Suchergebnisse

This dissertation analyzes five memoirs written in English by North American writers of Lithuanian descent, published between 2001 and 2017 in the United States and Canada: Painted in Words—A Memoir (2001) by Samuel Bak, The Barefoot Bingo Caller (2017) by Antanas Sileika, White Field, Black Sheep: A Lithuanian-American Life (2010) by Daiva Markelis, A Guest At the Shooters' Banquet (2015) by Rita Gabis, and Siberian Exile: Blood, War, and a Granddaughter's Reckoning (2017) by Julija Šukys. In their memoirs, these writers reflect on and challenge aspects of Lithuanian historical trauma (the Holocaust) and Lithuanian cultural trauma (deportations to Siberia, World War II, the postwar experience, the refugee experience, immigration). They consider the impact of those historical events on their ancestors, themselves, and their descendants. All five embarked on postmemory rite of return journeys to Lithuania after Lituania's independence from the Soviet Union, seeking answers about family narratives. These memoirs function both as memory and postmemory narratives. In each of the memoirs, the writers explore personal narratives as narratives of culture against the backdrop of collective memory and historical and cultural trauma. Superimposed onto their individual memory narratives are explorations of familial and affiliative postmemory that are geographically, historically, and culturally distant for these writers living on the North American continent, and yet vitally important to them. There is a belatedness to these memory narratives, which in part is caused by the divisions of the Iron Curtain and Cold War politics, and in part because of the time needed to process and heal from extreme trauma (the first generation) or come to terms with inherited postmemory traumas (the second and third generations). Writing in English about Lithuania, these writers function as cultural translators who translate their postmemory experience for an audience of North American readers. Their work is representative of a growing body of literary novels, memoirs, essays, plays, and poems that explore postmemory topics related to Lithuanian cultural and historical trauma and collective memory that are written in English and published in North America by both university presses and commercial publishers.

This dissertation analyzes five memoirs written in English by North American writers of Lithuanian descent, published between 2001 and 2017 in the United States and Canada: Painted in Words—A Memoir (2001) by Samuel Bak, The Barefoot Bingo Caller (2017) by Antanas Sileika, White Field, Black Sheep: A Lithuanian-American Life (2010) by Daiva Markelis, A Guest At the Shooters' Banquet (2015) by Rita Gabis, and Siberian Exile: Blood, War, and a Granddaughter's Reckoning (2017) by Julija Šukys. In their memoirs, these writers reflect on and challenge aspects of Lithuanian historical trauma (the Holocaust) and Lithuanian cultural trauma (deportations to Siberia, World War II, the postwar experience, the refugee experience, immigration). They consider the impact of those historical events on their ancestors, themselves, and their descendants. All five embarked on postmemory rite of return journeys to Lithuania after Lituania's independence from the Soviet Union, seeking answers about family narratives. These memoirs function both as memory and postmemory narratives. In each of the memoirs, the writers explore personal narratives as narratives of culture against the backdrop of collective memory and historical and cultural trauma. Superimposed onto their individual memory narratives are explorations of familial and affiliative postmemory that are geographically, historically, and culturally distant for these writers living on the North American continent, and yet vitally important to them. There is a belatedness to these memory narratives, which in part is caused by the divisions of the Iron Curtain and Cold War politics, and in part because of the time needed to process and heal from extreme trauma (the first generation) or come to terms with inherited postmemory traumas (the second and third generations). Writing in English about Lithuania, these writers function as cultural translators who translate their postmemory experience for an audience of North American readers. Their work is representative of a growing body of literary novels, memoirs, essays, plays, and poems that explore postmemory topics related to Lithuanian cultural and historical trauma and collective memory that are written in English and published in North America by both university presses and commercial publishers.

