Category
Topic
Year
Attempts to find words for homosexualism
The Eulenburg scandal and the lectures of Magnus Hirschfeld in the early 20th century Estonian press
Keywords: Estonian LGBTI history, Magnus Hirschfeld, Eulenburg affair
Towards the end of the 19th century Estonian journalism developed a more global grasp, while the traditional educational and instructive texts were increasingly accompanied by foreign news and entertainment. First, the article acquaints the readers with the representations of the Eulenburg scandal in Germany in the Estonian press of the early 20th century, then proceeds to the local Estonian coverage of Magnus Hirschfeld’s lectures held in the late 1920s, who campaigned for the decriminalisation of homosexualism. Both the Eulenburg scandal and Hirschfeld’s visits made Estonian journalists to articulate the homosexual desire and contextualise…
Towards the end of the 19th century Estonian journalism developed a more global grasp, while the traditional educational and instructive texts were increasingly accompanied by foreign news and entertainment. First, the article acquaints the readers with the representations of the Eulenburg scandal in Germany in the Estonian press of the early 20th century, then proceeds to the local Estonian coverage of Magnus Hirschfeld’s lectures held in the late 1920s, who campaigned for the decriminalisation of homosexualism. Both the Eulenburg scandal and Hirschfeld’s visits made Estonian journalists to articulate the homosexual desire and contextualise…
Needles, pineapple and rainbow babies
Keywords: personal experience narratives, IVF journey, participatory storytelling, online communities, visualization patterns, symbols
The aim of the study was to examine: (1) What aspects of their stories about in vitro fertilization (IVF) journey do women visualize on Instagram? (2) How do they present their IVF experience on Instagram? (3) What role do visuals play in conveying meanings and messages? and (4) How do the above mentioned questions reveal the functions and motives of the women’s IVF community on Instagram?
Three groups of visuals came up with the help of multimodal discourse analysis (the topics, meanings and messages of the visuals were analysed in…
The aim of the study was to examine: (1) What aspects of their stories about in vitro fertilization (IVF) journey do women visualize on Instagram? (2) How do they present their IVF experience on Instagram? (3) What role do visuals play in conveying meanings and messages? and (4) How do the above mentioned questions reveal the functions and motives of the women’s IVF community on Instagram?
Three groups of visuals came up with the help of multimodal discourse analysis (the topics, meanings and messages of the visuals were analysed in…
Fears described in modern Estonian schoolchildren’s lore
Keywords: children’s lore, narratives, fears, media influence
The article is focused on how modern Estonian schoolchildren describe, in writing, their fears and their ways to cope with those fears, and analyses the influence of mass and social media (e.g films, YouTube videos, computer games, narrative folklore) as a source of the content and direction for those feared images. The main body of the children’s texts analysed concerns the fears and beliefs relating to nature and environment, interpersonal relations, and the supernatural. The analysis highlights some universal traits observed over time as well as some characters and phenomena making a short appearance before…
The article is focused on how modern Estonian schoolchildren describe, in writing, their fears and their ways to cope with those fears, and analyses the influence of mass and social media (e.g films, YouTube videos, computer games, narrative folklore) as a source of the content and direction for those feared images. The main body of the children’s texts analysed concerns the fears and beliefs relating to nature and environment, interpersonal relations, and the supernatural. The analysis highlights some universal traits observed over time as well as some characters and phenomena making a short appearance before…
Sport commentators’ gaffes as a source for folk humour
Keywords: folklore, humour, linguistic theories of humour, sport commentators’ bloopers, sport commentators’ gaffes, sport commentators’ use of language
The paper analyses, from folkloristic and humour theoretical aspects, sports commentators’ gaffes, or bloopers, collected from live sports broadcasts on different Estonian media channels from 2010–2019. We will attempt to answer three questions: 1) How should such comments be defined in terms of folklore? 2) Which theoretical humour mechanisms are the foundation of this humour? 3) How to categorise the gaffes?
The main focus of the article is on gaffes as a subtype of humor. Sports commentators’ gaffes fall into the category of linguistic humour, which…
The paper analyses, from folkloristic and humour theoretical aspects, sports commentators’ gaffes, or bloopers, collected from live sports broadcasts on different Estonian media channels from 2010–2019. We will attempt to answer three questions: 1) How should such comments be defined in terms of folklore? 2) Which theoretical humour mechanisms are the foundation of this humour? 3) How to categorise the gaffes?
