Conference in memory of Oskar Loorits (1900-1961)

Academician, multitalented researcher of Estonian language, folklore and culture, an explorer and experimenter, establisher of the Estonian Folklore Archives and its series of publications, researcher of mythology, religion and many traditional genres, always ready to explore new folklore, linguist and doctor of folklore, nationalist and national ideologist, founding member of the student society Veljesto, member of Learned Estonian Society, foreign member of the Royal Gustav Adolf National Academy, collector and publisher of Livonian heritage, a passionate man. Oskar Loorits has left a deep mark upon past Estonian religion research. Having folkloristic background, Loorits was first of all interested in folklore-related topics. Although mostly involved with timeless religio motifs, Loorits was nevertheless the first to study on an academic level prehistoric religion, attempting to define different periods therein. Oskar Loorits is a person that carried on academic research tradition in Estonian folkloristics, who laid the ground for many fields, who set the trends of study and methodics for several decades.

The list of his accomplishments could go on. The fourth seminar in the series “From Langauge to Mind” is dedicated to Oskar Loorits and takes place September 15.-16., 2010. Conferences dedicated to Oskar Loorits have been held once in a decade (1990, 2000), and have contributed to establishing new contacts and professional approaches. This time, the conference is united with the series of international conferences “From Language to Mind”. In the case of Oskar Loorits, just as previously with Ülo Tedre and Arvo Krikmann, the motto is justified by the wide range of accomplishments and erudition displayed by the scholar.

The conference is planned as thematic panels followed by discussion. Every day features one long plenary paper (app. one hour). In the evening, recent fieldwork material is introduced and case studies presented. On the second day, we are going to see the wooden sculptures of Elva, their makers and sculptural legends. Some discussions are going to be based on three articles handed out to the participants (e.g. Jean Burgess and Joshua Green’s treatment of YouTube and digital media, etc.). We are going to analyse some of the visual material we view together.

Papers are welcome on subject attractive to Oskar Loorits: (ethno)linguistics, paremiology, mythology, religion and contemporary folklore. The central topics:

a)Humor
Humor has a key role in media texts, first of all in the internet. In online communication, television, personal communication and elsewhere, humor is used to tackle questions of identity that are especially actual in the postsocialist region. Playful and irreverent genres are equal to other, more serious-minded ones, and deconstruction of identity requires in addition to the study of economic and political aspects also the study of emotions and attitudes. From time to time, they provide the gound for politically incorrect (media)texts, analysing which leads us to the subjects of censorship, globalisation and identity creation.

b) Ancient mythologies
This session invites papers and discussion centered on former religious myths - both the exitnct and the existing. Accent lies on the say the myth is situated in time - what time and religious system was the myth connected with, why have some myths pertained while others seem to have disappeared quickly. We attempt to introduce the dimension of time into myth research, to place the past myth into its historical contexts. It is clear that myths (however the term is defined) have been used by people in recent as well as ancient past, while it is unclear whether we are capable of studying these myths. Therefore, in addition to different myth reconstructions, papers on the methodology of myth studies are welcome - what is a myth; how old it is; what could the myth and its role have been like in the past, etc.? The second part of the session is seeking to describe the way a religion expresses itself.

c) Expressions of beliefs and narratives
This session invites to discuss various phenomena and expressions of religious life, religion and belief. One can search for the right religion, to join different confessions and movements, in the society today we see the return of archaic phenomena - pilgrimages and local saints -, re-opening of old cult sites and consecration of new ones, new ghosts exits next to old ones. When did the renewal of religious motifs begin? How are sacred places definitive of a religion created? What are the relations between phenomena, sites, objects from different cultural layers? Observations on classical legends as well as newer stories are welcome.

d) Archives in the 21st century
The archive established by Oskar Loorits and its systematics allow us to discuss whether, why and how do we collect, safekeep and study. What are the contemporary relations between collection strategies and research tasks?