The article aims to evaluate whether and how constitutional replacements influence the quality of democracy in Latin American countries. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method is applied while analysing 18 Latin American countries. The objective of the article- nine new constitutions that are assigned to the new constitutionalism period. The results reveal that constitutional replacements are neither sufficient nor necessary condition for quality of democracy. On the contrary, the parsimonious solution shows that quality of democracy can be explained by both high levels of education and inversion of constitutional replacements and inversion of constitutional replacements, institutionalised party system and non-homogeneous society. Inversion of quality of democracy analysis indicated that constitutional replacements, together with other conditions, form sufficient conditions for inversion of quality of democracy.

The article aims to evaluate whether and how constitutional replacements influence the quality of democracy in Latin American countries. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method is applied while analysing 18 Latin American countries. The objective of the article- nine new constitutions that are assigned to the new constitutionalism period. The results reveal that constitutional replacements are neither sufficient nor necessary condition for quality of democracy. On the contrary, the parsimonious solution shows that quality of democracy can be explained by both high levels of education and inversion of constitutional replacements and inversion of constitutional replacements, institutionalised party system and non-homogeneous society. Inversion of quality of democracy analysis indicated that constitutional replacements, together with other conditions, form sufficient conditions for inversion of quality of democracy.

The article aims to evaluate whether and how constitutional replacements influence the quality of democracy in Latin American countries. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method is applied while analysing 18 Latin American countries. The objective of the article- nine new constitutions that are assigned to the new constitutionalism period. The results reveal that constitutional replacements are neither sufficient nor necessary condition for quality of democracy. On the contrary, the parsimonious solution shows that quality of democracy can be explained by both high levels of education and inversion of constitutional replacements and inversion of constitutional replacements, institutionalised party system and non-homogeneous society. Inversion of quality of democracy analysis indicated that constitutional replacements, together with other conditions, form sufficient conditions for inversion of quality of democracy.

The article aims to evaluate whether and how constitutional replacements influence the quality of democracy in Latin American countries. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis method is applied while analysing 18 Latin American countries. The objective of the article- nine new constitutions that are assigned to the new constitutionalism period. The results reveal that constitutional replacements are neither sufficient nor necessary condition for quality of democracy. On the contrary, the parsimonious solution shows that quality of democracy can be explained by both high levels of education and inversion of constitutional replacements and inversion of constitutional replacements, institutionalised party system and non-homogeneous society. Inversion of quality of democracy analysis indicated that constitutional replacements, together with other conditions, form sufficient conditions for inversion of quality of democracy.

The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.

The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.

The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.

The video game industry has been growing rapidly in the recent years, reaching almost 2 billion players worldwide and sometimes even exceeding profits and other numbers put up by such entertainment juggernauts as the Hollywood. It is safe to say that video-games have become an integral part of contemporary popculture, contributing to the formation of attitudes, especially among younger audiences (18–35 years old). This is especially poignant in the case of historical games, which have always been popular and have been representing one or another version of historical narration for years. Nevertheless, despite the immense popularity of videogames and their growing presence within contemporary culture, historians, political and social scientists have been often neglecting video game studies primarily because of its infancy and inadequacy to provide space for political reflection and argumentation. According to the skeptics, video games can only reflect the current tendencies within the order of neoliberalism prevailing in the world. However, the article contradicts this by proposing to treat this situation as an opportunity instead of an excuse – the fact that video games can reflect the injustices of today's world without providing criticism should act as a catalyst for further studies of political argumentation within the medium of video games, which in turn would contribute to further theorizations on the critical potential of video games in connection to politics. This is deemed especially important in the case of reconstructing historical narratives in the most popular video games, the majority of which focus on various historical instances of war. As a result, the first part of the article presents an analysis on both the potential and limitations of videogames to act as spaces for the commemoration of historical memory. The second part aims to ground the theoretical implications by considering to examples of video game industries – the United States and Russia – and techniques as well as directions that they employ in reconstructing the popular prosthetic memory related to wars in which these countries had participated. The article concludes with the idea that historical games can indeed act as a space for producing specific historical narratives oriented toward the popular memory. When it comes to American games, they mostly focus on presenting more personal stories regarding the heroic and virtuous American soldiers during a given War. This, supplemented by a diminished or exaggerated account of actions taken by other allies (as well as enemies) aims at whitewashing the American historical memory. Among the Russian games, however, personal identification through emotional storybuilding is much less pronounced. Its place is taken by focusing on the technological domination and de-personalized stories of bravery employed by the Russians and Soviets. To conclude, the article once again calls for more engagement with the medium of videogames from the side of social and political science as well as history. Video games have quickly become one of the main venues for younger demographic groups to get their first pieces of knowledge regarding history, politics, gender and other topics. The importance of this is understood not only by American but by Russian officials as well, which demands more research on the power of games and their critical potential. This engagement would allow for less political manipulation (especially in the case of historical games) and for a better understanding and fulfillment of the potential of video games.

