Scriptus Manet: Journal of Humanities and Arts

Egodokumenti radošas personības izpētē: ieskats Olafa Stumbra arhīva materiālos

2026-09-01T09:00:17+03:00

The archives of creative personalities, which are mostly deposited in memory institutions and form the basis of their collections, play an important role in the study of their lives and work. The paths by which these archives enter the repositories of libraries and archives are varied. But it is important not only to select, describe, document and include these new acquisitions in collections, but also to make them known to the public. The article provides insight into the new acquisitions of the poet Olafs Stumbrs (1931–1996) at the Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music, which significantly complement the poet’s collection with correspondence, manuscripts, autobiographical notes, various printed works, and other materials. The article aims to outline a research perspective, stimulate interest in archival research, and encourage examining the biographical data of Stumbrs in relation to his work and in the context of Latvian and exile experiences. Such materials, viewed within the theoretical framework of egodocuments and the biographical approach, also remind us of cultural memory, of the importance of archival studies in research and encourage us to search for these authentic and unique materials in the repositories of memory institutions, at the same time confirming the importance of these institutions to purposefully search, document and preserve the legacy of these cultural personalities. The article’s methodology is based on archival materials and manuscripts, viewed in the context of the era and the poet’s personality. Each person’s life constitutes a kind of microworld, also in a historical and temporal context. The life story of Latvian exiled creative personalities, including the poet Stumbrs, viewed in the framework of archival materials and egodocuments, provides an insight into the life and times of authentic and personal thoughts, and at the same time forms the common story of Latvian history, culture and literature, in which the contribution and freedom of creative thought of each individual plays a role, as well as an understanding of the fate of people in the twists and turns of 20th-century history.

The Meanings of Vitality in the Prose Book “On the Other Side of the Lake” by Pulgis Andriušis

2026-09-01T09:28:45+03:00

The article is devoted to the talented Lithuanian exile writer Pulgas Andriušis (1907–1970) and the analysis of his debut prose work “Anoj pusėj ežero” (On the Other Side of the Lake, 1947), which was awarded the Lithuanian Red Cross Prize and was praised by the Lithuanian literary critics. The article analyses the meanings of vitality in Andriušis’s Expressionist short stories, with a view to Henri Bergson’s notion of the élan vital and creative evolution, and Gaston Bachelard’s concept of creative imagination and metaphor. The article explores the connections between organic phenomenological philosophy of life and the Expressionist short stories of Andriušis, which are revealed in the talented writer’s poetic prose. The research employs the concepts of élan vital and creative dynamic imagination, and Bachelard’s concept of metaphor.

The analysis of Andriušis’s debut book originates in his autobiography “Septinton įleidus” (After letting into seventh). It is important that Andriušis’s autobiography tells the story of the creator’s life, and that while still studying at Kaunas University, Andriušis was intensely interested in Henri Bergson’s philosophy of the élan vital, which emphasised the life-giving power of creation. The autobiography became the source of the writer’s experiences and creativity, his birthplace embodied the world he lived in, the Bergsonian principle of life, the idyll of nature and the creator.

Andriušis’s dynamic imagination creates a celebration of nature’s vitality, embodies the principle of radical transformation typical of Expressionist poetics, and introduces a complex vocabulary of his literary worldview and original metaphors, linked to biblical and folkloric intertexts. It should be emphasised that Andriušis’s Expressionist short stories reinforce the importance of speech as the affirmation of life, as élan vital, as vital energy. Speech, as a continuous flow of life, conveys the world of the main character, his openness to the living world, the true joy of life, the experience of the fullness of being, a poetic way of life, manifested in the natural harmony with his own earthly space, a meaningful existence in the natural world as if at home. In Andriušis’s Expressionist short stories, not only human speech but also music embodies Bergson’s principle of vital momentum, vital energy, and the order of vitality as the will to live.

No grafiskā romāna līdz izrādei: “Sibīrijas haiku” adaptācija Latvijas Leļļu teātrī

2026-09-01T09:40:30+03:00

The article analyses the adaptation of Jurga Vilė (b. 1977) and Lina Itagaki’s (b. 1979) graphic novel Siberian Haiku on the stage of the Latvian Puppet Theatre. The corpus of the study includes the graphic novel (2017), Dace Meiere’s (b. 1973) Latvian translation (2020), as well as director Valters Sīlis’s (b. 1985) dramaturgy and its staging at the Latvian Puppet Theatre (2024). This approach makes it possible to examine the adaptation process across several phases – from the literary text to the play and theatrical performance.

The study aims to explore how the graphic novel is adapted for the stage, how an intermedial dialogue between the book and the performance emerges in this process, and how it affects the work’s meaning and the spectator’s emotional reception. Particular attention is given to the graphic novel’s multimedia and multimodal structure, its transformations in dramaturgy and staging, and the semantic functions of paper puppet theatre and real-time visual solutions.

