Doctoral defence: Artis Ostups "Heterogeneity of Historical Time: The Contemporary Latvian Novel in a Comparative Perspective"

On 19 February at 12:00, Artis Ostups will defend his doctoral thesis "Heterogeneity of Historical Time: The Contemporary Latvian Novel in a Comparative Perspective" ("Ajaloolise aja heterogeensus: Kaasaegne Läti romaan võrdlevas perspektiivis")

Supervisor: Prof. Marina Grišakova (University of Tartu)

Opponent: Prof. Sanja Bahun (University of Essex)

Venue: Ülikooli 16-216

Summary:

This dissertation investigates how contemporary Latvian and Eastern European novels challenge the dominant linear model of historical time, which was central to the 20th century and found its most brutal expression in totalitarian politics. Connecting literary studies with the philosophy of history, I argue that post-communist fiction aligns with recent discussions in philosophy of history that foreground the heterogeneity of time as a current reality. Employing complex narrative and poetic strategies, the novels chosen for analysis make the disruptive experiences of the 20th century vividly present and, by disturbing linear temporality and defying cultural forgetting related to the idea of progress, ethically engage with past victims. The research is organized into four articles, which explore three distinct modes of heterogeneous time. First, the study examines the ethical potential of melancholy (Dominick LaCapra) in resisting the totalitarian politics of time in novels such as Gundega Repše’s Conjuring Iron (2011) and Nora Ikstena’s Soviet Milk (2015). Second, it analyzes the concept of presence (Eelco Runia) and the use of metonymy to evoke the past in postmemorial works, comparing Andra Manfelde’s The Children of the Dugout (2010) and Katja Petrowskaja’s Maybe Esther (2014). Lastly, the dissertation discusses how novel structure can accommodate the overwhelming feeling of sublime historical experience (Frank Ankersmit) in texts like Pauls Bankovskis’ 18 (2014) and Dušan Šarotar’s Panorama (2014). The findings demonstrate that through non-linear formal strategies and poetic language, these novels transcend a simple past-present division, forging new, ethically charged relationships with history. Ultimately, the theoretical framework developed here can inform future research on Eastern European literature.