*tuule makett - Infopoint Estonian Culture

2 8 / These Songs and Stories
tion held on the farm. And all of these in the ancient intonations
of the language.
Here, at the crossroads between the old and the new, is the
suitable moment to take a short detour via our dialect literature,
one of the pillars of Estonian literature. Dialect literature
in the modern sense of the term probably began with Juhan
Liiv who occasionally used fragments of the local Kodavere
dialect. Villem Grünthal-Ridala sometimes wrote in the western
island dialects. Marie Under’s husband, her “loyal page”
Artur Adson (1899–1977) from the Siuru movement and Juhan
Jaik (1899–1948) regularly used the Võru dialect. Hen(d)rik
Adamson (1891–1946) was the ludic master of the Mulgimaa
dialect. Among writers in exile, the most consistent dialect
users were Raimond Kolk (1924–1992) who also came from the
province of Võrumaa and Elmar Vrager (born 1916) from the
island of Hiiumaa. Eha Lättemäe (born 1922) wrote in the Tarvastu
dialect during the post-war years. The list could be
extended, since many other writers have tried their hand at
writing dialect. Such a return to the language of ancient tradition
in an epoch of general rootlessness can be viewed as a
kind of radicalism. The focal point of dialect literature today
is the Võru Institute where scholars are working on the creation
of a Võru literary language. Dialect literature tends,
wherever it is written, towards a certain gentleness of emotion,
with words caressing the ear even when the meaning is at
its harshest.
We have now arrived at the present. One of the youngest
established writers is Elo Viiding (born 1974), the daughter of
the late Juhan Viiding, and who commands as much attention
as Triin Soomets (born 1969). Elo Viiding’s intellectually playful
poetry has a special way of criticising society at large, and
never fails to reach out beyond what is merely journalistic.
The punk poetry of the late 1980s and early 1990s is at the
forefront and is closely related to mu Harsh political protest
stood alongside romantic anarchism and black humour. The
works of the Tartu Young Authors’ Association (Tartu Noorte
Autorite Koondis) are the heirs of punk, and of Priidu Beier’s
poetic style. Another group in Tartu, the Hermits’ Circle (Erakkond)
represent a different type of poetry which varies from
member to member. The keywords are aesthetic stylisation,
intertextuality, religiosity, sensitivity and nature.
One brand new group is the Tallinn Young Creators
(Tallinna Noored Tegijad) will soon step out into the public