The context of cultural history in the soviet era

This research group includes target theme leaders and researchers of the Archives of Estonian Cultural History whose research area covers the period. Included are also some researchers from the Estonian Archives of Folklore and external members from the Chair of Estonian Literature of the University of Tartu.

In the study of the recent Estonian cultural history, namely of the Soviet period, it is profitable to apply the complex approach of the new historicist method. There are favourable conditions for such research at the archives of the Estonian Literary Museum, because they include, in addition to personal collections on writers and cultural figures, also material of various institutions (the archive of the Writers' Union of Soviet Estonia and its Tartu department, the archive of the journal Looming, the archive of the publisher Eesti Raamat, the literary archive of the daily Edasi, a.o.), a collection of Estonian life histories, and the collection of oral tradition at the Estonian Folklore Archives.

Research objectives

To provide a so-called thick description of processes and means by which the Soviet regime was internalised in the society, and how "the Soviet culture" was developed.
To study the evolvement of the Soviet ideological stereotypes in Estonia, and their persistence in the second half of the twentieth century.
To investigate the emergence of possible oppositions in Estonian folklore and exile literature to the paradigms established by the Soviet administration.

Research process

In order to integrate separate investigations by historians, cultural historians, scholars of literature and art into the various periods and aspects of the Soviet era, we chose the verb "adaptation" as keyword, when raising the questions: How did artistic creators, how did government officials and other executive officers, how did people in general adapt to the social life that had changed abruptly? What were the possible adaptation strategies? What kind of concessions did the administration grant in various periods, what kind of concessions were made by the cultural intellectuals? How was the nature of the new political power reflected in the works created in different periods? In order to find answers to these questions, a series of intra-institutional conferences was arranged in 2001-2002 "Signs of adaptation" (publication under the same title 2002), and "Adapting texts" in 2003-2004 (publication forthcoming). The same topics were discussed also at the annual conference of Kreutzwald Days, and at the seminars focusing on the authors of the period (J. Kaplinski, P.-E. Rummo, E. Mihkelson).

Additional material has been separately collected into the archives, while the most seminal texts have been published (e.g. Karl Ristikivi's correspondence of 1938-1971; correspondence by Bernard Kangro and Gustav Suits 1944-1955; Kirjad üle mere by Mart Lepik).

A new publication series was started in literature and cultural history EKLA töid kirjandusest ja kultuuriloost, where so far two books have been published (2002 and 2004).

Main areas and topics of research

The comparative study of the reception of seminal historical authors (Kreutzwald, Faehlmann, and others) and their works (Kalevipoeg, a.o.) through literary history, but particularly their treatment in the Soviet period. Different strategies in the "adaptation" of Estonian literary classics: what were the direct alterations and denials, what were the ideological underpinnings in various periods, etc. In connection with the celebration of Kreutzwald Year (2003) the history of Kreutzwald-research was re-evaluated, as well as alterations in the 20th century in the reception of the fundamental texts of the 19th century.

History of the institutions of cultural history in Soviet Estonia: the sovietization of the Estonian Writers' Union, the after effects of the Eighth Plenum of the Estonian Communist Party for the Estonian writers, history of the Estonian Literary Museum in the second half of the 20th century, purges and other restructurings in the Estonian Artists' Union and other organizations.

Intellectual exchange of Soviet Estonian authors with exile Estonians: its nature in various periods; the analysis of interaction practice as it is reflected in non-fictional material (diaries, correspondence); the activities of Soviet Estonian administrators to check and control that interaction; foreign relations of Estonian intellectuals, particularly interaction with the Finns.

The aspects of gender studies, particularly the specific problems of creative women (e.g. innovative discussions of women writers in Soviet Estonia are written by E. Annuk as part of her doctoral dissertation).

