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The article gives an overview of the folk culture mechanisms that helped to cope with the pandemic situation in Belorussia during the first wave of COVID-19 (until midsummer 2020). The article is based on the qualitative analysis of interview texts related to the pandemic as well as the content of internet users' visual reactions (memes, poems, proverbs). In folk culture the mechanisms helping to overcome the crisis situation often have a ritual-magical nature. When describing the influence of the pandemic on some practices, the authors conclude that their performing in the crisis situation was especially important for the community. One of the ancient rituals activated for preventing the epidemic was the creation of a magic circle around the village by conducting a procession around the village with a ritual towel ('rushnik-abydzionnik'), which had to be made within one day. On March 28, this one-day-ritual was performed in Minsk with the greatest possible adherence to tradition. The initiators and participants of the practice were mainly representatives of the Students Ethnographic Society. Not all women present knew how to spin or weave, but some of the simplest operations were mastered. The towel was carried around Minsk and brought to a stone on the site of a pagan temple in the centre of Minsk at the sunset. The towel was tied around the stone, and the latter was also covered with threads spun on the same day. The ritual relieved the tension of the participants and fostered awareness of their solidarity, strengthening collective networks, and the feeling of empathy and unity. COVID-19 also affected the living traditions in Belarus. Some traditional practices were cancelled or postponed. The spread of the pandemic created a negative backdrop for living traditions. However, a number of rites and ceremonies were carried out despite the pandemic in accordance with their spatial and temporal reference. Due to the difficult epidemiological situation, the usual order of ceremonies was changed - their duration was reduced without changing the traditional rite structure. Only local residents participated in the rituals;although, formerly, many journalists and tourists had come to the villages from different parts of the country on the days of the ceremonies. For tradition bearers, such practices during a pandemic are a way to relieve stress and to share problems with people with similar interests. Traditions are one of the constants of their life;maintaining them in times of crises stabilizes the community. The coronavirus pandemic has caused a powerful explosion of folk art. The texts of various genres, both oral and written (graphic), are rapidly spreading on the Internet. A large number of them are based on the traditional worldview of Belarusians and are expressed in traditional forms (alterations, ditties, anecdotes, anti-sayings, paroemias, etc.). The role of humour has grown tremendously. Jokes and laughter in the face of an external threat are a compensatory mechanism that helps to overcome fear and uncertainty, and common laughter unites and helps to learn new rules of behaviour. Humour is not concerned with the threat of getting ill, but rather individual hygiene practices, the situation of quarantine, and circumstances of the new reality. Thus, humorous folklore becomes a way to adapt to new norms and to overcome fear and instability. © 2021 Eesti Keele InstituutAƒÂ‚A‚Â. All rights reserved.

Since the late 16th – early 17th century, tobacco smoking habit in Europe spread widely, which led to a new business branch – the production and sale of pipes. Due to the lack of historical data about when the habit of smoking tobacco emerged in eastern Baltic, it is imperative to pay attention to clay pipes that are considered to be a particularly suitable group of findings to specify the chronological limits. The article analyses in detail the chronologically earliest clay pipes found during archaeological research in Vilnius. Based on the typology of findings and known analogues, the author singles out the oldest pipes, names the possible places of their production, provides an interpretation of the appearance of pipes in the city. The article provides an overview of the development of smoking in Vilnius in the first half of the 17th century, as the text focuses not only on the analysis of findings, but also briefly introduces the historical, social and cultural contexts that led to the smoking of one or another type of tobacco pipe in Vilnius.

