Raudsed käed

Raudsed käed ( Iron Hands ) is the title of a novel by the Estonian writer Eduard Vilde (1865–1933). It was published in the Estonian-language original in 1898 .

Appear

Eduard Vilde took up the post of editor in Narva in May 1897 at the weekly newspaper "Virmaline" ('Northern Lights'), which had appeared there since 1888 and was written by Jaan and Jüri Reinvald, brothers of the poet Ado Reinvald , who had also worked temporarily for the newspaper, was founded. Under Vilde's leadership, the newspaper changed from a backward provincial newspaper into a modern, democratically oriented newspaper. However, it had to stop its publication in 1898, which was directly related to Vilde's novel Raudsed käed .

The first chapters of the novel appeared in 1898 in numbers 1-8 of "Virmaline", but thereafter the publication was stopped. Although the censors did not object to the novel, as Vilde was extremely cautious, the police began to take an interest in the author, presumably at the instigation of the factory owners. He was watched and followed, and the situation got so bad that even the windows of the printing house where the newspaper was printed were thrown in. A little later, the sheet was bought by the industrialist Étienne Girard de Soucanton (1843-1910), a son of the Estonian entrepreneur and politician Arthur Girard de Soucanton , who successfully silenced an unpleasant and socially critical voice.

The novel then appeared in its entirety as a sequel to the supplement to the Postimees , namely in numbers 31-51 of 1898. It was first printed as a book in 1910 by G. Pihlakas in Tallinn . New editions followed in 1928, 1941, 1951, 1954 and 1960.

action

In 1889, Villem Luik and his little two-year-old daughter left the country for the city to look for work in a factory. He was unable to survive economically in the country, and he also had to bury his wife. On the train to Narva, he meets a pair of siblings, Ann and Hindrek Sepp, with whom he becomes friends. Once in town, Villem wants to visit his brother's widow in a workers' settlement, but learns that she recently died of pneumonia. Villem then takes care of the children, the eleven year old Juuli and the one and a half year old Volli.

After his mother's funeral, Villem found work in one of the large factories and initially lived in a room in the very cramped workers' barracks with the three children and Hindrek Sepp as a subtenant. Ann later moves into another room in the tenement and often helps out with Villem and the children. Juuli, who brings up the small children very independently and almost precociously, casts an eye on Hindrek, while Ann gradually falls in love with Villem without letting him know. This, however, increasingly falls in love with Juuli and wants to bring her to his wife. Hindrek comes under bad influence and sometimes comes home drunk, which Juuli displeases.

About six years later, Villem decides to propose to Juuli. At the same time, Ann expects an application from Villem. She is also worried about her brother, who now works in another factory and has given himself up completely to alcohol. In Ann's opinion, only marriage with a tough woman can save her brother, which is why she wants to establish a marriage between him and Juuli. Juuli is not averse to this and asks Villem to consider it in the hope that Hindrek will in the meantime also submit an application to her, which she will then gladly accept. Hindrek, however, cannot be found, roams around in inns, becomes engaged to a pub landlady while drunk and finally moves to St. Petersburg .

Disappointed by Hindrek's disappearance, Juuli finally agrees to marry Villem. Their relationship remains comparatively distant, especially since Villem still suspects that Juuli still has Hindrek in his heart. He has now also reported from Petersburg, where he has renounced alcohol and found a decent job. However, Villem cannot find any evidence of an alleged infidelity of Juuli. He continues to work in the factory and has a heart attack, from which he has no permanent damage, but the doctor advises him not to return to the factory. Hindrek steps in as a savior and gives Villem a job in Saint Petersburg that does justice to his state of health. Since Ann has been living there for a long time, everyone is reunited and lives in two one-room apartments that are close together on the fourth floor of a residential building

Juuli and Hindrek are still drawn to each other, but they do not show anything. But Villem suspects it. Since he finds his job as a security guard too boring, he throws himself back into factory work, which has fatal consequences. After another heart attack, he is permanently paralyzed on one side and can no longer speak. From now on his world consists of a chair by the window in which he is put in the morning. Half a year later, three decisive events take place. Ann has to leave Saint Petersburg in the country to look after her parents, Hindrek gets typhoid and Juuli has a child. This inevitably leads to the complete impoverishment of the family, since nobody can go to work. The result is the pledging of the last piece of furniture, theft, begging and ultimately prostitution.

