Išeiviško gyvenimo patirtys XVIII a. pabaigos – XIX a. Lietuvoje: kitataučių įvaizdis keliautojų po Lietuvą atsiminimuose

Abstract

The article focuses on the travel memoirs of non-Lithuanian authors: Friedrich Schulz, Ludwik Kondratowicz, and Teodor Tripplin, who at the end of the 18th century and in the 19th toured through Lithuania. Close attention is given to their estimation of, and views about, the communities of non-Lithuanian nationalities: Jews, Poles, Slavs, Tartars, Karaites, and Germans. In this research paper, each of these communities is thought of as constituting an ethnic group. In the travel memoirs of these authors, the most widely discussed topic concerns Jews, their life, and their character. In these narratives about Jews, unlike in folklore or in didactic texts, no negative connotation is detected. The travellers judge ethnic groups according to their abilities to preserve ancestral customs and traditions, to cherish morality, and not to assimilate with the natives. The position of Lithuanians in the presence of non-nationals is also indicated: it is often influenced by the Lithuanians’ recognition of themselves as an allegedly superior community.