(Post-/De-) Colonial Baltic Shades: The Latvian Case and its Global Breath

The Baltic area has always been conceived as experiencing a constant oscillation between the WesternEuropean cultural space and the Russian one. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, countries such as theBaltic states had to deal with a history of invasions alongside a present of plural memories, languages andcultures. The article will be committed to analyzing the contemporary Russophone cultural patterns inLatvia departing from the Baltic historical and mnemonic frame followed by a journey into the post-Sovietand postcolonial debate. The last part will disclose the Russophone translingual and transcultural environ-ment of Latvia between hard borders of nationality and soft hybrid subjectivities. Examples of Russophoneintellectual, artistic and poetic manifestations will be presented in the light of post-Soviet studies, colonialand (de-)colonial theoretic trajectories, taking into account interviews and field research conducted inRiga. The final purpose will be to understand in which ways certain Latvian Russophone manifestationscan be analyzed as postcolonial and decolonial representations, highlighting junctures and fractures interms of identity, language and national identification.