Kirjanduskriitika XXI sajandi kaheksandal aastal: lühikesest pikani, üksikasjast üldistuseni
Literary Criticism in the Eighth Year of the 21st Century: from Brief toExtensive, from Detail to Global View

Summary/Abstract: Estonian literary criticism published in 2008 is analysed. Comparison of the annual book reviews of the past few years reveals that the condition of literary criticism is a little better than four or five years ago, which does not apply, however, to the situation of two or three years ago. Some theoreticians speak of a crisis allegedly ruling in Estonian literary criticism ever since the beginning of this century, but this is largely a viewpoint issue. One should better accept the specific points bound to the smallness of the Estonian community, without necessarily regarding them as faults. On the one hand, in both of our leading cultural maga zines, Looming and Vikerkaar, there is a noticeable overlap in the lists of authors and reviewers, but on the other hand, the lists are different for the two magazines, and so is the criticism. In Looming it tends to sound more conservative, whereas the authors attracted by Vikerkaar are, on average, a little younger and their position is slightly more to the left. The form of criticism cultivated — quite a classical review — is nevertheless the same for both magazines. Literary criticism can also be found in Estonian newspapers. In dailies the length of the reviews is strongly limited, which stimulates the reviewers to exert themselves to pack more meaning into their short text. Long articles — up to 1500 words — are accepted only by the cultural weekly Sirp, and this is where the most fascinating book reviews of 2008 where published. Those were certainly not restricted to just one book, but revealed the philosophic, aesthetic and moral views of the authors on a broader and more abstract scale, or provided a comparative analysis of several books. If the latter approach gained more ground in Estonian literary criticism in the future, it would be a welcome development indeed.

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