Author(s): Peeter Helme / Language(s): Estonian
Issue: 04/2009
Estonian literary criticism published in 2008 is analysed. Comparison of the
annual book reviews of the past few years reveals that the condition of literary criticism
is a little better than four or five years ago, which does not apply, however,
to the situation of two or three years ago. Some theoreticians speak of a crisis
allegedly ruling in Estonian literary criticism ever since the beginning of this century,
but this is largely a viewpoint issue. One should better accept the specific
points bound to the smallness of the Estonian community, without necessarily
regarding them as faults. On the one hand, in both of our leading cultural maga
zines, Looming and Vikerkaar, there is a noticeable overlap in the lists of authors
and reviewers, but on the other hand, the lists are different for the two magazines,
and so is the criticism. In Looming it tends to sound more conservative, whereas
the authors attracted by Vikerkaar are, on average, a little younger and their position
is slightly more to the left. The form of criticism cultivated — quite a classical
review — is nevertheless the same for both magazines.
Literary criticism can also be found in Estonian newspapers. In dailies the
length of the reviews is strongly limited, which stimulates the reviewers to exert
themselves to pack more meaning into their short text. Long articles — up to 1500
words — are accepted only by the cultural weekly Sirp, and this is where the most
fascinating book reviews of 2008 where published. Those were certainly not
restricted to just one book, but revealed the philosophic, aesthetic and moral
views of the authors on a broader and more abstract scale, or provided a comparative
analysis of several books. If the latter approach gained more ground in Estonian
literary criticism in the future, it would be a welcome development indeed.
More...