Research
Research
topics of the folklorists of the University
of Tartu represent both
the diachronic and synchronic approach. Folklore studies in Estonia have
mainly been philologically oriented, i.e. most of them are based on the manuscript
collections of the Estonian Folklore Archives. Besides archival research,
fieldwork is undertaken by most of the folklorists, who thus have experience
in recording the material and creating sources for future scholarship. A
growing interest in contemporary folklore has brought into focus new genres in
addition to the "classical" ones of the traditional peasants'
society. It has become a tradition in Estonia that folklorists also study
popular religion, now a field of lively interest after the lethargy of the
Soviet times. The comparative approach, based on the traditions of the
geographic-historical school, is still dominant, but new aspects, theoretical
insights and research problems have broadened the range of folkloristics.
Paul Hagu is an expert of folk traditions of the Orthodox Setus
in South Eastern Estonia. He researches their bridal laments and currently
compiles a new anthology of Setu folklore. Tiiu Jaago works
on the poetics of runo songs and studies family as a
tradition bearer from a historical point of view. She has investigated the
ethnic minorities in North Eastern Estonia and studied the concept of folklore
(rahvaluule)
and its changes in Estonian folkloristic discourse. Risto Järv studies Estonian fairy-tales; he has published articles
on every-day credos that are spread in contemporary society. His monograph on
the early history of Estonian folkloristics (the work
of Kr. J. Peterson at the beginning of the 19th century) is expected
to be published soon. Merili Metsvahi studies the beliefs about werewolf and
compiles an academic edition of these legends. Ülo Valk continues research into religious
syncretism and demonology of folk religion, mainly based on the analysis and
interpretation of Estonian legends. His other area of interest is mythology and
folk religion in India.
The entire staff of the department
is involved in the research project “Processes
of Every-Day Culture in Estonia in Historical and Synchronic Perspective”
(in co-operation with the ethnologists and archaeologists of Tartu University).
Two projects are supported by the Estonian Science Foundation: Ülo Valk is responsible for the
project “The Legend as a Folklore Genre”
(2000-2003), Risto Järv is leading the
project of compiling the anthology of Estonian fairy-tales (1999-2008).
In recent years several international symposiums have been organised by the Department of
Estonian and Comparative Folklore. In May 1999 a symposium “Folklore and the Politics of
Heritage” was organised in co-operation with the
department of folklore studies, University
of Helsinki. In August
1999 an international summer school “Rethinking the
Third Millennium” was arranged by the Tartu-NEFA group.
In April 2002 a
joint Estonian-Scottish conference of young folklorists was held at the University of Edinburgh
(“Current Research Themes in Folkloristics
and Ethnology in Scotland
and Estonia:
Methodology and Findings"). Later in April an other
conference, dedicated the research of Uralic religions, was arranged in Tartu (“Sacred and Profane in the Dialogue of Cultures: Ritual and Generic
Aspects”). The
Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore publishes “Studies in Folklore and
Popular Religion” (Vol. 1:1996, Vol. 2-3:1999).
Folklore Studies at the University
of Tartu: Past and
Present
The University
of Tartu was founded as Academia Dorpatensis (Gustaviana) in 1632
and is one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe.
It was closed due to the Great Northern War and reopened in 1802. Nowadays the
university has 11 faculties, the academic staff consists of about 1000 people,
and there are more than 15000 students, including hundreds from foreign
countries. The Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore is part of the Institute of Literature and Folklore in the Faculty
of Philosophy. The first professor of folklore Walter Anderson worked in Tartu between 1919 and
1939. After the Second World War folkloristics was
subsumed under the studies of Estonian literature and the two fields were
administratively united. Since 1974 Eduard Laugaste
held the professorship in folklore. His main fields of research were Estonian runo songs and historiography of folkloristics.
The University of Tartu
has undergone substantial rearrangements since Estonia regained her independence.
The Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore was re-established in 1993.
Since then the programme of folklore studies has significantly widened its
scope: e.g. more than 25 different courses are offered in 2002/2003; the
number of lecturers has also increased, new fields of research have been introduced
and several dissertations submitted.
