetype o f the Pensive Christ) are originally transformed in his works. A deep emotional meditation and poetization o f the everyday life o f a woman are central in the lyrics o f Ju lija Švabaitė-Gylienė. Meanwhile, the con­ tradictions o f the inner life o f a woman, demonstration o f inner freedom and erotic motifs are frequent in the lyrics o f Birutė Pūkelevičiūtė. Leonas Švedas chose a completely new experimental style. H is poetic meta­ phor is rough, sometimes vulgar, is full o f irony, contradictions and contrasts. A similar stylistics is also noticed in the prose o f this author. Leonas Lėtas (Vytau­ tas Adamkevičius) also experimented with the form o f poetic text and looked for unused possibilities o f lyrics and prose text semantics. Literature o f the 1950s welcomed a generation o f writers who matured in exile. The writers o f this generation expressed loss o f home, childhood, belief and language much deeper in their lyrics. This generation was named as the genera­ tion o f those who used language free from ornaments, or the generation o f the landless (Bežemiai). Algim antas M ackus and Liūne Sutema (Zinaida NagytėKatiliškienė) are the greatest poets o f this generation. The creation o f Mackus, who was a representative o f the generation o f Bežem iai, focuses on the motifs o f death, mindlessness and loss. Folkloric stylization o f the folk song is united with Christian symbolism in his works. M eanwhile, the lyrics o f Liūne Sutema are distinguished for variability from extended narrative to m inim al expression and small metaphors. The relation o f word and reality is important for this author. Folk citation and the archetype o f a fairy-tale that gives dramatic tension are also frequent in her lyrics.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

226

Poet Julija Švabaitė. Archive o f V M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

Birutė Pūkelevičiūtė at Vytautas Magnus University in 1000. Archive o f V M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

227

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

228

The thriftiness o f the word is noticed in the poetry o f Vitalija Bogutaitė, who belongs to the same generation o f Bežem iai. The lyrics o f this author are also distinguished for a multi-meaningfulness o f metaphors and unexpected folkloric stylization. Meanwhile, the urban motif and obvious suggestion o f the poetic word are used in the poetry o f Eglė Juodvalkė and Živilė Bilaišytė. The special thriftiness o f the word and pictorial visual expression o f an image are vivid in the poetry o f Aldona Veščiūnaitė, who debuted in Australia. The list o f poets who matured and created in exile was supplemented with the creation o f Tomas Venclova, a poet who emigrated from Lithuania. His po­ etry is full o f intertextuality, playfulness and experiments with form.

Prose Lithuanian émigré prose is varied in the aspects o f both theme and form. The topics o f the lost Lithuanian village, Soviet occupation and war prevail in the prose o f the older generation authors. Vincas Krėvė, Ignas Šeinius, Antanas Vaičiulaitis, Petronėlė Orintaitė, Vytautas Alantas, Liudas Dovydėnas contin­ ue their creation tradition, which had formed in independent Lithuania. The number o f prose works written by Vincas Ramonas in exile is not great. How­ ever, he subtly unites realistic and impressionistic visual measures in both short stories and novels and thus creates a unique style. The novels and short stories written by Jurgis Jankus in exile show that he is a perfect creator o f intrigue and attractive action. He unites traditional story telling with detective and psychological elements. Meanwhile, Lithuanian topics remain in the novels o f Pulgis Andriušis written in exile. The fictionist chooses lyrical or feuilleton, humorous style and picturesquely depicts the panorama of an interwar Lithuanian village. A representative o f the older generation Kazimieras Barėnas, who also debuted in exile, is distinguished for his unique style in the context o f émigré prose. The unexpected point o f his novels and accurate details provide sugges­ tion and colours to the everyday world. Barėnas in his trilogy o f novels gradually creates the characters o f his personages amid a background o f the most signifi­

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

229

cant breaks and events o f the nation. The topics are varied: the reality o f being in exile, the period o f Lithuanian independence, etc. The topic o f Lithuanian history was especially popular in émigré prose dur­ ing all period. The historical novels o f Vytautas Alantas take us to the pagan times, while Juozas Kralikauskas creates a novel about Motiejus Valančius and M artynas M ažvydas and writes a cycle o f novels dedicated to the ruling o f the king Mindaugas. The novels o f Jurgis Gliaudą take us to the times o f later his­ tory (interwar, occupation, genocide). Historical novels were created in exile by many Lithuanian prose writers. They were even created by those writers who had not focused on this genre earlier (Petronėlė O rintaitė published a historical novel E relių kuorais in 1976). The short stories and novels o f M arius Katiliškis and Antanas Škėma re­ newed and modernized the Lithuanian fiction tradition. The origins o f realis­ tic and lyrical impressionistic depiction, which fill each other and make them brighter, are united in the best short stories o f Katiliškis. B y using traditional plots o f Lithuanian prose, Katiliškis transforms, modernizes them and gives a completely unexpected meaning by leaving riddles and implications for crit­ ics. Thematically, the prose o f Katiliškis could be divided into the Lithuanian, which is fu ll o f lyrical origins, and the exile, which pays special attention to the parody and irony o f characters and the depicted environment. Škėm as prose, which faced the huge influence o f existentialism and sur­ realism, reveals the tragic, sometimes absurd fate o f the mid-zoth-century per­ son. That fate is highly influenced by external circumstances and depends on a person’s decisions and actions. The inner monologue, plot fragmentation and cinematographic techniques for image connection are vivid in the only novel

Balta drobulė (The W hite Shroud) by Škėma and his short stories. These char­ acteristics and a constant junction o f two (real and illusion) are also prevalent in the dramaturgy o f Škėma. The prose o f authors, who matured in exile, is distinguished for a huge variety o f styles and topics. The topics o f retreat from Lithuania and life topics o f the Lithua­ nian diaspora are revealed in the novels and short stories by Birutė Pūkelevičiūtė. This author depicts in parallel the layers o f the present and the past by using bibli­ cal symbolism in her novels Astuoni lapai (Eight Leaves) and Devintas lapas (The