Can a country with a constant state of emergency in its capital – as was the case in Estonia in 1918–1934 – be considered a democracy? Or a country where political violence is used against members of a parliamentary committee during a committee meeting – as was the case in Finland in 1930? Why did the Estonian Social Democrats support the 1934 coup and why did the Finnish Swedes defend the Finnish Communists? Why could Estonia not find any allies except Latvia in the 1920s and 1930s, and why was Finland left without allies in the Winter War? Why did Estonia and Finland not behave in the same way in the autumn of 1939, and why did the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand declare war on Finland in 1941? The answers to these questions lie in the relationships between democracy and security, which is exactly the topic of my dissertation. Based on the works of different philosophers, it is possible to show that democracy and security are interdependent. The relationship between democracy and security can be reduced to the classic dilemmas between freedom and security, freedom and sovereignty, and sovereignty and security. Although it is not possible to solve these dilemmas definitively, the solution can be improved indefinitely. I argue that the way in which democratic societies resolve these dilemmas does not depend on democratic culture or on the wisdom inherent in people, but on the perceptions of the majorities of democratic societies, which in turn depend primarily on historical experience. The theoretical explanation proposed in my dissertation helps to understand why Estonia’s and Finland’s quests for security failed in 1918–1948 and why Estonia and Finland made different choices at the turning points of their history. The behaviour of Estonia’s leaders during the events of 1939 and 1940 also becomes understandable. Hopefully, my dissertation will contribute to a fair judgement of the activities of Konstantin Päts and Johan Laidoner, and to reconciling Estonian society on the question of whether they were heroes or villains. However, the most important aim is to contribute to an understanding of just how fragile democracy and security can be, how they depend on each other and, in particular, how they depend on historical experience. Kas saab pidada demokraatlikuks riiki, mille pealinnas kehtib pidev erakorraline seisukord – nagu oli Eesti aastatel 1918–1934? Või riiki, kus parlamendikomisjoni liikmete vastu kasutatakse poliitilist vägivalda komisjoni istungi toimumise ajal – nagu oli Soome aastal 1930? Miks Eesti sotsiaaldemokraadid toetasid 1934. aasta riigipööret ja miks soomerootslased kaitsesid Soome kommuniste? Miks ei õnnestunud 1920-ndate ja 1930-ndate Eestil leida ühtegi liitlast peale Läti ja miks jäi Soome talvesõjas ilma liitlasteta? Miks Eesti ja Soome 1939. aasta sügisel ühtemoodi ei käitunud ja miks Ühendkuningriik, Kanada, Austraalia ja Uus-Meremaa 1941. aastal Soomele sõja kuulutasid? Vastus peitub demokraatia ja julgeoleku vahelistes seostes, mida minu väitekiri uuribki. Erinevate filosoofide töödele tuginedes on võimalik näidata, et demokraatia ja julgeolek sõltuvad vastastikku üksteisest. Demokraatia ja julgeoleku vaheline seos on taandatav klassikalistele dilemmadele vabaduse ja julgeoleku, vabaduse ja suveräänsuse ja suveräänsuse ja julgeoleku vahel. Kuigi dilemmasid ei ole võimalik lõplikult lahendada, on lahendust võimalik lõputult täiustada. Ma väidan, et see, kuidas demokraatlikud ühiskonnad neid dilemmasid lahendavad, ei sõltu mitte demokraatlikust kultuurist või rahvale omasest tarkusest, vaid demokraatlike ühiskondade enamuste arusaamadest, mis omakorda sõltuvad eelkõige ajaloolisest kogemusest. Minu väitekirjas välja pakutud teoreetiline selgitus aitab mõista, miks Eesti ja Soome julgeolekuotsingud aastatel 1918–1948 läbi kukkusid ja miks Eesti ja Soome oma ajaloo pöördepunktides erinevaid valikuid tegid. Mõistetavaks muutub ka Eesti riigijuhtide käitumine 1939. ja 1940. aasta sündmuste ajal. Loodetavasti aitab minu väitekiri kaasa õiglase hinnangu andmisele Konstantin Pätsi ja Johan Laidoneri tegevusele ja Eesti ühiskonna lepitamisele küsimuses, kas tegemist oli kangelaste või kurjategijatega. Kõige tähtsam on siiski aidata kaasa mõistmisele, kuivõrd haprad võivad olla demokraatia ja julgeolek, kuidas nad vastastikku üksteisest sõltuvad ja eriti – kuidas nad sõltuvad ajaloolisest kogemusest. https://www.ester.ee/record=b5391015

