Estonian literature
Part of a series on the |
Culture of Estonia |
---|
People |
Languages |
Cuisine |
Festivals |
Religion |
Sport |
Estonian literature (
The cultural stratum of Estonian was originally characterised by a largely lyrical form of folk poetry based on syllabic quantity. Apart from a few albeit remarkable exceptions, this archaic form has not been much employed in later times. The most outstanding achievements in this field are the national epic Kalevipoeg (Son of Kalev), written by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803–1882); Gustav Suits's ballad Lapse sünd (Birth of a Child); Villem Grünthal-Ridala's (1885–1942) poem Toomas ja Kai (Toomas and Mai) and three poems by August Annist (1899–1972). At a professional level, traditional folk song reached its new heyday during the last quarter of the 20th century, primarily thanks to the work of composer Veljo Tormis.
In modern times Jaan Kross[5] and Jaan Kaplinski[6] remain Estonia's best known and most translated writers.
History of Estonian literature
Folklore
As opposed to the recent nature of written literature, the oral tradition, found in collections of Estonian folklore, tells of the ancient pre-
Baltic Germans
Chronicles and theatrical performances by the
Kristjan Jaak Peterson
Cannot the tongue of this land
In the fire of incantation
Rising up to the heavens
Seek for eternity?
- Kristjan Jaak Peterson
Those lines have been interpreted as a claim to reestablish the birthright of the Estonian language. Kristjan Jaak Peterson (1801–1822) is considered the founder of modern Estonian poetry. He gathered his Estonian poems into two small books but never saw them published: this only occurred a hundred years after his death (although three German poems were published posthumously in 1823). One of Peterson's projects was fulfilled in his lifetime, the German version of Kristfrid Ganander's Mythologia Fennica, a dictionary of Finnish mythological words and names (the Swedish original was published in 1789). Peterson's translation of Ganander's dictionary found many readers in Estonia and abroad, becoming an important source of national ideology and inspiration for early Estonian literature. Its dominating influence extended through the first decades of the 20th century.[11]
Kalevipoeg
The outstanding achievements in folklore imitate the epics: the national epic Kalevipoeg was compiled by doctors of Estonian origin: Friedrich Robert Faehlmann began the epic and it was finished by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald. The romantic ideology of the 19th century laid down the requirements for a national literature. The idea of an epic was the product of a humanist circle called the Learned Estonian Society (Gelehrte Estnische Gesellschaft), where Faehlmann had presented his paper in 1839 on a mythical hero called Kalewipoeg (Son of Kalew). After Faehlmann's death in 1850 the society handed the manuscripts over to Kreutzwald. The first edition of Kalevipoeg (1857–61) was bilingual, the German text being presented side by side with the Estonian original. A popular Estonian edition in a single volume followed in 1862.[12]
Lydia Koidula (1843–1886) was the initiator of a tradition of Estonian patriotic and women's poetry during the era.
Late 19th early 20th century
In the late 19th-century a poet emerged who profoundly affected Estonian poetry as a whole – Juhan Liiv (1864–1913). During the last decade of the 19th century, a contemporary of Liiv's, Eduard Vilde (1865–1933), gave a realistic direction to Estonian prose.[13]
With the formation of the group Noor-Eesti (Young Estonia) in 1905, led by the poet Gustav Suits (1883–1956), the linguist and poet Villem Grünthal-Ridala (1885–1942) and the reformer of the Estonian language Johannes Aavik (1880–1973), Estonian literature gained a new intellectual impetus. The most prominent prose writer of the time, still widely read today, was Oskar Luts (1887–1953). Another significant author was Jaan Oks (1884–1918).The poetry of Ernst Enno (1875–1934) gained popularity much later.
The rationality of the Young Estonians was counterbalanced by the group of writers from the Siuru movement, established in 1917. The central and peripheral poets of Siuru were: August Gailit (1891–1960), Friedebert Tuglas (1886–1971), Johannes Semper (1892–1970), Artur Adson (1889–1977), August Alle (1890–1952), Henrik Visnapuu (1890–1951), Peet Aren (1889–1970), Otto Krusten (1888–1937) and Marie Under (1883–1980).
The magazine Eesti Kirjandus (Estonian Literature) was founded in 1906, and Eesti Kirjanduse Selts (Estonian Literary Society) in 1907.
1918–1940
After the establishment of the
The prevailing tendency in prose writing between the two World Wars was realism. The most prominent writer of the era is A. H. Tammsaare (1878–1940). His five volume epic novel Tõde ja Õigus (Truth and Justice, 1926–1933) is considered one of the major works of Estonian literature.[14] Other prominent prose writers were: Marta Sillaots (1887–1969), August Mälk (1900–1987), Karl Ristikivi (1912–1977). August Gailit appeared on the literary scene along with the Siuru group.
The Arbujad ("Soothsayers") was a small but influential group of poets who began collaborating in 1938 at the behest of poet and author Ants Oras (1900–1982) and included: Betti Alver (1906–1989), Uku Masing (1909–1985), Mart Raud (1903–1980), Kersti Merilaas (1913–1986), Bernard Kangro (1910–1994), Heiti Talvik (1904–1947), August Sang (1914–1969) and Paul Viiding (1904–1962). While group's poetic works tended to be eclectic, there was a common desire among members to reach a deeper intellectual and emotional plane. The Arbujad poets were for the freedom and independence of the people while being against ideological coercion and totalitarian concepts.