Hiscory o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

230

Ninth Leaf). Meanwhile, the prose o f Eduardas Cinzas reveals a harmony o f epic concreteness and deep psychological insights. The plot o f the novels Raudonojo arklio vasara (The Summer o f the Red Horse) and Mona written by this author, who lived and matured in Europe, is based on a new topic o f Lithuanian literature, is motivated and full o f allusions to mythology. The prose o f Baronas is full o f bib­ lical symbolism and autobiographic motifs. The prose o f Algirdas Landsbergis is distinguished in the context o f emigre prose for new themes and form. Two layers (i.e. real and spiritual) supplement each other in the novel Kelione (Journey) o f modern stylistics. The main charac­ ter o f this novel undergoes an Odyssey-ian retreat from Lithuania, yet a spiritual journey (inner metamorphoses) takes place at the same time. The short stories o f Landsbergis are distinguished for their experimentalism: the author constantly shifts from one layer to another, characters live in steady change and the author changes the points o f attitude and writing techniques. A unique style o f writing is typical to Icchokas Meras, who emigrated from Lithuania during the Soviet times. The author modernized the structure o f nov­ els, refused a consequential plot and related plot fragments with associative sym­ bolic relations in his novels written in exile. He also spoke about the Holocaust, a painful topic in Lithuanian literature.

Dramaturgy A n especially huge number o f dramas were written, released and staged on the Lithuanian amateur theatre stage during the first two decades o f living abroad. Dramas were written by the following older generation authors: An­ tanas Rūkas, Jonas Grinius, Stasys Laucius, Vytautas Alantas, Antanas Gus­ taitis; later Anatolijus Kairys, who continued the traditions o f realistic domestic drama. Later the principles o f modern drama were entrenched by Škėma and Landsbergis, while the principles o f post-modern drama were developed by Ko­ stas Ostrauskas. The modern dramaturgy o f Škėma implicates a steady collision o f several layers (real and metaphysical). H is dramas are full o f allusions to leg-

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Eduardas Cinzas. Archive o fV M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

231

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

232

Algirdas Landsbergis in Kaunas in 1992. Archivc o fV M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

233

ends, and stories from the Holy Bible which are surrealistically transformed. A doubtful, rebellious and searching person, Škėmas spiritual searches and colli­ sions are expressed in hiss dramaturgy through several structures. The modern drama o f Landsbergis is based on several methods o f composi­ tion that interchange with each other and coincide in one work. His drama is also full o f unexpected allusions to the history o f civilisation. The author also reveals the topics o f resistance and totalitarianism (.Penki stulpai turgaus aikštėje [Five Poles at the Market Place]), demonstrating the conventionality o f histori­ cal topics and performs an ironic cross-section o f being in exile. Kostas Ostrauskas is the representative o f post-modern drama, which in­ cludes elements o f avant-garde and absurd drama. His dramaturgy is distin­ guished for intertextuality, transformation o f plots o f famous works, playfulness and conventionality. The situation o f émigré literature has started to change in the last dec­ ades. The horizon o f literature welcomes new writers, who were born, raised and matured abroad and wrote in both Lithuanian and English or only in Eng­ lish. Multicultural perspectives were expressed in various forms. Prose writer and playwright Algirdas Landsbergis, who belonged to the middle generation, wrote in both Lithuanian and English. Poets Eglė Juodvalkė, Lidija Šimkutė, Marija Stankus-Saulaitė, Valdemaras Aleksa wrote poetry in these two languag­ es as well. The remainder wrote only in English. Two tendencies can be seen in their works. The works o f some authors are far from the Lithuanian identity and Lithuanian themes (Algis Budrys, Dalia Janavičius). Meanwhile, other writers, who wrote in English, did not refuse Lithuanian topics. Memoirs, autobiogra­ phy, reception o f historical details o f the nation or family are especially bright in their works. These aspects are revealed in the poetry o f the following prose writers o f Lithuanian origin, who lived in Canada: Irena Mačiulytė-Guilford, Antanas Šileika and Raymond Phillip (Filipavičius). The majority o f works o f Lithuanians who wrote in English reflect recent history, recent past o f parents and grandparents and actualize Lithuanian realities. Mačiulytė-Guilford focuses on two aspects in her memoir narrative Prisi­ lietimas (The Embrace). The character o f the book tries to identify her national

234

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

Kostas Ostrauskas. Alfonsas Nyka-Niliūnas, Vytautas Kavolis in 1989. Archive o fV M U Lithuanian Emigration Institute

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

235

identity, her being between two different cultures and her failure to adapt to any o f them. The book is based on the contrast principle: two realities intersect here (reality o f Soviet Lithuania and an image o f books, memories and stories o f the illusory Lithuania). The narrative is ended with a perception that the union o f two identities, two cultures and the union o f different experiences are impossi­ ble. The concept o f home dematerializes in the consciousness o f the narrator and turns to a place o f her imagination. The poetry written by Phillip (Filipavičius) in English includes especially strong autobiographical and historical aspects. The motives o f Lithuanian, Ca­ nadian and Asian cultures intertwine in his texts. The issue o f national identity is especially significant in the poetry o f this author. He searches for his own national identity and identifies himself with a global identity in exile, the multi­ cultural environment and its representatives. The early prose o f Antanas Šileika takes readers to the first years o f living in Canada. Everyday issues o f the settlement o f his parents in a foreign and un­ known environment, controversial relations with foreigners are depicted from the teenager’s position. The novel Bronzinė moteris (Bronze Woman) reveals the picture o f an interwar artist, whose life splits into two periods: the environ­ ment o f the Lithuanian village and experiences in Paris. Both traditions form his creative individualism. A dramatic image o f an artist is created in the novel. The novel also reveals a difficult process o f adaptation and artistic searching in Lithuania, Poland and Paris. The novel Pogrindis (The Underground) by Šileika speaks about a painful period (post-war and resistance) in Lithuanian history that used to cause frequent discussions and disputes. This topic was heroised and romanticised in the texts o f post-war emigrants. A modern drama Penki stul­ p a i turgaus aikštėje written by Algirdas Landsbergis in the sixth decade revealed more problematically and dramatically the issues o f resistance, totalitarianism and the crisis o f humanity typical to post-war Europe. The novel Pogrindis by Šileika focuses on a broader time period and mythi­ cal Lithuania gains specific contours o f certain areas. A human being and his­ tory are perceived through the complicated war prism not only in Lithuania, but also in Europe and the world. The author speaks from a broader narrator’s

