 LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ARTS
AND SCIENCES
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ISSN
0024-5089
Copyright © 2018 LITUANUS Foundation, Inc. |
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Volume 64,
No.2 - Summer 2018
Editor of this issue:Almantas Samalavičius |
Abstract:
Identity Formation in the Lithuanian Diaspora (II)
Dovilė Šarkūnaitė
Abstract
In this study, four Lithuanian emigrant newspapers from the
USA were examined in order to discover the ways in which this
particular form of news media shape the diasporic identities of
the Lithuanian emigrants who live in the USA. 302 news articles
from emigrant newspapers Čikagos Aidas and Draugas that were
released in 2014, 2015, and 2016 were analyzed by employing
the method of thematic analysis in order to draw conclusions
about the identities of Lithuanian-Americans who are the intended
audience of the aforementioned newspapers. The findings
reveal that the Lithuanian-Americans tend to maintain their sense
of Lithuanianess by focusing on Lithuanian history and traditions
as well as discussing Russias threat to post-Soviet nations, such
as Ukraine, rather than feeling kinship with the present-day Lithuania,
which is viewed in a rather negative light due to the general
political corruption and low level of economic stability that
permeates the country. The emigrants tendency to integrate
symbolic elements of perceived Lithuanianess, such as admiration
of Lithuanian folklore as well as resistance to Soviet influence,
now represented by Russias aggressive foreign policies, into
their identities while maintaining a distance from the actual Lithuania
signifies that this diasporic community has a unique hybrid
identity that sets its members apart from both other North Americans,
and Lithuanians who are currently living in Lithuania.
These findings are significant because they provide new insights
into the way Lithuanian diasporic communities deal with Lithuanias
past trauma and present social maladies as well as construct
their national identities in a multicultural environment.