An Introduction to the Early Reception of World Literature in Estonia

Abstract

For decades, Estonian literary scholars have expressed the need for research in the field of our own translation history in order to explain different aspects of the reception of world literature and to treat the history of Estonian translated literature as a separate discourse in the context of national literature as well as Estonian cultural history in general. This article precedes the first attempt at extracting the existing knowledge of Estonian translation history and supplementing it with any new discoveries from literary archives. The article aims to present an introduction to Estonian translation history and covers the period up to the year 1900. It gives an overview of the beginning of the tradition of translation in Estonia from the earliest religious texts in the 16th century to adaptations of pedagogical and popular works, and to the emergence of new principles of faithful rendition of high literature. The article also touches upon the first Estonian professional translators, the reception of foreign literature and the influence of translations on Estonian literature, folklore, and mentality, thus forming the basis for the art of literary translation in the 20th century.