National movements in the Baltics were widely covered in the American press, and drew more and more attention with every little step towards independence. Research revealed the image of Lithuania in the American press in the period between 1988 and 1991. In the beginning of the national movement, Lithuanian movement was covered not individually, but rather within context of the Baltics. Support of the grassroots has led The Restruction Movement of Lithuania to be considered as one of the most organised and the most successful national movements in the Soviet Union. G. Bush has delayed to recognize the government of Lithuania after anouncing the declaration of its independence because of relationship with the Soviet Union. American press, the American-lithuanians and the Americans agreed the U.S. was in a position where it was easy not to recognize independence of Lithuania, since this question seemed utopian. The American press supported Lithuania, however, it was critisized because of its chosen method to gain independence. G. Bush has expressed only deep concern and did not take any sanctions after Moscow anounced blockade against Lithuania. American-lithuanians have strongly critisized such president's position. The West turned to Lithuania and decided to recognize its government after the 13th of January 1991 and events in Medininkai. Lithuania was strongly supported by the American press while president G. Bush was critisized for delaying to recognize the Republic of Lithuania.

This paper examines the U.S. response to the development of China's influence in Latin America and in Brazilian case in particular. Latin America is key to the US hegemony and in the last decade its influence in this region is declining. This is explained by global economic crisis and war on terror which distracted US focus on other matters. With the coming of President B. Obama in office, a new foreign policy course has been expected. It should be highlighted that relations with Brazil are very important for the US to pursue its interests in the context of Latin America and globally. However, recently the US economic dominance in Latin America is rivaled by China. Therefore, it is not clear whether the US succeeds in pursuing its strategic interests and opposing China's growing influence in Latin America. Thus the object of the research is U.S. national interests and policy in Latin America since 2009 and rivalry with China. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the pursuit of the U.S. interests in Latin America region and Brazil in strategic and actual terms in the context of its rivalry with China. The following tasks are raised in order to achieve this goal: to introduce to the theoretical background of political realism in international relations and the role of strategy in foreign policy; to discuss the factors that influence U.S. policy in Latin America and in Brazil in particular; to analyze U.S. and China's national interests in Latin America; to examine the U.S. and China's activities in Latin America region in pursuing its interests; to evaluate the U.S. foreign policy in Latin America and analyze the impact of growing China's influence in this region. The analysis of scientific literature revealed that the US-Latin America relationship historically has been marked by principles of inequality, economic disadvantages and political influence, where the US takes a dominant position. Nevertheless, the context is changing and poses new challenges - China's activities in the region (a clear example is Brazil, because China surpassed the US in trade). The problem is that the US does not reach FTA, despite that US-Brazil relationship include more aspects than with China. Generally, interests by China are more pragmatic, based on its own growth or reach for diplomatic support, while the US is interested in safe, democratic and prosperous neighborhood. It could be argued that US and China's interests collide mainly in economic area. The US response to China's activities is a broader, multi-faceted foreign policy, oriented not only to the presence in the region, but also to the resolution of various problems. Meanwhile China is preoccupied with its ambition to become more important player in the world, to secure a smooth economic growth and etc. Actually, the US president B. Obama continues a controversial foreign policy, intervening into the affairs of Latin American countries, though, it moves toward equal treatment of its partners. The decline of US hegemony in region is likely to continue both for domestic and external reasons. The US and China so far have sought for cooperation rather than confrontation, but there is potential for escalation in future as China takes more firm positions.

