Cold marks

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Külmale maale ( After cold land ) is the title of a novel by the Estonian writer Eduard Vilde (1865–1933). It was published in the Estonian-language original in 1896 .

Appear

Eduard Vilde had been working in the editorial department of Postimees since 1893 , after having previously spent two years in Berlin , where he had familiarized himself intensively with German realism and naturalism . That same year, his story was Karikas kihvti (A cup of poison) appeared, which was sometimes referred to as the Roman and later appeared with the three years after cold land dispute over the status of the first album of critical realism in the Estonian literature.

Vilde began at the end of 1895 with the writing of the novel, which appeared from January 2, 1896 completely as a serial in the newspaper Postimees , in the numbers 1–51 (until March 2). The novel was first printed as a book in 1896 by the publishing house des Postimees in Jurjev , as Tartu was then called as a result of the Russification efforts. New editions followed in 1897, 1924, 1930, 1934, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1954, 1960, 1976 and 2005.

action

The focus of the novel is the poor, landless Kätner Jaan Vapper, who is the only one responsible for feeding his mother and three younger siblings. After a long illness, he became unemployed, but still tried honestly to support his family. When shady characters in the bar promise him a lucrative income opportunity, he stands firm and refuses because he suspects that he is about to be drawn into a crime. His girlfriend Anni, daughter of the wealthy village elder Andres, gives him something every now and then, but on the whole he is not able to take care of the family.

After all, he must commit a theft or take part in illegal activities. At first, Anni can save him from worse by making a false statement in the process, but soon more evidence is found and Annis perjury is exposed. Both are condemned and exiled to Siberia, the "cold country". So that they can at least stay together, they get married in captivity before they are transported to Siberia.

meaning

In the novel Vilde shows in an almost simple way that a crime does not necessarily have to have its cause in moral depravity, but can be seen as an inevitable consequence of social misery, because the author's sympathies are with Jaan and Anni, the latter According to today's critics, "perhaps too ideally represented." In addition, the symbolic final scene of the novel, in which the train with the prisoners leaves the city and a thunderstorm breaks out, as a result of which lightning strikes in the mansion and church, shows the personal sympathies of the author, who wants to make it clear that he does not particularly value this social order. While the impoverished rural population is at the center there,

Adaptations and translations into other languages

  • 1954 dramatization by Ott Raudheiding (Theater Rakvere)
  • In 1965, directed by Ants Kivirähk and Valdur Himbek, a film based on the novel was made, see the IMBd entry .

A translation into German is not yet available, the novel has been published in the following languages:

  • Latvian: Uz salto zemi . Trad. Jānis Žigurs. Riga: Latvijas valsts izdevnieciba 1939. 216 pp.
  • Romanian (Moldovan): Спре аспре мелягурь . Картя молдовеняска 1967. 240 p.
  • Russian: В суровый край . Перевод с эстонского: О. Наэль. Таллин: Художественная литература и искусство 1948. 224 pp.
  • Czech: Do chladného kraje . Z estonského přeložila Kyra Platovská. Praha: Státni nakl. krásne lit. hudby a uměni 1960. 233 pp.
  • Ukrainian: В суворий край . Киïв: Державне вид-во худож. лит. 1953. 152 pp.

literature

  • Karl Mihkla: Eduard Vilde elu ja looming. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1972, pp. 200-207.
  • Villem Alttoa: Eduard Vilde sõnameistrina. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1973, pp. 134-153.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Epp Annus, Luule Epner, Ants Järv, Sirje Olesk, Ele Süvalep, Mart Velsker: Eesti kirjanduslugu. Tallinn: Koolibri 2001, p. 135.
  2. ↑ Eesti kirjanduse ajalugu. III köide. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1969, pp. 36-37.
  3. ↑ Link to the first episode of the novel: [1]
  4. ↑ Epp Annus, Luule Epner, Ants Järv, Sirje Olesk, Ele Süvalep, Mart Velsker: Eesti kirjanduslugu. Tallinn: Koolibri 2001, p. 138.
  5. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. From the beginning to the present. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter 2006, p. 337.
  6. ↑ Apparently not staged, however, as there is no evidence in the relevant Estonian theater history, see Karin Kask: Eesti nõukogude teater 1940–1965. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1987; see. also Karl Mihkla: Eduard Vilde elu ja looming. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1972, p. 207.