Eesti ideoloogia 1970. aastate Välis-Eesti mõtteloos

Abstract

Towards an Estonian Ideology:
Debates among Estonians Abroad in the 1970s

The goal of this article is to trace articulations of Estonian ideology
in the 1970s among Estonians abroad. The term Estonian ideology is
far from monolithic; political scientist and Estonian diaspora scholar
Karl Aun (1914–1995) carefully redefined it in 1979 in counterpoint
to the large number of „action programs“ and prognoses of the future
of Estonia as proposed in the mid-1970s by younger, radical diaspora
intellectuals. These in turn responded to the most divisive political
issue since the mid-1960s – the problem of visiting the homeland and
entertaining cultural figures and other official visitors from Soviet
Estonia. Aun's article in the new periodical Aja Kiri, which began
publication in Toronto in 1976 should be seen less as a contribution
to the polemic around „communicating with the homeland“ and
rather in relation to preceding debates in the periodical Vaba Eesti
(1951–1964). Both periodicals sought and assumed an international
audience of Estonians.
The first part of the article contextualizes and outlines Aun`s rhetorical
strategy in defining „estology“ and the historical questions he
raised. In the second part, the intellectual background and political
formation of the readership of Aja Kiri is examined. Finally, questions
for further research on the intellectual history of the Estonian
diaspora are set forth alongside a brief review of the challenges of
working with diaspora archives.