The poetic substrate of reality and self-perception: the Estonian case

The aim of the project is to prepare and publish a collection of articles in English. The collection contributes to the introduction of Estonian modernist and contemporary literature to foreign readers, as well as to theoretical discussions that can be applied beyond the context of Estonian literature.

 

Principal investigator

Aare Pilv, Junior Researcher at the Under and Tuglas Literary Institute of the Estonian Academy of Sciences

 

Project Description

The collection of articles first offers a theoretical introduction, which gives an idea of the framework within which various Estonian authors are analyzed. The framework is based on John Gibson’s theory of fiction, which has its roots in Wittgenstein’s theory of language games, which is modified in this book to be applicable to the analysis of poetry and autobiographical writing; the main question that this framework seeks to address is how poetic and figurative techniques are the basis for the creation of individual self-images, but also how collective ideological identities and utopias are created on the basis of the same principles. In other words, it is a question of the anthropological role of literature and art as a substrate and model for the perception of reality. Jacques Rancière’s account of the aesthetic regime of art and the inherent political potential of aesthetics adds a historical dimension to this model, showing how the role of artistic means in the construction of reality is characteristic of the post-Kantian approach to art and the concept of society.

This is applied in the analyses of individual authors: Madis Kõiv (1929-2014), Tõnu Õnnepalu (born 1962), Uku Masing (1909-1985), Hando Runnel (born 1936), Jaak Jõerüüt (born 1947), Ene Mihkelson (1944-2017), Elo Viiding (born 1974), fs (born 1971) – based on them, the connection of poetic writing with the creation of individual identity is shown above all (in Õnnepalu’s case, this also includes the issue of collective cultural identity). Articles on authors of the first half of the 20th century Johannes Barbarus (1890–1946), Johannes Semper (1892–1970) and Henrik Visnapuu (1890–1951) mainly deal with the relationship of aestheticism and avant-garde utopianism with political totalitarianism, while articles on the younger generation of contemporary poets Maarja Pärtna (born 1986) and Sveta Grigorjeva (born 1988) deal with poetry as both a political phenomenon and a place for creating personal identity. The collection is summarized by more general views on the self-perception of Estonian culture as a whole – what metaphors and images have been used in the self-description of Estonian culture.