Lietuvos etnologija / Lithuanian ethnology

The article examines ethnological research on family customs carried out since 1990, and its directions, revealed in monographs, studies and publications and articles of a methodological nature, if the publications mark the beginning or the development of a new methodological, thematic or theoretical approach in the restored Republic of Lithuania. After the restoration of independence, ideological restrictions on the study of family customs related to religion and religiosity disappeared. Since then, research has been carried out on the past and the present, rural and urban society, Lithuanians and national minorities, and ethnically mixed families in Lithuania and abroad. The research has also extended to calendar customs celebrated in the family, and interactions with other social communities through customs. To sum up the ethnological research on family feasts carried out since 1990, the thematic, methodological and problematic development of studies of family customs is evident.

An analysis of reviews provides a perspective on the history of the evaluation of ethnological and other works in Lithuanian studies. The article further investigates the numerous reviews of Lithuanian studies by Antanas Mažiulis (1914–2007). In order to reveal how Mažiulis understood, valued and critically approached the science, his reviews are characterised by a broad assessment of the subject matter, criticism, and at the same time, an ideological-political perspective.

Following up on my research into youth leisure published in the last issue of Lithuanian Ethnology, in this article I compare my personal field research carried out from 1988 to 2012 and publications in the press from 1926 to 1939, analysing the calendar feasts celebrated by Lithuanians in the Vilnius region. Based on the same methodology, the study revealed that the value of leisure and festivals as a source of ethnology differs in the periodical press. While descriptions of leisure in the press tolerate traditional forms, the descriptions of festivals promote only modern customs in which one cannot trace the specificity of the customs of the Vilnius region. Although the periodical press declared its desire to preserve old folk traditions, it was a reliable tool in shaping the modern calendar.

The article examines the construction of the Lithuanian-Polish identity in 1988–1991. Based on the analysis of Lithuanian and Polish (published in Lithuania) periodicals, the article reveals how Lithuanian Poles sought to establish their identity in the emerging independent Lithuania. The Lithuanian press often probed the question of Polish origins, the purity of the language, and the loyalty of the Poles to the state. Meanwhile, the Polish press spoke of the historical continuity of the Polish minority in Lithuania and its right to a certain territorial autonomy.