Freedom or rather continued “enslavement”. On new Polish cultural phenomena in Lithuania

Abstract

The article is a description of the situation of Polish culture in Lithuania and the environment in which this culture has been created. The diagnosis has highlighted several reasons for its weakness, such as the deteriorating demographics of Poles in Lithuania, and the poor economic situation in the region which they mostly inhabit. The bad situation has also been a result of the lack of Polish intelligentsia in Lithuania after the Second World War and the slow pace of its restoration. Other reasons include the ethnocentrism of this culture, its inward focus, and the lack of interest in other ethnic groups. In spite of everything, in recent years in the Vilnius region attempts have been made to break free from the limitations related to the culture of Eastern Borderlands. A poetic group “New Vilnius Avant-Garde” was founded, and a novel entitled Cień słońca (Shadow of the Sun) and a collection of short stories entitled Thriller po wileńsku (Thriller à la Vilnius) were published.