Peer reviewed

QC 20200415

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This PhD thesis examines the Baltic art field during the Enlightenment, focusing on the amateur pictorial legacy. By turning our attention from the professional-institutional art world, which was still quite limited in the 18th century, to the broader circle of dilettanti, and from artistically high-quality pictures to everyday drawing practices (travel and scientific drawings, cartographical records, pictures related to local history and archaeology, journal vignettes, etc), the sudden increase of art appreciation and drawing skills among the Baltic nobility and educated class in the second half of the 18th century has been traced, along with the noteworthy role played by pictorial media during the Baltic Enlightenment. In the thesis, this change of perspective and a certain re-evaluation of the descriptive patterns related to the local art field help to highlight the special features of Baltic art, by allowing the limited aesthetic quality and the modest creative flight of the early local pictorial legacy to be treated without an inferiority complex and for its inherently Enlightenment-based pragmatic attitude and applied nature to be viewed as one of the main features of Baltic German art culture. Along with the mapping of the local art lovers’ pictorial experiences and prototypes, the topographies of Baltic sights and landscapes that were the most important and most characteristic pictorial genre of the Baltic Enlightenment, and which created the local visual identity, are examined. Various articles explore the aspect of female dilettanti, the theme of art collections and the art market, and provide a view based on the history of mentality as it relates to the various functions and art/artist positions in Baltic society. Attention is separately paid to distinguishing between an artist’s hobby and artist’s profession and the awareness thereof in the Baltic mentality; and to several, cultural self-determinations that developed locally during the Enlightenment, and which continued to feed the amateur, Enlightenment-based and pragmatic attitude toward artistic creation during the 19th century. Doktoritöö võtab vaatluse alla Balti valgustusaegse kunstivälja, keskendudes harrastuslikule pildipärandile. Pöörates fookuse 18.sajandi veel tagasihoidlikult professionaalselt-institutsionaalselt kunstielult laiemale harrastajate ringile ja kunstiliselt kõrgetasemelistelt piltidelt harrastuslikele, argistele, rakenduslikele joonistuspraktikatele (reisi- ja teadusjoonistused, kartograafilised ülestähendused, koduloolised ja muinasteaduslikud pildid, päevikuvinjetid jpm) on jälgitud kunstitundmise ja joonistusoskuse hüppelist kasvu Balti aadli- ja haritlaskonna seas 18.sajandi teisel poolel – ja veel enam, pildimeedia märkimisväärset rolli Balti valgustuses. Selline vaatenurga muutmine ja seniste kohalikku kunstivälja kirjeldavate mustrite teatav ümbermängimine on töös abiks balti kunsti erijoonte esiletoomisel, lubades alaväärsuskompleksita käsitleda siinse varase pildipärandi vähest esteetilist kvaliteeti ja madalat loomelendu ning hinnata sellele omast valgustuslik-pragmaatilist suhtumist ja rakenduslikku-harrastuslikku iseloomu kui baltisaksa kunstikultuuri ühte põhijoont. Koos siinsete harrastajate pildikogemuse ja -eeskujude kaardistamisega võetakse fookusesse Balti valgustuskunsti kõige tähtsam ja iseloomulikum, kohalikku visuaalset identiteeti loov pildižanr – muististe ja vaatamisväärsuste pildilised topograafiad ning maastikujoonistused. Erinevates artiklites lisandub naisuurimuse aspekt, kunstikogude ja –turu teema ning mentaliteediajaloost lähtuv pilk joonistamise erinevatele funktsioonidele ja kunsti/kunstniku positsioonile Balti ühiskonnas. Omaette tähelepanu saavad kunstiharrastuse ja kunstnikuprofessiooni eristamine ja teadvustamine balti mentaliteedis ning mitmed just valgustusajas siinmail väljakujunenud kultuurilised enesedeterminatsioonid, mis jäävad harrastuslikku, valgustuslik-pragmaatilist suhtumist kunstiloomesse toitma ka 19. sajandi edenedes. Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone https://www.ester.ee/record=b5249289~S1

Uurimistöö eesmärgiks oli välja töötada meetod tekstilise andmestiku kogumiseks, mille alusel saaks hiljem arendada masinõppel põhinevaid meetodeid depressiooni ja ärevuse riski automaatseks hindamiseks. Töö käigus koostati ankeet, mille abil koguti tekstilist materjali ligi 300-st vabatahtlikust koosnevalt mugavusvalimilt. Kogutud tekstid sisaldasid nii etteantud pildi kirjeldust kui ka vabalt valitud sündmuse või mälestuse kirjeldust. Valimis osalenute emotsionaalset seisundit mõõdeti EEK-2 skriiningtesti abil. Ligi 42% isikutest ületas depressiooni ning ligi 30% isikutest ärevuse alaskaala riskilävendi. Esialgsed eksperimendid masinõppe mudelitega, mis püüdsid ennustada, kas inimese EEK-2 skoor ületab depressiooni ja/või ärevuse riskilävendi, edukaid tulemusi ei andnud. Kokkuvõttes tundub, et etteantud pildi kirjeldamine ei ole sobivaim viis soovitud andmestiku kogumiseks ja pigem peaks kasutama selliseid kirjutamise ülesandeid, mis oleks inimese endaga rohkem seotud.

