Conference ““Peripheral” Decadences and Forms of Nationalism”, 13–15 November 2025
International Conference
“Peripheral” Decadences and Forms of Nationalism
Under and Tuglas Literature Centre of the Estonian Academy of Sciences
in association with the Estonian Academy of Arts
Tallinn, Estonia
13–15 November 2025
Programme
Thursday, 13 November — KUMU Art Museum and Writers’ House
Possibility to visit exhibitions at KUMU Art Museum (Valge 1, Tallinn, view on map; open to presenters only)
16:00 Curator’s tour of the exhibition “Spiegel im Spiegel” at KUMU Art Museum (open to presenters only)
17:15 Bus from KUMU to Writers’ House (Harju 1, Tallinn, view on map)
17:30 Conference registration at the Writers’ House
18:00 Opening of the conference
18:20 Plenary lecture: Jaan Undusk, Glimpses of Decadent Discourse from the Estonian Perspective
19:30 Concert: Kirke Gross (cello), Kertu Aer (double bass), Sveta Grigorjeva (text and movement), Martin Kirsiste (piano)
20:15–23:00 Reception (open to presenters only)
Friday, 14 November — Estonian Academy of Arts (Põhja pst 7, Tallinn, view on map)
10:00–11:30 Plenary lecture (room A101): Juliet Simpson, Decadence, Nationalism and Creation beyond Borders’
11:30–12:00 Coffee break
12:00–13:30 Panel discussion (room A101): Mirjam Hinrikus, Viola Parente-Čapková, Riikka Rossi, Lola Annabel Kass, Ragne Soosalu
13:30–14:30 Lunch break
14:30–16:00 Session 1
| Room A101
Riikka Rossi, moderator Signe Leth Gammelgaard, Decadent Economic Peripheries in the Novels of Herman Bang Ian Gwin, The Finnish Bridge: Homeland and Migration Kaia Sisask, Translation and the Nation: Conflict or Concord?
|
Room A302
Hasso Krull, moderator Eva Eglāja-Kristsone, Trapped Between the Idea of New Woman and Erotic Utopia: Diary of Marija Stalbova-Eglīte Katarina Leppänen, Patriarchal Civilization as the Cause of Decay and Despair in Elin Wägner’s Novel “Den förödda vingården” (“The Devastated Vineyard”, 1920) Eret Talviste, Halted Wandering: Senses of Belonging in Elizabeth Bowen’s “To the North” (1932) and Leida Kibuvits’s “An Evening Ride” (1933) |
16:00–16:30 Coffee break
16:30–18:00 Session 2, Room A101, Jaan Undusk, moderator
Kristiāna Ābele, Burtnieku nams Revisited: Implications of the First Creative House Project in Latvia Between Decadence, Cultural Patronage, National Emancipation and Social Progress, 1908–1914
Mikko Välimäki, Yearning and Disgust – The Cyclical Conceptions of Nations Among Finnish Artists in Paris
Robert Stilling, The Nordic Trek to Harlem: Race, Decadence, and Richard Bruce Nugent’s “Half High”
~18:30 By train from Baltic Station (view on map) to the museum of Under and Tuglas Literature Centre (Väikese Illimari 12, Tallinn, view on map)
19:00–22:00 Reception at the museum of Under and Tuglas Literature Centre (open to presenters only)
Saturday, 15 November — Estonian Academy of Arts (Põhja pst 7, Tallinn, view on map)
9:00–10:30 Session 3
| Room A501
Benedikts Kalnačs, moderator Hent Kalmo, The Problem of Overculture in Estonian Thought at the Beginning of the 20th Century Leo Luks, Johannes Aavik’s Thesis of Degeneration of the Estonian Nation: the Idea and its Implications Aušra Jurgutienė, The Lithuanian Case of Decadence |
Room A302
Aare Pilv, moderator Jon Stone, The Count and the Grim Reaper: Eric Stenbock and a (Trans)National Decadent Poetics Hasso Krull, Revolution and Decadence in the Poetic Universe of Gustav Suits Kristjan Haljak, Jaan Oks and the Peripheral Revolution of the Self: Decadent Subjectivity and National Tension |
10:30–11:00 Coffee break
11:00–12:30 Session 4, Room A501, Viola Parente-Čapková, moderator
Mirjam Hinrikus, Riikka Rossi, Spiritual Naturalism and the Forms of Nation in A. H. Tammsaare’s “Kõrboja peremees”
Merlin Kirikal, Aesthetics of fin de siècle Decadence as Nation Building: Johannes Semper’s “A Sacred Weed” (1918)
Kerri Kotta, This Enduring Yearning: Nostalgia in Estonian Music
12:30–13:30 Lunch break
13:30–15:00 Session 5
| Room A501
Leo Luks, moderator Antti Ahmala, Nietzscheanism and the Nation in Finnish Literature of the fin de siècle Solveiga Daugirdaitė, Gender and Race: Liūnė Janušytė’s novel “Korektūros klaida” (“The Proofreading Mistake”, Kaunas, 1938) Viola Parente-Čapková, Mirjam Hinrikus, Search for the Right Interpretation of Life and Literature: The Multifaceted Figure of the Upstart of A. H. Tammsaare’s “I Loved a German” (1935) |
Room A202
Kristjan Haljak, moderator Aare Pilv, Decay and Fermentation of Nation: “Creative Nationalism” of Henrik Visnapuu. Kai Stahl, The Figure of Salomé in Estonian Art Audinga Peluritytė–Tikuišienė, Women of Lithuanian Poetry |
15:00–15:30 Coffee break
15:30–17:00 Session 6, Room A501, Tiina Ann Kirss, moderator
Benedikts Kalnačs, Decadent Characters in Realist Fiction: On the Aesthetic Polyphony of fin de siècle Latvian Literature
Tutta Palin, Finnish Sculptors Aarre and Wäinö Aaltonen in the Context of Decadence and Nationalism
Aistė Kučinskienė, The Decadent Movement in Lithuanian Literary Canon: Missing Tradition or Unwelcome Trend?
17:00 Closing of the conference
The conference fee is 120 euros for academics and 100 euros for PhD-students (registration form and payment information).
The conference is simultaneously an interdisciplinary sharing platform proposed by the research team “Emergence of a Civilised Nation: Decadence and Transitionality in 1905‒1940” (PRG1667 Under and Tuglas Literature Centre; supported by the Estonian Research Council) and the 15th International Conference of the Baltic Literary Scholars. It is organised by the Under and Tuglas Literature Centre of the Estonian Academy of Sciences in association with the Estonian Academy of Arts.
Organising committee
Under and Tuglas Literature Centre of the Estonian Academy of Sciences: Mirjam Hinrikus, Marin Jänes, Merlin Kirikal, Hegely Klaus, Leo Luks, Viola Parente-Čapková, Aare Pilv, Riikka Rossi, Elle-Mari Talivee
Estonian Academy of Arts: Tiina Abel, Linda Kaljundi