Tautinės tapatybės ženklų reprezentacija: Stepas Zobarskas ir „Manyland Books“

Abstract

This article about the Manyland Books publishing house founded by Stepas Zobarskas in New York in 1962 evaluates its activities from a standpoint related to the promotion of the expressive signs of the Lithuanian identity. After reviewing efforts by earlier publishers and individuals to present translations of fiction, art, historical, and other works by Lithuanian authors, as well as their publications in other languages; evaluating the outcome of the activities by Manyland Books from the quantitative and genre points of view; and getting acquainted with the publisher’s advertising campaign and the geography of distribution of publications, I conclude that the efforts made by Zobarskas and their results present the most serious, best-organized, and most successful attempt at promoting phenomena of Lithuanian culture. In researching this article I made use of the collection of Manyland Books publications held by the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania; the Stepas Zobarskas and Manyland Books collection at the Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum; sound recordings of Zobarskas’s interviews preserved at the Department of Audiovisual Documents of the Lithuanian State Archives; and numerous publications in the Lithuanian diaspora press presenting assessments of the publishing house’s activities and reviews of its output.