The American Latvian Association (ALA) recently celebrated its 65th anniversary and is sending a new group of young interns to work in the Baltics. ALA’s recently re-elected president, Pēteris Blumbergs, agreed to discuss issues of US-Latvian relations and the threat of Russia by email with The Baltic Times.

What are ALA’s key goals currently? How have these changed over the years?
ALA operates a diverse portfolio of educational, cultural, and sports-related programmes intended to maintain an active and vibrant Latvian American community in the US. We also fund important charitable projects in Latvia, especially those focused on assisting at-risk children and families. Our Information Office tracks geopolitical issues such as Russian aggression in Ukraine and disinformation campaigns. We inform our elected officials in the US about developments in the Baltics and urge them to support their Eastern European NATO allies through programmes such as the European Defense Initiative which this year saw an over four-fold (proposed) funding increase from 800 million US dollars to 3.4 billion dollars.

Our goals in relation to education and culture have not substantially changed over the years and we continue to support Latvian American “Sunday schools” (21 schools nationwide) and cultural events such as concerts and plays. Of course over 65 years (ALA just celebrated its 65th anniversary), assimilation has taken its toll and led to smaller school enrollments and so on. At the same time, the “new immigrants” who have moved to the US since Latvia regained its independence have given many of our communities a jolt of energy and talent.

The biggest recent change for the Information Office is that Putin’s imperialistic ambitions have caused us to become very active again in tracking and responding to geopolitical developments after a relatively quiet time in the years immediately following Latvia’s accession to NATO in 2004.

As I understand it, your internship programme, which expanded last summer, used to only send Latvian Americans to the Occupation Museum. How did the programme begin?
ALA has awarded scholarships and support over the years to Latvian American students. This includes funding to attend the Garezers and Kursa summer high school programmes, college aid, and the subsidisation of ALA’s Sveika, Latvija programme, which sends 8th graders on a 2-week educational tour of Latvia (42 kids participated last summer including one of my sons). It made sense to expand our general scholarship programme to internships to enable older kids to gain some practical work experience. The Museum of the Occupation of Latvija was a natural partner in the project since we have long supported the museum’s mission and provided financial support. And given these ties, we knew the interns would have a rewarding experience.

What were the programme’s early successes and lessons?
Interns to the Occupation Museum always returned happy from their summer abroad. These young people were motivated and would seek out tasks and projects while at the museum. And their enthusiasm generated interest in donors. Some would donate specifically to support the internships.

How and when was the decision made to expand the programme to other museums and organisations?
In the summer of 2014, ALA’s Cultural Office Director Liga Ejupe had invited the Latvian Minister of Culture Dace Melbarde to visit Garezers, the Latvian American summer high school located in Three Rivers, Michigan. Minister Melbarde was impressed by the intensity of the cultural patriotism of the students, but understood that upon graduating the summer high school there were no options for continuing the students’ development of the Latvian language. During her three days at Garezers, the minister, Liga, and Anita Batarags (the then-ALA president) spent a good deal of time discussing the question “What next?” What could these talented Latvian Americans do after graduating Garezers? And that is when the idea formed to expand the existing Occupation Museum internship programme to a broader range of cultural institutions. And Liga took on the role as liaison between the Latvian Ministry of Culture, ALA, the institutions, and the interns.

How were the new museums and organisations chosen? Which have been the most popular among applicants?
The Ministry of Culture invited all of its institution partners to apply. From that list ALA coordinates the positions and the responsibilities with the assigned mentor in each institution. Most popular? According to Liga, “All of them! Last year we had kids express interest in all of the different options.” But the National Library and the Ethnographic Museum lead the pack as each had four interns, so they were the busiest.

How did the expanded internship programme fare last year?
From my vantage point, it seemed to be well-regarded. As Liga put it to me, “Well regarded is putting it mildly — it was fabulous!” ALA could not have predicted such positive results in the first year. All sixteen interns told us they regarded their experience as life changing. One intern decided to continue her studies at the Latvian Academy of Art. Two interns found full-time employment through the programme and now live in Latvia.

I hear that this year’s interns will soon be headed to Latvia. How many are there?
This year 18 students will be participating in the programme. Fourteen from the US, one from Canada, and three from Australia. One intern has already started working at the Academy of Culture. The majority will start work by the middle of June. The intern feedback was so positive last year, that the Latvian Association of Australia and New Zealand (LAAJ) wanted to include their interested students, even though the kids will miss part of their winter school semester.

