The Scientific Journal of Rezeknes Augstskola
Not a member yet
4187 research outputs found
Sort by
FEATURES OF THE STRUCTURE OF LATGALIAN ANIMAL ANECDOTES IN THE CONTEXT OF ANIMAL EPICS
Full text linkThe objective of the paper is to reveal the main structural features of Latgalian animal anecdotes in the context of animal epics. According to the fundamental and universal laws of folklore it can hypothetically be assumed that Latgalian animal anecdotes are an ethnic version of international zoomorphic anecdotes. When analyzing the structure of the zoomorphic anecdotes, it is essential to consider them in the context of the whole animal epic, which allows to acknowledge typological similarities and coherence in the creation of the animal images and the most typical motives. A comparative analysis illustrates that the structural features of both Latgalian and Latvian zoomorphic anecdotes are vitally associated with the whole context of animal epics, and especially with fairy tales. Some of the functions of fairy tales, as outlined by the Russian scientist V. Propp, band together, thereby forming the most typical motives of zoomorphic anecdotes, which can be found in the folklore and the literary traditions of different nations. Therefore it is possible to conclude that the Latgalian animal anecdotes preserve all those structural features of the zoomorphic anecdotes which are common for animal anecdotes in general, irrespective of the area where an anecdote is told, the nationality of a narrator or the topic. A structural analysis of the anecdotes shows the manifestation of regularities of the genre of anecdotes and its structural features, as well as a mutual interaction of the peculiarities of composition in the context of animal epics in general. A fundamental analysis of the structure of an anecdote implies identifying a motive, whose successful scientific interpretation reveals the interconnection of the structure of the fairy tales and the anecdotes. The understanding of a motive is based on the dichotomic comprehension as practiced in folklore studies, whose founder – the American folklorist A. Dandes – based it on the theory of fairy tales functions as elaborated by the Russian folklorist V. Propp. According to A. Dandes’ theory, the understanding of a motive in narrative folklore virtually merges with the understanding of the function in the morphology of fairy tales, which allows the comparison of any motive in an anecdote with the corresponding function in a fairy tale. V. Propp distinguishes 31 functions in fairy tales: eight of them have to do with the introduction (set off, prohibition, violation of the prohibition, deception, revelation of a secret, telling a secret, help, sabotage), three have to do with the nodus (mediation, initiation of counteraction, sending away or reproach), eleven have to do with the main part of the message (the first function of the sender, the hero’s response, acquisition of a magical asset, a movement of the hero, a fight, a distinctive action of a hero, victory, prevention of a shortfall, return, chase, rescue), and finally, the last nine functions (the return fails to be recognized, grudge of a false hero, a difficult task, its solution, exposure, transfiguration, punishment, wedding, reign) (Пропп 1998). Naturally, due to their compact structure, anecdotes cannot include all the functions mentioned by V. Propp. However, when banding together, several of the most typical motives of the Latgalian zoomorphic anecdotes become dominant (for example, motives of competition, truth, seeming departure, etc.), which can be found also in fairy tales about animals and other genres of animal epics. In these, every motive can be identified not on its own, but in inseparable connection with a particular message, because one motive can have different roles within different ideas. Besides, several types of artistic ideas can be distinguished in animal anecdotes as models of various life situations. Laconism in an anecdote often depends on the inclusion of a narrated element in it. Therefore, dialogues, monologues and narrated texts carry a very important meaning in an anecdote. These brilliantly reveal the most characteristic peculiarities of the genre – a short, concentrated dialogue, monologue or message elaborated to the minimum reveals personal characteristics and social realias attributed to the animals, which in reality characterize people and their mutual relations. Whereas a fairy tale’s plot contains more elaborated elements, anecdotes consist of separate compositional elements (only dialogue or monologue, or any expressive figure of repetition, etc.). Also, whereas in fairy tales the number of the plot elements is mainly constant, in the Latgalian animal anecdotes they can be variable and incomplete. As far as the compositional peculiarities of anecdotes are concerned, we can also talk about elements of verbal and nonverbal communication, which in particular cases can become a prerequisite for the creation of a comic pathos. A particular part assigns the following structure to the compositional models of the Latgalian and Latvian animal anecdotes: - components of fairy tale motives, i.e. images, compositional stages, as well as types of texts and models included into the motives, - models of structures of the anecdotes – combinations of message elements and positions of verbal and nonverbal communication. Taking into consideration that the Latgalian animal anecdotes in terms of an understanding of the motives and the organization of the structural elements show little or no difference from the Latvian anecdotes – their structure is virtually identical to the Latvian zoomorphic anecdotes – it is safe to consider the Latgalian animal anecdotes as an ethnic version of international zoomorphic anecdotes
