Life should be Transparent : : Conversations about Lithuania and Europe in the Twentieth Century and Today / / Aurimas Svedas.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Central European University Press eBook-Package 2020
• VerfasserIn: Svedas, Aurimas,
• MitwirkendeR: Gruodis, Karla,
• Place / Publishing House: Budapest ;, New York : : Central European University Press, , [2020]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (382 p.)

This book of thirteen conversations introduces us to the life of an exceptional person—theatre critic, Germanist, and long-time chair of the Open Lithuania Fund board—Irena Veisaitė. The dialogue between Lithuanian historian Aurimas Švedas and a woman who reflects deeply on her experiences reveals both one individual’s historically dramatic life and the fate of Europe and Lithuania in the twentieth century. Through the complementary lenses of history and memory, we confront with Veisaitė the horrific events of the Holocaust, which brought about the end of the Lithuanian Jewish world. We also meet an array of world-class cultural figures, see fragments of legendary theatre performances, and hear meaningful words that were spoken or heard decades ago. This book’s interlocutors do not so much seek to answer the question “What was it like?” but instead repeatedly ask each other: “What, how, and why do we remember? What is the meaning of our experiences? How can history help us to live in the present and create the future? How do we learn to understand and forgive?” A series of Veisaitė’s texts, statements, and letters, presented at the end of the book suggest further ways of answering these questions.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Introduction. Engaging Memory and History -- Acknowledgements -- Conversation I. Life Should Be Transparent -- Conversation II. We Could All See That Lithuania Was Trapped -- Conversation III. What Had Happened to the World? -- Conversation IV. To Forgive and Build the Future—These Are the Duties of the Living -- Conversation V. I Was Surrounded by Very Good People -- Conversation VI. I Needed a Change -- Conversation VII. I Saw My Work as a Kind of Mission -- Conversation VIII. The Theatre Suits My Interests and Temperament Perfectly -- Conversation IX. People Developed Close Relationships within “Islands” -- Conversation X. Why Was Faust Redeemed, Even After Making a Pact with the Devil? -- Conversation XI. I Felt a Powerful Connection with My Spiritual Brothers -- Conversation XII. I Regret Nothing, But I Continue to Pay Dearly for My Decisions -- Conversation XIII. It Is Probably Only Possible to Feel a Part of History Once in One’s Lifetime -- In Lieu of an Epilogue. More and More Questions, But Fewer and Fewer Answers -- Appendices. Voices from the Past -- Appendix I. What Questions Matter the Most to Me Now? -- Appendix II. Texts and Statements -- Appendix III. Letters -- Appendix IV. Post Scriptum -- Key Biographical Events -- Photos -- Index