Academic Centre
The 28th Biennial AABS Conference “Baltic Studies at a Crossroads” organized by the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) took place in the last week of May at the University of Washington in Seattle. Due to the support of the University of Latvia (UL) Foundation, it was possible for Elvis Friks, a Master's student of Baltic Philology, to read a scientific report “Taste of Return: Latvian Post-Exile Texts through the Gastropoetic Aspect” and to meet the American-Latvian community to promote the dissemination of the ideas of the UL Foundation.
Elvis Friks shares the story of his trip to Seattle:” The sky in Seattle is shrouded in gray clouds that resembles the blurry ink patterns of the East. At the airport, we quickly find directions for a train that stops near the University of Washington. After boarding the train, we see the wet, bent tree leaves through the window. It had probably been raining before the plane landed. Juris Cilnis, an active member of the American-Latvian community and the husband of pastor Daira Cilnis, will later tell us an anecdote about the experience in Seattle. But before that, professor Ojars Lams, professor Ieva Kalnina and I are going to register for the 28th conference of the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS) "Baltic Studies at a Crossroads", which takes place from the 27th to the 29th of May.”
The AABS conference is held every two years at a different university in North America. The conference program is organized in a way that different academic sections take place at the same time. They are scattered all over the university campus. At the most significant scientific event dedicated to the research of the Baltics, scientists read reports about the interaction between history and memory, Jewish and gender studies, and other issues. Plenary sessions discuss topics related to economics and business. The hybrid sections cover art, music, and religion.
In the section of the first day - “Food Representation in Literature and Life Stories” together with literary critic Ojars Lams we read the report “Taste of Return: Latvian Post-Exile Texts through the Gastropoetic Aspect”. We take a closer look at the texts of the writer and professor Agate Nesaule, poet Juris Kronbergs, as well as the journalist and writer Inara Verzemnieks, putting an emphasis on the presence of exile, as well as the returning to a symbolic homeland in the early 1990s after the restoration of Latvia's independence. Those who fled at the end of the Second World War tried to return to Latvia. This post-exile phenomenon also appears as a motif in the literature. Margita Gutmane's memory of the poet Veronika Strelerte aptly and in a way, dreary describes the problem of post-exile time. Exile can be compared to being on an airplane. Through the small window, passengers can see the sundown (homeland), but when the plane has landed and travelers can disembark on the land (after the exile), the sun has already gone down and the darkness has occurred.
The representation of food in the literature is not so much about food as about the broader features of the literary text. Agate Nesaule in the novel “Lost Midsummers: A Novel of Exile and Friendship” in a neo-mythological return construction shows the opposition between pre-exile and post-exile tastes: raspberry cake and sprat pate. The poetry of Juris Kronbergs is characterized by a cosmopolitan play with words. He draws a taste borderline with the literary image of the nettle soup. In the text written by Inara Verzemnieks, a dessert is a must at every meal at the grandmother's sister’s house. The sweet taste appears in opposition to the trauma of famine in Siberia.
On the closing day of the conference, we attend an American-Latvian ministration in Seattle. We wake up early on Sunday morning and meet in the lounge on the ground floor of the hotel. We always start every conversation with the question - what time is it in Latvia? As if the sense of a "real" body clock is inextricably linked to the rhythm of Latvia. From the U district station stop, we take the train to the Northgate station stop.
Along the way to the Latvian cultural center, we notice wild rose bushes, yellow buttercups, and some dandelions. We joke about the fact that the natural landscape indicates the direction of the Latvian road. Carefully following the directions on the map, a brown brick building suddenly floats behind the bend of the road, surrounded by bright pink rhododendrons. Juris Cilnis greets us at the door of the Latvian community building and accompanies us deeper into the cozy rooms of the church. On some walls, there are paintings depicting the Old Town of Riga and on some others - the red-white-red motif. We also meet Vaira Peleke, a librarian and a patron of the University of Latvia Foundation. Later she helps us to collect works written by Latvian exile authors in two large cardboard boxes. The books will be useful for the research. The church service is led by the pastor Daira Cilnis. Addressing the congregation, she mentions the American-Latvian community as an integral part of Latvia. For a short time, the events of Riga's barricades are mentioned connecting them with the Ukrainian people's struggle for independence. A candle is symbolically lit near the altar, and it will have the flame until the Ukrainian people win.
Vaira Pelekis sincerely shows us the library premises. We feel like old friends because of her joy and great sense of humor. Sometimes Juris tells a joke. It seems that the gastropoetic discourse of exile is aptly expressed in a very simple pun: "Cabbage, cabbage, cabbage .. Anslavs, Anslavs, Anslavs". Adding a little explanation to the sentence that Anslavs was already a nifty man. Of course, A. Eglitis was a prolific author of exile literature. With his works, a generation grew up abroad.
It turns out that Juris Cilnis and I come from the same neighborhood in Riga - Grizinkalns. While he was spending his childhood in a house on Krasotaju Street, I grew up very close to him in a building on Avotu Street. Together we remember the courtyards and facades of the houses of this neighborhood. We compare memories with nowadays situation trying to understand in which parts of Matīsa Street the old pavement still exists.
While drinking a cup of coffee, I meet an American who has recently found out that he has Latvian origins. His father never told him about Latvia at home. He later visited the Latvian community to restore this lost connection.
Carefully smeared sandwiches with ham and cheese stand out on the served table. A woman with a heartfelt smile invites us to taste homemade cottage cheese pie with spring onions.
We are visiting just for a very short period in order to return on time to the closing event of the conference. Daira provides us a seat in the family car and Juris takes us to the student campus. Along the way, we share our impressions of Seattle. Juris manages to make jokes during our chatter. He says while smiling: “A gentleman has recently arrived in Seattle. It is raining heavily and he finds himself in a doorway next to a little boy. He thoughtfully asks if it's always raining in Seattle. The boy answers - How can I know? I am only six years old”.
About UL Foundation
Since 2004, the University of Latvia Foundation provides an opportunity for patrons and coop partners to support not only the University of Latvia but also other leading Latvian universities, thus investing in the future of Latvia. UL Foundation prioritizes supporting the most outstanding students and researchers, promoting the creation of a modern learning environment, as well as the construction of new and renovations of older university buildings.
