Writing on the limits of the Estonian diaspora: belonging, gender, and sexuality in Heljo Liitoja’s autobiographies

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes two autobiographies of the Estonian-Canadian Heljo Liitoja (1923 − 2010) as participation in the post-Soviet national reconstruction of Estonia. The article argues that some of Liitoja’s experiences, such as her connection to the Toronto gay and lesbian community and the controversies within the Estonian diaspora, could not be addressed in an autobiography framed within an Estonian life story writing competition. The article suggests that Liitoja’s autobiographical book that discussed these topics was able to stretch the limits of the Estonian diaspora narrative.

KEYWORDS:

• Autobiography
• belonging
• nationality
• gender
• sexuality
• Estonia
• Toronto

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The manuscript is stored in the Estonian Cultural History Archives at the Estonian Literature Museum in Tartu: Liitoja, H., ‘Minu elulugu,’ Eesti Kirjandusmuuseum, Eesti Kultuurilooline Arhiiv, f. 350, M 863.

2. On Estonians at the Baltic University, see Järvesoo 1991: in this book, Liitoja (then Nurm) is listed among the students of the university (268) and, with the first name Helju, among those who attended Hansa University in Hamburg (254).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Kone Foundation.