The construction of the social role of women in public discourse in mid-19th – early 20th-century Lithuania ; Moters socialinio vaidmens konstravimas viešajame diskurse XIX a. vidurio–XX a. pradžios Lietuvoje

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VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY THE INSTITUTE OF LITHUANIAN HISTORY Jurga MIKNYTö THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SOCIAL ROLE OF WOMEN IN PUBLIC DISCOURSE TH THIN MID-19 – EARLY 20 -CENTURY LITHUANIA Summary of Doctoral Dissertation Humanities, history (05 H) Kaunas, 2009 The Dissertation was prepared in the period of 2005–2009 at Vytautas Magnus University The doctoral study license is granted to Vytautas Magnus Univeristy together with the Institute of Lithuanian History by resoliution No. 926 of the Government of Republic of Lithuania on the 15th of July, 2003 Scientific supervisor: doc. dr. Saulius Pivoras (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History – 05H) The dissertation will be defended at the Council of History, field of Humanities, of Vytautas Magnus University and the Institute of Lithuanian History: Chairman doc. dr. Andžejus Pukšto (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History – 05 H) Members: prof. dr. Irena Buckley (Vytautas Magnus Univeristy, Humanities, Philology – 04H) doc. dr. Silva Pocyt÷ (Klaip÷da University, Humanities, History – 05 H) dr. Brigita Speičyt÷ (Vilnius University, Humanities, Philology – 04 H) doc. dr. Vladas Sirutavičius (Institute of Lithuanian History, Humanities, History – 05 H) Oponents: prof. habil. dr. Egidijus Aleksandravičius (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History – 05 H) doc. dr.

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• Discourse
• HIStory
• Role
• Woman

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• Publié par: vytautas_magnus_university
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 78
• Langue: English

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VYTAUTAS MAGNUS UNIVERSITY THE INSTITUTE OF LITHUANIAN HISTORY           Jurga MIKNYTö         THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SOCIAL ROLE OF WOMEN IN PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN MID-19 TH – EARLY 20 TH -CENTURY LITHUANIA       Summary of Doctoral Dissertation Humanities, history (05 H)                       Kaunas, 2009

The Dissertation was prepared in the period of 2005–2009 at Vytautas Magnus University   The doctoral study license is granted to Vytautas Magnus Univeristy together with the Institute of Lithuanian History by resoliution No. 926 of the Government of Republic of Lithuania on the 15th of July, 2003   Scientific supervisor: doc. dr. Saulius Pivoras (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History – 05H)   The dissertation will be defended at the Council of History, field of Humanities, of Vytautas Magnus University and the Institute of Lithuanian History:   Chairman doc. dr. Andejus Pukšto (Vytautas Magnus Universiyt, Humanities, History – 05  H)   Members: prof. dr. Irena Buckley (Vytautas Magnus Univeristy, Humanities, Philology – 04H) doc. dr. Silva Pocyt÷(Klaip÷da University, Humanities, History – 05 H) dr. Brigita Speičyt÷(Vilnius University, Humanities, Philology – 04 H) doc. dr. Vladas Sirutavičius (Institute of Lithuanian History, Humanities, History – 05 H)   Oponents: prof. habil. dr. Egidijus Aleksandravičius (Vytautas Magnus University, Humanities, History – 05 H) doc. dr. Dalia Marcinkevičien÷(Vilnius University Humanities, History – 05 H)   The official defense of the disertation will be held at 14 pm on December 15, 2009 at a public siting of the Council of History, field of Humanities, at Vytautas Magnus University, in auditorium of Adolfas Šapoka   Address: K. Donelaičio street 52, LT-44244, Kaunas, Lithuania Phone [phone]   Summary of the doctoral dissertation was distributed on Nowember 12, 2009   The dissertation is available in the National M. Mavydas library, library of Vytautas Magnus Univeristy and library of Institute of Lithuanian History    

 

VYTAUTO DIDIOJO UNIVERSITETAS LIETUVOS ISTORIJOS INSTITUTAS             Jurga MIKNYTö         MOTERS SOCIALINIO VAIDMENS KONSTRAVIMAS VIEŠAJAME DISKURSE XIX A. VIDURIO–XX A. PRADIOS LIETUVOJE       Daktaro disertacijos santrauka Humanitariniai mokslai, istorija (05 H)                       Kaunas, 2009

