Identity and Freedom: Mapping Nationalism and Social Criticism in Twentieth-Century Lithuania

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Identity and Freedom provides a discursive map of Lithuanian liberal nationalism by focusing on the work of three eminent Lithuanian emigre scholars - Vytautas Kavolis, Aleksandras Shtromas and Tomas Venclova. Presenting these critics of society - and also analysing the significant impact of such writers as George Orwell and Czeslaw Milosz on Lithuanian political and cultural dissent - this book elaborates on their three models of liberal nationalism as social criticism. Incorporating material that has so far only been available in Lithuanian, Polish and Russian sources, this book will be invaluable for anyone interested in Central and East European politics, culture and society.

SYNOPSIS

Though the interpretive and historical framework he constructs focuses on the Baltic country, Donskis (liberal arts, U. of Montevallo, Alabama) says it has comparative dimensions that allow researchers to view processes that are deeply inherent in central and eastern European politics and cultures. He argues that nationalism lies at the conjunction of thought and action, and so can never be located within a single political ideology or moral culture, or be represented solely by ideological or cultural movements. Distributed in the US by Taylor and Francis. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

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