Further collection of Estonian life histories: a competition titled "The life of myself and my closest relations in Soviet Estonia and in the Republic of Estonia" was arranged in 2001, together with the society "Eesti Elulood"; in 2004 ended another competition "Life during the German occupation". The publication and research of that material is continued.

Estonian folk tradition about the Soviet period, the so-called "oral history" in its various forms: research by M. Hiiemäe into the celebration of folk calendar festivities during the Soviet period, e.g. the celebration of Christmas.

International contacts

Activities of Estonian intellectuals during the years when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was in force have been studied together with German colleagues (conference in Flensburg in 2002, a publication is forthcoming). Researchers have attended several international conferences of semioticians, incl. Imatra Summer School. Seminars to introduce Estonian literature have been arranged in Finland together with the Finnish Literature Society and/or University of Turku (2000, 2003), and a seminar on women writers in Tartu (2002). Together with the University of Tartu, an international seminar to discuss women's life histories was arranged in Literature Museum (2002), which resulted in a publication "She Who Remembers Survives" (2004). In cooperation with the Chair of Estonian Studies at the University of Toronto researchers have studied life histories and non-fictional texts of recent history. The next AABS (Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies) conference will take place in Toronto in June 2004, and also researcher of this work group are active in its organization.

Publications

Books:

Võim ja kultuur. Ed. by A. Krikmann and S. Olesk. Tartu: EKM, EKFK, 2003.
Olesk, S. Tõdede vankuval müüril: Artikleid ajast ja luulest. EKLA töid kirjandusest ja kulturiloost 1. Tartu: EKM, 2002.
Eesti elulood III. Elu Eesti NSV-s. Ed. and preface. by Rutt Hinrikus. Tallinn: EKM - Tänapäev, 2003.

Articles:

Aru, K. Adaptation to the New Reality. - Panorama européen des lieux littéraires. Bourges: Féderation des maisons d'écrivains & des patrimoines littéraires, 2002, 13-14.
Aru, K. Eesti ajakirjandus aastatel 1766-1940. Die estnische Presse in der Jahren 1766-1940. The Press in Estonia between 1766-1940. Eestikeelne ajakirjandus 1766-1940. Tallinn: Eesti Akadeemiline Raamatukogu, 2002, 20-122 (Eesti retrospektiivne rahvusbibliograafia, IV).
Hinrikus, R. Deportation, Siberia, Suffering, Love. - She who Remembers Survives: Interpreting Estonian Women's Post-Soviet Life Stories. Ed. by T. Kirss, E. Kõressaar, M. Lauristin. Tartu: Tartu University Press, 2004, 62-77.
Kuutma, K. Collaborative Ethnography Before Its Time: Johan Turi and Emilie Demant Hatt. - The People of Eight Seasons: The Sami and Their Changing Culture. Scandinavian Studies, 75 (2), 165-180, 2003.
Kuutma, K. Creating a Seto Epic. - Oral Tradition, 19/1, 92-137, 2004.
Olesk, S. "Eestin Runottaren" aika. - Ajan taju: Kirjoituksia kansanperinteestä ja kirjallisuudesta. Helsinki: SKS, 2001, 194-204.
Olesk, S. Nykypäivän runous ja historiallinen kaanon. Modernismi ja postmodernismi virolaisen tapaan. - Viron kirjallisuus vuosituhannen vaihteessa: Postmodernia ja modernia. Helsinki: SKS, 2003, 49-64.
Sarapik, V. _topias and Islands. - Koht ja paik. Place and Location. Studies in Environmental Aesthetics and Semiothics III. Ed. by V. Sarapik and K. Tüür. Tallinn, 2003, 107-128.
Veidemann, R. The formation of the Estonian nation from the semiotic aspect. - Interlitteraria 5 (2000). Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, 2000, 87-101.
Veidemann, R. Hajoaako kirjallisuuden käsite? - Viron kirjallisuus vuosituhannen vaihteessa: Postmodernia ja modernia. Helsinki: SKS, 2003, 23-33.