Rhythms of Life and Death: Fluid Temporalities of Water in Latvian Folklore

The article examines human-water relationality in Latvian folklore through the lens of rhythmic ontologies, to challenge the modern abstractions of both water (as H₂O) and time (as linear progression). Drawing on Latvian Daina—folksongs preserving pre-Christian cosmologies—we analyze how waters figure as active temporal agents within polyrhythmic frameworks that encompass birth, death, healing, and transformation. We argue that contemporary algorithmic temporalities impose binary, linear rhythms that flatten the processual complexity of more-than-human existence, contrasting sharply with reciprocally cyclical and arrhythmic patterns embedded in water cosmologies and practices. We propose that folkloric understanding offers alternatives to managerial approaches dominating current environmental discourse, suggesting pathways toward sustainable human-water relations grounded in reciprocity, temporal attunement, and recognition of water's irreducible agency within polyrhythmic naturecultural assemblages.