Category
Topic
Year
The outlines and features of early Estonian working-class literature
Keywords: working-class literature, literary history, working-class movement
The article is motivated by the marginal position of working-class literature in modern academic literary studies and the available theoretical views and definitions of working-class literature, which are largely obsolete or just superficial. The article highlights the problems associated with defining the concept of working-class literature, based on the relevant theories of well-recognised researchers such as John Lennon, Magnus Nilsson, Raoul Palmgren, Elsi Hyttinen and others. The focus is on the main definitions of working-class literature so far and their critique. The article seeks to provide answers to questions concerning the definition of working-class…
The article is motivated by the marginal position of working-class literature in modern academic literary studies and the available theoretical views and definitions of working-class literature, which are largely obsolete or just superficial. The article highlights the problems associated with defining the concept of working-class literature, based on the relevant theories of well-recognised researchers such as John Lennon, Magnus Nilsson, Raoul Palmgren, Elsi Hyttinen and others. The focus is on the main definitions of working-class literature so far and their critique. The article seeks to provide answers to questions concerning the definition of working-class…
Semantic pragmatism in Ene Mihkelson’s literary works
Keywords: pragmatism, semantic pragmatism, representationalism, Ene Mihkelson, scepticism, history
The article argues that the aesthetics of Ene Mihkelson’s prose invites the reader to give up the representationalist framework and instead adopt semantic pragmatism. Representationalism is a position in philosophy of language according to which sentences represent mind- and language-independent objective reality. Semantic pragmatism, however, does not consider sentences as representing reality, but rather takes the central aspect of a sentence’s meaning to be its role in a community’s language game.
The first part of the article explains how semantic pragmatism rejects representationalism, acknowledges the discursive-conceptual trap and thereby mitigates scepticism. According to…
The article argues that the aesthetics of Ene Mihkelson’s prose invites the reader to give up the representationalist framework and instead adopt semantic pragmatism. Representationalism is a position in philosophy of language according to which sentences represent mind- and language-independent objective reality. Semantic pragmatism, however, does not consider sentences as representing reality, but rather takes the central aspect of a sentence’s meaning to be its role in a community’s language game.
The first part of the article explains how semantic pragmatism rejects representationalism, acknowledges the discursive-conceptual trap and thereby mitigates scepticism. According to…
The myth of Estonians as a forest people
Keywords: national identity, national narratives/myths, forest nation, Estonia
Contemporary Estonian identity includes a motif of Estonians as a nature-loving forest people. Although not original – its equivalents can be found across Europe – the motif describes Estonians as having a unique relationship with the local forest, reaching back to the ancient times. The article tracks down the formation of this motif and identifies the most important factors of intellectual and social history that have contributed to its development. An insight is given into the structure and subgenres of national narratives, how do they relate and support each other, and how they change.
As…
Contemporary Estonian identity includes a motif of Estonians as a nature-loving forest people. Although not original – its equivalents can be found across Europe – the motif describes Estonians as having a unique relationship with the local forest, reaching back to the ancient times. The article tracks down the formation of this motif and identifies the most important factors of intellectual and social history that have contributed to its development. An insight is given into the structure and subgenres of national narratives, how do they relate and support each other, and how they change.
As…
Ranking task as a tool for studying polysemy: A case study of the Estonian adjective vana ’old’
Keywords: cognitive linguistics, semantics, introspection, experimental methods, multidimensional scaling, facet theory
The aim of the article is to introduce a combination of research methods for studying polysemy. Ranking task is the central tool of this methodological combination, which enables creation of a semantic description that reflects how language users distinguish meanings of the studied word. For introducing the research process I used the Estonian adjective vana ‘old’ as an example. At the beginning of the study, I made the assumption that different senses of the adjective vana are related to different interpretations of time. Introspective analysis of the semantics of the adjective vana included four pairs of opposite…
The aim of the article is to introduce a combination of research methods for studying polysemy. Ranking task is the central tool of this methodological combination, which enables creation of a semantic description that reflects how language users distinguish meanings of the studied word. For introducing the research process I used the Estonian adjective vana ‘old’ as an example. At the beginning of the study, I made the assumption that different senses of the adjective vana are related to different interpretations of time. Introspective analysis of the semantics of the adjective vana included four pairs of opposite…
Jaan Jõgever’s folklore lectures delivered at the University of Tartu in 1909–1911
Keywords: Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore, Jaan Jõgever, folklore, history of folklore studies
In Estonia, higher education in the vernacular became accessible in 1919. This was also the year when a folklore department was established at the University of Tartu, providing three-level education in folklore and enabling acquisition of both master’s and doctoral degrees. Previously (1803–1919) knowledge of Estonian culture had been transmitted to Tartu students by the lecturer of the Estonian Language. In 1909 Jaan Jõgever (1860–1924) was elected to the post. He did four lectures a week, one of which was dedicated to folklore, in particular to tale…
In Estonia, higher education in the vernacular became accessible in 1919. This was also the year when a folklore department was established at the University of Tartu, providing three-level education in folklore and enabling acquisition of both master’s and doctoral degrees. Previously (1803–1919) knowledge of Estonian culture had been transmitted to Tartu students by the lecturer of the Estonian Language. In 1909 Jaan Jõgever (1860–1924) was elected to the post. He did four lectures a week, one of which was dedicated to folklore, in particular to tale…
Place-lore – why and for whom?
