Spaudos atgavimo reikšmė lietuvių literatūrai

ENOn April 24 (May 7), 1904, the Lithuanian nation forced the Tsarist Russia authorities to withdraw the ban on Lithuanian press. This had a tremendous significance to Lithuanian literature. First changes in Lithuanian literature were related to publishing of books and periodicals. In 1904-1917, 7739 different Lithuanian books appeared (in comparison to 5472 Lithuanian books published within 358 years, from 1547 to 1904). In 1904-1918, three generations of Lithuanian writers showed up. The writers of the elder generation mostly continued the tradition of realism (in prose) and romanticism (in poetry). In the works of the middle generation authors, psychologism gained its grounds, romanticism grew into neo-romanticism and the first signs of symbolism appeared. The younger generation writers deepened the traditions of modernism. During the period of 1904-1917, periodicals became popular in Lithuania. In 1904, 6 periodicals were published, whereas in 1904-1918, 292 new periodicals appeared. Translations also expanded the borders of Lithuanian literature. Within the aforementioned period, translations of works by Polish, Russian, English, French, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Belgian, Ukrainian and even Ancient Greek authors appeared. In the period of 1904-1918, several literary criticism trends, such as Positivistic, Catholic and Modern, were dominant in Lithuania. Regained Lithuanian press allowed for free dissemination of creative potential of the Lithuanian nation, initiated more rapid development and branching of Lithuanian literature.