236

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

perspective, which gives a broader concept o f both the space and time, future dimension for each particular episode. After the opening o f the Iron Curtain (after 1990), a majority o f Lithua­ nians emigrated, or lived abroad for a longer o f shorter period o f time. These experiences are vivid in Lithuanian prose as well. Many prose texts, which were written within the last ten years, reflect exile experiences. This is a varicoloured literature o f varied genres covering different topics. Yet this literature main­ tained the most relevant problems which were important for Lithuanians living abroad. These problems include the contraposition o f own and foreign, dream country, marriage with a foreigner, children left in Lithuania, etc. Running from the post-Soviet reality imprisons the characters in the novels by Valdas Papievis and Ina Pukelytė in the labyrinths o f the own-foreign space. Artūras Imbrasas and Dalia Staponkutė, who lived abroad for a longer period, look for the historical roots o f their nation, and family, and actualize the impor­ tance o f native language. The genres o f a daily newspaper, and literature for sightseeing trips gained special popularity within the last five years. Some texts o f this kind were writ­ ten by Lithuanian journalists and writers who are living or used to live abroad (Jonuškaitė, Užkalnis, Čepaitė). Besides the practical cognition aspect, the con­ clusions made o f the experiences o f living abroad also become also important in these texts. They are like practical guides for emigrants and for those who are planning to emigrate. Lithuanian prose written by the youngest writers abroad within the last decade destroys the model o f Lithuanian identity that had dominated so far. Their works depict the unattractive side o f emigration. The characters o f young authors are frequently wandering around the world and try to realize their crea­ tive and human ambitions. They consciously distance themselves from nostalgia for their homeland, reject and ignore it, crying on instead the world citizen or cosmopolitan identity (the novels o f Aneta Anra, Gabija Grušaitė, Alona Alek­ sandra Fomina).

History o f Lithuanian CULTURE

237

Press Lithuanians in exile published a great number o f periodicals while living in both Europe and other parts o f the world. The majority o f publications have not lost their topically even today. They are read and analyzed nowadays. Some o f them acted as a counterbalance to the ideological press published in Soviet times, which accepted only one truth and one opinion. The authors o f the anthology Žem ė alongside a group o f the like-mind­ ed started to publish a non-periodical literary magazine Literatūros lankai (1951-1959). Four editions o f this magazine were released. The co-authors o f the magazine announced their editorial, which was a kind o f manifesto. The edito­ rial word focused on the orientation towards the Western culture by trying to recover the gradation o f values in literature, usual values, giving preference to the aesthetic artistic value criterion, rather than to a moral, religious or national motif. Original and translated fiction was printed in the magazine. Special at­ tention was given to the assessments o f the processes o f émigré literature and re­ views o f books. Nyka-Niliūnas, Nagys, Bradūnas, Kaupas, Landsbergis, Škėma, Mackus, Ostrauskas, Greimas and Girnius were the co-authors o f this magazine. They tried to raise a critical attitude towards the processes o f émigré culture and literature in their articles and critically re-evaluated works by already acknowl­ edged authors. Both the writers who cooperated with the journal and other representa­ tives o f the same generation with similar attitudes were named as the generation o f Žem ininkai-Lankininkai. The ideas o f Literatūros lankai were further developed in the magazine Metmenys which was published from 1959. Metmenys was an academic maga­ zine intended for the discussion o f problems o f literature and culture. The maga­ zine was edited by Vytautas Kavolis until 1996. Later it was edited by Violeta Kelertienė and Rimvydas Šilbajoris (from 1997). After the death o f Šilbajoris until the very closure o f the magazine, it was edited by Kelertienė. The magazine was published for the last time several years ago.

History o f Lithuanian culture

238

A literary magazine Gabija (edited by Stepas Zobarskas) was published from 1951 until 1954. Five editions o f Gabija included works o f writers o f dif­ ferent generations. Critical articles and literary reviews were published in the magazine as well. A n annual publication Pradalgė, which was edited by writer Kazimieras Barėnas, was published in Great Britain from 1964 until 1980. During this period, ten editions were released. The annual publication included works by Lithuanians who lived in Western Europe, USA, Canada and Australia. Besides fiction, the annual publication also included memoirs and literary criticism. Great attention was paid to literature and public and cultural issues in the following periodicals: Atspindžiai (1951-195Z, edited by Vytautas Meškauskas), M argutis (1951-1964), Santarvė (1953-1958, edited by Fabijonas Neveravičius), and the monthly publication A kiračiai (published from 1968 until 2005 in Chi­ cago and later moved to Lithuania. It is not published currently).

