“Go there – you don’t know where, Find that – you don’t know what!” New framings from new generation Estonian and Latvian diaspora writers’ short stories in the 1960s

Martin Nmm (University of Tartu) "Go thereyou don't know where, Find thatyou don't know what!" New framings from new generation Estonian and Latvian diaspora writers' short stories in the 1960sThe end of World War II prompted one of the largest migratory movements in the history of the Baltic Sea region.In 1944, responding to the imminent reoccupation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union, about 70,000 Estonians and 171,000 Latvians fled from their homelands (Kumer-Haukanmm 2014, p. 50; Plakans 2021, p. 32), resulting in the largest Baltic diaspora in history.The majority of these exiles spent years in post-war displaced persons camps before eventually being allowed to settle across the world, primarily in the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and Sweden.In particular, the post-WWII Estonian and Latvian diasporas, exile communities that emerged following Soviet re-occupation, cultivated vibrant cultural movements often characterised by the preservation of traditions from their homelands.This determination arose from a sense of the transience of exile, the expectation of an eventual return.In the 1960s, Baltic exile literatures reached their peak in terms of the number of publications but also spurred on new-generation authors' desires to explore new ideas and modes of artistic expression (Silenieks 1971, p. 13; Ivask 1972, p. 1-6).Connecting to this, in the twenty years since the exile of the Baltic peoples, the question emerged as to whether an exile writer should write solely for the exile community and in its language.Would prose that diverges from literary tradition and the language of the homeland still be considered Estonian or Latvian?While the event of going into exile in the 1940s was itself a turning point that would affect and define the social, political and artistic narratives within the diasporas for the rest of the century, another turning point came with the 1960s.This perceived shift in paradigm can be regarded as an example of peripeteia, defined by Aristotle in his Poetics as a "reversal of fortune" or a turning point after which there is no return.Peripeteia is an integral part of the dramatic arc and a potent tragic device as it is then when the hero is doomed to his fate.This turning point may or may not be accompanied by an anagnorisis, or a realisation or discovery that informs the protagonist of the truth.In the context of the Baltic exiles, with decades passing since their escape from their homelands and little political interest from the West to end the Soviet occupation, the realisation of

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