Rahvluulekogujate elulood Jakob Hurda rahvaluulekogus
Life stories of Jakob Hurt’s folklore correspondents

Summary/Abstract: The focus of this article is on the life writing practices of the members of Jakob Hurt’s folklore collecting network. Jakob Hurt’s campaign of folklore collecting started in 1888. About a year later he felt that the process of collecting was as important as the collected texts and so he asked his correspondents to send him some details about their lives. Hurt’s aim was to publish a special book about the history of the campaign and the people who participated. Though Hurt never wrote the book, the results of his plea are still interesting in many respects. First, as Hurt’s instructions were rather vague, it is interesting to observe how differently various writers have tackled the task – some texts consist of two sentences embedded in a longer letter, some others are clearly delineated texts with a title and conclusions, taking several pages. Some texts resemble life stories presented in bureaucratic settings, some others seem to be inspired by the confessional life stories in religious movements. Secondly, it seems that for many Hurt’s co-workers it was the first time ever to write about themselves. It is therefore really intriguing to see how they overcome the feeling that the story of their life is hardly something worth recording. In the article I discuss the main themes covered in the writings of many correspondents, as well as the way these narratives are embbeded in their folklore collections. Further, I am interested in the potential addressee they keep in mind while writing.

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