Language, Individual & Society, Volume 14, 2020

Abstract: The paper investigates the phenomenon of Anglophone literature (American and British) in cultural space of Latvia during the first years of Soviet occupation (the 1940s). After annexation, Latvia experienced an imperative influence of Soviet ideology in all spheres of human life. Literature, both original and translated, became one of the most powerful means of Soviet propaganda, and therefore was under the strict and regular control by the Soviet occupation authorities. National authors were given directives on preferable themes and ways of expressions in their creative work. Foreign authors and their works for publication were selected with an extreme caution. As literature was extensively exploited in propagating socialist values and ideals, all stages of reception process were strictly coordinated by the state authorities. The Soviet periodicals served as an efficient and beneficial platform for disseminating ‘appropriate’ information to the masses. In Latvia, a typical Soviet media system was established, with newspapers and magazines focusing on propaganda of the Communist Party, thus, with all the material published creating a single ideological text. The specific focus of the paper is on coverage of Anglophone literature in Soviet Latvia press of the 1940s that reveals certain strategies in employing British and American writers’ names and references to or quotes from their works to create an image of hostile to Soviet ideology and dangerous for Soviet people imperialistic world inferior to life in the socialism system.