Velnias i velns, czyli diabeł: folklor jako źródło inspiracji dla litewskich i łotewskich twórców
ENThe devil, as Ignacy Matuszewski indicated in his study, written in the late 19th century, equally to nations and humanity, has his own history. As a part of this history, there are also the images of the devil created by Lithuanian and Latvian artists and they are not a marginal occurrence in Baltic literatures. Merely using this character does not distinguish the Baltic literatures from the others in any way. The significant part, however, seems to be that the devil’s image is visibly rooted in the native folklore. In the Lithuanian and Latvian literatures, beside the works which clearly adopt certain plots and folklore motifs, one can find stories that contain images of the devil that visibly draw from the foreign concepts of the character (Faustian, Dantean and antique). The analysis of those indicates that, in many cases, such influence came to fruition in the shape of very original literary compositions, squaring the type of the foreign, Christian demon with the quite familiar one, preserving the features of the Lithuanian or Latvian popular devil. Interestingly enough, the Lithuanian and Latvian literatures, both drawing from the folklore, every so often created surprisingly distinct images of the devil.There is an apparent regularity in the creation of this character, stemming from being either Catholic or Protestant, which already drew the attention of Matuszewski. In the art of the Protestants, thus also the Latvian artists, there is an identified ability to built titanic-heroic or deeply negative types. On the other hand, the Catholics, thus also the Lithuanian artists who are strongly rooted in Catholicism, have tendencies to diminish the devilish characters, named by Matuszewski as subordinate servants of Heaven. Comparing the personalities of the devils in the analyzed works, it becomes clear that the Lithuanian devil is a stupid, naive and helpless creature, which fears rather than is feared; the Latvian devil in turn, not only does not give any opportunity to be ridiculed, but by staying in the human world remains a constant threat to them.
