Anti-futurism of the Young Estonia Literary Movement VIRVE SARAPIK First of all I would like to point out that the notion of futurism (or, to be precise, anti-futurism) in the title does not refer to the determined cultural phenomenon as such, which emerged in Italy and Russia before World War I, but instead to some of its characteristic aspects. These include its orientation towards the future and an essential connection with contemporary urban culture, industry and techno- logy. In art and literature, as well as in the activity of futurists, futurism occasionally acquired rather weird forms, which attracted attention and rebuffed, and thus the harmonious relationship between high culture and technology has often been neglected. The function of easing the opposition between industrial pro- duction and individual creative work is at the same time quite unique. The 19th century realism did notice and depicted the emerging industrial urban culture, but only in a critical key. Neo- realism, Jugendstil and symbolism that followed realism distanced themselves from the topic. Futurists discredited themselves to a great extent by extolling the war. Connection with contemporary industrial urban culture was restored only in the 1920s – in the development of design, functionalism etc – and then in the 1960s. The initiators of the Young Estonia movement who desired cultural and social innovations were secondary school pupils. The main location was Tartu with its secret pupils’ clubs. The young people became active in the tense atmosphere preceding the 1905 revolution in Russia also in other places around Estonia. Still, at first it was Tartu where the ideas and subsequent publications of the Young