ILFA to implement three new fundamental and applied research projects

Evaluation of Applications for the Fundamental and Applied Research Project Competition (FLPP) Has Concluded: Funding Granted to 56 Projects, Including Three Submitted by the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art (ILFA), University of Latvia

The evaluation of applications submitted to the Fundamental and Applied Research Project Competition (FLPP) has been completed, and a decision has been made to award funding to 56 projects. Among the successful proposals are three projects submitted by the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art (ILFA) at the University of Latvia. Implementation of the projects will begin in January 2026.

Project: “ANTI-MOB: Anti-Gender Discourse in Latvian Public Space and Literature”

Project Lead: Kārlis Vērdiņš

The aim of this project is to investigate local manifestations of international anti-gender discourse in public space and literature, with particular attention to recent and upcoming political and economic developments. Anti-gender mobilization seeks to re-establish binary gender categories based on ‘natural’ gender roles and the ‘natural family’, grounded in patriarchal and masculinity-driven worldviews. This movement unites otherwise disparate groups—Christians, proponents of secular conservatism, far-right activists, and even self-proclaimed centrists—claiming to speak on behalf of the so-called silent majority or “normal people.” To achieve its political goals and build transnational online communities while suppressing opponents, the movement employs a broad range of discursive strategies.

Previous research has demonstrated that anti-gender mobilization takes distinct forms across different contexts, utilizing varying discursive tools depending on the country and cultural setting. However, there is a lack of academic research on this phenomenon in Latvia. This project aims to fill this gap by analysing the positions and discourse of anti-gender mobilization both in public discourse and literary texts over the past decade, alongside conducting case studies of key actors in this mobilization. One of the core goals of the project is to enhance both academic and public understanding of the intersections between seemingly unrelated discourses at both the local and international level.

Project: “Postwar Environmental History of Latvia: Landscapes, Power, and Society”

Project Lead: Ieva Garda-Rozenberga

Following World War II, Europe’s environment underwent profound transformations. In the Eastern Bloc, Soviet military, economic, and industrial policies led to widespread changes in both rural and urban landscapes. These included the collectivization of agriculture, drainage of wetlands, modernization of road systems, and the construction of high-rise residential districts in urban areas. Soviet intervention in the environment significantly altered everyday life and contributed to the emergence of eco-nationalist ideologies.

Similarly, postwar Western Europe experienced transformations of the landscape due to industrialization, modernization, and reconstruction efforts, which reshaped both natural and built environments. This project aims to expand the field of European environmental history by proposing a new research agenda that engages in interdisciplinary dialogue and applies diverse research perspectives and methodologies. It will generate significant knowledge about environmental and landscape changes in Latvia during the second half of the 20th century, as well as about the formation of eco-social agency and the emergence of pre- and post-eco-nationalist processes.

The project aims to produce at least five peer-reviewed journal articles, deliver a minimum of ten conference presentations, organize a varied international academic event programme, and engage in public outreach through popular science publications, public lectures and presentations, and a seminar series titled “Towards Environmental History in the Baltic Sea Region.”

Project: “Spoken Songs: Algorithms of Composition and Improvisation”

Project Lead: Ieva Vīvere

This project investigates spoken songs—the oldest stratum of Latvian traditional vocal music—characterized by narrow-range melodies influenced by text and marked improvisational features. By integrating algorithmic and qualitative methods, the project seeks to uncover principles of composition and improvisation that have long been overlooked in scholarship due to the fragmentation and separation of melody and text in analytical approaches.

An interdisciplinary team of researchers will encode melodies and texts, apply algorithmic analysis, and conduct qualitative case studies to identify and map the compositional and improvisational skills and techniques, focusing on the interaction between melody and text and their local specificities. The project will foster collaboration within the Baltic and Nordic regions and promote the presence of digital musicology and folkloristics in Latvian research.

The project’s innovative contributions include the application of AI-based methods in analysis, the integration of music studies with prosody, and the advancement of digital education. Expected outcomes include seven academic publications, publicly accessible datasets and corpora, a dedicated thematic website, an EU project proposal, at least seven conference presentations, educational and outreach activities, and student involvement aimed at preserving intangible heritage and developing skills in the field of digital humanities.

In total, the competition received 623 applications from 30 research institutions (four of which participated only as partners). Of these, 615 met administrative requirements and were subject to scientific evaluation.