Culture of Estonia
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The culture of
Arts
Literature
Though the written Estonian language could be said to have existed since Jacob Johann Köhler translated the New Testament into Estonian in the 18th century, few notable works of literature were written until the 19th century, which saw the beginning of an Estonian national romantic movement. This prompted Friedrich Robert Faehlmann to collect Estonian folk poetry, and Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald to arrange and publish them as Kalevipoeg, the Estonian national epic. That era also saw the rise of other poets and novelists who wrote in Estonian, notably Lydia Koidula.
After Estonia became independent, there was a movement of modernist writers, most famously Jaan Kross. The second World War prompted a repression of national interests. Literature in modern Estonia is in a healthy state, with detective stories in particular enjoying a boom in popularity.
Music
Despite its relatively short history of art music, Estonia today is well respected for its musicianship, with the quality education of classical musicians having produced a high proportion of world-class conductors and singers. Estonian art music came to the forefront as a part of the national romantic movement.[citation needed]
Modern Estonian popular music has also received attention abroad, especially on the rock and metal scenes, with bands such as Vanilla Ninja and Metsatöll, Kerli and composers as Arvo Pärt, gaining international acclaim.[citation needed]
Visual arts
The Art Museum of Estonia is the main national museum of visual arts, and has a large collection of Estonian art on permanent display. It was founded on November 17, 1919, but it was not until 1921 that it got its first permanent building – the Kadriorg Palace, built in the 18th century. Today the palace is used to display foreign art while a new purpose-built museum houses the main branch of the museum, called Kumu.
Some of the more famous Estonian painters include Adamson-Eric, Johann Köler, Ants Laikmaa, Paul Raud, Evald Okas, Kristjan Raud and Konrad Mägi.[2]
Theatre
The Theatre of Estonia dates back to 1784, when
After centuries of the serfdom that the native Estonian population had fallen into since the Livonian Crusade, serfdom was finally abolished in Estonia in 1816. The first native Estonian musical society, Vanemuine was established in 1865. Lydia Koidula's The Cousin from Saaremaa in 1870, staged by the Vanemuine society, marks the birth of native Estonian theater.
The Vanemuine society was headed by
were staged.The Estonia Theatre is an opera house and concert hall in Tallinn, Estonia. It was built as a national effort led by Estonian society in 1913, and was opened to the public on August 24. At the time, it was the largest building in Tallinn.
In 2004. there was 20 theaters in Estonia.[4] 46% of the urban population and 40% of rural population visited theaters in 2009.[5]
Cinema and broadcasting
The
The first full-length feature film was made in 1924, Shadow of the Past directed by Konstantin Märska. Theodor Luts, Noored kotkad (Young Eagles) (1927) is generally regarded as the cornerstone of Estonian cinema.[3]
In the 1960s, the story of Prince Gabriel, by Estonian writer Eduard Bornhöhe, was turned into a movie script by Arvo Valton. Grigori Kromanov was named as the director of Viimne reliikvia (The Last Relic), released in 1969 by Tallinnfilm.
In 1997, the
The most successful Estonian animation director has been Priit Pärn,[9] winner of Grand Prize at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in 1998, for Porgandite öö (Night of the Carrots).
Architecture
The architectural history of Estonia mainly reflects its contemporary development in northern Europe. Worth mentioning is especially the architectural ensemble that makes out the medieval old town of
Education
The history of formal education in Estonia dates back to the 13th to 14th centuries, when the first monastic and
Today, education in Estonia is divided into general, vocational and hobby education. The education system has four levels, which include the pre-school, basic, secondary and higher education.[10] A wide network of schools and supporting educational institutions has been established. The Estonian educational system consists of state and municipal, public and private educational institutions. There are currently 589 schools in Estonia.[11]
Bengt Gottfried Forselius (ca 1660–1688) was the founder of public education in Estonia, author of the first Estonian language ABC-book, and creator of a spelling system that made the teaching and learning of Estonian easier.
Way of Living
Historical aspects
The area of modern Estonia has historically been inhabited by the same people as today, mostly speakers of
The formation of a more defined Estonian cultural identity in the modern sense was accelerated in the 19th century, during the period of overall national
Some pagan aspects of culture, such as storytelling traditions, have survived to modern times, and are generally more popular in
People
Today, Estonian society encourages equality and liberalism, with popular commitment to the ideals of the welfare state, discouraging disparity of wealth and division into social classes. The Protestant work ethic remains a significant cultural staple, regardless of its decline during the Soviet Union era, and free education is a highly prized institution.
The traditional occupation of Estonians, like most Europeans, has been agriculture. Until the first half of the 20th century, Estonia was an agrarian society, but in modern times, Estonians have increasingly embraced an urban lifestyle. In 2013 the main export of the second largest town of Estonia, Tartu, is software. Nonetheless, many Estonians maintain a fondness for a rural lifestyle close to nature, and it is a common custom to visit a summer cottage in the countryside during vacations.
Family structure
Estonian family life is nowadays centered around anything but the nuclear family. Members of an extended family typically live apart, and youths seek independence and typically move from their parents' residence around the age of twenty.
