Arts and a nation : : the role of visual arts and artists in the making of the Latvian identity, 1905-1940 / / by Suzanne Pourchier-Plasseraud.

• Superior document: On the Boundary of Two Worlds : Identity, Freedom, and Moral Imagination in the Baltics, Volume 41
• VerfasserIn: Pourchier-Plasseraud, Suzanne,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, [Netherlands] ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill Rodopi,, 2015.; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: On the boundary of two worlds ; Volume 41.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (596 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.
• Other title: Arts de la nation.
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• ISBN: 9004300287
• ISSN: 1570-7121
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: by Suzanne Pourchier-Plasseraud.

Focusing on the role of arts in the construction of national identity, Suzanne Pourchier-Plasseraud has chosen to study the case of a country lacking an ancient state history of its own, Latvia. This book analyses the part played by the visual arts in transmuting the cultural concept of a nation, advocated by a small intelligentsia, into a widespread claim for independence. By the end of the 19th century, fretting under Russian political domination and German economic and cultural supremacy, the Latvians turned back to their own language, culture and folklore, with a special interest for their dainas , their timeless common heritage rooted into a mythical golden age. Latvian artists thus found themselves entrusted with the mission of creating a national iconographic representation and a specifically Latvian art, freed from Russian and German influences. The author shows how the links between the cultural and political spheres evolved between 1905 and 1940, including during the period of authoritarian government preceding WWII. An enlightening contribution to understanding how art and history can be turned into social and political instruments, this book reaches far beyond the Latvian case to a European and even global scope.