Naise eneseteadvuse ja iha sünd sonetis. Marie Under ja Edna St. Vincent Millay (I)

Author(s): Rebekka Lotman / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 06/2015

Mitmed tänapäeva monograafiad pühenduvad naissubjekti, tema iha, eneseteadvuse ja hääle analüüsile lääne sonetitraditsioonis. Ühe verstapostina nähakse siin Ameerika poetessi, 1923. aasta Pulitzeri luuleauhinna laureaadi Edna St. Vincent Millay rikast sonetiloomingut, mis pühitses naishäälega erootilist armastust siin ja praegu. Millay armastussonettide seeriaid peetakse petrarkismi, lääne luulekultuuris enam kui viiesaja aasta jooksul juurdunud sonetitraditsiooni kontekstis murranguliseks. Millay debüteeris ja avaldas esimesed uue ajastu naise häälega sonetid 1917. aastal ehk samal aastal, kui Marie Under avaldas oma varjamatust ihast pakatava esikkogu „Sonetid”. Mõlemad autorid armastasid sonetivormi: Under on kirjutanud üle 100 soneti, Millay sonetitoodang küünib üle 180. Mõlemad valasid sellesse vormi igatsused ja kired, meelelised tundmused ja hingeliikumised. Nende samal ajal, ent erineval pool maakera kirjutatud sonetid astuvad sageli lausa hämmastavasse dialoogi. Ühest küljest on mõlema poetessi sonettide hääleks tihti eneseteadlik, seksuaalne ja ihalev naissoost mina ning mitmel puhul loovad nad äärmiselt sarnase poeetilise maailma, teisalt võib paiguti näha, et nad esindavad selle maailma eri poolusi.

Naise eneseteadvuse ja iha sünd sonetis. Marie Under ja Edna St. Vincent Millay (II)

Author(s): Rebekka Lotman / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 07/2015

In 1917 two great female sonneteers published their debut poetry collections: Marie Under in Estonia and Edna St. Vincent Millay in US. Both poets gave voice to the desiring and self-conscious New Woman in their sonnets: their sonnet series are openly erotic and sensual, their female personas do not believe in eternal love and desire sensuous pleasure now and here. The first part of the article gives an short overview of Petrarchism and female sonneteers, who have given voice to the woman in this primarily masculine discourse. It also points out the different cultural contexts of Millay’s and Under’s desiring sonnet series. Millay’s sonnets mark a break with tradition, whereas the female voice of Under’s sonnets continue a line of female poets, whose roots trace back to the Estonian folk song. The second part of the article gives a comparative analysis of the semantic world of Millay’s and Under’s love sonnets. Their both personas give expression to similar attitudes, but from this similarity emerges also the difference between them. Unlike Millay’s female persona, the voice of Under’s love sonnets objectifies her desired one entirely, mainly by using Petrarchan self-reflection in its extreme. While this kind of objectifying has been seen as something overly masculine in feminist criticism, in the case of Under’s poetry the critics have described it as a primarily female characteristic. Under’s desiring sonnets become completely autoerotic in her sensual nature sonnets which lack any object of desire: in the midst of desirous and exuberant nature the persona enjoys herself and the beauty of her body. Here as well, the formation of the persona takes place through mirroring, but here the nature itself is used as mirror (flowers, butterflies, bees, sea etc.), not the loved one as in the case of Petrarchism. Although soon after publishing most of the critics praised the novelty of Under’s sonnets, afterwards their importance in the critical discourse of Estonian literature has been diminished. That is probably why the author herself later censored her sonnets and exluded the most erotic ones from the revised editions and poetry collections. However, the main conclusion of the article is that Marie Under’s sensual sonnets written in her Siuru period were innovative not only in Estonian poetry, but in the context of the whole tradition of Petrarchism.