 

Disertacija rengta 2005–2009 m. Vytauto Didiojo uinversitete   Doktorantūros teis÷ Vytauto Didiojo universitetui kartu su Lietuvos istorijos suteikta institutu 2003 m. liepos 15 d. Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausyb÷s nutarimu Nr. 926   Mokslinis vadovas: doc. dr. Saulius Pivoras (Vytauto Didiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai,  istorija – 05 H)   Disertacija ginama Vytauto Didiojo universiteto ir Lietuvos istorijos instituto Humanitariniųmokslųsrities istorijos krypties taryboje:   Pirmininkas doc. dr. Andejus Pukšto (Vytauto Didiojo univetrestias, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija – 05 H)   Nariai: prof. dr. Irena Buckley (Vytauto Didiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai,  filologija – 04 H) doc. dr. Silva Pocyt÷ (Klaip÷dos universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija – 05 H) dr. Brigita Speičyt÷(Vilniaus universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, filologija – 04 H) doc. dr. Vladas Sirutavičius (Lietuvos istorijos institutas, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija – 05 H)   Oponentai: prof. habil. dr. Egidijus Aleksandravičius (Vytauto Didiojo universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija – 05 H) doc. dr. Dalia Marcinkevičien÷ (Vilniaus Universitetas, humanitariniai mokslai, istorija – 05 H)     Disertacija bus ginama viešame Humanitariniųmokslųsrities istorijos krypties tarybos pos÷rgoudoi1  5.d1 4 val. Vytauto Ddiijdo on,uevjiyrreuiks t evtios sA .y k0920.  m Šapokos auditorijoje (508)   Adresas: K. Donelaičio g. 52, LT-44246, Lietuva Tel. [phone]   Disertacijos santrauka išsiųsta 2009 m. lapkričio 12 d.   Disertaciją peri galimaūr÷ti Lietuvos nacionalin÷je Martyno Mavydo, Vytauto Didiojo universiteto ir Lietuvos istorijos instituto bibliotekose    

 

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SOCIAL ROLE OF WOMEN IN PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN MID-19 TH – EARLY 20 TH -CENTURY LITHUANIA  

    Vytautas Kavolis raised interest in the topic that an analysis of the attitude towards women is important not only to reveal specific aspects of social life but also to distil out the general sociocultural and sociopolitical tendencies of a period 1 . It should be noted that in the Lithuanian historiography that examines the formation of the modern society in Lithuania, there has been interest in the development of the mid-19 th  early 20 – th - century sociocultural and sociopolitical processes and attention has especially focused on the discussion of the consciousness of the various social groups of that time and the awakening of activity in the society. But the construction of the consciousness of women and the conception of their social role in the mid-19 th – early 20 th -century public discourse in Lithuania has hitherto not been investigated. Lithuanian historiographyincludes works, in which the attitude of mid- 19 th -century Lithuanian society towards women is characterised 2 ; the changing portrayal of the relationship between men and women in late 9 – early 20 th -century Lithuanian 1 th writing is analysed 3 ; the late 19 th  early 20 – th -century positions of Lithuania’s intelligentsia concerning the role of women in the Lithuanian national movement are discussed 4 ; the conceptions of the role of women in the family during the period in which the modern Lithuanian nation was formed are examined 5 ; the self-perception of late 19 th – early 20 th a gender, and the signs of the modernisation of-century women, as

