Htqe.2026.04

https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2026.04 | 66-83 | PDF

Time Perspective and Personality in Anshlav Eglitis Novel The Shameless Old Men

Anita Āriņa¹, Elita Stikute²

¹ Riga 80^th Secondary School, Latvia

² University of Latvia, Latvia

Abstract
Literacy and understanding of time perspective are essential prerequisites for high-quality education, as they enhance students’ ability to critically analyse texts, perceive historical and cultural context, as well as reflect on personality development and future opportunities. In contemporary education, literacy involves not only text comprehension, but also the ability to interpret value conflicts, intergenerational relationships, and existential issues embedded within it. In this context, the paper “Time Perspective and Personality in Anshlav Eglitis Novel The Shameless Old Men” reveals how literacy can be strengthened in upper-secondary education by implementing an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the novel The Shameless Old Men by Anshlav Eglitis.
The aim of the paper is to present theoretical insights and research results obtained by integrating the theory of time perspective, existentialist philosophy and aspects of personality development into the analysis of Latvian exile literature. The study was conducted in Grade 12 through the analysis of theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical-psychological literature, as well as by evaluating the results of teacher-student collaboration, students’ immersion in the novel’s content, and their interpretations.
The results indicate that focusing on the gradual progression of task complexity, age-appropriate text selection, meaningful reading purpose, and approaches are essential for fostering reading skills. Furthermore, the interdisciplinary approach contributed to a deeper development of literacy competence, awareness of cultural identity, and argumentative skills, by grounding judgements in the content and historical context.
At the same time, the study revealed challenges related to students’ competence to conduct an in-depth analysis of the literary characters’ future time perspective, and to identify factors that could significantly influence it, leading to the conclusion that more purposeful methodological support is needed in this aspect. Overall, the study confirms that methodologically, psychologically and historically grounded literature teaching significantly contributes the development of deeper literacy competence in secondary education.

Keywords: Anshlav Eglitis, novel The Shameless Old Men, literacy, time perspective, personality, exile literature, literary pedagogy

In: Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2026. Proceedings of Scientific Papers = Cilvēks, tehnoloģijas un izglītības kvalitāte, 2026. Rakstu krājums.  Ed. L. Daniela. Riga: University of Latvia, 2026. 236 p.
ISBN 978-9934-36-685-7 
https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2026