My Generation, This Generation

There were two official commemorations sponsored by the Kaunas municipality on May 14.  I did not attend the first one at noon on Monday because I was at the secondary school.  I did attend the one in the evening, which was jointly sponsored by Vytautas Magnus University.  I believe that the mid-day event consisted mainly of speeches.  The evening event featured a rock concert by local young Lithuanian rock bands next to the Kalanta memorial.  A large screen displayed photographs of the demonstrations that followed Kalanta’s suicide as well as photos of Kalanta.  I spent part of the evening hanging out with several former hippies whom I interviewed last year for my research.  While the stage hands were setting up, music from the later 1960s was being played over the sound system.  At one point, The Who’s “My Generation” was playing and the hippies at the table (and I) were all singing along.  Suddenly, “My Generation” was interrupted by blaring metal music as the next band started performing.  One of the hippies pointed at the stage and said “now this generation!”  Perhaps the most interesting comment that evening was the number of former hippies who said to me that, in 1972, they could have never imagined that they would one day be sitting in the city center, listening to a rock concert in independent Lithuania.  But 40 years later, there we were.

The screen by the memorial with a photograph of Romas Kalanta.

 

The concert next to the Kalanta memorial — May 14, 2012

 

With two former hippies from 1972

 

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Commemorating Kalanta at a Secondary School

On Monday, May 14, I was invited to participate in a  commemoration of Kalanta’s self-immolation at the Veršvų Secondary School in Kaunas.  The school is located in the Viliampolė neighborhood and Kalanta attended the school (although it had a different name then).  The event included two performances by students and speeches by a representative from Vytautas Magnus University, people who had participated in the demonstrations, and a couple of local of politicians.  There were a lot of speeches — probably too many.  By the time I gave a 10 minute talk in Lithuania about the hippie movement, it was an hour and a half into the program.  I was faced with two hundred restless teenagers.  The teachers were all pleased that I could speak Lithuanian; I don’t think the kids were that impressed.

Articles about and commemorations of Kalanta’s self-immolation often use “fire” language.   This event was no exception — it was called “Lit a fire in the hearts of freedom.”  Students performed a dance representing Kalanta burning himself, which I’m not sure what say about but I found fascinating.  In the first performance, students dressed as hippies sang songs from the late 1960s.  The first song is the lyrics of a famous 19th century Lithuanian poem “Trakai Castle” set to the melody of The Animals song “House of the Rising Sun.”  The young men in dark coats and caps represent the Communist Youth League harrasing the hippies.  Later in the performance, a larger group of young men came out and pretended to beat up the hippies, which is actually historically accurate.

Flower Power!

On Friday, I participated in a roundtable discussion with three VDU faculty members about Romas Kalanta’s self-immolation and the street demonstrations that followed his funeral.  It was an interesting and lively discussion about the events in May 1972, what they meant for Lithuania at the time and what they mean for Lithuania today.  I spoke about the “myth of the hippies” — that the hippies actually played a minor role in the events of May 1972 even though they are a large part of the historical consciousness of that period.  Yet it is the very “myth of the hippies” that demonstrates the importance of studying these events.  The hippies exemplify the tensions between Soviet authorities and youth in post-Stalinist Soviet Union that was manifested in the street demonstrations.  This tension was a result of significant changes in the Soviet system and it reveals ways in which the system was fracturing.   (The discussion was filmed but I haven’t been able to find a link to the video online.)

The opening of an exhibit “Flower Children: From Pacifism to the Barricades” was held immediately after the roundtable discussion.  The exhibit features photographs of young people in Kaunas in the early 1970s, collages made in the early 1970s by a Kaunas hippie, and a 1970s-era vintage room for hanging out and listening to rock music.   It’s a rather nostalgic exhibit and great fun!

 

 

 

 

1972 | 2012

This month is the 40th anniversary of Romas Kalanta’s self-immolation and the two days of demonstrations that followed his funeral.  I’m in Lithuania for ten days to attend commemorative events, speak at two conferences and a school, hopefully do more interviews and (of course) visit friends.  I’m temporarily re-activating the “Amanda in Lithuania blog to chronicle my further adventures in dissertation research this month.

(And for those of you who who are wondering, I have a 150 draft of my dissertation.  It definitely a rough draft and I still need to write two sections.  But I am well on my way to my goal of defending my dissertation and receiving my Ph.D. in fall quarter.)

362 Days

I arrived in Lithuania on September 1, 2010 and I depart today August 28, 2011.  During the last 362 days, I…

Conducted 49 interviews

Revised my dissertation chapter outline 5 times

Partially drafted 4 chapters and the introduction of my dissertation

Attended 3 academic conferences

Traveled 71 times between Kaunas and Vilnius

Wrote 315 blog posts

Watched 214 episodes (10 full seasons) of the television series Stargate SG-1 on DVD

Built friendships, had adventures, improved my Lithuanian and had an all-around great time!

The Year in Quotes

Best “I won’t take it personally” quote — said to me by a Lithuanian friend:

“When I was in the United States, I would say something and I knew I said it correctly in English, but still people wouldn’t understand me.  Sometimes when you say something in Lithuanian, I have no idea what you said and now I understand how those Americans felt when I talked.”

Best “totally validates my opinion that Lithuanians don’t plan” quote — said to me by a Lithuanian who lived in the States for nearly 20 years as we were discussing how he could help me with my research:

“I’m going to write this down.  I learned how to plan in America.”