THE ARISTOCRAT BECOMES A COURTIER… FEATURES OF EUROPEAN ARISTOCRATIC CULTURE IN THE 17th CENTURY
Full text linkAs John Adamson outlined in his voluminous comparative analysis of European court culture, „in the period between 1500 and 1750 a „Versailles model” of a court as a self-sufficient, situated in a free space, architectonically harmonious city-residency remote from the capital city, where the king’s household and administration was located, was an exception.” The Versailles conception and „model” both architectonically and in terms of practical functioning of the court was spread and secured in the 18th century, developing into a model of absolutism which was imitated to different extents. The spectrum of the adoption of the court of Louis XIV by material and intellectual culture reached from the grand ensembles of palaces of Carskoye Selo in Peterhof, Russia, Drottningholm in Sweden and Sanssouci in Germany to several small residences of the German princes’ realms in Weimar, Hanover, and elsewhere in Europe. Analyzing the works of several researchers about the transformation of the French aristocracy into court society, a common conclusion is the assurance of the symbolic autocratic power by Louis XIV to the detriment of the economic and political independence of the aristocracy. In this context, A. de Tocqueville points at the forfeiture of the power of the French aristocracy and its influence and a simultaneous self-isolation of the group, which he defines as a „caste with ideas, habits and barriers that they created in the nation.” Modern research, when revisiting the methods of the resarch on the aristocracy and when expanding the choice of sources, is still occupied with the problem defined in the beginning of the 19th century by A. de Tocqueville: The aristocracy lost its power and influence, and by the end of the 18th century also its economic basis for its dominance in French society. John Levron defines courtiers as functional mediators between the governor and society, calling them a „screen”.1 In turn, Ellery Schalk stated that in the time of Louis XIV the aristocracy was going through an elite identity crisis, when alongside the old aristocracy involved in military professions (noblesse d’épée), the governor allowed a new, so-called administrative aristocracy (noblesse de robe) to hold major positions and titles of honour. Along with the transformation of the traditional aristocratic hierarchy formed in the early Middle Ages, which John Lough described as an anachronism already back in the 17th century, also the status of governor and its symbolic place in the aristocratic hierarchy changed. It shall be noted that it is the question of a governor’s role in the political culture of absolutism by which the ideas of many researches can be distinguished. Norbert Elias thinks that an absolute monarch was a head of a family, which included the whole state and thereby turned into a governor’s „household”. Timothy Blanning, on the other hand, thinks that the court culture of Louis XIV was the expression of the governor’s insecurity and fears. This is a view which the researcher seems to derive from the traumatic experience of the Fronde (the aristocrats’ uprising against the mother of Louis XIV, regent Anna of Austria), which the culturologist K. Hofmane interpreted from a psychoanalytical point of view and defined Louis XIV as a conqueror of chaos and a despotic governor. In the wide spectrum of opinions, it is not the governor’s political principles which are postulated as a unifying element, but scenarios of the representation of power, their aims and various tools that are combined in the concept of court culture. N. Elias names symbolic activities in the court etiquette as the manifestation of power relations, whereas M. Yampolsky identifies a symbolic withdrawal of a governor’s body from the „circulation in society”, when a governor starts to represent himself, thereby alienating himself from society. George Gooch in this way reprimanded Louis XV as he thought this development would deprive the royal representation from the sacred. In turn, Jonathan Dewald in his famous work „European Aristocracy” noted that Louis XIV was not the first to use the phenomenon of the court for securing the personal authority of a governor, and refers to the courts during the late period of the Italian Renaissance as predecessors of French court culture. What role did the monarch’s closest „viewers” – the courtiers – play in this? K. Hofmane by means of comparison with the ancient Greek mythical monster Gorgon comes to conclusion that the court had to provide prey for the Gorgon (the king), who is both scared and fascinated by the terrific sight (of power and glory). The perception of the court as a collective observer implies the presence of the observed and worshiped object, the king. The public life of Louis XIV, which was subjected to the complicated etiquette, provided for the hierarchical access to the king’s public body. Let’s remember the „Memoirs” of Duc de Saint-Simon that gives a detailed description of the symbolic privileges granted to the courtiers, which along the material gifts (pensions, concessions and land plots) were tools for the formation of the identity and the status of a new aristocrat/courtier – along with the right to touch the king’s belongings, his attire, etc. The basis for securing the structure of the court’s hierarchy