Translator Madis Musts: Latvian jokes about the slowness of neighbors, Estonians have something new
I meet with Madi Musta in a glass office on the outskirts of Riga, he works as a translator for a Latvian company that also operates in Estonia. We find a quieter corner, and the Estonian guy pulls out the book freshly printed in the Jelgava printing house.
“”Lati netikommide assortii” – the reason for this name is that in Estonian it means “Assorted candies of the Internet of Latvia” – a selection of candies. Because the comment in Estonian, in short, is “komm”, and “komm” in Estonian means “candy” ‘,” says Madis.
On the other hand, the subtitle of the book is – “1118 relatively witty Internet comments about Estonians and eight smart essays that help to understand the neighboring nation”.
When asked why he stopped at such numbers, Madis Must simply answers: “It happened. It just happened. But it is also symbolic, because 11 and 18 indicate November 18, so I was very lucky.”
Madis knows Latvia quite well, as he has been living here for six years, but as he says – jokingly – he started learning Latvian 12 years ago at the University of Tartu. He is so passionate that he has also connected his professional life with it.
Did he really learn the Latvian language by reading internet comments, he says – not really. He came to understanding comments relatively recently, when he was already able to notice slang and irony in Latvian. However, a trend that has come across the Internet time and again has encouraged us to pay more attention to comments.
“What is there? Latvians praise Estonia. And journalists, experts who write the news, as well as commentators who comment on the news agree with this. There is a consensus on this issue that Estonia is doing better, but Estonians themselves may not realize it. Such praise from the outside builds self-confidence, because who else knows Estonians as well as Latvians?” says the translator.
“For example, the message is: “Last year, the number of people killed in road traffic accidents in Estonia decreased to 53”. And someone comments: “Estonians have pedestrian and bicycle paths separated from the roadway, lit for several kilometers to suburban villages. They have bigger intersections, lighted even outside the populated areas, braking lanes, run-in lanes, roundabouts with good organization, road overpasses, road signs!” I mean, Estonians are not that good about their roads,” says Madis.
“In the place where you live, you know not only the bright, tourist-oriented sign, but also what is hidden behind it. On vacation, you go to a neighboring country happy, only good things are on your mind,” argues Madis.
For example, Estonians believe that Latvia has a more clear-thinking government – and this is often said not only by “sofa commentators”, but also by experts.
He has divided the book into chapters by the topics of commented news: politics, economy, cross-border trade, culture and the like. The chronology covers a period of 12 years. The portals “Delfi” and “LA” gave permission to dig into their comments.
But which characters have most actively reflected on the topic of Estonia? “Definitely congratulations to Viseļčak, Citron, Latvju Masons and Saulvejas Fāter – those four got into my book with several comments,” admits Madis.
He tried to ignore slurs, which is not uncommon in the comment pages, perceiving them as a feature of the genre, as well as some good banality: “Of course, Latvians, not only in Internet comments, but also outside of them, tend to joke about the slowness of Estonians – that Estonians have brakes liquid instead of blood.By the way, Estonians have it [kaut kas] quite new, this stereotype also surprises Estonians a little, because they don’t really understand where it came from.”
Estonians joking about the fact that Latvians have six toes are equally unjustified. Six fingers surfing on the keyboard therefore also decorates the cover of the book, the author of this image and also of the caricatures in the book is Gatis Šłukas.
Here you will also be able to find essays by people related to both countries. For example, the journalist Inga Spriņė living in Estonia and jewelry artist Laura Šmideberga, the former mayor of Valkas Vents Armands Krauklis, the translator of Latvian literature Contra.
Madis Musts does not rule out that he will similarly collect comments about Latvians on Estonian news portals.
