Mickiewicz's Lithuanian Isthmus: Sinusoids of Identity

Abstract

The author of this essay considers the place of Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855), the great Polish Romantic poet, in the national cultures of Lithuanians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians. He demonstrates how, at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, two distinct processes clashed: the postmodern process of undermining national narratives of history and culture, and the process of nationalization of cultures in the states that emerged from the ruins of the Soviet empire, which took place with great force in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989 and 1992 (the collapse of the USSR). For Poles, Mickiewicz remained a national Polish writer, although they appreciated the multicultural context of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in which he arose. For Ukrainians, he is a Polish poet stemming from a shared tradition. In Belarus, state scholarship has declared his affiliation with "Belarusian Literature" (rather than national Belarusian literature). Lithuanians, however, have expressed ambivalence. For them, he is a Polish poet born in Lithuania who (unfortunately) chose Polish language and culture.