Valda Rūmnieka un Andreja Miglas romāni latviešu biogrāfiskās literatūras kontekstā

The article evaluates the biographical novels of the creative tandem of Valdis Rūmnieks (b. 1951) and Andrejs Migla (1940–2021) about the poet Aleksandrs Čaks (“Čaks”, 2010) and the sculptor Kārlis Zāle (“Trīs zvaigznes” ‘Three Stars’, 2013). Both novels are viewed in the context of the history of Latvian biographical novels and contemporary trends in biographical literature. The article aims to reveal the peculiarities of the biographical novels created in cooperation by the two authors and clarify the connections between traditional and new approaches. An attempt was made to classify biographical texts of different natures (documental, scientific and popular scientific biographies, and fictional biographical texts in diverse variations). The biographical novels of Rūmnieks and Migla are evaluated as works based on objective facts, where the creative imagination of authors also plays an important role, and episodes of hypothetical possibilities also have their place. The scenes of private and public life are interwoven in the narrative of both novels, marking the coordinates of the events of various historical periods and broadly expanding the contexts of cultural-historical processes. In the novel “Čaks”, the authors have experimented with the composition of the text, creating a particular form of acrostic novel. In the structure of their narrative, the authors have integrated the characteristic style elements of the poet Čaks, the characteristic texture and the artistic methods of his expression. The novels of Rūmnieks and Migla can be recognised as culturally significant and artistically interesting examples of Latvian biographical novels of the 21st century. The research used a combined methodology, cultural historical and biographical methods, and elements of literary mapping, marking the coordinates of the artistic expanse of the novels’ characters.