Maria Turtschaninoff
Suomenruotsalainen kirjallisuus 1990-luvusta alkaen
Contemporary
Finland-Swedish
literature
Hanna Samola, Senior lecturer in Finnish Literature, Tampere University
Kuka olen?
• Hanna Samola, PhD, Senior Lecturer in Finnish literature at Tampere University. / Suomen kirjallisuuden yliopistonlehtori Tampereen yliopistossa.
• Research interests: fairytales, dystopian fiction, intertextuality, contemporary literature. Tutkimusalat: sadut, dystooppinen fiktio, intertekstuaalisuus, nykykirjallisuus.
• Doctoral dissertation (2016): Siniparran bordelli. Dystopian ja sadun lajiyhdistelmat romaaneissa Berenikes har, Huorasatu ja Auringon yd in.
• Pirkko Lindberg's Berenikes har (2000) as a satirical dystopia criticizing expoitation of women.
What do you know about Finland-Swedish literature?
Do you know any Finland-Swedish authors? Have you read Finland-Swedish literature?
What do you know about the history of Swedish-language literature in Finland?
What kind of position Swedish-language literature and culture has in Finland?
You can either write your answers in chat (in Finnish, in Swedish, in English or in Czech) or raise your hand and open your microphone and tell your answers aloud.
Swedish language in Finland
• Swedish is an official language in Finland (Finnish and Sami are the other official languages)
• Language: Finland Swedish. Has different dialects: Swedish spoken in Ostrobothnia differs from Swedish spoken in Helsingfors.
• About 5,2 % of the population in Finland has Swedish as an official mother tongue.
• Swedish was the only official language in Finland until 1863. Swedish was the language of administration until the year 1901.
• Today, Swedish-language literature is one of minority literatures in Finland, although it has a high status in institutions.
• Svensk litteratursallskapet i Finland (Society of Swedish literature in Finland)
• Kulturfonden (a foundation that funds projects with a connection to Swedish in Finland)
• Finsk Tidskrift (a scientific journal publishing articles on literature)
• Hufvudstadsbladet (a newspaper in Swedish)
• Forlaget, Schilds & Soderstroms (publishing houses publishing Swedish language literature)
Swedish dialects are spoken in
Ostrobothnia, Aland Islands, Southwest Finland and Uusimaa.
I was born somewhere iere, in a village ed Pukkila.
Vastra
Maps from Wikiped+a^
Mellersta Osterbönen
Norra Österbotten
Södra Österbotten
Ostra Aland
Östra Nyland
Some canonized Finland-Swedish authors
• Edith Sodergran: Dikter (1916), Septemberlyran (1918)
• Elmer Diktonius: Stenkol (1927) and Janne Kubik. Ett trdsnitt i ord (1932)
• Tove Jansson:
• Moomin novels - Smatrollen och den stora oversvamningen (1945), Kometjakten (1946), Trollkorlens hott (1947), Trollvintern (1957), Pappan och hovet (1965)..
• short story collections (Dockskapet, 1978)
• novels (Rentspel, 1989)
• Henrik Tikkanen: the "address trilogy" Branddvagen 8, Brando Tel. 35 (1975), Bdvervdgen 11 Hertonds Tel. 78 035 (1976), Mariegatan 26 Kronohagen (1977)
• Marta Tikkanen: Man kan inte valdtas: Roman (1975), Rodluvan (1986)
• Johanna Holmstrom 2020: "Borde halla kaft". En bok om Marta Tikkanen.
• Bo Carpelan: Poetry, novels, children's books.
• Berg (2005) won the Finlandia Prize in 2005. A group of people memorizes the summer of 1944 - the last summer of war.
• Urvind (1993). Daniel Urwind writes a story for his wife. The importance of memories and nostalgia.
The history of Swedish-language literature in Finland
• Finland-Swedish modernism: ideas from Russia, Germany, and Sweden, for example Edith Sodergran
• Cosmopolitanism, multilingualism
• Urban culture: "dagdrivare" literature, for example Runar Schildt
• Finland-Swedish literature and writers have plenty of connections with Swedish literary field.
• No language barrier -> easier to find readers in both countries.
• For example Monika Fagerholm is well-known and highly appreciated writer in Sweden.
Central milieus in Finland-Swedish literature
• Archipelago
• Ulla-Lena Lundberg: Is (2012, Jää) - story of a family of a priest Peter Kummel, living in Aland island. Depiction of the community trying to survive the rough weather.
• Tove Jansson: Pappan och havet (1965) - Moominpappa organizes a journey to the lighthouse island.
