Sveiks,

I’m in graduate school and for one of our final projects we’ve been asked to read about our country in a book called Ethnicity and Family Values. Well, as expected, Latvia is not represented. I was presented with the Hungarian chapter. After reading it, I know it just does not apply to me or my heritage (1st generation American). So, I’m trying to to research tough questions regarding my heritage. I know our history. I know about our culture. I know about my family values. But, I must delve further in order to “learn” more about myself. Sadly, my father is not here to answer these questions and I do not live near a Latvian community. I’ve asked my uncle and my grandmother. Now I’m appealing to you, kind reader, to help answer some questions or give me your thoughts.

1) What are some KEY QUALITIES of being Lativan? (I said: very patriotic (pride in culture and lang.), education is high valued, art and music is highly valued, competive, critical, class conscience--these may stem from my own family history...)

2) What are some Latvian ISSUES? (I said:  Latvia has a prime piece of real estate on the Baltic Sea. We’ve been overrun and dominated by various countries for centuries. We fear being overrrun again. We are raised to “dislike” Russians. We’ve been scattered since WW II. We are fighting to preserve our identity. And, in the older generations there is a strong Anti-Catholic, Anti-Jewish sentiment.)

3) What are some NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES of Latvia/Latvians? (I said: Latvians are drunks. We were Nazis, and that all Latvians are on the dole (My 98 year old grandmother supplied that last thought.)) (Note: These are stereotypes and not truths.)

4) What are my CULTURALLY INHERITED TALENTS? (I said:  art, music, lit. are of extreme importance, family loyaly is of great importance, and nature is revered.)

Again, this may all be general. I want to get to the heart of underlying issues that Latvians carry with them by the shear fact of being Latvian and not Hungarian or French or Chilean. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Paldies, Baiba Zvaigznite

Baiba, just like my sister, I suggest you first try reading the material on the Latvian Institute site :

http://www.li.lv

That should lead you to other links also.

....huntin’, fishin’, shootin’, anything to do with snow and ice (esp. winter olympics), arguing about anything and everything (LOL is an excellent example of this!) and of course! food and drink.

(in the good old days, a lot of LOL threads ended up being about food and drink regardless of the starting point, but it’s all become far too dull and boring these days, which is why I seldom visit LOL now.)

but seriously....it probably depends upon your vantage point. I grew up amongst Australian Latvians and I doubt that many of them would have ended up on the dole. Most (unlike me) are hard working to an extreme. Education is highly regarded. Music is v. important to most (including me).

But then, I might not be the best judge, as I’m pretty much a black sheep in the Latvian-Aust. community....a fellow LOLer once remarked that one must be one of the sheep before one can be a black sheep....maybe that’s my problem, not being able to run with the herd(?).

Good luck with your project.

i.g.s.(Melbourne, Australia)

Thanks to the two of you for responding. http://www.li.lv is an excellent resource. I appreciate feedback as it is hard when I feel 100% Latvian and yet am so distanced from my culture.

Say Ivar S, it’s good to see you pecking away at the keyboard. Did you get a hair cut? It will make you stand out in the crowd where elbow space is limited.

About your food and drink comment, I noticed the downward spiral of that theme once Lilita, our dear friend, passed away March 30, 2005.

Now to give Baiba some peace of mind:

Your point Ivar S. – “huntin’, fishin’, shootin’, anything to do with snow and ice (esp. winter olympics), arguing about anything and everything (LOL is an excellent example of this!) and of course! food and drink.” – is a valid observation. It brings up the issue of our hockey fans. Latvian “fani” as they are called, represent a strong unity unlike that of any other country hockey fans. There is a definite pressure cooker pattern here, as this same unity spikes up during dire crises and we saw this same commitment during the 100 year freedom war of the 13th Century and during WWI when the first Latvian military units the “Strēlnieki” were formed. The same held true for the Latvian red riflemen, the Latvian National Army – see the movie “Rīgas sargi” – and the Legionnares in WWII. They all fought for the same parcel of land and ideals that today we call Latvia.

We seem to fall apart during the peace time lulls, which Petepoe insists on labelling as interbellum – those in the belly of the beast periods. Reflecting on war and peace, there’s definite Latvian unity and strength during war, when the enemy is already upon Latvians, and when there is peace we take it out on each other during the political rows. Unfortunately, it does not keep us in readiness for the next cycle of war.

While we have discussed Garlībs Merķelis, a friend of Latvians, on LOL over the years here is his take on Latvians as recited by Prof. Jānis Stradiņš:

< Raug, viņa “Latviešos” minētas īpašības “verdziskas bailes un neuzticība, naids pret apspiedējiem, pretīgums pret katru jaunievedumu, lai arī tas būtu acīmredzams uzlabojums”. Zemnieks ir konservatīvs, viņš grib dzīvot tāpat, kā dzīvojis līdz šim. Ceturto īpašību Merķelis min “tieksmi uz dzeršanu”. Tālāk lasām, ka latvietis ir gudrs, attapīgs, asprātīgs, amatnieciski veikls, daļēji bezjūtīgs pret citiem, māņticīgs un negodīgs pret kungiem.