Does ALA have any plans to further expand or change the programme in the near future?
We are continuing to look at ways to evolve, especially with an eye toward finding opportunities that particularly interest or professionally benefit our Latvian American students. This year we have expanded the options beyond the original cultural institutions and have included three leading technology firms for those applicants with business or scientific backgrounds. We are looking to create partnerships with think tanks or NGOs that might take on students with political science, international relations, or journalism backgrounds.

To change the subject, ALA recently hosted its 65th Congress in Los Angeles. What were some of the highlights and takeaway messages?
Our annual meetings have evolved over the years. In the early days, there were internal political battles and feisty debates over the direction of the organisation. These days things are calmer, but I think that more serious work gets done. We have really focused on getting leading Latvian thinkers to serve as guest speakers, and their presentations and findings help propel our organisation’s agenda for the upcoming year. In Los Angeles, for instance, we heard from Yale researcher Inta Mierina who has just completed the most significant study ever conducted of the post-1991 Latvian diaspora. The numbers are troubling and it made us realise the importance of a Latvian re-emigration plan. Similarly, we gained valuable insights into the Russian state-sponsored disinformation campaign when we screened the Re:Baltica film, “Masterplan,” and heard from the filmmakers. ALA will be active on these two issues (demography and disinformation) in the upcoming year.

What was the general sentiment regarding “Masterplan”?
The general sentiment is that film is really well done and the filmmakers are talented and courageous. So long as Latvia has a steady supply of people like Re:Baltica’s Sanita Jemberga and Inga Springe, I have a lot of optimism for the country’s future. Some had warned that the film’s subject matter (Russia’s disinformation war in Latvia) was depressing and alarming, but I think most Latvian Americans share such a dim view of Putin that nothing said about his schemes and machinations surprises us. It was interesting to understand, however, that Putin’s “masterplan” is general destabilisation and that Putin is an opportunist with no particular blueprint. So, in response, we have to limit his opportunities and build stability. ALA can help in a variety of ways. We will encourage expressions of support for Latvia through visits by congressional delegations and high-level governmental officials, we will continue to expose Putin’s agenda by hosting seminars and publishing works, and we will combat disinformation by promoting institutions such as Radio Free Europe and the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence.

What is ALA currently doing in response to Russia’s continued presence in Ukraine?
ALA has adopted and published numerous resolutions condemning the activities in Ukraine. We have organised seminars (including two in the past year, in New York and Chicago) and published articles that cast light on the situation. We have periodic meetings with the State Department where we voice our concerns and propose solutions (including, for instance, enhanced funding for the European Defense Initiative which we view as a major achievement). Our affiliate organisation, the Joint Baltic American National Committee, which is a registered lobbyist, is very active in the halls of Congress. This upcoming summer, Congress will be considering whether to renew sanctions connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and JBANC has been actively advocating on the issue.

To end on a lighter note, what role is ALA playing in preparing for Latvia’s 100th anniversary in 2018?
As our gift to Latvia, we will concentrate on raising public awareness of Latvia and Latvians in America. We will emphasise the positive history of Latvian American relations as well as future partnerships. ALA through its Cultural Office has conceived a plan that will mirror the celebration in Latvia. From Nov. 18, 2017 through Nov. 18, 2018 we invite everyone, every organisation, every group large or small to participate. Our goal is to celebrate 100 events for the Centennial. The ALA Cultural Office will serve as an information conduit and idea center. The Centennial year celebration is an ideal opportunity for everyone — whether you speak Latvian or not — to work together.
 
This interview was originally published in The Baltic Times on 19th May, 2016.

Latvians Online recently got their hands on the English translation of the Latvian classic: – Dievs, daba, darbs, Skarbos vējos and Akmens sprostā. This is the work of a Latvian-American living in Minneapolis – Ilze Kļaviņš-Mueller – who has now made 19th century Latvian rural life come to life for the English-speaking world. An interview with the translator herself  provides more insight.

Latvians Online: What inspired you to translate the Brigadere trilogy into English?

Ilze: Back in the ’80s, a listener-supported radio station here in Minneapolis had a daily children’s program. I started reading episodes I had translated from Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš’ Baltā grāmata (The White Book) on the air, and went on to translate and read a few chapters from Brigadere’s Trilogy as well. Much later I decided to translate the entire book, though initially the task seemed daunting.

Why did you choose Brigadere in particular?

