POSITIVISM and LITHUANIAN PROSE (The Second Half of the 19Th Century)

VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY Giedrius Židonis POSITIVISM AND LITHUANIAN PROSE (The second half of the 19th Century) Summary of Doctoral Dissertation Humanities, Philology (04 H) Kaunas, 2009 This doctoral dissertation was prepared at the Vytautas Magnus University from 1999 to 2008. The dissertation will be defended according to the protocol for external doctorates. Academic Consultant: Prof. Dr. Irena Buckley (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, Philology – 04 H) The Dissertation will be defended before the Council of Philological Sciences of Vytautas Magnus University: Chairperson: Prof. Dr. Danguolė Mikulėnienė (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, Philology – 04 H) Members: Prof. Habil. Dr. Egidijus Aleksandravičius (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History – 05 H) Doc. Dr. Dainora Abukevičienė-Pociūtė (Vilnius University, Humanities, Philology – 04 H) Doc. Dr. Indrė Žakevičienė (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, Philology – 04 H) Doc. Dr. Rūta Brūzgienė (The Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, Humanities, Philology – 04 H) Oponents: Prof. Habil. Dr. Virginija Šlekienė-Balsevičiūtė (Vilnius Pedagogical University, Humanities, Philology – 04 H) Doc. Dr. Džiuljeta Maskuliūnienė (Siauliai University, Humanities, Philology – 04 H) The dissertation will be defended at a public meeting of the Council of Philological Sciences, in the Marija Gimbutienė hall (room 211) of Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Humanities at 11 a. m. on February 13, 2009. Address: K. Donelaičio 52, LT–44244 Kaunas, Lithuania The summary of the doctoral dissertation was sent out on January 12, 2009. Those interested may acquaint themselves with the doctoral dissertation at the Lithuanian National Martynas Mažvydas library and at the libraries of Vytautas Magnus University and the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore. VYTAUTO DIDŽIOJO UNIVERSITETAS Giedrius Židonis POZITYVIZMAS IR LIETUVIŲ PROZA (XIX amžiaus antroji pusė) Daktaro disertacijos santrauka Humanitariniai mokslai, filologija (04 H) Kaunas, 2009 Disertacija rengta 1999–2008 metais Vytauto Didžiojo universitete. Disertacija ginama eksternu. Mokslinis konsultantas: prof. dr. Irena Buckley (Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, filologija – 04 H) Disertacija ginama Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto Humanitarinių mokslų krypties taryboje: Pirmininkas: prof. dr. Danguolė Mikulėnienė (Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, filologija – 04 H) Nariai: prof. habil. dr. Egidijus Aleksandravičius (Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija – 05 H) doc. dr. Dainora Abukevičienė-Pociūtė (Vilniaus universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, filologija – 04 H) doc. dr. Indrė Žakevičienė (Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, filologija – 04 H) doc. dr. Rūta Brūzgienė (Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos institutas, humanitariniai mokslai, filologija – 04 H) Oponentai: prof. habil. dr. Virginija Šlekienė-Balsevičiūtė (Vilniaus pedagoginis universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, filologija – 04 H) doc. dr. Džiuljeta Maskuliūnienė (Šiaulių universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, filologija – 04 H) Disertacija bus ginama viešame Humanitarinių mokslų krypties tarybos posėdyje 2009 m. vasario 13 d. 11 val. Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto Humanitarinių moklsų fakultete, Marijos Gimbutienės auditorijoje (211 kab.). Adresas: K. Donelaičio g. 52, LT–44244 Kaunas, Lietuva Disertacijos santrauka išsiuntinėta 2009 m. sausio 12 d. Disertaciją galima peržiūrėti Lietuvos nacionalinėje Martyno Mažvydo bibliotekoje, taip pat Vytauto Didžiojo universiteto ir Lietuvių literatūros ir tautosakos instituto bibliotekose. INTRODUCTION The Urgency of the Problem. Positivism is a philosophical system and a worldview which defined almost the entire middle and end of the nineteenth century in the spiritual and cultural life of Western Europe. It reached Lithuania through Russian and Polish universities where Lithuanian students were studying. This worldview had already been interpreted and modified to fit local conditions, so it was not difficult to adjust to the cultural conditions of Lithuania, especially from the Polish interpretation. However, while in Poland positivist concepts, which had been introduced by Auguste Comte, and popularised by Herbert Spencer and his other followers, were being were being analysed and discussed among the intelligentsia, and while separate positivist schools were being created, in Lithuania, positivism was realised not in philosophical writings, but indirectly in publicistic writings, in fictional literature and its criticism, and in popular science. The active political positivist slogan