The main focus of the article is on gaffes as a subtype of humor. Sports commentators’ gaffes fall into the category of linguistic humour, which…
Contemporary Estonian and Belarusian ethnic jokes on the internet
Keywords: joke, meme, ethnic humour, ethnic identity, Estonia, Belarus
Much of today’s entertainment, including humor communication, takes place online. It can be expected that as a result of globalization, jokes will become more universal and, consequently, local distinctions, such as specific ethnic targets that have so far differed from region to region, will disappear. The popularity of ethnic jokes can also be influenced by the growing demand for political correctness. This article compares Estonian and Belarusian ethnic humor, focusing on the last few decades. The aim is to improve the understanding of the relationship between ethnic humor and social reality: to complement…
Much of today’s entertainment, including humor communication, takes place online. It can be expected that as a result of globalization, jokes will become more universal and, consequently, local distinctions, such as specific ethnic targets that have so far differed from region to region, will disappear. The popularity of ethnic jokes can also be influenced by the growing demand for political correctness. This article compares Estonian and Belarusian ethnic humor, focusing on the last few decades. The aim is to improve the understanding of the relationship between ethnic humor and social reality: to complement…
Reception of scandalous news in the Facebook group KalambuuR
Keywords: folkloristics, minor genres, humour, newslore, social media
The article takes a closer look at some topical puns posted in the Facebook group KalambuuR, which is an Estonian group created for posting wordplays. The analysis is based on 32 topical puns from May 2018, which are related to a harassment scandal involving the famous Estonian astrologer Igor Mang. The scandal emerged when the investigative TV programme Pealtnägija (Eyewitness) uncovered that during his healing sessions Igor Mang had been harassing his female clients for years.
When commenting on the aforementioned scandal, KalambuuR members reacted fast, posting numerous topical puns the same evening and the following day,…
The article takes a closer look at some topical puns posted in the Facebook group KalambuuR, which is an Estonian group created for posting wordplays. The analysis is based on 32 topical puns from May 2018, which are related to a harassment scandal involving the famous Estonian astrologer Igor Mang. The scandal emerged when the investigative TV programme Pealtnägija (Eyewitness) uncovered that during his healing sessions Igor Mang had been harassing his female clients for years.
When commenting on the aforementioned scandal, KalambuuR members reacted fast, posting numerous topical puns the same evening and the following day,…
The folktales of Siberian Estonians in the Estonian Folklore Archives
Keywords: folklore collecting, folktales, Siberian Estonians
The article discusses the folktales that were written down in villages of the Minusinsk region in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia by Rosalie Ottesson (1899–1979), an Estonian in Siberia and an informant and collaborator of the Department of Folklore, Estonian Literary Museum. The tales were written down in 1969–1976 when the tradition of telling folktales had more or less disappeared in Estonia.
Ottesson, who grew up in a village community with a strong oral tradition, had heard folktales since her early childhood, first in the Estonian language, later in both Estonian and Russian. She translated the tales that…
The article discusses the folktales that were written down in villages of the Minusinsk region in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia by Rosalie Ottesson (1899–1979), an Estonian in Siberia and an informant and collaborator of the Department of Folklore, Estonian Literary Museum. The tales were written down in 1969–1976 when the tradition of telling folktales had more or less disappeared in Estonia.
