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This article examines the influence of the Enlightenment on the liturgical life of the Livonian Lutheran Church in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when many clergymen set aside traditional liturgical forms and introduced new ones, based on Enlightenment humanistic principles. It surveys the extent to which the traditional Livonian agenda was still in use at this time and what neological liturgical handbooks were employed in its place. Since the Livonian Church consisted of German, Latvian, and Estonian ethnic groups, the article enquires whether new liturgical forms were also implemented in Latvian and Estonian congregations, which at that time had not yet been affected by the ideas of the Enlightenment.

Siinne doktoritöö käsitleb rahvuskuuluvuse tähendust inimeste ja riigi vahelistes suhetes 20. sajandi esimesel poolel, kasutades näidisvalimina 1941. aastal Eestist Saksamaale ümber asunud inimeste andmeid. Uurimuse eesmärk on selgitada, kas ja kuidas riiklik rahvuspoliitika mõjutas inimeste käitumist ja vastupidi – mil määral mõjutasid inimeste valikud riikide tegevust. Valimisse hõlmatud inimestest suurem osa puutus uuritaval perioodil kokku nelja riigi – Venemaa keisririigi, Eesti Vabariigi, Nõukogude Liidu ja Saksamaa – rahvuspoliitikaga. Nende põhimõtteliselt erineva rahvuspoliitikaga riikide käsitlemine võimaldab tuvastada rahvuse ühiskondliku tähenduse universaalseid jooni. Eesmärgi täitmiseks analüüsiti inimeste eluloolisi andmeid, seadusandlust ja rahvuspoliitikat puudutavat dokumentatsiooni ning ühiskondlikke olusid puudutavaid allikaid. Doktoritööst selgus, et üksikisikute rahvuskuuluvuse formaalne määramine osutus 20. sajandi esimesel poolel keeruliseks nii riikide kui ka inimeste jaoks, sest puudusid selged kriteeriumid viimaste rahvuspõhiseks kategoriseerimiseks, ühtsed arusaamad rahvuste olemusest ning takistav tegur oli ka mõlema poole pragmaatiliste kaalutluste domineerimine rahvuse määramisel. Mida suurem oli rahvuskuuluvuse formaalne tähtsus, seda enam olid üksikisikute valikud tingitud olukorrast ning märksa vähem nende harjumuspärasest keele- ja kultuurikeskkonnast. Seetõttu ei õnnestunud riikidel peaaegu kunagi soovitud määral rakendada essentsialistlikke ja objektiivsusele pretendeerinud rahvuse määramise kriteeriume, isegi kui see oli eesmärk ja taolisi põhimõtteid seadustega kehtestada püüti. Samuti ei olnud riigid objektiivsuse rakendamisel põhimõttelised ja järjekindlad, vaid kohandasid seisukohti vastavalt pragmaatilistele huvidele ning inimeste käitumisele. Üksikisikute valikutel oli riiklikele poliitikatele märkimisväärne mõju, ehkki arvuliselt oli muutliku ja ebamäärase rahvuskuuluvusega inimesi ühiskonnas marginaalselt. This dissertation focuses on the meaning of ethnicity in the relations between individuals and states in the first half of the 20th century using the biographical data of people who resettled from Estonia to Germany in 1941 as a sample. The aim of this study is to explain whether and how ethnopolitics of the states influenced the behaviour of individuals and vice versa – to what extent individual choices influenced state policy. Most people in the sample were affected by the ethnopolitics of four states: Russian Empire, Estonian Republic, Soviet Union, and Germany. Analysing the states with fundamentally different ethnopolitics enables to identify universal characteristics of the role of ethnicity in the society. To fulfil the aim, biographical data, legislation, and documentation about ethnopolitics as well as sources about the social conditions were analysed. The dissertation shows that fixing individuals’ ethnicity turned out to be difficult for both parties – the states and individuals – since there were no clear criteria for ethnic categorisation and no common understanding about the nature of ethnicity. Pragmatic considerations of both parties also turned out to be an obstacle. The more formal importance ethnicity had, the more individuals made choices dependent on the situation and not so much on their customary lingual and cultural environment. Therefore, the states almost always failed to implement essentialist and objective criteria in fixing individuals’ ethnicity in a desired manner, even if such criteria were their aim and established by law. Furthermore, the authorities of the states were neither principled nor consistent in applying objective criteria. The states had to adapt their stances to their own pragmatic interests and according to the behaviour of individuals instead. Thus, individual choices had a remarkable impact on ethnopolitics, although people with dynamic and vague ethnic identity formed a marginal group in the society. https://www.ester.ee/record=b5450809