Most useful phrase I learned in Lithuanian this summer (unfortunately I had several opportunities to use it given the frequent thunderstorms):

“Eidama per parką, aš sušlapau [While walking through the park, I became completely wet].”

Best philosophical quote — from the summer course lecture on Lithuanian literature:

“Should we rely on the illusion that the era of changes ever comes to an end?”

Entering the Final Stage

Today I am taking a Lithuanian language placement exam — tomorrow I start a three and a half week intensive Lithuanian language course.  I know it seems odd to be taking a language courses at the end of my year in Lithuania, but there is some rationale to this decision.  My Lithuanian language skills have improved a lot this year through using the language in daily life, using it in research and working with a tutor.  I expect that the intensive course will solidify the improvements that I’ve made and will push me forward a level in my language abilities.  Hopefully it will also help me maintain my language skills once I return to the U.S. and stop using Lithuanian every day.

Because the language course will require a significant time commitment — daily classes on weekdays and homework — I’ve been wrapping up my research this month, trying to get as much done as possible before today.  I still have a few interviews in the process of being scheduled and one more day’s worth of work in the library archives.  And I have a lot of people whom I want to see before I leave.  But all in all, the majority of my research here in Lithuania is completed.

Yesterday I went through my dissertation to-do list and got it down to one page.  Some things I crossed of the list because, in the end, they aren’t that important.  Quite a few things were moved to the “future research” list.  My research topic is constantly expanding as I come across new information or think of new ways to look at events or see connections with something else.  But the reality is that I need to write a dissertation now.  Once the dissertation is completed, I can explore some of these other research paths and see where they lead.  Right now, I have a manageable list of really important items that I can accomplish in between conversation practice and grammar exercises.

All Work, No Play

Today is a holiday in Lithuania — Statehood Day (also known as Mindaugas Day).  I, however, am working.  In fact, I will be working from today until…well, pretty much until I finish this damned dissertation and graduate.  Hopefully, that will happen next spring.  If that hope is to become reality, I have a lot to do.  That means no more fun and games for Amanda.  Just work, work, work.

I did have one final European fling last weekend, which I will post over the next few days.  And I’m sure that I will have various adventures in my remaining time in Lithuania  so don’t abandon the blog just yet.  But the eight-week countdown has begun and the pressure is on.  In addition to finishing my research and continuing to write, I now have to prepare to teach a lecture course on Europe in World War II for Autumn quarter at my university in Seattle.

Deep breaths, I’m taking deep breaths….

Last week I meet with a professor at Vilnius University to talk about his experiences in the 1970s. The friend who arranged the meeting took a few photos of me at work.

 

July 4th Nostalgia

…or how you can’t escape your dissertation topic.

As I was thinking about the July 4th holiday, I started reminiscing about spending the holiday, and summer days in general, at our family lake house in central Florida.  The mental soundtrack of my childhood is what would now be called “classic rock” — when it was just “rock” in the 1970s and later when it became “classic” in the 1980s.  I started browsing for classic rock songs on the theme of summer and came across the Seals and Croft ballad Summer Breeze.   I loved this song as a child and I was surprised to discover that the song was released in 1972.  As my faithful readers know, 1972 is the year in which the events I am studying occurred.

So I give you Summer Breeze and a look back at 1972.  I wish my American readers a Happy Independence Day and all of us a relaxing summer.

Fact-Checking

Only two months remaining in Lithuania…it’s difficult to believe that I’ve been here for ten months and that soon I’ll be returning to Seattle.  The pressure is on to finish up my research, while also enjoying a Lithuanian summer and time with my friends and preparing to move back to the States and to start teaching in September.  I’m continuing to interview and write, but my foremost priority right now is fact-checking.  As I do research and write, various things come up that I want to verify or find more information about.  These are just a few of the items that I am working on.  Some of them seem quite simple but, for some reason, getting an answer has been rather difficult.

The name of the Director of the Genocide Research Center in 2002 — I know that he (she?) testified before the Seimas but the transcript doesn’t give a name…and I can’t seem to get an answer from the Genocide Center itself.  Next step — show up at the Center and don’t leave until someone can tell me who it was.

The date and location of the construction of a television tower in Poland that broadcast into Lithuania — many of my interviewees have talked about access to Polish television in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  However, one person said that the tower wasn’t built until 1979.  I need to know the exact year the tower was built and began broadcasting.  A library assistant at the National Library who speaks Polish checked the Polish encyclopedia and looked online, but wasn’t able to come up with the information.  I’ve asked a fellow grad student who works on pre-war Lithuanian-Polish relations to check into this for me.

Foreign films shown in Kaunas in the later 1960s and early 1970s — I know that foreign films were being shown in the Soviet Union more frequently by that time, but I want to know what actual films were shown in Kaunas.  I am working on a a list of films from the listings in the Kaunas daily paper.  However, I have Lithuanian translations of the titles of French and Italian films that I’ve translated into English.  Next I will have to figure out what the French and Italian titles are and get more information about the films.  This last step can be accomplished in Seattle.  For now, I need to get through a couple more years of film listings to complete my list.

I finally learned that I can get a DVD of the 1971 film Mažioji Išpažintis about youth subculture (based on a Soviet novel that I recently found in a used bookstore) from the Lithuanian Film Studio.  I am still looking for the CD-rom Lietuvos Roko Pionieriai (2000).