THE IMAGE OF STĀMERIENA CASTLE IN PERIODICALS FROM THE 19TH CENTURY TO MODERN DAY

The article examines changes in the image of Stāmeriena castle that are based on periodical materials published from the beginning of the 19th century until present day. They are available in the periodical storage of the National Digital Library of Latvia. The authors used content analysis in the data processing. Keywords used in the selection of materials are as follows: Stāmeriena, Stomersee, Stāmeriena castle, Stāmeriena manor, Boris von Wolff, von Wolff-Stomersee, Alice Barbi, Alexandra von Wolff, Tomazi di Lampedusa. Based on the material in periodicals, several turning points in the transformation of Stāmeriena castle are distinguished – the time of 1905 revolution, the interwar period, time of the Agricultural Technical School operating in Stāmeriena castle, the castle during Soviet years and after regaining the country’s independence, as well as “rebirth” of the castle after renovation of its facade and rebirth of the legend about the life of writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that has been brought up after a closer examination of the castle and several life stories of the people that have lived there. The periodical examples used in the article have been selected by the authors based on the most relevant descriptions that illustrate understanding of certain stages in the history of the castle. The concept and theory of storytelling [Fog, Budtz, Yakaboylu 2004] is used to examine the periodicals, which allows to look at what is found in the textual and visual materials with a focus on the image of Stāmeriena castle being created consciously or indirectly under the influence of passing time and the circumstances resulting from it.This article has been written in 2022–2023 in the context of the project “Research of Stāmeriena castle cultural heritage. Time and space”. It analyzes periodicals that have been published up to March of 2023.