Hamsun and Tammsaare1

354 INTERLITT ERA RIA 2018, 23/2: 354–366 KÕVAMEES Variations on a Motive: Hamsun and Tammsaare1 ANNELI KÕVAMEES Abstract. In 1935 Ma armastasin sakslast (I Loved a German) was published. In 1928 Victoria (1898) by Knut Hamsun (1859–1952) was published in Estonian. The first was written and the second translated by A. H. Tammsaare (1878– 1940). Parallels between these two authors have been most often discussed in connection with Pan (1894) and Kõrboja peremees (The Master of Kõrboja, 1922). Both authors have earned their canonical position in literature thanks to the novels Markens Grøde (Growth of the Soil) (1917), in the case of Hamsun, and Tõde ja õigus (Truth and Justice, I–V, 1926–1933) in the case of Tammsaare. These novels have been “sorted out” to be included in the canon, while Ma armastasin sakslast and Victoria have not received as much attention. In both novels love is the central theme – in Hamsun’s novel the main characters are the miller’s son Johannes and the landlord’s daughter Victoria, and in Tammsaare’s novel the student Oskar and a baron’s grand daughter, Erika. This article examines the connections between Hamsun and Tammsaare by analysing the novels Victoria and Ma armastasin sakslast, discussing among others the motive that has been widely used in world literature, namely the (archetypical) story of lovers – Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare. Both novels can be considered as variations on that motive as Tammsaare, for example, adds the social aspect, so that the archetypical love story set in the Republic of Estonia enables him to discuss topics essential to him. In the article the main emphasis is on Tammsaare’s novel. Keywords: A. H. Tammsaare; Knut Hamsun; love story; motive; variation Introduction Estonian writer A. H. Tammsaare (1878–1940) and Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun (1859–1952) are canonical authors who have a firm position in the literary canon of Estonian and Norwegian literature, respectively.2 Hamsun 1 This study was supported by the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (IUT 18-4), and by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies). 2 Both writers used pseudonyms taken after their childhood homes: Tammsaare-North was a farm in Järvamaa county and Hamsund the estate on the island Hamarøy. Hamsun had intended to adopt the name Hamsund but when the printer omitted the final ‘d’ then he adopted the name Hamsun instead (Room 2010: 219). DOI: https://doi.org/10.12697/IL.2018.23.2.11 355 Variations on a Motive: Hamsun and Tammsaare has been said to be “one of the most influential and innovative literary stylists of the past hundred years” (Ferguson 1987: 422). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1920 for his monumental Markens Grøde (Growth of the Soil, 1917). However, his position is somewhat tainted due to the fact that he became notorious as a Nazi-sympathiser. The name of Tammsaare does not evoke problematic issues. His magnum opus, Tõde ja õigus (Truth and Justice, I–V, 1926–1933) has been named the Estonian core text and he has been seen as the author creating the nation. There is a firm connection between Tammsaare and the myth of Estonianness (Annus 2000: 10). Markens Grøde and Tõde ja õigus have been “sorted out” to be included in the canon, while Ma armastasin sakslast3 (I Loved a German) (1935) by Tammsaare and Victoria (1898) by Hamsun have not received as much attention. Although, in recent years Tammsaare’s novel has received wider attention: a film for television was released in 1998 (director Ain Prosa), dramatizations of the novel premiered in Kuressaare City Theatre in 2008 (director Raivo Trass) and in Tallinn City Theatre in 2009 (director Elmo Nüganen). The novel was the subject of a special seminar organised by the Under and Tuglas Literature Centre of the Estonian Academy of Sciences in 2006, followed by the collection of articles in 2013. The novel has been interpreted in a more versatile manner compared to the reception in the 1930s when the national aspect was in the foreground (see Kõvamees 2008). This article examines the connections between Hamsun and Tammsaare by analysing the novels Victoria and Ma armastasin sakslast, while the emphasis is on the latter. Hamsun and Tammsaare: Some Literary Connections First of all, translations should be mentioned. Tammsaare has translated4 Sværmere (Dreamers, 1904) into Estonian under the title Unistaja (1918), published in the newspaper Uus Päevaleht. The translation has been described as 3 The novel has been translated into German (Ich liebte eine Deutsche, 1977, translated by Edmund Hunnius), Latvian (Es mīlēju vācu meiteni, 1974, translated by Jānis Žigurs), Russian (Романы: хозяин усадьбы Кырбоя. Я любил немку. Новый нечистый из пекла, 1968, translated by Nora Javorskaja, Olga Nael, A. Sokolov) and English (I Loved a Ger- man, 2018, translated by Christopher Moseley) Estonian Literature Centre). 