was provided by the governor’s body along the lines mentioned above, which according to the understanding of representation by M. Yampolsky was withdrawn from society and placed within the borders of the ensemble of the Versailles palace. There, by means of several tools, including dramatic works of art, the governor’s body was separated from its symbolic content and hidden behind the algorithms of ritualized activities. Blanning also speaks about a practice of hiding from the surrounding environment, thereby defining court culture as a hiding-place that a governor created around himself. It was possible to look at a governor and thereby be observed by him not only on particular festivals, when a governor was available mostly for court society, but also in different works of visual art, for example, on triumphal archs, in engravings, or during horse-racings
PROBLEMS OF MASTERING LATVIAN AS A SECOND LANGUAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS
Full text linkThe objective of the paper is to illuminate the interpretation of the term „Applied Linguistics” in Latvia and abroad (in Western Europe, the USA and Russia), and thereby identifying possibilities and grounds for the research of Latvian as a second language in the context of the development of applied linguistics in Latvia. Apart from theoretical literature, the author also uses data from observations of classroom discussions, which were obtained in three secondary schools and one elementary school (two schools in Rezekne, one in Rezekne region and one in Balvi). The author of the paper conducted a discourse research of Grade 9 pupils who learn Latvian as a second language (LAT 2). These research data are also important for problems of the development of methodology of applied linguistics in Latvia, because they enable the identification of new data and research methods. Applied linguistics as a field is based on the research of language and its role in human activities. Modern research of applied linguistics in Western Europe shows that attention is paid to areas such as second language acquisition (SLA), cognition, language policy and planning, lexicography, translation theory, corpus linguistics, etc. In Russia, when defining the areas and functions of applied linguistics, emphasize is put on the close connection of linguistics with information technology, artificial intelligence and logics. Russian linguists link the emergence of applied linguistics to the development of science and technology, which have made it necessary to observe language in action. The term „Applied Linguistics” is usually opposed to theoretical linguistics, which studies language in a system under a particular condition. To identify the interpretation of the term „Applied Linguistics” in Latvia, two sources were used for the paper: The „Interpretative Dictionary of Basic Terms of Linguistics” (IDBTL), published in 2007, and the description of the branches and sub-branches of science available on the home page of the Latvian Council of Science (LCS). The comparison of these sources reveals two differences in the definition of „applied linguistics”. IDBTL does not mention sociolinguistics among the areas of applied linguistics. Sociolinguistics is mentioned separately in the dictionary, but there is no link to applied linguistics. The second difference is that IDBTL does not refer to language teaching or learning – neither in the definition of applied linguistics, nor in the description of its areas, whereas it is mentioned in the LCS description of sub-branches. These findings show a lack of consistency in introducing the problem of second language acquisition into the context of the development of applied linguistics. The second part of the paper gives an insight into the research of the Latvian language as a second language. The research data were obtained through structural observations of class discourse and by analyzing them with the help of check lists and tables. The data of the class discourse research is important for the research of the actual situation of language acquisition. The task of an applied linguist is to be a mediator between the theory of linguistics and language pedagogy (linguodidactics). Even for studying problems of mastering the Latvian language as a second language, there is still a lack of systemic research which would provide a deeper analysis of the difficulties that LAT2 pupils deal with while learning Latvian, as well as while studying other subjects bilingually or in Latvian. There is an on-going need for class discourse research and for research of a individual language acquisition processes by means of interviews, questionnaires, and pupils’ reports about the accomplishment of some cognitive or linguistic tasks, as well as by other methods
ĪŠONA GRADZĒS – THE EXPRESSION OF SOCIAL ASPECTS IN MASKING RITUALS IN LATGALE