Ottesson, who grew up in a village community with a strong oral tradition, had heard folktales since her early childhood, first in the Estonian language, later in both Estonian and Russian. She translated the tales that…
Curator at a museum and in an exhibition hall: on the concept, job and role
Keywords: curator, museum, researcher, museology, museum jobs
Different senses of the Estonian term kuraator are discussed, with a focus on its use in museum context. The traditional job title for a scholar working at an Estonian museum has been teadur ‘researcher’. Over the recent decade, however, the term has been receding in museum context before some other job titles such as kuraator ‘curator’, teadur-kuraator ‘researcher-curator’ and koguhoidja-kuraator ‘keeper-curator’, with some semantic confusion around the kuraator part. Since the 1990s the Estonian kuraator has been understood as ‘organiser of an exhibition and author of its conception’. In recent years museums have adopted another sense of the term, which is ‘organiser and administrator of a domain’, like…
Different senses of the Estonian term kuraator are discussed, with a focus on its use in museum context. The traditional job title for a scholar working at an Estonian museum has been teadur ‘researcher’. Over the recent decade, however, the term has been receding in museum context before some other job titles such as kuraator ‘curator’, teadur-kuraator ‘researcher-curator’ and koguhoidja-kuraator ‘keeper-curator’, with some semantic confusion around the kuraator part. Since the 1990s the Estonian kuraator has been understood as ‘organiser of an exhibition and author of its conception’. In recent years museums have adopted another sense of the term, which is ‘organiser and administrator of a domain’, like…
Clergy jokes in Estonia and Belarus in the 19th–21st centuries
Keywords: folk humour, joke, humorous tale, clergy, religion
Clergy jokes play with contradictions between normative and actual behaviour. The normative role of the clergy is to set an example and engage primarily with the spiritual world, but jokes hint at a potential of violating that role. The vices that the clergy display in humorous tales and jokes are exaggerated and mostly related to the material or bodily, which is something that they as carers for the mind and soul should be wary of.
The aim of this article is to describe the connection between humour and social reality, taking clergy jokes as…
Clergy jokes play with contradictions between normative and actual behaviour. The normative role of the clergy is to set an example and engage primarily with the spiritual world, but jokes hint at a potential of violating that role. The vices that the clergy display in humorous tales and jokes are exaggerated and mostly related to the material or bodily, which is something that they as carers for the mind and soul should be wary of.
The aim of this article is to describe the connection between humour and social reality, taking clergy jokes as…
The transgressive Kivisildnik as of 2019: some points of importance
Keywords: transgressive literature, contemporary Estonian literature, carnival 2.0, religion, jeremiad, rant, right-wing transgressiveness
Transgressiveness has always been one of the pivotal apects of Kivisildnik’s creative project. Challenging taboos, a provocative attitude and the standpoint of an exceptional person are still essential for Kivisildnik’s recent poetry and publicist prose, but the changed political context and the impact of the new media now lends a different perspective to many of his themes, topics and tropes. The transgressive carnival trope described by Peter Stallybrass and Allon White has been replaced by a jeremiad announcing ruin, based on a depressive-realistic worldview conveyed by exhortational and…
Transgressiveness has always been one of the pivotal apects of Kivisildnik’s creative project. Challenging taboos, a provocative attitude and the standpoint of an exceptional person are still essential for Kivisildnik’s recent poetry and publicist prose, but the changed political context and the impact of the new media now lends a different perspective to many of his themes, topics and tropes. The transgressive carnival trope described by Peter Stallybrass and Allon White has been replaced by a jeremiad announcing ruin, based on a depressive-realistic worldview conveyed by exhortational and…
Addressing “you” in the works of Tõnu Õnnepalu, Ülo Mattheus and Jaan Kaplinski
Keywords: explicit addressee, the “you” character, autobiographical narrative, Jaan Kaplinski, Ülo Mattheus, Tõnu Õnnepalu
The article looks at how the storyteller’s self-expression is directed to the second-person addressee, using the example of three autobiographical works: these are Paradiis (Paradise, 2009) by Tõnu Õnnepalu, where the story of a fixed place and time is told to a young friend, Isale (To Father, 2003) by Jaan Kaplinski, seeking a dialogue with a father long dead and never met, and India armastus (The Love of India, 2006) by Ülo Mattheus, which consists of letters sent to the storyteller’s beloved during the several months spent in religious asylum. The comparison of…
The article looks at how the storyteller’s self-expression is directed to the second-person addressee, using the example of three autobiographical works: these are Paradiis (Paradise, 2009) by Tõnu Õnnepalu, where the story of a fixed place and time is told to a young friend, Isale (To Father, 2003) by Jaan Kaplinski, seeking a dialogue with a father long dead and never met, and India armastus (The Love of India, 2006) by Ülo Mattheus, which consists of letters sent to the storyteller’s beloved during the several months spent in religious asylum. The comparison of…
