Grupės ir aplinkos / Groups and Environments

From October 23 to 25, 2015, Kaunas National Drama Theatre hosted a presentation of creative legacies by the poet Arsenij Tarkovsky and Andrei Tarkovsky, a world renowned film director associated with elite cinema. The event included viewing of documentary and feature films and poetry reading. It also provided with an opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues and film practitioners. Among the many highlights was a display of exhibits: articles, film posters, scripts and photographs, brought from Moscow for the occasion. Stages across the theatre were used for display of documentary and feature films: the documentary The Student Andrei Tarkovsky (2003) and the uncensored versions of the famous feature films Andrei Rublev (1966) and Soliaris (1972). Participants viewed excerpts of The Mirror and Nostalghia and the documentary Malyutka-zhizn (2004). Film displays were followed by meetings and discussions with the artists’ circle of friends and colleagues and famous film practitioners from Russia.

Based on the fieldwork yielding 24 unstructured in-depth interviews at universities of Hyderabad, India, the present paper analyses Dalit, known as the ex-untouchable, students' identity politics from the perspective of Subaltern Studies. The focus on Dalit students' cultural festivals provides a framework for the analysis and the conceptualisation of the subaltern's autonomy. Dalit students venture to reconstruct their identity in cultural and historical terms by creating an ideological framework for the establishment of an alternative "counter culture" which is infused and fused with negative anti-Brahmanical, anti-Hindu and anti-nationalist connotations, as well as claims for cultural difference. On the other hand, the desired cultural difference is achieved through re-interpretation of the dominant Hindu culture. Paradoxically, Dalits achieve the aim of cultural differentiation through becoming part of the dominant discourse paradigm. Otherwise stated, the Dalit "counter culture" is directed against Hindu nationalist discourse, but the "counter culture" manifests and represents itself through symbols of the dominant discourse. This paradox evokes the dichotomous view posited by the Subaltern School. The dichotomy is posed as a question: whether the subaltern embodies autonomous culture and politics (Guha, 1988) or whether the subaltern is inevitably an effect of the logic of the dominant discourse. The latter relates to Gayatri Spivak's question "Can the Subaltern. Speak?" (Spivak, 2006). By illustrating the reciprocal relationship between the dominant and the dominated, and the inevitable entanglement with each other, this article assumes a reciprocal understanding of social relations between subalternity and domination as continuously constituting each other (Chatterjee, 1993; Prakash, 1994; O'Hanlon, 1988).

This paper presents a conceptual framework for research on cultural groups which existed in recent Soviet societies but were opposed to the regime. The framework is designed to facilitate research on social processes related to the behaviour of individuals and groups through cooperation between social researchers and IT scientists. The proposed methodology helps not only acquire knowledge about processes that took place in the societies in the recent past but can also be adapted for exploration of current processes in various other cultural groups and communities. The methodology adapts the techniques of several disciplines to the study of social problems by integrating simultaneous technical adjustments in these disciplines under a systems approach.

The article discusses written sources which represent literary expression by women of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Another focus of the analysis is women's activities in the theatre as revealed with reference to historiography and other sources. The study is based on descriptive-analytical and comparative methods. These particular aspects are under-researched in Lithuanian historiography, a fact which heightens the importance of the present research. The 18th century is frequently labelled as women's century not only because discussions started on women's place and aims in the masculine world but also because women started to perform in the theatre. Such discussions in the context of the ideas of the Enlightenment started in France and reached the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (PLC) and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Possibilities for women's spheres of activity were influenced by discussions on women's status in society. Women were also dependent on the new cultural and geopolitical circumstances. Although women's legal status was different from that of men, their position in the public sphere depended on woman's self-determination and her status in her own family. The first partition of 1772 affected changes in the meanings of women's roles in society. Women started to be treated as citizens and educators of public-spirited children. Furthermore, women in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were interested in different literary activities. It is a time when women wrote diverse forms of literature such as diaries and memoirs. Women also translated different texts into the Polish language. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, women's activities in the theatre are of special importance. Women were actors and directors of plays. They also translated plays into the Polish language. The theatre was the field which witnessed the emergence of first professional creative women.[...]

The article aims to analyse the main features of the depressive metal subculture and to consider what cultural elements and social relations influence contemporary depressive metal subculture. A related goal is to discuss how this phenomenon can be conceptualised. The discussion, based on fieldwork and other research data, focuses on the construction and expression of cultural identity by musicians and fans of depressive metal. The analysis of the depressive metal subculture looks at the principles of their worldview, artistic creativity and the creation of cultural surroundings. These aspects are addressed using the emic approach. The context of the subcultures activities, the informal forms of social organisation and the relations between musicians and fans in the context of globalization are also considered. This is related to the analysis of identity construction by members of the depressive metal subculture via their relations with other metal forms of music fans and contemporary society at large. The research methodology includes participant observation, semi-structured interviews and in¬formal conversations with informants. These were conducted as part of the fieldwork in Sweden between June 7, 2012 and September 7, 2012. The depressive metal subculture includes features that are typical to modern subcultures: the emphasis on values and beliefs, negative approach towards official Medias and emphasis on authenticity in self-perception among others. The research demonstrated that fans and musicians of depressive metal tend to identify with depressive metal subculture as part of global metal culture. They regard themselves as belonging to the parent metal culture, though they also recognize some cultural and social differences. [...]

