1st International Egodocumental Network Conference
Vilnius University, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, the University of Lodz, and the Egodocumental Research Group (https://egodocuments.umk.pl) organise an international conference focusing on research, development, and changing perceptions of egodocuments in the twenty-first century. The conference aims to bring together scholars from different disciplines to share their insights and to encourage interdisciplinary studies of egodocuments.
The conference will also be the first meeting of the International Egodocumental Network established in December 2023 by the Egodocumental Research Group (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and the University of Lodz) to unite scholars from different disciplines working on egodocuments. It provides a platform for discussion, collaboration, and exchange of information between the participants, as well as online research seminars organized twice a year. In this dimension, our conference continues two editions of the Scientific Symposium "Egodocuments, Life-Writing and Autobiographical Texts..." organized at NCU in Toruń in 2022 and 2024.
Keynote speakers
Dr. Nataliia Voloshkova
Kazimierz Wielki University and Oxford Brookes University
Prof. Leona Toker
Hebrew University and Shalem Academic College
Prof. François-Joseph Ruggiu
Sorbonne Université, CNRS and Oxford University
Greta Paskočiumaitė
Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore
The Memoirs of Juozas Albinas Lukša: Shaping the Image of Anti-Soviet Resistance in Lithuania and the World
This paper analyzes the memoirs of the partisan (i.e., a guerilla fighter of the esistance movement) Juozas Albinas Lukša, titled “Partisans Behind the Iron Curtain”, first published in Chicago in 1950. Written in Paris between 1948 and 1949, these memoirs have become an inseparable part of the Lithuanian resistance war narrative. In his writing, Lukša offers a distinct portrayal of the partisan struggle, reflecting on his experiences in the resistance and conveying the goals of the fighters. These memoirs have been published six times in total – three times in Chicago, IL, USA, and three times in post-independence Lithuania. Notably, while the memoirs are often cited as a significant part of Lukša’s biography, their impact on shaping the image of the Lithuanian resistance fighters in the West and in reestablished Lithuania has yet to be fully explored. This presentation raises questions about how Lukša’s memoirs contributed to constructing the identity and image of the fighters in the Western eyes and what distinguishes these memoirs within the memory of the partisan war in Lithuania.
