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The paper analyzes Thomas Mann's literary work from the perspective of critical theory. By briefly discussing an alternative conception of critical theory, it emphasizes the importance of Karl Marx, Aristotle, and normativity to social and political theory. The paper argues that we need to conceptualize normativity in Aristotelian rather than Kantian terms, that is, by reinterpreting the tradition of the Greek notion of aretē (excellence). Hence the importance of Aristotle's ethical reflections on the flourishing of human life and of the political community. Marx is important because he provided a historically informed analysis and critique of the socioeconomic structures of modern society. Marx also gave birth to a new paradigm for social sciences and humanities, a paradigm alternative to positivism and phenomenology. Its main premise is that social and political theory must articulate the normative notion of social emancipation and criticize society and its social structures by drawing on this notion of emancipation. Thomas Mann is interesting and important from the point of view of critical theory; among other things, he provides a literary critique of the European bourgeois society and its way of life. As an illustration, Thomas Mann's dialectic of eroticism and death in the life of the bourgeois iron cage is also analyzed (the dialectic that we find in Buddenbrooks, Death in Venice, and The Magic Mountain).

The paper analyzes Thomas Mann's literary work from the perspective of critical theory. By briefly discussing an alternative conception of critical theory, it emphasizes the importance of Karl Marx, Aristotle, and normativity to social and political theory. The paper argues that we need to conceptualize normativity in Aristotelian rather than Kantian terms, that is, by reinterpreting the tradition of the Greek notion of aretē (excellence). Hence the importance of Aristotle's ethical reflections on the flourishing of human life and of the political community. Marx is important because he provided a historically informed analysis and critique of the socioeconomic structures of modern society. Marx also gave birth to a new paradigm for social sciences and humanities, a paradigm alternative to positivism and phenomenology. Its main premise is that social and political theory must articulate the normative notion of social emancipation and criticize society and its social structures by drawing on this notion of emancipation. Thomas Mann is interesting and important from the point of view of critical theory; among other things, he provides a literary critique of the European bourgeois society and its way of life. As an illustration, Thomas Mann's dialectic of eroticism and death in the life of the bourgeois iron cage is also analyzed (the dialectic that we find in Buddenbrooks, Death in Venice, and The Magic Mountain).

Engl. Zsfassung u.d.T.: The language and the art of it

By refering to the examples of different cultural traditions, Arūnas Sverdiolas in his study Constitution and Preservation described the mechanisms that are involved in the creation of culture – constitution and preservation. The goal of this article is to show how these mechanisms operated in the reality of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The article analyzes the roles that the Lithuanian political society gave to legislation, upbringing, historical narratives, heroic and occasional poetry while constituting and preserving itself.

By refering to the examples of different cultural traditions, Arūnas Sverdiolas in his study Constitution and Preservation described the mechanisms that are involved in the creation of culture – constitution and preservation. The goal of this article is to show how these mechanisms operated in the reality of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The article analyzes the roles that the Lithuanian political society gave to legislation, upbringing, historical narratives, heroic and occasional poetry while constituting and preserving itself.

By refering to the examples of different cultural traditions, Arūnas Sverdiolas in his study Constitution and Preservation described the mechanisms that are involved in the creation of culture – constitution and preservation. The goal of this article is to show how these mechanisms operated in the reality of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The article analyzes the roles that the Lithuanian political society gave to legislation, upbringing, historical narratives, heroic and occasional poetry while constituting and preserving itself.

By refering to the examples of different cultural traditions, Arūnas Sverdiolas in his study Constitution and Preservation described the mechanisms that are involved in the creation of culture – constitution and preservation. The goal of this article is to show how these mechanisms operated in the reality of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The article analyzes the roles that the Lithuanian political society gave to legislation, upbringing, historical narratives, heroic and occasional poetry while constituting and preserving itself.

