Neputn's series of essays is supplemented by a collection of essays by Andrejs Johansons, a Latvian cultural historian and researcher. Compiler - Pāvils Johansons, editor - Raimonds Ķirķis, series' artist - Anna Aizsilniece.
A selection of Johanson's essays compiled by his son Pāvils Johansons marks the author's 100th anniversary. This edition includes essays written between 1953 and 1962 that have been published in five essay books.
I remember from my early childhood that, among other common kitchen sounds from my mother, strange noises were heard in a cramped apartment in the suburbs of Hägersten in Stockholm. It turned out to be a rather arrhythmic tap on the keys of a red Olivetti typewriter. Gradually, when I fell asleep late at night, I got used to these sounds, but I had no idea that they were making texts, even books that would be appreciated over time. While I dreamed of football, Andrejs had delved into both old and current written sources, from which he drew cognitions, which were formed in his articles in analyzes and conclusions in a stylistically, rhythmically attractive way.
Compiler Pāvils Johansons
Andrejs Johansons' interest in literature and culture appears early, at the age of 14 he is published in a school magazine, followed by writing poems, translating, creating cultural-historical and folklore monographs throughout his life. Johansons focuses on the essay genre while living in exile (in 1945 Johansons emigrated to Sweden, where he lived until the end of his life).
Johanson's role in the intellectual endeavors of exile society is invaluable, but we have been reading these essays for more than half a century since they were written. Both in the style of writing and in the matrices of thought, Johanson's texts are full of signs of his time. Johansons still represents a time when it was as natural for an educated person to know the sequence of the Roman emperors as the chronology of recent events. The classical legacy of his work is evident in every sentence. And although it is important in the acquisition and presentation of matter, Johansons is separated from our time by a considerable intellectual leap.
Raimonds Ķirķis, editor un author of afterword