Arbujad

Arbujad ( German for ' shamans ', 'conjurers' or 'fortune tellers') was the collective name in the late 1930s for a loose group of eight Estonian writers who shaped a new direction in Estonian poetry before the start of the Second World War .

The literary group included the younger Estonian writers Betti Alver , Bernard Kangro , Uku Masing , Kersti Merilaas , Mart Raud , August Sang , Heiti Talvik and Paul Viiding . Most of them came from the Veljesto student association , which was active at the University of Tartu . All were born between 1904 and 1914.

The name Arbujad comes from the title of the 1938 anthology of poems by the Tartu Anglicist and literary scholar Ants Oras (1900–1982) Arbujad. Valimik uusimat eesti lüürikat ( Shamans. A selection of the latest Estonian poetry ). Oras's epilogue to his selection volume was also influential, establishing the group's program and introducing them as a new generation of poets.

The group was not homogeneous in their lyric work. What all members had in common, however, was the endeavor to penetrate into a deeper mental and emotional state of tension. The poets emphasized human freedom and independence. They defended themselves against forced ideological appropriation and totalitarian ideas.

The Soviet occupation of Estonia two years after Oras' anthology was published abruptly ended the spirit of optimism in Estonian poetry. But the Arbujad had already made a lasting impression on the new Estonian poetry with their works.

literature

• Cornelius Hasselblatt: History of Estonian Literature. Berlin / New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018025-1 , pp. 507-514

Web links

• Estonian Literature in the 1920s and 1930s (Estonian Literary Magazine)