Reclaiming Latvian Realism: Literary Innovation as Identity Quest

The project opts for a contribution in the revitalization process of the study of realism in literature seen as an important catalyst for both aesthetic innovation and social change. The main goal of the project is a reinterpretation of Latvian literary realism. Project focuses on realism in postcolonial and post-Soviet Latvian literary culture in a broad temporal perspective. An approach to the topic is based on several case studies that examine major aesthetic transformations and their social relevance revealing particularities of so-called peripheral realisms important for the understanding of realism’s diversity. The project proposes a thorough investigation of the specific role of realism’s representational strategies in Latvian literary history and asks whether realist innovations in their interplay with other aesthetic trends reveal the potential of literature to strengthen various forms of individual and collective identity, to promote resilience, as well as to stimulate social transformation and change.