| Abstract [eng] |
This master’s thesis examines how the desovietization law adopted in Lithuania and its public communication during the period 2022–2025 have shaped the construction of the image of Grūtas Park in public discourse. The study is based on the assumption that the removal of Soviet heritage objects from public spaces does not result in their disappearance from collective memory, but rather leads to a transfer and reconfiguration of meanings within new institutional and discursive contexts. The theoretical framework of the thesis draws on theories of collective and cultural memory, Pierre Nora’s concept of lieux de mémoire, Aleida Assmann’s canon–archive dialectic, Sharon Macdonald’s concept of difficult heritage, and Laurajane Smith’s theory of authorized heritage discourse. These perspectives enable the analysis of Grūtas Park as an ambivalent memory site in which Soviet symbols are neither fully eliminated nor unambiguously reinterpreted. The empirical part of the study is based on discourse analysis applied to institutional documents (legislation, municipal council decisions, expert evaluations) and publications in national and regional media. The analysis reveals how, within public discourse, Grūtas Park is constructed as an ideologically neutralized memory space, an archive, or an educational institution, while simultaneously exposing discursive tensions between narratives of critical reflection, neutralization, and nostalgia. The findings indicate that the implementation of the desovietization law does not erase the meanings of Soviet symbols but instead relocates them into a different mnemonic regime, in which Grūtas Park emerges as an important infrastructure of memory politics. The thesis contributes to broader discussions on the role of the state in managing difficult heritage and the significance of public discourse in shaping the boundaries of collective memory in contemporary Lithuania. |
