Metodoloģiski risinājumi romānu sērijas “Mēs. Latvija, XX gadsimts” imagoloģiskajai analīzei

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify the possible methodological solutions that would enable a comprehensive imagological analysis of the national characters portrayed in the “We. Latvia, 20th Century” (Mēs. Latvija, XX gadsimts) novel series. Imagology, a sub-field of comparative literature studies, examines the representation of national and ethnic groups in literature and helps identify the stereotypes these images contain. However, in terms of theoretical schematics, the theory of imagology is quite loosely structured. On the one hand, this may cause a lot of uncertainty, but on the other hand, it promotes enough methodological freedom to adapt the theory of imagology to each individual research. This article offers two methodological solutions for text sample selection and data interpretation. Both models are based on already existing theoretical sources, schematising the information found in them and rearranging them into clearly defined criteria and function systems. To further improve the given theoretical models, the theory of semiotics, or more precisely, Charles Peirce’s (1839–1914) system of semiotic signs, was used. Since both methodological models were developed specifically for the analysis of the “We. Latvia, XX century” series, each of the described aspects and functions of these models is illustrated with examples from the novels, demonstrating the application of the proposed solutions in the actual process of literary analysis. The results of the analysis performed during the research are sufficiently varied and reliable to motivate further improvement of the given theoretical models.