Res Humanitariae

Historians have so far analysed the historical narrative used for modern Lithuanian nation-building in terms of its structure, the main storylines and images, and the most important historical figures rooted in it. Previous studies have revealed how the narrative was constructed. However, less research has been done on how it was received by individual social groups. The article analyses the Lithuanian historical narrative promoted by partisans who participated in the anti-Soviet armed resistance in 1944–1953. The author discusses how the narrative was used to strengthen and perpetuate the struggle, and looks for connections between the organisational unification of the guerrilla fighters and their relationship with historical images and figures. She provides an outline of interpretations of history presented in writings by partisans of various ranks, and reveals features of the historical awareness of the resistance fighters. The main sources used for the research were publications (proclamations, bulletins, periodicals, etc) issued by the partisans. In addition, the author examines the pseudonyms used by 935 fighters, and the names that were given to their organisational units. Data from all three anti-Soviet resistance areas, southern, eastern and western Lithuania, are analysed.

Over the 20th c., the city of Grodno changed its political dependence more than once; at the end of World War II and in the postwar period, it experienced cardinal changes in the composition of its population. By interpreting the city as a palimpsest, the author examines the process of re-reading and rewriting of the meanings in the palimpsest that took place in Grodno in the 20th c. The author highlights the breaks and the continuity in the maintenance of the meanings and discusses the strategies applied to legitimate one’s presence in the city. The article discloses the meanings in the course of studies how the processes of cultural appropriation of Grodno changed the area of the city as a system of references consisting of the symbolism of a network of city streets, squares, individual buildings, religious sites, and other.

The aim of the article is to present theoretical interpretation of the concept of Lithuania Minor as a Lithuanian memory site in the contemporary Lithuanian historical narative. The principal attention in the article is focussed on theoretical aspects that allow understanding the prerequisites of ideological receptions of the region of Lithuania Minor in the discourse of Lithuanian memory culture. From the empirical viewpoint, the content of stereotypes, images, and plots that realise the concept of Lithuania Minor as a Lithuanian memory site is analysed.