KIRJANDUSE AUHINDAMISED EESTIS: ESIMESED KATSED 1887–1917
Literary awards in Estonia: the first attempts during 1887–1917

Summary/Abstract: Awarding literary prizes has always attracted public attention. However, the matter has hardly received sufficient attention in literary studies. The few articles in encyclopaedia and the notes available only reflect controversial opinions about the subject. The theoretical base for studying literary awards is provided first and foremost by authors dealing with cultural and literary sociology. The theory used the most often is P. Bourdieu’s approach to the literary system as a literary field. However, here J. Lotman’s cultural semiotic approach seems to be more dynamic and more general, enabling us to regard literary awards as a self-descriptive mechanism that organises the literary structure creating a hierarchy. The present article attempts to study the Estonian literary awards in 1887– 1917, analysing the process of literary awarding as based on the first awards distributed by the first two literary societies of Estonia. The following aspects of the awarding process have been examined: the title of the award and the issuing authority, the purpose and ceremony of the award, the jury and assessment, the role of the media in the process, and the reputation and impact of the award. The first awarding of Estonian literature was conducted by the Society of Estonian Literati (Eesti Kirjameeste Selts) in 1887. It was organized similarly to literary competitions as the writers were to send in their works in order to take part in the ceremony. The event was organised in the form of a festival as the competing works were performed on stage. The purpose of the awards was to fight against the popular low-quality literature, to create a list of exemplary works and to educate the readers. Although competitions also took place in fields unrelated to literature and the work of the juries was criticized, most of the authors awarded can be counted as the most important writers of the period. The awards distributed by the Estonian Literary Society (Eesti Kirjanduse Selts) were more up to date, evaluating the whole literary production of the previous year. The year 1912 brought the biggest scandal in the history of Estonian literary awards, as E. Vilde felt insulted by the grant received instead of a literary prize. At the same time literary awards were also distributed by the Estonian Society of Public Education (Eestimaa Rahvahariduse Selts), but this only happened twice. The tradition of literary awards in the late 19th and early 20th century is too short and fragmentary to enable any far-reaching general conclusions. Also, the social and literary background changed a lot during those 20 years. The major common feature of the first awarding ceremonies was their aim, which was to raise the quality of the young national literature and to educate the readership. The choices made by the literary juries at the time can be acknowledged, as most of the awarded authors and their masterpieces still belong to the Estonian literary can

• Details
• Contents