Contrary to expectations, Hindrek gets well and suddenly appears at home when Juuli sleeps on the floor after her first night as a prostitute and cannot look after the starving children. Hindrek sees through everything, first brings the children into his apartment and opens the window to air them. In a final effort, Villem heaves himself on the windowsill and throws himself to his death.

meaning

The novel can be described as the counterpart to Vilde's novel Külmale maale ('After cold land'), published two years earlier , with which critical realism prevailed in Estonian literature. While the impoverished rural population is at the center there, it is the factory workers in the cities who suffered from “a long, strenuous working day, low wages and extremely cramped housing”. Vilde had done some research beforehand and had a realistic picture of the conditions that prevailed in the Narva factories. A clear model is the Krähnholm Manufactory , even if it is not mentioned by name in the novel.

The “iron hands” that gave the novel its title refer to the machines in the factory that the protagonist marveled at, but also to the inexorable conditions that keep the workers prisoner. By the end of his first day at work, Villem, who was used to working in the fresh air in the country, is completely exhausted and worn out. At the same time, the author lets him see the weighting of the relationships: “Villem soon saw that the machine was not only the slave of the worker, but that the worker was also the slave of the machine. The machine served the factory, but the worker served both the machine and the factory in equal measure. "

Vilde's social criticism is packed into a strange love triangle between Ann, Juuli, Hindrek and Villem. Critics sometimes found this complicated love story not entirely convincing; on the other hand, Vilde also used it to deal with general moral or ethical problems. For example, after Villem's paralysis, Juuli had the following thoughts: “The word“ dead ”had so terrified Ann and Juuli. But there are misfortunes that are even more appalling than death. Luik's young wife began to sense this when she returned from the hospital the next few times. Good heavens, if the poor man remains in this state but remains alive and has to go on living like that! This thought clasped her heart like iron pliers. "

This gives the novel an additional dimension so that it cannot only be read as a historical document of the time.

reception

The reception of the first deliveries was very positive, so that even the circulation of the newspaper increased. This was interrupted by the subsequent difficulties and the change in the place of publication, but as the “first Estonian workers' novel” the novel has a firm place in Estonian literary history today.

Adaptations and translations into other languages

• In 1947, a stage version by Andres Särev was staged at the Rakvere Theater.
• In 1959 a radio play version was broadcast on the Estonian Radio .
• In 1960 the novel was directed by Kulno Süvalep, also at the theater in Rakvere.

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

• В суровый край. Железные руки . Перевод с эстонского: О. Наэль, Т. Маркович; послесловие: Ю. Кяосаар; иллюстрации: Э. Окас, А. Хойдре. Таллин: Эстгосиздат 1954. 366 pp.

literature

• V. Miller : Miks katkestati Eduard Vilde “Raudsete käte” avaldamine “Virmalises”, in: Keel ja Kirjandus 11/1959, pp. 682–684.
• Karl Mihkla: Eduard Vilde elu ja looming. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1972, pp. 209-212.
• Villem Alttoa: Eduard Vilde sõnameistrina. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1973, pp. 94-103.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Juhan Peegel et al .: Eesti ajakirjanduse teed ja ristteed. Tartu, Tallinn 1994, pp. 202-205.
2. ↑ Karl Mihkla: Eduard Vilde elu ja looming. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1972, p. 181.
3. ^ Livia Viitol : Eduard Vilde. Tallinn: Tänapäev 2012, p. 96.
4. ↑ V. Miller: Miks katkestati Eduard Vilde "Raudsete Kate" avaldamine "Virmalises", in: Keel yes Kirjandus 11/1959, pp 682-684.
5. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. From the beginning to the present. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter 2006, p. 337.
6. ↑ V. Miller: Miks katkestati Eduard Vilde "Raudsete Kate" avaldamine "Virmalises", in: Keel yes Kirjandus 11/1959, S. 682nd
7. ↑ Quoted here from the 1960 edition: Eduard Vilde: Raudsed käed. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus 1960. p. 60.
8. ↑ Karl Mihkla: Eduard Vilde elu ja looming. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1972, p. 211.
9. ↑ Quoted here from the 1960 edition: Eduard Vilde: Raudsed käed. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus 1960. p. 187.
10. ↑ Villem Alttoa: Eduard Vilde sõnameistrina. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1973, p. 94.
11. ↑ Epp Annus, Luule Epner, Ants Järv, Sirje Olesk, Ele Süvalep, Mart Velsker: Eesti kirjanduslugu. Tallinn: Koolibri 2001, p. 139.