Asmuo, tauta ir istorija egziliniuose Antano Maceinos galvojimuose

Abstract

The article analyzes the thoughts, expressed in exile in the 1981 book Asmuo ir istorija (Person and history), of the Lithuanian philosopher and intellectual Antanas Maceina on nationality and national identity and on the relation of these factors to a nation’s historical consciousness. Questions discussed include the following: How did Maceina define the concepts of person and time? How did he characterize their interaction? What place, in the environment of exile, did he accotrd to a person’s and a nation’s historical consciousness? How in the context of exile and emigration did he conceive of his own and others’ life abroad? Maceina’s thoughts are compared to those of other intellectuals living in exile. Above all, Maceina emphasized the importance of a nation’s historical self-understanding when its members are forced to live abroad, a self-understanding absolutely essential for a person’s worthwhile existence. In Maceina’s view, it is impossible to exchange one’s own history for someone else’s; therefore, a person aiming to do just that condemns himself to spiritual vagrancy and a meaningless life.