THEORIZING LATVIAN LIVES - THE QUEST FOR IDENTITY

This article examines the nature of contemporary Latvian life stories. These accounts of the Soviet invasion and its long aftermath constitu te a hybrid genre which unites personal and collective experience. The y are intended by their authors to provide a literal representation of the past but in the process of acquiring coherence they come to act a s potent carriers of literary and cultural meanings, which confirm per sonal identity and national loyalties. The authors are engaged in a qu est for meaning in often disrupted and chaotic lives. The common struc ture of the stories which result from this quest reflects large-scale historical events such as the post-war deportations of the Baits, as w ell;ls the incorporation of literary and folkloric paradigms.