For a historian the early modern chronicle is most commonly a historical source – good or bad, reliable or untrustworthy. Based on this information the historian decides how much he or she can use the events recorded and historical figures described in the chronicle to reconstruct the past. For those researchers who study the history of historiography, the chronicle represents the reflections of the historical knowledge and the idea of history of the period in question. He or she is interested in the author, his or her motives, circumstances concerning the creation of the work, author’s sources and the reception of the work by its peers and followers. Historians and historians of historiography have studied the early modern chronicles written in Estland, Livland and Courland and agreed upon their trustworthiness, however, equal attention has not been given to the chronicles as reflectors of the historical knowledge of the period and to how the chronicles received new developments in Western European historiography. This dissertation contains seven articles on the early modern historiography which look at the influence of social factors (such as power, wars, spreading of printing presses), Western European ideas (idea of history, antiquarianism, Gothicism) and author’s personal choice of sources on historiography in Estland, Livland and Courland. In summary it can be said that historians received different ideas from Western Europe, however, none of them rose to the level of fame as some of their contemporaries in Europe. In the dialogue with the cultural centre, they were at the receiving end and not an equal partner. Concerning the societal factors, there is usually a combination of aspects influencing the writing of history at any given time. Thus, we cannot say that warfare or the establishment pf printing shops definitely encouraged or discouraged the writing of history, printing and distribution of historical works. When in 16th century the authors were more concerned with descriptions of contemporary events for future generations then in 17th century some authors aspired to write a more comprehensive overview on local history from the earliest times. Ajaloolasele on varauusaegne kroonika enamasti allikas – hea või halb, usaldusväärne või ebausaldusväärne – ning sellest lähtuvalt otsustab ajaloolane kui palju saab ta kasutada kroonikas kirjeldatud sündmusi ja inimeste tegusid selleks, et minevikku rekonstrueerida. Ajalookirjanduse ajaloo uurijale on kroonika oma ajastu ajaloo teadmiste ja ajaloo idee peegeldus. Teda huvitab autori isik, tema motiivid, kroonika valmimisega seotud asjaolud, krooniku allikad ja selle edasine saatus ajaloomaastikul. Mis puudutab kroonika allikalist väärtust, siis selles osas on ajalookirjutuse ajaloo uurijad ja ajaloolased varauusaegsete kroonikaid uurinud ning neile hinnangu andnud. Vähem on uuritud kroonikaid kui oma ajastu ajalookirjutuse peegleid ning seda, kuidas võtsid need vastu Lääne-Euroopas levinud ajalooteaduse arenguid või kuidas ühiskondlikud tegurid ajalookirjutust mõjutada võisid. Käesolev doktoriväitekiri sisaldab seitset sissevaadet varauusaegsesse ajalookirjutusse uurides ühiskondlike tegurite (võim, sõda, trükikunsti levik), Lääne-Euroopast tulnud ideede (ajaloo idee, antikvaarne liikumine, gootitsism) ning autori individuaalse allikavaliku mõju ajalookirjutusele Eestimaal, Liivimaal ja Kuramaal. Kokkuvõttes võib tõdeda, et Eestimaa, Liivimaa ja Kuramaa ajalookirjutajad võtsid vastu erinevaid Lääne-Euroopas levinud ideid ning lugesid uuemat kirjandust, kuid nende endi keskelt ei kerkinud esile ajaloolast, kes oleks olnud üle Euroopa tuntud. Dialoogis Euroopa kultuuri keskusega jäädi pigem vastuvõtjaks kui võrdseks partneriks. Ühiskondlike tegurite mõju avaldus enamasti paljude tegurite kombinatsioonis kui selgelt üheselt. Näiteks ei saa väita, et sõjategevus või trükikodade asutamine Eesti-, Liivi- ja Kuramaale alati julgustas või vastupidi pärssis ajalooteoste sündi, trükkimist või levikut. Kui 16. sajandil oli ajalookirjutajate jaoks esiplaanil oma eluajal toimunud sündmuste kirjeldamine järeltulevate põlvede jaoks, siis 17. sajandil asusid mitmed autorid koostama terviklikumat käsitlust kohalikust ajaloost. Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone