STYLISTIC TECHNIQUES IN THE REPRESENTATION OF LATVIAN CHARACTER: A STUDY OF GATIS ŠĻŪKA’S CARTOONS

The purpose of the article is to study a variety of cartoons by the famous Latvian cartoonist Gatis Šļūka who often represents Latvia and Latvians, capturing their very character and spirit. The main objective of this study is to examine diverse stylistic patterns and their visual and verbal interaction. The frequent use of stylistic patterns implies that Latvian thinking is naturally figurative. The cartoons often mock various predicaments in different domains of life. To appreciate the complete meaning of a cartoon, it is crucial to understand the historical and social context of the cartoon, especially if it is not analysed around the moment of its creation. The most recurrent stylistic pattern that appears in nearly all analysed cartoons is metonymy, thus it can be concluded that metonymy plays the most important role in meaning construction. There are other significant stylistic techniques such as personification, allusion and pun. In most cases it is possible to state that interaction of stylistic patterns is evident in the cartoons.