Racionālistu Dziesmu Grāmatas 19. Gadsimta Sākumā Latviešu Lasīšanas Vēstures Kontekstā: Rationalist Hymnbooks within Context of History of Reading in Latvia during Beginning of the 19th Century.
In 1806 and 1809, the new Rationalist Latvian Lutheran hymnbooks were published, in Courland and Livonia, respectively. Strongly influenced by the reform of the hymnbooks in the Germanspeaking countries over the second part of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, as well as by the new Bal...
| Published in: | Cel̜š |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | Latvian |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
LU Akadēmiskais apgāds
2017
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| In: |
Cel̜š
Year: 2017, Issue: 67, Pages: 49-80 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In 1806 and 1809, the new Rationalist Latvian Lutheran hymnbooks were published, in Courland and Livonia, respectively. Strongly influenced by the reform of the hymnbooks in the Germanspeaking countries over the second part of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, as well as by the new Baltic German hymnbooks, the new Latvian hymn-books were based on the theoretical assumptions of theological rationalist ideas (also known as Lutheran modernism, neology) and offered an improved and clearer language, divested from superstitions and mystics allegedly characteristic to the old hymn-books. The changes were so radical that peasant readers did not accept the new hymnbooks and resisted them for more than a decade. The peasants' resistance expressed itself in various forms, including secret use of the old hymnbook at home, disturbing and sabotaging the service at the church, as well as the attacks directed against pastors that were heavily punished afterwards. Both the hymnbooks themselves and peasant revolts resembled the closely parallel events in the German-speaking countries. In the article, the emergence of the Rationalist hymnbooks and their reception history has been explored, by taking into account the previous studies by Latvian scholars, as well as studies dedicated to the hymnbook history in Germany. The influence of the theological rationalist thought has been characterized within the context of the Enlightenment-era responses to the orthodox Lutheran concepts. While the movement of Pietism along with the Moravian Brethren had a wide appeal and large following among Latvian peasants, the ideas of theological rationalism remained mostly in the realm of the educated elite and did not find acclaim in wider peasant populations. Therefore, the emergence of hymnbooks and response towards them exemplified the broken and impaired communication between the educated elite (Baltic Germans) and the common people (Latvians). The responses towards hymnbooks, at the same time, were a part of the reading history of Latvians, and added significantly to the common myth of the "non-reading" Latvian peasants. However, the main reason why the peasants did not approve of the new songs seems to be connected not so much with the new poetics and theological assumptions as represented in the songs themselves, than to the status the hymnbook had in the traditional peasant society. Hymnbook was regarded as equal to the Bible in its religious significance, and often was the only book the peasant possessed. In terms of religious experience, it had a unique role in peasants' spiritual life and, being inherited over generations, was perceived as an unchanging value outside the time. Regarding the status of the hymnbook, the conflicts associated with new hymnbooks are better understood in terms of peasants' traditional values and the opposition between traditionalism and progress. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Cel̜š
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