Res Humanitariae

This article examines the impact of the historiographical work of Simonas Daukantas (1793–1864) on the dramas by Vydūnas (real name Vilhelmas Storostas, 1868–1953). From 1900 onwards, Vydūnas’ published works increasingly featured mentions of Daukantas and excerpts from the historian’s writings. A number of Daukantas’ intertexts are found in the drama Probočių šešėliai (Shadows of the Ancestors), written in 1900. This article, based on a comparative analysis of the writings by Daukantas and Vydūnas, raises the hypothesis that the author of the dramas was the ideal reader of the historian’s writings, and took various concepts, motifs and images from them. Vydūnas was inspired by Daukantas, and used the historian’s phrase ‘bočių probočių’ (ancestors of ancestors) and the concept of ‘tautos būdas’ (national identity) as a description of the essence of the nation, which is prevalent in his work published in 1845, and other concepts. He was the first to objectify the world created by Daukantas, and allowed Lithuanians to play the role of the ancient Lithuanian on the stage, and choose what was relevant in establishing modern Lithuanian society. The analysis reveals that Vydūnas saw the ancient Lithuanian world created by the historical writings by Daukantas as an archetype, and transposed it to a philosophical level. He also created a universal model for the link between the individual and the homeland; and in dramas, he presented simulation models for testing the proposed axiology.