The subject of analysis in this article is the image of letter in Lithuanian folklore. Letter writing in the traditional Lithuanian rural community of the end of the 19th–the first half of the 20th century was perceived as an outstanding cultural activity, because of poor literacy available only to a small number of more educated persons, who used to aid the illiterate members of the community in contacting their relatives that had ended far away from home. In letter writing, certain established principles of text composition, related both to the old epistolary culture and to the more modern, media-spread recommendations regarding writing of letters used to be adhered to, besides, certain elements of oral tradition used to be kept in mind as well. The specific approach to letters as things-signs, characteristic for the illiterate part of the traditional society is noteworthy. It is very probable that against the general background of traditional cultural images, letters used to be frequently perceived not only as written messages possessing certain contents, but also as generalized symbols of news, closely linked in folklore with earlier elements of communication, such as kerchief, ring, sash, or the like. Epistolary images are characteristic to various genres of Lithuanian folklore. Yet the greatest variety of motives describing letter writing, sending, and reading is found in folksongs, especially in the military-historical and love songs. While analyzing motives of letter. [to full text]

The subject of analysis in this article is the image of letter in Lithuanian folklore. Letter writing in the traditional Lithuanian rural community of the end of the 19th–the first half of the 20th century was perceived as an outstanding cultural activity, because of poor literacy available only to a small number of more educated persons, who used to aid the illiterate members of the community in contacting their relatives that had ended far away from home. In letter writing, certain established principles of text composition, related both to the old epistolary culture and to the more modern, media-spread recommendations regarding writing of letters used to be adhered to, besides, certain elements of oral tradition used to be kept in mind as well. The specific approach to letters as things-signs, characteristic for the illiterate part of the traditional society is noteworthy. It is very probable that against the general background of traditional cultural images, letters used to be frequently perceived not only as written messages possessing certain contents, but also as generalized symbols of news, closely linked in folklore with earlier elements of communication, such as kerchief, ring, sash, or the like. Epistolary images are characteristic to various genres of Lithuanian folklore. Yet the greatest variety of motives describing letter writing, sending, and reading is found in folksongs, especially in the military-historical and love songs. While analyzing motives of letter. [to full text]

The dissertation is based on data about almos 500 contemporary works of Lithuanian fiction: which of them are discussed in academic pulications; which are analysed in the students' finishing theses; which received state funding for publishing; which were awarded literary prizes; which are most often borrowed from libraries. Theoretical model defines all these factors as "acts of transmission", on which the "survival" of the work depends – whether or not it is going to be consumed and remembered in the future. The quantitative data is analysed alongside "performance protocols" - written statements about books, from online discussions and blogs to academic publications. The results indicate that the usual opposition of "popular" vs. "professionally acclaimed" is almost non-existant – the professional and non-professional readers in most cases choose the same books. However, the non-professional readers appreciate recognising what they find familiar from their experience of reality, whereas the professionals focus on comparing works of literature to each other. Finally, a third trend is recognised – it is called institutionalised taste. 48% of books funded by the state do not interest neither professional nor non-professional readers

The dissertation is based on data about almost 500 contemporary works of Lithuanian fiction: which of them are discussed in academic pulications; which are analysed in the students' finishing theses; which received state funding for publishing; which were awarded literary prizes; which are most often borrowed from libraries. Theoretical model defines all these factors as "acts of transmission", on which the "survival" of the work depends – whether or not it is going to be consumed and remembered in the future. The quantitative data is analysed alongside "performance protocols" - written statements about books, from online discussions and blogs to academic publications. The results indicate that the usual opposition of "popular" vs. "professionally acclaimed" is almost non-existant – the professional and non-professional readers in most cases choose the same books. However, the non-professional readers appreciate recognising what they find familiar from their experience of reality, whereas the professionals focus on comparing works of literature to each other. Finally, a third trend is recognised – it is called institutionalised taste. 48% of books funded by the state do not interest neither professional nor non-professional readers.