| Abstract [eng] |
The paper analyses the issues concerning the genesis of a new Samogitian identity, its confrontation with the traditional orientation towards Lithuanian identity, and impact on the interpretation of the past and the heritage. The focus is on transformations that took place over the period from 2000 to 2004 and the subsequent processes; it was then that a new thought pattern / paradigm of the Samogitians historically treated as a nation sprang. A search for their own non-Lithuanian or anti-Lithuanian history and heritage is one of the forms of the paradigm expression. The study reveals that the oneness of new Samogitian heritage sites is created through a conscious or unconscious confrontation with a Lithuanian identity orientation: their interpretation is based on the opposition Vykintas-Defence- Paganism-Samogitia vs. Mindaugas-Aggression-Christianity-Lithuania. Coincidentally or not, the new paradigm seeks to devise all the nationalism-inherent phenomena, nation, language, culture and state, in the Samogitians. The mandatory components of Samogitian nationalism as a whole still lack one element which is a concept of the restoration / creation of their own state. Hence the processes that the Samogitians are undergoing today can be seen as signs and expressions of ripening Samogitian nationalism. True, a certain movement currently includes a small segment of the population, is marginal and relatively slow expanding. However, the available means of communication enabled spreading the notion widely. Although in many cases the information disseminated has remained ineffective, it is uncertain whether in appropriate circumstances this passive but already existing information will not become active historical consciousness involving larger masses. |
