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Field work in northern Latgale

Between 19th and 26th August in northern Latgale – the parishes of Medņeva, Susāji and Šķilbēni of Viļaka district, Baltinava district and Briežuciems parish of Balvi district – the 53^rd summer field-work session or the scholarly expedition of the Archives of Latvian Folklore, University of Latvia Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art took place.

In northern Latgale a group of 16 folklorists was documenting the intangible culture heritage and very kindly received by the local people. The researchers have collected songs, folk-tales, stories, Christian legends, descriptions of customs, festivities and celebrations, folk-belief, memorates, folk-healing advice and items of other folklore genres from 59 individual informants. During the expedition several folk groups were recorded: the ethnographic group of Briežuciems (leader - Maruta Ločmele), the ethnographic group of Šķilbēni (leader - Irina Husare), the ethnographic group of Upīte (leader - Līvija Supe), the ethnographic group “Abrenīte” from Viļaka (leader - Albīna Veina). The collected material will be preserved in the archive with the collection number LFK [2212], part of the collected material will be made available in the digital archive garamantas.lv.

Veina). The collected material will be preserved in the archive with the collection number LFK [2212], part of the collected material will be made available in the digital archive garamantas.lv.

Field work in Siberia

Author: Aigars Lielbārdis

From 27 May until 12 June 2015 the Archives of Latvian Folklore of the University of Latvia Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art together with the researchers from the museum and research centre "Latvieši pasaulē" (The Latvians in World) organised a joint field work session in the Latvian villages in Siberia. The researchers of the Archives of Latvian Folklore Sandis Laime and Aigars Lielbārdis together with the researchers from the "Latvieši pasaulē" Ieva Vītola and Brigita Tamuža visited the Siberian latvian villages of Timofeyevka (Novosibirsk region), Suhonoy (Krasnoyarsk region) and Lower Bulan (Krasnoyarsk region). Timofeyevka is a village established around 1895 by emigrants from Latgale, mainly the vicinity of Ludza. Suhonoy was established around 1896 by emigrants from the vicinity of Alūksne. Originally the village bore the name of Siberian Marienburg or Alūksne while Lowers Bulan is one of the oldest Latvian settlements, founded around 1858 by convicts sent to do forced labour in Siberia. They just used the opportunity to settle together.

This field-work was a continuation of earlier study of the Latvian diaspora in Russian Federation, performed by the researchers of the Archives of Latvian Folklore since 1990s. The Project was supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation.

A Field-Research in India

Author: Sandis Laime

India (similar to some countries in Africa and the New Guinea) is among those few and rare places in the world, where witches are still persecuted and killed. In XVI-XVIII century the witch-mania was rather wide-spread in Europe, including Latvia. Although the burning of witches in our region ceased at the beginning of the XVIII century, accusations in witchcraft still continued at least until the end of XIX century, as attested by the folklore sources. In order to be able to understand those better, the aim of the field-research in India was to research the role of different narratives (rumours, tales, tales of personal experience) in the course of the process of finding, charging and judging a witch.

European Social Fund project No. 1DP/1.1.1.2.0/13/APIA/VIAA/042 “Kultūras kultūrā: robežvēstījumu politika un poētika” (Cultures in a Culture: The Politics and Poetics of a Border Narrative).

The Forest as a Home

Author: Sanita Reinsone

Forest covers nearly a half of territory of Latvia, the forest is an integral part of the everyday landscape and life for many inhabitants of Latvia. The field-research “The forest as a home” concentrated onto the different experiences and concepts of forest. Performing the oral history and lifestory interviews in different parts of Latvia, first, the definition of the forest was established – finding out what people understand by the name “forest” from the geographic, symbolic, emotional, as well as historical and political perspective, and what changes have these views undergone under different conditions. Second, the military, emotional and everyday life aspects of the experiences of living in a forest were studied, third, the field research focused on multiple different forest-related culture experiences, that the informants found significant – like those of picking berries and mushrooms, hunting, walking, the different aspects of getting lost and mislead by the spirit of the forest, finding one’s way and different other forest-related concepts.

The results of the field-research were used in the book “Meža meitas. 12 sievietes par dzīvi mājās, mežā, cietumā” (‘The Daughters of the Forest. 12 Women about the Life at Home, in the Forest, in Prison’. Dienas Grāmata, 2015) and the scholarly article “Forbidden and sublime forest landscapes: narrated experiences of Latvian national partisan women after World War II” in the journal “Cold War History” (2015).

May Chants in Latgale

Author: Aigars Lielbārdis

The tradition of May chants in Europe originated in the first half of the XIX century, while in Latvia – the second half of the same century, mainly in the catholic regions – Latgale and Augšzeme (the eastern part of Latvia), reaching the heyday from the perspective of distribution and dynamics in 1930s. In our days the tradition is still a significant element in the culture landscape of Latgale – in the month of May people gather around the crosses at the roadside and in graveyards, as well as in churches, in order to pay homage to Virgin Mary in songs and prayer. The field research included the study of the distribution of this tradition, documentation of the May chants being performed and photographic documentation of the roadside crosses.

Epitaphs

Author: Rita Treija

Epitaphs are memory missives, created observing a certain text formation tradition. Texts found engraved in tombstones in cemeteries of Latvia and meant to mark the memory of those having passed away are testimonies to both the conservative tradition and the multi-faceted culture expressions: these epitaphs besides the conventional missive concerning the deceased are also illustrations of different cultural and political processes. The study is based on the collection of epitaphs in the holdings of the Archives of Latvian Folklore (University of Latvia Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art) – namely the archive item LFK [2101] – and the author’s collection of the memorial inscriptions.

rrative). The results of the field-research were used in the book “Meža meitas. 12 sievietes par dzīvi mājās, mežā, cietumā” (‘The Daughters of the Forest. 12 Women about the Life at Home, in the Forest, in Prison’. Dienas Grāmata, 2015) and the scholarly article “Forbidden and sublime forest landscapes: narrated experiences of Latvian national partisan women after World War II” in the journal “Cold War History” (2015).

Last time modified: 17.10.2016 17:10:50