The analysis is grounded in adaptation studies theory, applying the concepts of intermediality and transtextuality to examine media transformations and textual interrelations. Gérard Genette’s (1930–2018) transtextuality framework provides tools for conceptualising the levels and forms of textual dialogue, while Lars Elleström’s (1960–2021) conception of intermediality as intermodality offers an analytical framework for the study of media structures and their interaction.

In this perspective, the graphic novel functions as a hypotext characterised by its multimediality and multimodality, and by the particular expression of the haiku principle, while the stage production, as a hypertext, interprets the experience of exile and actualises haiku poetics through theatrical means of expression.

The study concludes that form and medium are not neutral channels of transfer but constitute an essential part of a text’s semantic structure. In the Latvian Puppet Theatre adaptation, the visual and narrative logic of the hypotext is preserved yet expanded, creating a new experience that engages the audience through multidimensional perceptual strategies. Thus, the performance not only interprets the experience of exile but also reveals memory as a collective and performative process that is continuously re-enacted.

Jēkaba Bīnes ornamenta teorijas un lietojuma izmaiņas pēckara periodā. Uzskatu evolūcija vai konformisms?

2026-09-01T09:50:07+03:00

Latvian ornament is an integral part of Latvian identity. Ornament is one of the sources of Latvian life wisdom – a set of spiritual and moral values. The theory of Latvian ornament symbolism was first developed in Latvia by Ernests Brastiņš (1892–1942) and later supplemented by Jēkabs Bīne (1895–1955). Both Bīne and Brastiņš can be considered representatives of the mythological school, who sought expressions of ancient Baltic mythology in ornamentation. They were dievturi – followers of the recently created Latvian neo-pagan religious movement. Bīne widely popularised his aesthetic views and ornament theory in the interwar period press and monographic publications. Since 1940, this movement has been officially banned, and its members have been repressed. The views of the mythological school were contested and denied.

The study aims to clarify Bīne’s views and their evolution in both theory and artistic creation during the Soviet period, from 1944 until the artist’s death in 1955. The research comprises the analysis of archival and museum materials, press publications, and the artist’s extensive creative legacy. In this report, the author has attempted to develop his own view on the subject, possibly an alternative version of the existing concept of the evolution of Bīne’s views on ornamentation in the post-war period. This publication represents a segment of the broader research conducted in 2012.

Latvian Diminutives in English Translations of Prose: Overview of Phd Research

2026-09-01T09:57:36+03:00

This article aims to demonstrate that the connotations conveyed by morphological diminutives in Latvian source texts can be rendered into English through a range of various linguistic devices, despite the differences between the two languages. In order to achieve this aim, an overview of the PhD research “Semantic and Pragmatic Aspects of Rendering Diminutives in English Translations of Latvian Prose” is offered in this article.

The aim of the PhD research was twofold: firstly, to study and contrast Latvian diminutives and their English counterparts in the context of translation studies and, secondly, to develop guidelines for translators enabling them to apply the results of contrastive analysis in the translation skills acquisition and translation process, and for developing similar support tools to overcome challenges caused by language and cultural differences.

In view of the fact that the rendering of meanings and connotations of diminutives constitutes a complex research problem, as the objects involved are varied and multifaceted, and their resolution emerges through a creative interplay among multiple factors, consequently, the study employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and instruments: descriptive analysis of the theoretical literature, contrastive and comparative qualitative and quantitative analysis of the excerpted language material, translation experiment, Think Aloud Protocols and Dialogue Think Aloud Protocols, questionnaires of translation experiment participants and experts of the translation field.

One of the outputs of the PhD research is the first comprehensive contrastive analysis of Latvian morphologically derived diminutives and the corresponding morphological and analytic means used to convey equivalent connotations in English. This analysis integrates data from multiple levels of practice, comparing source texts with translations produced both by students and practising translators. Interpreting these findings within the framework of translation studies enabled the creation of another output of this PhD research – a support tool for translators grounded in findings from analysing the theoretical literature of linguistics and translation studies and actual translation practice. The insight into the three PhD research stages, key findings and results described in this article demonstrate that the connotations implied by Latvian morphological diminutives can be rendered into English by combining various translation solutions and a wide range of linguistic devices, mainly analytical means. The chosen translation solutions and linguistic means depend on the specifics of the literary work to be translated and the context of the diminutive use.

Kritiskā veidošana ekoloģijas kontekstā

2026-09-01T10:04:57+03:00

This article analyses critical making in the context of the contemporary ecological crisis, exploring how material practice can serve as an instrument to foster ecological awareness and change daily habits. Using an autoethnographic approach, the study examines the author’s artistic practice – experimental development of bioplastics and the organisation of practical workshops. The research contrasts dominant, shock-based media communication with slow, corporeal experiences that can foster a deeper connection with the environment. The theoretical framework integrates Joan Tronto’s ethics of care, Gernot Böhme’s critique of aesthetic capitalism, and analyses the contradictions of participatory art. The article concludes that while critical making successfully stimulates discussions at the individual level, it has structural limitations. Artists are often disproportionately expected to perform affective and pedagogical work without adequate institutional support, highlighting the tension between individual initiative and the need for systemic political change.