Eesti keel Igor Severjanini loomingus. Hübriididentiteeti toetav transkeelsus

Abstract

This article explores the use of the Estonian language in the works of poet Igor Severyanin (Igor Vasilyevich Lotaryov, 4 May [16 May] 1887, St. Petersburg – 20 December 1941, Tallinn). The opening section provides background: the birth of the Republic of Estonia and the poet’s permanent relocation to Estonia at the age of 30 occurred almost simultaneously. Memoirs from the time reveal a myth portraying Severyanin as lacking a talent for languages, claiming he never mastered Estonian. This article challenges that myth and argues the opposite. Severyanin’s efforts were directed at deeply rooting himself in Estonia: acquiring Estonian citizenship, maintaining close relationships with Estonian writers, collaborating with the Estonian Cultural Endowment, marrying an Estonian, befriending the Henrik Visnapuu family, translating Estonian literature into Russian, and incorporating Estonian words into his Russian-language works. The article examines Severyanin’s linguistic experiments in Estonian through the lens of Olivia García’s concept of translanguaging, moving towards an analysis of the poet’s identity. The study draws on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of “polyphony”, Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of the “Third Space”, and Wolfgang Welsch’s idea of “transculturality”. The aim is to demonstrate the existence of a hybrid identity through Severyanin’s translanguaging (and emerging bilingualism).

Keywords

• identity
• hybrid identity
• identity theory
• literary history
• igor severjanin
• translanguaging