History o f Lithuanian CULTURE

Further Reading

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

241

The Trajectories o f Lithuanian Art in the 20th Century Andriušytė-Žukienė, Rasa. Das Schaffen von M ikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlio­ nis: im Zusammentreffen zweier Kunstepochen. Vilnius: Litausches Institut, 2008. Andriušytė-Žukienė, Rasa. Highlights o f Lithuanian Textile A rt // Lituanus / The Lithuanian Quarterly Jo u rn a l o f Arts and Sciences. Chicago. ISSN 0024-5089. Vol. 57:1, 2011. Andriušytė-Žukienė, Rasa. Individually and Collectively in the Creation: the Symbolist Ideals o f M . K . Čiurlionis, S. Kymantaitė, S. Wyspianski // Wyspianski Stanislaw. M ikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis: the Neighbou­ ring o f Cultures, the Borderlines o f Arts. Krakow: Akademia Ignatianum, Vol. 5., 2012, p. 265-276. Andriušytė-Žukienė, Rasa. Litauische Künstler nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg in Freiburg // M enininkų kūrybos centrai ir jų bendruomenės Vidurio ir Rytų Europoje (Künstlergemeinschaften und Ihre Ländlichen Schaffenszentren in Mittel- und Osteuropa) / sudaryt. Lina Motuzienė, Živilė Etevičiūtė. Klaipėda: Klaipėdos universiteto leidykla, 2011, p. 145-151. Andriušytė-Žukienė, Rasa. Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis - ein symbolis­ tisches Naturerlebnis in Litauen // Baltische Seminare, B . 18: Jugendstil im Balticum , hrsg. von Alexander Knorre. Lüneburg: Verlag Carl-SchirrenGesellschaft, 2012, S. 79-93. Jankevičiūtė, Giedrė. From Paris to Kaunas: Neo-Traditionalism in Lithuanian A rt o f the 1930s, Reinterpreting the Past // Traditionalist Artistic Trends in Central and Eastern Europe o f the 1920s and 1930s, ed. by Irena Kossowska. Warszawa, 2010, p. 105-120.

242

Hiscory o f Lithuanian culture

Jankevičiūtė, Giedrė. Representing the Lithuanianness: the Artistic Legacy of Viktoras Petravičius (1906-1989) // Centropa / A Jo u rn a l o f Central Euro­ pean Architecture and Related Arts. New York, 1 . 11, nr. 3,2011, p. 180-194. Ladjevardi H. (ed.). Baltic A rt: Contemporary Paintings and Sculptures. U. S. Baltic Foundation, 2000. Laučkaitė, Laima. A rt in Vilnius. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 2008. Laučkaitė, Laima. A rt Nouveau in Vilnius // Baltische Seminare, Band 18: Ju ­ gendstil im Baltikum , hrsg. von Alexander Knorre. Lüneburg: Verlag CarlSchirren-Gesellschaft e. V , 2012, S. 223-248. Laučkaitė, Laima. Kairiūkštis Vytautas, Grove A rt Online. New York: Oxford University Press, Article Launched Date 2 Oct 2012. U R L : http://www. oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T22286i3?q=kairiukstis &search=quick&pos=i&_start=i#firsthit Laučkaitė, Laima. The Little Journals in Lithuania: from Tygodnik Wilenski to Vairas // Centropa /A Journal o f Central European Architecture and Related Arts. New York, 2010 September, Vol. 10, nr. 3, p. 321-230. Trichet, Jean-Claude, Jablonskienė, Lolita. Contemporary A rt from Lithuania. European Central Bank, 2010.

History o f Lithuanian culture

243

Development of National Theatre Selected Bibliography in English Lithuanian Theater, ed. by Gintautas Aleknonis. Vilnius: Kultūros, filosofijos ir meno institutas, 2.009. Lithuanian theatre yearbook. Teatro ir kino informacijos ir edukacijos centras (audiovisual Matterial. U R L : http://www.lteatras.lt/en/ Apinyte Popenhagen Ludvika. Nekrošius and Lithuanian Theatre, N.Y. etc.: Pe­ ter Lang, 1999. The Theatre o f Oskaras Koršunovas. Interviews and articles, ed. by Rasa Vasinauskaitė. Šabasevičius, Helmutas. Concise History o f Lithuanian Ballet. Vilnius: Krantai, 1009.

Selected Bibliography Bakutytė, Vida. Vilniaus miesto teatras: egzistencinių pokyčių keliu, 1785-191$. Vilnius: Kultūros tyrimų institutas, 10 11. Martišiūtė, Aušra. Pirm asis lietuvių dramaturgijos šimtmetis. Vilnius: Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, 2006. Opera Lietuvos didžiųjų kunigaikščių rūmuose, ed. Jūratė Trilupaitienė. Vilnius: Nacionalinis muziejus Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės valdovų rū­ mai, 2010. StaniŠkytė, Jurgita. Kaitos ženklai: šiuolaikinis Lietuvos teatras tarp modernizmo ir postmodernizmo. Vilnius: Scena, 2008. Vasinauskaitė, Rasa. Laikinum o teatras. Lietuvių režisūros pokyčiai 1990-2001 metais. Vilnius: L K T I, 2010.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

244

Lithuanian Theatre in Exile Recommended L iteratu re Vaškelis, Bronius. Lithuanian Displaced Persons Theatre: 1945-1949, Germany // Beginnings and Ends o f Emigration: L ife without Borders in the Conpemporary World. A collection o f scholarly essays, edited by Dalia Kuizinienė. Translation Editor Milda Danytė. Vilnius: Versus aureus, 2005, p. 263-267. Antras kaimas: veidai ir tekstai (The second Village: the Faces and the Text), edi­ ted by Algirdas Titus Antanaitis. Chicago: Amerikos lietuvių bibliotekos leidykla, 1989. Vaškelis, Bronius. Lietuviškoji scena Jungtinėse Amerikos Valstijose // Žvilgsnis iŠ atokiau, t. 2,1989-1990, edited by Dalia Kuizinienė. Vilnius: Versus au­ reus, 2005. Vaškelis, Bronius. Žvilgsnis iš atokiau, t. 3, edited by Dalia Kuizinienė. Vilnius: Versus aureus, 2012.

