Abstract
In this article I shall be focusing on the day-to-day usage practices of the terms national sport of Estonia, new national sport of Estonia and Estonia’s national sport discipline on the basis of online media as well as an opinion poll. The analysis enables so-called national sports to be categorised on dimensions of official/formal and unofficial/informal. On the one hand we find serious official sports disciplines that are based mostly on historical, cultural and specific local traditions (strength sports, skiing, etc.) and are widely practised and watched in Estonia, and in which Estonians have achieved high places at the international level. On the other hand joking, rhetorical, linguistic-folkloric, at times even marginal expressions (e.g. concerning armchair sports, alcohol consumption, desperation, complaining about politicians, etc.) can be observed that are used to characterise local behavioural patterns and stereotypes that are considered national. The need to present sports through an ethnic prism can be explained by the mechanisms of national identity and mentality. It commonly refers to such fields of sport that have cultural and social significance. At the same time, this somewhat ironic rhetoric can also have a shared universal meaning on an international level. In this chapter, folkloristic approach is combined with linguistic and humour theories to interpret the meaning of national sport in a direct and ironic/humorous way. The aim of this study is to explain and open up the semantic fields of these terms (national sport of Estonia and others) by highlighting the varying aspects of people’s linguistic creative and sometimes humorous processes. The paper deals with the dual understanding of national sport in the Estonian language and cultural space. In this case it is important to display certain (i.e. qualifying as ethnic) stereotypes through the emotional cliché of national sport. Examples of potential focus points include national self-irony and the colourful language used in the press.
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Notes
- 1.
Discussions of the favourite sport of Estonians are hardly anything new. A near century-old feuilleton in Eesti Spordileht (Sports Paper of Estonia) from 1922 informs readers of the ways in which the Ministry of Education at the time supported popular sport. “The national sport – what should it be? The sport or game most popular and beloved among our people that fits the peculiarities of our nation in particular and promotes the development of our racial individuality? Just as the English have football, Scandinavian people have winter sports and the nations in Central Europe have cycling or another sport. As far as we know, Estonians have no such popular sport, except for finger-pulling and tests of strength which have yet to acquire similar significance and are most likely not what the Ministry of Education has in mind as a ‘popular sport’. That would be rather like a national sport. But popular sport may emphasise or underline another idea, a definition, if you will, separating personal and team sports and favouring, in this case, rather more the latter, i.e. football and other games.” (ES 1922).
- 2.
For nationalism and postmodernist games in literature see also Viires (2008).
- 3.
There are plenty of examples and studies (e.g. Pöysä 2004) of representatives of other nationalities successfully competing for nation-states. This aspect does not fall within the scope of this study, but it should be addressed in the future, based on Estonian materials.
- 4.
In Estonia, this classification usually covers tug-of-war, kettlebell snatching, tests of strength et al.
- 5.
Wrestler Martin Klein won the first Olympic medal for Estonians in 1912 in Stockholm when he had the longest wrestling match recorded to date (11 h and 40 min), earning a silver medal and an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. The first Estonian Olympic gold medallist in Greco-Roman wrestling was Eduard Pütsep in Paris in 1924. The first Estonian Olympic gold medallist in freestyle wrestling was Osvald Käpp in Amsterdam in 1928. Kristjan Palusalu won gold medals in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling in Berlin in 1936. We could say that this period was followed by something of a wrestling slump, but Heiki Nabi’s silver medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2012 London Olympics reignited interest in the discipline. Estonian weightlifting achievements also deserve to be highlighted—the first Estonian to win an Olympic gold medal in this sport was Alfred Neuland, who came first in the under 67.5 kg weight class for men in Antwerp in 1920. Additionally, Tallinn hosted the World Weightlifting Championships in 1922, at which Estonia won three of the five gold medals, and the fact that these championships were held in the Estonia Theatre is also remarkable from a national viewpoint.
- 6.
According to the representatives of the contest, catching mosquitos is fun, easy and social and does not require going to special training camps—anyone can do it (Delfi 2010). People can enter the competition individually as well as in teams (which must comprise three members). A small piece of land is measured out and marked with string for every contestant and they are confined to that area. The catching time is 15 min. Whoever catches the most mosquitos is crowned as the champion. The Mosquito-Catching Champion of Estonia in 2017 collected 18 dead mosquitos (Kula 2017, p. 4).
- 7.
The conceptual metaphor LIFE IS A COMPETITION is in line with a number of other defining remarks or general clams about life wherein the generalisation is based on the principle formula used among cognitivists for defining metaphors: ‘A is B’, which expresses (1) either the sameness of two terms or (2) a categorising claim—the placement of an object in a category or of a subcategory in a supercategory on the basis of similarity (see also Turner 1991, pp. 196–197, 199). See Õim (2007) about the conceptual metaphor LIFE IS A JOURNEY.
- 8.
- 9.
Wife-carrying contests have been held in Sonkajärvi, the twinned municipality in Finland of Väike-Maarja municipality in Estonia, since 1992 and these contests have been known as the Wife-carrying World Championships since 1996. Väike-Maarja has the right to use the Wife-carrying World Championship brand in Estonia and contests have been organised there on and off since 1998. From a folklore perspective, it is interesting that the basis for the contest comes from historic Sonkajärvi lore. According to the legend, a band of robbers led by a man called Rosvo-Ronkainen was active in the area at the end of the 19th century. Those looking to join his gang had to prove themselves by carrying women. Kidnapping a wife for oneself from a neighbouring village was a popular custom at the time (Tobreluts 2014).
- 10.
Sources
EFA – The folklore collection of the Estonian Folklore Archives (Archive of Estonian Folklore at the Estonian Literary Museum).
THTG – replies to the survey carried out in May and June of 2017 among students at Tartu Hugo Treffner Gymnasium (ages 16–18) are located in the research archive of the Department of Folkloristics at the Estonian Literary Museum (EFITA.KK.039).
TTG – replies to the survey carried out in June 2017 among students at Tartu Tamme Gymnasium (ages 16–18) are located in the research archive of the Department of Folkloristics at the Estonian Literary Museum (EFITA.KK.039). KalambuuR, October 19, 2017. https://www.facebook.com/groups/kalambuur/permalink/10155408333769702/. Accessed: 15 May 2019.
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Acknowledgements
This study is connected to the research project IUT 22-5 of the Estonian Research Council. It was supported by the European Union via the European Regional Development Fund (Centre of Excellence in Estonian Studies TK 145—CEES). The author gives special thanks to the anonymous reviewers of this article for their comments and recommendations. Another ‘thank you’ goes to the Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum, which mediated the survey via social media, and to everyone who responded to the survey.
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Voolaid, P. (2020). The National Sport of Estonia—From Big Historical Narratives to Variegated and Humorous/Ironic Colloquial Rhetoric. In: Krüger, M., Hofmann, A. (eds) Sportgeschichte in Deutschland - Sport History in Germany. Bildung und Sport, vol 22. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-27822-9_4
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