Jakob Hurt, the initiator of the 19th century grand campaign for collecting folklore in Estonia, had three extra good presumptions for starting the collecting activities: personal experience, influences by the historical-geographical method and definite intention to compile publications. Already at the end of the 1860s Hurt was convinced that folklore as a reflection of the world view of the former times is a good resource for studying the history of the nation. Later on this idea has been of great importance in the development of Estonian folklore studies.
Hurt explained the meaning of the term "popular reminiscences" more precisely. Collecting of folklore according to specified themes proved to be much more comprehensive than simply covering all the conventional folklore genres. He pointed out five divisions:
1) traditional narratives,
2) customs related to various activities and working processes,
3) folk religion (both pagan and Christian forms),
4) popular poetry (runo-songs, proverbs, etc.),
5) beliefs and their application.
In the end of his proclamation "A Couple of Requests to the More Enthusiastic Sons and Daughters of Estonia" (Paar palvid Eesti ärksamatele poegadeleja tütardele, 1888) which launched a real boom of folklore collecting, the topics of folk religion and customs were more profoundly expatiated. He mentions themes like family-lore, folk calendar, house keeping, fields of subsistence, folk medicine, games, professions, clothing, implements, architecture, cosmogony, folk astronomy, meteorology, ethnobotany, phenomena of nature, fauna (beginning with insects up to wild mammals) (Hurt 1989). Hurt's initiative laid a firm basis to the tradition according to which the collecting and studying of folk religion and customs are above all the tasks of folklorists.
Already in 1876 Jakob Hurt posed in his proclamations the requirement to collect in all districts. At first Hurt hesitated whether to put down all the folklore texts with the same content, but he was soon convinced that all the variants (texts) needed to be studied: Comparing the material documented in different locations (referred to also as variants), one may draw reliable conclusions concerning the origin and diffusion of songs, stories and other forms of folklore, concerning the mutual impact of peoples, as well as about the history of spiritual education. Hurt presented the idea to mark down on the map with conventional signs the migration of folklore phenomena. The perspective to publish the collected materials probably helped Hurt to understand the necessity for inscribing the origin of the texts more precisely. He advised his correspondents to put down their name, date and place of birth, profession, education, data about the origin of the material, etc. Later he asked the correspondents to include their photographs and data concerning the best singers and story-tellers. In his proclamations and later reports Hurt advised to collect archaic traditions. His instructions warned against the collecting of more trivial items in large quantities and saved the vanishing traditions for the following generations. At present such an attitude towards folklore should be taken with certain reservations: in the stage of vanishing, it is possible to accumulate even hundreds of archaic fragments.
In 1927 the Estonian Folklore Archives (EFA) were founded in Tartu. In the process of copying and systematizing the texts, certain gaps in the collecting activities appeared. EFA faced a problem, whether the documented distribution of a certain folklore phenomenon was conditioned by the irregularities in the collecting work or not, in other words, if there were any objective reasons for the differences and similarities. Therefore the questionnaires compiled in EFA soon after its formation were mainly lists with short questions not related to each other. The questionnaires were used both by professional folklorists in EFA, and by local public contributors.
One of the peculiarities of Estonian folklore collections is the fact that the contribution of collectors without specific folkloristic training has been comparatively large during the period of more than a hundred years. Therefore one can find in their collections less conventional folklore genres than among the contributions by professional folklorists. Jakob Hurt started collecting in the vicinities of his own home and advised everybody to start collecting among the members of their family and neighbours. These principles are suitable for the beginners also at present. A local collector coming from particular surroundings has several advantages in documenting folklore occurring in everyday life, e.g. proverbs, sayings. With the help of local public correspondents it is rather easy to collect information concerning certain matters simultaneously all over the country. Thanks to local contributors, abundant database of sites mentioned in local legends have been compiled. Especially rewarding in this field was the contest of collecting local legends, organized among the pupils in 1938-1939.
Collecting activities among the pupils were arranged in larger campaigns with the help of the ministry of education and the teachers (at first circulars were sent out, later on continuous feedback and guiding was given by the archive workers). For the general instructions, a special booklet series was issued. The booklets consisted of questionnaires and explicit reports on contributions sent to the Archives: the name and origin of the contributor, the themes occurring in the material, the quantity of the contribution and a short assessment. This initiative has been followed also later, after World War 2.
The tradition of seminars for local correspondents (these assembled public collectors from a certain area) stems from the period of EFA (1927-1944). Personal contacts and "the feeling of a homogeneous family" have turned out to be as important as the supervising of correspondents by archive workers. As in the 1930-40s, likewise at present one and the same person communicates with the correspondents as long as possible. This person collects the questionnaires compiled by other folklorists, delivers these to correspondents, instructs them orally or in writing, examines their contributions, awards the contributors with folklore publications, registers contributors to an alphabetical card file and into computer database.
