Eesti Kirjanduse Strange

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Estonian Literary Society building in Tartu

The Eesti Kirjanduse Selts (in German Estonian Literature Society , in Estonian abbreviated as EKS ) is a society for the promotion of Estonian literature and culture, which was particularly important in the period before Estonian statehood.

history

The Estonian Literary Society can be seen as a continuation of the Estonian Literary Society , which was dissolved in 1893 after internal disputes and increasing pressure from the Russification policy. After the revolution of 1905 and the adoption of the October Manifesto , the way was clear for the re-establishment of a literary and cultural society in Estonia . It took place in August 1907 in the rooms of the Vanemuine Theater in Tartu. The continuity and connection to the earlier society is symbolized by Villem Reiman (1861–1917), who presided over both the dissolution meeting of 1894 and the founding meeting of 1907.

The aim of the association was the "education of the Estonian people and the development of culture and science", as it was formulated in the statute. For this purpose, various commissions were set up, for example for history, for language maintenance, for school literature, for the publication of a magazine, etc. Accordingly, the main activities included holding literary competitions, the edition of the Eesti Kirjandus magazine from 1908 and the publication of books.

After the establishment of statehood (1918) and the establishment of the Estonian Writers' Union (1922), the situation changed fundamentally. The company was now able to buy its own house through a special state levy on alcohol (a forerunner of Estonian cultural capital ), and the focus of the company shifted to publishing. A total of 891 titles were published by the Society between 1907 and 1940.

After the Sovietization of Estonia in 1940 and the second occupation of the country in World War II , the company, like many others, was dissolved by the Soviet authorities. A part of the archive was lost in the war, another part was kept in the Estonian Literature Museum.

Start-up

After the restoration of independence (1991), calls for a re-establishment or revitalization of the company soon arose. This took place in December 1992 under the leadership of the then director of the Estonian Museum of Literature, Peeter Olesk , and the editor-in-chief of Akadeemia magazine , Ain Kaalep . The first president of the re-established society became the medical practitioner Kaljo Villako , who was a member of the editorial board of Akadeemia . Today, in addition to the resumed publishing activity, the company publishes a yearbook and participates in various forms in shaping literary life in Estonia.

Chairperson

Trivia

In the Soviet era, the confiscated building was the headquarters of the KGB in Tartu. When the society and the Writers' Union got the house back in 1992, the spirit of the KGB was ritually expelled with juniper smoke.

literature

  • Janika Kronberg : The sauna as an ideological problem, in: Estonia 2/1999, pp. 4–9.
  • Bernhard Linde : Mälestusi Eesti Kirjanduse Seltsi algaastailt, in: Eesti Kirjandus 9/1932, pp. 442-450.
  • Gottlieb Ney: Estonia's cultural policy during statehood, in: Acta Baltica VIII (1968), pp. 195–234.
  • August Palm: Eesti Kirjanduse Selts. Tartu: Eesti Kirjanduse Selts 1932. 93 pp.
  • Hindrik Prants: Surma ja elu vahel. Kahe EKS-i 13-aastane vaheaeg, in: Eesti Kirjandus 9/1932, pp. 436-442.
  • Marin Laak / Krista Ojasaar: Sada aastat ajalugu. Eesti Kirjanduse Selts 1907-2007. Tartu: Eesti Kirjanduse Selts 2007. 47 pp.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter 2006, p. 283.
  2. ↑ Hindrik Prants: Surma ja elu vahel. Kahe EKS-i 13-aastane vaheaeg, in: Eesti Kirjandus 9/1932, p. 442.
  3. ↑ Marin Laak / Krista Ojasaar: Sada aastat ajalugu. Eesti Kirjanduse Selts 1907-2007. Tartu: Eesti Kirjanduse Selts 2007, p. 4.
  4. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt: History of Estonian Literature. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter 2006, p. 426.
  5. ↑ Marin Laak / Krista Ojasaar: Sada aastat ajalugu. Eesti Kirjanduse Selts 1907-2007. Tartu: Eesti Kirjanduse Selts 2007, p. 16.
  6. ↑ Janika Kronberg : The sauna as an ideological problem, in: Estonia 2/1999, p. 6.