The divorce rate is close to 60%. Estonia has one of the greatest percentages of single parents in Europe. The average percentage of single parents in Europe is 13% (2009),[13] while in Estonia in 2000, 19% of the families with children under 18 had only one parent. In 2006, the percentage fell to 16%. The decline may be affected by the overall decline in birth rate.[14]
Same gender relationships are legal, and the legislation for same-gender marriages will take effect in 2024. In the Soviet Union, same-gender relationships were illegal, resulting in a gay-intolerant attitude in the majority of people who were born in the Soviet Union. Since 2019 younger people tend to be more tolerant of same-gender relationships than their parents.
Festivities, holidays, and traditions
Estonian holidays are mostly based on the
Notable among these is
Part of the "jaaniõhtu" tradition is that almost near the morning, when the bonfire ("jaanilõke") has burned off and only ashes are glowing, a component of Estonian traditional food, potatoes, are dug into the ground, right under the ashes, into the remains of the bonfire. After a few hours, when the potatoes have been cooked under the glowing ashes, the potatoes are dug up, peeled and eaten, while they are still hot.
The midsummer traditions also include different versions of pairing magic, such as collecting a number of different kinds of flowers and putting them under one's pillow, after which one is meant to see one's future spouse in one's dreams. Another "jaaniõhtu" related tradition is the seeking of bugs called "jaaniuss".
The Estonian
Food and drink
Historically, the cuisine of Estonia has been simple peasant food, which today is influenced by many countries, thus including many typical international foods. The most typical foods in Estonia are
Estonia as a Nordic country
Many Estonians consider themselves to be Nordic rather than Baltic.[15] As an ethnic group, Estonians are not Balts; the Estonian language is closely related to the Finnish language, rather the Baltic languages, and Estonians are a Finnic people. The northern part of Estonia was part of medieval Denmark during the 13th–14th centuries, being sold to the Teutonic Order after St. George's Night Uprising in 1346. The name of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, is thought to be derived from the Estonian taani linn, meaning 'Danish town' (see Flag of Denmark for details). Parts of Estonia were under Danish rule again in the 16th–17th centuries, before being transferred to Sweden in 1645. Estonia was part of the Swedish Empire from 1561 until 1721. The Swedish era became colloquially known in Estonia as the "good old Swedish times". Swedish ambassador, Mr. Dag Hartelius's speech on the Estonian Independence day, 24 February 2009, where he considered Estonia "A Nordic Country" gathered a lot of attention in the country and was widely considered as a great compliment. Additionally, the foreign trade minister of Finland, Alexander Stubb, has been quoted saying that Estonia is a "Distinct Nordic country".[16]
Beginning from the 14th century, parts of Estonia's northwestern coast and islands were colonized by ethnic Swedes, who later became known as the Estonian Swedes. The majority of Estonia's Swedish population fled to Sweden in 1944, escaping the advancing Soviet Army.
There are many words in Finnish and Estonian that are spelled exactly the same and pronounced almost the same way, but have totally different meanings. Many jokes, including derogatory ones, are based on the differences of the meanings of the words. Both, Finns and Estonians, tend to have, create and understand those jokes. However, Finnish and Estonian are sufficiently different languages that it is not possible for a native speaker of one of the languages to speak nor sufficiently comprehend the other language without explicitly learning the other language. Finns tend to have difficulties pronouncing the Estonian letter "õ" and Estonians tend to get "revealed" to Finns by their Estonian accent. For some reason, probably due to the greater amount of loan-words and expressions from other languages, native Estonians, who have not learned Finnish, tend to comprehend and acquire Finnish more easily than native Finns comprehend Estonian.
In 2005, Estonia joined the European Union's
See also
- Estonian Song Festival
- Sport in Estonia
- List of museums in Estonia
- Estonian mythology
- Public holidays in Estonia
- Estonian cuisine
- Religion in Estonia
- Women in Estonia
References
- ^ "Eestlus ja saksa keel".
- ^ "Painting Collection". Art Museum of Estonia. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9780313014840. Retrieved 21 August 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ Etenduskunstid 2004 Archived 2011-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Elanikud osaleksid kultuurisündmustel meelsasti rohkem - Eesti Statistika". Stat.ee. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- ISBN 9781741044768. Retrieved 21 August 2017 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-5-89960-026-5
- ^ "Estonian culture - cinema". Einst.ee. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- ^ "Priit Pärn". IMDb. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- ^ "Avaleht - Haridus- ja Teadusministeerium". Hm.ee. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
- ^ "Archived copy" (in Estonian). Estonian Education Infosystem. Archived from the original on 2009-06-17. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Superstitions & Folklore". A to Z World Culture. 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
- ^ "European Parliaments' Women's Rights Committee holds hearing on the situation of single mothers". Ec.europa.eu. February 2011. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
- ^ "Archived copy". riigikogu.ee. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Estonian Life" (PDF). Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2012-09-11.
- ^ "Alexander Stubb interview". Uudised.err.ee. Retrieved 21 August 2017.