In 1997 the folklorists of Tartu University
moved to the historical building in the centre of the town where alma mater began its work in 1802. Today
the building houses offices for the department’s academic staff and there is also a special room for
the library comprising more than 5000 volumes. In spring 1997 the Board of the
Nordic Institute of Folklore (NIF) in Turku
donated a large part of their library to the department of folklore in Tartu. Prof. Reimund Kvideland, Director of
NIF, visited Tartu
to deliver this valuable gift which nowadays is used both by students and by
professional folklorists. Further acquisitions to the library are one of the
priorities: books are being bought and ordered from abroad, and there are
arrangements for the exchange of publications with several institutions. The
staff is grateful for donations, the largest of which have come from Dr. David
Elton Gay (Bloomington), Dr. Ülo
Tedre (Tallinn) and
the late Prof. Leea Virtanen (Helsinki). The generous support received from
the Open Estonia Foundation in order to develop folkloristics
should be mentioned in this context as well.
Folklore Courses
The lecture
courses and seminars at the Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore
cover the theory and history of folkloristics,
poetics and typology of folk songs, minor genres such as proverbs and riddles,
folk tales and legends, contemporary folklore, family traditions, popular
religion and mythology. Some courses are dedicated to the folklore and
mythology of other peoples: the students can become acquainted with Russian,
Scandinavian and Baltic-Finnic (Finnish, Karelian, Vepsian, Votic)
oral traditions. It has become a requirement for the students of folklore to do
some practical work in the Estonian Folklore Archives; most of
them collect material for their seminar and BA papers there. Fieldwork trips to Estonian parishes
are organised annually which is an obligatory part of academic studies of
folklore. Folklore can be studied up to the level of MA or PhD. (It is
necessary to collect 160 credits to graduate with the BA degree; after 2-3
years of further studies and submitting a dissertation, the MA degree is
awarded. PhD is the highest academic degree available.) As of autumn term 2002,
there are thirteen post-graduate students at MA level, and ten at the PhD
level. Their topics of research range from subjects such as the studies of Udmurtian folklore and Estonian fairy-tales, legends,
beliefs and runo songs, to the history of folkloristics.
The language of instruction is Estonian but every term
some lectures or even full courses are delivered in English by guest lecturers. In 1997 Prof. Vilmos Voigt from Budapest
lectured on Hungarian folklore and mythology, Prof. Christian Lindtner from Copenhagen
delivered lectures on myth and history, while the topic of Dr. Mihály Hoppál from Budapest has been
Eurasian shamanism and ethnosemiotics. In spring 1998
Dr. Laura Stark-Arola from Helsinki
lectured on the world of supernatural in Finnish folklore and Dr. S. Lourdusamy from Indore gave
a series of lectures on folk religions in India. (Dr. S. Lourdusamy visited the University of Tartu also in spring
1996 when his topic was folklore and mythology in contemporary India.)
In September 1998 Prof. Rüdiger Schott from Bonn lectured on oral traditions and religion of the
people in Northern Ghana, in November 1998 Dr. Ezekiel Alembi
from Nairobi
lectured on African folklore. The topic of Prof. Tatiana Vladykina
(Izhkar) was Udmurtian
folklore (Oct. 1999). The topic of Prof. Leander Petzoldt
(Innsbruck) was
the tales and legends of the Grimm brothers (April 2000).
Staff
Paul Hagu, assistant professor, PhD, Tel. 372 7 376 214, e-mail: paul.hagu@ut.ee
Tiiu Jaago, assistant professor, PhD, Tel. 372
7 375 214, e-mail: tiiu.jaago@ut.ee
Risto Järv, senior researcher, Dr. phil, Tel. 372 7 376 214, e-mail: risto@haldjas.folklore.ee
Kristin Kuutma, professor, Dr. phil, Tel. 372 7 375 304, e-mail: merili@ut.ee
Helen Kästik, assistant, Tel. 372 7 375 304, e-mail: helen.kastik@ut.ee
Merili Metsvahi, researcher, MA, Tel. 372 7 375 654, e-mail: merili@ut.ee
Elo-Hanna Seljamaa, referent, MA, Tel.
372 7 375 304, e-mail: elo-hanna.seljamaa@ut.ee
Ülo Valk, professor,
Dr. phil, Tel. 372 7 375
310, e-mail: ulo.valk@ut.ee