Ühistransport eesti kirjanduses
Public transport in Estonian literature

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the depiction of urban transport in Estonian fiction from the second half of the 19th century to the present day. Examples from the prose of Eduard Vilde, A. H. Tammsaare, Peet Vallak, Raimond Kaugver, Mati Unt, Mats Traat, Holger Kaints, Veronika Kivisilla and some other authors have been analysed, pointing out the rich variety of aspects the description of public transport offers to authors for creating, mediating and interpreting urban environment. The prevalent fictional coverage of Tallinn public transport is compared with two Estonian descriptions of dream trams by Paavo Matsin and Maarja Pärtna, supplemented by examples from the blook (i.e. blog-based book) of American bus driver Nathan Vass. The literary works are discussed along the timeline of the developing network of urban public transport (in Tallinn mainly) since the introduction of horse tram in 1888. The theoretical framework stems from Bart Keunen’s physics-inspired theory of states of aggregation, which enables observation of the growth and development of a city (including literary ones) as a space of social activity. Based on Keunen’s phases, the evolution of Tallinn public transport is seen as part of the growth of an old commercial town into a booming industrial city with remote suburbs. Those processes are also reflected in fiction. The current depiction of the city, however, relates to Keunen’s latest stage called plasma city, where the city image is being mediated by virtual media, social media or blog posts to be transformed into a b(l)ook later.

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