I am a PhD candidate at the University of Tartu, Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore. The topic of my dissertation is folk ornament in Latvia in the context of tradition, its mythological interpretation, and layers of historical meanings and contestations connected to it. Besides PhD studies, I am a researcher at the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, University of Latvia. I have been involved in various research projects, but the current ones focus on the disciplinary history of folklore studies, the folklore movement and the Singing Revolution in Latvia, narratives of place and identity.
Digne Ūdre-Lielbārde, PhD
University of Tartu
Institute of Cultural Research
Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore
Ülikooli 16
51003 Tartu
Estonia
digne.udre[at]gmail.com
Latvian Folk Ornament and Mythology Nexus as a Revival: Contested Historical Layers, Visualized Ideologies, and Commodified Creativity
Contemporary uses of folk ornament reach beyond the realm of traditional culture and it is a cultural phenomenon where belief, national and ethnic sentiments, esoteric outlook, commercialization and layers of historical meanings and contestations are intertwined in a mutually constitutive way. Through an ethnographic lens theoretically grounded in folklore studies, this dissertation explores the nexus of folk ornament and mythology in Latvia and its manifestations in different ideological constellations of the 20th century as well as contemporary settings.
MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT- “Zīmes Ainavā,” [blog] Ideum, April 23, 2024, https://www.ideum-project.eu/post/zimes-ainava.
- “Ideological Tuning of Latvian Folk Ornament,” in Folklore and Ethnography in the Soviet Western Borderlands. Socialist in Form, National in Content, ed. Toms Ķencis, Simon J. Bronner and Elo-Hanna Seljamaa. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2023, 121-144.
- (with Michael Strmiska, Gatis Ozoliņš and Odeta Rudling) “Sacred Songs, Seasonal Rites and National Identities in the Religious Folklore of Latvia and Lithuania,” in Oxford Handbook of Slavic and East European Folklore, ed. Margaret Beissinger. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023, C27P1−C27P305, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190080778.013.27.
- “Vernacular Voices and Contested Meanings: Contemporary Uses of the Swastika in Latvia,” Journal of Baltic Studies 54,4 (2023): 545-566, https://doi.org/10.1080/01629778.2023.2248099.
- (with Toms Ķencis) “Introduction: post-colonialism/socialism,” Letonica 43 (2021): 5–6, http://lulfmi.lv/LETONICA-Nr-43-2021.
- “The Symbol of the Morning Star During the Third Awakening in Latvia (1986–1991): From Cultural Opposition to Non-violent Resistance,” Letonica 39 (2019): 149–176, http://lulfmi.lv/en/Letonica-Nr-39.
- “Ugunskrusts Latvijā strīdīga kultūras mantojuma kontekstā [Cross of Fire in Latvia in the Context of Contested Cultural Heritage],” Letonica 38 (2018): 123–142, http://lulfmi.lv/en/Letonica-Nr-38.
- “Latviskā ornamenta mitoloģiskās skolas tradīcija [Tradition of Latvian Mythological Ornament],” in Aktuālās problēmas literatūras un kultūras pētniecībā (=22 rakstu krājums). Liepāja: LiePA, 2017, 497–511, https://www.liepu.lv/lv/1131/22-rakstu-krajums.
- “A Faustian Bargain: Folk Culture for Sale,” Dark Side of Folklore & Folkloristics, 13th International Conference of Young Folklorists, Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore, Vilnius, October 9-11, 2024.
- “Folk Ornament in Latvia: From Historical Re-appreciations to Contemporary Creativity,” international workshop Folk Art in the 21st Century, Split, Croatia, May 17-19, 2024.
- “Added Value or Trivialization of Traditions? Commodification and Folk Culture,” The Young Researchers of Culture Conference Young Voices, Estonian Literary Museum, Tartu, April 23-24, 2024.
- “Invented Tradition, Folklorism, and Folkloresque,” lecture in the Master studies programme Folkloristics and Applied Heritage Studies, University of Tartu, March 12, 2024.
- Participation in the 13th Winter School for Doctoral Researchers Survivance and Survival: Theory and Method, University of Tartu, January 29 – February 2, 2024.