Full text linkĪšona grjadzēs (gradzēs) (an expression used in Latgalian to describe a specific masking tradition) is a unique masking tradition in Latgal in the district of Ludza. It existed until the 1970s parallel to the better known čigānos iešana (literally ‘going as gypsies’). Originally, these rituals had a social meaning as an activity of the poorer classes, thereby obtaining food for the Yule festivities. Since the 1960s it has been a masking ritual performed mainly by older women. I assume that it is this particular ritual that has given rise to the mask of a beggar in a more recent masking tradition. A narrator, when asked what a gradze is, usually answers that it is a poor person, a beggar, and gradzes is a ‘group of poor people’. Groups of poor people are usually associated with filth, which is also confirmed by the looks of the gradzes through their dirty faces. In turn, one of the ritual activities of the masked groups is frightening, making noise, and attracting attention, which can be explained as a function of the frightening of evil spirits. This tradition could took place during Christmas night on December 24, whereas other groups of masked people could begin their activities only on December 25. Today, it is not possible to connect these traditions to the Catholic Church, but according to the materials of a field study which has been carried out in the region of Ludza since 2005 it is possible to conclude that īšona gradzēs was allowed by the Catholic church because this ritual was performed on the most Holy holiday night. Gradzes were considered to be the first Christmas messengers, or messengers of the birth of Christ.Until the 1960s, testimonies of the narrators and available research material relating to the masking ritual allow the conclusion that people sang the Lord’s songs when going for gradzēs, and only when asking for a treat they sang traditional Christmas songs and carols. Later, as the traditions changed, different songs were sung. Singing was accompanied by slow dancing, which mostly resembled the „standing pat”. In the 1970s, sometimes a village musician, who played harmonica or violin, would join the gradzes. Gradzes were not invited in and did not enter the rooms. The treats (sausages, pies, etc.) were offered through the windows or doors. It is possible to assume that the mythical origins of the gradzes’ image could be found in Slavic mythology, where the Slavic God Kolyada (коляда) is a child of the Sun as an image of the beginning of the new year’s cycle and festivities. In Slavic mythology, there is an image similar to the gradzes, called деды, диды, дзяды – „old men” or „greybeards”. The Ded (old man) is a guardian of the family and its children. This image was also worshiped as a giver of welfare and a master of hidden fortunes. An old man with red fiery eyes and a red beard would walk around dressed as a beggar and endow the poors he would meet. Sometimes they would say that the fortune was hidden in the old man’s dirty shredded clothes. The story goes that souls of the departed relatives would walk in the form of old men, and that these souls would be treated on a Christmas evening, taking the meals out below the window. A long-term study of the tradition of īšona grjadzēs (gradzēs) was started only in 2005. At present, the work is not yet completed and research will therefore continue to be carried on by the author of the paper
A VIEW ON THE HISTORY OF LATVIAN-FRENCH CULTURAL RELATIONS BEFORE WORLD WAR II
Full text linkBecause of the geographic location of the Latvian and the French nations and of different trends in the development of their histories contacts between them were established relatively late. This in turn slowed down the development of their cultural relations. In this development, we can distinguish two stages: before the formation of the Latvian state (from the second half of the 19th century until 1918), and during the Latvian state until the Soviet occupation (1920–1940). The objective of this paper is to determine the place and the role of the Latvian-French cultural relations in the development of the Latvian culture before World War II. For this purpose, archive materials, memoirs, reference materials and available studies were used. For the main part of the research, the retrospective and historico-genetic methods were mostly used. The descriptive method was mainly used for sorting the material before the main analysis. The analysis of the material revealed that the first contacts of the Latvians with French culture were recorded in the second half of the 19th century via fine arts and French literature translated into Latvian. By the end of the century, these relations became more intense, only to decrease again a little in the beginning of the 20th century, especially in the field of translations of the French belles-lettres. The events of 1905 strengthened Latvian political emigration to France. The emigrants became acquainted with French culture directly, and part of them added French culture to their previous knowledge. The outcome of World War I and the revolution in Russia then shaped the ground for the formation of the Latvian state. This dramatically changed the nature and the intensity of the Latvian-French cultural relations. To the early trends in the cooperation, the sphere of education was added, with French schools in Latvia and Latvian students in France. In the sphere of culture, relations in theater, music and arts were established. It should be noted that also an official introduction of the French into Latvian art began at that time. As a matter of fact, such an introduction had already been started by Karlis Huns, Voldemars Matvejs, and Vilhelms Purvitis, who successfully participated in the Paris art exhibitions before the formation of the Latvian state. In the period of the Latvian state, artists would arrange their personal exhibitions in France, and general shows supported by the state would be arranged. The most notable of them were the following: - In 1928, the Latvian Ministry of Education supported the participation of all Latvian artists’ unions in the exhibition dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the state. General shows were organized in Warsaw, Budapest, Copenhagen, Paris, London, etc. (Jaunākās Ziņas, 1928: Nr. 262, 266); - in the summer of 1935, an exhibition of folk art from the Baltic states, including textiles, clothes, paintings, sculptures, and ceramics was opened in Paris; - the largest exhibition of Latvian artists in Paris took place from January 27 to February 28, 1939, with presidents of both states being in charge of its organization. It can be concluded that the Latvian-French cultural relations were an important factor in the development of Latvian culture, especially in the spheres of fine arts and literature until the Soviet occupation
