Stovėję po medžiu? Lietuvių inteligentijos elgesio strategijos sovietmečiu

LTŠi knyga – dar vien pliauska į liepsnojantį diskusijų apie sovietmetį ir inteligentijos vaidmenį tuomet laužą. Ar iš tiesų sovietiniai inteligentai buvo be prošvaisčių konformizmo liūne įklimpę prisitaikėliai? Kas skatino ir kas stabdė inteligentų prisitaikymą? Kokias formas jis įgijo? Kaip su konformizmu buvo susijusios įvairios oponavimo sovietinei santvarkai formos? Ar prisitaikymas reiškia pasidavimą ir susitaikymą? Kaip sovietmečiu veikė visuomenės nuomonė ir kaip ji buvo formuojama? Koks buvo jos santykis su valstybės kontroliuota viešąja erdve? Kaip ir kada Lietuvoje susiformavo Ezopo kalba? Kokie požiūriai į prisitaikymą ir pasipriešinimą egzistavo sovietmečiu? Knygoje ieškoma atsakymų į šiuos ir daugelį kitų klausimų. [Anotacija knygoje]

ENThis book presents a unique biography of the Lithuanian intelligentsia (at the same time - of Soviet Lithuanian culture and society), conveyed through the prism of their relationship with compliance. Thus, I seek to analyse and discuss the general trends in positions, behaviour and provisions upheld by the intelligentsia and their behaviour strategies in the Soviet era, working out the reasons and circumstances under which all of this took place, and to show the outcomes of this kind of behaviour on the intelligentsia itself and society overall. In this book, there is a comprehensive analysis of the intelligentsia’s responses to pressure from the state and the impact of that pressure on its behaviour. The main theme of the book is compliance (and conformity). It was the dominant feature in the behaviour of the intelligentsia (as well as other groups in society). By understanding conformism as one of the fundamentals of human behaviour and one of the tension-inducing elements of social life, I also highlight other behaviour strategies and the relationships between them. A lot of attention is dedicated to the various activities of the opposition, while also constantly underlining the tension between such activities and degrees of compliance, analysing their outcomes in the social life of the intelligentsia and society. In addition, quite a lot of attention is given to the most important characteristics of the intelligentsia as a unique social group (their values, internal informal communication, the discourses and narratives sustained within) and its relationship with the rest of society.The book is essentially limited to the Lithuanian intelligentsia. Also, it is predominantly the humanitarian intelligentsia that is analysed, while also reconstructing what a unique “ideal” member of the Soviet era intelligentsia would have been like, analysing how actual representatives of the intelligentsia related to this kind of ideal. Attention often turns to that part of the Soviet cultural elite and intelligentsia about whom a lot of information survived, and which most closely correlated with the ideal intelligentsia-type person, their activities and provisions. Therefore, the object of this research is the moral community of the intelligentsia who shared similar values and ideals, whose activities and provisions best matched the “ideal type” of Lithuanian intelligentsia representatives and thus dominated among the intelligentsia and in society. This type can be defined by the following most important characteristics: a sense of obligation to the nation and nationhood, a sense of personal accountability for their fate; a firm belief in affecting reality oneself, to improve it, sometimes growing into messianism; concern over social issues arising from common public interest denominators (social, cultural, political and economic), and their evaluation through the prism of morals. The nomenklatura element of the intelligentsia, or individuals who held high positions in the Soviet administration, are left out of this research because their behaviour strategies differed to those prevailing among the intelligentsia. Also, less attention is paid to generational differences, although they are discussed in the book - even in the behaviour of the youngest generation, we do find the influence of dominant behavioural strategies and their substantiation, albeit somewhat weaker compared to the older generations. [From the publication]