Lugemise jälgi rahvaluuletekstides
Traces of reading in folklore texts

Summary/Abstract: Folklore is a concept characteristic of modern culture, which seeks its roots and values in archaic traditions. Orality is one of the criteria of authenticity in Estonian folklore; however, by the period of intensified folklore collecting in the second half of the 19th century, most Estonians were already literate. Books had by then become widely accessible even to the rural population. As a result, printed versions of folklore texts entered oral tradition as well as folklore collections. Alongside the study of the relationships between written and oral culture, writing practices and collecting strategies, it is also worth considering what else this material – shaped by written sources – reveals. In this article, we seek to offer a solution and a new perspective on the problem arising from the influence of written texts on oral tradition. As previous studies have shown, the relationships between archival texts and printed materials are so nuanced that simple textual comparison is not always sufficient. Therefore, to identify the influence of print in archival sources, we have applied both close and distant reading methods. Our study draws on text corpora from two classical Estonian folklore genres – fairy tales and runosongs – along with related contextual data. We conclude that although earlier publishers and researchers of these different folklore types have paid varying degrees of attention to their connections with printed sources, studying them together is justified. Since every song, tale or riddle published in print holds significant source potential within written culture, our analysis demonstrates that, regardless of genre, the influence of print on oral tradition is uniform. From the perspective of the history of reading, the principle of orality loses its importance as a criterion of authenticity, and many archival texts influenced by written sources gain value. Although this study offers only a brief insight into the reading skills of 19th-century Estonians and the printed materials available to them, it nevertheless demonstrates the substantial impact these had on oral tradition and on our folklore collections. At the same time, it reveals the richness and diversity of printed matter that reached readers. Oral and written culture in Estonia did not exist as separate, untouched parallel worlds; rather, they were intertwined, mutually influencing and enriching one another as well as the Estonian rural population.

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