The Family and the Ritual Year in the Modern Lithuanian City

Abstract

Using the results of fieldwork conducted in Vilnius in 2011—2014, the author of the article aims to present tradition as perceived by a present-day Vilnius citizen and to analyse which festivals of the life- and year- cycles are viewed as traditional. How tradition is observed when making preparations for the most important celebration of the year, Christmas, is another issue touched upon.
The author reaches the conclusion that the concept of tradition is contextual. Its content can be seen in a different way not only by an ethnologist and a person distant from the academic sphere respectively, but also by the informant himself or herself as they seek to define the concept of tradition, when speaking about traditions observed by their own family and when singling out the festivals which are traditionally observed.