From Kangars to Rubiks. The Long Line of Traitors in the Historical Political Culture of Latvia

Abstract

This article discusses the hypothesis that the tumultuous history of Latvia and its predecessors is rich in symbolic personalities who perpetuate the stereotype of the traitor in cultural expression and political language. The most important of these “traitors” will be briefly introduced, beginning with the figure of Kangars from the Latvian folk poem The Bearslayer, whose name is used in Latvian political vocabulary to denote “collaboration.” The article continues by looking at such famous personalities as Fridrichs Veinbergs, Andrievs Niedra, Pēteris Stučka, Vilis Lācis and, last but not least, Alfreds Rubiks, who in 1995 was imprisoned for having betrayed the Latvian Republic by participating in the Moscow putsch in August 1991.