End of Irony? Estonian Literature after Postmodernism

In their work published in 2001, “After Postmodernism” (López, Potter 2001), the editors Garry Potter and José López claim that postmodernism was the most influential intellectual trend of the last third of the 20th century, and one of the central trends in the Western cultural-theoretical thinking since the 1960s. Postmodernism managed to grasp the spirit of the time and at the same time challenge self-confidence, presented by the mind, objectivity and knowledge (ib. 3). At the same time the authors have to admit that by the beginning of the 21st century the heyday of postmodernism had passed, postmodernism was in the “stage of decline” and “out of fashion” (ib. 4). Today, in 2011, we have to admit that the early-decade prediction of Potter and López has come true; postmodern society is retreating and the postmodernist theory is on the decline and losing its central role

Arstitudengite vene keele oskus ja selle mõju töökoha valikule – küsitluse kokkuvõte

Eesti Arst 2023; 102(11):620–62

Uurimusi kirjandusest ja kultuurist

Kogumiku saatesõn

Digimodernistlik eesti kirjanik / The Digimodernist Estonian Writer

The article examines the cultural situation following postmodernism in the first decade of the 21st century. To characterise this situation, the umbrella term “post-postmodernism” is used, as well as “neomodernism”, “altermodern”, “metamodernism”, “hypermodernity”, “performatism”, “critical realism” etc. All these approaches are, in a wider sense, united by their aim of opposing postmodernist cynicism and irony, and bringing back truth, simplicity and clarity. It has also been found that literature has returned or is returning to realism, and various cultural phenomena are emerging, which have been designated by the concept “new sincerity”.In descriptions of the current cultural situation, this trend seeking truth and simplicity is supported by approaches which emphasise the significance of technological developments during the last decade. A prominent figure here is Alan Kirby, who launched the term “digimodernism”, mainly linked with the adaptation and spread of Web 2.0 at the beginning of the 21st century: the blogosphere, Wikipedia, Twitter and Facebook.The article seeks answers to the question of whether we can talk about digimodernism in Estonian literature in the 2000s. In the 1990s Estonian writers were quite reluctant to undertake computer-technological experiments, and there are only a few examples of Estonian digital literature, whereas a change occurred in the 2000s. Many Estonian writers have had and still have their own blogs and surprisingly many have joined Facebook. The term “twitterature” is also familiar to Estonian writers. The article tackles the dominant topics in the blogs of Estonian writers and analyses their possible collective creative work on Facebook. A question is raised as to whether it is possible that the fragmentary narrative structure of blogs and Facebook has influenced mainstream literature.The article concludes that one essential change in Estonian literature in the 2000s is writers’ technological leap, active usage of the opportunities offered by Web 2.0 and participation in the web world: blogs, Facebook and Twitter. We can thus claim that a “digimodernist turn” did take place in Estonian culture in the 2000s

Raamat identiteedimärkidest

Martin Ehala monograafia "Identiteedimärgid. Ühtekuuluvuse anatoomia" ilmus kõigepealt inglise keeles Routledge’i kirjastuses (2017, 2018) ja seejärel, 2018. aastal ka eestikeelse tõlkena. Raamatu tähtsus seisneb identiteediproblemaatika toomises teadusliku arutluse keskmesse, omaette tervikliku ja süsteemse identiteediteooria loomises ning ka kollektiivse identiteedi emotsionaalse külje rõhutamises. Ehala raamat aitab mõelda identiteedi teemade üle täpsemas raamistikus ja märgata kollektiivse identiteedi avaldumise vorme ja ühtekuuluvuse emotsionaalseid tahke väga erinevates valdkondades – laiemalt nii poliitikas kui ka argielus või kitsamalt ühiskondlikes institutsioonides (sh haridusasutused)

Üksildus küberruumis: autori individuaalsus ja teksti autonoomia. Solitude in Cyberspace: the Individuality of an Author and the Autonomy of a Text

The keywords in analyses of digital literature and cybertexts (literature that has been created by and is read on a computer) mostly derive from the vocabulary of increasing collectivism: shared authorship, readerviewer interaction, their active participation in creating text etc. However, this article focuses on the opposite phenomenon: the essence of individualism in the process of digital text creation, that is, solitude. At the same time, the paradoxes related to collectivism and solitude are also addressed. In this article, solitude is regarded as a technical term, indicating the number of different agents in a creative process. This primarily means: whether the text can be associated with one author and his intention, or whether authorship is distributed between several people who have participated in the creation of the text, as well as if and how much texts presume activity on the part of the reader. We can claim that when writers write their texts they are usually on their own. A text is born in the writer’s head and he or she needs some kind of form to present it. When the form of literature was mostly what was recorded on paper, we could say that the author formalised his text in solitude – writing alone on pieces of paper. Only after the manuscript was handed in were other participants added, such as the editor, designer and printer, who took part in the completion process of the literary work. However, when the end result of production is not a printed book, but a cyber- or hypertext, we can assume that these relationships change significantly in the case of digital literature. In addition to the author of the text, cybertexts and hypertexts need active co-authors: programmers, designers etc. Creating a cybertext is, therefore, basically a collective act (although there are of course exceptions). The author of a cybertext is no longer the only and unique creator. At the same time, the solitude of a creative work in cyberspace disappears. After publishing a book in print, the text is left alone; it begins living its own life. In cyberspace, on the contrary, connections in various forms between the author, the work and the reader are retained. Alan Kirby has launched the concept of digimodernism, which marks the cultural stage connected with the spread of Web 2.0. The “digimodernist turn”, in the form of blogs, Facebook and Twitter, has also brought about a change for authors of digital literature. The technological simplicity of the new software means that authors no longer need any urgent technical assistance. This again raises the problem of the author’s solitude: he formalises his work in his blog on his own, alone. It might thus seem paradoxical that in the printed world both the author and his work are solitary, whereas in the cyberworld the solitude of creative work vanishes, because it requires interaction between authors and readers. At the same time, the author’s solitude in cyberspace is twofold – creating cybertexts mostly requires assistance, whereas digimodernist blog literature can be produced in solitude, independently. Very few cybertexts in Estonia have been produced as teamwork, with technical assistance. In this article, two showcases have been studied: the hypertextual poem “Trepp” (“Staircase”, 1996) by Hasso Krull and the grand team project Sonetimasin (Sonnet Machine, 2000) by Märt Väljataga, which consists of a book, an Internet text generator and an enormous electromechanical sonnet machine, which was displayed in an art gallery. Considering the technological experimentation of Estonian writers, these two examples are exceptional rather than normal. Estonian authors have traditionally been reluctant to try out computer-technological experiments. However, the digimodernist turn has altered this situation. Many Estonian writers are active bloggers and Facebook users. Estonian writers who were earlier afraid of technology have become very keen on it in the digimodernist world. We think that the reason for this significant change is that Estonian writers wish to be independent. We can claim that Estonian writers want to be solitary in cyberspace, to avoid participating in technological teamwork, and the new and easy technological platforms make it possible. Literature in Estonia therefore, in a way, continues the tradition of the modernist author who does not wish to give up the position of being an individual author. Digimodernist technological simplicity has indeed made possible the organic transfer from printed text to digital literature, which does not endanger the authorial position

Traditsioon ja avangard kirjanduses

Eessõna / Prefac