In November 2014, Centre for Cultural Studies, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania, held a conference "Interdisciplinary Social Group Research." Presentation topics focused on subcultural groups, communities and social movements within diverse social environments. The conference aimed to gain understanding on how isolated alternative, innovative small social groups arise, function and disappear. Central in the conference was the question of social and cultural role of small groups. Situated within the framework of sociology, anthropology, arts and political sciences, the con¬ference generated huge interest. 41 speakers from various universities and research institutions of Lithuania took part in the conference. It included presentations in 7 sections, a poster session and a round table of young scholars. The topics covered by the participants included "start-up" subculture, graffiti artists, sarariman, swaggers, skinheads, neo pagans, historical re-enactors, prisoners, communal artists and Dalits among others. The presentations promoted discussions and involvement of the audience, students, scholars and representatives of the municipality. Interest in the topics of the conference and the high turnout testify to the topicality of the conference and the need for the development of social group research.

The article presents research, conducted by the author in Riga Lithuanian Secondary School in March, 2014. The study included a total of 60 respondents, 43% male and 57% female, respectively. They were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire developed by the author. Participant observation method was used. Riga Lithuanian Secondary School not only provides education but also places great emphasis on fostering the Lithuanian language and national traditions. The study revealed that celebrations help build a community, experience a sense of solidarity and discover new meanings of communality. Every school community has symbols embodying their uniqueness in regard to communities of other schools. The most common symbols are the school coat of arms, school anthem and flags which symbolise belonging to a particular school community. The school community has numerous invented traditions such as the celebration of one hundred days before the examinations or the 'Žetonu vakars.' The festivity merges Lithuanian and Latvian school celebration traditions Other dates, important not only to members of Riga Lithuanian Secondary School but also to the Lithuanian community in Riga, include state holidays such as the Declaration of Lithuanian Independence Day on February 16, and the Re-establishment of the State of Lithuania Day on March 11. The school maintains close cooperation with Lithuanians residing in Latvia and Lithuania and strives to promote culture and traditions. It has been observed that not only Lithuanians and Latvians but also students of other ethnicities choose to study in Riga Lithuanian Secondary School. The choice is determined by high school ratings and good study conditions.[...]

Researchers of Lithuanian youth culture often notice tendencies for cultural groups’ interest in ethnic culture. This tendency is often expressed with learning history and culture of their ancestors and their lifestyle, not only pagan religion. They are reviving not only religion, but also music, arts, crafts. The growing numbers of reconstruction clubs, rise of popularity of folklore in various groups and emergence of subcultural pagan metal groups show the importance of ancient worldviews to young people. This article, using comparative analysis of symbolic expression of members of metal and skinhead subcultures and pagan and folklore groups, aims to show values and identity features that are usual to members of these groups. When interacting in the same cultural spaces (youth festivals, celebrations etc.), these groups create broader cultural field, which generates common cultural meanings and associates cultural identity with ethnic culture, expressed in modern forms. This cultural field consists of metal and skinhead subcultures, folk musicians, craftsmen, reconstruction clubs, religious pagan communities and others. Despite the differences of groups in this cultural field, they are united by pagan worldviews and usage of the same symbols. Most common of them are brass jewelry, Baltic symbols: grass snakes, spiral, swastika and others. These symbols are a cultural code, which unites various groups and reveals their search for modern ethnocultural identity.

This paper examines squatting phenomenon and informal squat groups in nowadays society. The Ministry of Justice in Great Britain is declaring that in these days Eastern European immigrants squats are settled in about a half of London city area. It is also known that majority of these squatters are from Poland and Lithuania. This article presents reasons why individuals prefer to leave Lithuania and to live in London’s squats. Also, this article focuses on analysis of informal squat groups in London. The empirical data for this research was collected in November 2011, in London squats. Relevance and novelty of this subject is related to the microanalysis of squat groups’ formation and development under the influence of contextual environments. The way of self-organisation, living and acting in the informal squat group, as well as the impact of external environment on the group were the main subjects in this research. The research defines dual environments, encouraging the Lithuanians to leave Lithuania and to squat: “pushing away”, related with the unfavourable socioeconomical conditions in Lithuania and “attracting”, related with the attraction of culture and/or social networks. The research also revealed that development of informal squat groups is related to the process of dynamic cyclic development replicated and “pulsating” in time.

The object of this article is the internet forum “army777.lt” and Christian textual and visual anecdotes that can be found in this forum. The aim of this paper is to introduce the folklore of the internet forum “army777.lt” and to reveal social and cultural contexts. Members of different subcultures belong to this virtual community. Despite the fact that the same values unite these people, they have different sense of humour. That is why some anecdotes seem to be funny for some visitors of the forum; to other visitors it seems to be sacrilegious. Irony, black humour and disregard of authority are popular. It was revealed that textual anecdotes usually take into consideration a caste of clergy. Meanwhile, the most part of visual anecdotes tells about the main figure of Christianity, Jesus Christ. Textual and visual anecdotes do not digress from ordinary life. It is common to transfer the scenes from the Bible to the modern world or rationalize the sacramental issues. The basic attributes of digital space in the internet forum “army777.lt” are sustained: oral writing, vast variety of visual interjection, frequent usage of English and intercultural expressions.