The aim of the paper is to show the Polish story of the COVID-19 pandemic as seen through a humorous looking glass. Different stages of coronavirus presence in the media and social discourse have been accompanied by the appearance and development of jokes and memes, which illustrate the rapidly changing pandemic situation. The database consists of over three hundred memes, movies, and comments collected between February and May 2020, during the pandemic humour peak, and come mainly from private WhatsApp and Facebook accounts of the researchers. The humorous material is related to introduced restrictions, changing laws, parliamentary elections, news from other affected countries as well as seasons and festive times - especially Easter - occurring in the same period of time. The universal themes present in the humorous material travelling around the world are complemented by the strictly culturally immersed topics, reflecting the specific social and political situation in Poland. The analysis undertaken in the article focuses on various kinds of mechanisms which involve intertextuality (allusions) as well as complexity of references that function as sources of humour, with special attention being paid to cultural references, for example, films, paintings, references to political life, including those of the life under socialism as well as universal themes, such as animal memes. © 2021 Eesti Keele InstituutAƒÂ‚A‚Â. All rights reserved.

The article gives an overview of the folk culture mechanisms that helped to cope with the pandemic situation in Belorussia during the first wave of COVID-19 (until midsummer 2020). The article is based on the qualitative analysis of interview texts related to the pandemic as well as the content of internet users' visual reactions (memes, poems, proverbs). In folk culture the mechanisms helping to overcome the crisis situation often have a ritual-magical nature. When describing the influence of the pandemic on some practices, the authors conclude that their performing in the crisis situation was especially important for the community. One of the ancient rituals activated for preventing the epidemic was the creation of a magic circle around the village by conducting a procession around the village with a ritual towel ('rushnik-abydzionnik'), which had to be made within one day. On March 28, this one-day-ritual was performed in Minsk with the greatest possible adherence to tradition. The initiators and participants of the practice were mainly representatives of the Students Ethnographic Society. Not all women present knew how to spin or weave, but some of the simplest operations were mastered. The towel was carried around Minsk and brought to a stone on the site of a pagan temple in the centre of Minsk at the sunset. The towel was tied around the stone, and the latter was also covered with threads spun on the same day. The ritual relieved the tension of the participants and fostered awareness of their solidarity, strengthening collective networks, and the feeling of empathy and unity. COVID-19 also affected the living traditions in Belarus. Some traditional practices were cancelled or postponed. The spread of the pandemic created a negative backdrop for living traditions. However, a number of rites and ceremonies were carried out despite the pandemic in accordance with their spatial and temporal reference. Due to the difficult epidemiological situation, the usual order of ceremonies was changed - their duration was reduced without changing the traditional rite structure. Only local residents participated in the rituals;although, formerly, many journalists and tourists had come to the villages from different parts of the country on the days of the ceremonies. For tradition bearers, such practices during a pandemic are a way to relieve stress and to share problems with people with similar interests. Traditions are one of the constants of their life;maintaining them in times of crises stabilizes the community. The coronavirus pandemic has caused a powerful explosion of folk art. The texts of various genres, both oral and written (graphic), are rapidly spreading on the Internet. A large number of them are based on the traditional worldview of Belarusians and are expressed in traditional forms (alterations, ditties, anecdotes, anti-sayings, paroemias, etc.). The role of humour has grown tremendously. Jokes and laughter in the face of an external threat are a compensatory mechanism that helps to overcome fear and uncertainty, and common laughter unites and helps to learn new rules of behaviour. Humour is not concerned with the threat of getting ill, but rather individual hygiene practices, the situation of quarantine, and circumstances of the new reality. Thus, humorous folklore becomes a way to adapt to new norms and to overcome fear and instability. © 2021 Eesti Keele InstituutAƒÂ‚A‚Â. All rights reserved.

