Lithuanian daily "Vilniaus žinios" (1904-1909): a national positivist programme

Straipsnyje nagrinėjami pirmojo legalaus Lietuvoje leisto lietuvių dienraščio „Vilniaus žinios“ (1904–1909) programos ir turinio klausimai, tautinės pozityvistinės apraiškos ir lietuvybės aktualijos. Įvertinamos „Vilniaus žinių“ leidėjo Petro Vileišio politinės ir socialinės pažiūros, po 1863–1864 m. sukilimo Lenkijoje ir Lietuvoje plitusi pozityvizmo ir „organinio darbo“ rezistencinė programinė nuostata. Straipsnyje empirinė medžiaga nagrinėjama etnologiniu požiūriu.The empirical basis of the research is the articles and news items from Vilniaus žinios, the first legal Lithuanian daily newspaper, issued in Lithuania between 10 December 1904 and 4 (17) March 1909, which discussed ideas relevant to Lithuanian society at the time, and the ‘social fermentation of Lithuanians’, the memoirs of contributors to and contemporaries of the periodical that were published in the first half of the 20th century, and Petras Vileišis’ autobiographical writings. The material and the historical circumstances are analysed from an ethnological point of view. In historiography and the memoirs of contemporaries, it is emphasised that Vilniaus žinios (1904–1909), had no clear-cut political views, and was open to a wide range of trends that were forming in Lithuanian society at that time. To an extent, this explains the newspaper’s subsequent failures. The article aims to reexamine the programme and content of Vilniaus žinios, and its relevant national issues. It notes that the direction of the daily was framed in a statement in Vilniaus žinios on 9 November 1904, repeated in editorials and supported by the editorial staff. At its heart lie concern with the nation’s education, well-being and happiness. This means the work for and with society, activities in a national-democratic direction, pursuing the welfare of the nation through cultural evolution rather than revolution, and through education, which is believed to lead towards culture and the well-being of the people, restraining from membership of any party, and yet respecting the views of each and every party. The article states that the direction of the newspaper was framed by Petras Vileišis, its officially approved publisher and editor. Vileišis was an advocate of the national program of positivism and ‘organic work’, and a proponent of the liberal trend, which after the January Uprising (1863–1864) established itself in the landscape of Polish and Lithuanian political thought. Legal action, work and realistic ‘small politics’ were at the heart of its struggle for independence. The articles published in Vilniaus žinios reveal how this direction was followed in promoting and implementing educational and civilisational progress, and economic development, strengthening the position of the Lithuanian language in public life, promoting social unity among Lithuanians, and developing cultural literacy. The article also dwells on specific issues of the national agenda, which in the newspaper are presented as objects of the daily life: Lithuanian schools, reading rooms, Lithuanian books and newspapers, co-operative shops and dairy plants, Lithuanian evenings, songs and theatre. They are the strategic images that represent innovation, change, modernisation, and the direction of national activity