Etnologijos (etnografijos) ištakos ir valstiečio atradimas Lietuvoje XVIII a. pabaigoje - XIX a. pradžioje

LTTeigiama, kad etnologijos ir antropologijos ištakos glūdi Apšvietoje – mokslo ir švietimo, moralės ir priežasties, visuomenės reformų ir ekonominės techninės pažangos epochoje, Lietuvai ypatingoje intelektiniu pakilimu ir politinių bei socialinių įvykių dramatiškumu. XVIII a. pabaigoje - XIX a. pradžioje čia, kaip ir Lenkijoje, Skandinavijoje ir kitur, kilęs domėjimasis savo kraštu ir tautos istorija, kaimo liaudimi ir jos papročiais, kalba, tautosaka, mitologija tapo nauju episteminiu interesu, kultūrinius reiškinius sureikšminusiu mokslo lygmeniu. Taip buvo įprasmintas ir kitoks santykis su valstiečiu ir valstietija nei įprasta luominėje visuomenėje. Šiame straipsnyje nagrinėjamos aplinkybės, idėjos ir praktikos, paskatinusios Lietuvoje susidomėjimą etnografija ir etnografinio pobūdžio žiniomis ir atradusios „valstietį“ kaip mokslinio tyrimo objektą ir vietinį „kitą“. Laikomasi Apšvietos epochos škotų geologo Jameso Huttono minties, kad egzistuoja esminė skirtis tarp žmogaus, stebinčio moksliškai, ir žmogaus, stebinčio įprastai (Gow 2009). Šie du stebėjimo veiksmai žymi dvi metodologiniu požiūriu skirtingas reiškinio pažinimo prieigas ir brėžia euristinę skirties ribą tarp dviejų to paties reiškinio interpretacijų. Straipsnis pagrįstas XVIII a. pabaigoje ir XIX a. pradžioje bei pirmojoje pusėje Vilniuje leistų mokslinių ir mokslo žinias populiarinančių leidinių analize. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Antropologija; Antropologinis požiūris; Apšvieta; Apšvietos idėjos; Dziennik Wilenski; Etnografija; Etnologija; Kaimiški vaizdiniai; Liaudies papročiai; Tygodnik Wilenski; Valstietis; Vilniaus universitetas (VU; Vilnius University); Anthropological approach; Anthropology; Dziennik Wilenski; Enlightenment; Enlightenment ideas; Ethnography; Ethnology; Folk customs; Peasant; Rural image; Tygodnik Wilenski.

ENIntellectual foundations of ethnology and anthropology in Europe have their roots in the Enlightenment era – the era of science, education and morality, reason and rationality, humanistic and social thought. This was a time when an ambitious project of universal history and theories of human nature conflated with the experiences of cultural variability, and the beginnings of systematic comparative study of culture. However, it is a discovery of otherness in the Enlightenment that grounds the intellectual polemics of anthropology with its underlying idea "that it is essential to understand others if we are to understand the world, human society, and ultimately ourselves" (Launy 2010:1). The Enlightenment reached Lithuania rather late - in the middle of 18th c. (not mention the first influences in early 18th c). But its ideas gained a far-stretching response there. The drama of loss of the statehood, and an urgent need for economic, social and intellectual reconstruction of society was the space where Enlightenment ideas were developed into locally significant concepts and projects that responded to economic, social and political actualities. Another important aspect is that in Lithuania and Poland the project of universal history took the shape of the study of history of one's own country and nation. There, as well as in Scandinavia, or Middle and East Europe – the countries without colonial past – ethnographic curiosity was directed toward studies of local folk customs and traditions. Peasant folk songs, tales and legends, ceremonies and customs, clothing and musical instruments, houses and crafts were considered to have a scientific value because "they represented cultural specificity and illustrated evolutionary stages of a nation".Thus, under the quest for scientific knowledge the "peasant" who was familiar and lived nearby since long ago was discovered as a stranger and the "other". His daily life and doings were given incredible value for understanding the nation's history and character. The article deals with the conditions, ideas and practices under which the scholarly interest in ethnography and ethnology emerged in Lithuania, and discusses the ways in which the "peasant" and his knowledge were discovered as an object of study. For that, it utilises James Hutton's – a Scottish geologist of the Enlightenment era – idea that there lies an essential line of distinction between "a man of scientific observation" and "a man of common observation" (from Gow 2009). Empirically, the article is based on the analyses of scientific books and periodicals that were published in Vilnius in the late 18th and early 19th c. This includes academic publications of professors and students of Vilnius University and the volumes of two journals "Dziennik Wileński" and "Tygodnik Wileński". The article emphasises that scientific curiosity, stretching into Lithuania since the Enlightenment era, as well as political and economic significance of a peasantry project, developed under the influence of physiocratism, contributed to localising the ethnographic concerns in domestic matters. This is the historical context in which Lithuanian ethnology emerged with its scholarly interest in local studies and peasant culture. [From the publication]