EKM Teaduskirjastus

Kalevipoeg 150

Traditional and Literary Epics of the World: Textuality, Authorship, Identity

Ilmusid rahvusvahelise sümpoosioni "Traditional and Literary Epics of the World:
Textuality, Authorship, Identity" teesid.
Edited by Mare Kalda, Pihla Maria Siim.
Tartu 2011
Epic is an extraordinary form of artistic expression, because of its history of more than three thousand years and its outstanding role in building ethnic and national identities. Epics have excelled both as literary masterpieces, and as highly esteemed oral genres, performed by well-trained singers. Starting from the Sumerian Gilgamesh, Babylonian Enuma Elish, Greek Iliad and Odyssey, Indian Mahabharata and Ramayana, epic traditions have continued throughout the Middle Ages until modern times when the Romantic movement produced new monuments, such as the Ossian by James Macpherson, Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot and the Kalevipoeg by Friedrich R. Kreutzwald. These and other literary works have strong connections with oral epics - traditions, which have become obsolete among many nations, but thrive among other peoples even in 21st century.