History of Lithuanian culture

245

Lithuanian Literature and National Identity Lithuanian Emigré Literature and Press Bibliography o f T ranslations o f L ith u an ian L iteratu re into English an d Further Secondary Reading

Anthologies by Various Authors A Fine Lin e: New Poetry from Eastern & Central Europe. Translated by R. Kalninš, M . O. Beitiks, I. Lešinska. Eastbourne: Arc Publications, 1004. Beads o f am ber (Gintaro vėrinys), Lithuanian poetry, selected and translated by Lionginas Pažūsis; English text o f poems edited by Peter Tempest. Vilnius: Vaga, 1979. Bridges o f Tales, translated by Fiala Abdullayeva et al. Vilnius: Lithuanian Na­ tional Commission for U N E SC O , 2007. Come into my time: Lithuania in prosefiction, ięyo -ięęo , anthology o f Lithu­ anian prose, edited by Violeta Kelertas, translated by Rita Dapkus and Vio­ leta Kelertas. Urbana; Chicago: Univ. o f Illinois Press, 1992. Contemporary Lithuanian Poets (A Poetry Review Supplement). Translated by Ellen Hinsey e t a i London: The Poetry Society, 2008. Five Lithuanian Women Poets. Translated and compiled by Jonas Zdanys. Vil­ nius: Vaga, 2002. Four Poets o f Lithuania: Vytautas P. Bložė, Sigitas Geda, N ijolė Miliauskaitė, Kornelijus Platelis. Translated and compiled by Jonas Zdanys. Vilnius: Vaga, 1995. Fire and Night: five Baltic Plays, edited by Alfreds Straumanis. Waveland Press, Inc., 1986. Gyvas atodūsis (Breathing Free): Poems from the Lithuanian, selected and trans­ lated by Vyt Bakaitis. Vilnius: Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishers, 2001. Lietuvių poezijos balsai (Voices o f Lithuanian Poetry): selected Lithuanian po­ ets’ poems in Lithuanian and English, edited and translated by Lionginas Pažūsis. Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2001.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

246

Lithuania in H er Own Words: A n Anthology in Contemporary Lithuanian Writ­ ing, edited by Laima Sruoginis. Vilnius: Tyto alba, 1997. Lithuanian Quartet, edited by Stepas Zobarkas. New York: Manyland Books, 1962. Lithuanian Short Stories, edited and translated by Tadas Klimas. Transnational Academic Press, 2009. Lithuanian Writers in the West: an Anthology, edited by Alina Skrupskelis. Chicago: Lithuanian Library Press and Loyola University Press, 1979. New European Poets. Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 2008. No men, no cry. Contemporary Lithuanian Womens Prose, edited by Žydrūnė Kolevinskienė. Vilnius: International Culture Programme Centre, 2011. R aw Am ber: an anthology o f contemporary Lithuanian poetry, edited by Wolf­ gang Gortschacher & Laima Sruoginis, translations by Laima Sruoginis. Salzburg: Poetry Salzburg at the University o f Salzburg, 2002. Selected Lithuanian Short Stories, edited by Stepas Zobarkas. New York: Many­ land Books, 1963. Selected Post-War Lithuanian Poetry, translated and compiled by Jonas Zdanys. New York: Manyland Books, 1979. Sex, Lithuanian Style, edited Karolis Klimka, translated by Jūra Avižienis etai. Vilnius: International Culture Programme Centre, 2011. Six Young Lithuanian Poets, selected and translated by Kerry Shawn Keys. Vil­ nius: Vaga, 2002. Six Lithuanian Poets, translated by Eugenijus Ališanka et ai. Todmorden: Arc Publications, 2008. Social Change. Contemporary Lithuania Literature, intoduction by Gabriele Gailiūtė and Neringa Klišienė, translated by Vytautas Bakaitis et ai. Vil­ nius: International Culture Programme Centre, 2012. The Am ber Lyre: 18 ch-2 o th Century Lithuanian Poetry. Moscow: Raduga Pub­ lishers, 1983. The Baltic Quintet: poems from Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Swe­ den. Translated by Edita Page. Hamilton: Wolsak and W ynn, 2008. The Earth Remains, translated by Laima Vincė Sruoginis. Vilnius: Tyto alba, 2002.

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

247

The Dedalus Book o f Lithuanian Literature, edited by Almantas Samalavičius, translated by Jūra Avižienis etai. Sawtry: Dedalus Limited, 1013. The Green Linden: Selected Lithuanian Poetry, edited by Algirdas Landsbergis and Clark Mills. New York: Voyage Press, 1962. The Green Oak: Selected Lithuanian Folksongs, edited by Algirdas Landsbergis and Clark Mills. New York: Voyage Press, 1964. Under the Northern Sky IV : Almanac o f the European Literary Days in Šiauliai. Šiauliai: Saules delta, 2008.

Books by In d ivid u a l A th ors Poetry Ališanka, Eugenijus. City o f Ash. Evanston (Illinois): Nothwestern University Press, 2000. Andriekus, Leonardas. Eternal Dream. Translated and compiled by Jonas Zda­ nys. New York: Franciscan Fathers Press and Manyland Books, 1980. Baranauskas, Antanas. The Forest o f Anykščiai (Anykščių šilelis), the original Lithuanian text with the English verse-translation by Nadas Rastenis; in­ troduction and editing by Juozas Tininis. Los Angeles: Lithuanian Days Publishers, 1970. Baranauskas, Antanas. Theforest o f Anykščiai (Anykščių šilelis), translated from the Lithuanian by Peter Tempest. Vilnius: Vaga, 1981. Bložė, Vytautas P. Emptiness: a poem in sections. Translated by Jonas Zdanys. Klaipeda: Vario burnos, 2005. Bložė, Vytautas P. Smoke From Nothing. Translated and compiled by Jonas Zda­ nys. Philadelphia: The Pine Press, 1998. Donelaitis, Kristijonas. The Seasons, translated by Nadas Rastenis. Los Angeles: Lithuanian Days Publishers, 1967. Geda, Sigitas. Songs o f Autum n. Translated by Jonas Zdanys. Pittsburgh: The Slow Loris Press, 1979. Geda, Sigitas. Žiemos biopsija (Biopsy o f winter): poems, translated from Lithu­ anian by Kerry Shawn Keys with Judita Glauberson and Edgaras Pla­ telis. Vilnius: Vaga, 2002.

