Browse

The paper is aimed at critically approaching key theoretical contributions, research insights, academic commentary and debates in Latvia in relation to cultural literacy, cultural identities and cultural interactions in the context of cultural policies of Latvia. The article analyses the studies on the importance of cultural literacy for the transmission of the traditional cultural heritage and discusses the issue of peopleВ’s national and cultural identity, national self-respect, and sense of belonging to the Lat...

In the context of the global crisis (linked to rapid depletion of natural resources, climate change, polarisation of living standards, an increase in inequalities, etc.) experienced in the early 21st century, culture is considered a resource of unlimited sustainability potential. Therefore, the policy documents of Latvia state that the future of Latvia should be based on a core of values that do not require intense utilisation of physical resources. In such a situation, the value of human capital is at the forefro...

Name days (also known as feast days) are celebrated in several European countries, but nowhere else has it acquired such a wide recognition as in Latvia. The origin of the feast goes back to the eighteenth century after the first Catholic Calendars were published in Latvia, nevertheless, nowadays there is no longer explicit connection to Christianity. Although in the Church (Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox) calendars, the name days are arranged on the basis of the saintsВ’ heavenly birthday or the date of death, it i...

Nowadays the debate on national character has become one of the central issues in the context of ever-growing globalization tendencies and the most recent expressions of nationalism. Contrary to the big nations that most often take for granted who they are, the Latvians have always dwelled upon the aspects of their identity and a range of issues associated with it. Being the “culture of a closed type”, i.e. an issue of an individual choice, Latvianness acquires also the features of the “culture of the open t...

The aim of the study is to perform and present the synchronic and diachronic analysis of the Russian writer’s, Anton Chekhov’s (1860 – 1904), reception in Latvia in four most significant cultural historical periods that determined the establishment and formation of the writer’s “literary reputation” (I. Rozanov) in Latvia. The material of the study is essays, dedication poetry, translations, and staged performances to trace the borrowings and direct influences that form the “outer” and “inner” rec...

The paper analyses the reception of the Irish-born British writer Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) in Latvia following the translations of his works into Latvian and the most vivid expressions in Latvian authors’ creative writing. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the poetics of cross-cultural influences in Latvia was very diverse: one of the most striking being the aesthetic vector marked by the crucial influence of Wilde’s personality and his literary heritage. The dialogue held between Latvian national a...