Keliautojas, užsienietis, emigrantas: migracija ir socialinė menininko karjera XIX a. Brno ir Vilniaus periodinėje spaudoje

Abstract

The article analyzes the reports on cultural events in nineteenth-century Vilnius and Brno press and focuses on the aspect of traveling and migration of musicians and actors as the means of their individual and collective social career. It follows how the cosmopolitan career aspirations and the local / land patriotism of the artists used to be represented, how the reports used to construct discursively the relations between an artist on one hand and the local public, guest stars or local actors / artists on the other. The article also identified the discursive strategies, which aimed to promote an artist’s career and pointed to the variations and changes of the discursive presentations of a successful artistic career. Despite the obvious differences between the social structure and political situation of the Lithuanian and Moravian capital towns, the dominant discourse, in which the prominent artists used to be presented in the press of the two towns, was very similar. It may be characterized as an aristocratic land patriotic discourse. Since the beginning of the century this discourse favored the cultural production of amateurs from elite circles and guest stars from European metropolises at expense of local artists. It required cosmopolitan orientation in the culture of great European metropolises and participation in cultural events with charitable goals. Even though these two elements remained very helpful for building the reputation of individual artists throughout the century, ever greater emphasis was given to the local public’s duty to support local cultural milieu as well as to the value of the artist as the carrier of local / national cultural values. The presentations of the fashionable concerts of charismatic violin virtuosi furthermore tended to hinder the hierarchical differences between the beginners and the stars and used the descriptions of general enthusiasm for the promotion of the careers of local artists.