Vilciena tēls komunikatīvajā pieredzē: latviešu literatūras piemēri

In the article “From the train to the castle of knowledge to the cattle wagon: the image of the train in Latvian literature” it is established how the metaphorical and semantic meaning of the image of the train changes in Latvian literature. In the first vivid representation of the train in Vilis Plūdons’ poem Atraitnes dēls (“A widow’s son”), the train goes to the East, to Petersburg, that train of knowledge and technical greatness. In the works of different times, the train is a literary trap that creates pressure and struggle between people (Andrejs Upīts, Mirdza Bendrupe, Laima Muktupāvela). The metaphor of the train of life is popular in the 20s-30s of the 20th century (Zenta Mauriņa, Austra Skujiņa). The direction of the train matches the East-West opposition known in Latvian culture, the meaning of which changes depending on the historical and social context (Linards Laicens, Austra Skujiņa), during the Soviet era, the Western direction is suppressed, it returns with the restoration of the country (Aivars Tarvids). After the large deportations of 1941 and 1949, the train in exile literature Latvian literature during 1980’s and 1990’s is the train of deportations (Gunārs Priede, Pēteris Aigars, Modris Zihmanis, Anita Liepa), gradually the train is replaced by a cattle car (Gundega Repše, Dace Vīgante, Tons Kreicbergs), which becomes a symbol of Soviet deportations. In less than a hundred years, the semantic meaning of the train has changed from a copper drum leading to knowledge, from a train leading to social justice, or a train of life to a cattle car.