The Soviet Image of the USA in Latvian Satirical Journalism of the 1960s: Textual and Visual Code

Evita Badina, Dr. philol., researcher
Department of English Philology and Translatology
Daugavpils University, Latvia
e-mail: evita.badina@du.lv
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9604-3464

Žans Badins, Dr. philol., researcher
Centre of Cultural Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
Daugavpils University, Latvia
e-mail: zans.badins@du.lv
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3270-3419

Oksana Kovzele, Dr. philol., senior researcher
Centre of Cultural Research
Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences
Daugavpils University, Latvia
e-mail: oksana.kovzele@du.lv
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9696-4212

ABSTRACT

Almost immediately after the end of the Second World War (WW II) and the declaration of the Iron Curtain policy, the Cold War broke out between the socialist and capitalist countries: the so-called opposition between the Eastern and Western bloc. The most acute confrontation between the USSR and the USA was manifested in such areas as the arms race, space exploration, struggle to expand spheres of influence. In 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world was on the brink of nuclear war.
After the occupation in 1940, Latvia was part of the Soviet system, and therefore was exposed to the Soviet ideology and propaganda. Most of the inhabitants of Latvia (like of the whole USSR) had practically no opportunity either to visit the USA or to obtain reliable information. Periodicals of the USSR imposed on the Soviet reader their image of America and the Western world in general; a huge role in creating this image was assigned to satirical publications.
The article reveals the principles of representation of the USA image in the magazine “Dadzis” [The Thistle] and “Dadža kalendārs” [The Thistle Almanac] using imagological and cultural-historical approaches. The research focuses on the textual and visual representations of the phenomenon under study both in feuilletons and caricatures created by Latvian and foreign authors and published in the 1960s Latvian satire.
The study reveals that the static image of the USA consisting of a certain “set” of stereotypes was implanted in the Latvian society of the above-mentioned period and later.

Keywords: Soviet ideology, propaganda, satire, journalism, caricature, feuilleton

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How to cite:
Badina, E., Badins, Ž., Kovzele, O. (2021). “The Soviet Image of the USA in Latvian Satirical Journalism of the 1960s: Textual and Visual Code.” Journal of Comparative Studies 14 (43), 118–145. https://doi.org/10.59893/jcs.14(43).006