Nõukogude aja keerises: Irma Truupõllu lugu
Caught in the Soviet turmoil: The story of Irma Truupõld

Summary/Abstract: Irma Truupõld (1903-1980) began publishing short stories and poetry for both children and adults at the age of twenty. Four of her children’s books came out in print in the mid-1930s: Rohelise Päikese Maa (The Land of the Green Sun), Öömori okas­linn (The Needle City of Öömori), Aadi esimene armastus (Aadi’s First Love) and Kuidas jõuluvana leidis endale ameti (How Father Christmas Found His Profession). Of these, the first two are held in the highest regard and have remained her most popular works. Unfortunately, Truupõld’s literary career was cut short by the Soviet occupation and the establishment of Socialist Realism as the official artistic doctrine shortly thereafter. Critics found her fantastic stories to be ill-suited for Soviet children and accused Rohelise Päikese Maa of „bourgeois propaganda”. This resulted in a nearly twenty-year-long gap in the reception of Truupõld’s texts, the consequences of which are still felt today. She has regained her good reputation over time, but seems destined to stay in the periphery of the Estonian literary canon.

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