Can a country with a constant state of emergency in its capital – as was the case in Estonia in 1918–1934 – be considered a democracy? Or a country where political violence is used against members of a parliamentary committee during a committee meeting – as was the case in Finland in 1930? Why did the Estonian Social Democrats support the 1934 coup and why did the Finnish Swedes defend the Finnish Communists? Why could Estonia not find any allies except Latvia in the 1920s and 1930s, and why was Finland left without allies in the Winter War? Why did Estonia and Finland not behave in the same way in the autumn of 1939, and why did the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand declare war on Finland in 1941? The answers to these questions lie in the relationships between democracy and security, which is exactly the topic of my dissertation. Based on the works of different philosophers, it is possible to show that democracy and security are interdependent. The relationship between democracy and security can be reduced to the classic dilemmas between freedom and security, freedom and sovereignty, and sovereignty and security. Although it is not possible to solve these dilemmas definitively, the solution can be improved indefinitely. I argue that the way in which democratic societies resolve these dilemmas does not depend on democratic culture or on the wisdom inherent in people, but on the perceptions of the majorities of democratic societies, which in turn depend primarily on historical experience. The theoretical explanation proposed in my dissertation helps to understand why Estonia’s and Finland’s quests for security failed in 1918–1948 and why Estonia and Finland made different choices at the turning points of their history. The behaviour of Estonia’s leaders during the events of 1939 and 1940 also becomes understandable. Hopefully, my dissertation will contribute to a fair judgement of the activities of Konstantin Päts and Johan Laidoner, and to reconciling Estonian society on the question of whether they were heroes or villains. However, the most important aim is to contribute to an understanding of just how fragile democracy and security can be, how they depend on each other and, in particular, how they depend on historical experience. Kas saab pidada demokraatlikuks riiki, mille pealinnas kehtib pidev erakorraline seisukord – nagu oli Eesti aastatel 1918–1934? Või riiki, kus parlamendikomisjoni liikmete vastu kasutatakse poliitilist vägivalda komisjoni istungi toimumise ajal – nagu oli Soome aastal 1930? Miks Eesti sotsiaaldemokraadid toetasid 1934. aasta riigipööret ja miks soomerootslased kaitsesid Soome kommuniste? Miks ei õnnestunud 1920-ndate ja 1930-ndate Eestil leida ühtegi liitlast peale Läti ja miks jäi Soome talvesõjas ilma liitlasteta? Miks Eesti ja Soome 1939. aasta sügisel ühtemoodi ei käitunud ja miks Ühendkuningriik, Kanada, Austraalia ja Uus-Meremaa 1941. aastal Soomele sõja kuulutasid? Vastus peitub demokraatia ja julgeoleku vahelistes seostes, mida minu väitekiri uuribki. Erinevate filosoofide töödele tuginedes on võimalik näidata, et demokraatia ja julgeolek sõltuvad vastastikku üksteisest. Demokraatia ja julgeoleku vaheline seos on taandatav klassikalistele dilemmadele vabaduse ja julgeoleku, vabaduse ja suveräänsuse ja suveräänsuse ja julgeoleku vahel. Kuigi dilemmasid ei ole võimalik lõplikult lahendada, on lahendust võimalik lõputult täiustada. Ma väidan, et see, kuidas demokraatlikud ühiskonnad neid dilemmasid lahendavad, ei sõltu mitte demokraatlikust kultuurist või rahvale omasest tarkusest, vaid demokraatlike ühiskondade enamuste arusaamadest, mis omakorda sõltuvad eelkõige ajaloolisest kogemusest. Minu väitekirjas välja pakutud teoreetiline selgitus aitab mõista, miks Eesti ja Soome julgeolekuotsingud aastatel 1918–1948 läbi kukkusid ja miks Eesti ja Soome oma ajaloo pöördepunktides erinevaid valikuid tegid. Mõistetavaks muutub ka Eesti riigijuhtide käitumine 1939. ja 1940. aasta sündmuste ajal. Loodetavasti aitab minu väitekiri kaasa õiglase hinnangu andmisele Konstantin Pätsi ja Johan Laidoneri tegevusele ja Eesti ühiskonna lepitamisele küsimuses, kas tegemist oli kangelaste või kurjategijatega. Kõige tähtsam on siiski aidata kaasa mõistmisele, kuivõrd haprad võivad olla demokraatia ja julgeolek, kuidas nad vastastikku üksteisest sõltuvad ja eriti – kuidas nad sõltuvad ajaloolisest kogemusest. https://www.ester.ee/record=b5391015

The broader source material for this article is the Soviet-era correspondence of the Folklore Department (FD) of the Fr. R. Kreutzwald State Literary Museum, today the Estonian Folklore Archive of the Estonian Literary Museum. This collection consists of letters and postcards of nearly 400 people, as well as transcripts of the FD staff letters to their contributors. The total volume amounts to roughly 4,000 pages and mainly covers the period from the 1950s to the first half of the 1990s. The article also discusses the contributions of Virumaa correspondents Mary Kaasik and Gustav Kallasto to the department, more specifically the folk medicine material collected by them, and focuses on Kaasik and Kallasto’s correspondence with the department, with the main emphasis on the personal health issues in their letters. Mary Kaasik and Gustav Kallasto were among those who collected folk medicine material according to the 1959 survey plan, assembled in co-operation with the folklorists and medical doctors. Assessing the total amount of material collected by Kaasik and Kallasto (over 3300 pages), the folk medicine material is not very large (over 200 pages), but it is one of the topics in which Mary Kaasik and Gustav Kallasto wrote down personal knowledge or experiences. The correspondence shows that their health problems were constantly reflected both in their letters and as short comments among traditional folk medicine material. Mary Kaasik was more inclined towards sharing her problems and personal knowledge and was the one who wrote to the department on behalf of both collectors. In general, it is concluded that personal health has been an important topic in the letters of the contributors to the folklore department. Health problems were a major obstacle to commuting and attending seminars; so messages about the health of oneself, one’s relatives or other collectors or informants are part of the content of the letters. On the other hand, health also comes to the fore in the letters of folklorists, who in turn informed their contributors about their own or their colleagues’ health, if deemed necessary. At the same time, writing about health issues creates an interesting dialogue thread between the correspondents and the folklorists, with mutual encouragement and pleas to take care of one’s health. Thus, a rather personal life goes hand in hand with the practical requirements stated in letters on collecting and archiving. Thus, much data on health can be found in the department’s correspondence. Health-related messages are personal and trusting, the majority of correspondents did not have internal obstacles to share their health worries and to enquire for folklorists’ health. It meant sharing problems and probably provided some well-deserved mental relief. On the other hand, these kinds of letters also show the correspondents’ sense of mission – even when they were off sick, they were eager to get back to the field again.