Merķelis pamatoti apgalvo, ka šīs īpašības ir izraisījusi gadsimtu verdzība. >

Translated into English: Observe, in his 1796 controversial book “Die Letten” he attributes them with “servile fear and distrust, hatred of oppressors, antipathy towards innovation, even where improvement can be observed.” As a peasant he is conservative, he wants to live the same, as he has lived all along. Fourth attribute Merķelis mentions “a propensity to drink.” Further on we read that a latvian is smart, resourceful, witty, handy, in part callous towards others, supersticious and dishonest towards the masters.

Merķelis reasons that these attributes were caused by centuries of oppression.

Here’s the rest of Prof. Jānis Stradiņš interview where he mentions many useful sources for better understanding Latvians: Vai var labot tautas raksturu - http://tinyurl.com/2dl4tw

Baiba, I do not completely share your views: “We are raised to “dislike” Russians. … And, in the older generations there is a strong Anti-Catholic, Anti-Jewish sentiment.”

Over many years on LOL we have quoted Frank Gordon’s book: “Latvians and Jews Between Germany and Russia” which spells out Latvian character traits and and relationship with the Jews and why.

http://vip.latnet.lv/LPRA/frank_gordon.htm

Good luck with your school project!

Cheers, Ivars

I haven’t been to the hairdresser (or “barber”, if you prefer) for a helluva long time!

How did you know, Ivar? You have spies here, downunder??

ah, yes....Lilita....miss her so much and (gulp, never thought I’d write this) Ally, too, despite our many battles of the past....

3) What are some NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES of Latvia/Latvians? (I said: Latvians are drunks. We were Nazis, and that all Latvians are on the dole (My 98 year old grandmother supplied that last thought.)) (Note: These are stereotypes and not truths.)

I for a fact know one latvian on dole. She lives in Deutchland and
her husband was killed in action on german side, probably by a
soviet bullet................
But was he fighting for the germans or was he fighting against
the soviets. The soviets who murdered an exiled his family?
The Krauts were not any kinder.

Is it possible that your 98 yo grandmother is from Dole? The island of Dole, that is.

One of things that i have inherited from living in Ogre,
is the ability to economise, mostly on cars and other
mechanical stuff and skills. If we didn’t have it, we made it.

IG~
not having seen “Riigas Sargi”, i trawled around latvian
forums................

http://www.orb.lv/?blog_id=22468

Pedro ~ in line with your grand find, “Rīgas sargi,” a love story, may not be “Im Westen Nichts Neues.” It’s Erich Remarque’s book better known in English as “All Quiet on the Western Front.” The Riga love story takes place on the Eastern front, that calls for a different setting. With standing the circular hammer and nail arguments of the critique, I haven’t seen the movie either, so I do not know how good the bedroom scenes turned out. Kā Tu skaties uz šo kritiku,” Vai var labot tautas raksturu?”

Cheers, Ivars

Ahhh, latvians.
We come from a northern agrarian culture.  We love the land, we love nature.  We have our little piece of land and stay on it and don’t move, and want plenty of elbowroom and don’t want nosy neighbors.  This business of traveling around is something new to our culture.  Well, except for the Kurzeme Vikings, way back when.  Everyone of us has flowers or plants in the yard or in the house .

We don’t run out to conquer others’ lands, but will fiercely defend our own.

Our diet has consisted mostly of whole grain products, milk products, some meat (pork & chicken) and vegetables/fruits in season.  We know how to salt/can/preserve foods; technically we could all be quite self-sufficient.

We love to sing and we appreciate music.  We have handed down our tremendous store of folklore knowledge orally for (perhaps) several thousand years.  We are poets and storytellers.

We understand that so much can be taken away from us, but the knowledge we carry in our heads & hands cannot be taken away; education of all kinds is very highly valued.  (academic & vocational schooling).

We have inherited a tremendously strong work ethic - most people cannot sit idly by, there is always something the hands can be creating even while we visit.

Negative aspects - we often have too little pride in ourselves.  We too often bow & scrape & agree with whatever ‘master’ we have had on our necks.

Paldies Ivars!

I appreciate your thorough response. Frankly, the part about Anti-Jewish sentiments was news to me. I heard it the first time from my uncle but once I started asking around it seemed to be confirmed in my own family although, as I said, not practised at all!

Baiba Zvaigznite

Ize,

Your response regarding negative characteristics is very interesting. I would not have thought of too little pride. Most of my relatives in Canada have bumper stickers tauting “SuperLatvian”. But, it is something to think about. I enjoyed your response as it confirms so many things I feel in my heart--my culturally inherited traits.

Paldies, Baiba

Ilze,

I was typing so quickly I misspelled your name. Sorry. I should be more careful as I have an aunt Ilze!

B