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Ethnographic Note on Nation: Narratives and Symbols of the Early Post-socialist Nationalism in Lithuania

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Ethnographic Note on Nation: Narratives and Symbols of the Early Post-socialist Nationalism in Lithuania
Author(s)Klumbyte, Neringa
AbstractIn the late 1980s and early 1990s Lithuania experienced the nationalist upheaval, which was epitomized in the break up from the Soviet Union in 1990. Narratives and symbols were constitutive of the nationalist movement.”Nation” – the master symbol of that time – was reproduced in relation to the symbols of “the West,”‘ and “the East,”‘ as well as through the different values implied in “the West” and “the East” symbolism. Nationalist narratives reconstructed history and memory, reevaluated the present of the “reborn” nation, and drew the paths for the transition. Symbols and narratives were significant in mobilizing popular opinion, creating models for identity and action, and expressing moral and legitimate stances. They were a primary mechanism by which ideologies and cultural stances were shaped and maintained during the nationalist upheaval. In early 1990s the “nation”‘ was redefined in the context of the Western tradition which was essential in communicating with the European countries and distancing from the former Soviet Union.
IssueNo34
Pages279-295
ArticleAccess to Article
SourceDialectical Anthropology
VolumeNo27
PubDateSeptember 2003
ISBN_ISSN0304-4092


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