Global Studies

Session I

Celeste Edwards, "Ancient Songs, Modern Identity: Traditional Folk Singing and Its Connection to National Identity in Lithuania"

This project explores the importance of traditional folk songs to the national identity of modern Lithuanians. Through age and musical uniqueness, these songs provide Lithuania with a distinct cultural identity, and, therefore, I argue, the sense of a unique national identity. A unique culture supports a sovereign set of borders in which to freely practice it, as evidenced by the role Lithuanian folk songs played in providing Lithuanians a separate identity during the Soviet occupation, and the lengths to which the Lithuanian government goes to preserve and suffuse its modern population with these songs, most recently by declaring 2025 to be the Year of the Lithuanian Folk Songs. This project reveals the musical way in which Lithuania has proclaimed and maintained a separate identity in a region dominated by a neighboring great power. 

Student Major(s)/Minor: Undeclared

Advisor: Dr. Alexander Prokhorov