Overview
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.
Full Product Details
Author: Aurimas Svedas
Publisher: Central European University Press
Imprint: Central European University Press
ISBN: 9789633863596
ISBN 10: 9633863597
Pages: 382
Publication Date: 24 April 2020
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
The 13 conversations between Veisaite and Lithuanian historian Aurimas Svedas are far-reaching and memorable, covering Veisaite's rich and varied life, taking in the horrific events of the Holocaust, which brought about the end of the Lithuanian Jewish world. We also meet an array of cultural figures and experience fragments of theatre performances that moved her. Veisaite and Svedas have a close bond and the experience of recording Veisaite's memories prompts them to explore in detail the nature of memory itself - 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? At 92, Irena Veisaite is able to supply plenty of raw material for this discussion. * Jewish Chronicle * Aurimas Svedas has produced what can be called a historical document about one of the few transgenerational and transformative personalities of twentieth-century Lithuania, Irena Veisaite. Life Should Be Transparent is neither a memoir nor a biography, portraying one of the most intriguing Germanists, theater critics, and pedagogues still alive. In 13 sympathetic interviews, Svedas, the foremost historian of modern Lithuanian culture, has provided a history of twentieth-century Lithuania from the point of view of a frightened young girl maturing through life into an old woman whose memories may soon fade. He gives the reader a remarkable insight into the different epochs she lived through, most notably her survival of the Holocaust and the Soviet occupation. Svedas and Veisaite are kindred spirits seeking the meaning of life and a way to authenticity. * Journal of Baltic Studies *
The 13 conversations between Veisaite and Lithuanian historian Aurimas Svedas are far-reaching and memorable, covering Veisaite's rich and varied life, taking in the horrific events of the Holocaust, which brought about the end of the Lithuanian Jewish world. We also meet an array of cultural figures and experience fragments of theatre performances that moved her. Veisaite and Svedas have a close bond and the experience of recording Veisaite's memories prompts them to explore in detail the nature of memory itself - 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? At 92, Irena Veisaite is able to supply plenty of raw material for this discussion. * Jewish Chronicle *
"""The 13 conversations between Veisaite and Lithuanian historian Aurimas Svedas are far-reaching and memorable, covering Veisaite’s rich and varied life, taking in the horrific events of the Holocaust, which brought about the end of the Lithuanian Jewish world. We also meet an array of cultural figures and experience fragments of theatre performances that moved her. Veisaite and Svedas have a close bond and the experience of recording Veisaite’s memories prompts them to explore in detail the nature of memory itself — “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?” At 92, Irena Veisaite is able to supply plenty of raw material for this discussion."" * Jewish Chronicle * ""Aurimas Švedas has produced what can be called a historical document about one of the few transgenerational and transformative personalities of twentieth-century Lithuania, Irena Veisaitė. Life Should Be Transparent is neither a memoir nor a biography, portraying one of the most intriguing Germanists, theater critics, and pedagogues still alive. In 13 sympathetic interviews, Švedas, the foremost historian of modern Lithuanian culture, has provided a history of twentieth-century Lithuania from the point of view of a frightened young girl maturing through life into an old woman whose memories may soon fade. He gives the reader a remarkable insight into the different epochs she lived through, most notably her survival of the Holocaust and the Soviet occupation. Švedas and Veisaitė are kindred spirits seeking the meaning of life and a way to authenticity."" * Journal of Baltic Studies *"
"""Life Should be Transparent provides deep insight into one woman's long journey from initial emotional trauma to eventual acceptance of wartime experiences, and her later persuasion of the newer generation of her countrymen to confront those memories and to begin the healing process."" https://academic.oup.com/hgs/article/37/1/181/7084840?login=true -- Barbara L. Bailin * Holocaust and Genocide Studies * ""The 13 conversations between Veisaite and Lithuanian historian Aurimas Svedas are far-reaching and memorable, covering Veisaite’s rich and varied life, taking in the horrific events of the Holocaust, which brought about the end of the Lithuanian Jewish world. We also meet an array of cultural figures and experience fragments of theatre performances that moved her. Veisaite and Svedas have a close bond and the experience of recording Veisaite’s memories prompts them to explore in detail the nature of memory itself — “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?” At 92, Irena Veisaite is able to supply plenty of raw material for this discussion."" * Jewish Chronicle * ""Aurimas Švedas has produced what can be called a historical document about one of the few transgenerational and transformative personalities of twentieth-century Lithuania, Irena Veisaitė. Life Should Be Transparent is neither a memoir nor a biography, portraying one of the most intriguing Germanists, theater critics, and pedagogues still alive. In 13 sympathetic interviews, Švedas, the foremost historian of modern Lithuanian culture, has provided a history of twentieth-century Lithuania from the point of view of a frightened young girl maturing through life into an old woman whose memories may soon fade. He gives the reader a remarkable insight into the different epochs she lived through, most notably her survival of the Holocaust and the Soviet occupation. Švedas and Veisaitė are kindred spirits seeking the meaning of life and a way to authenticity."" * Journal of Baltic Studies *"
Author Information
Aurimas Švedas is an associate professor at the Faculty of History, Vilnius University. Irena Veisaite is a Lithuanian Jew and survived the Holocaust. She earned a doctorate in Leningrad in 1963 with a dissertation on the poetry of Heinrich Heine, and was a lecturer at the teacher's college in Vilnius from 1953 to 1997. She has also been head of the Thomas Mann Cultural Centre in Nida, Lithuania. She was awarded the Goethe Medal in 2012 for her contribution to the cultural exchange between Germany and Lithuania. A German scholar and theatre critic, she has been at the helm of the Open Society Fund for many years.