Paulopriit Voolaine kogutud lutsi muinasjutud

Author(s): Inge Annom / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 08-09/2015

The article analyses the fairy tales collected from the environs of Ludza town, Latvia, in 1925–1937 by Paulopriit Voolaine. The collected material was sent by him to the Academic Mother Tongue Society, to M. J. Eisen’s Scholarship Fellows collection and to the Estonian Folklore Archives. In the 1920s his interest was focused on the Estonian narrative tradition of the Ludza enclave, but in the 1930s he also collected the folklore of other peoples inhabiting the region. As, for historical and political reasons, the Latgale region of Latvia has been rather multicultural Voolaine’s material is excellent for cross-ethnic comparative analysis. The number of the fairy tales collected by Voolaine from different peoples of the Ludza region exceeds 230. Most of them can be classified as miracle fairy tales, but the most popular types of tales are „Fly in Place of Nail” (ATU 772*) and „The Last Leaf” (ATU 1184), the former of which is a legend-like fairy tale and the latter belongs to tales about a gullible Devil. Some versions tend to occur more consistently with certain peoples. The Ludza Estonian versions of „Cinderella” (ATU 510A), for example, resemble those collected from Setumaa rather than those told among the neighbouring peoples. The fairy tales told by Gypsies, however, share some features with legends. The article addresses but a few aspects of the treasury of fairy tales from the Ludza region. The voluminous material collected by Voolaine certainly remains a valuable source for anybody interested in comparative folklore studies.

Puu jaagupi pajatused

Author(s): Mall Hiiemäe / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 08-09/2015

The subjects and style of the stories told by Jaagup Puu (1879–1964) are analysed. Jaagup’s stories could be classified under tall tales like those in ATU 1875–1999. Jaagup used to narrate about his own life experiences, using exaggerations and fantasy bordering on the absurd. This socially poor and meagre-looking man would tell his stories, if possible, for two or three hours on end, emplotting the facts and events of his personal life, developing the story in great length, adding intermediate episodes, contaminations and comments. His stories are full of exaggerations, manipulation with numbers and dimensions, comical situations, abundant dialogue, similes, rhetorical questions and exclamations, gestures and miming. This was a masterful symbiosis of facts and fiction. By the mid-20th century fraudulent narratives had already receded from active story-telling as inopportune, being openly discouraged even from hunting and fishing stories. This is mainly why Jaagup’s stories could not spread any too far in space or time. Nor did the stories have the social focus characteristic of jokes.

Johannes Barbaruse Venemaa

Author(s): Anneli Kõvamees / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 06/2016

The position of Johannes Vares-Barbarus (1890-1946) in Estonian history and culture is contradictory. On the one hand, he was a remarkable doctor of the name of Vares, on the other hand, a poet named Barbarus, whose modernistic poems were not always appreciated. Moreover, the reception of his works has been complicated by his actions in the 1940s, when he was one of the leading figures in the Sovietization of Estonia. His left-wing views are hardly overlooked whenever himself or his works are discussed. His poetry having received so much more attention than the rest of his works, this article analyzes his travelogue Matkavisandeid & mõtisklusi („Travel Sketches and Contemplations”), which is based on his visit to the Soviet Union. It was published in the literary magazine Looming in 1935 and reprinted in 1950 in his collected works. The article analyzes the image of the Soviet Union in his travelogue published in 1935 and discusses the notable changes that were made in the reprint. Some of those changes have significantly altered the meaning, so that the revised text fits perfectly the Soviet canon.

Nõukogude aja keerises: Irma Truupõllu lugu

Author(s): Janika Läänemets / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 01/2017

Irma Truupõld (1903-1980) began publishing short stories and poetry for both children and adults at the age of twenty. Four of her children’s books came out in print in the mid-1930s: Rohelise Päikese Maa (The Land of the Green Sun), Öömori okas­linn (The Needle City of Öömori), Aadi esimene armastus (Aadi’s First Love) and Kuidas jõuluvana leidis endale ameti (How Father Christmas Found His Profession). Of these, the first two are held in the highest regard and have remained her most popular works. Unfortunately, Truupõld’s literary career was cut short by the Soviet occupation and the establishment of Socialist Realism as the official artistic doctrine shortly thereafter. Critics found her fantastic stories to be ill-suited for Soviet children and accused Rohelise Päikese Maa of „bourgeois propaganda”. This resulted in a nearly twenty-year-long gap in the reception of Truupõld’s texts, the consequences of which are still felt today. She has regained her good reputation over time, but seems destined to stay in the periphery of the Estonian literary canon.