                                                  1 See: Kavolis V. Epochųsignatūros //mogus istorijoje, Vilnius, 1994, p. 475. 2  See: Medišauskien÷ Moters idealas Lietuvos konservatori Z.ų akimis (XIX a. vidurys) //Feminizmas, visuomen÷, kultūra, 2001, nr. 3, p. 118–127; Medišauskie÷ Namn Z.ų angelas sargas: moters vieta Lietuvos visuomen÷je XIX a. pirmojoje pus÷je //Kl÷ja, nr. 8, http://www.moterys.lt/assets/leidiniai/index806b.html?show_content_id=632 [See: 20 June 2009]; Lukšien÷M.Demokratin÷ugdymo mintis Lietuvoje: XVIII a. antroji–XIX a. pirmoji pus÷, Vilnius, 1985, p. 215–249. 3 See: Kavolis V. Epochųsignatūros //mogus istorijoje, Vilnius, 1994, p. 485–487; Kavolis V.Moterys ir vyrai Lietuviųkultūroje, Vilnius, 1992, p. 60–62, 151–153. 4 See: Balkelis T.The Making of Modern Lithuania, London and New York, 2009, p. 69–84; Balkelis T. The Lithuanian National Intelligentsia and the Women’s Issue, 1883–1914 //Canadian Slavonic Papers, 2004, vol. 46, no. 3–4, p. 267–287; Udrenas N.Book, Bread, Cross and Whip: The Construction of Lithuanian Identity in Imperial Russia, Ph. D. dissertation, Brandeis University, 2000, p. 451–463. 5  Marcinkevi See:čien÷ D.Vedusiųjų   visuomen÷: Santuoka ir skyrybos Lietuvoje XIX amiuje–XX amiaus pradio,j   eVilnius, 1999, p. 221.

 

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this self-perception in the writings of women authors is investigated 6 ; the Lithuanian women’s movements during the late 19 th – first half of the 20 th -century are interpreted 7 ; and an analysis of the currents in the 1907–1940 Catholic women’s movement in Lithuania are presented 8 . But no systematic investigation representing the construction of the social role of women in public discourse in mid-19 th  early 20 – th -century Lithuania exists. Such research is useful for providing detailed information about the spread of modern ideas in Lithuania and to illuminate the development and problems of the formation of the modern society in Lithuania. The aim of this dissertation to analyse the construction of the social is role of women in public discourse in mid-19 th – early 20 th -century Lithuania. Objectives.To ascertain: 1) from when in the public discourse in mid-19 th   – early 20 th -century Lithuania did women begin to be seen as an important participant in the social processes; 2) what social role was constructed for Lithuanian women in the mid-19 th – early 20 th the participants in the different discourses; 3) whethercentury by the construction of the social role of women was affected by the structure of the contemporary society and the changes to this structure; and 4) how much and how the construction of the social role of women was affected by the spread in Lithuania of the ideas of positivism, nationalism, liberalism, socialism, and Christian democracy. Chronological limits. The investigation begins in the mid-19 th  century, the 1840s. After the suppression of the 1830–1831 uprising, the spread of public discourse was paralysed in Lithuania. Written texts and periodic publications began to be more actively published only in the 1840s. At that time women became an important and popular subject of public debate for the first time in the history of modernising Lithuania. The investigation ends in the early 20 th  century during the period of the creation of the modern Lithuanian state and the elevation of awareness of the importance of the conception of the social role of modern women.

                                                  6 See: Kelertien÷V. Moteris moterųprozoje: II //Metmenys, 1985, nr. 50, p. 68–93; Zalatorius A. Moteris moterų prozoje //Prozos gyvyb÷ negalia ir, Vilnius, 1988, p. 66–74; Daujotyt÷ V.Parašyta moterų, Vilnius, 2001, p. 856; Daugirdait÷S. Moterųaukos prasm÷XIX a.–XX a. sąvartoje //Raidųi draudimo metai/ Sud. Staliūnas D. / Vilnius, 2004, p. 223–234. 7  Jur See:÷nien÷ V.Lietuvių moterų jud÷pe sua smaijojoipmrabaius p–XX gojeX samijaima XI÷uje, Vilnius, 2006, p. 290. 8  Karčiauskait÷ I.Katalikiškoji moterų jud÷jimo srov÷ (1907–1940 Lietuvoje,) Daktaro disertacija, Vytauto Didiojo universitetas, 2007, p. 274.

