Väljakaevamised

Väljakaevamised (in German "excavations") is the title of a novel by the Estonian writer Jaan Kross (1920–2007).

novel

The novel was published in Estonian in 1990 , after it had been published in a Finnish translation in 1989 . The author had completed the manuscript in 1988, but the difficult economic situation in Estonia during the Singing Revolution meant that the novel could not be published immediately. There were no longer any political reasons for the delay, as there was no censorship in Estonia at the time in question .

From a formal point of view, the novel, which is told in first-person form, is the report of a former political prisoner, Peeter Mirk, who returned to Estonia in 1954. He had been in captivity for eight years and then in exile in Siberia. After Stalin's death (1953) there were several waves of amnesty, as a result of which many Estonians were able to return home. This framework already indicates that the novel has strong autobiographical traits, because Kross himself was arrested in 1946 and was released again in 1954.

The action takes place in Tallinn and leads the main character, who somehow has to find a livelihood, as an unskilled worker to archaeological excavations. Here he, who had previously worked as a lawyer at the university, is learning a new profession and meets various colleagues who all have their own stories. In many conversations and sometimes flashbacks, the recent past of the Estonians and Estonians is "unearthed".

In addition, work is actually being carried out on the archaeological construction site, and Mirk suddenly makes a real find: a manuscript from the 13th century. Its author was the Archbishop of Lund Anders Sunesen , who was actually in Estonia at the time. In his (fictional) handwriting, which he wrote at the end of his life, drawn by leprosy, he shows remorse with regard to the missionary conquest of the country. Mirk now keeps his discovery a secret and tries to decipher the Latin manuscript with the help of a scholar from Tartu. He discovered more and more parallels between the medieval conquest of the country by Germans and Danes and the recent Soviet occupation.

Nevertheless - or maybe because of it - he tries to publish the manuscript. With the help of his girlfriend, contact is made with an influential party member who is supposed to protect the cause. But he recognizes the all too obvious parallels between then and now and considers publication to be impossible. At the end of the novel there is the disillusionment that even in the supposed thaw period, the freedoms are still very limited.

rating

In addition to the novels in which Kross processes his Gulag experiences, this is the only novel by the author, who is known for his historical novels, and which deals intensively with the Stalin era and the period immediately following. As in his historical novels (e.g. The Tsar's Crazy , Professor Martens' Departure ), the author moves on the border between truth and fiction. Many historical figures are given by their correct names, but a number of characters in the novel did not pass that way. The author often composed his fictional characters from several people who actually existed and whose fates he knew.

This process creates a multifaceted representation of Estonian post-war history. Because the author is practicing “oral history”, as it were, by passing on the experiences of friends, relatives and fellow prisoners to the readership. Many fates that would otherwise have been forgotten are saved for posterity.

But the novel is neither a lamentation nor an indictment. Although the author soberly depicts everyday life in an inhuman system, the focus is always on people, never on “despising”. Kross also shows how human-ethical action can survive, and occasionally he succeeds with his mischievous humor not only to shake the head or even give the reader goose bumps, but also to make a smile.

German translation

The German translation was published by dipa-Verlag in 1995 and received mostly positive reviews. The novel was called "sovereign and artful" or it was called "the usual masterly manner". Karl-Markus Gauß was also very positive about the time: “Kross tells a wealth of sad, cruel, bitterly funny stories that make it immediately understandable what" Stalinism "meant. This chronicle, as old as it is, remains dangerous because no one in Russified Estonia would read it as a document of bygone times: The forced Catholicism of yesteryear coincides with the forced socialism of today - a fraternal message that paved the way for bondage. [...] [Kross is] about the truth of historiography, literature, the word, which can and must withstand power. "

In addition to Finnish and German, the novel has also been translated into Swedish.

literature

• Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature . Berlin, New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018025-1 , pp. 692f.
• Cornelius Hasselblatt: Estonian literature in German translation . Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-447-06586-3 , pp. 327f.
• Juhan Salokannel : Sivistystahto. Jaan Kross, we have teoksensa yes virolaisuus . Helsinki: WSOY 2008, ISBN 978-951-0-33540-6 , pp. 396-409.

Single receipts

1. ↑ Jaan Kross: Syvyydestä. Suom. Jouko Vanhanen. Porvoo et al .: WSOY 1989.
2. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt: Afterword, in: Jaan Kross: Excavations. Frankfurt: dipa-Verlag 1995, p. 263.
3. ↑ Jaan Kross: Excavations. Novel. From the Estonian by Cornelius Hasselblatt. Frankfurt: dipa-Verlag 1995, ISBN 3-7638-0343-2 .
4. ↑ New Germany. Literature supplement to the Leipzig Book Fair 1995, 23. – 26. March 1995.
5. ↑ excavation. - Ostthüringer Zeitung, Literature, April 15, 1995.
6. ↑ Dangerous Chronicles. - Die Zeit No. 42, October 13, 1995, literature supplement, p. 24.
7. ↑ Jaan Kross: Utgrävningar. Översätt av Ivo Iliste & Birgitta Göranson. Bromma: Fripress 1991. 295 pp., ISBN 91-582-1808-4 .