Estonian literature () is literature written in the Estonian language (c. 1,100,000 speakers)Estonian literature at Encyclopædia Britannica
The oldest records of written Estonian date from the 13th century. Originates Livoniae in Chronicle of Henry of Livonia contains Estonian place names, words and fragments of sentences. The Liber Census Daniae (1241) contains Estonian place and family names.The Development of Written Estonian by George Kurman While sporadic Estonian names and words exist within otherwise Latin and Low German documentation of Hanseatic Tallinn,Kala, Tiina 2002. Keeled ja nende kõnelejad keskaegses Tallinnas: edenemine või taandareng? – Tuna, nr 2, pp. 8–22. some of the earliest surviving samples of handwritten connected Estonian originate from the Dominican St. Catherine's Monastery, Tallinn during the 15th century.Paul Johansen. Eestikeelsed märkmed kahes dominiiklaste kloostri raamatus Tallinnas. - Eesti Keel 1929, no. 5-6, pp. 89–97. The earliest longer manuscript in Estonian consists of the so-called Kullamaa prayers dating from 1524 and 1528.Aspects of Altaic Civilization by Denis Sinor
With the Reformation and advent of the printing press, the use of written Estonian became more widespread. The first known instance of a printed book in Estonian dates from 1525,Külli Habicht. Eestikeelne tekst ja raamat. Juhused ja järjepidevus. 2025. while the oldest surviving printed book is a bilingual German–Estonian translation of the Lutheran catechism (Wanradt–Koell Catechism) by and (1535). For the use of priests an Estonian grammar was printed in German in 1637.Dictionary of Languages By Andrew Dalby; p. 182 The New Testament was translated into South Estonian in 1686, and to North Estonian in 1715. The entire Bible was translated to North Estonian by Anton Thor Helle in 1739. Writings in Estonian became more significant and numerous during the Estophile Enlightenment Period (1750–1840).
The cultural stratum of Estonian was originally characterised by a largely lyrical form of folk poetry based on syllabic quantity. Apart from a few albeit remarkable exceptions, this archaic form has not been much employed in later times. The most outstanding achievements in this field are the national epic Kalevipoeg (Son of Kalev), written by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald (1803–1882); Gustav Suits's ballad Lapse sünd (Birth of a Child); Villem Grünthal-Ridala's (1885–1942) poem Toomas ja Mai (Toomas and Mai) and three poems by August Annist (1899–1972). At a professional level, traditional folk song reached its new heyday during the last quarter of the 20th century, primarily thanks to the work of composer Veljo Tormis.
In modern times, A. H. Tammsaare (1878–1940), Jaan Kross (1920–2007), and Andrus Kivirähk (born 1970) remain Estonia's best known and most translated writers.
History of Estonian literature
Folklore
As opposed to the recent nature of written literature, the oral tradition, found in collections of Estonian folklore, tells of the ancient pre–Northern Crusades period of independence. The first fragmentary records of Estonian folk poetry, dating from the 13th century, can be found in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia; in the late 18th century Johann Gottfried von Herder published examples of Estonian folk songs in his anthology Volkslieder (1807). Jakob Hurt (1839–1907) was the first to start systematically collecting Estonian folklore in the second half of the 19th century, planning a multivolume series on Estonian folklore, called Monumenta Estoniae Antiquae. Hurt coined the phrase which to this day shapes the mentality of the nation of one million people: If we cannot be great in number, then we must be great in spirit.Finno-Ugric folklore and the European written word at Estonian Literature information Center
Baltic Germans Chronicles and theatrical performances by the Baltic German nobility formed the basis for local Baltic German literature which, despite the barriers of status and language, affected Estonian literature. The earliest example of Estonian language poetry dates back to 1637, a poem written by Reiner Brockmann (1609–1647), teacher of Greek at the Tallinn Gymnasium.Baltic Germans at the birth of Estonian literature at Estonian Literature information Center Otto Wilhelm Masing (1763–1832) was the first literate who had a thorough mastery of the Estonian language. He published an Estonian-language alphabet book called ABD ehk Luggemise-Ramat Lastele in 1795.History – Estonian Children's Literature CentreSpotted Mother Tongue – Vaba Eesti Sõna
Kristjan Jaak Peterson Cannot the tongue of this land In the fire of incantation Rising up to the heavens Seek for eternity? Kristjan Jaak Peterson
Those lines have been interpreted as a claim to reestablish the birthright of the Estonian language. Kristjan Jaak Peterson (1801–1822) is considered the founder of modern Estonian poetry. He gathered his Estonian poems into two small books but never saw them published: this only occurred a hundred years after his death (although three German poems were published posthumously in 1823). One of Peterson's projects was fulfilled in his lifetime, the German version of Kristfrid Ganander's Mythologia Fennica, a dictionary of Finnish mythological words and names (the Swedish original was published in 1789). Peterson's translation of Ganander's dictionary found many readers in Estonia and abroad, becoming an important source of national ideology and inspiration for early Estonian literature. Its dominating influence extended through the first decades of the 20th century.Kristian Jaak Peterson at Estonian Literature information Center
Kalevipoeg
The outstanding achievements in folklore imitate the epics: the national epic Kalevipoeg was compiled by doctors of Estonian origin: Friedrich Robert Faehlmann began the epic and it was finished by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald. The romantic ideology of the 19th century laid down the requirements for a national literature. The idea of an epic was the product of a humanist circle called the Learned Estonian Society (Gelehrte Estnische Gesellschaft), where Faehlmann had presented his paper in 1839 on a mythical hero called Kalewipoeg (Son of Kalew). After Faehlmann's death in 1850 the society handed the manuscripts over to Kreutzwald. The first edition of Kalevipoeg (1857–61) was bilingual, the German text being presented side by side with the Estonian original. A popular Estonian edition in a single volume followed in 1862.Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald at Estonian Literature information Center
Lydia Koidula (1843–1886) was the initiator of a tradition of Estonian patriotic and women's poetry during the era.
