XX amžiaus alternatyva: etnoso ar valstybės istorija?

Abstract

This article attempts to check N.Elias' theoretical proposition that the change of content in such notions as culture andcivilization depends on the predominant form of self-consciousness. The analysis of the correlation between the forms of self-identity and the use of the concepts culture and civilization is based on two publications by two Lithuanian scientific societies. The first of the two is the ’’Lietuvių tauta” by Lietuvių Mokslo Draugija, which was uniting the scientific and cultural elite of ethnic Lithuanians, and the other is the ’’Rocznik Towarzystwa przyjaciof nauk w Wilnie”, which was published by Lithuanian Poles. While analysing individual articles on various historical issues published in the ’’Lietuvių tauta”, we come to a conclusion that the authors (mostly repre sentatives of a nationalistic trend) exhibit quite consistently the sociopsychological model described by Elias. Namely, the negative stereotype of a Pole prevails, and priority is given to establishing the authors' national identity. Moreover, there are no articles investigating Lithuanian civilization in the sense the term is used by Elias. Some articles, however, reveal that their authors have a wider perspective on the issue of identity. Representatives of a democratic trend, such as M.Biržiška and A.Janulaitis, do not expose any preconceived enmity towards Poles. History for them is not only a source for establishing the ethnic past of Lithuanians, but also an area of political history on a wider scale. Therefore, they approach the concept of civilization much closer, than right-wingers. The analysis of the ’’Rocznik” also suggests some conclusions. The publication of various documents, the abundance of detailed facto graphical data and scarcity of conceptual articles prove that the published material serves the purpose of supplementing the ethnic conception of Polish historians. Since the development of history as a science in Poland was generally more progressive (we have in mind here the schools of Warsaw and Krakow), the articles in the ’’Rocznik” represent a higher scientific level and are less ideologized.