Search results for "Latvia."
showing 10 items of 1313 documents
Between improvisation and inevitability: former Latvian officials’ memoirs of the Soviet era
2016
ABSTRACTThis article deals with the autobiographies of former Soviet officials that have been published in Latvia since the 1990s. In particular, it focuses on three interrelated layers of biographical narrative: construction of social identity, strategies for avoiding the stigmatization of collaboration, and comparisons between the Soviet and post-Soviet experience. The article contends that former officials in their memoirs use a pragmatic representation of the Soviet past as the major locus of their positive identity. Through this genuine representation of the past, autobiographers emphasize virtues that might be accepted by a post-Soviet neoliberal society.
The Baltic Sea region: hard and soft security reconsidered, Māris Andžāns & Ilvija Bruģe (eds), Riga, Latvian Institute of International Affairs,…
2018
Founded in 1992, the Latvian Institute of International Affairs is the oldest and most prominent Latvian foreign policy think tank. It regularly publishes analyses and opinion papers on Latvian for...
The Role of Ethnographers in the Invention of Socialist Traditions in the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic
2019
Abstract This study, based on archive document research and analysis of publications by Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR) ethnographers, discusses the process of invention and implementation of Socialist traditions and the role of scientists in this. The introduction of Soviet traditions in Latvia did not begin immediately after the Second World War when the communist occupation regime was restored. The occupation regime in the framework of an anti-religious campaign turned to the transformation of traditions that affect individual’s private sphere and relate to church rituals – baptism, confirmation, weddings, funerals, Latvian cemetery festivities – in the second half of 1950s, alo…
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. ANNA BĒRZKALNE<br>MEDNARODNO SODELOVANJE. ANNA BĒRZKALNE</br>
2011
Cooperation among professional folklore researchers is a considerable issue for the history of the discipline. In the 1920s and 1930s, the most noteworthy Latvian partner in the then existing international collaboration network was Anna Bērzkalne (1891–1956). She was a representative of the historic-geographical method in Latvian folkloristics. Anna Bērzkalne was very enthusiastic about providing Latvian folklore materials to researchers abroad. She in return also received support to her studies and research. *** Sodelovanje med poklicnimi raziskovalci folklore je pomembno vprasanje v zgodovini discipline. V 20. in 30. letih 20. stoletja je bila v Latviji v mednarodnih stikih najopaznejsa A…
The Sovietization of Rainis and Aspazija: discourses and rituals in Soviet Latvia in celebration of the two poets
2020
The purpose of this article is to analyze the Sovietization of the Latvian poets Rainis and Aspazija by using as evidence the organization of their celebration and ideological messages. The researc...
The Devil in Latvian Charms and Related Genres
2019
AbstractIn Latvian folklore, the Devil is a relatively common image, represented in all the genres. This paper analyses the verbal charms that mention the Devil or Thunder together with the motif of pursuing the Devil. The corpus of charms consists of texts taken from the first systematic collection of Latvian charms, published in 1881. Examples of charms are accompanied by a comparative analysis of folk legends and beliefs. There are correspondences in charms, legends and beliefs regarding the appearance and traits of the Devil as well as his activities and dwelling places. These genres also share the motif of pursuing the Devil. Texts from different genres complement each other by providi…
Intentions to stay or to return among highly skilled Latvians in the EU: who is more likely to return?
2021
In the context of university-diploma drain from Latvia, this article analyzes how labor market integration and attachment to the host and home countries of highly skilled Latvian emigrants in Europ...
Mobilities and waiting: experiences of middle-aged Latvian women who emigrated and those who stayed put
2018
By revisiting De Beauvoir’s feminist arguments on ageing I interrogate work-related (im)mobilities of women in two contexts: migrating in middle-age or pre-retirement, and ageing ‘in place’. The da...
Traditional Craft Skills in the Contemporary Latvian Rural Environment
2016
This article intends to give an insight into what place the traditional craft skills occupy in the contemporary Latvian rural environment, using as a point of observation the activities of the ‘Meet your Master!’ event, organised by the Latvian National Centre for Culture. The interest of both the society and the individuals in focusing on the traditional cultural heritage is encouraged by the desire for expressing their cultural identity in today's cosmopolitan world. The same motivation prompts the use of traditional knowledge in rural tourism, in the activities of individual manufacturers etc. Traditional skills are the basis for mutual interaction among the community members and a meani…