Estonia. Identity and Independence ed. by Jean-Jacques Subrenat (review)

610 Рецензии/Reviews question remains whether picturing PDS as a “party in between,” or in a “middle ground” between, the successful Polish, Hungarian, and Lithuanian cases and the botched Russian and Ukrainian cases captures the unique character of PDS’s political context and intra-party developments. In addition, this type of analysis results in an incomplete picture of national party politics to the extent that it measures the parties up to their foreign counterparts, rather than includes the critical dialectical relation between them and the anti-communist parties. Finally, the book manages to fulfill much better its descriptive objectives than the explanatory ones. With the provision of such broad introductions to the histories of communist parties and the modes of transition to democracy prior to each party analysis, the suggestion is that these contextualizations are needed to capture the dynamics of communist party trajectories. The reader is nevertheless left only with a vague impression that there is a connection between, for instance, a consensual and elitist mode of democratic transition and the successful adaptation of the former communist parties to the democratic regime, but no explanation of why and how this process takes place is provided. Andreas DEMUTH Jean-Jacques Subrenat (Ed.), Estonia. Identity and Independence (Amsterdam and New York, NY: Rodopi B.V., 2004). ix+310 pp. (=On the Boundary of Two Worlds. Identity, Freedom, and Moral Imagination in the Baltics. Vol. 2). ISBN: 9-0420-0890-3 (paperback). While there is a lot of literature on various aspects of Estonian history as such, Jean-Jacques Subrenat, the editor of this volume,1 sees a debate on Estonian identity lacking in the public domain. The book’s main idea is, accordingly, “to contribute to debate” on the links between language, culture, and identity; the experience of foreign occupation; and the desire for independence (Pp. 1-2). Subrenat claims the “book does not presume to offer a specialist’s view of Estonian history,” nor does it provide an authoritative interpretation of history, nor is it a history textbook . At the same time, he wishes to avoid imposing “an unremarkable portrait of the truth consisting of commonplaces.” Rather, Estonia, a country that he sees (in 2001!) as still rather insufficiently known both inside and outside of Europe, is taken as a case study for the above concepts. 1 The book has appeared in four languages: French (2001), Estonian (2001 and 2002 editions), Russian (2001), and English (2004). 611 Ab Imperio, 3/2005 After Subrenat’s introduction, which briefly discusses the concept of identity, the first part of the book deals with Estonian history before the time of the national awakening of 1870-80; the second covers the national awakening and the formation and existence of the Estonian state before 1940; the third part is devoted to the Soviet period; and the fourth part brings us up from the Singing Revolution to the present. Each part in turn consists of a number of articles written by Estonian scholars, writers, “cultural workers,” and politicians, including some of Russian origin. Except for Part 2, each one also contains a roundtable of three to five participants who discuss a topic generally pertaining to the main subject of the relevant section. An appendix with co-authors and a chronology of Estonian history rounds off this very readable book. The editor invited authors to contribute in one of three ways: (i) an article on a period or theme; (ii) “engage in a discussion that seeks to provide a better understanding of the contemporary period, because that provides room for personal observation ;” and (iii) “a few debates” that allow for different if not contradictory views to be presented, since the notion of identity “remains subjective ” (P. 2). Consequently, the types of articles contained in this volume vary: there are texts by scholars and politicians, juxtaposed with discussion pieces. The articles invariably start with a few questions to the author (presumably by the editor) and present various avenues to deal with the topic of identity. The views expressed are surely interesting (take the Klaar vis-à-vis the Kelam article), as the articles allow for a good introduction to the views and to some personal life-stories of many of Estonia...