Commemorating the "Living torch of freedom": searching for a usable past in Romas Kalanta's 1972 self-immolation

Collection:
Mokslo publikacijos / Scientific publications
Document Type:
Straipsnis / Article
Language:
Anglų kalba / English
Title:
Commemorating the "Living torch of freedom": searching for a usable past in Romas Kalanta's 1972 self-immolation
Authors:
Swain, Jeanne Amanda
In the Journal:
Ab Imperio. 2015, 2, p. 162-182
Subject Category:
LT
Antisovietinis pasipriešinimas / Anti-soviet movement; Romas Kalanta; 1940-1990. Lietuva okupacijų metais.
Summary / Abstract:

ENIn 1972, nineteen-year-old Romas Kalanta set himself on fire in Soviet Lithuania leaving a note saying, “only the system is responsible for my death.” Kalanta’s “dead body” was employed by the Lithuanian popular front Sąjūdis in 1989 as a powerful symbol of the nation’s oppression and suffering under Soviet rule. Just over a decade later, however, Kalanta was no longer useful as a national symbol, primarily due to the manner of his death. By 2002, Kalanta’s act of suicide discouraged rather than encouraged identification with him, and the issue of mental illness continued to taint his potential as a national hero. Instead, emphasis shifted to the street demonstrations by young people that followed his funeral. In this case, the live bodies of young people engaged in popular protest became a more powerful symbol than Kalanta, as Lithuanians claimed the moral value of civil resistance and a “Sixties” youth culture with the West. [From the publication]

DOI:
10.1353/imp.2015.0043
ISSN:
2166-4072
Subject:
Istorija / History
Related Publications:
Permalink:
https://www.lituanistika.lt/content/111570
Updated:
2024-11-11 10:40:40
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