The article presents the names bestowed on Polish children in Lithuania after 1990, a topic which merited little scholarly attention to date. First, by way of introduction, the specific Lithuanised written forms of these names are described and compared with their standard Polish and Lithuanian equivalents. The naming trends are then analysed on the basis of three sets of data: the top ten male and female names among Lithuanian Poles (as compared with those in Lithuania and in Poland) in the years 1991, 2000, 2010 and 2013; the names of 1284 students, all born after 1990, from fifteen Polish-language schools in Lithuania; finally, the names given in the years 1991–2011 to children in the municipality of Salčininkai (Soleczniki), where the percentage of Poles is the highest in Lithuania. Interviews with members of the Polish minority in Lithuania, focusing on naming issues, have also been used for fact-finding. The research shows that the name choices of Poles in Lithuania are becoming increasingly different from those in Poland, yet not exactly convergent with Lithuanian trends. Poles almost never use names of Lithuanian origin and prefer instead simple names, not necessarily of Polish origin, that look in writing almost the same in Polish and in Lithuanian. Especially striking among these are Germanic names, such as Edward, Ernest, Eryka, Greta, never particularly popular in Poland.
The article is a description of the situation of Polish culture in Lithuania and the environment in which this culture has been created. The diagnosis has highlighted several reasons for its weakness, such as the deteriorating demographics of Poles in Lithuania, and the poor economic situation in the region which they mostly inhabit. The bad situation has also been a result of the lack of Polish intelligentsia in Lithuania after the Second World War and the slow pace of its restoration. Other reasons include the ethnocentrism of this culture, its inward focus, and the lack of interest in other ethnic groups. In spite of everything, in recent years in the Vilnius region attempts have been made to break free from the limitations related to the culture of Eastern Borderlands. A poetic group “New Vilnius Avant-Garde” was founded, and a novel entitled Cień słońca (Shadow of the Sun) and a collection of short stories entitled Thriller po wileńsku (Thriller à la Vilnius) were published.
PL
Artykuł jest opisem kondycji kultury polskiej na Litwie i środowiska ją tworzącego. Zostały zdiagnozowane przyczyny słabości tej kultury, takie jak m.in. pogarszająca się sytuacja demograficzna litewskich Polaków czy zła sytuacja gospodarcza regionu, który w przeważającej większości zamieszkują. Zły stan wynika też z braku inteligencji polskiej na Litwie po II wojnie światowej oraz powolność procesu jej odradzania się. Przyczyn słabości upatruje się ponadto w etnocentryzmie tej kultury, skoncentrowaniu się na sobie i braku zainteresowania innymi grupami etnicznymi. Mimo wszystko w ostatnich latach na Wileńszczyźnie podejmowane są próby wyrwania się z ograniczeń, związanych z kulturą kresową. Została założona grupa poetycka „Nowa Awangarda Wileńska”, ukazała się powieść Cień słońca czy zbiór opowiadań Thriller po wileńsku. Jest to inne niż dotychczas zaprezentowanie polskości na Litwie.
The paper presents attitudes of Polish minority in Lithuania towards its situation and needs as a national minority living in democratising country exposed in articles from Czerwony Sztandar/Kurier Wileński (Red Banner/Vilnian Courier) between 1988–1990, being the greatest Polish language journal in Lithuania. The journal was the main and most popular Polish language medium that took the role of distributing rules and customs prevailing in democratic country. The journal’s community supported independence for Lithuania and encouraged Poles to join in for the creation of independent country. The author claims that the journal was unjustly accused by Lithuanian conservative communities of anti-lithuanian and anti-national attitudes.
During the Polish-Lithuanian Union (1385–1795) Polish nobles, clergy, merchants and townspeople were moved to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. This period was negatively assessed by the Lithuanian society because of “polonization” and anarchy. After the First World War, Poles found themselves in a difficult situation in Lithuania. The Lithuanians did not want to reunite with our country and repressed the Polish minority living in the vicinity of Vilnius. Poles were thrown out of flats, Polish schools were closed, and Polish symbols were destroyed. Oppression intensified during World War II, when Lithuania collaborated with the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, wanting to deport Poles from the Vilnius region. Despite the signing by Poland and Lithuania of the “Treaty on Friendly Relations and Good Neighborly Cooperation” in 1994, the situation of the Polish minority is still difficult. Lithuanians violate a number of our minority rights, such as the right to their own education (Article 15 of the Treaty), first and last name (Article 14), bilingual signs to short-circuit towns inhabited by the Polish minority (Article 13 paragraph 2 and Article 15), the right to participate in public life (Article 14), the prohibition of discrimination and assimilation (Article 15), religious rights (Article 13 (2), Article 14 and Article 15) and the right to have own memorial sites (art. 23).
Since the early 1990s, the process of building a national identity among Polish minorities living on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania has clearly intensified. On the one hand, new Polish media initiatives have recently appeared in the digital space, where, until recently, the Polish community has not been widely represented. The first one is Wilnoteka - a multimedia web-based application, which uses the experience and materials of the television studio in Vilnius. Apart from Wilnoteka, Infopol has had an online versions of the daily Vilnius Kurier, Vilnius weekly and Vilnius Magazine for several years. In 2012 Delfi launched the project “Polish schools in Lithuania”, which resulted in a network of Internet portals building relationships between students and teachers in the Republic of Lithuania. Radio by the Neris has been one of the main centers of Polish thought and culture in Lithuania for over twenty years. It also operates several blogs and fanpages devoted primarily to Vilnius. However, the internet does not have professional media reaching to English speaking community of Polish origin who come from the present territory of the Republic of Lithuania and who live around the world. The editors of the Polish media pay attention to the fast expansion of Russian media in Lithuania and low activity of the Polish media. Therefore, we should consider what activities should be taken by the Polish authorities in order to form right conditions for the development of Polish television in Lithuania. Moreover, the media offer should be expanded and should include historical themes, for example the analysis of the fate of the Poles worldwide after 1945.
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