Peer reviewed

QC 20200415

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This PhD thesis examines the Baltic art field during the Enlightenment, focusing on the amateur pictorial legacy. By turning our attention from the professional-institutional art world, which was still quite limited in the 18th century, to the broader circle of dilettanti, and from artistically high-quality pictures to everyday drawing practices (travel and scientific drawings, cartographical records, pictures related to local history and archaeology, journal vignettes, etc), the sudden increase of art appreciation and drawing skills among the Baltic nobility and educated class in the second half of the 18th century has been traced, along with the noteworthy role played by pictorial media during the Baltic Enlightenment. In the thesis, this change of perspective and a certain re-evaluation of the descriptive patterns related to the local art field help to highlight the special features of Baltic art, by allowing the limited aesthetic quality and the modest creative flight of the early local pictorial legacy to be treated without an inferiority complex and for its inherently Enlightenment-based pragmatic attitude and applied nature to be viewed as one of the main features of Baltic German art culture. Along with the mapping of the local art lovers’ pictorial experiences and prototypes, the topographies of Baltic sights and landscapes that were the most important and most characteristic pictorial genre of the Baltic Enlightenment, and which created the local visual identity, are examined. Various articles explore the aspect of female dilettanti, the theme of art collections and the art market, and provide a view based on the history of mentality as it relates to the various functions and art/artist positions in Baltic society. Attention is separately paid to distinguishing between an artist’s hobby and artist’s profession and the awareness thereof in the Baltic mentality; and to several, cultural self-determinations that developed locally during the Enlightenment, and which continued to feed the amateur, Enlightenment-based and pragmatic attitude toward artistic creation during the 19th century. Doktoritöö võtab vaatluse alla Balti valgustusaegse kunstivälja, keskendudes harrastuslikule pildipärandile. Pöörates fookuse 18.sajandi veel tagasihoidlikult professionaalselt-institutsionaalselt kunstielult laiemale harrastajate ringile ja kunstiliselt kõrgetasemelistelt piltidelt harrastuslikele, argistele, rakenduslikele joonistuspraktikatele (reisi- ja teadusjoonistused, kartograafilised ülestähendused, koduloolised ja muinasteaduslikud pildid, päevikuvinjetid jpm) on jälgitud kunstitundmise ja joonistusoskuse hüppelist kasvu Balti aadli- ja haritlaskonna seas 18.sajandi teisel poolel – ja veel enam, pildimeedia märkimisväärset rolli Balti valgustuses. Selline vaatenurga muutmine ja seniste kohalikku kunstivälja kirjeldavate mustrite teatav ümbermängimine on töös abiks balti kunsti erijoonte esiletoomisel, lubades alaväärsuskompleksita käsitleda siinse varase pildipärandi vähest esteetilist kvaliteeti ja madalat loomelendu ning hinnata sellele omast valgustuslik-pragmaatilist suhtumist ja rakenduslikku-harrastuslikku iseloomu kui baltisaksa kunstikultuuri ühte põhijoont. Koos siinsete harrastajate pildikogemuse ja -eeskujude kaardistamisega võetakse fookusesse Balti valgustuskunsti kõige tähtsam ja iseloomulikum, kohalikku visuaalset identiteeti loov pildižanr – muististe ja vaatamisväärsuste pildilised topograafiad ning maastikujoonistused. Erinevates artiklites lisandub naisuurimuse aspekt, kunstikogude ja –turu teema ning mentaliteediajaloost lähtuv pilk joonistamise erinevatele funktsioonidele ja kunsti/kunstniku positsioonile Balti ühiskonnas. Omaette tähelepanu saavad kunstiharrastuse ja kunstnikuprofessiooni eristamine ja teadvustamine balti mentaliteedis ning mitmed just valgustusajas siinmail väljakujunenud kultuurilised enesedeterminatsioonid, mis jäävad harrastuslikku, valgustuslik-pragmaatilist suhtumist kunstiloomesse toitma ka 19. sajandi edenedes. Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone https://www.ester.ee/record=b5249289~S1