International Conference “What Makes Literature?” to Bring Leading Literary Scholars to Riga
From 16 to 18 September 2026, the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia (ILFA UL) will host the international scholarly conference “What Makes Literature? Redefining Realism, Poetics, and Belonging”. The three-day conference will take place at the University of Latvia, and will bring together literary scholars and humanities researchers from universities and research institutions across Europe and beyond.
The conference is one of the central academic events marking the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art's 80th anniversary. It invites scholars to reconsider a deceptively simple yet fundamental question: what makes literature? As digital media, political upheaval, migration, and new forms of public communication transform literary production, reading practices, and cultural identities, the conference will examine how literature creates, represents, and challenges our understandings of reality, identity, and belonging.
The program approaches these questions through four interconnected thematic streams: mapping realism; poetics and literary forms; belonging and identity; and digital literature and reading cultures. The presentations will address literary realism from the nineteenth century to the present, including its relationship to naturalism, modernism, socialist realism, postcolonial and post-Soviet experience, ecological thought, memory studies, multilingualism and digital culture.
Three international keynote lectures
The keynote program brings to Riga three internationally recognized scholars whose work represents different perspectives on realism, comparative literature, language and cultural memory.
Riikka Rossi of the University of Helsinki will open the academic program with the lecture “Realism, Naturalism, and Emotions: Tracking the Moods of Realism”. Her contribution will consider realism and naturalism through the study of emotions and literary moods, adding an affective dimension to the discussion of how literature constructs and communicates reality.
On the second day, Rosa Mucignat of University College London will deliver the keynote lecture “Mother Tongues and Languages of the People: Realism in ‘Minor’ Languages”. Her presentation will turn attention to linguistic diversity, multilingual literary cultures and the complex relationship between realism, language and community. These questions are particularly relevant to smaller European literary traditions and to the study of literature across national and linguistic boundaries.
The third keynote lecture, “Realism and the Politics of Memory: Competing Narratives of the Anti-Napoleonic Wars in German Literature, 1813–2013”, will be given by Dirk Göttsche of the University of Nottingham. His lecture will explore the relationship between realism, historical narrative and the politics of memory over a period of two centuries.
Researchers from the University of Helsinki, University College London, University of Nottingham, Aarhus University, University of Luxembourg, University of Copenhagen, University of Gothenburg, Uppsala University, Tallinn University, University of Tartu, Vilnius University, University of Warsaw, Charles University, the University of Stuttgart, the University of Bielefeld, the University of Freiburg, the University of Regina, the Federal University of Maranhão and other institutions will participate in the conference.
The program's geographical and intellectual breadth will allow participants to place Latvian and Baltic literary experience in a wider comparative context. Discussions will connect Nordic, Baltic, Central and Eastern European, Hispanic American, Black German and other literary traditions, while also addressing questions of exile, diaspora, censorship, multilingualism, colonial and postcolonial experience, national identity and cultural memory.
Latvian literature in international dialogue
A substantial part of the program focuses on Latvian literature and its relationship to broader European and global literary processes. Researchers from ILFA UL, the University of Latvia, the National Library of Latvia, Daugavpils University, Riga Stradiņš University and the Art Academy of Latvia will examine proto-realism and fin-de-siècle realism, socialist realism, exile literature, postcolonial experience, literary representations of urban and rural space, cultural belonging, ecodramaturgy, theatre adaptation and contemporary reading practices.
The conference will position Latvian literary history within wider debates about realism, aesthetic innovation, ideological power, memory and belonging. This comparative perspective makes it possible both to recognize the distinctiveness of Latvian literature and to demonstrate its relevance to international literary research.
The program will also address the rapidly changing conditions in which literature is produced, circulated and interpreted. Presentations will explore readers’ perceptions of artificial-intelligence authorship, literary representation in video games, digital mediation in the publishing industry, and the relationship between literature, belonging, and digital media. These discussions expand the concept of literature beyond the printed book and raise new questions about authorship, reading and cultural participation.
A conference born from the collaboration of two research projects
“What Makes Literature? Redefining Realism, Poetics, and Belonging” has emerged from the collaboration of two research projects implemented by the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia and dedicated to the study of literature.
