Zanda Gūtmane published an article in the journal "Respectus Philologicus"
An article by Zanda Gūtmane, titled “The Aesthetics of Endings in Ēvalds Vilks’s Short Stories During the Thaw: typological parallels with Italian Neorealism”, has been published in the journal "Respectus Philologicus".
The article examines the aesthetics of endings in the short prose of Latvian writer Ēvalds Vilks (1923–1976) during the Thaw period (1956–1964), seeking typological parallels with Italian neorealist cinema. While the ideology of socialist realism required optimistic, future-oriented endings, Vilks’s works of the Thaw period reveal a clear transformation: from schematic endings in the early 1950s to pessimistic and closed endings in the late 1950s, and later to ambivalent endings that combine everyday reality with a qualified sense of hope.
Drawing on narratological concepts of open and closed structures, the study analyzes twenty-five short stories in order to identify structural and thematic tendencies. The comparative approach demonstrates that Vilks’s prose, which focuses on ordinary people and everyday life, resonates with the narrative strategies of neorealism, where unresolved, tragic, or ambivalent endings are emphasized. Thus, the endings of Vilks’s works illustrate a shift away from socialist realism toward a more authentic representation of human experience.
The article was prepared within the project “Reclaiming Latvian Realism: Literary Innovation as Identity Quest” (lzp-2024/1-0341), implemented by the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia and funded by the Latvian Council of Science.