LIETUVA IR EUROPA: TAPATYBĖS REKONSTRAVIMO GALIMYBĖS
LITHUANIA AND EUROPE: POSSIBILITIES FOR RECONSTRUCTING IDENTITY

Summary/Abstract: This article analyzes transformations of the Lithuanian identity in the European context. In 1988–1992 the national models formulated in inter-war Lithuania were revived. Revelations of the hidden history and the remembrance of Lithuanians’ death in exile after the World War II strengthened the structures of the national identity and allowed nationalism to dominate the public life. After the “Sàjûdis” period when Lithuania regained its independence the phenomenon that we call the “erosion of the national identity” has begun. People have lost faith in national symbols, and the issues of the national identity have been discussed less and less. Sociological data demonstrate that the role of the national identity diminished during the ten years of independence. Analyzing the recent essay writing, however, we found new attempts to rethink the Lithuanian identity. Gintaras Beresnevièius’s essay writing appears significant because he reverses negative Lithuanian stereotypes and makes them a part of a possible identity. In his writing, Beresnevièius defines Europe as a space in which Lithuanianness can flourish. Europe with its cultural meanings poses a challenge that we need to accept. At the same time, Europe becomes “the Other” necessary in order to define a new Lithuanian identity. In our analysis, we also emphasize the logic of global capitalism that not only destroys local cultures but also creates differences. This allows for a new nationalism rethought by Lithuanian intellectuals to develop.

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