It's obvious that nowadays, after 20 years of the Latvian Independence, the Russian image amongst Latvians is intentionally destructed. Many of Russians living in Latvia (they are about 30%) for the past decades, do not have official rights to vote and being elected. The Russian language is pressed down even in Russian schools.
It's being by most strange the Latvian politics who started to earn their votes on the Latvian nationalism idea. But the image of Russian is to be met already in the most ancient, the most national works of Latvian oral poetic creativity - in Latvian folk songs, Dainas.
They have managed to convey to the present generation the image of a Russian youngster, stealing and marrying a Latvian girl and vice versa, when a Russian girl has become a bride and a wife of a Latvian man.
The procedure of "bride-stealing" led to constant spats, wars; that is why Dainas depict the image of "Russian" either as an enemy of Latvians, or as a military ally in their perpetual fights against Lithuanians and Poles.
The image of Russian in Latvian folklore is closely connected with the further periods of the Livonian and the Northern wars. There are many folk songs and stories about czar, Peter the Great, his courage, skills and wisdom.
Among the Latvian everyday stories can find stories about the czars of the further epochs.
The Russians dwelling in Latvia in 14-20 centuries are represented in various anecdotes. There one can find the Russians of all strata - soldiers and teachers, even merchants.
It is worth mentioning, that in all these works of Latvian folklore, Russian people are reflected mainly in a positive way. Sometimes they are depicted with a sense of humour especially when it concerns the awkward language of Russians trying to express their ideas in Latvian. |
Made with Love.
