Dzūkų krašto ir tapatybės apibrėžimo ištakos

LTDzūkijos ir jos gyventojų pavadinimų ir geografinės erdvės samprata per pastaruosius šimtmečius smarkiai kito. Todėl straipsnyje siekiama išsamiau išsiaiškinti Dzūkijos etnografinio regiono ir jo gyventojų įvardijimų bei sampratų įvairovės, kilmės, turinio bei pradinės raidos moksle ir visuomenėje iki XX a. vidurio ypatybes ir jų ryšį su dabarties koncepcijomis. Tyrime nagrinėjama, kaip dzūkų ir Dzūkijos sąvoka ir tapatybė įsitvirtino XIX-XX a. kultūroje ir moksle. Tai atliekama interdiscipliniškai pasitelkiant publicistikos, literatūros, istorijos, etnologijos, folkloristikos, menotyros, kalbotyros sąvokų ir sampratų, autorių slapyvardžių, organizacijų pavadinimų tipologinę diachroninę analizę. Daroma išvada, kad autentiškas dzūkų gyvenamas arealas XIX a. pabaigoje, Aleksandro Polujanskio, Juozapo Radziukyno ir kitų autorių etnografinių tyrimų duomenimis, buvo lokalizuojamas pietinėje Užnemunėje. Vėliau, remiantis tarmės ir etninės kultūros bendrybių duomenimis, Dzūkijos samprata buvo praplėsta iki rytinių Lietuvos sienų. O dzūkų tapatybės klausimai Dzūkijos regione bene labiausiai pradėjo rūpėti Alytaus krašte dar tarpukariu. Raktažodžiai: Dzūkija, Sūduva, Dainava, jotvingiai, etnografinis regionavimas.

ENThe concept of Dzūkija, the names of its inhabitants and geographic space have been changing during the last centuries. Therefore, this research analyses the peculiarities of diversity, its origin, content and the development of the names and assumptions of Dzūkija and its inhabitants in the society until the middle of the 20th century, as well as their relation to the present conceptions. The research, with the help of an interdisciplinary approach and typological diachronic analysis of journalism, literature, history, folklore science, art research and linguistics, analyses how the Dzūkai concept has established itself in culture and science. The present concept of Dzūkija is a result of the long interaction of the rural and town culture, a several centuries-long scientific and cultural process, which describes the cultural integrity of the region in such a way that it was not rationally understood by the authentic tradition. It allows us to see interactions with the “tradition invention” paradigm (Hobsawm, Ranger 1983), when a phenomenon of recent tradition is given an impression of longevity. On the other hand, the concept of Dzūkija region becomes a tool to assemble “creative regional communities” (McDonald, Mason 2015) and nurturers of regional folklore culture. Thus, it expresses an objectively existing peculiarity of the regional culture and history.The Dzūkai ethnonym, differently from these of the Žemaičiai and Aukštaičiai, appeared only in the middle of the 19th century, and the geographic space attributed to them was much smaller. Due to the peculiarity of the dialect, Lithuanians of Southern Užnemunė (the region on the left bank of the Nemunas), Suwałki Governorate, Suvalkija and Sūduva were named Dzūkai. Their land was also called Užnemunis or Užgirinis Tract. The Dzūkai origin is considered to be from the Sūduviai, Daina- viai and Jotvingiai. J. Basanavičius (1928) thought that distant ancestors of the Dzūkai were Dacians (Romania). At the end of the 19th cent, the residential area of Dzūkai, Dzakai, Cikai, Jotvingiai and Užvingiai (Polujanski 1859, Basanavičius 1893), included a more extensive area of Užnemunė than now. It included Balbieriškis country district, Punskas and Smalėnai parishes, and the North East of Augustów Powiat between the Nemunas and the Augustów channel and Šeiny (Radziukynas 1900). Later, thanks to the writers V. Krėvė and B. Sruoga, the Dzūkai space was transferred to the right bank of the Nemunas, first of all with Merkinė vicinity, and related to the name of the historic Dainava. The Dzūkai culture, which is related to the fellowship of their dialect and its peculiarities (dzūdzinimai), was found further to the East and North East, while the original birthplace of the Dzūkai name was forgotten.In the earliest maps, the Dzūkai were attributed to Suvalkija, laterto Dainava and Vilnius region. The present Dzūkija spreads from the Southern part of Užnemunė in the West and reaches Birštonas, Elektrėnai, Vilnius and Švenčionys regions in North East Lithuania. The analysis of publications revealed that the society showed an interest in the Dzūkai identity, especially in Alytus region after the First World War. This growing attention is also reflected in the choice of corresponding pseudonyms and names of different public organizations.