Latgale as an Object and Subject of Contemporary Historical Memory Policy in Latvia

The aim is to analyze the historical policy of collective memory in contemporary Latgale. It is assumed that Latgale acts both as an object and a subject of memorial culture in Latvia. The novelty lies in studying the current stage in development of historical policy in Latvia at the regional level. It is shown that the intellectual community of Latgale makes the main contribution to the transformation and development of memorial culture. It is assumed that at the regional level in Latgale, local social and cultural activists became the key agents of historical policy. The author points out that virtual spaces became the main space for the formation of collective ideas about the past in Latgale. The article shows that the memorial culture in Latgale has original sources, represented by political and intellectual traditions of the Latgalian movement. It is shown that the memorial policy in Latgale is secondary, since the regional form of historical collective memory reproduces narratives that form the historical memory of Latvia.

Latgale, Latvia, collective memory, intellectuals, instrumentalization of history, political use of the past, memorial culture, historical policy