A question to Western people. How do you feel about Lithuania. In your consciousness is it part of Western or Russian cultural zones?
Lithuania
Vytenis,
I consider Lithuania, ('Litouwen' in Dutch) to be more in the western cultural zone,it has a great history (especially in early medieval times) and strong ties to the west,as a great grain producer it was of enormous importance to northern Europe in the middle ages.It's actually a nice question because geographically the center of Europe lies in Lithuania :-)
I consider Lithuania, ('Litouwen' in Dutch) to be more in the western cultural zone,it has a great history (especially in early medieval times) and strong ties to the west,as a great grain producer it was of enormous importance to northern Europe in the middle ages.It's actually a nice question because geographically the center of Europe lies in Lithuania :-)
Yes, the problem is we have been struggliung with this identity crisis for a long time. We are like on the borderline between these two worlds and feel neither this nor that... A good example was our ex-president Paksas's impeachment processes which largely reflected the split betrween pro-western and pro-russian sentiments in the general consciousness...
The other good example was in the XIX century when Russia tried to forcibly substitute Latin alphabet for Cyryllic in the Lithuanian language. But they failed because people would not accept and read/write in Latin alphabet in secret. However, nowadays if you go to any caffe or shop in any Lithuanian town you will most often hear Russian pop music...
*substitute Latin alphabet for Cyryllic - substitute Latin alphabet WITH Cyryllic
Lithuania is Baltic! And the Baltic states are the eastern equivalent of Scandinavia!
=>And the Baltic states are the eastern equivalent of Scandinavia! <=
Culturally?! (:-)
Culturally?! (:-)
Vytenis,
I can't speak for the rest of the West, but Lithuania holds its own unique place in the consciousness of the Jewish people. Before World War II, it was considered the pinnacle of both secular culture and religious scholarship. Standard Yiddish is based on the Lithuanian dialect, and Vilnius was the home of the great sage, the Vilna Gaon. The nickname of Vilnius was "The Jerusalem of Lithuania."
The average American, however, has little recognition of what Lithuania is. Some ex-Soviet country--if they know that much.
I can't speak for the rest of the West, but Lithuania holds its own unique place in the consciousness of the Jewish people. Before World War II, it was considered the pinnacle of both secular culture and religious scholarship. Standard Yiddish is based on the Lithuanian dialect, and Vilnius was the home of the great sage, the Vilna Gaon. The nickname of Vilnius was "The Jerusalem of Lithuania."
The average American, however, has little recognition of what Lithuania is. Some ex-Soviet country--if they know that much.
=>Standard Yiddish is based on the Lithuanian dialect<=
?! But Yiddish is a Germanic language....
?! But Yiddish is a Germanic language....
I'm afraid not culturally... Estonians and Finns can be called "eastern equivalents of Scandinavia" though...
Can Lithuanian culture be compare to the bellarussian and Latvian culture?
Concerning the Jews, well it is of course quite a different story. Yiddish is a language that originally was a language of German jews. But it was spoken by Jews in Lithuania, Russia, and other parts of eastern Europe...
Sander,
To clarify, that should read: Standard Yiddish is based on the Lithuanian Yiddish dialect.
To clarify, that should read: Standard Yiddish is based on the Lithuanian Yiddish dialect.