Cultural territorialization: The case of Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Abstract

The article deals with the dialectics of territorialization, deterritorialization and reterritorialization in the context of cultural regionalistics. The author shows how changing the roles between these modes of terra dynamics influences the becoming of culture interpreted as existential creation. Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) has been used as the case for the development of these ideas in the paper. According to the author, we deal with the polyphonic process of territorialization while the physical aspect serves as a background for cultural deterritorialization and vice versa. The perspective of cultural regionalistics presupposes an existential approach (culture as existential creation), as well as border discourse, while border has been interpreted as cultural phenomenon to be cultivated by both an individual and the nation. The major thesis is the following: the very dynamism of life‐world's borders follows from human existential creativity, the source of which is being towards death. The minor thesis: a nation is alive as a terra for individual (re)birth while he (she) creates the future community by his (her) activity. The author presents two kinds of communication during territorialization: horizontal, which deals with realization of a utopia, and vertical, which deals with the myths of the nation's past. The change of roles between different aspects of human terra signifies not linear multi‐layered development of culture as a fight for creative space or existential territory. According to the author, reterritorialization presupposes a temporal aspect, which regards all three modes because of dialectics between them. Historical images have been used in our political terra and, vice versa, historical terrae have been understood in political perspective.

Santrauka

Straipsnyje pletojama iteritorinimo, išteritorinimo ir atiteritorinimo dialektika kultūrines regionalistikos kontekste. Autorius parodo, kaip šie terra dinamikos modusai, keisdamiesi vaidmenimis, veikia kultūros kaip egzistencines kūrybos tapsma. Pletojant šias idejas pasitelkiamas Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystes (LDK) atvejis. Pasak autoriaus, turime reikala su polifoniniu iteritorinimo procesu, kai fizinis aspektas yra kaip kultūrinio išteritorinimo fonas, ir atvirkščiai. Kultūrines regionalistikos perspektyva suponuoja egzistencini požiūri (kultūra kaip egzistencine kūryba) ir ribu diskursa, riba interpretuojant kaip kultūros reiškini, kultivuotina tiek individo, tiek tautos. Didžioji teze: gyvenamojo pasaulio ribu dinamika seka iš žmogaus egzistencinio kūrybingumo, kurio šaltinis – būtis myriop. Mažoji teze: tauta gyva kaip terra individualiam (at)gimimui, individui kuriant būsima bendrija savo veiklai. Autorius pristato dvejopa komunikacija iteritorinimo metu: horizontalia, kuri turi reikala su utopijos igyvendinimu, ir vertikalia, kuri turi reikala su tautos praeities mitais. Vaidmenu kaita tarp skirtingu žmogaus terra aspektu žymi kultūros kaip kovos už kūrybine erdve ir egzistencine teritorija nelinijine daugiasluoksne raida. Pasak autoriaus, atiteritorinimas suponuoja laikini aspekta, kuris apima visus tris modusus del ju dialektikos. Istoriniai vaizdiniai vartojami mūsu politineje terra ir, atvirkščiai, istorines terrae suprantamos politineje perspektyvoje.

Keywords:

• borders
• cultural territory
• existential creativity
• historical images
• modes of territorialization

Reikšminiai žodžiai::

• iteritorinimo modusai
• kultūrine teritorija
• istoriniai ivaizdžiai
• ribos
• egzistencine kūryba

Notes

The preparing of the article has been supported by COST Action IS0803.