Mati Unt

NovelsMati Unt

Short stories

Plays

Non-fiction

About Mati Unt







Mati Unt (1944–2005) was an Estonian writer, stage director and journalist. His prose and theatre works are considered some of the most innovative, original and influential expressions of modernist and postmodernist aesthetics in Estonian culture.

Unt was from Voore parish in Tartu County. He moved to Tartu to attend Tartu 8th Secondary School, and from 1962–1972 he studied Estonian philology at Tartu University, specialising in journalism. Unt emerged onto the literary scene at the age of 18, when he published his first work of prose – the novel 'Farewell, Yellow Cat' – in his school yearbook. While writing his subsequent works, he became increasingly involved in theatre: he worked as a dramaturge for Vanemuine Theatre from 1966–72 and for the Estonian Youth Theatre (now Tallinn City Theatre) from 1974–81; he became the stage director for the Estonian Youth Theatre in 1979 and from 1992 onwards he staged plays in the Estonian Drama Theatre while also collaborating with other theatres, e.g. the Russian Theatre of Estonia, Vanemuine, the Finnish National Theatre and Von Krahl Theatre.

His first three works – Hüvasti, kollane kass ('Farewell, Yellow Cat', 1963), and the short stories Võlg (‘The Debt’, 1964) and Elu võimalikkusest kosmoses ('On the Possibility of Life in Space', 1967) – depict contemporary life through the worldview of young, idealistic and sensitive characters. The works were exceptionally frank for the literary scene of the time and sparked moral debate. Modernist aesthetics are further elaborated in his subsequent works: the existential novel Mõrv hotellis ('Murder in a Hotel', 1969), and short stories such as Tühirand. Love story ('An Empty Beach', 1972), which is in the form of an interior monologue, and Via Regia (1975), which touches on theatre innovation. Postmodern features begin to appear in Unt’s popular and widely translated work Sügisball ('Autumn Ball', 1979), which observes urban life and its impact on the residents of Mustamäe, and become more marked in the short stories Kuuvarjutus ('Lunar Eclipse', 1984) and Räägivad ('They Speak', 1984). With the appearance of postmodern poetics, close scrutiny of the scope of human emotions decreases, playfulness with texts borrowed from non-fiction and literary classics increases, and the splicing of narrative with metafictional musings becomes denser. Elements of postmodern poetics are most noticeable in the two 1990 novels Öös on asju ('Things in the Night') and Doonori meelespea ('Diary of a Blood Donor'), and in the novel Brecht ilmub öösel ('Brecht at Night', 1997) where the everyday and the mythological are intertwined in such a way that new meanings grow out of them, a kind of mythology of everyday life. Unt took the same line in journalism, contributing essayistic pieces on everyday subjects which also appeared in collections. A selection of his writing on literary theory and criticism was compiled in the book Ma ei olnud imelaps (‘I Was not a Prodigy’, 1990).

Unt introduced the work of Western theorists into the world of Estonian theatre, thus facilitating the modernisation of local theatre discourse. His first play See maailm või teine ('This World or Another'), with its focus on the self-awareness and the social awareness of a modern youth, was staged in Vanemuine in 1966. Unt also addressed myths and archetypes in his plays (e.g. the play Phaeton, päikese poeg – 'Phaeton, the Son of the Sun') and combined facts from cultural history with fictions (e.g. Vaimude tund Jannseni tänaval – 'The Witching Hour in Jannseni Street'). The play Good-bye, baby (staged in the Estonian Youth Theatre in 1975) binds thirteen scenes into the theme of departure. Unt has also dramatized the works of world classics (e.g. Pinter, Goethe, Strindberg, Genet) and Estonian literature (e.g. A. H. Tammsaare, O. Luts, F. Tuglas). His theatre texts and dramatizations are characterized by the same features as his short stories and novels: innovative for their time, and rich in mystical-mythical allusions, inter- and metatextual games, and subtle (self)irony.

I. S. (Translated by M. M.-K.)



Books in Estonian

Novels
Hüvasti, kollane kass. Naiivne romaan. Tartu, 1963, 303 lk. [Järgnevad trükid: 1967, 1985, 2008, 2008 (Kogutud teosed, 1).]
Sügisball. Stseenid linnaelust. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1979, 184 lk. [Järgnevad trükid: 1985, 2009, 2009 (Kogutud teosed, 4).]
Öös on asju. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1990, 221 lk. [2. trükk: 2010.]
Doonori meelespea. Tallinn: Kupar, 1990, 188 lk. [2. trükk: 2010.]
„Tere, kollane kass!“. Tallinn: Kupar, 1992, 141 lk. [2. trükk: 2008.]
Brecht ilmub öösel. Brecht bricht ein in der Nacht. Tallinn: Kupar, 1997, 285 lk. [2. trükk: 2011.]

