The Neo-pagan movement in Post-Soviet Lithuania – constructing an alternative Lithuanian identity as a response to the conditions of modernity?

This article focuses on the analysis of those main constituent elements of the common discourse of the Neo-pagan movement in post-soviet Lithuania trough which we can grasp an understanding of Lithuanianess constructed in that movement. First, an analysis is provided of how Lithuanian neo-pagans construct their understanding about Lithuanianess trough their interpretation of traditional Lithuanian culture and the construction of neo-pagan belief. Second, suggestions are made as to what that understanding can tell us about the reasons why the movement exists in contemporary Lithuania and what is its meaning considering the wider context of post-soviet Lithuanian society and culture. In the article the author takes the view that ethnicity and nationalism, or to be more specific, national identity, is socially constructed and is not a natural given (Eriksen 1993: 69; see also Smith 1984; Smith 1994; Brubaker 1998; Lindholm 1993). In the contemporary modern world, ideas about ethnicity and nationalism are often employed by different social-cultural groups as a powerful strategy to ground their aspirations and goals. It enables them to claim a legitimacy and authenticity for their identity. Lithuanian neo-pagans do this in their own way.[...]Vytauto Didžiojo universiteta