In principle, up to the present an irregular awarding of public collectors with a premium is acknowledged, and not a constant compensating in the form of selling and buying. Awarding may lead to non-authentic contributions (fantasies, copies from publications, individual prolongations of folk narratives, etc.). As a stimulation to public folklore collectors, their name is added to the folklore text when it is published, or used in radio or TV programmes. Since 1960 Estonian Radio sends a programme on folklore and folklore studies, during the recent years it is a weekly programme for half an hour called "The Heritage of Our Ancestors" (Esivanemate vaimuvara), and it is mostly compiled by folklorists. Thus it is even possible to celebrate the anniversaries of outstanding correspondents (some of the collectors have dealt with these commendable activities already for decades).
Field research in groups was not known during the early period of folklore documenting. The collection of the Estonian Students' Society was compiled in the years 1904—1916 by many collectors who worked in pairs:
one noted down the words of folk songs, another person noted down the melodies. Musicians were engaged in this work, too, among them several future Estonian composers who studied at the St Petersburg Conservatoire. Students were sent to fieldwork also during the years 1918-1940 of the independent Republic of Estonia, and since 1920 the state started to subsidize it. Folklore collecting usually took place in the summertime, or during the Christmas holidays. The fieldwork expenses were covered in advance or after the material had been handed over. Approximately five students collected folklore every year, but some of them participated several times. The collectors were future lawyers, physicians, historians and students of other specialities. In addition to folklore, they recorded local dialect expressions on cards, described archaeological objects, etc. The students intuitively felt the necessity to give accounts of their errands and describe the conditions of life they observed. Thus something like a fieldwork journal or a written general opinion was formed. They recorded also the biographical data about good singers. Later it became a norm that all professional folklorists should present their fieldwork journals.
Folklorists from the Estonian Folklore Archives collected folklore either alone or in pairs. A certain district was selected, and nights were usually spent in different places -just where they happened to be on their tour. During the decades after World War 2, the unobtrusive terms kogumismatk or kogumiskaik (collecting trip) were replaced by the much more pretentious term ekspeditsioon (expedition). The term välitööd (fieldwork) came to use since the 1980s. There should not be any difference in the eventual aim of the collecting work, but 'an expedition' presumes a longer duration, a larger number of participants and a larger amount of equipment.
Traditionally the Folklore Department has carried out fieldwork in summer (usually in June). The number of participants in 'an expedition group' has usually been about 10. The question, whether fieldwork denotes only the collecting of material, or does it also denote research, is intriguing. One can find examples from the practice of fieldwork where one or the other tendency dominates. The principles of expeditionary collecting were formed in the 1950s. In connection with the preparation of several academic text publications additional data was needed. Due to the improvement of technical equipment, besides the extensive collecting, photography and recording on audio-tape, also filming (e.g. places of local legends, games, dances, customs) was introduced. The systematic documenting of the data concerning the best singers and story-tellers, and also of the information about the former correspondents, were started. For this purpose lists of the already existing material were compiled. It has been obligatory to use the local legend questionnaires, which are in the Archives (special questionnaires were used in regions, where the tradition of telling local stories was especially lively). Preparations for an expedition have become an independent part of the working process. The head of the Folklore Department in 1952-1966, Herbert Tampere has written in 1961:
| "To make the expedition more effective, the specifics of folklore, history, dialect and material culture of the particular district are studied, questions that need profound study are selected, questionnaires are compiled, and a closer contact is established with the local authorities and institutions. Information concerning our fieldwork is spread with the help of newspapers and radio. Thus the arrival of the expedition is not unexpected and the work can start without any specific efforts. On the contrary to the former travelling lifestyle (wherever the night fell, there was the bed), now the headquarters are in a fixed place." (Tampere 1961:444). |
H. Tampere describes the reason for this change as follows:
| "The more profound research, the recurrent visits to the best informants, and the consequently obtained knowledge of reciprocal interests tends to result in the revealing of phenomena, which were earlier unknown. It has proved to be useful to work in the same district for several years, and to have correspondence with the local people who are interested in the particular theme. During the recent years, local public correspondents have been integrated to our expeditions. Their activity is stimulated already before the expedition begins, and later, besides the questionnaires, the further follow-up collecting is left to be their task. Contacts with folklorists in the course of expeditions have offered correspondents (and also the professional participants) theoretical and practical knowledge, therefore making the collecting process more exciting. " (ibid.). |
The experience of complex expeditions (where specialists of different fields are involved) are varied. Collaboration, for example, with linguists, researchers of material culture (ethnographers) and archaeologists has been meagre in results, because storing the collected material in separate archives fragments the whole and aggravates the making of generalizations. Collaboration with musicians has given good results; students of the Estonian Academy of Music have taken part in larger expeditions. The collecting of ethnobotanical data by the students of botany during folkloristic expeditions has likewise proved to be successful. Also the collaboration with Estonian Radio has run smoothly. Recordings of folk musicians made by the radio-people, are copied at the same time for the Folklore Archives.
