Individuaalsed valikud ja sotsialiseerumine eluloojutustuste põhjal

The article observes the degree to which narrators of life stories interpret the course of their life as an individual choice and as a degree of inevitability resulting from the socio-historical context. Folkloristic approaches of the survival of the tradition as the intertwinement of predetermination (folklore awareness) and individual experience, and the approaches of the construction of "autobiographical self" based on the sciences of psychology in biographical research serve as the theoretical basis of the article. The material derives from three biographies sent to the Estonian Life Histories Association in the course of the collection competition of life histories conducted in 2000-2001 on the topic My life and the life of my family in Estonian SSR and the Republic of Estonia. The campaign resulted in over 300 life histories, currently held at the Archives of Cultural History of the Estonian Literary Museum (fund 350). The main source of the article is a life history which is compared with two other stories from the angle of problem presentation. The first basis of comparison is the temporal context. The historical background of the stories of the informants, born in the early 1950s in rural communities in Estonia, has been shaped by the periods of stability under the Soviet regime: during 1950-1960 and during 1970-1980. The first period is described partly through hardships endured during the post-war period, and partly through the economic difficulties at the time collective farms were established. The second period is characterised as more stable, but was still marked with problems with shortage of goods. On the axis of individual course of life, the first period is associated with childhood and the role of family in the informants' lives, whereas the second period is associated with school, acquiring an occupation and the course of personal life. The second period also entails the formation of attitudes towards the Soviet theme. The analysed life histories are presented in the context of events of the 1990s, the period of radical change in the political system of Estonia: how the narrators view the Soviet period now, at the time of independence, and how they perceive their opportunities in the new situation and which aspects do they see themselves as having been deprived of. The second basis for comparison is the self-images of narrators in the extreme situations during the stable period of the Soviet Estonia (prison/army violence). The concordance between individual abilities and behavioural preferences point to the role of cultural predetermination in specific decisions of the individual. The analysis of the narratives reflects the dynamics of predetermination and choices: historical-political framework as a predetermination, adaptation to it as a choice; origin as a predetermination, the interpretation of the life experience of one's family members as a choice; a violent situation as a predetermination, defiance with either physical force or analysis of experience is an individual choice, but also as a predetermination owing to personal qualities and abilities. The central analyses of personal histories diversify period analyses: the Soviet period in this case is not rendered meaningful only within the framework of the period (1940-1991) and political ideas. The issue of cultural continuity transgressing the limits of the period illustrate the life during and after the Soviet period. In the context of this article, the cultural continuity was expressed through the participation of family

Pärimuslik ajalugu – arengusuunad ja paralleelid

Narrated history (pärimuslik ajalugu) as an independent research approach started to emerge in Estonian folkloristics in the 1990s. On the one hand, it was expectable, as narrating the past was significantly in the foreground in the 1980s–90s, due to the changes that society was undergoing. On the other hand, it was connected with the general development pattern in the 1970s-80s folkloristics, for example, in the emergence of context-centred folkloristics as well as interest in modern-day folklore and small-group folklore tradition. At the end of the 1990s contacts were established with fellow researchers from neighbouring countries, and collaboration with Latvian and Finnish researchers has proved most durable. Internationally, this line of research is associated with oral history research, and is, to some extent, also related with memory studies and life history research. This thematic publication is another step aiming to discuss the ongoing trends and investigations in the field of narrated/oral history in the abovementioned area of cooperation. In general, there are new topics (e.g., experience in being a representative of state authorities; researcher’s self-awareness as an interviewer) and also observations of earlier topics considering the present-day contexts (e.g., family traditions in the Internet era; experience of members of transnational families; modern possibilities for analysing materials recorded in the past). Focusing on the present day and interpersonal relationships is characteristic, as opposed to the past and the interpretation of past events. Among the theoretical aspects in the line of research, most often the developments of earlier standpoints are dealt with (for example, the change in the balance between the public and the private in modern society). This gives evidence of a new stage in research, leaving the discussions on the formation of this line of research (and other interrelated lines) into the 2000s

Nõukogude aeg elulugudes – ‘katkestus’ või ‘järjepidevus’

