Nodes of Contemporary Finnish Literature by Leena Kirstinä

Nodes of Contemporary Finnish Literature examines phenomena from Finnish and Finnish-Swedish literature written in the years between the 1980s and the first decade of the new millennium. Its objective is to study this interesting era of literary history in Finland and to sketch some possible directions for future development by identifying literary turning points which have already occurred.

The analysis begins in 1985, when literature in Finland was transformed by a mimetic crisis which problematized the codes, roles, and functions of the author, narrator and reader. The modern met the postmodern during this literary period in many different ways. Another major turning point can be identified in 1998, when a fundamental change occurred in the writing of women and in the way social, national and international issues were presented in Finland’s literature. From this point forward, narratives were guided by such concepts as identity, subjectivity and selfhood.

The nine articles found in the anthology are written by some of the most prominent literary scholars in Finland. These distinguished authors examine such varied topics as postmodern allegories, feminism, historiography, autobiographic writing, modern subjects in postmodern conditions, metalyrical poetry, realistic involvement in the novel, successful children’s literature, and the intertextuality of Sofi Oksanen’s famous novel Purge.

This anthology will be of interest to all students of the Finnish language or culture and endeavours above all to make contemporary Finnish literature and its corresponding literary research more accessible to everyone.