• Smalltowns
• Christer Kihlman: Se upp salige! (1960) - a fictional town called Lexá, reminding of Borgá
• Émma Juslin: Ensamma tillsammans (2009) - one of the characters lives in a small town Aborg, resembling Borgá
• Monika Fagerholm - fictional small towns that are separated from their surroundings. Athmosphere that reminds of Twin Peaks. For example novel Den amerikánska flickan (2004, Amerikkalainen tyttô)
• Helsinki (Helsingfors)
• K j e 11 Westô: Drakarna over Helsingfors (2006, Leijat Helsingin yllä). The history of Finnish capitalism narrated through one family.
• Bo Carpelan's many novels are set in the capital of Finland.
• Ostrobothnia (Ôsterbotten, Pohjanmaa)
• Lars Sund: "Siklax trilogy": Colorado Avenue (1991), Lanthandlerskans son (1997) ("Son of a Country Shopkeeper") and Eriks bok (2003) ("Erik's Book")
• A fictive village named Siklax in Finnish Ostrobothnia
Themes of contemporary Finland-Swedish literature
• Socioeconomic classes in the society
• Closed communities of wealty people (Holmström: Hush Baby)
• History of Finnish socioeconomic classes (Westö: Hägring 38)
• Girlhood and feminism
• Kristina Malmio 2008: Previously, the point of view in Finland Swedish literature was that of a middle-class and middle-aged man. Today the perspective is often that of a young woman.
• Contemporary Finland Swedish literature depicts life of girls and women living in the margins of the society. Examples: Malin Kivelä's Du eller along, Emma Juslin's Frida och Frida.
• Pirkko Lindberg: Candida (1996) and Berenikes här (2000)
• Satirical depictions of the society from the point of view of a woman.
• Candida as a critical depiction of Europe in the 1990s - a pastiche of Candide by Voltaire.
Research on Finland-Swedish literature
• Research project Senmodern spatialitet i finlandssvensk prosa 1990-2010. https://blogs.helsinki.fi/latemodernspatialitv/7page id=18
• Jan Dlask 2011: Finskans rika valorer eller svenskans subtila nyanser? Den tvasprakige forfattaren och konstnaren Henrik Tikkanen. Bade och, seka ettd. Om flersprakighet / Monikielisyydestd. Helsingfors: Schildts.
• Nanny Jolma 2021: Muisteleva mindkerronta Bo Carpelanin mydhdisromaaneissa. An academic dissertation. Tampere: Tampere University.
• Kristina Malmio & Mia Osterlund fed. by) 2016: Novel districts: critical readings of Monika Fagerholm. https://www.finna.fi/Record/sks doabooks. 19772
• Kristina Malmio 2019: Postmodernismi ja sen "yli" kirjoittaminen 2000-luvun suomenruotsalaisissa romaaneissa. Muistikirja ja matkalaukku. Muotojaja merkityksid 2000-luvun suomalaisessa romaanissa. Ed. by Elina Arminen and Markku Lehtimaki.
• Hanna Samola 2015: Kvinnorna i glasbordellen. Skildringen av ett totalitart samhalle och den feministiska dystopins kannetecken i Pirkko Lindbergs Berenikes har. Historiska och litteraturhistoriska studier 90. Redigerad av Jennica Thylin-Klaus och Julia Tidigs. Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursallskapet i Finland.
Merete Mazzarella and the narrow room (det tranga rummet)
• Mazzarella 1989: Det tranga rummet: en finlandssvensk romantradition
• Mazzarella describes the tradition of Finland-Swedish literature with the concept of the narrow room.
• Det tranga rummet: a narrow, claustrophobic space that Swedish-speaking Finns felt that they are trapped in.
• An awareness of the minority position of the Swedish-language population of Finland.
• A bourgeois reality and families that keep their secrets form other people. Clannish smalltowns.
The narrow room has become wider
• According to Kristina Malmio (2013; 2018), the narrow room has become more open in postmodern Finland-Swedish literature
• Global media culture and popular culture as an important backgroud of contemporary prose fiction
• The setting is no longer a narrow room but the whole world (works by Zinaida Linden, Pirkko Lindberg etc.)
• The variety of genres and genre hybrids: new weird, fantasy, magical realism.