Short stories
Elu võimalikkusest kosmoses. Tallinn: Perioodika (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 1967, 61 lk.

Hüvasti, kollane kass. Võlg. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1967, 215 lk. [Romaan, jutustus.]
Mõrv hotellis; Phaethon, Päikese poeg. Tallinn: Perioodika (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 1969, 126 lk. [Jutustus, näidend.]
Kuu nagu kustuv päike. Valik aastatest 1964–1970. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1971, 216 lk. [Sisu: ’Muljed ja juhtumid’, ’Elu võimalikkusest kosmoses’, ’Mõrv hotellis’ (jutustused), ’Phaethon, päikese poeg’ (näidend).]
Via regia. Tallinn: Perioodika (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 1975, 62 lk.
Mattias ja Kristiina. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1974, 168 lk.
Must mootorrattur. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1976, 192 lk.
Räägivad. Tallinn: Perioodika (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 1984, 78 lk.
Räägivad ja vaikivad. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1986, 204 lk. [Jutustused; ’Vaimude tund Jannseni tänaval’ (näidend).]

Plays
Mõrv hotellis; Phaethon, Päikese poeg. Tallinn: Perioodika (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 1969, 126 lk. [Jutustus, näidend.]
Kuu nagu kustuv päike. Valik aastatest 1964–1970. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1971, 216 lk. [Sisu: ’Muljed ja juhtumid’, ’Elu võimalikkusest kosmoses’, ’Mõrv hotellis’ (jutustused), ’Phaethon, päikese poeg’ (näidend).]
Räägivad ja vaikivad. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1986, 204 lk. [Jututustused, ’Vaimude tund Jannseni tänaval’ (näidend).]
Huntlus. Teoseid Oskar Lutsu motiividel. Tallinn: Kupar, 1999, 246 lk.
Graal! Eepos Von Krahli Teatrile 74 stseenis. Tallinn: Perioodika (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 2001, lk 102 lk.
Vend Antigone, ema Oidipus. Sophoklese ja Euripidese tragöödiate järgi Mati Unt. Tallinn: Kultuurileht (Loomingu Raamatukogu), 2006, 93 lk.
Meister ja Margarita. Mihhail Bulgakovi samanimelise romaani motiividel. Kose: R. Visnapuu, 2011, 60 lk.

Non-fiction
Kuradid ja kuningad. Teatri- ja filmikirjutisi aastaist 1965–1980. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1989, 245 lk.
Ma ei olnud ilmelaps. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1990, 205 lk.
Argimütoloogia sõnastik 1983–1993. Tallinn: Kupar, 1993, 220 lk.
Vastne argimütoloogia. Tallinn: Vagabund, 1996, 125 lk.
Sirise, sirise, sirbike. Sirbimütoloogiad 1997-2002. Tallinn: Sirp, 2003, lk 166.
Theatrum mundi. Tartu: Ilmamaa, 2004, 389 lk. [Sarjas ’Eesti mõttelugu’.]

Selected and collected works
Valitud teosed, 1. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1985, 415 lk. [Sisu: ’Hüvasti, kollane kass’, ’Võlg’, ’Elu võimalikkusest kosmoses’, ’Phaethon, päikese poeg’, ’Mõrv hotellis’, ’Viimnepäev’, ’Tühirand’.]
Valitud teosed. 2. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1985, 431 lk. [’Mattias ja Kristiina’, ’Via Regia’, ’Good-Bye, Baby’, ’Gulliver ja Gulliver’, ’Peaproov’, ’Ja kui me surnud ei ole, siis elame praegugi’, ’Kollontai’, ’Sügisball’.]
Kogutud teosed. 1. Tartu: Hermes, 2008, 359 lk. [’Hüvasti, kollane kass’, ’“Tere, kollane kass!“’.]
Kogutud teosed. 2. Tartu: Hermes, 2008, 239 lk. [’Võlg’, ’Elu võimalikkusest kosmoses’, ’Mõrv hotellis’.]
Kogutud teosed. 3. Tartu: Hermes, 2009, 382 lk. [’Tühirand’; ’Minu teatriglossaarium’; ’Via regia’; ’Mattias ja Kristiina’; ’Ja kui me surnud ei ole, siis elame praegugi’; ’Ja kui me surnud ei ole... (algvariant)’.]
Kogutud teosed. 4. Tartu: Hermes, 2009, 350 lk. [’Sügisball’; ’Kuuvarjutus’; ’Räägivad’.]
Kogutud teosed. 5. Tartu: Hermes, 2010, 406 lk. [’Öös on asju’, ’Doonori meelespea’.]
Kogutud teosed. 6. Tartu: Hermes, 2011, 279 lk. [’Brecht ilmub öösel’.]