Cultural Anthropology paper

Lithuania Culture, a literature review

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Lithuania Culture, a literature review

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Lithuania Culture, a literature review

Fredrick Dent

Cultural Anthropology

7/30/22

Background information

According to Vaičaitis, (10,2006) The Baltic Sea nation of Lithuania is a small one with a large Roman Catholic population. Russia's Kaliningrad area of Kaliningrad shares a north-south border with Latvia, Belarus, and Poland. Most of Lithuania's land is farmland or woodland, making it a relatively flat country. It covers an area of 24,200 square miles, 62,680 square kilometers (Pranskevičiūtė, 20-21). One of Europe's final frontiers for Christianization, Lithuania was a somewhat backwards society. When Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, accepted Poland's crown in 1385, he vowed to subject his nation to Catholic baptism. The Catholic Church in Lithuania grew to be the largest and most prominent religious body as a result of the centuries-long unification of Lithuania and Poland. Polish-Lithuanian territory was divided in 1795, and most of present-day Lithuania was handed over to Russian control (Pranskevičiūtė, 21-22). In 1918, Lithuania was re-established as a sovereign state. The Soviet Union seized it in 1940, and it remained one of the Soviet Union's 15 republics until 1990. The Lithuanian parliament has been a parliamentary democracy since the country's reunification in 1990. 2004 saw its admission to the NATO alliance and the European Union. (Pranskevičiūtė, 22)

Lithuania’s Language use

The official language of the country is Lietuvi kalba. To put it simply, Lithuanian belongs to a group of Baltic languages that also includes Latvian and the extinct Yotvingian and Old Prussian dialects (Grincevičienė, 142-143) Ancient Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit influence can still be seen in its vocabulary. It wasn't until the 19th century that Lithuanian became a standard language because Polish (and occasionally other languages) had been used as the official language from the 13th century (Grincevičienė, 143-144). The Lithuanian language was all but extinct by the 17th century, with the exception of a few rural peasants. Russian was introduced and supported among Lithuanians after 1795, when both Lithuania and Poland ceased to exist as independent states (Sinochkina,89-88). It was illegal to print or teach in Lithuanian between 1864 and 1904. However, during Lithuania's years of independence (1918–40), the European nationalist movement inspired a rebirth of Lithuanian. Because Russian was restored in 1940, the majority of Lithuanians nowadays can speak the Russian language (Sinochkina,90). Lithuanian reclaimed its status as the country's official language in 1988. As a result, Lithuanian is widely spoken today. Along with Russian and Lithuanian, Polish is a common second language here. In addition to English and German, there are many additional languages spoken in the world today. Dohrn, (Verena.155)

Religion

More than seven out of ten Lithuanians (77 percent) are Roman Catholics. Religious instruction was prohibited in schools during the Soviet occupation, which forced many clerics to close their doors and face repression (Roháč, Dalibor.210). Many people secretly opposed the tyranny by erecting crosses on the Hill of Crosses, where they were free to worship as they saw fit. Once a pagan center of worship, the Hill of Crosses was transformed into a place of Christian pilgrimage and prayer (Blagniene,112). A resurgence of crosses in 1961, 1973 and 1975 despite Soviet efforts to bulldoze and burn them eventually wore down the Soviets. It was in 1990 that the Catholic Church was restored to prominence and religious freedom was granted (Blagniene,108-110). On his 1993 visit to Poland, Pope John Paul II held a Mass on the Hill of Crosses, where he brought the clergy up to date on the liturgy. The country is home to a wide range of religious groups, including Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Some Lithuanians continue to follow the ancient pagan religion of their country. Multi-religious people in Lithuania have coexisted peacefully for a long time. (Blagniene,108)

I hope with this review that you know see that I am becoming an Expert in Lithuania. Understanding the differences in how they operate makes it so I can understand the differences in our family, too.

Most of my resources are educationally found or from reputable resources, so they are really good. I also have some “personal perspective” ones here.

References

Vaičaitis, Vaidotas A. "The Republic of Lithuania." Constitutional Law of 10 (2006).

Pranskevičiūtė, Rasa, and Tadas Juras. "Acting in the underground: Life as a Hare Krishna Devotee in the Soviet Republic of Lithuania (1979–1989)." Religion and Society in Central and Eastern Europe 7.1 (2014): 3-22.

Grincevičienė, V., & Klimka, L. (2017). Dimensions of citizenship and nationality in the area of comprehensive education: experience of the Republic of Lithuania. Multicultural Studies, (1), 141-153.

Sinochkina, Birute. "The Russian language of the Lithuanian Republic as reflected in mass media discourse 1." The Soft Power of the Russian Language. Routledge, 2019. 89-107.

Dohrn, Verena. "State and Minorities: The First Lithuanian Republic and SM Dubnov’s Concept of Cultural Autonomy." The vanished world of Lithuanian Jews. Brill, 2004. 155-173.

Roháč, Dalibor. "" It is by unrule that Poland stands": institutions and political thought in the Polish-Lithuanian Republic." The Independent Review 13.2 (2008): 209-224.

Blagniene, Renata. "Republic of Lithuania. The Information Analysis Department of the Lithuanian Seimas." Parliamentary Libraries and Research Services in Central and Eastern Europe. KG Saur, 2012. 108-113.