Discursive construction of Lithuania’s “others:” the case of Belarus

Abstract

This article analyzes discursive representations of Lithuania and of Belarus as Lithuania’s “Other” in the context of the recent political crisis in Ukraine. Focusing on the media discourse of Lithuanian intellectuals regarding the historical Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) and its legacy, it examines how Belarus and its role vis-à-vis Lithuania have been depicted. The analysis is informed by the discourse-historical approach within critical discourse analysis, using thematic content and argumentation schemes for studying the images ascribed to the GDL, Belarus, and Lithuania in the selected texts. Focus in the discourse of intellectuals on the GDL as a historical homeland is found to shift from history as a scholarly endeavor to the politics of history and the uses of the past in today’s political projects. Belarus and the GDL emerge as topics not only historically and politically salient but also potentially dangerous for Lithuania within the setting of the events in Ukraine.

Keywords:

• national identity
• discourse analysis
• Lithuania
• Belarus
• Grand Duchy of Lithuania
• Ukraine crisis

Acknowledgements

I thank François Allix, Christine Myrdal Lukash, Pål Kolstø, and the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the earlier versions of this article.

Notes

1. As reported by respondents themselves.

2. For an extensive overview of various approaches within critical discourse analysis, see Wodak and Meyer (2009) and Hart and Cap (2014).

3. Online versions of the print press were chosen to find texts that were accessible not only in print but also to wider audiences.

4. My translation of all examples from Lithuanian to English.

5. Dailies: national (Lietuvos rytas http://www.lrytas.lt/, Respublika http://respublika.lt/, Lietuvos žinios http://lzinios.lt/lzinios/index.php) and regional (Kauno diena http://kauno.diena.lt/, Šiaulių kraštas http://skrastas.lt/, Klaipėda http://klaipeda.diena.lt/, Vakarų ekspresas http://www.ve.lt/). Weeklies: national (Veidas http://www.veidas.lt/) and regional (15 minučių http://www.15min.lt/). Web dailies Delfi http://www.delfi.lt/, Bernardinai http://www.bernardinai.lt/, Balsas http://balsas.tv3.lt/, Alfa http://alfa.lt/.

6. Vytis (Паго´ня in Belarusian) was also the coat-of-arms of the Republic of Belarus, 1991–1995.

7. On the operationalization of “topos” as a content-related concept, see Reisigl (2014).

8. Mindaugas (ca. 1203–1263) was among the first known grand dukes of the GDL and the only king of Lithuania.

9. Navahraduk is a city in Belarus.

10. The Union of Lublin signed in Lublin, Poland, in 1569, created the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

11. “Ruthenian” is used in the texts in referring to the GDL population living in the territories of present-day Belarus and Ukraine.

12. Gediminas (ca. 1275–1341) was grand duke of the GDL.

13. Algirdas (1296–1377) was grand duke of the GDL.

14. Vitebsk is a city in Belarus.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Marie Curie Initial Training Network under the 7th European Community Framework Programme [grant number FP7-PEOPLE-2012-ITN-316825].