Latvian Comic Science Fiction 1960–1990

Abstract

The theme of the present paper is a tendency in Latvian literature that flourished from 1960s to the late 1980s and has so far not been subjected to research. It is the phenomenon of short stories with science fiction elements appearing in humor magazines of Soviet Latvia, mainly in Dadzis (The Thistle) and Dadža kalendārs (The Thistle’s Almanac) as well as in the short story collections by the regular authors of these periodicals. In these stories renowned Latvian satirists such as Andrejs Skailis, Žanis Ezītis, Miermīlis Steiga and others use the disguise of science fiction to ridicule the negative aspects of Soviet reality that the authors of “serious literature” rarely dared to touch upon. Although this phenomenon obviously existed only for a couple of decades, it must be recognized as a specific hybrid genre the writers created and used to talk about problems everyone knew and almost nobody talked about.