Title The church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago: a complicated story of the search for Lithuanian identity /
Another Title Švč. Mergelės Marijos gimimo bažnyčia Čikagoje: komplikuota lietuviško identiteto paieškos istorija.
Authors Petrulis, Vaidas
DOI 10.2478/mik-2022-0002
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Is Part of Meno istorija ir kritika = Art history & criticism.. Kaunas; Warsaw : Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas; Sciendo. 2022, t. 18, p. 36-51.. ISSN 1822-4555. eISSN 1822-4547
Keywords [eng] architecture in exile ; Chicago ; Jonas Mulokas ; Lithuanian identity ; national style ; regionalism ; Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas
Abstract [eng] The article examines the complicated history of the search for Lithuanian identity in the church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago. After leaving their homeland in the aftermath of World War II, the Lithuanian community struggled to maintain its national identity under difficult conditions of emigration. The search for a Lithuanian architectural character became an important part of this political task. Based on a case study, a church near Chicago’s densely populated Marquette Park in Lithuania, the text analyzes the Lithuanian community’s debate about the cultural and political mission of Lithuanian architecture in exile, and the way to express it. Although the concept of the national style had already emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century, post-war technological progress and the unfamiliar context of emigration brings additional questions to the subject. The article argues that historical reminiscences in the church are more an ethical than an aesthetic choice. This approach embodies the specific cultural expectations of the community and is, at least partially, in line with the critique of modernism from regionalist point of view.
Published Kaunas; Warsaw : Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas; Sciendo
Type Journal article
Language English
Publication date 2022
CC license CC license description