Post World War II
After the Second World War Estonian literature was split in two for almost half a century. A number of prominent writers who spent the war years in Estonia fled from Soviet forces to Germany in 1944 (Visnapuu) or to Sweden, either directly or via Finland (Suits, Under, Gailit, Kangro, Mälk, Ristikivi). Many of those who remained behind and did not follow the ideology of the Soviet occupying power suffered either death in Siberia (Talvik and playwright Hugo Raudsepp) or a combination of repression, a ban on publication and interior exile (Tuglas, Alver, Masing). Despite the modest circumstances of the war and post-war years, creative activity and publishing started almost immediately, both in the temporary stopovers in Finland, and in the refugee camps in Sweden and Germany.
In Exile
In 1945 the Estonian Writers' Union in Exile was founded in Stockholm. In 1950 Bernard Kangro began publishing the cultural magazine Tulimuld in Lund (published until 1993). Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv, the largest Estonian-language publishing house in exile, was set up and its method of book distribution secured the continuity of literary life on an institutional level and on a global scale, except in the Soviet-controlled homeland. Estonians abroad also did their best to introduce Estonian literature to the world: in the USA, Ivar Ivask (1927–1992) edited World Literature Today in which he published numerous articles and reviews about Estonian literature.
The poetry collection by surrealist
Behind the Iron Curtain
In Estonia a relaxation of the strictures of the Soviet regime after the death of Stalin opened the way for various Estonian writers: Minni Nurme (1917–1994), Jaan Kross (1920–2007) Artur Alliksaar (1923–1966), Ain Kaalep (born 1921), Kersti Merilaas (1916–1986) and Ellen Niit (born 1928). Against that background a new "Cassette Generation" emerged in 1962–1967 (so-called because of the small poetry chapbooks which appeared together in small cardboard boxes termed kassett in Estonian). Jaan Kaplinski (1941–2021) was greatly inspired by Oriental religion and nature. Other authors of note were Hando Runnel (born 1938), Viivi Luik (born 1946), Mats Traat (born 1936), Andres Ehin (born 1940) and Ilmar Laaban.
The political stagnation that followed the crushing of the Prague Spring in 1968 was reflected in Paul-Eerik Rummo's initially banned minimalist collection. The collection did not appear in its entirety until 1989. So-called alternative literature was disseminated in manuscript form, the most significant authors in this field being the dissident poet Jaan Isotamm (pseudonym Johnny B. Isotamm, 1939–2014) and the prose writer Toomas Vint (born 1944). The most remarkable poet of the 1960s and 1970s was Juhan Viiding (pseudonym Jüri Üdi, 1948–1995, son of former Arbujad member, poet Paul Viiding), whose first collection Nerve Print appeared in 1971. Despite all attempts to ban it, the popular and song-like nature of Hando Runnel's patriotic verse secured its huge circulation. His collection The Purple of the Red Evenings, 1982 was allowed into print but the publication of any reviews in the press remained forbidden.[15]
1991–2001
Republic of Estonia regained independence from the Soviet occupation in 1991. The two Estonian Writers' Unions were merged in 2000.
In a way, Emil Tode’s (pen name of Tõnu Õnnepalu, 1962) Piiririik ("Border State") marked the beginning of a new era in 1993. The novel claimed its place beside the internationally recognised and translated works by Kross or Kaplinski. Border State also raised the topic of "Euro-literature", where one of the central issues is the wanderings of Estonians abroad, their search for an identity in a world with open borders.[16]
The intertextual poetry of
Jaan Kross and Jaan Kaplinski remain Estonia's best known and most translated writers, although in recent years the short stories of Eeva Park and the novels of Tõnu Õnnepalu and Ervin Õunapuu have also been enjoying moderate success in Germany and Scandinavia.[17]
Jaan Kross has been tipped for the
The new century
The beginning of the 21st century has been fruitful for Estonian literature. Blossoming out of the waning nineties; a new, vibrant generation of poets appeared.
Rooste is definitely the most socially-involved and "beat-like" of them all.[20] Sild proclaims his gay outlook, Wimberg creates absurd landscapes through the use of childlike language and style[21] and Ehin maintains the tradition of the "great female poet" of Estonia.[22]
But prose also flourishes. Over recent years, the work of
References
- ^ Estonian literature at Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ ISBN 0-7007-0380-2
- ISBN 0-7007-0380-2
- ISBN 0-231-11569-5
- ^ Jaan Kross at google.books
- ^ Jaan Kaplinski at google.books
- ^ Finno-Ugric folklore and the European written word at Estonian Literature information Center
- ^ Baltic Germans at the birth of Estonian literature at Estonian Literature information Center
- ^ History – Estonian Children's Literature Centre
- ^ Spotted Mother Tongue – Vaba Eesti Sõna
- ^ Kristian Jaak Peterson at Estonian Literature information Center
- ^ Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald at Estonian Literature information Center
- ^ Literature in the 19th century at Estonian Literature information Center
- ^ Liukkonen, Petri. "Anton Tammsaare". Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi). Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on 5 October 2007.
- ^ The split in Estonian literature at Estonian Literature information Center
- ^ Estonian literature during the last decade – Stars and trends
- ^ Mission Estonia. On Estonian Literature in Finnish
- ^ Jaan Kross at Estonian Literature information Center
- ^ Jaan Kaplinski at Estonian Literature information Center
- ^ "Jürgen Rooste – Love and Pain". Archived from the original on 2010-09-09. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ "Wimberg". Archived from the original on 2009-11-20. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ "Kristiina Ehin's Drums of Silence on a New Moon Morning". Archived from the original on 2010-10-02. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ "The Reconstruction | Dalkey Archive Press". www.dalkeyarchive.com. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
- ^ "The Brother – Open Letter". Open Letter. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
- ^ "The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirahk". www.groveatlantic.com. Retrieved 2017-03-15.
- ^ "Future Classics – How Should Freedom Be Used?". Archived from the original on 2009-08-12. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ "Younger Estonian prose". Archived from the original on 2009-08-19. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
- ^ Tallinna plekkmehed ja plekknaised