The Beginning of the Lithuanian Historical Drama: Polish Sources and Lithuanian Corrections

Šio straipsnio objektas – lituanistinės lenkų romantizmo tematikos interpretacija XIX a. pabaigoje – XX a. pradžioje parašytose mėgėjiškose istorinėse lietuvių pjesėse. Dramaturginės lenkų romantizmo korekcijos analizuojamos sociokultūriniame bei psichologiniame ano laiko kontekste, taip pat kalbama apie istorinės dramos likimą mėgėjiškoje lietuvių scenoje.The subject of this article is the interpretation of the Lithuanian themes of Polish romanticism in the plays written at the end of the 19th –the beginning of the 20th century. Dramaturgical corrections of Polish romanticism are analysed within the sociocultural and psychological context of that time, also, the fate of the historical drama on the amateur Lithuanian stage is discussed. In many cases, Lithuanian historical dramaturgy in the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries absorbed Polish romanticism’s Lituanistic thematics and modified it according to the ideology of endless national pride, which was formed during the years of the uprising. The dramaturgy adapted and completely changed the not-so-positive perception of the Lithuanian, Lithuania, and its history, which was found in Polish literature. Instead of viewing Lithuania as a nostalgic, memorable concept, as suggested by Polish romantics, it adapted the pathetic persuasions regarding Lithuania’s joyful future. The image of the Lithuanian suffering from dramatic desires and far from becoming a civilized European was replaced by a brave, noble, and civilized knight impressing Europe with its physical and spiritual powers. In this way Lithuanian historic drama quasi embodied the Lithuanian society’s unreal dream of that time, which was to become a full-fledged European nation. Yet it inevitably gained a rather primitive, plain, dramatization character, based on reckless requisitions of Lithuanian heroism and not possessing any complex inner experience