“The Latvian Dream” as a Meeting Space with the Other
Justyna Prusinowska
Colloquia December 20, 2017 DOI: 10.51554/col.2017.28705 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Latvian literary works repeatedly use dreams, visions, and fantasy journeys to stage encounters with an "Other" through which the hero recognizes himself, and that this motif appears at key turning points in Latvia's national awakening and identity-building, where depicting the other face of the Other was central. |
Abstract
In Latvian literature, there is a dream (or vision or some other subconscious process) about Latvianness and Latvian national identity, which has repeatedly appeared for more than a few decades. The hero of this dream meets the Other and this confrontation allows him to recognize and understand himself, something that is difficult to achieve in a state of consciousness. The Other is not always a Black Knight in armour reflecting upon the life of an ordinary peasant; he can also be another Latvian, usually an (im) migrant – someone who sees the nation from a very different perspective.This article focuses on several literary works depicting this kind of extraordinary meeting while asleep or unconscious (the space of a dream, a projection, a fairy-tale or a fantasy journey) with a variously understood Other, including Wannem Ymanta (1802) by Garlieb Merkel, the epic Lāčplēsis (The Bear-Slayer, 1888) by Andrejs Pumpurs, Lāčplēsis trimdā (Lāčplēsis in exile, 1958/1986/1990) by Dzintars Sodums and Latviešu sapnis (Latvian dream, 2002) by Agnese Bule. All of these books were very important at key turning-points or difficult moments in Latvia’s history – the process of national awakening and identity-building always involved depicting the other face of the Other.