Transgressiivse kirjanduse poeetikast (I) - Näiteid eesti nüüdiskirjandusest
On the poetics of transgressive literature (I) - Some examples from contemporary Estonian literature

Some examples from contemporary Estonian literature

Summary/Abstract: Transgressive poetics is a genre-appropriate selection of devices to describe deviant behaviour and phenomena regulated by prohibitions. The article presents a two-level approach starting from the theoretical framework of transgressive literature, which is subsequently filled in with examples of transgression found in contemporary Estonian literature. At first, the general concept of transgression is discussed based on Georges Bataille, which is followed by the description of a transgressive work of literature as an event formatted by provocation and scandal. The transgressive nature of the conditions and phenomena ousted from this or that culture is also explained using Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection and the concept of Carnival as influenced by Mikhail Bakhtin’s oeuvre. In contemporary Estonian literature the transgressive element emerges in the period 1996–1998, when several works (e.g., in the first place Sven Kivisildnik’s Eesti Nõukogude Kirjanike Liit 1981. aasta seisuga, olulist („The Estonian Soviet Writers’ Union as in 1981: the essentials”), Peeter Sauter’s Kõhuvalu („Stomach-ache”) and Lauakõne („Toast”), and also Toomas Vint’s opening works of his post-modern period and Kaur Kender’s Iseseisvuspäev („Independence Day”) provoked a lively controversy spreading beyond literary life. Kaur Kender’s novel „Check Out” of 2001 can be regarded as emblematic of the transgression aesthetics of the time. In the Estonian literature published after the restoration of independence the recurrent transgressive themes include taboos of depicting sexuality and violence, to a somewhat lesser degree also criticism of national sanctity, addictive behaviour and gay identity. From the aspect of genre poetics the transgressive experience of contemporary Estonian literature reveals a gradual increase of graphicality and the visualizable element in descriptions, while depiction of taboo themes may easily involve parody reversing certain social mythologies. Another prominent device of transgressional poetics is reflexivity, which means the presence of a narrative level to explain the reasons and consequences of the transgression. The latest boom of transgression aesthetics in contemporary Estonian literature is mostly associated with Kender’s novel „Untitled 12” (2014), which has even led to court action.

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