Asta Mitkevičienė. 1918–1940 metų lietuvių literatūros mokslo terminai: daktaro disertacija

Asta Mitkevičienė TERMS OF LITHUANIAN LITERARY STUDIES, 1918–1940. DOCTORAL DISSERTATION Vilnius: Lietuvių kalbos institutas, 2015, 227 p. SOLVITA LABANAUSKIENĖ Institute of the Lithuanian Language On 19 June 2015, Asta Mitkevičienė, an employee of the Terminology Centre at the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, defended her doctoral dissertation, Terms of Lithuanian Literary Studies, 1918–1940 (supervisor: Associate Professor Stasys Keinys). The research object comprises approximately 8,000 different terms. The dissertation aims to investigate the origins of the terms, their systematic semantic relations and forms of expression (term models), as well as their development and competition during the period of independent Lithuania. The terms of Lithuanian literary studies are examined using descriptive and comparative methods; formal and semantic analysis of the terms is also combined, and quantitative relationships between various groups of terms are established. The material was collected from a range of sources dating from the period under study (books on literary theory and literary history, books for schools and higher education institutions, terms approved by the Terminology Commission, etc.), which is important for objectively assessing the situation. 208 Solvita labanauskienė | A. Mitkevičienė’s work comprises an introduction, four main chapters, conclusions, lists of the principal sources from 1918–1940 (29 entries), sources from the 19th century (30 entries), sources from 1904–1918 (4 entries), and literature in Lithuanian, English, Russian, Italian, French and German (190 entries). The introduction explains the motives for choosing the dissertation topic, its novelty and relevance, the aim, objectives and methods of the work, and presents the research object. It briefly reviews the concept and specific features of literary-studies terminology and introduces the dissertation’s principal sources. It also sets out the propositions defended and lists the author’s publications and conference papers on the dissertation topic. The first chapter examines 19th-century terminology in greater detail, discussing literary-studies terms used in texts on literary subjects before the beginning of the period under study (before 1918). The second chapter presents the activities of the Terminology Commission under the Ministry of Education (1921–1926) relating to literary-studies terms and establishes its role in the history of this field’s terminology. The third chapter separately analyzes the semantic groups of six selected representative literary-studies terms. The author examines the origins and synonymy of one-word terms, other systematic semantic relationships among certain terms (hierarchical and coordinate relationships), the origins and forms of expression of two-word terms, and the synonymy of multiword terms. The chapter provides a more detailed description of (a) names for types and genres of literature and literary works, and other units of classification; (b) names for elements of content; (c) terms of versification; (d) names of figures and tropes; (e) names of literary periods, movements, trends, currents, schools and circles; and (f) names for participants in the literary process. The fourth chapter discusses antonymy. Sources of terminology from the period under study reveal certain groups of antonymous term pairs. These consist of basic antonymous literary-studies terms and other antonymous terms associated with them. Terms in this semantic category help realize systematicity, and are not directly associated with standardization or established term usage. Because of their position within the terminological system, the author discusses them separately in this chapter. The study shows that the key issue during the period under examination was competition between Lithuanian terms and loanwords, as well as synonymy and variation among terms. The research supports the conclusion that the current traditional terminology of Lithuanian literary studies began to take shape between 1918 and 1940. Terminologija | 2015 | 22 209 Asta Mitkevičienė’s doctoral dissertation Terms of Lithuanian literary scholarship, 1918–1940 is a well and thoughtfully prepared scholarly work that examines in depth one area of a pivotal stage in the development of Lithuanian terminology. It demonstrates that the contribution to this field of scholarship, and to Lithuanian terminology as well, is indeed substantial. Received 2015-08-14 Solvita Labanauskienė Lietuvių kalbos institutas P. Vileišio g. 5, LT-10308 Vilnius E. paštas: [email protected] 210 Solvita labanauskienė |