History of Lithuanian c u ltu r e

248

Jakimavičius, Liudvikas. M edinė (Wooden): poems, translated by Alm a Vale­ vičienė, Craig Czury et al. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla, 2001. Jonynas, Antanas A . Inclusions in Tim e: Selected Poems, translated and edited by Jonas Zdanys. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla, 2002. Jonynas, Antanas A . The H ill, translated by Yuval Lirov. Marlboro, New Yersey: Affinity Billing, Inc., 2007. Katkus, Laurynas. Bootleg Copy. Chicago: Virtual artist collective, 2011. Martinaitis, Marcelijus. K. B .: the suspect, translated by Laima Vincė. Buffalo, N.Y.: W hite Pine Press, 2009. Martinaitis, Marcelijus. The Ballads o f Kukutis, translated and introduced by Laima Vincė. Todmorden: Arc Publications, 2011. Mekas, Jonas. Lithuanian Post-samizdat - Set o f Poetry Chapbooks 'F rankfurt Chapbooks’. Translated by Laima Sruoginis. Klaipėda: Klaipėda House of Artists, 2002. Mekas, Jonas. Idylls o f Semeniskiai, the authorized translation from the Lithu­ anian by Adolfas Mekas. Annandale, N.Y.: Hallelujah Editions, 2007. Miliauskaitė, Nijolė. S ilk : Poems, translated and compiled by Jonas Zdanys. Vil­ nius: Vario burnos, 2002. Nyka-Niliūnas, Alfonsas. The Theology o f Rain: Selected Poems, translated and compiled by Jonas Zdanys. Vilnius: Vaga ir PEN , 1999. Parulskis, Sigitas. Selenes Hole, translated by Aušra Simanavičiūtė. Paris: Union des Theares de 1‘Europe, 2005. Parulskis, Sigitas. The Towers Turn Red, translated by Liz O ’Donoghue. Cork: Southword Editions, 2005. Parulskis, Sigitas: poems, translated by Laima Sruoginis. Klaipėda: Klaipėda House o f Artists, 2002. Platelis, Kornelijus. @ and Other Poems, translated by Jonas Zdanys and Kerry Shawn Keys. Vilnius: Vario burnos, 2002. Platelis, Kornelijus. Snarefo r the wind: selected poems, translated from the Lith­ uanian by Jonas Zdanys. Vilnius: Vaga, 1999. Platelis, Kornelijus. Zones, translated by Jonas Zdanys and Kerry Shawn Keys. Chicago, 111.: Virtual Artists Collective, 2004.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

249

Radauskas, Henrikas. Chimeras in the Tower: Selected Poems o f Henrikas Ra­ dauskas, translated and compiled by Jonas Zdanys. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1986. Šimkutė, Lidija. Tylos erdvės (Spaces o f Silence): poems, translated by Lidija Šimkutė. Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytojų sąjungos leidykla, 1999. Vaičiūnaitė, Judita. Selected poems o f Judita Vaičiūnaite in Lithuanian and E n ­ glish: fire pu t out byfire , translated by Stuart Friebert and Victoira Skrupskclis. Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1996. Venclova, Tomas. TheJunction: selected poems, edited by Ellen Hinsey, trans­ lated by Ellen Hinsey, Constantine Rusanov & Diana Senechal. Tarset: Bloodaxe Books, 2008. Venclova, Tomas. W inter dialogue: poems, translated by Diana Senechal, fore­ word by Joseph Brodsky, dialogue between Czeslaw Milosz and Tomas Venclova. Evanston (111.): Northwestern University Press, 1997. Venclova, Tomas. W inter dialogue: poems, translated by Diana Senechal, fore­ word by Joseph Brodsky, dialogue between Czeslaw Milosz and Tomas Venclova. Evanston (111.): Northwestern University Press, 1999. Venclova, Tomas. Poems, translated by Laima Sruoginis. Klaipėda: Klaipėda House o f Artists, Vario burnos, 2002. Venclova, Tomas. Poems. Selections. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 1999. Zelčiūtė, Dovilė and Algimantas Aleksandravičius. Stotys (Stations): poetry, photography. Kaunas: Jotema, 2006.

Prose: Novels, Shortfiction, M emoirs, Plays, Essays Askinytc, Rasa. The Easiest: a novel. Vilnius: Vaga, 2013. Gavelis, Ricardas. Vilnius Poker: a novel, translated from the Lithuanian by Elizabeth Novickas. Rochester: Open Letter, 2009, 2013. Gliauda, Jurgis. Agony, translated by Jonas Zdanys. N ew York: Manyland, 1977Grinkeviciute, Dalia. A Stolen Youth, a Stolen Homeland, translated by Izolda Geniusiene. Vilnius: Lithuanian Writers’ Union Publishing, 2002.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

250

Grinkevičiūtč, Dalia. Lietuviai p rie Laptevų jūros (Lithuanians by the Laptev Sea), translated by Romas Kinka. Oxford: Elena Gaputytė Trust, 2001. Krėvė, Vincas. The Herdsman and the Linden Tree, translated from the Lithu­ anian by Albinas Baranauskas, Pranas Pranokus and Raphael Sealey, intro­ duction by Charles AngofF. New York: Manyland Books, 1964. Kunčius, Herkus. Belovezh. Best European Fiction 2014, tranlated by Jade Will, Champain/London/Dublin: Dalkey Archive Press, 2014. Ivanauskaitė, Jurga. 108 Moons: The Selected Poems, translated by Paul Perry and Rūta Suchodolskytė. Dublin: The Workshop Press, 2010. Juknaitė, Vanda. M y Voice Betrays M e, translated and edited by Laima Sruoginis. Boulder, Colo.: East European Monographs, New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. Landsbergis, Algirdas. Children in the Am ber Palace. Daphne, Alabama: Legerctc Press, 1986. Landsbergis, Algirdas. Five Posts in A M arket Place: play, introduction by Ro­ bert Payne. New York: Manyland Books, 1968. Landsbergis, Algirdas. The last picnic: drama, introduction by Michael Novak. New York: Manyland Books, 1978. Lukša, Juozas. Forest Brothers. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2009. Mačiulytė-Guilford, Irena. The embrace: a novel. Toronto, 1999. Mekas, Jonas. I had nowhere togo: diary. New York: Black Thistle Press, 1991. Meras, Icchokas. Stalemate, translated by Jonas Zdanys. New York: Other Press, 2005. Meras, Icchokas. Stalemate, translated by Jonas Zdanys. New York: Lyle Stuart; Toronto: General Publishing Co.; Tel Aviv: Michaelmark Books, 1980. Radvilavičiūtė, Giedra. Those whom I like to meet again, translated from Lithu­ anian by Elizabeth Novickas. Dalkey Archive Press: 2013. Skomantas. Blood Wedding. Talesfrom the Baltic, translated by Mara Almenas. Kaunas: Tvermė, 1998. Skomantas. The Blue Raven, translated by Mara Almenas. Vilnius: Tvermė, 1999. Skomantas. The Captive, translated by Mara Almenas. Kaunas: Tvermė, 1997. Skomantas. The Fen Wolf, translated by Mara Almenas. Kaunas: Tvermė, 1997.

