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EESTI ELU reedel, 19. augustil 2022 — Friday, August 19, 2022
Nr. 33
Learn Estonian for both credit and enjoyment!
English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publications Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca Digital: www.eestielu.ca
Putin: “History is war.” In June 2016, 37-year-old Vladimir Luzgin was found guilty in court of “rehabili tating Nazism” and fined 200,000 roubles (approx. $2500 US at the time). He had shared an article online that was based on the August 23, 1939 MolotovRibbentrop Pact (MRP), in which the Soviet Union had agreed as an ally with NaziGermany to invade Poland and others later. The court declared that Luzgin had ‘knowingly shared false information’, a finding up held by the Russian Supreme Court. The decision followed a law passed by the Russian Parliament in 2014 which crimi nalized anything that ‘de secrates Russian military glory’. By 2018, 6,662 cases had been prosecuted under a statute prohibiting the propagation of Nazi symbols both in public and in private. This would include the sharing of historic photos and war time cartoons. Documents related to Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera was also a part of a registry of extremist material, a federal listing of all banned material. Approximately 75% of those convicted carried a brief prison term. The Soviet Union and its odious communist ideology may be gone, but its legacy thrives under Putin. He insists that the Soviet Union had been a peace-promoting country and the MRP was necessary as a defensive measure to prevent the Baltics and Poland from striking a Pact with Nazi Germany, this stated online in the Russian language Wiki. Accordingly, WWII was initiated by Poland, not by the country’s invasion by Hitler and Stalin, as allies. Russia had vigorously built its case for de-Nazifying Ukraine. No Russian leader has invoked history as much as Putin. “History is war and in this war we must win,” declared Putin in 2016 to a gathering of historians, none of whom challenged his assertion. The parallels with Russia’s
current invasion of Ukraine are not far-fetched. Just as Putin claims that the attack against Poland was a defensive tactic, invading Ukraine was a preemptive move against NATO which was threatening Russia’s security. The Kremlin’s acolytes in the West actively help to amplify this. Just as Poland wasn’t about to attack Russia in 1939, neither were Ukraine/NATO in 2022. Putin’s ‘Great Patriotic War’ doesn’t allow the mention of Russia’s communists and Germany’s Nazis being partners for fully 22 months, from August 1939 till June 1941 when they colluded in invading others in Europe. Post-Soviet nostalgia is inter mingled with the rehabilitation of Stalin and his suppression of anyone who denies his personal defeat of Nazism. This is now perfectly mirrored in the Kremlin’s other official claim and outrageous justification for the current invasion: Russia is fighting a new wave of fascism. Before this year’s Victory Day celebrations on May 9 there was speculation that Putin had ordered the war to be over by that date. Implied in this was the dampening effect on the usual public high spirits that a difficult and unsuccessful war could create. Thus, the public event in cluded five-year-old children dressed up as tanks, with the now familiar Z emblazoned on them. Z had become the infa mous symbol for proudly dis played by pro-invasion Russians. History is wielded as a weapon in the repression of Russians at home and as justifi cation for aggression abroad. Putin uses history to shape the narrative of the present and deny the truth of the past. Russia’s territorial paranoia, its longing for imperial grandeur, and Putin’s outlandish claims of fighting Nazism have brought Ukraine colossal human tragedy and physical destruction. Anything less than Russia’s full defeat will give it the same impetus for aggression in the future. LAAS LEIVAT
E STO N I A N LI F E Your source of news about Estonia and Estonians, home and abroad
With growing popularity, the University of Toronto conti nues to offer an Estonian language course as part of its curriculum. Although the uni versity is generally back to in-person learning, given the success and interest for the course through pandemic influenced online learning, it will be available virtually via Zoom this year as well. This will enable students from all Toronto area universities (Toronto, York and Ryerson) to take the course for credit, after getting permission from their home university to transfer the credit from the University of Toronto. After receiving permission, students from other institutions must pay a fee and submit an application to Woodsworth College to receive a University of Toronto student number and register. You can also consider auditing the course for personal fulfillment if it sounds interest ing and too good to pass up! The course will build essen tial Estonian vocabulary, gram
