Back Onto the Map: Essays on a Lithuanian American Identity

During the Cold War years, when Lithuania was occupied by Soviet Russia, a free Lithuanian society existed only outside of geographic Lithuania’s borders. As the children of Lithuanian displaced persons growing up in America and Canada, we were instructed by our elders not to lay down any roots because one day we would be going home to Lithuania to help rebuild the country. Only, there was no Lithuania for us to go back to. Lithuania remained under Russian dominance until the nation won back its independence in 1991.
Now Lithuania is free, and whenever we desire, we diaspora Lithuanians may simply board an airplane and hours later be walking the streets of Vilnius, or Kaunas, Klaipėda, or Palanga. But what do we do with our divided identities? This book of essays is a meditation on dual identity. How do we children of World War II displaced persons integrate this wonderfully creative, innovative, tiny northern European country into our psyches now that it is no longer a fairy tale land, but a real place? How do we adapt to a new transnational lifestyle outside of Chicago, Toronto, and New York?