| Abstract [eng] |
In this study, four Lithuanian emigrant newspapers from the UK and the USA were examined in order to discover the ways in which this particular form of news media shape the diasporic identities of the emigrants who live in these two countries. 596 news articles from Čikagos Aidas (USA), Draugas (USA), Tiesa (UK) and Info Ekspresas (UK) that were released in 2014, 2015, and 2016 were analyzed by employing the method of thematic analysis in order to draw conclusions about the identities of emigrants Lithuanians who belong to the diasporic communities in the USA and the UK. In order to interpret the data, various concepts that are common in diaspora studies, such as transnationalism, hybridity, nationalism and globalization were considered. The findings revealed that while both of the diasporic communities are characterized by a sense of disappointment in Lithuania as well as tendency to invoke their Lithuanianess in order to differentiate themselves from people who come from other cultures, they also differ from one another in several ways. In case of the diasporic community in the UK, the emigrants are encouraged to both behave in a way that is fitting to a person who lives in multicultural Western Europe, and to see Lithuania itself in a less critical way. On the other hand, the diasporic community in the USA is more concerned with keeping Lithuanian culture alive in diaspora as well as confronting Russia’s threat to post-Soviet nations, such as Ukraine and Lithuania. These findings are significant because they provide new insights into the way Lithuanian diasporic communities construct their national identities. |
