Memory, identity, and schooling: diverging and overlapping narratives about World War II and its outcomes at the schools with Russian as the language of instruction in Lithuania

ABSTRACT

This article discusses how different narratives and interpretations of the Second World War and its outcomes for the Baltic states are negotiated and managed at schools with Russian as the language of instruction in Lithuania. In particular, the article focuses on the ways public (official) and private (family) stories of history interrelate in the school sector and on the roles self-attributed by teachers in managing this public-private divide in teaching history. The empirical data are derived from qualitative fieldwork in schools with Russian as the language of instruction in multi-ethnic urban centers of Lithuania.

KEYWORDS:

• Schools with Russian-language instruction
• teaching history
• 9 May
• official history
• family memories
• Lithuania

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant (LIP-031/2016) from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The interviews were also conducted at schools with Lithuanian as the language of instruction; however, these remain outside the scope of this article and are referred to only for a broader context on schooling.

2. See, for example, articles on these commemorations in the mass media: (Saldžiūnas 2018; Vainorius 2018).

3. All names have been changed to protect anonymity.

4. I refer to the approximate age of the informants based on interview material and information available publicly. The language of interview in most cases indicates the ethnic belonging of the informant. Some informants indicated that they have hybrid identities.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Lietuvos Mokslo Taryba (LMTLT) (No.LIP-031/2016).

Notes on contributors

Kristina Šliavaitė

Kristina Šliavaitė currently works as a senior researcher at the Institute of Ethnic Studies at the Lithuanian Social Research Center in Vilnius. Her research interests focus on ethnic identities, inter-ethnic relations in multi-ethnic regions of Lithuania, equal opportunities and schooling.