MYTHICAL TIME AND SPACE IN THE POETRY OF ULDIS BĒRZIŅŠ
Full text linkOne article describes the writings of Uldis Bērziņš, one of the most prominent Latvian poets and translators (and also a dissident) who made his debut in the 1960s. It focuses on the aspect of time and space. The 20th century is a time of re-evaluation of values and of a search for new ways of self-expression. Entrenched mythical notions experience transformation and renaissance. Hystorical myths as a source of instigation for Latvian literature (also in folklore) reach their climax in the 1920-40s and 1960-80s, i.e. in a period when problems of ethnic identity were emphasized more than ever. Uldis Bērziņš in his poetry successfully blends trends of modernism (and some of postmodernism) with mythical reality. He thereby refreshes the message of Latvian life, as well as reinforces particular trends common for whole humankind, which the author accomplishes with the help of cultural signs densely introduced into the texts. The objective of the paper is therefore to identify and emphasize dominant details of mythical time and space in the following anthologies by the Uldis Bērziņš: „Piemineklis kazai” („A Goat’s Monument”, 1980), „Poētisms baltkrievs” („The Poetism Belarussian”, 1984), „Nenotikuši atentāti” („Assassinations which never took place”, 1990), „Laiks” („Time”, together with Juris Kronbergs, 1994) and „Nozagti velosipēdi” („Stolen bicycles”, 1999). For the more detailed description of the peculiarities of the author’s works and for understanding the connection between the linguistic elements and the ethnical specifics of thinking, it was decided to use methods which are new to Latvian literary theory and are not so commonly referred to. Namely, a philological method was used for the in-depth text analysis (Николина 2007), and a linguo-culturological one for researching the connection of language and culture (Хороленко 2006). Speaking about U. Bērziņš’ notion of mythical time and space, it is referred to as an „eternal now” situation, which also includes details of historical and psychological time and space. However, mythical time and space is dominant: texts of the poems contain a very dense layer of mythologems (Odin, Odysseus, Thor), images (trees, mountains, wheels) and mythical concepts. This layer very often merges with the layers of folklore and religion which are introduced into the texts by means of stylization and reminiscences or allusions. The paper is organized according to the three dominant features of myths in the texts of Uldis Bērziņš – dichotomy, cyclicity, and syncretism. These are revealed with the help of particularly rich micro details and cultural signs and the transformation of folklore motives. Dichotomy as a disclosure of two aspects of one whole is carried out in the artistic space within the oppositions here and there, on the top and on the bottom, center and periphery, or insider and alien. These are characterized by symbolic notions of a mountain or a bridge, images of Riga and the Daugava, as well as the introduction of a mediator (a goat, bird or a ghost), which reach over the borders of time and space. Thereby the poet emphasizes fundamental ontological aspects which are concentrated in the semantic meanings of the notions of time, eternity and lifetime. In turn, by means of linguistic elements (not only semes, but also syntactical structure and pragmatic elements) Uldis Bērziņš pays attention to the multifunctionality and uniqueness of a language, and is trying to reach the level of a parent language. Within these dichotomies, the images, motives and signs also actualize a historic time and space. Thereby, a background for the disclosure of subtextual layers is organized, and simultaneously a point of view for several artistic chronotopes is expressed, which is interpreted as a symbiotic process in the poetry of Uldis Bērziņš. The search of oneself in the context of eternity is expressed with the help of the cyclicity principle. This is at the same time a tool for the illustration of different time spaces, which creates a synthesized model of an artistic world with a polyphony of linguistic elements. The cyclicity indicators in the poetry of Uldis Bērziņš are the images of a wheel, mill, and ball, as well as the interaction of the change of cycles of nature and human life. Special attention is paid to the points of intersection of time, thereby marking the Latvian year and the course of human life. In addition, the acknowledgment that the cycle is never-ending and repetitive, makes us look for interconnections with the philosophy of existentialism and a possible fulfillment of the meaning of life. Syncretism, on the contrary, as a combination of several different traditions, allows Uldis Bērziņš to emphasize features of cultural, linguistic and ethnic identity. In the united whole, i.e. in the interpretations of a sign, motive, image or myth, there is an accumulation of a few notions that create a peculiar effect of surrealism in a poetic text. For Bērziņš, syncretism is discovered in an image of a city, a sound, personal names (Peteris, Juris), religious characters (Jesus Christ, Krishna), and myths of the creation of the world. To find features of syncretism in a text, a reader does not only have to have some knowledge of mythology, religion, or culturology, but also needs associative thinking, since the poet often plays with phonemes and facts by linking them in rhythmically symbolic combinations. To sum up Uldis Bērziņš’ notions of mythical time and space, it can be concluded that the poet successfully uses the means of language, its meanings, its peculiar functions and associative nets in order to create a synthesized model of the mythical, historical, and psychological time space. This requires additional attention from a reader, because each poem is a subtextually dense discloser of a cultural heritage and an indicator of the search of oneself