Late 19th early 20th century In the late 19th century, a poet emerged who profoundly affected Estonian poetry as a whole – Juhan Liiv (1864–1913). During the last decade of the 19th century, a contemporary of Liiv's, Eduard Vilde (1865–1933), gave a realistic direction to Estonian prose.Literature in the 19th century at Estonian Literature information Center
With the formation of the group Noor-Eesti (Young Estonia) in 1905, led by the poet Gustav Suits (1883–1956), the linguist and poet Villem Grünthal-Ridala (1885–1942) and the reformer of the Estonian language Johannes Aavik (1880–1973), Estonian literature gained a new intellectual impetus. The most prominent prose writer of the time, still widely read today, was Oskar Luts (1887–1953). Another significant author was Jaan Oks (1884–1918).The poetry of Ernst Enno (1875–1934) gained popularity much later.
The rationality of the Young Estonians was counterbalanced by the group of writers from the Siuru movement, established in 1917. The central and peripheral poets of Siuru were: August Gailit (1891–1960), Friedebert Tuglas (1886–1971), Johannes Semper (1892–1970), Artur Adson (1889–1977), August Alle (1890–1952), Henrik Visnapuu (1890–1951), Peet Aren (1889–1970), Otto Krusten (1888–1937), and Marie Under (1883–1980).
The magazine Eesti Kirjandus (Estonian Literature) was founded in 1906, and Eesti Kirjanduse Selts (Estonian Literary Society) in 1907.
1918–1940 After the establishment of the Republic of Estonia, professionalism and diversity in literature were followed by the emergence of literary institutions. The Estonian Writers Union was founded in 1922; the literary monthly Looming (Creation) first appeared in 1923 and is still the main periodical of its sort in Estonia. The Cultural Endowment Fund started work in 1925 and is the major provider of grants in the arts in the present-day Republic of Estonia.
The prevailing tendency in prose writing between the two World Wars was realism. The most prominent writer of the era is A. H. Tammsaare (1878–1940). His five volume epic novel Tõde ja Õigus (Truth and Justice, 1926–1933) is considered one of the major works of Estonian literature. Other prominent prose writers were: Marta Sillaots (1887–1969), August Mälk (1900–1987), Karl Ristikivi (1912–1977). August Gailit appeared on the literary scene along with the Siuru group.
The Arbujad ("Soothsayers") was a small but influential group of poets who began collaborating in 1938 at the behest of poet and author Ants Oras (1900–1982) and included: Betti Alver (1906–1989), Uku Masing (1909–1985), Mart Raud (1903–1980), Kersti Merilaas (1913–1986), Bernard Kangro (1910–1994), Heiti Talvik (1904–1947), August Sang (1914–1969) and Paul Viiding (1904–1962). While group's poetic works tended to be eclectic, there was a common desire among members to reach a deeper intellectual and emotional plane. The Arbujad poets were for the freedom and independence of the people while being against ideological coercion and totalitarian concepts.
Post World War II After the Second World War Estonian literature was split in two for almost half a century. A number of prominent writers who spent the war years in Estonia fled from Soviet forces to Germany in 1944 (Visnapuu) or to Sweden, either directly or via Finland (Suits, Under, Gailit, Kangro, Mälk, Ristikivi). Many of those who remained behind and did not follow the ideology of the Soviet occupying power suffered either death in Siberia (Talvik and playwright Hugo Raudsepp) or a combination of repression, a ban on publication and interior exile (Tuglas, Alver, Masing). Despite the modest circumstances of the war and post-war years, creative activity and publishing started almost immediately, both in the temporary stopovers in Finland, and in the refugee camps in Sweden and Germany.
In Exile In 1945 the Estonian Writers' Union in Exile was founded in Stockholm. In 1950 Bernard Kangro began publishing the cultural magazine Tulimuld in Lund (published until 1993). Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv, the largest Estonian-language publishing house in exile, was set up and its method of book distribution secured the continuity of literary life on an institutional level and on a global scale, except in the Soviet-controlled homeland. Estonians abroad also did their best to introduce Estonian literature to the world: in the USA, Ivar Ivask (1927–1992) edited World Literature Today in which he published numerous articles and reviews about Estonian literature.