Arts and a Nation

Suzanne Pourchier-Plasseraud (PhD in History, Université de Paris 1- La Sorbonne) has extensively travelled in the Baltic States since 1988 and is a specialist in visual arts of Lithuania and Latvia. She is one of the co-authors of Capitales baltes (Autrement ,1999 ), Carnets baltes 1980-1999 (Lituanica, 1999), Les Litvaks, héritage universel d’un monde juif disparu (la Découverte, 2008), and the author of Les Arts de la nation, construction nationale et arts visuels en Lettonie 1905-1934 (Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2012).

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsForeword, Prof. Dr. Vaira Vīķe-FreibergaPreface, Krzysztof PomianIntroductionPrologue: On the Eve of the 20th Century, A Cultural Awakening that Faced Twin ObstructionsPart One: 1905-1915. A Socio-Cultural ‘Risorgimento’Chapter 1. The Emergence of Demands for Autonomy in the Russian EmpireChapter 2. The Formation of an Imaginary Landscape for the Latvian Nation. 1905-1920Chapter 3. The Arts in the Service of the Latvian IdeaPart Two: 1915-1920. The Chaos of the First World WarChapter 4. The Collapse of the Russian Empire and the Emergence of Latvian Political DemandsChapter 5. Depiction of a Heroic People, a New Source Fro the Imaginary Landscape Created in Latvian ArtChapter 6. Artists in the Service of National SymbolismPart Three: The Construction of a State. 1920-1934Chapter 7. A Vulnerable Parliamentary StateChapter 8. An Assertive Cultural PolicyChapter 9. The ‘Latvianization’ of the Visual ArtsPart Four: From Nation to NationalismChapter 10. The Authoritarian Regime. 1934-1940Chapter 11. Latvianisation of the artsChapter 12. Architecture and urban development harnessed by the stateConclusionMapsChronologyIllustrations TableBibliography and SourcesIndex