kuppama and kupatama
Keywords: Estonian, Finnish, Baltic languages, Latvian loanwords, lexical history
So far, neither the Estonian verb kuppama : kupata ’to boil (of a liquid or sth immersed in boiling liquid)’ nor its derivative kupatama ’to boil foodstuff in abundant water for a short time’ have been offered a plausible etymology. The article investigates the areal distribution of the verb stem, its derivation network and semantics, as well as its possible etymological relation with Latvian. The existing suggestion that the Estonian verbs have been derived from the noun kupp : kupu ’air bubble, bump, knob’ is not valid for failing to provide a…
So far, neither the Estonian verb kuppama : kupata ’to boil (of a liquid or sth immersed in boiling liquid)’ nor its derivative kupatama ’to boil foodstuff in abundant water for a short time’ have been offered a plausible etymology. The article investigates the areal distribution of the verb stem, its derivation network and semantics, as well as its possible etymological relation with Latvian. The existing suggestion that the Estonian verbs have been derived from the noun kupp : kupu ’air bubble, bump, knob’ is not valid for failing to provide a…
Finnish drama in Soviet Estonian theatre
Keywords: cultural transfer, repertoire, Finnish drama, Soviet Estonian theatre
The article deals with the reception of Finnish plays and adaptations of Finnish novels in the Soviet Estonian theatre (1944–1991), relying on the theory of cultural transfer. It first describes the mechanisms to form and control the theatre repertoire in Soviet Estonia. The productions of Finnish drama are then examined by different periods: Stalinism and the “thaw” – interruption and then the return of Finnish classics to the stage; the late 1960s and the 1970s – first stage productions of Finnish contemporary drama and productions of classics in a modern style; the…
The article deals with the reception of Finnish plays and adaptations of Finnish novels in the Soviet Estonian theatre (1944–1991), relying on the theory of cultural transfer. It first describes the mechanisms to form and control the theatre repertoire in Soviet Estonia. The productions of Finnish drama are then examined by different periods: Stalinism and the “thaw” – interruption and then the return of Finnish classics to the stage; the late 1960s and the 1970s – first stage productions of Finnish contemporary drama and productions of classics in a modern style; the…
The birth of Estonian and Latvian poetry from the spirit of the German lied. Part 2
Keywords: folk song, Estonian poetry, German lied, theory of poetry, J. G. Herder, lyrical poetry
In the same year with the second volume of J. G. Herder’s folklore collection addressed in Part 1 of the present article, the poetry almanac “Ehstländische poetische Blumenlese für das Jahr 1779” was published. Besides the German-language poetry of its three publishers – publisher Johann Friedrich Ernst Albrecht (1752–1814), his actress wife Sophie Albrecht (1756–1840) and Friedrich Gustav Arvelius (1753–1806) – the almanac presented three Estonian translations of popular German songs. In addition, musician Andreas Traugott Grahl, who had been tutoring in Estonia, published a collection…
In the same year with the second volume of J. G. Herder’s folklore collection addressed in Part 1 of the present article, the poetry almanac “Ehstländische poetische Blumenlese für das Jahr 1779” was published. Besides the German-language poetry of its three publishers – publisher Johann Friedrich Ernst Albrecht (1752–1814), his actress wife Sophie Albrecht (1756–1840) and Friedrich Gustav Arvelius (1753–1806) – the almanac presented three Estonian translations of popular German songs. In addition, musician Andreas Traugott Grahl, who had been tutoring in Estonia, published a collection…
Complex interrogative-relative proadverbs in Estonian
Keywords: written language, conjuctives, interrogative-relative proadverbs, forced grammaticalization, Estonian
The article discusses the usage dynamics of complex interrogative-relative proadverbs (hereinafter relative adverbs) based on the corpora of 16th to 20th century written Estonian.
In a sentence, relative adverbs can function as interrogative markers, complement or relative clause subordinators and discourse particles. The grammaticalization cline of the studied elements from interrogative markers to headed relative clause subordinators (Heine, Kuteva 2006) and subsequently to discourse particles (Metslang et al. 2014) would be as follows: interrogative marker > also a complement clause subordinator > also a headed relative clause subordinator > also a relative clause referring to the whole…
The article discusses the usage dynamics of complex interrogative-relative proadverbs (hereinafter relative adverbs) based on the corpora of 16th to 20th century written Estonian.
In a sentence, relative adverbs can function as interrogative markers, complement or relative clause subordinators and discourse particles. The grammaticalization cline of the studied elements from interrogative markers to headed relative clause subordinators (Heine, Kuteva 2006) and subsequently to discourse particles (Metslang et al. 2014) would be as follows: interrogative marker > also a complement clause subordinator > also a headed relative clause subordinator > also a relative clause referring to the whole…