Endel Nirk

Endel Nirk (pseudonym E. N. Hermelin, 15 December 1925 – 15 April 2018) was a literary scholar, critic and prose writer.

Nirk was born in Valga County and studied at Koorküla primary school and Tõrva gymnasium. He graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology at Tartu State University as an Estonian philologist. In 1971, he obtained the Doctor of Philology degree with the monograph Kreutzwald ja eesti rahvusliku kirjanduse algus (‘Kreutzwald and the Beginning of Estonian National Literature’, 1968). He worked at the editorial office of the newspaper Sirp ja Vasar, the Institute of Language and Literature and Tallinn Pedagogical Institute. He was a member of the Estonian Writers’ Union from 1955. He has been awarded the Order of the White Star, Class 4 (2000), and the Order of the National Coat of Arms, Class 4 (2006). Endel Nirk died in Tallinn and is buried in Helme cemetery in Valga County.

Nirk started as a literary critic in the late 1940s; his criticism and articles have been published in the collections Laias laastus (‘On a Broad Scale’, 1957) and Teemad variatsioonidega (‘Themes with Variations’, 1964). Nirk stands out for his polemical nature, for example, the poetry innovation parody Porikuu sonaat-fantaasia opus 13 (‘Sonata-fantasia of the Dirt Month, Opus 13’) published in Sirp ja Vasar in 1960 attracted attention. He was one of the most central literary researchers of his time who thoroughly treated, for example, the Estonian literature of the second half of the 19th century, publishing a monograph on Fr. R. Kreutzwald (1968), the monograph Eduard Bornhöhe: kirjanik ja inimene (‘Eduard Bornhöhe: Writer and Person’, 1961) and compiled and commented Bornhöhe’s Teosed I–III (‘Works’ I–III, 1962–1964). He was the editor of the second volume of the academic Eesti kirjanduse ajaugu (‘History of Estonian Literature’, 1966) and the author of several of its chapters. Estonian literature (1970, translated into English by Arthur Robert Hone and Oleg Mutt), a review of Estonian literature originally written by Nirk for international readers, was also published in Estonian in 1983. He was one of the editors of Eesti kirjanduse biograafiline leksikon (‘Biographical Lexicon of Estonian Literature’, 1975). In the 1970s, Nirk focused on the study of the Estonian novel. The relevant treatments have been brought together in Avardumine (‘Broadening’, 1985), which looks at the Estonian novel from its beginnings until the final years of the pre-war Republic of Estonia. In Nirk’s studies with an emphasis on traditional literary historical research, an important role belongs to the author’s personality. Vivid examples of his essayistic and scientific approach are Kaanekukk. Lugu Ants Laikmaa elust ja ettevõtmistest (‘Cover Figure. A Story about Ants Laikmaa’s Life and Ventures’, 1977) and Teeline ja tähed. Eurooplase Karl Ristikivi elu (‘The Voyager and Stars’. The Life of the European Karl Ristikivi’, 1991), which received the annual prize of the Estonian Writers’ Union in 1992.

Nirk’s attention is also concentrated on a person’s story in the vortex of events, for example, in the essay Casus Tabelini. Rekonstruktsioon (‘Casus Tabelini. A Reconstruction’, published in the journal Looming, 1978) and in its further development in the verse drama Tabelinus (1990), in which he looked at the life of Tabelinus, the elder of an Estonian tribe known from the Livonian Chronicle of Henry against the background of the groundbreaking events in Estonia the 13th century, which enabled Nirk to draw parallels with the contemporaneity. The family novel Siin maa peal I–III (‘Here upon the Earth’ I–III, 1993–1997), which received the Eduard Vilde Prize in Literature (1994), also stands out with its pessimistic undertone. It depicts the story of the demise of a family through the events and upheavals of the 20th century. Mosaiikvõlv (‘Mosaic Vault’, 1978), which received the annual Juhan Smuul Literary Prize in 1979, brings together short prose forms which also sometimes have an elegiac undertone.

A. K. (Translated by I. A.)

Books in Estonian

Novels
Siin maa peal. Tallinn: Koolibri, 1993, 285 lk
Siin maa peal. 2. Tallinn: E. Nirk, 1995, 304 lk
Siin maa peal. 3. Tallinn: E. Nirk, 1997, 287 lk

Poetry
Mosaiikvõlv: esseed, luuletused, marginaalid. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1978, 204 lk
Tabelinus: dramaatiline lugulaul 5 jaos. Loomingu Raamatukogu nr 47. Tallinn: Perioodika, 1990, 76 lk

Short prose
Mosaiikvõlv: esseed, luuletused, marginaalid. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1978, 204 lk
Krahviproua Genoveva pihtimused, ehk, Ühe paljukannatanud naisterahva iseäralik ja väga tähelepanuväärne ajalik elukäik, tema enese poolt kõige tõepärasemalt jutustatud: saksakeelsest käsikirjast ümber pannud ja trükki toimetanud E. N. Hermelin, eraõpetlane Kilplas.  Loomingu Raamatukogu nr 11. Tallinn: Perioodika, 1982, 38 lk

Literary research
Laias laastus: kirjanduslikke artikleid 1948-1956. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1957, 576 lk
Eduard Bornhöhe: kirjanik ja inimene. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1961, 140 lk
Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald: lauluisa elulugu. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1961, 128 lk
Teemad variatsioonidega: arvustusi, arutlusi, vahelugemisi. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1964, 212 lk
Kreutzwald ja eesti rahvusliku kirjanduse algus. Monograafia. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1968, 547 lk
Kaanekukk: lugu Ants Laikmaa elust ja ettevõtmistest. Tallinn: Kunst, 1977, 320 lk [2. tr 2017]
Eesti kirjandus: arengulooline ülevaade. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1983, 344 lk
Avardumine. Vaatlusi eesti romaani arenguteelt. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1985, 264 lk
Teeline ja tähed. Eurooplase Karl Ristikivi elu. Tallinn: Eesti raamat, 1991, 287 lk