Freedom and Exile in Language
Freedom and Exile in Language

Latvian Writer and Translator Dzintars Sodums

Author(s): Sigita Ignatjeva
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Studies of Literature, Latvian Literature, Lithuanian Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: Dzintars Sodums; Latvian language; exile
Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the Latvian writer and translator Dzintars Sodums’s (1922–2008) opinions about the state and development of the Latvian language, his perception of language as a prerequisite for freedom and development of democracy and political thought. Sodums saw the development of the Latvian language as the mission of his life, but his professional opportunities were restricted by his status as an émigré in Sweden and the USA. Sodums felt like an outsider in the Latvian émigré society, and this feeling influenced his views on the Latvian language and its use in his poetry, novels, and other writings.

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