Pilsētas transportlīdzekļi latviešu senākajos romānos

The article explores the depiction of urban transportation in Latvian prose from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, aiming to understand how these images reflect broader societal modernisation - technological and social changes in an increasingly urbanised environment. The study highlights the transition from traditional modes of transport to more modern, motorised vehicles. The changes in transportation use indicate technological and infrastructural shifts and point to increasing social stratification and changes in the urban rhythm, as reflected in literature. Various modes of transport and their significance are examined, with particular attention given to two forms of transportation - the carriage (ormanis) and the taxi (taksometrs) - which illustrate economic development and societal modernisation, as well as the growing disparity between different social strata. The conclusions emphasise that in the earliest Latvian novels, transportation is a practical means of mobility and a significant cultural and social symbol. These vehicles help to understand the technological, urban, and social developments of the time, providing insight into how these factors influenced people’s daily lives and literary expression. The study utilises the dataset “Corpus of Latvian Early Novels (1879-1940)” (LatSenRom), which includes novels published between 1879 and 1940. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for the analysis, which included analysing and visualising the frequency and distribution of transportation-related terms and examining the context of these terms using concordances. Word2Vec word usage mappings were employed to identify transportation-related terms, allowing for the automated detection of words with similar meanings.