Siuru
The literary group Siuru was founded in Estonia in 1917 and officially existed until 1920. It did not necessarily see itself as a counter-movement to the intellectual Noor Eesti tradition, but rather as a continuation or refreshment, especially since there were also personal matches.
Members
The group originally consisted of five people: the main initiator and formal managing director was Friedebert Tuglas , who had returned from exile , the poet Marie Under was elected president, and Artur Adson was the treasurer . The other two members were August Gailit and Henrik Visnapuu . In July, Johannes Semper joined the group as the sixth. In 1919 Gailit and Visnapuu left the group in a dispute, instead Johannes Barbarus and August Alle were accepted. Originally, the participation of artists was planned, but since they did not appear at later meetings, the association remained a purely literary organization. Many other people were close to the group without being officially members, such as Richard Roht , Jaan Oks , Alexander Tassa , Aino Kallas , Johannes Aavik or Villem Ridala .
program
The aim of the group was, on the one hand, to institutionally promote and also disseminate young Estonian literature, and, on the other hand, an aesthetic renewal and further development of Estonian literature, particularly committed to symbolism and impressionism . The latter was attempted primarily with poems that were partly erotic, partly scandalous and deliberately irritating. Siuru emphasized the freedom of the human mind. Carpe diem ! became one of the buzzwords of the group that used white chrysanthemums as a symbol of solidarity . Patriotism and nationalism were rather alien to the representatives of a vie bohème . The first concern of the Siuru members can be explained by the fact that the Estonian publishing industry was practically completely devastated as a result of the First World War . The aim was to bring literature "among the people" by publishing a literary almanac and individual books as well as by organizing literary evenings and readings in the countryside. The start-up capital required for this was obtained through a literary evening in the Tallinn Estonia Theater (25 September (old style) 1917), announced with a lot of advertising , on which Marie Unders debut volume "Sonette" (Estonian Sonetid ) was presented and which made a net profit of brought in just under 3,000 rubles. This covered the costs for the following volumes of poetry, which appeared in quick succession in autumn or winter of the same year. In 1917 the association took care of a sixth of literary production in Estonia from scratch. The name of the group refers to a mythological firebird that appears in the 19th song of the Kalevipoeg .
meaning
Due to the conspicuous activity of the group, the spring of 1917 is called the Siuru Spring in Estonian literary historiography. The activities of Siuru became groundbreaking for the further development of Estonian literature, which was given a fixed institutional framework in the early 1920s through the establishment of the Writers' Union and the magazine Looming, which still exists today . Despite the sensational lyrics, the Siuru group should not be pushed into an aesthetic corner. Social engagement was not alien to the members, as the popularization of literature shows. In addition, one can determine a certain proximity to Expressionism if one looks at the illustration by Nikolai Triik for the first Siuru album or Marie Unders translations of contemporary, i.e. H. expressionist German poetry in the third album.
Single receipts
- ↑ August Eelmäe: A.Adsoni ja F. Tuglase kirjavahetus. In: Keel ja Kirjandus 32 (1989), p. 626.
- ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. From the beginning to the present. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter 2006, p. 417.
- ↑ Nigol Andresen: Terendusi. Uurimusi yes arti dress. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1979, p. 124.