Muusapoja Pojad Nooruse Kihermeid II

Author(s): Arne Merilai / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 03/2017

This entry is a continuation to the article „Sly Ain and the Old Heathen: Literary Marginalia in the „Noorus” Magazine of the 1960s, Part I (Keel ja Kirjandus 2016, 7: 489-503), which discussed the educating literary commentary published by mentor Ain Kaalep alias O. Muusapoeg ’lit. O. Son of the Muses’ in the 1960s editions of the magazine Noorus („Youth”). It highlighted the rhetoric of irony between the lines, which could be regarded as cultural counterpropaganda addressed to the younger generation of Soviet Estonia. Inspired by the same genre and idea, Lea Tormis wrote seven reflections on theatre events. Her younger brother, poet PaulEerik Rummo, under the alias Poor Yorick, published his seven „marginals” partly in playful dialogue with Kaalep. To the same context belongs Jaak Põldmäe’s „School of Poetics” which appeared in six parts. His influential lessons introduced a new structuralist understanding of the form of poetry, based on the formalist approach to the poetic function of language. The young scholar was keen to explain the basics of poetic language usage, metrics and different verse systems, as well as rhyme, sound effects, poetic license, and main figures of speech used in Estonian poetry.

Mihhail Plotnikov Ja Tema Poeem „Jangal-Maa”

Author(s): Aado Lintrop / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 05/2017

The poem Yangal-Maa was written in Russian by Mikhail Plotnikov and published in its entirety in 1933. Its Estonian translation (2016) is subtitled as „Mansi epic”. The research questions asked in the article are: What prompted the author to write such a piece? How well did he know Mansi folklore and to what extent does the poem reflect it? The introduction also provides a short overview of some other epics of the kindred Finno-Ugric peoples, which have been written in Russian and translated into Estonian. Considering the plot, setting, characters and the „indigenous” lexis embedded in the text we can conclude that although there are some characters originating in Mansi folklore, their names are presented in a distorted form (cf. the Mirra-Susnahumm and Meik of the poem and the respective Mansi mir susne χum and meηkv) and their nature is mostly very far from their folkloric or religious origins. The forest giant meηkv, for example, has been given the role of the adversary of the heavenly god instead of the Ob-Ugrian devil, who is called kul’. Although heroic songs make up a large share of Mansi folklore, there is not one authentic song describing the hero’s fight for the liberation of the Mansi people. As for everyday life, living in conical huts is not Plotnikov’s only error. At the beginning of the 20th century the typical Mansi dwelling was a small rectangular log house, while the conical hut was called a Nenets house (jorn kol). Many of the alleged Mansi words and expressions embellishing the text actually represent either the Khanty, Nenets, Selkup or Izhma-Komi language, while the Mansi words often occur in a distorted form. The metre of the poem is trochaic tetrameter, which, despite being characteristic of other Finno-Ugric epics, is alien to Mansi folklore. Nor has the author of the poem used the devices typical of Ob-Ugrian folklore, such as parallelism, alliteration, or formulaic language. Although an author is entitled to write any fiction, the presentation of one’s own fantasy as authentic folklore, as is done in Plotnikov’s article „Mansi epics” supplemented to the poem, surpasses the limits of creative freedom. Notably, according to the article Plotnikov had collected the material for the poem bit by bit, during his visits to Mansi villages over twelve years, but an analysis of his biography denies a possibility of his staying at Mansi villages, even for a short while.

