Paper Short Abstract:

This report presents an analysis of ethnographic data from press publications of Lithuanian youth in the Vilnius region between 1926 and 1939. These data are juxtaposed with the results of my own ethnographic fieldwork in the area, which aimed to identify the ritual year of the period.

Paper Abstract:

This report presents an analysis of ethnographic data from press publications of Lithuanian youth in the Vilnius region between 1926 and 1939. These data are juxtaposed with the results of my own ethnographic fieldwork in the area, which aimed to identify the ritual year of the period.

The largest number of publications devoted to calendar holidays can be found in the magazine “Jaunimo draugas” (145 issues), 47 one-off publications were used, ethnographic data is also provided by the magazine “Jaunimo kelias” (16 issues). The fieldwork material was collected between 1988 and 2012 through interviews with local informants (over 150 respondents). The data was then mapped, which facilitated an understanding of the regional specificity of the rituals under study.

The principal objective of examined press was to ensure the continued existence of an ethnic identity among young Lithuanians. However publications presented more customs from Western countries than from Lithuania or the Vilnius region. And folk beliefs related to holidays are often viewed with light ridicule, and the most archaic rituals are not even mentioned. A review of Lithuanian youth periodical press on the ritual year in the Vilnius region indicates a greater emphasis on modernising these traditions than on preserving the folk customs that have developed in this region. This situation will be subjected to detailed analysis in my report.