Tradicinių kalendorinių papročių tyrimai sovietinėje Lietuvoje

LTStraipsnio tikslas - istoriniu lyginamuoju metodu pažvelgti į Lietuvos etnologijos istoriją ir profesorės Pranės Dundulienės indėlį į kalendorinių papročių tyrimus. Šiam tikslui pasitelkiami keturi uždaviniai: apibūdinti kalendorinių papročių tyrimus tarpukariu; prisiminti galimybes atlikti kalendorinių papročių tyrimus sovietmečiu; palyginti Dundulienės ir kitų etnologų kalendorinių papročių tyrimus sovietmečiu; atskleisti kalendorinių papročių sklaidą populiariuose sovietmečio leidiniuose ir etnologijos vadovėliuose. Daroma išvada, kad reikšmingus papročių tyrimus Dundulienė publikavo pačiomis nepalankiausiomis sąlygomis, o studentus mokydama suprasti papročius kaip daugelio protėvių sukauptą turtą parengė dirvą tautinio atgimimo metais pradėti naują kalendorinių papročių tyrimo etapą. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Etnologijos istorija; Etnografija; Pranė Dundulienė; Kalendoriniai papročiai; Pranė Dundulienė; Traditional calendar customs; Ethnology; Ethnography.

ENThe ethnography of the Soviet period is sometimes regarded with disdain - in that period attempts were made to wipe out the ancient calendar holidays by party decisions, thus “helping to diminish the influence of the church”. If we wish to understand the level of the research of calendar customs in the Soviet period, we must analyse what ethnologists did in this field in earlier times. The research of calendar holidays in Lithuania began later than in the neighbouring countries. The few publications by Jonas Balys, Juozas Mickevičius, Balys Buračas, Ona Vilmantienė, and Mikalojus Katkus that appeared until the first half of the 20th century were limited to local calendar customs. The conditions for the research and popularisation of traditional customs in Soviet Lithuania were deplorable; prewar questionnaires and programmes were used, and it was not until 1982 that the first ethnographic questionnaire of calendar customs was published. As it was allowed to analyse calendar customs exclusively in the context of analysis of other topics, they were addressed by folklorists, among whom Zenonas Slaviūnas and Ambraziejus Jonynas should be distinguished. Only the ethnologists who had emigrated to the West could undertake more thorough research. The author of the first larger survey of calendar customs was Angelė Vyšniauskaitė, who wrote a subchapter on traditional holidays in the first academic ethnological publication Some Features of Lithuanian Ethnography, which appeared in 1964.The first publication by Pranė Dundulienė (about the sashes of Marcinkonys environs) came out in 1938. In 1940-1942 seven publications about the customs, divinations, superstitions, and the ethnographic issues in the Vilnius region appeared in the magazine Gimtasai kraštas. In 1954 the theses of a candidate’s (today, doctoral) dissertation titled “Agriculture in the Period of Feudalism” were published. After the dissertation was submitted, more publications appeared. In a large book Agriculture in Lithuania published in 1963, much attention was dedicated to agricultural customs. The customs of the life cycle, community, and some calendar customs were addressed in the article“Home Cult in Lithuania”in 1964. Dunduliene s fundamental turn to the research of customs took place in 1968, when she defended a doctor’s (today, habilitated doctor’s) dissertation.The professor’s title that she was conferred several years later allowed her to address the topic of customs, which was rather difficult at that time. From 1969 to 1972 she published quite many popular and scholarly articles and studies about calendar customs. The largest book dedicated to calendar and agrarian customs to date, Lithuanian Calendar and Agrarian Customs, appeared in 1979, when Vilnius University celebrated its 400th anniversary. After the anniversary, the number of publications grew enormously. Books on the symbols of the grass snake, tree, bird, fire, heavenly bodies, and bread, as well as surveys on religion and mythology were published.However, the first textbook of ethnology for students titled Lithuanian Ethnography was the most significant publication popularising customs. It presented a wider range of holidays than was given in the monograph on calendar and agrarian holidays; Christian holidays were more clearly distinguished, and traditional calendar customs were discussed. While teaching her students to understand customs as a rich storehouse amassed by many generations, professor Dundulienė prepared the soil for a new stage of research of calendar holidays, which began in the years of national revival. [From the publication]