Sportlanna Keha Ja Hing Johannes Semperi Novellikogus „Ellinor”

Author(s): Merlin Kirikal / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 06/2017

The article explores the depiction of the body of a sporting woman, especially of one playing tennis or swimming, in Johannes Semper’s short story collection „Ellinor” (1927). There are three reasons why „Ellinor” has a radical meaning in the Estonian literature of the time. Firstly, the activities are consistently portrayed through the female point of view; secondly, the stories are permeated by an enthusiastic and luxuriant sense of life, which defies the book culture as remote from life; and thirdly, both a sporting „new woman” and homosexuality were certainly novel subjects in the Estonian culture of the time. The article analyses the aims and aspirations of „Ellinor’s” female protagonist, her active and sporting lifestyle and its connections with the modern social and cultural vibes. Semper’s sporting „new woman” has to do with the scientific and philosophical trends of the time, such as energetism, Freudianism and Darwin-based eugenics, while the focus on bodily perceptions bears obvious traces of Nietzsche and Bergson, referring at the same time to certain changes going on in modernising societies (female emancipation, population politics in the interwar period). Using the key concepts „body”, „sports” and „new woman”, the stories are considered in the cultural context of the time, where femininity would rather refer to the home-making role of a woman, although the importance of physical fitness was also emphasised both as a basis of ethnic survival and the beauty ideal. „Ellinor” is a vivid example of the ambiguous interpretation of the „new femininity”, sexuality and corporeality in the early 20th-century European culture. Despite Semper’s ambivalence and often scathing irony, especially towards the lesbian character of Liibeon, his Ellinor stories are a remarkably bold manifesto of modern, free and fulfilling lifestyle and attitudes. There is hardly another text of fiction with such emphasis to be found in the early 20th-century Estonian literature.

Laulik jutustab laulikust - Marie Sepa elulooesitused suulise ja kirjaliku kultuuri piiril

Author(s): Janika Oras / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 08-09/2017

The first part of the article discusses the models and examples of vernacular life writing, including the copious material written down for the archives by Marie Sepp (1862-1943), a country woman from Kolga-Jaani in Central Estonia. Marie Sepp also wrote her own life history based on folklorists’ instructions. Her life history reflects the relational self, considered characteristic of a communal agrarian society and of female writers. The rest of her biographical materials represent the oral tradition of (auto)biographical narration, while many of the small stories can be categorised under genres of narrative folklore. Among these is the „life history” of Mari Pärtens (1832-1919), Marie’s close community member from the previous generation, which is combined from short narratives revealing the peculiarities of her personality. Marie’s recordings of traditional songs and customs, in which personal experience plays an unusually significant part, also contain recollections of the spectacular performances by Mari Pärtens. The second part of the article discusses the identity and performativity of Marie Sepp and Mari Pärtens as outstanding singers. While Mari Pärtens’s performances show premodern spontaneous ritual-carnivalistic performativity, Marie Sepp seems to have adopted modern models of self-control. In addition, their age determined the different roles and „acceptable” genres in the performances. By the 1930s, Marie Sepp had channelled her need to perform into an alternative creative activity – writing. One example of how her subjectivity was related both to communal oral as well as to modern individualistic models was her wish to have a funeral wreath placed on her grave. This nod of respect by the elite was also a way to establish Marie’s „face” in the community (e.g., Hofstede 2001).

Sõna saavad endised peatoimetajad

Author(s): Aksel Tamm,Mart Meri,Joel Sang / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 01-02/2018

Interview with Aksel Tamm, Mart Meri and Joel Sang (former editors of Keel ja Kirjandus)

Kümme aastat eesti keele instituudi soome-ugri Seminare

Author(s): Tiina Laansalu,Sven-Erik Soosaar / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 01-02/2018

Äsja lõppenud 2017. aastal toimus Eesti Keele Instituudis juba kümnes soomeugri keeleteaduse küsimusi käsitlev sügisseminar. Soome-ugri sügisseminaride traditsioon sai alguse aastal 2008, mil EKI-s peeti kahepäevane seminar teemal „Soome-ugri keelte sõnaraamatud: mis neid liidab ja mis lahutab?”. Sestpeale on soome-ugri keeleteaduse huvilistel olnud võimalus koguneda EKI korraldatud teadusüritusel igal aastal, saamaks osa peaasjalikult fennougristikale pühendatud põnevatest ettekannetest, kõnelejaiks soome-ugri ja ka teiste keelte eksperdid nii Eestist kui ka välismaalt.

