| Abstract [eng] |
The starting point of the thesis is the assumption that Škėma's patriotism manifests itself as 1) involvement in the armed uprising against the Soviet army; 2) participation in cultural activities in the diaspora; 3) fiction and journalism on topical cultural issues. Škėma's articles published in exile press in Germany and the USA are the subject of this thesis. It also draws on various texts by diaspora authors, including the testimonies of Valdas Adamkus and Antanas Saulaitis, as expressed in interviews prepared especially for this occasion. The aim of the thesis is to reveal the uniqueness and significance of Škėma's concept of patriotism and to propose a new reception of Škėma as a patriotic author. The research is based on the hypothesis that Škėma's journalism corresponds to the concept of Lithuanianness that Kavolis calls Living Lithuanianness. The objective is pursued through the following objectives: 1) to describe the historical context of Škėma's journalism; 2) to analyse Škėma's autobiographical texts from the point of view of patriotism; 3) to analyse the „us-them“ contradictions in the texts of the German-USA period; 4) to discuss the criticism of the Diaspora and the warning of the dangers of culture expressed in Škėma's journalism; 5) examine Škėma's relationship to national myths; 6) describe the perspective he envisaged for Lithuanian literature and the nation; 7) discuss the ambiguity of Škėma's image in the exile press and in the recollections of his contemporaries; and 8) consider the relevance of Škėma's ideas for the present. It is a work of cultural history that analyses and compares thematically selected texts or fragments of texts, identifies recurring figures, and identifies contradictions. The analysis uses the instruments of Greimas' semiotics. The conception of the work is related to Vytautas Kavolis's research on the history of consciousness and to Kavolis's and Greimas's articles on the topic of lithuanianness published in the exile press. The research reveals the speaker of Škėma's texts as a trickster figure: he simultaneously fights against the diaspora community and strives for its cultural resurrection, and creates his own dynamic myth of lithuanianness. |
