The objective of the study is to address the factors contributing to emigration from Latvia, in particular by highlighting the importance of social factors in the emigration decision, using the theory of push and pull factors of migration as a …
This analysis is based on two interviews with Emma Jozuus from the collection of Latvian National Oral History Project in the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Latvia.
This article explores how Latvian children who were displaced during the Second World War came across their displacement and how they compose the narratives of this childhood experience. Their life story interviews have been preserved in the Latvian …
The aim of this article is to investigate the experience and significance of the use and preservation of Latvian for native language maintenance, national culture and identity in the Nordic countries. This has been done by analysing native (heritage) …
In the end of Second World War many Latvians found refuge in the western countries defining themselves as an exile community. When Latvia regained its independence, the exile was officially put to an end, however, most part of exiles did not return. Hence, the question arises: how different generations of exile Latvians define their attachment to their homeland and to their host countries?
The paper discusses the problem of preserving native Latvian language and the transfer of cultural identity in Latvian diaspora. One of the central tasks for Latvia’s diaspora policy is to support preservation of Latvian language and culture in diaspora with the aim of strengthening the Latvian identity and the sense of belonging to Latvia. The data confirms that parents play a big role in language acquisition and sustaining by children in emigration, and parents hold the main responsibility in the process of realizing ethnic identity as a value.
This article explores the commonalities of structure in the life histories of a mother and her daughter. I argue that sharing the same story does not preclude the existence of a strong and distinctive sense of self. Agency and selfhood are intimately connected with interpretation and the pursuit of understanding. In order to illuminate this relationship, I draw upon ideas of musical form and interpretation that suggest how this might come about.
Latvijai atgūstot neatkarību, trimda oficiāli beidzās, jo latviešiem beidzot bija iespēja atgriezties mājās. Tomēr visbiežāk izrādījās, ka 50 gadi ir bijis pārāk ilgs laiks un cilvēki ir pārāk iesakņojušies, lai atgrieztos. Turklāt aktualizējās jautājums – kas ir tā vieta, ko šie cilvēki uzskatīja par savām mājām? Vai tā ir konkrētā ģeogrāfiskā vieta/valsts vai ideāltēls, kurā nav iespējams atgriezties? Raksta pamatā ir pieņēmums, ka pastarpinātas atbildes uz iepriekš minētajiem jautājumiem iespējams iegūt, aplūkojot trimdas (pēc 1991. gada – diasporas) latviešu dzimtenes apciemojumu pieredzi, īpašu uzmanību vēršot uz pirmo viesošanos Latvijā, jo bieži vien tieši tā izgaismoja sadursmi starp iedomāto/iztēloto Latvijas tēlu un realitāti, bet vienlaikus atspoguļoja arī to, ka daļai trimdinieku, neraugoties uz ilgajiem svešumā pavadītajiem gadiem, Latvija joprojām iemieso vienīgās un īstās mājās.
The article focuses on walk-and-talk interviews as a research method to explore a life experiences in Tuja, a village along the Baltic coast in Latvia. The study examines the social change in Tuja and the influence of the economic and political changes of the 1990s on the living conditions and lifestyle of the local inhabitants.
One-person household is the dominant type of household in today’s Latvia.Research on kinship in contemporary Europe suggests that weak kinship ties are characteristic of institutionally strong countries where individuals once incapacitated due to …