A romantic nation: Eduards Volters’ concepts of ethnographical-statistical studies of Lithuania

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show the academic links inherent in the idea of ethnographical-statistical studies of Lithuania conceived by the Latvian ethnographer Eduards Volters (1856–1941). In as early as the end of the nineteenth century, the Latvian linguist and ethnographer was working at the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and was developing ethnographical-statistical studies to determine the “tribal” composition of the population. In an original way the theory integrated the concepts of the history of ideas and ethnographical statistics. In 1930 Volters engaged in the activities of the Lithuanian Scientific Society and introduced the concept of “the soul of a nation” in his ethnographical-statistical studies. The author of this article tests the hypothesis that the beginnings of “the soul of a nation” concept in relation to the Lithuanians are connected with the historical anthropological perspective. The author theoretically analyses the rhetoric of Volters’ idea of ethnographical statistics from the following points of view: (1) ethnographical-statistical studies of Lithuania, (2) a romantic nation, and (3) the idea of science and education.

Challenges in empire: Eduards Volters’ ethnography on Lithuania, 1882–1918

“…Herder is considered to be the founder of a third ethnological perspective based on the notion of the romantic nation (Kaschuba, 2012: 32–33). This perspective on ethnology, which had a profound impact in Northern and Eastern Europe (Vermeulen 2015: 321–322; Leggewie 2012: 24–26), also influenced Volters’ theoretical approach to ethnography, his rejection of the concept of race (see Savoniakaitė, 2021: 111–123), and his view of education as creating a “literate community” (Goody, 1981). This is particularly clear in his later academic 9 work.…”

“…For Kant, the study of nations and races was part of geography and his anthropology was seemingly an alternative to contemporary psychology (Vermeulen, 2015: 375–377). Volters followed this path, never examining psychological aspects of national identity as some of his contemporaries did (Savoniakaitė, 2021), but was always interested in linguistic geographic concepts.…”

“… 9. Volters’ distinctive discourses on the “soul of the nation” (Savoniakaitė, 2021), which he did not mention in the work commissioned by the Russian Empire, emerge as part of academic programmes in a modern Lithuania.…”