in Czarist Russia “work for the people / the homeland” (or for “the homeland / the people”) was not entwined in academic interpretation, but interpreted in the more narrow practical sense, and crystallised as what was called “practical” (or “everyday”) positivism. The attention of the cultural worker was first directed to national literature and the creation of theatres, so the field of philosophy, or at least the question of philosophical interpretation was somewhat neglected. Lithuanian Positivism, not having a philosophic foundation and maturing sporadically without any firm guidance, often (especially between the wars) gave rise to the dilemma of the concept of other, both when speaking about separate authors, and in general about Lithuanian positivism. In post-war Lithuania, positivism was interpreted as a liberal bourgeois philosophy, so its analysis was pushed to the fringes of cultural studies. Because of these aforementioned conditions, which were not conducive to the study of positivism, the term positivism was not used, unless as a reference, or as part of a broader category. Even today, there have been no separate studies or monographs published, which were dedicated to Lithuanian positivism. This dissertation will attempt to fill that gap in the study of Lithuanian literature. This dissertation will attempt to present the foundations of the positivist philosophy and worldview. It will also attempt to show the spread of Lithuanian positivism in the context of the dominant positivism of Russia and Poland, and to thoroughly examine the exploration and interpretation of positivism in the mind of 5 Lithuanian fictional literary criticism. This study raises the question as to whether one can in general speak of the adoption of certain models of literature from didactic literature to positivist literature. Aside from discussing different time periods and different literary styles of the nineteenth century (the beginning of Lithuanian didactic literature, while the Lithuanian Cultural Renaissance was still in its embryonic stage; the maturation of didactic literature and the beginning of the Lithuanian Cultural Renaissance; and positivist literature as well as Lithuania's Cultural Renaissance in full force) this work also discusses the pieces having the characteristics of the positivist literature written during the prohibition of the press. The work will also attempt to explain what positivist personalities were significant during the second half of the nineteenth century, and to what professional and social groups these people belonged, along with reconstructing their aesthetic positivist program. The Exploration of the Problem. There have been many references by various literary critics to positivism, or more specifically, to the effects of positivism on the Lithuanian writers during the second half of the nineteenth century, but most of these have been only brief mentions. The term Positivism began being used more widely with Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas,1 after beginning the discussion (especially during the inter- war period) about the influence of Polish writers on Vincas Kudirka. The positivist worldview, until today, has been mostly associated with the social activism of Kudirka, and with his publicistic writings. Other writers are only mentioned episodically. It would be necessary to note Janina Žėkaitė's monograph “Šatrijos Ragana” (The Witch of Shatria)2, as an exception, where the author speaks of the connection between the writer, who was a “most passionate defender of positivism,” and the utilitarian ethics of her fictional works. Several more theoretical works for the analysis of positivist aesthetics appeared in the third and fourth decades of the twentieth century: Juozas Eretas's article Hippolyte Taine's ‘Philosophy of Art’ in the magazine, Logos3, Julijonas Lindė-Dobilas's polemic 1 Tumas-Vaižgantas Juozas [Doc. J. Tumas], „Vincas Kudirka – Vincas Kapsas“ // Varpas (Vinco Kudirkos jubilėjinis numeris), 1924, lapkritis, p. 3–44. 2 Žėkaitė Janina, Šatrijos Ragana, Vilnius: Vaga, 1984. 3 Eretas Juozas [Dr. J. Eretas], „Hippolyte’o Taine’o ‘Meno Filosofija’“ // Logos, 1929, Nr. 1, Kaunas, p. 17–56. 6 study “Has Taine Grown Old?”4 as well as published translations in to the Lithuanian language of Hippolyte Taine's Philosophy of Art5. More attention was given to the beginning of the spread of positivism in Lithuania (Juozas Lebionka6; Bronius Genzelis7; Leonas Mulevičius8; and Jerzy Ochmański9), and there were attempts to distinguish separate positivist groups of writers (Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas10; Juozas Girdzijauskas11; and Jerzy Ochmański12). The only broader discussion of the question of positivism in Lithuania was Algimantas Radzevičius's13 polemic reaction to the accurate and concise description of positivism in Vytautas Vanagas's study14 on realism in Lithuanian literature. Until now

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