During the recent decades the Archives have improved the quality of their recording devices, and audio-recording has proved to be the preferable collecting technique. Thereby, even fragmented folk tales are recorded without any selection, as well as stories narrated with poor enunciation or noisy background. (In this case it is possible to document the natural performance context, in addition to the text to record also the voice, the intonation, etc.). Taking into consideration the difficulties in transcribing the tapes, the interviewer should not regard the synchronized making of notes during the interview as useless. And it should be pointed out that in some cases the microphone might paralyse the performer. Obviously, the recording devices are indispensable in recording melodies. If the story-telling situation might easily get disturbed during the recording session, the texts of folk songs remain unaffected. While preparing questionnaires or while interviewing informants, the preconceiving of certain answers is preferably avoided (for example, it is not relevant to ask: were there any offerings made, etc.). In principle, in the process of compiling questionnaires, the particular addressee has been taken into consideration; folklorists are usually equipped with detailed motif-lists, but while instructing public collectors the usage of direct quotations are avoided and the themes are restricted to contemporary folklore.
Whereas the listener in the communicative performance situation is a stranger - the folklorist, the story-telling context becomes unusual. The teller adds more information to the story while telling it to the stranger, especially if the topic is related to the local people. The presence of the stranger may affect the point of view of the story-teller who tells folk belief stories (e.g. fabricated denials, argumentation). Being disturbed and having insufficient time to prepare the answer, the informant may present only the general plot of the story. Despite the fact that the folklorist should try to create a natural situation for the story-telling, it is seldom succeeded. The best results can be achieved if the folklorist observes and records an unaffected situation of a story-telling. In Estonia we have succeeded in observing and studying wedding traditions, folk calendar festivals, telling of stories in groups, practicing of folk healers, school traditions and games. Here the documenting device has mainly been a video-camera. The tradition bearer as an individual, the formation of traditions and their application within a group have been in the focus of Estonian folklorists since the 1960s. (These tendencies have not been influenced by the cultural anthropological school, but were reached by the process of self-development.) In 1955-1965 Mall Proodel joined a group of forest workers, and observed the formation of hunting tales within group (Proodel 1969a). She used the experience also in her individual research on the story-telling traditions and the "school" of story-tellers in a particular parish (Proodel 1969b; Hiiemäe 1978). Several characteristics of the formation of local stories emerged, e.g. the stories based on veritable facts were supplemented by exaggerations in order to make them more exciting, but the fabricated stories were attached to particular individuals, sites, events and conditions to make them more acceptable (Proodel 1969b).
At present the extensive method of collecting folklore is prevailing in the field research expeditions which are usually carried out every year in a different parish. In current studies and in publications, more detailed and profound interviews have been used. Testing questionnaires a la 'fill in the blanks' are seldom used.
There have been little progress in collecting the folklore of various professions, despite the fact that the theme was presented by Jakob Hurt already. In the end of 1960 a campaign started for collecting hunting stories with the help of questionnaires and radio programmes. The campaign for collecting Estonian conscript folklore in the Soviet Army was supervised by a popular youth magazine which their families used to mail to the soldiers. Effective results can be reached with such a method if these activities are supported (with premiums, awards, etc.) by the particular institutions, and if the publications of the collected material are promptly compiled and distributed.
In the 1990s began the grand campaign for collecting contemporary folklore with the help of school children, and in collaboration with schools. A workgroup selected out schools both in the countryside and in towns, covering districts all over Estonia (personal contacts and the interest shown by teachers were taken into consideration). Questionnaires on the genres topical at present were compiled, attention was drawn to single plots, the functioning of folklore, the necessity for background information, etc. This campaign was continued by a competition for collecting student folklore (both the current and the former students from Estonian higher educational institutions participated). The themes covered in the questionnaires were much more comprehensive than conventional folklore genres. It was considered important to perpetuate also customs and entertainments, stories about exciting events in student life, etc.
Consequently, we have tried to retain the continuity of the collecting activities started more than a century ago, but on the other hand, we endeavour to follow the modem trends. Therefore, alongside with the archaic traditions, the present-day phenomena like slang, gestures in the group, graffiti, parapsychology, symbols in telepathic dreams, present-day prophets, etc. are in the focus of current research.
Estonian Folklore Archives. Tartu, Estonia
Hiiemäe, Mall 1978 Kodavere pajatused. Kujunemine ja koht rahvajututraditsioonis (Narratives from Kodavere, their place in the folk narrative tradition). Tallinn. (Summaries in Russian and German).
Hurt, Jakob 1989. "Paar palvid Eesti ärksamaile poegadele ja tütardele" (A couple of requests to the more enthusiastic sons and daughters of Estonia). In Mida rahvamälestustest pidada. Artiklite kogumik. 45-58. Tallinn.
Proodel, Mall 1969A. "Über die nichtklassischen Volkserzählungen, ihre Genesis und Verbreitung". In Fabula, vol. 10, no. 1-3:142-154.
Proodel, Mall 1969B. Üks jahimees läks metsa. Valimik rahvajutte jahist ja metsloomadest (Collection of folk narratives about hunting and wild game). Tallinn.
Tampere, Herbert 1961. "Rahvaluule-alastest ekspeditsioonidest." Paar sammukest eesti kirjanduse ja rahvaluule uurimise teed (Some steps on road of studying Estonian literature and folklore). Uurimusi ja materjale II, 441-446. Tartu.