National movements in the Baltics were widely covered in the American press, and drew more and more attention with every little step towards independence. Research revealed the image of Lithuania in the American press in the period between 1988 and 1991. In the beginning of the national movement, Lithuanian movement was covered not individually, but rather within context of the Baltics. Support of the grassroots has led The Restruction Movement of Lithuania to be considered as one of the most organised and the most successful national movements in the Soviet Union. G. Bush has delayed to recognize the government of Lithuania after anouncing the declaration of its independence because of relationship with the Soviet Union. American press, the American-lithuanians and the Americans agreed the U.S. was in a position where it was easy not to recognize independence of Lithuania, since this question seemed utopian. The American press supported Lithuania, however, it was critisized because of its chosen method to gain independence. G. Bush has expressed only deep concern and did not take any sanctions after Moscow anounced blockade against Lithuania. American-lithuanians have strongly critisized such president's position. The West turned to Lithuania and decided to recognize its government after the 13th of January 1991 and events in Medininkai. Lithuania was strongly supported by the American press while president G. Bush was critisized for delaying to recognize the Republic of Lithuania.

This paper examines the U.S. response to the development of China's influence in Latin America and in Brazilian case in particular. Latin America is key to the US hegemony and in the last decade its influence in this region is declining. This is explained by global economic crisis and war on terror which distracted US focus on other matters. With the coming of President B. Obama in office, a new foreign policy course has been expected. It should be highlighted that relations with Brazil are very important for the US to pursue its interests in the context of Latin America and globally. However, recently the US economic dominance in Latin America is rivaled by China. Therefore, it is not clear whether the US succeeds in pursuing its strategic interests and opposing China's growing influence in Latin America. Thus the object of the research is U.S. national interests and policy in Latin America since 2009 and rivalry with China. The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the pursuit of the U.S. interests in Latin America region and Brazil in strategic and actual terms in the context of its rivalry with China. The following tasks are raised in order to achieve this goal: to introduce to the theoretical background of political realism in international relations and the role of strategy in foreign policy; to discuss the factors that influence U.S. policy in Latin America and in Brazil in particular; to analyze U.S. and China's national interests in Latin America; to examine the U.S. and China's activities in Latin America region in pursuing its interests; to evaluate the U.S. foreign policy in Latin America and analyze the impact of growing China's influence in this region. The analysis of scientific literature revealed that the US-Latin America relationship historically has been marked by principles of inequality, economic disadvantages and political influence, where the US takes a dominant position. Nevertheless, the context is changing and poses new challenges - China's activities in the region (a clear example is Brazil, because China surpassed the US in trade). The problem is that the US does not reach FTA, despite that US-Brazil relationship include more aspects than with China. Generally, interests by China are more pragmatic, based on its own growth or reach for diplomatic support, while the US is interested in safe, democratic and prosperous neighborhood. It could be argued that US and China's interests collide mainly in economic area. The US response to China's activities is a broader, multi-faceted foreign policy, oriented not only to the presence in the region, but also to the resolution of various problems. Meanwhile China is preoccupied with its ambition to become more important player in the world, to secure a smooth economic growth and etc. Actually, the US president B. Obama continues a controversial foreign policy, intervening into the affairs of Latin American countries, though, it moves toward equal treatment of its partners. The decline of US hegemony in region is likely to continue both for domestic and external reasons. The US and China so far have sought for cooperation rather than confrontation, but there is potential for escalation in future as China takes more firm positions.