Art and national identity - Sweden and Lithuania
ENTo talk about “Swedish art” or “Lithuanian art” does, in itself, imply a relation between art and national identity. The meaning of such a statement depends on the attitude of the persons who speaks, or on the cultural environment of which he or she is a part. On the one hand, it could be a purely geographical and social definition, meaning that Lithuanian art is made by people who either live in or are born in the geographical and administrative entity which is called Lithuania. On the other hand, it could also imply that Lithuanian art is essentially characterized by a particular kind of Lithuanianess. And here, the issue starts to get interesting… It’s very hard to imagine a National identity which is not, in some way or another, linked to a certain geographical Place or area. In every nationalist ideology, the Nation is an inseparable unity of the People, the Language and the Place. Or, to put it in very familiar terms, the unity of “Blut und Boden”.
