Spatial Concepts of Lithuania in the Long Nineteenth Century: (Lithuanian Studies without Borders)

This book deals with the spatial concepts of Lithuania and other geo-images that either "competed" in the nineteenth century with the term Lithuania or were of a different taxonomic level (Samogitia, Prussia's Lithuania, Lithuania Minor, Poland, the Western Region, the Northwest Region, Lita/Lite, Belarus, East Prussia etc.). The Russian, Lithuanian, Polish, Belarusian, Jewish, and German geo-images of this territory are analyzed in separate chapters of this volume. The spatial and topographical turns, especially the innovative perspective suggested by French Marxist Henri Lefebvre to look at the (social) space as a product of social creativity, research on so-called mental maps, postcolonial studies, and nationalism studies provided some theoretical background as well as analytical approaches for the studies published in this volume.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations Introduction Chapter 1: Poland or Russia? Lithuania on the Russian Mental Map Darius Staliūnas Chapter 2: Images of Lithuania in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century Zita Medišauskienė Chapter 3: The Pre-1914 Creation of Lithuanian "National Territory" Darius Staliūnas Chapter 4: “Lithuania—An Extension of Poland”: The Territorial Image of Lithuania in the Polish Discourse Olga Mastianica and Darius Staliūnas Chapter 5: Between Ethnographic Belarus and the Reestablishment of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: How Belarusian Nationalism Created Its “National Territory” at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Olga Mastianica Chapter 6 Lite on the Jewish Mental Maps Vladimir Levin and Darius Staliūnas Chapter 7: Lithuania in the Spatial Concepts of Germans and Prussian Lithuanians Vasilijus Safronovas Chapter 8: In Lieu of a Conclusion Index

About the Author :
Darius Stalinas is the author of Making Russians. Meaning and Practice of Russification in Lithuania and Belarus after 1863 (Amsterdam/New York, NY: Rodopi, 2007); Enemies for a Day: Antisemitism and Anti-Jewish Violence in Lithuania under the Tsars (Budapest/New York: CEU Press, 2015); and Lithuanian Nationalism and the Vilnius Question, 1883-1940 (Marburg: Herder-Institut, 2015; co-author Dangiras Maiulis). Since 2000 Stalinas has been a deputy director at Lithuanian Institute of History. He teaches at Vilnius and Klaipda universities. His research interests include issues of Russian nationality policy in the so-called Northwestern Region (Lithuania and Belorussia), ethnic conflicts, as well as problems of historiography and places of memory in Lithuania.

Review :
"Darius Staliūnas and his co-authors make an excellent and detailed contribution to the study of the spatialities of national identities with their explorations and explanations of Lithuanian national identity and territory as they emerged and crystalized during the nineteenth century, the age of nationalism. Rather than treat space and territory as unrelated backdrops to national identities, Staliūnas et al. bring these concepts to the forefront and demonstrate how they are instrumental in shaping national identities. . . .the work overall is a great contribution to scholarly literature because it illustrates the role that spatial relationships and conceptions play in the emergence, growth, and development of national identities. The Lithuanian case may seem an unusual example for advancing such arguments. However, through their meticulous work, Staliūnas et al. thoroughly demonstrate that the Lithuanian case brilliantly illustrates broader, more universal processes." “This book is a great example of interdisciplinary research that goes over the accepted boundaries of the national narrative. Thanks to this, Staliunas’s edited volume is an important component for every version of [Lithuanian] national historiography. Its authors’ methodological approach uncovers the multivalence of national myths and highlights the importance of the global context that helps overcome ‘methodological nationalism.’” —Gennady Korolev, Ab Imperio