Klaipėdos universitetas

The article focuses on the shift in meaning assigned to the symbol of the holiday tree, specifically its transformation from the Christmas tree into a New Year’s tree. This transformation occurred due to the reorganisation of the ritual calendar by the Soviet occupying regime in Lithuania. The primary objective is to discuss the (political) contest for dominance over this symbol, as portrayed in children’s periodicals, interwar Lithuanian Žiburėlis and Soviet Lithuanian Genys. The theoretical approach is based on the concept of symbolic conflict as articulated by the anthropologist Simon Harrison. The study helps us to understand the mechanism behind the shift of meaning concerning the holiday tree in Soviet Lithuania.

In the article, using authentic Lithuanian material, the celebration of St Martin’s Day in Lithuania Minor is analysed from a chronological point of view (from the first mention to the present day), in order to show the general stages in the development of the festival, and the modern changes to the customs. The paper analyses the St Martin’s Day feast from the late 19th to the 20th century, showing the structural and functional changes in the calendar feast. It also aims to analyse modern customs in the festival (since 2002), and to discuss the prospects for the continuity of the ethnic tradition in today’s festival.