matical and communicative competence through a variety of reading, writing, listening and speaking activities. Popular songs, poetry, and structured and semi-structured dialogue are among the various tools for achieving these objectives. This will evolve to themed sessions using language for travel in Estonia, savouring the language of Estonian cuisine, and the lyrics of popular, folk and classical Estonian music. If you have ties to the Estonian heritage and culture and have wanted to strengthen these bonds, this is a great opportunity to get a better appreciation of all things Esto nian by enhancing your know ledge of the Estonian language. If you know of people who are held back from a stronger bond with their Estonian heritage by their language skills, why not recommend this course to them? Estonian is an interesting language for its own sake. Estonian is different from most spoken languages in Europe. It
belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family, which also includes Finnish and Hungarian. The role of vowels in Estonian is among the greatest in any European language, whereby a string of vowels can form meaningful words around the frame of few consonants. It also has the additional vowels õ, ä, ö, ü. If you have trouble with the following tongue twisters, then this course is for you. Ülekooliline tööõigusabibüroo (University-wide legal aid office for employment), Jäääär (edge of the ice), Õueala (courtyard), Kõueöö (night of the thunder), Puuõõnsus (hollow of the tree), Töö-öö (working night). One can even compose a complete sentence without using any consonants – Äia õe oaõieaia õueaua ööau!!! (Continued on page 9)
Reviewing Nublu’s new single “Kastehein” (Morning Dew) Natalie Jenkins, LJI Reporter Since his first release in 2018, the Estonian pop-rap artist nublu (who opts to use lower case spelling for his stage name) rightfully earned his place in the hearts of Estonians across the world as a beloved icon in the local music industry. Listening to his music in the present day brings back memo ries of my teenage years, when I would spend my summers at various Estonian camps with my friends in the community whom I grew up with. During these years at camp, I was not aware of the vast plethora of Estonian music available to listen to, but the one artist that my friends and I were all familiar with was nublu. I remember us belting out nublu’s 2018 singles “Mina ka” (Me Too), “Rulli rulli rulli” (Roll Roll Roll), and “Tmt’’ together at these camps, requesting them at the weekly dances, and (admittedly) being a bit obnoxious about it all the while. nublu was our Estonian icon, whether we knew other Estonian artists or not. In my case, his exclusive status as the only relatable Estonian artist to me (at the time) meant that he was someone I could celebrate both in and outside of the community as a token of my Estonian identity. This is not to say that his massive hype was derived from the fact that he was all that my friends or I knew in regards to the music world. I’ll give credit where it’s due. He is, without a
doubt, very talented; his songs resonated with us so heavily for a reason. The reason for this is simple: his catchy and upbeat lyrics meshed perfectly with polished productions, resulting in songs that could be replayed without fear of repetitiveness. On August 5th, 2022, nublu released his single “Kastehein” (morning dew.) The song was produced by nublu, Gevin Niglas, and Joosep Järvesaar, (otherwise known as Jozels). It was mixed and mastered by Vallo Kikas, and features vocals by young Ita-Riin. Though “Kastehein’s” pre ference for shorter melodious vocals and catchy rhythms situates itself closer on the pop side of the pop-rap spectrum, it doesn’t sacrifice intensity or depth. In fact, its lyrics are sorrowful; they amplify the feeling of isolation while simul taneously instilling a feeling of hope for a better future in its
Nublu performing in 2019.
listeners. Translated from Estonian, the outro of the song reads “They don’t care about you/Upside down in the dew meadow/My senses sprouted/ The white ship never came/But hope remains for me.” Perhaps these crestfallen lyrics are a product of their environment. “I actually started making the song in Finland in 2021,” says nublu, “when I was in quarantine due to Covid-19.” Regardless of the source of nublu’s lyrics, they offer a darker edge to balance out the song’s danceable, upbeat rhythm. The result is something whole, like two pieces of a puzzle fitting together. Or in an artistic sense, nublu has painted a picture using every colour available to him on the palette. “Kastehein” is available to listen on YouTube: www.you tube.com/watch?v=KtkbRMHCQiM&ab_channel=nublu
Photo: flickr.com