THE WEREWOLF IN LATGALIAN FOLKLORE
Full text linkLatgale is the essentially most different and most peculiar Latvian region from the perspectives of language and culture and their interaction with the cultures of other nations. Hence, this article attempts to reveal how the images of werewolves in Latgalian folklore and the means of their expression used in traditional tales differ from the rest territory of Latvia. The aim of the article is to understand the use of this relatively little studied mythical image and the features of their characters in Latgalian folklore. Previously, the author studied the features of werewolf depictions in Latvian folklore in general, and also compared it to Lithuanian folklore. The main source used in the research are five tales of werewolves, which can be found in an electronic version of Pēteris Šmits’ collected fairy tales and tales on http://valoda.ailab.lv/folklora/pasakas/saturs.htm, recorded in the dialect of the Eastern part of Latvia. Different dictionaries and encyclopedias, for example the „Interpretative Dictionary of the Latvian Language” („Latviešu valodas skaidrojošā vārdnīca”) (http://www.ailab.lv/Vardnica/), the „Dictionary of Latvian Etymology” (“Latviešu etimoloģijas vārdnīca”), the „Encyclopedia of Mythology” (“Mitoloģijas enciklopēdija”), and the „Dictionary of Foreign Words” (“Svešvārdu vārdnīca”) were used to describe the symbolical and etymological meaning of a werewolf image. The main methods used in the paper are semiotic and comparative. The semiotic method is used to explain the symbolical meaning of the werewolf image and the semantics of the word. The comparative method is used to compare the comprehension and interpretation of the werewolf image in the tales written in the Latvian and Latgalian languages, as well as to compare the structure of these tales and the use of artistic means of expression. As the result of the research, it is possible to conclude that the Latgalian tales of werewolves show features that both agree with and differ from tales of other regions. However, the means of expression in the Latgalian tales of werewolves are rather different from texts written in other regions. One of the major differences is the language which the tales are written in, as well as emotionally expressive elements in the colloquial speech of the narrators, such as the lexis of the region, dialectisms, similes, hyperbolization, and russicisms.Just like in the majority of tales from other regions, special introduction and conclusion formulas are used. The introduction formula takes the listeners into the world of fairy tales and magic, and the conclusion fromula brings them back into reality. In addition, the use of particular toponyms to gain the effect of credibility is quite common. The motive of shapeshifting wedding guests in a number of Latgalian tales is more characteristic and more common in Lithuanian folklore, but not in the folklore of other Latvian regions. Only in one of the analyzed tales a person turns into a werewolf of his own free will. What’s more, he is not a Latgalian, which subtextually implies dislike and prejudices against an alien, which is relatively typical of Latgalian folklore in general. Also, a special shapeshifting formula – a curse – is found in one tale only. Few techniques are mentioned for retrieving human form – jumping over another shot werewolf’s skin, eating a piece of bread given by a human, or cross-cutting a wolf’s skin. Among these methods the bread technique is the most common also in the tales from other Latvian regions. Also, it should be noted that the word „werewolf” is mentioned in one tale only and an expressive description of a werewolf’s appearance is missing. This probably means that this character was not very popular in Latgalian folklore, which is also proved by the small quantity of these texts. Only one tale is narrated by a man, whereas male narrators are predominant in the other regions. In addition, in some Latgalian tales there are relatively distinguished features of patriarchy, relationships between the rich and the poor, and a peculiar sense of humor for this region and its means of expression. Having conducted the research of the tales of werewolves it is quite safe to assert that the narrator’s place of residence and the region that he/she comes from has a relatively essential meaning in the choice of folkloristic motives. The social and cultural environment, the language, and mutual relations are those preconditions that form a person’s weltanschauung, perception of life and basic values. With their special mentality, emotionally colorful means of expression and an exciting, different language, the Latgalian tales are for sure distinctive from the other ones and are very important for Baltic folklore in general