4 Tammsaare was not proficient in Norwegian, therefore his translation was based on a translation. It has been noted that “Translation of quality literature in Estonia gained ground at the beginning of the 20th century. Clearly, there were no specific translation theories used in Estonia at that time, therefore, the translations were first made via another language. However, already in the 1920s this practice was given up and the translations from the original language became more valuable” (Kvell 2015: 83). 356 KÕVAMEES “correct and beautiful” noting that Tammsaare has sensed Hamsun better than Johan Järv whose translation was published in 1930 (Rebane 2003: 172). Tammsaare’s translation of Victoria was first published in the magazine Elu (No. 18 in 1924 and No. 6 in 1925) and as a book in 1928 (Rebane 2003: 173).5 It has been noted that “the same sweet-painful sadness” characterizes both Tammsaare and Hamsun (Tillemann 1939: 780). Hamsun’s influences have been noticed especially in connection with Pan (1894) and the novel Kõrboja peremees (The Master of Kõrboja, 1922).6 Estonian writer and journalist Albert Kivikas noted several similarities between these novels stating that Kõrboja peremees is an Estonianized and Tammsaare-like version of Hamsun (Kivikas 1923: 73). Hilve Rebane has noted that “the rhythms of Kõrboja peremees are downright Hamsun-like” (Rebane 2003: 170). There are motives7 taken from Pan but these have been used to create a more complex novel both in the sense of structure as well as ethical problems (Haug 2010: 22, see also Annist 1943: 190). The same applies to Tammsaare’s short story Kärbes (The Fly, 1917) and Hamsun’s Just an ordinary fly of average size (1897), although the end moral is the same in both stories – a human being is not and should not be a fly (Rebane 2003: 178). Estonian writer and literary critic Friedebert Tuglas has noted a similar function of a crippled character called Kata in Tammsaare’s short story Üle piiri (Over the Border, 1910) as has poor Minute in Hamsun’s Mysterier (Mysteries, 1892). Both allegorize the character’s unhealthy self that has grown puny and crippled (Tuglas 1918: 47). It has been noted that creating texts out of texts is more characteristic of Tammsaare than usually believed. It may be said that since the beginning of the 1920s, Tammsaare methodically sets his works into world literature, creating there “his individual intertextual honeycomb”, which meant, figuratively speaking, growing over Hamsun who had interested him during his student years (Haug 2010: 21–22). While the majority of intertextual connections between Tammsaare and Hamsun belong to the earlier period, there are motives to be found also in Tammsaare’s later works. For example, both Ma armastasin sakslast and Hamsun’s Sult (Hunger, 1890) have a young starving writer who writes about his love story. Tammsaare’s main character Oskar starves both physically and mentally; he also lacks love (Rebane 2003: 168). It has been noted that in Ma 5 Excerpts from the novel had been published in newspapers in 1910 (Rebane 2003: 173). There are also translations by Richard Janno (1938, 1962, 2016) and Henrik Sepamaa (1986, 1995). It is worth mentioning here that an Estonian feature film based on the novel premiered in 1994 (director Jüri Sillart). 6 About the novel see e.g. Vaino 2009: 5. 7 The issue has been more thoroughly discussed in Haug 2010. 357 Variations on a Motive: Hamsun and Tammsaare armastasin sakslast the approach to hunger is completely different because of its psychological depth (Plath 2013: 60). Ulrike Plath has set a wider background stating that the psychological structure of Ma armastasin sakslast is better understood in comparison with other hunger novels, e.g. Wilhelm Raabe’s Der Hungerpastor (1864) and Doris Lessing’s Hunger (1953) in addition to Hamsun’s Sult. In Hamsun’s and Lessing’s novel hunger is the symptom of the culture of the industrial age and of colonial hatred for humans. In these cases, hunger acts as a progressive force. The main characters satisfy their inner desires for food, love and life as well as possible. Oskar’s hunger is much more complicated than the hunger of Hamsun’s main character because he does not know how to actually accept learning possibilities, food and love offered to him. Although eating is in both novels associated with love, the restraint of desires is a much more important line of development in Tammsaare’s novel. Hunger is a synonym of both life and death drive (Plath 2013: 58). There are other connections to be found. Similarly to Edvarda in Pan, Erika, the main female character in Ma armastasin sakslast, also wishes to be compromised by her loved one and when it does not happen, is disappointed.

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