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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Then and Now: Comparing the Soviet and Post-Soviet Experience in Latvian Autobiographies

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description

The article deals with an autobiographical representation of diverse experiences. Namely, through the analysis of post-Soviet Latvian autobiographies the framing of the Soviet and Post-Soviet era is revealed. The article suggests that instead of using progressive fame, which might give a positive estimation of the Post-Soviet experience, the autobiographers largely employ a nostalgic frame and continuation frame. Likewise, I argue that there are certain contexts that generate different framing practices: on the one hand, we can observe a professional context, which is typical to the former Soviet public officials, whose autobiographies utilize the nostalgic frame; on the other hand, there is a self-protection context that is used by the former Soviet intelligentsia, in order to maintain a positive social identity. The interplay of framing contexts divulge the complexity of the autobiographical representations of the Soviet period in Latvia and elsewhere.