Born in 1969, Pärnu, Estonia

Nationality: Estonian

Institution and position held:

Associate Professor in Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics

Senior Researcher in Institute for Cultural Research and Fine Arts

Faculty of Philosophy

University of Tartu, Estonia

Fields of interest: folk culture and vernacular belief systems of Fenno-Ugric peoples, mythology of Kalevala-metric songs, folk belief in general

Degree information:

Ph.D, 2003

Jutustava regilaulu aspektid: 19. sajandi lõpu setu lüroeepiliste regilaulude žanr ja struktuur / The genre and structure of Setu lyro-epic Kalevala-metric songs from the late 19th century

University of Tartu, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Literature and Folklore

Field trips to different Balto-Finnic peoples in Estonia and NW Russia:

since 1993 in different parts of Estonia

1995 – Setu (Estonia)

1996 – Setu (Pskov oblast)

1998 – 2004 Votians, Ingrian Finns (Leningrad oblast)

2004 – 2006 Vepsians (Karelian Republic)

2007 – 2012 Vepsians (Leningrad oblast)

2012 Vepsians (Vologda oblast)

Recent publications:

1. Arukask, Madis 2012: Some Observations about Boundaries in Vepsian Folk Culture. In: Hasselblatt, C., van der Hoeven, A. (Eds.). Finno-Ugric Folklore, Myth and Cultural Identity. Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Finno-Ugric Languages. University of Groningen, June 7-9, 2011. Maastricht: Shaker Verlag, pp. 9 – 20.

2. Arukask, Madis 2012: The Estonian National Epic, Kalevipoeg: Its Sources and Inception. In: Campbell, M., Perraudin, M. (Eds.). The Voice of the People: Writing the European Folk Revival, 1760-1914. London, New York, Dehli: Anthem Press, pp. 123 – 139.

3. Arukask, Madis ja Raudalainen, Taisto Kalevi 2012: Autobiographical and Interpretative Dynamics in the Oral Repertoire of a Vepsian Woman. In: Bowman, M., Valk, Ü. (Eds.). Expressions of Belief. Vernacular Religion in Everyday Life. London: Equinox, pp. 104 – 139.

4. Arukask, Madis 2011: Communication Across The Border: What Burial Laments Can Tell Us About Old Beliefs. In: Estonian Journal of Archaeology, 15: 2, pp. 130 – 150. http://www.kirj.ee/public/Archaeology/2011/issue_2/arch-2011-15-2-130-150.pdf

5. Arukask, Madis 2011: Resurrection, Revenance, and Exhumation: The Problematics of the Dead Body in Songs and Laments. In: Ahlbäck, T.; Dahla, B. (Eds.). Religion and the Body. Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, Vol. 23. Åbo: Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History, pp. 28 – 54.

6. Arukask, Madis 2011: The role of forest in the Vepsian traditional culture in the 21th century. In: Congressus XI. Internationalis Fenno-Ugristarum; Piliscsaba, Hungary; 9-14.08.2010. Dissertationes symposiorum ad linguisticam. Piliscaba: Reguly Társasá, pp. 290 – 296.

7. Arukask, Madis 2009: On the Inter-Genre Transitions of Laments and Kalevala-Metric Songs. In: Traditiones, 38, pp. 99 – 116. http://www.siefhome.org/images/stories/file/pdfs/traditiones.pdf