- “Visualizing Cultural Opposition: Symbols of the Folklore Revival Movement in Latvia During the Singing Revolution,” 16th international SIEF congress Living Uncertainty, Brno, June 7-10, 2023.
- “Invented Tradition, Folklorism, and Folkloresque,” lecture in the Master studies programme Folkloristics and Applied Heritage Studies, University of Tartu, April 25, 2023.
- “Folk Narratives and Vernacular Artefacts: Eight-pointed Star as the Symbol of the Singing Revolution in Latvia,” International Conference of Young Folklorists The Stuff of Tradition: Materiality and Media in Folklore Studies, Helsinki, October 26-28, 2022.
- “Visualizing Mythology through Latvian Folk Ornament,” Interim Conference of the International Society for Folk Narrative Research Folk Narrative and the Visual Arts: Fashion, Design, Materials and Media, London, July 23, 2022.
- “Zīmju parki: jaunradīti latviskās identitātes pieturpunkti ainavā [Themed Ornament Parks in Latvia: Newly Created Identity in the Lanscape],” 30th international conference Current Issues in Research of Literature and Culture, Liepāja, Latvia, March 25, 2022.
- “Folk Ornament and Magic,” Autumn School Dialogues with Magic, organised by the Estonian Literary Museum, Saka, Estonia, November 11-12, 2021.
- “Ideological Tuning of Latvian Folk Ornament,” conference Socialist Folkloristics: A Disciplinary Heritage, organised by the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, University of Latvia/online, December 18, 2020.
- “Quest for Mythological Time: Latvian Folk Ornament,” annual meeting of the American Folklore Society Centers/Peripheries: Connecting Beyond the Binaries, online, October 14, 2020.
- “Between Contested Traditions and Contested Heritage,” 5th biennial conference of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies Futures [online], August 28, 2020.
- “Is Folklorism Still Relevant as an Analytic Category Today? The Case of Latvian Mythological Ornament,” 9th International Conference of Young Folklorists (Ir)relevance of Classical Folkloristics in 21st Century, Vilnius, Lithuania, September 18, 2019.
- “Mythological Ornament in Transformation: From National Symbols to Healing,” 14th international SIEF congress Track Changes: Reflecting on a Transforming World, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, April 15, 2019.
- “Contemporary Calendar: Virtual Ethnography as a Research Method for a Ritual Year,” 13th conference of The Ritual Year Working Group (SIEF) City Rituals, Bucharest, Romania, November 8, 2018.
- “Hidden Ethnography: Alcohol and Fieldwork,” 8th International Conference of Young Folklorists Reflecting on Disciplinary Ethics in Folkloristics, Riga, Latvia, September 21, 2018.
- “‘Latvian Signs‘: When Mythology Encounters Ornament,” symposium for young cultural studies scholars Mind, Emotion, and Mythic Thinking, Helsinki, Finland, May 9, 2018.
- (with Gailīte Elīna) “Towards an Open Folklore Archives: Challenges and Opportunities,” international conference Towards Digital Folkloristics, organised by Archives of Latvian Folklore, Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia, September 15, 2016.
- “Added Value – Latvian Ornament between Tradition and Marketing,” 6th International Conference of Young Folklorists Us and Them: Exploring the Margins, Vilnius, Lithuania, June 1, 2016.
University studies and degrees
- Since 2018
- PhD Studies, Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore, University of Tartu.
- 2016–2018
- Mg. Art. in Museum and Cultural Studies, Latvian Academy of Culture.
- 2012–2016
- B. Art. in Traditional Culture and Latvian Folklore, Latvian Academy of Culture.
- 2006–2010
- B. Paed., Teacher of Visual Arts and History of Culture, University of Latvia.
Professional background
- Since 12/2018
- Researcher at the Archives of Latvian Folklore, Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, University of Latvia.
- 12/2015 – 12/2018
- Research assistant at the Archives of Latvian Folklore, Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, University of Latvia.
- 12/2015 – 12/2018
- Editor of the Digital Archives of Latvian Folklore Garamantas.lv.
- 01/2015 – 12/2015
- Assistant at the Archives of Latvian Folklore, Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art, University of Latvia.