ACROSS THE BORDERS: UNFOLDING THE PERSONALITY OF CREATIVE INTELLECTUALS THROUGH THEIR CORRESPONDENCE – THE EPISTOLARY HERITAGE OF TUUDUR VETTIK
ACROSS THE BORDERS: UNFOLDING THE PERSONALITY OF CREATIVE INTELLECTUALS THROUGH THEIR CORRESPONDENCE – THE EPISTOLARY HERITAGE OF TUUDUR VETTIK

Summary/Abstract: This article analyses the correspondence (1959–1975) between two outstanding Estonian cultural figures – the conductors Roland Laasmäe and Tuudur Vettik, and the correspondence (1955–1967) of Tuudur Vettik with his wife Lonni Vettik-Paigaline. For a researcher, reading private correspondence reveals a confidential world, describing times and circumstances long past. Letters that were not meant for the public eye, tell the truth about life, describe the inner realm of the writer and open up a window to his personal experiences and innermost reflections. They allow the capturing of the writer’s frame of mind, his concealed motifs and goals. Correspondence can fill in the blank areas in the knowledge and interpretation of history, can cast light on behind-the-scenes life and give valuable information about complicated historical times. The correspondence of these two intellectuals is a fascinating example of the school of correspondence. Vettik’s letters, written to his wife from prison, are open-hearted and sincere; yet with a brutal vocabulary, they give a figurative description of life in a Gulag prison camp in Siberia.

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