The lesson “What Did Our Ancestors Read?”

2012-05-10

The extraordinary lessons “What Did Our Ancestors Read?” for IX – XII form pupils took place in Žemyna gymnasium on May 7. In commemoration of the Day of Press Recovery, Language and Book, head of the Reading Room of Children's Literature Centre Jūratė Pocienė told pupils of Vilnius Žemyna gymnasium about publishing and dissemination of Lithuanian press in the times of press ban.

Secretly published and disseminated books escaped czarist government’s censorship, consequently it was possible to spread the advanced ideas of Western Europe. As the printed word at that time was the only source of knowledge, it was an attempt to print not only religious books, but also books of a wide range of topics (on scientific achievements, Lithuanian and world history and geography, new crafts, advanced farming, cooking, babies’ feeding, infectious diseases and their prevention). Great attention was paid to foreign literary translations and publishing.

Pupils could see the press ban period books stored in collections of the National Library, as well as the most valuable publications from Rare Book and Manuscript Department, including copies of newspaper “Aušra”, “Darbininkų balsas” and “Varpas”. J. Pocienė briefly talked about each publication, read the extracts. At the end of the lesson pupils discussed about an attitude to the Lithuanian language in their daily life.

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