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"JEWISH TEXT” OF LATVIAN LITERATURE: DRAMA AND THEATRE
Abstract
The corpus of literary texts, where the Jewish theme is stated to a greater or lesser extent (Old Testament imagery, characters-Jews, facts from Jewish history, etc.), is considered the Jewish Text. In any national literature, the Jewish theme demonstrates the attitude towards Jews in a certain national environment rather than the specifics of Jewry. In Latvian literature, because of a special historical and cultural situation, there develops an original Jewish text with the structural elements changed under the influence of the historical events and in accordance to the individual perception of an author. Drama becomes one of the types of literature that determines the development of the Jewish text. In Latvian literature, the first image of a Jew appeared exactly in drama (?. Alun?ns “Icigs Mozes”, 1876). In the late 19th century, R. Blaumanis turns out to be one of those, who emphatically introduce the Jewish text into his artistic worldview, equally presenting it in his prose and drama. In this regard the dramatic examples become almost paridigmatic. In 4 of the 14 dramatic texts, a character-Jew appears in the system of characters: a comedy “Zag?i” (“The Thieves”, 1891), a folk drama “?aunais gars” (“The Evil Spirit”, 1892), a comedy “Tr?nes gr?ki” (“Trina’s Sins”, 1897) and scenes from everyday life “Skroderdienas Silma?os” (“The Tailor Days in Silma?i”, 1902). In relation to genre, all the above-mentioned texts are closer to the genre of comedy, which in Blaumanis’s case is characterized by a special well-established system of characters. In a sense, the system of characters in Blaumanis’s comedies goes back to the tradition of the Italian folk comedy – Commedia dell’Arte. In drama, the Jewish text is one of the markers of Latvian literature and national theatrical tradition.
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