Orientalism, otherness, and the Soviet empire: travelogues by Latvian writers of the Soviet period

ABSTRACT

The development of travel writing in a national literature is closely related to the geographical and mental cartography that characterizes that territory. This article investigates Latvian travelogues of the Soviet era as encounters with other nations within the Soviet empire in order to analyze the role of Latvian travel writings in shaping a feeling of belonging to the empire. In addition to fostering obedience and a sense of belonging to the Soviet empire during the first 15 oppressive years of the Soviet regime, Latvian travelogues of the later years represented the Soviet empire as a conflictual site of the destruction of traditional values and landscapes.

KEYWORDS:

• Latvian literature
• travel writing
• postcolonialism
• Soviet colonialism
• orientalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Džūkste – a civil parish in Latvia.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maija Burima

Maija Burima is a professor at the Department of Latvian Literature and Culture and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the Daugavpils University; a researcher at the Institute of Literature, Folklore, and Art of the University of Latvia (Riga). She has published academic monographs Ibsens Latvijā (Ibsen in Latvia, 2007) and Modernisma koncepti 20. gadsimta sākuma latviešu literatūrā (Concepts of Modernism in Latvian Literature at the Beginning of the 20th Century, 2011) and more than 160 articles. Her research interests include comparative literature, avant-garde and modernism studies, writing and identity, and travel literature.