Paper short abstract:

The presentation takes the feast of Shrove as an case to show how Christian festival may be used for ideological purposes and become socialistic or even the one uniting Lithuanians all around the world.

Paper long abstract:

The presentation takes the feast of Shrove as an case to show how Christian festival may be used for ideological purposes.

Shrove is the distinct agricultural festival in traditional Lithuanian calendar cycle. It had relatively weak ties with Christianity. On the other hand, it was the feast when religious Catholic or Orthodox youth could have a decent meal and entertainment before the fast of the Lent period. In the beginning of the Soviet occupation this festival was forbidden in Lithuania. For instance, even cooking pancakes on the day of Shrove in 1950 finished in punishment. However, in 1959 a soviet methodological issue for the celebration of Shrove in all Lithuania was published. It dealt with the recommendable script of the festival in which elements of traditional festival in Western Lithuania predominated. Shrove became a festival of Expulsion of Winter. In fact, the time of the festival was rescheduled into the period of Lent in the hope that it would help to combat against religiousness. From 1960 to 1985, when even popular articles dealing with traditional festivals were not tolerated, Shrove was an exception. After 1990, when traditional festivals were being revived, Shrove experienced little changes only, i.e. it hardly acquired traditional attributes of the particular part of the country. During mass emigration in the beginning of the 21th century "Lithuanian Shrove" also spread due to ethnic identity embodied in the festival. Recently Shrove has been celebrated by Lithuanian emigrants in Great Britain, Spain, USA etc.