Family Memory of Descendants of Forced Migrants and Their Ethnic Identity: The Case of the Lithuanian Diaspora in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Based on the data of semi-structured biographical interviews, the article examines the family memory of the descendants of Lithuanian forced migrants in Kazakhstan and its use as a resource of their ethnic identity. After the interruption of intergenerational memory transmission during the Soviet era, the memory of forced migrants is largely restored as the family memory. Due to the prevailing concept of primordial ‘inherited’ ethnic identity, the restoration of family memory takes place together with the restoration of Lithuanian identity. The emotional needs to restore family memory in the generations of descendants also strengthen the need to restore ethnic identity and in some cases family memory is its important resource.