The article springs from the discussion on the depiction of Estonian history in autobiographical writing, in which researchers have pointed out either the cultural continuity or cultural rupture. The author deals with ‘rupture’ and ‘continuity’ as interrelated, mutually conditioning phenomena, asking how this relation is disclosed in life writing. For research the author selected autobiographies narrated in the period from 1989 to 1998 from the life writing collection of the Estonian Cultural History Archives. The 18 analysed stories depict life in Stalinist prison camps. It is assumed that in the life narratives that are concerned with prison experiences, the cultural, everyday and political disruptions are particularly clearly outlined. The thematic analysis of the stories reveals that narrators concentrate on prison experiences related to food, work and death. The axis supporting the narratives comes to the fore through linguistic images: the narrators, former prisoners of the Stalinist camps, perceive themselves as being outside the borders of civilisation, deprived of human treatment. It is significant that the stories do not present much information about the development of the authors’ relationships with their families after the prison camp. How the prison camp period influenced later personal lives was told by only one of the authors of the studied narratives. The stories were narrated at the end of the Soviet period (during Perestroika), or in Estonia after the restitution of independence. By that time, approximately 40 years had passed since the events, and aspects of personal life had been solved and discussed. On the public level, an open discussion on these topics started namely at the end of the 1980s. Then, at the end of the Soviet period, also the rehabilitation of the repressed people started, opening a dialogue between the individual and the state institutions on the topic of repression. The studied life stories also belong to this period: it was the period when my story became our nation’s story. Ruptures in these stories are primarily associated with political upheavals, which also broke the expected sequence of personal life events. Yet, at the same time, the rupture did not interrupt the historical or cultural process, but rather, by describing self-image and situations, brought out the aspect more meaningfully. As a result of the analysis of the texts, the author came to the conclusion that in these stories the topic of humanity rather than the problem of political and cultural rupture and continuity is in the foreground

Teekonnad ja piirid – elulood piiripoeetika vaatepunktist

This article analyses descriptions of journeys and the emergence of territorial and symbolic borders in autobiographical texts. Historically, the descriptions are related to migration caused by World War II and, to a lesser extent (or in connection with the war), the establishment of Soviet power in Estonia. The analysed life stories were narrated in the period from 1995 to 2011, and are stored in the “Estonian Life Stories” collection (EKLA f 350). The narrators were born in the late 1920s or early 1930s; at the time of the narrated events they were children, whose migration was not so much dependent on the historical situation, but the life, choices, and decisions of their parents and relatives. The theoretical starting point for analysing the texts is border poetics: How is the border depicted in narratives? How are different borders (territorial, state, cultural borders, the front line, symbolic borders in narrator’s changed status and self-image) intertwined in the narrative? The narrators describe their journeys from Estonia to Germany, Finland, or Sweden, but no state borders are specified in the stories. Border crossing is revealed through signs, which could be generally described as safe and dangerous areas. The riskier or the more conflicting to the usual situation the experience was, the more detailed is its description. However, the narrator describes a process, which is why the conflict (and the focus of the description) does not have to be concentrated in just the one moment of crossing the border. References to the border may emerge as indirect signs, for example, visually. German towns are described as being either in ruins or intact from the battles; descriptions of Stockholm point out its lit windows in contrast to the darkened windows of the wartime Estonia. Border-related signs are also disclosed in people’s behaviour or attitudes. For example, the problems of the inhabitants of Sweden, which was untouched by the war, seemed trivial to those escaping from the war. Symbolic borders also emerge in the changed status of the narrator as the main character of the story; for instance, upon arrival in another country an active person turns passive, into an observer and an object of other people’s actions, and then changes again into an active one, who makes decisions on shaping his or her fate in the new country of residence. The border-poetic approach enables to view the narratives of people who escaped to the West during World War II not so much from the historical or memory-theoretical aspect as from the aspect of narration of borders. This makes it possible to place the topic of the 1944 flight into a more general panorama of escaping and crossing the border