I have known and loved Anna Brigadere’s Trilogy since I was little. The Latvians have a number of such wonderful childhood memoirs – Jaunsudrabiņš, Brigadere, Aspāzija, Valdis immediately come to mind. These books gave me a deep insight into rural life in late 19^th and early 20^th century life in Latvia – Latvian history seen through the eyes of children who experienced it. Little Annele, the protagonist of the Trilogy, was one of my favourites.

What were the challenges of translating such a classic piece of literature into English?

The challenges were many. The one that initially seemed insurmountable was the vocabulary – names for tools, foods, plants, clothing that were not in my dictionaries. When I started translating the book in the 1990s, the resources of the Internet were not yet available to me. But then I inherited from a relative the six-volume Dictionary of the Latvian Language by linguists Kārlis Mīlenbahs and Jānis Endzelīns, an incredible piece of luck. Another challenge I faced was Latvian syntax, where, for instance, the subject of a clause is frequently omitted, or the unreliability of a statement is expressed by the so-called narrative mood of the verb.

Brigadere has a sharp ear for the voices of her characters: each has a distinctive pattern of speech – how should I differentiate in English the speech of a farmhand from that of a Jewish tailor, or a pastor’s housekeeper, or a young man trying to pass himself off as a German? The important thing was to avoid obvious Americanisms or modern idioms, which would “place” the story in the wrong setting. I did not always succeed in rendering subtle differences between the voices of the various characters. But I tried.

What did you enjoy most about the process?

As I worked, I found myself “listening” for the voice of the narrator, trying to catch each nuance, searching for the exact shade of meaning. I was happiest when a translation “worked” – when a character’s voice sounded authentic. I had feedback, too, from a women writers’ group I was in whose patient ears heard the first version of my translation. They picked up on things that sounded unclear or wrong. And it was great to realise that the story held their attention, that they too loved Annele.

What new things did you learn about this classic whilst going into each sentence and word in-depth?

As a child, I had focused mainly on the story of Annele. As a translator, I came to appreciate the richness of Brigadere’s language, the subtlety of her descriptions, the craft that went into the writing of this amazing book. From my childhood, I seem to remember only the first two parts of the Trilogy (Dievs, daba, darbs – God, Nature, Work; and Skarbos vējos – Harsh Winds). As an adult, I was stunned by Brigadere’s description, in part 3, of Annele’s sister Līziņa’s fate. The narrator is never sentimental, but pitilessly conveys the tragedy of a gifted young woman’s lack of career opportunities, when marriage seems the only viable choice.

Have you translated other Latvian literary works? Are you planning more in the future? 

Other than a series of poems, I have also recently translated Vizma Belševica’s wonderful Bille books (Bille; Bille and the War; and Bille’s Beautiful Youth). I am looking for a publisher for them. I no longer have the energy or the funds to self-publish them as I did Brigadere’s Trilogy.

One translation project I am considering at the moment is Valentīna Freimane’s memoir about her life growing up as a Jewish girl in pre-war Riga and her survival during the Holocaust. That’s been translated into German (Adieu, Atlantis), but so far there has been no English translation.

Who do you think would be your target readership?

 I envisioned a readership consisting of my American friends here in Minnesota, and the children and grandchildren of Latvians in English-speaking countries. While many of the latter speak fluent Latvian, it may be difficult for them to read and understand Brigadere’s work in the original. People here and all over the United States have also bought the book for their friends. The Twin Cities Latvian community has been very supportive.

How long did the translating take?

I can’t really remember. I worked on the book on and off for something like two years while teaching college German. When I finally decided to publish the translation, there was a lengthy period of proofreading – at least several more months.

What did you learn about translation through this process?

Hmmm. There are several schools of translation: the translators who stick close  to the original even if it sounds somewhat foreign, and the translators who smooth things for the reader, make everything sound familiar. My own philosophy is that the reader enters a translated work as a tourist enters a country he is unfamiliar with – the translator can help a little to orient the reader, but too much help would distort the reality of the other culture. My translation began by being fairly literal, and over the months I became more “emancipated”. I kept on a few Latvian words (pastala, klēts), but sometimes chose similes, metaphors, and proverbs that came from the reader’s own language and tradition. In other words, I evolved as a translator, and hopefully improved a bit.

Do you look at Brigadere differently now that you have come to scrutinise her works so closely?

Yes. I feel now more than ever that Anna Brigadere deserves to be ranked among the foremost European authors of her time. 

The book costs $27 plus postage and can be ordered by emailing Ilze directly  <ilzemueller@gmail.com>  or from Amazon.com (ask for The Annele Trilogy). Libraries outside the U.S. – please contact Ilze directly.