<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>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 <italic>national style</italic> 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.</p>
</abstract>

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.

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago: A Complicated Story of the Search for Lithuanian Identity

Art History & Criticism

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

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...

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago: A Complicated Story of the Search for Lithuanian Identity

Published Online: Dec 08, 2022

Page range: 36 - 51

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/mik-2022-0002

Keywords
architecture in exile, Lithuanian identity, national style, regionalism, Jonas Mulokas, Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas, Chicago

© 2022 Vaidas Petrulis, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago: A Complicated Story of the Search for Lithuanian Identity

Published Online: Dec 08, 2022

Page range: 36 - 51

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/mik-2022-0002

Keywordsarchitecture in exile, Lithuanian identity, national style, regionalism, Jonas Mulokas, Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas, Chicago

© 2022 Vaidas Petrulis, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
architecture in exile, Lithuanian identity, national style, regionalism, Jonas Mulokas, Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas, Chicago