In the period of the 18th and 19th century, the interest in the ethno-cultural identity of various ethnic groups had begun to grow in Germany. For more than forty years a famous researcher of Baltic languages, ethnographer and archaeologist prof. Adalbert Bezzenberger focused his activities on the Curonian Spit by devoting his attention to the history and culture of the settlements and the endangered Kursenieku language. His work “Über die Sprache der preußischen Letten” (1888) became the first professional study of the Kursenieku language. Not only does the work contain a description of the Kursenieku language prepared in accordance with the tradition of comparative linguistics of that time, and is based on a large amount of factual materials accumulated by the investigator himself, but it also includes a number of texts and a glossary. Since the Kursenieku language did not have a written form, every documenter, including Bezzenberger, used one’s own system of spelling. This work is important for the reconstruction of the Kursenieku language of that time, as well as for the overall research of the history of the language in general. The article presents the assessment of Bezzenberger’s contribution to documenting the Kursenieku language in the general context of written sources of the Kursenieku language, it also aims at discerning the tendencies of language development reflected in sources of different chronological periods.
Before the mid-20th century, the Jews in Žemaitija were the most numerous and economically and culturally significant minority, with close contacts with the Žemaitijans. The paper focuses on the stereotypical characteristics of Jews as reflected in Žemaitijan dialect texts from an ethnolinguistic point of view. The analysis of these characteristics provides knowledge about the evaluated nation from the perspective of the evaluating nation. The research into stereotypical images of Jews rests on the view that they consist of a specific set of certain common characteristics and traits, and an analysis of linguistic expression provides more detailed information about them. The research has revealed that the ethnic stereotype of Jewish people in Žemaitijan dialect texts is quite positive.
The article is intended to introduce the topicality of one subdialect (namely, Northern Samogitians of Kretinga) referring to and defining its sociocultural identity, i.e. the usage of subdialect, and various factors, which have the most important role – sufficiently developed infrastructure, predominating ideology and the positive attitudes based on value system of users of the dialect.
The article deals with conceptual metaphors tied to the source domain SEA in Lithuanian political and economic discourse. The study is based on the dictionary compiled during the research project “Conceptual Metaphors in Public Discourse”, funded by the Research Council of Lithuania. The analysis refers to the traditional conceptual metaphor theory, theoretical problems relevant to metaphor analysis in discourse are considered. Features of the source domain SEA conceptualize the political and economic instability and insecurity. Although political and economic discourses are rather different, the analysis of metaphorical expressions related to the source domain SEA reveals that their linguistic, conceptual and communicative properties are basically compliant.
The article analyse Vydūnas reception in Lihuanian cultural memory, its features and problems of a topic after restoration of independence in Lithuania. Investigation reveals ambivalentic tendency of Vydūnas reception, which in caused by cultural “distance” of Vydūnas – his reflective and creative work relations with Indian and German cultures. Vydūnas in his creative work links Indian east with mythological identity of Lithuanian culture and religion, so that in reception this eastern cultural component in transformed as one’s own. German – protestantic part of Vydūnas identity, which is marked only as separate element or historical episode, come into public attention field very rarely. Article talks about couses, reasons and meaning under such circumstances and analyse its meaning for Lithuanian cultural memory formation.
The aim of this article is to analyze the demographic changes that have taken place in Kaunas since the mid. 20th century – the end of the 20th century. The main source of research is field research material, collected in Kaunas during 2018, using the author‘s ethnographic questionnaire. Empirical material was collected using classic field research methods: participatory observation, interview, in-depth, structured and semi-structured interviews. Also the analysis of statistical and historical data was performed. The article is based on oral history theory. The results of the research revealed the participants‘ attitudes and beliefs related to urban changes and demographic trends during the Soviet period in Kaunas.
The article discusses the beginning, assumptions and dispersion of the historical reenactment movement in the world. National peculiarities of the phenomenon are highlighted by presenting the preconditions for and circumstances of the historical reconstruction movement in Lithuania. Features of the phenomenon are analysed in the formation of the first historical reconstruction clubs and the first festivals. The basis for this work is fieldwork material collected during 2015–2018, in the form of surveys and interviews with respondents. The data was processed by applying historical comparative and analytical methods. According to the data, the beginning of the historical reenactment movement in Lithuania started in the 1980s. This was influenced by Lithuania’s restitution of its statehood in the 1990s after Soviet suppression, and the desire to properly present the long history of the state. The folklore movement that started around the 1970s was still in existence, and influenced the start of the historical reenactment movement. The media (especially the Internet) and relations with foreign clubs (in Latvia, Poland, Estonia, Belarus and Russia) increased the development and popularity of movement. The analysis of the data has indicated the following main historical reenactment periods: the Balts, the Middle Ages, the Napoleonic era, the First and the Second World War, and the resistance. In the reenactment of general themes (such as Medieval), the local, regional and national history and artefacts are employed. The period of the Balts and Baltic tribes (Yotvingians, Curonians), the period of the creation and prosperity of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the partisan resistance, are themes by which the historical reenactment movement stands out.
The article analyses proverbs that mention bread. The aim is to reveal how bread is treated in Lithuanian proverbs, and to provide an analysis of the image of bread. It analyses Lithuanian proverbs in which bread is treated as a meal, as well as symbolic meanings and the personification of bread. Stylistic analysis, interpretation and description methods are used in the preparation of the article. Material published in the compendium ‘Lithuanian Proverbs and Sayings’ was mostly used.
Straipsnyje tiriamas Simono Daukanto (1793–1864) istoriografinio teksto poveikis Vydūno (tikr. Vilhelmas Storostas, 1868–1953) dramoms. Vydūno publicistika rodo, kad nuo 1900 m. jo tekstuose pagausėja S. Daukanto paminėjimų, skelbiamos istoriko tekstų ištraukos. 1900 m. parašytoje dramoje „Probočių šešėliai“ aptinkama nemažai S. Daukanto intertekstų. Straipsnyje, remiantis S. Daukanto ir Vydūno tekstų lyginamąja analize, iškeliama hipotezė, kad dramų autorius buvo idealus istoriko tekstų skaitytojas ir iš jų perėmė koncepcijas, motyvus, vaizdinius. S. Daukantas Vydūną įkvėpė, ir šis sėkmingai vartojo daugelį istoriko sukurtų frazių, patekusių į lietuvių romantinės istoriografijos bendrųjų vietų sąrašą. Vydūnas pirmasis objektyvizavo S. Daukanto sukurtą pasaulį ir lietuviams leido scenoje pabūti senovės lietuvio vaidmenyje ir atsirinkti, kas, kuriant modernią lietuvių visuomenę, vis dar būtų aktualu. Analizė parodė, kad Vydūnas S. Daukanto istoriografijos sukurtą senovės lietuvių pasaulį pamatė kaip archetipą ir perkėlė į filosofinį lygmenį, sukūrė universalų asmenybės ir tėvynės jungties modelį, o dramose pateikė imitacinius modelius siūlomai aksiologijai patikrinti.
The author analyzes the short-term and long-term weather omens and magical methods of influence on weather events by the inhabitants of the Ukrainian Middle Polissya, such as drought, rain, storm, hail; he examines the transformation of meteorological knowledge and beliefs.