Viktorija Jonkutė (Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore)
At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, Lithuania and Latvia re-actualised the regional (geo)political and cultural Baltic model. After the declaration of independence, new forms of Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian unity were sought to replace the Baltic concept imposed by the Soviet era. The inter-war Baltoscandian ideas were also revisited. The cultural press supported these initiatives, introducing readers to a cultural Baltic space. Cooperation with Estonian writers was expanded: translations of their works, interviews and other types of texts were published. Such columns as “Along the Baltic” appeared in the journal Pergale, and “In the Baltic Space” in Karogs. It is also very useful to compare separately the reflections of the two linguistically and ethno-culturally related, neighbouring peoples, the Lithuanians and Latvians. In dramatic circumstances, they have always maintained closer ties than usual. During the period of revival, Lithuanian and Latvian unity societies were re-established, literary relations between the two peoples were intensified, cultural exchanges were intensified, and the learning of the related Baltic language and other forms of cooperation were encouraged. The number of initiatives and commemorative texts on the unity of these peoples increased especially after the declaration of Lithuania’s independence and after 13 January 1991: rallies in support of the Lithuanians were organised in Latvia and in the Latvian diaspora, donations were collected for the “brothers’ nation” during the blockade, and the idea of the unity of the Lithuanians and the Latvians and the revival of the Baltic culture were discussed at scientific and cultural events. Particularly influential were the prestigious literary periodicals published in large print by the Writers’ Union already in the Soviet era, which were supervised by the censors: the weekly Literatūra ir menas, the monthly Pergalė (from 1991 – Metai), and the similarly named Latvian weekly Literatūra un Māksla and monthly Karogs (Flag). These were complemented by more liberal, later cultural press and literary texts. The aim of the presentation is to briefly discuss the more important poetic texts on the Baltic theme and the figures of the Baltic memory that have dominated the cultural press, which allow highlighting the contours of the (re)constructed Baltic identity and the fragments of the common memory of Lithuanians and Latvians.