The Ambivalent and Multifaceted Figure of the Upstart in A. H. Tammsaare’s Ma armastasin sakslast: A Search for the Right Interpretation of Life and Literature

Abstract

1. H. Tammsaare’s (1878–1940)[i] novel Ma armastasin sakslast [I Loved a German] was originally published in 1935, at a time when the author was already an established and widely celebrated figure in Estonian literature.[ii] Traditionally, the novel has been interpreted as a love story between two protagonists belonging to nations with unequal symbolic status: an Estonian and a German. This interpretive approach is encouraged by the title itself and has typically been expanded to encompass the broader social context, addressing the intersections of class and culture, external and internal inhibitions, student life, and the emulation of Baltic German traditions. However, the novel’s complex structure and formal strategies, which amplify and deepen its intricate thematic concerns, have often been overlooked. Consequently, Ma armastasin sakslast has not yet been systematically situated within the tradition of literary decadence and the modernist currents from which it emerged.

[i] For an explanation of the pen name A. H. Tammsaare, see endnote 3 in the article by Hinrikus and Rossi in this issue. Throughout the present article, however, we refer to the author simply as Tammsaare.

[ii] In this article, we have used the original Estonian novel, A. H. Tammsaare’s Ma armastasin sakslast (Eesti Raamat, 1935, [1984]), and consulted the Finnish translation Rakastin saksalaista (Aviador, 2019), translated by Juhani Salokannel. The English translation of the novel used throughout this article is I Loved a German, translated by Christopher Moseley (Vagabond Voices, 2018). Unless otherwise indicated, all other English translations, including those from secondary sources, are our own.