History of Lithuanian c u l t u r e

251

Skomantas. The Flam ing Tower; translated by Mara Almenas. Kaunas: Tvermė, 2 0 0 2 ..

Sruoga, Balys. Forest o f the Gods, translated by Aušrinė Byla. Vilnius: Vaga, 1996. Sruoga, Balys. Forest o f the Gods, translated by Aušrinė Byla. Vilnius: Versus au­ reus, 2005. Šeinius, Ignas. Rejuvenation o f Siegfried Immerselbe: a novel, translated from Li­ thuanian by Albinas Baranauskas. New York: Manyland Books, 1965. Šepetys, Rūta. Between the Shades o f Gray. Penguin, 2011. Šepetys, Rūta. Out o f The Easy. Penguin, 2013. Šileika, Antanas. Buying on Time. Ontario: The Porcupines Quill, 2004. Šileika, Antanas. Woman in Bronze: a novel. Toronto: Random House, 2007. Šileika, Antanas. Underground: a novel. Toronto: Thomas Allen, 2011. Venclova, Tomas. Forms o f Fiope: essays. New York: The Sheep Meadow Press, 1999. Venclova, Tomas. Vilnius: a personal history, translated by Margot Bettauer Dembo. W ith A dialogue about a city / by Czeslaw Milosz and Tomas Venclova, translated by M . Ostafin. Riverdale-on-Hudson, N.Y.: The Sheep Meadow Press, 2009. Žilinskaitė, Vytautė. The Robot and the Moth, translated by Rei Byvas. Moscow: Raduga, 1991.

Periodicals, publish ing both tran slation s o f the literary works an d articles Lituanus: The Lithuanian Quarterly: a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal that covers Lithuania and the Baltic region; publishes research articles in English as well as literature and art. 1956-. The Vilnius Review: new writing from Lithuania: magazine o f the Lithuanian Writers’ Union / editor-in-chief Eugenijus Ališanka. Vilnius: Lithuanian Writers’ Union, 2 0 0 3 -. Vilnius: Lithuanian Literature, Culture, History: magazine o f the Lithuanian Writers’ Union, editor Antanas Danielius. Vilnius: Lithuanian Writers’ Union, 1994-2002.

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

252

W eb-based Resources The site http://www.booksfromlithuania.lt/en provides information about Li­ thuanian books and authors; publishes information on Lithuanian books and authors; compiles and regularly updates a bibliography o f Lithuanian literature in translation; ebooksfromlithuania.lt: “a catalogue o f Lithuanian electronic books or books re­ lated to Lithuania. It contains information about the Lithuanian books or books by the Lithuanian-born authors o f different genres (fiction, historical, humanitarian books or books o f art) printed in different languages in vari­ ous electronic formats and anywhere in the world, which you will be able: to leaf; to read online; to download from the ebooksfromlithuania.lt server free o f charge; to buy from the ebooksfromlithuania.lt server; and which will provide reference to where you can acquire the book that you need from this catalogue.” cited from http://www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/

E-books Anthologies Social change. Contemporary Lithuania Literature. Authors: Alfonsas Andriuš­ kevičius, Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė, Ričardas Gavelis, Marius Ivaškevi­ čius, Vanda Juknaitė, Laurynas Katkus, Julius Keleras, Jurgis Kunčinas, Herkus Kunčius, Gabrielė Labanauskaitė, Jaroslavas Melnikas, Sigitas Parulskis, Rolandas Rastauskas, intoduetion by Gabrielė Gailiūtė and N e­ ringa Klišienė, translators Vytautas Bakaitis et ai. Vilnius: International Culture Programme Centre, 2 .0 1 Z . U R L : http://www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/e-books/fiction/anthology/social-change-contemporary-lithuanian-569/ Sex, Lithuanian Style. Authors: Neringa Abrutytė, Laura Sintija Černiauskai­ tė, Ričardas Gavelis, Dalia Jazukevičiūtė, Birutė Jonuškaitė, Vaida Marija Knabikaitė, Saulius Tomas Kondrotas, Herkus Kunčius, Jaroslavas Melni­ kas, Sigitas Parulskis, Rolandas Rastauskas, Tomas Staniulis, Agnė Žagrakalytė, editor Karolis Klim ka, translators Jūra Avižienis et ai. Vilnius: In­

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

253

ternational Culture Programme Centre, 2011. U R L : http://www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/e-books/fiction/anthology/sex-lithuanian-style-proseand-poetry-464/ N o men, no cry. Contemporary Lithuanian womens prose. Authors: Jūratė Bara­ nova, Ugnė Barauskaitė, Laura Sintija Černiauskaitė, Gabija Grušaitė, Ire­ ne Guilford, Jurga Ivanauskaitė, Birutė Jonuškaitė, Vanda Juknaitė, Aušra Matulevičiūtė, Daiva Merkelis, Aušra Nazaraitė, Mari Poisson, Sara Pois­ son, Paulina Pukytė, Giedra Radvilavičiūtė, Rūta Šepetys, Renata Šerelytė, Laima Vincė Sruoginis, Dalia Staponkutė, edited by Žydrūnė Kolevinskienė. Vilnius: International Culture Programme Centre, 2011. U R L : http:// www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/e-books/fiction/anthology/no-man-nocry-467/