• Plurality of languages and dialects in Finland Swedish literature: Finnish, Russian, English etc. (Zinaida Linden, Emma Juslin, Lars Sund)
• Intertextuality, metafictionality, narrative experiments (Lars Sund, Pirkko Lindberg, Hannele Mikaela Taivassalo)
Genres of contemporary Finland-Swedish literature
• Dystopian fiction
• Annika Luther: De hemlösas stad (2011, Kodittomien kaupunki)
• Pirkko Lindberg: Berenikes har (2000, Bereniken hiukset)
• Thriller
• Johanna Holmström: Hush Baby (2015)
• Historical novel
• Kjell Westö: Drakarna over Helsingfors (2006)
• Ulla-Lena Lundberg: Is - (2012, Jää. Won Finlandia prize in 2012)
• Johanna Holmström: Själarnas ö (2017, Sielujen saari)
• Fantasy
• Maria Turtschaninoff: Underfors (2011, Heisingin alia)
• New Weird, magical realism
• Johanna Holmström: Camera Obscura (2009)
Swedish-language children's literature in Finland
• ToveJansson
• Irmelin Sandman Lilius
• Bo Carpelan
• Camilla Mickwitz
• Linda Bondestam
Illustration of the story of Mimosa by Camilla Mickwitz
Linda Bondestam 2020: Mitt bottenliv. Av en ensam axolotl
• The main character is an endangered axolotl who lives alone in the bottom of the lake.
• Themes: the climate change, extinction of species, evolution of the species.
• The under-water surroundings of the axolotl are full of trash from the human world.
• The weird combination of fantastic surroundings and realistic illustrations of garbage.
Bondestam 2020: Mitt bottenliv. Av en ensom axolotl
Young adult literature
• Annika Luther: De hemldsas stad (2011, Kodittomien kaupunki)
• Dystopian novel: ecodystopia, climate fiction.
• Parts of Finland, including Helsinki, have been drowned as a consequence of rising sea levels.
• The capital of Finland is Jyvaskyla after the drowning of Helsinki.
• The protagonist travels to Helsinki in order to find her mother.
• Maria Turtschaninoff: Underfors (2010, Helsingin alia)
• Fantasy novel with fairy tale allusions.
• Mythological creatures living underground (maahiset)
• Two worlds: an everyday Helsinki and the underground world Underfors.
• The protagonist Alva finds a portal into the underground world and finds out that she is descendant of underground living trolls.
Maria Turtschaninoff
Theme: Flickskap = tyttoys = girlhood
• Monika Fagerholm: Diva (1998)
• The narrator is a thirteen-year-old girl called Diva who describes herself as astonishingly beautiful and clever, Lucia type girl who loves eating.
• The narrator has a subjective point of view but she knows what happens later in the novel.
"Phoenix-Marvel Girl
Jag ar Diva, a I It jat berattar ar sant. Slut ogonen, drom om det vackarste som finns. Oppna ogonen igen. Se mig. Flickkvinnan. Diva Lucia. Tretton ar, strax fjorton. BabyWonder. Hon man trodde att inte fanns." (Diva, 11.)
"Olen Diiva, kaikki mita kerron on totta. Sulje silmasi, uneksi kauneimmasta mita olla saattaa. Avaa silmasi uudestaan. Katso minua. Tyttonainen. Diiva-Lucia. Kolmetoista vuotta, kohta neljatoista. BabyWonder. Han jota ei uskottu olevan."
• Emma Juslin: Ensamma tillsammans (2009)
• Three protagonists: Olga, Stina and Tove - young urban women who are trying to find their place in the society.
• Fairytale intertexts: "The Little Mermaid" by H. C. Andersen
The theme of violence
• Monika Fagerholm: Vem dodade bambi? (2019)
• Sexual violence and its consequences in a wealty community, "villastan"
• Parents and other adults protect young men who commit sexual violence. The community tries to forget what happened.
• Storytelling as one of the main themes: people trying to make sense of the past by repeating stories.
• Stories and their repetitive narration is characteristic also of other novels by Fagerholm. -> different views of the past.
• Johanna Holmstrom: Camera Obscura (2009)
• Violence in close relationships between people
• Violence towards non-human animals
Questions for the seminars
• Magister students: Tuesday Nov. 9th 10:05-11:30 (Czech time)
• Bachelor students: Thursday Nov. 11th 12:05-13:30 (Czech time)
Kjell Westö: Hägring 38 (2013)
• How does the beginning of the novel depict time? What historical period the novel is set in?
• What happened in Europe in 1938?
• How would you describe the charachers of the novel (Claes Thune, Matilda Wiik). What kind of relationship do they have?
• What happened in Finland in 1918?
Johanna Holmström: Hush Baby (2015)
• How would you desribe the genre of the novel on the basis of its beginning?
• What kind of milieus the beginning of the novel depicts? What time of the year? What kind of environment?
• What do we know about Robin's family and her background on the basis of the beginning?
• How would you describe novel's narrator and narration?
Poems by Tua Forsström from the collection En kväll i Oktober rodde jag ut pä sjon (2012)
• How do you interpret the meaning of the rabbit (hare, jänis) in Forsström's poems?
• How would you describe the athmosphere in poems?
• How would you describe the speaker of the poems=