Beware the Illusion or Latvian Literature's Road to the Nobel Prize

ანოტაცია

The Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded annually by the Nobel Committee of the Swedish Academy, is the world's most prestigious and popular recognition in the field, and the media all over the world, even those whose priorities are not cultural news, do not forget to report on it. Authors have been nominated for this prize since 1901, and many of its recipients are deservedly among the world's literary classics. The Nobel Committee has been reproached for the marked dominance of European, and especially
Scandinavian, authors among the prize winners. The prize committee has also been reproached for the conspicuous rarity with which Asian and African writers have received the prize. The apparent underrepresentation of women among the prize winners has also been rightfully criticised. Public opinion has been influential in these areas, with positive developments in recent decades.
The problem of the penetration of small nations into the world cultural circle remains a topical issue. This is also the case in Latvia, where the Nobel Prize has been debated since the 1920s. For a long time, the media discussed the nomination of the poet and playwright Rainis and the imminent probability of receiving this prestigious prize. The focus of my research is to study the press' overview of this nominee process in Latvia and the attitude of press people to Rainis. The press overview exploration doing this research is a kind of selfreflection, it is also about the way a nation sees and accepts its own high-ranking intellectuals