L iterary Periodicals The Vilnius review [e-book]: new writing from Lithuania, editor-in-chiefEugenijus Ališanka. Vilnius: Kiti langai, 2003-. U R L: http://cia.libis.lt:8o8o/archyvas/ viesas/20iio830i55ii8/http://tcst.svs.lt/?Vilnius;Archive and http://www. ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/e-books/periodical/the-vilnius-review/ Lituanus: The Lithuanian Quarterly. 1936-. U R L : http://www.lituanus.org/ main .php?id —home Catalogues Gailiūtė, Gabrielė. Best Booksfrom Lithuania. The International cultural Pro­ gramme Centre, 2013. U R L : http://www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/ebooks/catalogues/best-books-from-lithuania-580/ Klišiūtė, Roma. Chidrens Booksfrom Lithuania. Bologna Childrens Book Fair 2013. The International cultural Programme Centre, 2013. U R L : http:// www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/e-books/catalogues/children-s-booksfrom-lithuania-bologna- 549/ Pankūnaitė, Birutė, ed. Curiosity and Surprises: The Best Ideas o f Lithuanian Creative and Cultural Industries. The International cultural Programme Centre, 2012. U R L : http://www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/e-books/catalogues/curiosity-and-surprises-the-best-ideas-of-514/

History o f Lithuanian c u l t u r e

254

Baliutyté, Elena, Roma KiSünaité and Rasius Makselis. Literary Lithuania: Touching stories about unknown Europe. The International Cultural Pro­ gramme Centre, i o n . U R L : http://www.ebooksfromlithuania.lt/en/ebooks/catalogues/literary-lithuania-483/

Some Resources on L ith u an ian literature an d N atio n al Identity Baranova, Jūratė. Postmodernism in Lithuanian literature //Athena 10 0 6 No. 3, p. 135-155. U R L : http://lkti.It/athena/pdf/3/135-155.pdf Donskis, Leonidas. Identity and Freedom: M apping Nationalism and Social Criticism in Twentieth Century Lithuania. London: Routlcdge, 10 0 1. History o f the Literary Cultures o f East-Central Europe, Volume I: Junctures and Disjunctures in the 19th and 10 th Centuries, ed. Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer. John Benjamins Publishing, 1004. History o f the Literary Cultures o f East-Central Europe, Vol. II: Junctures and Disjunctures in the 19th and 10 th Centuries, ed. Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer. John Benjamins Publishing, 1006. History o f the Literary Cultures o f East-Central Europe, Vol. I ll: The making and remaking o f literary institutions, ed. Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer. John Benjamins Publishing, 2007. History o f the Literary Cultures o f East-Central Europe, Vol. IV: Types and stereotypes, ed. Marcel Cornis-Pope, John Neubauer. John Benjamins Publishing, 2010. Kubilius, Vytautas, Samulionis, Algis, et al. Lithuanian Literature. Vilnius: Vaga, 1997. M ind Against the Wall. Essays on Lithuanian Culture under Soviet Occupation, edited by Rimvydas Šilbajoris. Chicago: Institute o f Lithuanian Studies Press, 1983. Šilbajoris, Rimvydas. A Short History o f Lithuanian Literature. Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 2002. Šilbajoris, Rimvydas. The Perfection o f E xile: 14 Contemporary Lithuanian Writ­ ers. Norman: Oklahoma University Press, 1970.

History of Lithuanian CULTURE

255

Transitions o f Lithuanian Postmodernism: Lithuanian literature in the post-So­ viet period, edited by Mindaugas Kvietkauskas. Amsterdam; New York: Rodopi, 20H. Venclova, Tomas. Lithuanian Literature: a survey. Chicago: Lithuanian Nation­ al Foundation, 1979. 300 Baltic writers: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania: a reference guide to authors and their works / Institute o f Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, Under and Tuglas Literature Centre o f the Estonian Academy o f Sciences, Institute o f Literature, Folklore and A rt [of] University o f Latvia, editorial board: Benedikts Kalnačs, Jūratė Sprindytė, Jaan Undusk, translated by Dia­ na Bartkutė-Barnard, Anna Reynolds, Triin Sepp. Vilnius: Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, 2009.

History o f Lithuanian Culture. Methodological study book / Edgaras Klivis, Dalia Kuizinicnc, Dalia Scnvaitytc, Vijolc Vi$omirskyte, Rasa Zukiene. Kaunas: Vytautas Magnus universi­ ty; Vilnius: Versus aureus, 2014. - 156 p.: illustr., fig., tabl., bibliogr. ISBN 978-609-467-031-1 (Online) ISBN 9 7 8 -9 9 5 5 ' 3 4 ' 4 8 5 '8 (Online) ISBN 978-609-467-032-9 (Print) ISBN 97 8-9955'34-486-s (Print) This methodological study book reveals the features of Lithuanian ethnic culture, analyzes the stages of development and the most significant tendencies of Lithuanian art, theatre and lit­ erature of the 20th century and actualizes the aspects of cultural change of Lithuanian identity. The publication is intended for students of the centres for Lithuanian and Baltic studies.

Edgaras Klivis, Dalia Kuizinicnc, Dalia Senvaitytė, Vijolė Višomirskytė, Rasa Zukicnc H is to ry o f L ith u a n ia n C u ltu re

Editor A lb in a Stru n ga Designer S a u liu s B ajo rin a s 1014 06 10. Print run 500 copies. Order No. K i4-038. Published by: Vytautas Magnus University K. Donelaičio g. 58, LT-44248, Kaunas www.vdu.lt Į [email protected] “Versus aureus" Publishers Rūdninkų g. 10, LT-01135, Vilnius www.versus.lt I [email protected] Printed by “BALTO print” Utenos g. 41a, LT-08117 Vilnius www.baltoprint.com | [email protected]