Res Humanitariae

From the earliest descriptions and studies, the Prussian Lithuanians, or Lietuvininkai, and their sung folklore have usually been treated as one unit. However, the ethnographic region of Lithuania Minor is a vast territory stretching over 200 kilometres from north to south. Two distinct areas of ethnic Lietuvininkai music can be identified within it. This article aims to investigate the musical features of the folklore that existed in the Klaipėda district, and to reveal its uniqueness in the context of Lietuvininkai sung folklore.

The goal of the article is to examine chronologically the specific nature of the Easter holiday in

The purpose of this article is to answer the questions raised in the course of the research on the development of textile pocket of the national costume of Lithuania Minor in relation to the motivation for production and wearing of pockets, the choice in decoration characteristics, the symbolism of ornamentation and colour combinations. The analysis of the accomplished field research reveals the manifestations of the expression of the ethnocultural identity through production and wearing of textile pockets. The analysis of the symbolic meanings traditionally attributed and newly assigned to the chosen decorative elements of pockets reveals the cases of the continuity and change of a symbol. The act of wearing a pocket not only with the national costume of Lithuania Minor demonstrates the expression of one’s identity through wearing the chosen parts of clothing. The growing demand stimulates the production of textile pockets. The research analyses the material collected from the well-informed presenters (makers and wearers of textile pockets) based on the questionnaires compiled by the author of the present article.

Straipsnyje, pasitelkiant autentišką lietuvininkų medžiagą, analizuojama Mažosios Lietuvos Sekminių šventės specifika chronologiniu aspektu (nuo pirmųjų paminėjimų iki šių dienų), siekiama atskleisti šventės bendruosius raidos etapus ir šiuolaikines papročių transformacijas. Analizuojami pagrindiniai XIX a. pab. – XX a. lietuvininkų Sekminių šventės modelio elementai ir lyginami su kitų regionų šventės elementais, atskleidžiant struktūrinius ir funkcinius kalendorinių apeigų pokyčius. Siekiama išanalizuoti šiuolaikinius (nuo 1990 m.) mažlietuvių Sekminių šventės papročius ir aptarti etninės tradicijos tęstinumo galimybes šių dienų šventės modelyje.

The article analyzes the aspiration of the interwar political and cultural elite of Lithuania to turn Klaipėda Region acquired in 1923 into integral part of the state of Lithuania by construing collective memory that would unify Lithuania Minor and Major. The attention is focussed exclusively on the initiatives whose authors were the political and cultural elite of Lithuania that identified itself with the tradition of Lithuania Major.