The principal organizers of the conference are Dr. philol. Eva Eglāja-Kristsone and Dr. habil. philol. Benedikts Kalnačs, who also lead the two research projects that provide the conference with its central intellectual framework.
Eva Eglāja-Kristsone, Director and Senior Researcher at the Institute, leads the project “Latvian Literature as Belonging: Personalities, Poetics, and the Public Sphere” (LITBEL, Project No. VPP-IZM-Letonika-2025/1-0006). LITBEL explores Latvian literature as a cultural, social, and public resource, connecting literary poetics, personalities, and canon-formation processes with the periodical press, public culture, contemporary reading practices, and digital environments.
Benedikts Kalnačs, Senior Researcher at the Institute, leads the project “Reclaiming Latvian Realism: Literary Innovation as Identity Quest” (REALT, Project No. lzp-2024/1-0341). REALT re-examines Latvian literary realism in relation to aesthetic innovation, identity formation, postcolonial and post-Soviet experience, resilience and social transformation, with particular attention to the diversity of so-called peripheral realisms.
As the leaders of LITBEL and REALT and the conference's principal organizers, Eva Eglāja-Kristsone and Benedikts Kalnačs have brought together the two projects’ research perspectives and international scholarly networks. Their collaboration places realism and belonging in dialogue with poetics, identity, memory, public culture and digital transformation.
They are joined by an international conference committee comprising Jānis Oga of the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia; Anda Baklāne of the National Library of Latvia; Jeanne E. Glesener of the University of Luxembourg; Zanda Gūtmane of Riga Technical University; Petra James of the Université libre de Bruxelles; Mindaugas Kvietkauskas of Vilnius University; and Maris Saagpakk of Tallinn University.
Bringing together expertise from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Luxembourg and Belgium, the conference committee reflects the event’s international and comparative character. Its work has created a shared scholarly platform that connects the study of Latvian literature with wider debates in literary theory, comparative literature, cultural memory, identity and the contemporary humanities.
Marking 80 years of ILFA UL
The conference forms part of the 80th anniversary program of the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia. Established in 1946 and today operating as an agency of the University of Latvia, ILFA UL is one of Latvia’s principal centers for research in literary studies, folklore, music, performing arts, digital humanities and environmental humanities. It also manages the Archives of Latvian Folklore, one of Latvia’s most significant cultural heritage repositories.
The anniversary offers an opportunity not only to reflect on eight decades of research, scholarship and cultural heritage preservation, but also to consider the future of the humanities. The conference demonstrates the continuing capacity of literary studies to address urgent contemporary questions: how communities interpret the past, how identities and attachments are formed, how language shapes experience and how literature responds to technological and social change.
In the 2026 international evaluation of research institutions in Latvia, ILFA UL received the highest overall score of 5, confirming its leading position in the humanities and arts. The international scope of “What Makes Literature?” reflects the Institute’s commitment to scholarly excellence, international cooperation, and integrating Latvian humanities research into global academic discussions.
Practical information
International conference: “What Makes Literature? Redefining Realism, Poetics, and Belonging”
Dates: 16–18 September 2026
Venue: Small Aula, University of Latvia, Raiņa bulvāris 19, Riga, Latvia
Organizer: Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia
The conference will open on Wednesday, 16 September, at 9.30 in the Small Hall of the University of Latvia. The opening will be followed by the first keynote lecture. The conference will conclude on Friday, 18 September, with a closing discussion and reception.
The full conference program is available HERE.
The conference is one of the activities of the Latvian Council of Science’s project “Latvian Literature as a Sense of Belonging: Personalities, Poetics, and Public Space” (No. VPP-IZM-Letonika-2025/1-0006) and the project “Rediscovering Latvian Realism: Literary Innovations as a Search for Identity” (No. lzp-2024/1-0341). The event is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, the Riga City Council’s “Live Riga” program for co-financing events, and the University of Latvia.
Contact:
Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia
Mūkusalas iela 3, Riga, LV-1423, Latvia
E-mail: conferences@lulfmi.lv