Early modernism: Literary image of a woman in Lithuanian and Latvian literature
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Abstract
During the period of early Modernism, a woman was perceived by the subconsciousness of a creator as an all-encompassing symbol of nature inherent to vitalism, erotica, and death. The mystery of love depicted by early modernists is usually portrayed as a passion and power struggle between a man and a woman which is initially associated with gender polarity, flâneur's ambition to separate from civilisation, and aesthete's desire to overcome nature and femininity. The emerging hero, as a witness to nature's idyll, grapples with the overwhelming presence of the feministic femme fatale, who is currently in control of the game of the masculine world. The aim of the research is to analyse the image of a woman in Lithuanian and Latvian literature identifying potential parallels and possible sources of influence. To narrow the scope of the research, emphasis is placed on the images created by male writers, as the views of female and male authors, in this case, reveal significant differences. The analysis of women’s images employs comparative (primarily imagology), semiotic, and structural approaches. Modernist tendencies entered Lithuanian and Latvian culture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, accompanied by a rapid assimilation of European cultural experience. This led to the development of intellectual dialogue in a broader cultural context, adopting the most vivid images and major topics of world culture and adapting them to the features of national cultures. The images of women created in Lithuanian and Latvian literature during this period accumulate the core ideas of foreign modernism while being firmly rooted in national values extending them and engaging in a dialogue with them.
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