ANTON CHEKHOV’S RECEPTION IN LATVIA

• Kovzele, O.
• Kacane, I.

Abstract:

The aim of the study is to perform and present the synchronic and diachronic analysis of the Russian writer’s, Anton Chekhov’s (1860 – 1904), reception in Latvia in four most significant cultural historical periods that determined the establishment and formation of the writer’s “literary reputation” (I. Rozanov) in Latvia. The material of the study is essays, dedication poetry, translations, and staged performances to trace the borrowings and direct influences that form the “outer” and “inner” reception of Chekhov (D. Dyurishin) and testify to the topicality of the writer’s personality and literary heritage in different epochs of Latvian cultural space. Research methods: comparative, cultural-historical, biographical, structural-semiotic. Results: the reception of Chekhov in Latvia has been analyzed within the framework of four most important cultural-historical epochs: 1) at the end of the 19th – the beginning of the 20th century, 2) in the period of Latvia’s independence (1918 – 1940), 3) in the Soviet period of Latvia (1940 – 1991), 4) in the 1990s – the beginning of the 21st century: among the most important recipients of Chekhov’s influences one can mention Latvian writers P?rsietis, R. Blaumanis, E. Vulfs, A. Austri?š, Sudrabu Edžus, K. Skalbe, A. Up?ts, a.o.; the most productive borrowed image is the “the little man” and its variations – the man in a case, the man-chameleon, and The Darling; on the level of borrowed structures “the model of a revelation story” plays an important role. The phenomenon of “Latvian Chekhov” is also traced via the insight into the staging tradition of Chekhov’s plays (producers F. Dei?s, A. Kacs, O. Kroders, M. ?imele, ?. Šapiro, a.o.) and the dedication poetry to Chekhov by Latvian writers (E. Vulfs, K. Dzi?leja, Sudrabu Edžus, M. ?empe, N. Dzirkale, TC, I. Rupenheite, E. Kuple, a.o.).

SGEM Research areas:

• ART & HUMANITIES: Section Literature & Poetry

Year:

2017

Type of Publication:

In Proceedings

Keywords:

reception; “literary reputation”; Anton Chekhov; Latvia

Volume:

17

SGEM Book title:

4th International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences and Arts SGEM 2017

Book number:

2

SGEM Series:

International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences and Arts-SGEM

Pages:

425-432

Publisher address:

51 Alexander Malinov blvd, Sofia, 1712, Bulgaria

SGEM supporters:

Bulgarian Acad Sci; Acad Sci Czech Republ; Latvian Acad Sci; Polish Acad Sci; Russian Acad Sci; Serbian Acad Sci & Arts; Slovak Acad Sci; Natl Acad Sci Ukraine; Natl Acad Sci Armenia; Sci Council Japan; World Acad Sci; European Acad Sci, Arts & Letters; Ac

Period:

24 - 30 August 2017

ISBN:

978-619-7408-24-9

ISSN:

2367-5659

Conference:

4th International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences and Arts SGEM 2017, 24 - 30 August 2017

DOI:

10.5593/sgemsocial2017/62/S27.051