Rahvaluule e-kursused: uudishimust kogemuseni

There are three types of online folklore courses available at the University of Tartu: epublications of open access study materials (subject web sites, e-lectures, and e-textbooks), video lectures (e.g., on DVD), virtual e-learning environment with limited access(three main e-learning platforms are used in Estonia: WebCT, Moodle, IVA). In this article I focus on my eight years of experience with WebCT, having worked as a learner, course compiler (including designer) as well as the lecturer.The need for web-based courses increased together with the growth and the broadened opportunities in the use of WWW. The fact that the web site of Estonian Folklore (www.folklore.ee) already featured a number of electronic databases as well as e-publications introduced the need for the use of these materials in educational work. WebCT enables the user to present material in written and audio format, present lore texts as audio or video recordings or images and thus present web lore in an entirely natural context. Present-day students have grown up in the computer era, which is why searching the Web for material is as natural to them as searching for information in books once was. At the stage of familiarising myself with WebCT (2000–2002) I put together course materials while the web materials were technologically integrated by Lehti Pilt, education technologist at the University of Tartu. In 2003–2004, I acquired skills of preparing a WebCT course (formulate the subject, determine the e-course structure, consider learning assignments and methods, the use of WebCT devices, etc.) and by 2006 I had developed skills of designing the course, taking part in courses and seminars, compiling courses and carrying these out. This was an active process of acquiring new information which consummated with the introduction of the new version of WebCT in 2006, which for me was a serious setback: I had to do extra technical work at converting the courses from the old version of WebCT to the new one. Regardless of that, WebCT has turned into an equal (though not alternative) work environment to conventional learning (traditional classroom sessions). This, however, is not a common apprehension: students who are not comfortable with computer communication are sure to mention it in formal feedback, while the opposite version (of students officially protesting against traditional learning) is very rare indeed. In informal feedback, however, preferences and objections of both types of learning are proportional. On the one hand, it seems that at its present stage, the students and the general public of the university has accepted the use of WebCT (or other interactive learning environments). This learning environment is nothing extraordinarily new or novel and people are readily willing to join these courses. Many have their own experiences and have formed prejudices. On the other hand, it is not exactly the case in actual discourse: people speak about WebCT as an alternative type of learning, the creation of web-based courses are not perceived as something that a lecturer has to be skilled in, course participants dare to object to the choice of virtual environment (which would not be possible in terms of traditional classroom learning, as this might lead to the question of why they had entered the university in the first place)

Lugu ja sündmus jutu-uurimises: situatsioonianalüüsist kontekstianalüüsini

The article discusses a development tendency in narrative research, focuses on the situation analysis worked out by Aino Laagus in the early 1970s, and introduces the boundaries of structuralism and constructivism in the study of true life stories during the past forty years. Leaving aside the distribution of themes and motifs and genre research methods, the article poses two main questions: (i) what is the situation analysis method and (ii) how can it be applied in contemporary context-centred narrative research. The article primarily demonstrates the relationships between situation analysis and the study of life history and (oral) narrative history

Journey in a Life Story and Pilgrimage: Exploring the Connection between Humans and Place in a First-Person Narrative

This paper will explore the relationship between humans and place mediated in first-person narratives. By focusing on episodes that reveal the change in the ordinary role of the person, we examine how they describe the place and how they perceive the environment in their changed role. Drawing on interviews with a man who has walked a pilgrimage/hiking trail as well as a written life story from the collections of the Estonian Cultural History Archives, we analyse the description of modern journeys and the journeys that took place in the vortex of events during World War II. We suggest that the descriptions of place-making under consideration are related not only to subjective experiences and storytelling skills, but also to more general contexts, such as historical-political, economic, or religious frames. Comparing various kinds of place-making description we attempt to find the universal and context-sensitive aspects of journey descriptions. Finally, based on studies of oral history and cultural borders on the one hand, and pilgrimage studies on the other, a methodological question is asked: how should one apply these research methods and results to place-making research? Combining these research methods has turned out to be fruitful in creating a dialogue between experiences that have been formed in different circumstances, and through this to understand better the factors determining one’s sense of place

Rahvalaul - tekst ja kontekst

"Rahvalaul - tekst ja kontekst" on TÜ kirjanduse ja kultuuriteaduste instituudi täiendusõppe kursus, kus keskendutakse regilaulukujundi mikro- ja makrotasandi omavaheliste seoste vaatlemisele. Tekstianalüüsi kaudu õpitakse täpsemalt tundma nii regilaulu kui ka regilaulu kujundikeelt