Atgriešanās garša: Agates Nesaules romāns “Zudušie saulgrieži gastropoētikas aspektā

Abstract

The aim of the article is to research the construction of the neomythic world of the post-exile phenomenon in Agate Nesaule’s (1938–2022) novel “Lost Midsummers” (2018). The narrative of returning to a symbolic homeland through food and drink is described. Particular attention is paid to the post-exile narative, where exile and post-exile become a peculiar binary opposition in the structure of both works. Protagonists have been removed from their homeland (centre) one day to return from a foreign country (wanderings) to a symbolic home. In general, the work of prose actualizes trauma, nostalgia, and memories. The protagonist Kaija does not find the homeland she was looking for after returning to independent Latvia. The protagonist loses her exile identity and goes into an internal post-exile state. Often, after experiencing emotional exile, the new condition in homeland becomes a “second exile”. The motive of the novel determines the use of the structuralist method in the study, where exile and post-exile become the opposite poles of the mythical world. During the period of exile, Kaija is promised to return to the centre, but when she returns to her homeland after several years, she is unable to feel a complete fusion with the newly independent Latvia. The study takes a closer look at how the exile identity was characterised in the early nineties.