Defining Latvia Michael Loader, Siobhán Hearne, Matthew Kott / Michael Loader, Siobhán Hearne, Matthew Kott
2022, 20220308, 2022-03-08
eBook, Book
In just over a century, Latvia has transitioned from imperial
periphery to nation-state, then Soviet republic, and finally
following the collapse of the Soviet Union to an independent
republic. ...Defining Latvia brings together the latest research on
the multiple social, political, and cultural contexts of Latvia
throughout this turbulent period. Its ten chapters are written by
leading political scientists, historians, and area studies
specialists from across Europe and North America.
The volume moves beyond an exclusively political context to
incorporate a variety of social and cultural perspectives, ranging
from the experiences of Latvian mapmakers in the Russian Empire, to
the participation of Latvians in the Wehrmacht and Red Army during
World War II, Latvian national communism, and the development of
extremist politics following Latvia's accession to the European
Union. Other chapters address developing trends in the fields of
history and political science, including the history of
antisemitism, memory, language politics, photography, and political
extremism.
Based on the book's temporal span from the nineteenth century to
the present, the authors and editors of Defining Latvia
understand the construction of Latvian identity as a continuous and
interconnected process across significant political and ideological
ruptures.
Present-day Latvia is a multi-ethnic society divided by the traumatic experiences of the twentieth century. It was both a locus of the Holocaust and a society deeply affected by decades of Soviet ...rule. Today, Latvia's Jewish community is trying to negotiate its place as a re-emergent historical minority in the space between two dominant ethno-cultural communities, Latvian speakers and Russian speakers. After outlining the expressions of antisemitism in both the Lettophone and Russophone milieus since 1991, this article argues that competing nationalist narratives of threat and ownership of the state best explain antisemitism in contemporary Latvia. The fluctuating influence of the 1941 Rumbula Massacre on popular memory culture is a recurrent point of reference, which illustrates my argument. Recent events suggest a new, more conciliatory, trend where Jews are seen as an integral part of the people of Latvia, rather than as a potential risk to the state and nation.