Raamatutest ja lugemisest baltisaks memuaristika valguses

Author(s): Reet Bender / Language(s): Estonian Issue: 04/2018

The article discusses the references to reading and learning to read in Baltic German memoirs. It also introduces some new sources, which are particularly valuable for containing information on everyday history. The examples represent the period from the late 18th century to the interval between the two World Wars. Despite the long period of report, as well as the social diversity and gender heterogeneity of the list of authors (e.g. Baer, Anders, Schwartz, Ostwald, Hunnius, Kentmann, Hartge, Bodisco, Taube, Staden etc.) it is notable that reading and books have often been considered worthy of discussing in memoirs. In most cases it is described how one learned to read (here the mother’s role can hardly be overestimated), adolescent reading experiences (as an important part of personality development) and the procurement of reading material. Adult reading habits can rather be deduced from indirect evidence, such as, e.g. mentions of reading to children or family, which was a popular pastime in Baltic German Biedermeier homes. The second half of the 19th century brings conscious guidance of children in the choice of reading materials, and also an accumulation of books in homes, due to improved conditions for publishing and bookselling as well as to economic growth in the Baltic provinces. University students, in addition, had access to the voluminous libraries of student corporations. The authors and texts referred to in the memoirs testify to a continuous consumption of culture, keeping in step with Germany and in touch with all fashionable and topical texts. A vital issue was the example of other family members and the availability of books to rouse and develop mental and spiritual interests in children, which was, however, done in a natural combination with other activities, without becoming an end in itself.

Ausiàs March: el poema LXXXII en rumano y en verso

Author(s): Oana-Dana Balaș,Alexandru M. Călin / Language(s): Spanish Issue: 2/2022

Against the background of the exuberant tradition of literary translation that haloes the poetic work of the Valencian and universal classic Ausiàs March, this article examines two Romanian translations in verse of the poem LXXXII Quan plau a Déu que la fusta peresca with the future aim of publishing a bilingual anthology of selected poems in Valencian and Romanian.

Poezia feminină - direcții și tendințe

Author(s): Cristina Timar,Medeea Iancu,Iulia Militaru,Teodora Coman,Rita Chirian,Moni Stănilă,Tamás Mihók,Iulia STOICHIŢ,Gabriela Feceoru,Romana Pantea,Hristina Doroftei,Diana Geacăr,Ioana Vintilă,Paula Erizanu,Andra Rotaru,Ioana Nicolaie,Floarea Țuțuianu,Crista Bilciu,Ana Dragu,Ruxandra Novac,Livia Lucan-Arjoca / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 9/2022

This section contains them main thematic file of the issue, with critical texts belonging to young critics and original poetry written by contemporary Romanian poetesses.

Когнитивна синтетична дефиниция на концепта РОДИНА в български език

Author(s): Mariya Kitanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2022

This article presents the cognitive synthetic definition of the concept of MOTHERLAND according to the methodology of Lublin Cognitive Ethnolinguistics. In addition, the author briefly mentions the other six principles adopted by this school in the ethnolinguistic analysis of certain concepts. The proposed cognitive definition is part of a larger study on this concept undertaken under the EUROJOS project.

