ANTICOMUNIST REPRESENTATIONS ON THE PERIODICAL MUSU LIETUVA BASED ON THE ROMAN-FEUILLETON TEN ANAPUS (THERE ON THE OTHER SIDE, 1950-51)

• Grant number: 24/19985-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: February 18, 2025
• End date: August 17, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: Valéria dos Santos Guimarães
• Grantee: Lucca Ninni Indriunas
• Supervisor: Jeffrey Lesser
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Emory University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/05105-0 - Anti-communist representations in the periodical Musu Lietuva based on the serial novel Ten Anapus (There on the Other Side, 1950-51), BP.MS

Abstract

The periodical Musu Lietuva (Our Lithuania, SP, 1948-2015, hereafter ML) had an editorial line based on the defense of Lithuanian nationalism and conservative Catholicism, also taking part in the anticommunist struggle. Between 1950 and 1951, ML published the roman-feuilleton Ten Anapus (There on the Other Side), written by Povilas Von¿odas, which narrated the struggles of the guerrillas against the Soviet occupation of Lithuania. The corpus of the project consists of this novel in its entirety. The main objective of the research is to analyze the anticommunist representations present in the periodical, focusing on the aforementioned feuilleton, in addition to understanding how the perspective adopted by its editors was articulated in the Brazilian historical context during a period of support from important sectors of society for the agenda of fighting a supposed communist threat. It will also analyze the role played by the conservative Catholic sector of the Lithuanian diaspora engaged in the publication to discover whether it had any connection with Brazilian groups of the same orientation. Based on the recurring representation of "Soviet hell" by Von¿odas, it was possible to formulate the hypothesis of a Soviet Union understood as a symbol of regression not only in occupied Lithuania but throughout the world. The corpus is currently being systematized by surveying and describing themes that are addressed on a recurring basis, forming series organized by major axes dictated by the internal logic of the sources. Regarding the theoretical contribution, the concepts of representation proposed by Roger Chartier and cultural transference from Michel Espagne will initially be used. Marie-Ève Thérenty, Guillaume Pinson and other authors that explore the relation between literature, especially fiction, and the press will also be articulated. When it comes to immigration, Jeffrey Lesser's idea of hyphened communities will be deployed.