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Theoretical approach of the investigation. Sources and methods.  During the last several decades the concept of discourse has been very fashionable and has been frequently used, but the conception has been either very hazy or has had different, frequently contradictory definitions. The conception of discourse arose in linguistic research, but only became truly popular when discourse began to be linked in the social sciences to the categories of social action and power. The linguistic and social approach to the analysis of discourse is oriented to the same question: how are certain meanings, which affect human actions, created. Discourse is usually described as a system of concepts, ideas, symbols, and practices. All of the discourse analysis theories, even very different ones, are united by a common philosophical (ontological and epistemological) basis: a constructivist approach to the social world. The paradigm of constructivism denies the existence of an objective external reality that is independent of the individual perceiving this reality. In other words, physical objects exist, but acquire meaning only through language. Nevertheless the interaction between discourse and social reality is not construed unambiguously. Simply put, it is possible to imagine the different discourse analysis theories in respect to this question as a continuum. One extremity of this continuum consists of theories, which support the assumptions that all social practices are discursive and discourse is ‘material’, encompassing such subjects such as the economy, infrastructure, and institutions. According to this view, physical objects have no meaning; people give them meaning only through discourse. The other extreme is non-discursive theory or the theory asserting that discourse mechanically reproduces other non-discursive social practices. Between them exists theoretical approaches, which in one way or another distinguish discursive and non-discursive social practices and assert that these practices are connected with dialectic interaction. This means that on the one hand, discourse determines an individual’s actions and shapes the norms, institutions, and other social practices and, on the other, discourse is influenced by ‘objective’, i.e. non-discursive, social processes. It is impossible to unambiguously answer the question of the interaction of discourse and other social practices. Different approaches essentially correspond to how the analytical level is selected: those investigators seeking the most abstract, deep discourse practices, which shape all the thought processes, recognise the greater

 

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meaning of discourse, while those seeking theories, recognising the influence of social structure on discourse, mostly analyse individual everyday conversations and texts. Thus by taking into consideration this dissertation’s research subject and scope, it is the most rational to take the middle road and to describe the political and economic context non-discursively. But it is must be noted that all of the dissertation’s assertions about the causes and consequences of discourse (or changes in it) are a hypothetical thesis, which needs to be evaluated while keeping in mind the reciprocal influence of ideas and their social context. Another element of a discourse’s concrete context is its relationship with other discourses. Some authors accent a dominating, hegemonic discourse and the idea of discourse conflict, which supposes that alternative discourses primarily seek to replace the dominating discourse. Others assert that the most important mechanism for discourse change is discourse interaction – in everyday discursive practices individuals freely and frequently combine assertions from different discourses, thus creating new discourses. It is possible to state that these two views do not negate one another, and the relationship between discourses differs at different moments in history. In addition, this relationship also depends on the broader discursive context, which, in this dissertation is the general ideological positions, any change in which is taken as an external factor. The concept of public discourse used in this dissertation is also important to analysis of discursive context and discursive interaction. The public discourse in this study is primarily defined through the source selection principles used. The sources are written texts intended for the broad public, for society: press publications and published works, especially if they were widely read and discussed. On the other hand, public discourse and its equation with communications through official channels are primarily associated with the power of certain social groups and the possibility of external sanctions for undesirable alternative discourses. This is especially important in discussing the period during the mid-19 th  early 20 – th  centuries, when censorship and much stricter social and religious norms controlled the public expression of opinion. Thus, it can be much more justified to describe public discourse as the dominant discourse, but certain alternative discourses may remain unnoticed. Discourse is defined in this dissertation as a system of concepts, ideas, and their expression that exists in a certain defined period. The discourses that predominated

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in Lithuania during the mid-19 th  early 20 – th  are defined on the basis of the centuries following criteria: 1) the subject (the topic or issue); 2) the content (the assertions describing and evaluating the object); 3) the discourse participants (the authors and target audience); 4) the context of the discourse. On the basis of these criteria, public discourse in Lithuania during the mid- 19 th  early 20 – th in this dissertation into discourse in Polish and is divided  centuries discourse in Lithuanian. The Polish discourse is divided into mid-19 th  century, second half of the 19 th  century, and early 20 th  century social democratic, Catholic, and Krajowcy and Endek discourses. The Lithuanian discourse is divided into mid-19 th   century and late 19 th century – early 20 th century Catholic, liberal, and social democratic discourses. Descriptive, interpretative, and comparative methods were used in the dissertation to reconstruct the discourses; the sources published during the mid-19 th  – early 20 th centuries are analysed: the periodic press, works by essayists and journalists, works of fiction, didactic literature, ideological and political programmes, studies intended to explain doctrines, and memoirs. It should be noted that memoirs and studies intended to explain doctrines were used the least because very few of these sources were published during this period. Structure.The   dissertation consists of an introduction, two chapters, nine subchapters, and conclusions. The scientific research instrumentation is defined in the introduction. The structure of the dissertation’s empirical part is based on the aforementioned division of public discourse in Lithuania during the mid-19 th  – early 20 th centuries into separate discourses. The first chapter reveals the development of the Polish discourse, the second that of the Lithuanian discourse. Both chapters are divided into subchapters, in which the construction of the social role of women is described in the different worldview discourses. Each subchapter consists of two parts, which present the characteristics of the context of each distinguished discourse and an analysis of the discourse’s assertions on the issue of the social role of women. The conclusions evaluate the development of the construction of the social role of women in public discourse in mid-19 th  early 20 – th -century Lithuania and bring out the specific features