О ТЕМАТСКОМ БРОЈУ "ИДЕОЛОШКИ ОКВИРИ КЊИЖЕВНОСТИ И КУЛТУРЕ"

Author(s): Jelena N. Arsenijević Mitrić,Jana М. Aleksić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 78/2022

ИДЕОЛОГИЈА ПРОСВЕЋЕНОСТИ: СИМБОЛИКА ЛАВА У ДОСИТЕЈЕВИМ "БАСНАМА"

Author(s): Ana S. Živković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 78/2022

Dositej’s enlightenment ideology is examined by interpreting the symbolic meanings of lion in Fables (1788). Applying literary-historical, structuralist and comparative methods of interpretation, the semantic range of literary lions is illuminated: from reference to (un)enlightened being (due to greed, destruction and bloodthirstiness) to reference to the characteristics and nature of enlightened beings (due to mercy, gratitude, purity). Dositej Obradović underlines the key ideas of enlightenment ideology through allegorical representations of lions, which reveal the basic characteristics of an enlightened ruler: love for all branches of science and art, nurturing and building the right taste, spreading useful knowledge among all social classes. If merciful/wise lion is the bearer of an enlightened mind, it means that the nature of an enlightened ruler, untouched by selfish individualism, promises a just political and social order. In order to reform people’s life and society, the ruler must lead the process of „coming out” from nonage by speaking out against coercion, inhumanity, superstition and bad customs.

ПАРАДОКСИ КЊИЖЕВНЕ НАЦИОНАЛНОСТИ: СЛУЧАЈ БРАЋЕ ДИЗДАР

Author(s): Vesna Trijić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 78/2022

This paper defines the term of literary nationality and explains its function in Serbian literary history and bibliography. It presents challenges in its application on the examples of literary and journalistic works of Hamid and Mak Dizdar, born brothers, of whom the first one was known as Serbian and the second one as Croatian author. Our research has shown that Hamid Dizdar started his literary and journalistic career as an author of Serbian nationality: he wrote in Serbian language, worked in papers with strong pro-Serbian political orientation and even entered polemics due to such choices. However, during World War II, when Sarajevo became an important center of the Independent State of Croatia, he declared himself as Croatian writer of Muslim religion and took part in fascist propaganda. There are also a few testimonies of his cooperation with both partisans and chetniks. In communist Yugoslavia, he declared himself as Serbian once more and was entrusted important task of running the newly established Historical archive in Sarajevo. His archival works inclined to Bosnian integralism. In the case of Mak Dizdar, works from the last five years of his life, from the book of poetry Stone Sleeper to the controversial “Marginalia about and around the language“, have been singled out as crucial in defining his literary nationality. It has been shown that only after the essay of Muhamed Filipović “Bosnian spirit in literature, what is that?“, in which Stone Sleeper was attributed as a milestone in the awakening of “Bosnian consciousness“, political views of Mak Dizdar had been radicalized, but only in his public engagement, not in his literary works. The outcome of this research is awareness that the Yugoslav period can be adequately described in national literary histories and bibliographies only by applying the term of literary nationality.

ЛЕОПАРДИЈЕВА ПОЕЗИЈА КАО АУТОНОМНИ СТВАРАЛАЧКИ ЧИН У КОНТЕКСТУ ИДЕОЛОШКИХ ОПТИМИЗАМА 19. ВЕКА

Author(s): Danijela M. Janjić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 78/2022

L’eternità della poesia di Giacomo Leopardi sta nell’autonomia della sua creazione che si distacca nettamente dagli ottimismi della sua epoca e si delinea come pessimistica, però tuttavia non si deve leggere sempre e solo come frutto del pessimismo del poeta. Il presente saggio si concentra sui componimenti Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell’Asia e La ginestra o il fiore del deserto e in essi si cercano i mes- saggi che Leopardi tracciava nella bellezza della natura dove la posizione dell’uomo è incerta, senza importanza desiderata. Attraverso quei messaggi la poesia di Leopardi si cristalizza come risposta agli ottimismi dei suoi tempi e come invito al lettore a non fermarsi sul velo del pessimismo che copre il pensiero di Leopardi. Compresa in questo modo, la poesia di Leopardi si rivela un atto autonomo di creazione del poeta che ha voluto conservare la bellezza nella sua poesia.