Ilze Ļaksa-Timinska

From Early USSR Studies to Digital Humanities

My research interest is focused on the interaction between politics and artistic processes, with particular attention to the relationship between art and authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. In 2025, I defended my doctoral dissertation, which centered on Latvian diaspora literature in the 1920s–1930s in the USSR. Currently, my active research focuses on the early USSR and the influence of communist ideas on various artistic processes, especially literature and folklore.

Another area of my research focuses on autobiographical narratives. I am one of the creators of the Autobiographies collection (https://autobiografijas.lv/) and have been involved in all stages of its development – from communication with depositors and the physical and digital archiving of materials to their qualitative and quantitative research analysis.

I am also interested in digital humanities. I actively contribute to the enhancement and maintenance of digital database of the Archives of Latvian folklore, garamantas.lv, and I use digital methods in text research. I am passionate about experimentation and the search for new perspectives.