Keywords: place-lore, history of folklore studies, cultural identity, interdisciplinarity, Estonian Folklore Archives
The article discusses the necessity of place-based tradition as a multidisciplinary thematic area. A survey is given of the value of place-lore, including place legends, as a subject of research in Estonian folklore studies, beginning from the early days of folklore collection in the late 19th century until today. The concept of place-lore came to broaden the earlier genre- and text-based approach in the early 1990s, right after Estonia had regained its independence, when various paradigm shifts were due in science, as well as in society. This was also…
The article discusses the necessity of place-based tradition as a multidisciplinary thematic area. A survey is given of the value of place-lore, including place legends, as a subject of research in Estonian folklore studies, beginning from the early days of folklore collection in the late 19th century until today. The concept of place-lore came to broaden the earlier genre- and text-based approach in the early 1990s, right after Estonia had regained its independence, when various paradigm shifts were due in science, as well as in society. This was also…
Reference in Estonian descriptions and narratives
Keywords: reference, anaphora, demonstratives, personal pronouns, Estonian
This study focuses on reference in the Estonian language by taking an experimental approach to spatial and discourse reference. The aim is to reveal what is the inventory of referential devices in Estonian, and whether there are context-related factors that influence the choices made when referring. In particular, the data from two tasks are analysed. In the spatial setting, participants were asked to describe the surroundings by referring to large visible referents, i.e. houses. In the discourse setting, participants had to narrate a story based on a picture book by referring to animate and inanimate…
This study focuses on reference in the Estonian language by taking an experimental approach to spatial and discourse reference. The aim is to reveal what is the inventory of referential devices in Estonian, and whether there are context-related factors that influence the choices made when referring. In particular, the data from two tasks are analysed. In the spatial setting, participants were asked to describe the surroundings by referring to large visible referents, i.e. houses. In the discourse setting, participants had to narrate a story based on a picture book by referring to animate and inanimate…
The Vaher question
Keywords: World War II, diaries, gender history, ideology, Communism, subjectivity
This is the second part of an article that explores the 1941 diary of young provincial female Estonian Communist Luise Vaher (née Kapstas). The article focuses on the ideological and gender discourses in the diary and highlights its source value for the study of Soviet everyday life in general. Vaher evacuates to the Volga region with a mindset of a militant, true-believing Bolshevik, who labels everyday adversaries as “enemies of the people” and threatens them with the full potential of Soviet repressive power. Upon arriving in towns and cities on the…
This is the second part of an article that explores the 1941 diary of young provincial female Estonian Communist Luise Vaher (née Kapstas). The article focuses on the ideological and gender discourses in the diary and highlights its source value for the study of Soviet everyday life in general. Vaher evacuates to the Volga region with a mindset of a militant, true-believing Bolshevik, who labels everyday adversaries as “enemies of the people” and threatens them with the full potential of Soviet repressive power. Upon arriving in towns and cities on the…
The so-called everyday mythology as a source of Mati Unt’s realist poetics
Keywords: Mati Unt, literary realism, critique of ideology, Soviet-era urban literature
The aim of this article is to reinterpret the style and rhetoric of Mati Unt’s proseworks from the point of view of critique of various so-called everyday myths (“everyday mythology” also being the term title of Unt’s late essay-collections). The critical praise in Unt’s reception has revolved mostly around his unique ability to depict the most modern cultural trends, catchphrases and phenomena of his time. This talent of Unt has been explained by the author’s deep interest in myths and Jungian psychoanalysis. I propose, however, that the key author to…
The aim of this article is to reinterpret the style and rhetoric of Mati Unt’s proseworks from the point of view of critique of various so-called everyday myths (“everyday mythology” also being the term title of Unt’s late essay-collections). The critical praise in Unt’s reception has revolved mostly around his unique ability to depict the most modern cultural trends, catchphrases and phenomena of his time. This talent of Unt has been explained by the author’s deep interest in myths and Jungian psychoanalysis. I propose, however, that the key author to…
Vsevolod Vishnevsky and Estonia
Keywords: Vsevolod Vishnevsky, Mikhail Bulgakov, monuments and myths, Soviet ideology, Yevgeny Nikonov
The article discusses two episodes related to the name and appearance of a famous Soviet writer and a fierce apologist of the Soviet regime Vsevolod Vishnevsky (1900–1951), who stayed in Tallinn in the first months of the war between Hitler’s Germany and the USSR, as a war correspondent of the Baltic Fleet.
In the first episode, we consider an attempt to instal a memorial plaque to Vsevolod Vishnevsky in Tallinn in 1987. This intention rallied the Estonian intellectuals to seriously oppose the Soviet ideological doctrines and pressure from the centre.…
The article discusses two episodes related to the name and appearance of a famous Soviet writer and a fierce apologist of the Soviet regime Vsevolod Vishnevsky (1900–1951), who stayed in Tallinn in the first months of the war between Hitler’s Germany and the USSR, as a war correspondent of the Baltic Fleet.
In the first episode, we consider an attempt to instal a memorial plaque to Vsevolod Vishnevsky in Tallinn in 1987. This intention rallied the Estonian intellectuals to seriously oppose the Soviet ideological doctrines and pressure from the centre.…