LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Istorija; Joninės; Mažoji Lietuva; Politika; Politikai; Rasos; Ritualiniai metai; Užgavėnės; History; Lithuania; Lithuania Minor; Midsummer; Politics; Ritual year; Shrove.
ENAs David I. Kertzner mentioned, ritual is important in all political systems, and pointed out the many ways ritual is employed in politics. In my article, based on personal fieldwork material, manuscripts, published and internet sources, I tried to analyze how the festivals like Shrove (Lith. Užgavėnės) and Midsummer (Lith. Joninės, Rasos, Kupolės) have been useful for pursuing political goals in Lithuania during different periods: the National Revival (late 19th century), the interwar period (1918–1940), Soviet Lithuania (1940-1941; 1944–1989), and modern independent Lithuania. Analysis of the two folk festivals shows that they can acquire a political reality and embody great power in performing various tasks: fighting for national revival or independence, fighting against Christianity, creating a new pagan religion, or forming an ethnic cultural space for emigrants. But each festival can embody different possibilities for acquiring this power depending on the time, the place, the festival’s former content, and even historical memory. [From the publication]