Jaunākie latviešu romāni: literāri reliģisks teksts vai teksts ar reliģiskiem motīviem? Daži raksturīgi piemēri

Abstract

The article focuses on recent Latvian novels. The article examines the possibility of dividing novels into two categories: literary religious texts, from which new theologies can be derived by identifying features of these texts, and literary texts with religious motifs, in which neither the central message nor the plot, nor the artistic devices are religious at any level; religion in these texts functions as an object of reflection for the protagonist or the author, which may or may not influence the development of the protagonist or the narrative. This textual analysis helps to identify certain dimensions of religiosity in Latvian novels. The article aims to offer analytical examples for each set of literary texts and describe the methods of their analysis (the hermeneutic method and the combined method with elements of exegesis and close reading). The article also includes two examples from each set of texts, demonstrating the use of the methods. The article’s conclusions offer insight into the imaginative apologetics of Jānis Rokpelnis and Nora Ikstena, as well as a description of several religious motifs in the novels of Inga Ābele and Jurģis Liepnieks.