Šiame straipsnyje pateikiama nuo XIX iki XXI amžiaus Lietuvoje išleistos grožinės ir pažintinės literatūros apie Šiaurės ir Pietų Amerikos autochtonus apžvalga, rekonstruojamos ir analizuojamos šio žanro knygų atsiradimo Lietuvos literatūroje aplinkybės ir sąsajos su socialiniu, kultūriniu ir politiniu kontekstu. Autoriaus teigimu, nuotykinė literatūra apie Amerikos vietines tautas užėmė ypatingą vietą Lietuvos literatūros ir vaikų socializacijos istorijoje. Tai bene vienintelis literatūros žanras, kuris buvo praktikuojamas (žaidžiama indėnais), o sovietinės okupacijos metais atliko lango į Vakarus funkciją. Autorius tyrinėja, kokios knygos apie indėnus buvo leidžiamos Lietuvoje ir kodėl būtent jos, kaip keitėsi šio žanro knygų leidybos tendencijos, kokia buvo šios literatūros recepcija visuomenėje.

Straipsnyje žvelgiama į pirmosios lietuvių kelionių knygų rašytojos, ilgametės spaudos darbuotojos, vertėjos Julijos Pranaitytės (1881–1944) gyvenimą, nagrinėjamos knygos, parašytos apsilan kius kitose šalyse, jos redaguoto išeivių žurnalo „Žvaigždė“ numeriai ir kt. Jos darbai analizuojami tautiniu ir tarpkultūriniu aspektais, atkreipiamas dėmesys į autorės laikyseną išeivijoje, indėlį į lietuvių kultūrą, pažiūras. Tarpkultūriškumo ir tautiškumo santykis J. Pranaitytės darbuose svarstomas dėl jos buvimo arti kitų kultūrų: gyvenimo JAV, studijų užsienio šalyse, kelių kalbų mokėjimo, vertimų; vis dėlto visą laiką jaučiama patriotiška moters laikysena, noras išsaugoti savo tautos kalbą ir religiją. Galima teigti, kad rašytoja ir leidėja pasinaudojo savo žiniomis bei darbais, susijusiais su kitais kraštais, kad puoselėtų lietuvybę.

The origins of the Lithuanian press as an especially important means of communication among the members of the Lithuanian diaspora date back to the 19th century. Historical events related to Lithuania’s political situation, i.e., occupations and the establishment and consolidation of the country’s independence, played a significant role in the formation and development of the Lithuanian press in a foreign language. The first attempts to familiarize Americans with the situation of Lithuania and its people in the Russian Empire, and therefore to shape public opinion in order to contribute to the homeland’s national revival and liberation movement, took place in the early 20th century. The political events of the mid-20th century encouraged Lithuanian immigrants to rally their support for the restoration of the independence of the state. The English-language cultural press, most of which was published in the USA, constitute the majority of the second half of the 20th century Lithuanian diaspora press body. These include the publications by the publishing houses, Manyland Books and Lithuanian Library Press, and a quarterly journal, Lituanus. The initiatives by the Lithuanian Research and Studies Center, Lithuanian Encyclopedia and other publishers are also worth of mentioning. National identity based on the state, community and its members, and common values and traditions, was the unifying feature of the English-language Lithuanian cultural press. The historical narrative, as one of the most important and decisive representations of national identity, stood out in all publications. This article examines how different publishers, using genre diversity of texts and a broad spectrum of historic topics, were able to create an identity construct of the individual and the country. The article also looks into the general features of content dissemination in the USA, Western Europe and Australia.

The article analyzes the participation and activities of women in one of the organizations of the Lithuanian diaspora, the U.S. Lithuanian student organization “Santara” founded in 1954 and known (after its unification with the European student group “Šviesa”) as “Santara-Šviesa” from 1957 onwards. Since this organization never had strict criteria for membership nor maintained member lists and since its meetings and conferences were attended by diverse people without any discrimination as to their organizational membership, age, or political and social interests, it is not possible to draw statistical conclusions as to how many members (male or female) there were and at which times. Best known to the Lithuanian public are some of “Santara-Šviesa’s” male ideological leaders, including Vytautas Kavolis, Valdas Adamkus, Julius Šmulkštys, Raimundas Mieželis, and Aleksandras Štromas, among others. Besides these and other men, however, we can also observe a considerable number of women more or less actively involved in the organization’s affairs: some appeared only sporadically at “Santara-Šviesa’s” conferences, while others were frequent or ever-present participants giving lectures and helping to organize these conferences and other “Santara-Šviesa” functions. Many of these women were personalities well-known in the world of scholarship, art, and culture; others were less prominent but no less important and indispensable for carrying out less conspicuous administrative, technical, and organizational tasks.