 

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of the different language and worldview discourses in respect to the construction of the social role of women.   I. The construction of the social role of women in Polish discourse in mid-19 th  – early 20 th -century Lithuania   The mid-19 th  century is the period between the uprisings when the old social structures were still functioning, but their social, legal, and political basis had changed. The traditions of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations (CTN) were disappearing and Lithuania was becoming ever more socially, legally, and politically integrated into the Russian Empire. On the other hand, this is the period when the phenomena of the modernisation processes spreading from Western Europe began to directly affect the former territories of the CTN. Lithuanian society, especially its elite, i.e. the nobility, were threatened with the loss of their identity. It is possible to describe the worldview direction predominant among the Polish speaking elite during this entire period as conservative and traditionalist. The authors of the periodic literature, individual contemporary journalistic and essayist works, published memoirs, and works of fiction condemned the influence of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and capitalism for heightening awareness of materialistic intentions and the decline of Christian values and the institution of the family in the societies of Western Europe. Nurturing hopes of a unique model for the development of Lithuanian society, the participants in the mid-19 th -century public discourse thought that strengthening the institution of the family and raising interest in the nurturing of traditional values in the family would help to raise a young generation that had a religious and civic consciousness and was resistant to destructive ideas. The conviction predominated in the mid-19 th  century that the family was the domain of women. This conception of women and their purpose as well as the exaltation of the family as a response to the destructive processes of social development determined that the participants in the mid-19 th -century discourse increased the awareness of the incomparable importance of the sociocultural influence of women which had to be manifested through the roles of wife and mother that they performed in the family. They began to construe the moral qualities and religious values of women as

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a force for the future of the especially important family and at the same time of social development.  All of the participants in the public discourse recognised that it was possible to strengthen women’s morality and civic responsibility for the future of the family and at the same time of the society only through their suitable upbringing and education. They suggested that traditions of the drawing room education of girls at boarding schools and the hiring of foreign governesses be stopped. At the same time they indicated that practical knowledge, the most important intellectual knowledge, and implanted values, which were only acquired in the home, could guarantee the morality of girls and help to prepare future women to properly perform their duties not only as wives and homemakers, but also as mothers, the implanters of Christian values and the nurturers of love for their native Polish language, literature, and their region. The second half of the 19 th  century. After the suppression of the 1863– 1864 uprising, the Russian government undertook repressions against the insurgents and conducted an active de-Polonisation policy. During the first two decades after the uprising, the lands of both the former Kingdom of Poland and the former GDL were marked by apathy in the sense of both ideology and civic activity. The conservatives – loyalists, who sought to correct Russia’s discriminatory policy and obtain the government’s trust and thus religious freedom and more favourable conditions for the country’s cultural and economic development, were the first to express themselves more actively.  Representatives of the Warsaw group of positivists also began to actively express themselves alongside the conservatives inKraj, the newspaper that was the most accessible to readers in historical Lithuania. The majority of the positivists spoke against the traditional values and the positions of the landlords. Their ideal was Western urban culture, where science was to supply answers to all of the questions people asked and knowledge became a sort of cult. But such positivist positions as political realism and the perception of the benefit of legal ‘organic work’ for the development of society led them into a common discourse with the conservatives – loyalists. Eliza Orzeszkowa, who was a writer well-known to the Lithuanian readership and whom the journalists at theKrajnewspaper considered to be the most important generator of modern ideas for social progress, was the first woman to criticise

 

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