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Finnish literature refers toliterature written inFinland. During the European earlyMiddle Ages, the earliest text in a Finnic language is the unique thirteenth-centuryBirch bark letter no. 292 fromNovgorod. The text was written in Cyrillic and represented a dialect of Finnic language spoken in RussianOlonets region. The earliest texts in Finland were written inSwedish orLatin during theFinnish Middle Age [fi] (c. 1200–1523).Finnish-language literature slowly developed from the sixteenth century onwards, after written Finnish was established by the bishop and FinnishLutheran reformerMikael Agricola (1510–1557). He translated theNew Testament into Finnish in 1548.
After becoming a part of the Russian Empire in the early nineteenth century the rise in education and nationalism promoted public interest infolklore in Finland and resulted in an increase of literary activity in Finnish. Most of the significant works of the era, written in Swedish or increasingly in Finnish, revolved around achieving or maintaining a strong Finnish identity (seeKarelianism). Thousands of folk poems in what came to be calledKalevala meter were collected inSuomen kansan vanhat runot (The ancient poems of the Finnish people). The most famous poetry collection is theKalevala, published in 1835. The first novel published in Finnish wasSeven Brothers (1870) byAleksis Kivi (1834–1872). The bookMeek Heritage [fi] (1919) byFrans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964) made him the first FinnishNobel Prize winner. Another notable author isVäinö Linna.
Other works known worldwide includeMichael the Finn andThe Sultan's Renegade (known in the USA asThe Adventurer andThe Wanderer, respectively) byMika Waltari (1908–1979). Beginning withPaavo Haavikko andEeva-Liisa Manner,Finnish poetry in the 1950s adapted the tone and approach ofT. S. Eliot andEzra Pound. The most famous poet wasEino Leino.Timo K. Mukka (1944–1973) was the wild son of Finnish literature. Prominent writers of the twenty-first century includeMikko Rimminen andscience fiction authorsLeena Krohn (Finlandia Prize 1992) andJohanna Sinisalo (Finlandia Prize 2000).
During the European earlyMiddle Ages, what is now Finland was a sparsely populated area characterised by pre-state societies. It was gradually absorbed into the emergent states of Sweden and, to a lesser extent, Russia. There is almost noFinnish-language literature from the Middle Ages or earlier; the earliest text in a Finnic language is the unique thirteenth-centuryBirch bark letter no. 292 fromNovgorod. The text was written in Cyrillic and represented a dialect of Finnic language spoken in the RussianOlonets region. Books such as theBible andCode of Laws were only available inLatin,Swedish or a few other European languages such asFrench orGerman. The understanding of the medieval circulation of these non-Finnish writings in what is now Finland has been growing since theNational Library of Finland digitised its medievalFragmenta membranea [fi].[1]
Written Finnish was established by Bishop and FinnishLutheran reformerMikael Agricola (1510–1557), who based it mainly on western dialects. His main works are a translation of theNew Testament (completed in 1548) and a primer,Abckiria, in Finnish. The first translation of the entire Bible was published in 1642.[2] The first grammar of Finnish was published byAeschillus Petraeus in 1649, and includes eightFinnish riddles. Another major step towards developing a written vernacular literature came with the work ofCristfried Ganander, who published over 300 riddles in 1783.
Until 1800, most of the literature published in Finnish was religious.[3]
After becoming a part of the Russian Empire, known as theGrand Duchy of Finland, in the early nineteenth century, Finland saw a rise in education, and nationalism promoted public interest in folklore and resulted in increasing literary activity in the Finnish language. This was characterised by an explosion in the collection and study offolklore in Finland, with a particular emphasis on Finnish-language material. Much of this material is widely thought to originate in the Middle Ages, and is often thought of in Finland as medieval literature, although this is a problematic claim.[4] Much also came fromKarelia, which also being a part of Russia contributed to the creation of Finnish literature. These folklore-collecting efforts were to a large extent co-ordinated by theFinnish Literature Society, founded in 1831. Hundreds of old folk poems, stories and their like have been collected since the 1820s into a collection which is among the largest in the world. Many of these have since been published asSuomen kansan vanhat runot ('The Ancient Poems of the Finnish People'), a colossal collection consisting of 27,000 pages in 33 volumes. The prominence of folklore in nineteenth-century Finland made Finnish scholarship world-leading in that area at the time; thus for example the internationally usedAarne–Thompson classification system for folktale narratives originated in Finnish scholarship.
The most famous collection of folk poetry is by far theKalevala. Referred to as the Finnish "national epic" it is mainly credited toElias Lönnrot, who compiled the volume. It was first published in 1835 and quickly became a symbol ofFinnish nationalism. Finland was then politically controlled by Russia and had previously been part of Sweden. TheKalevala was therefore an important part of early Finnish identity. Beside the collection of lyric poems known as theKanteletar it has been and still is a major influence on art and music, as in the case ofJean Sibelius. It is a common misconception that Lönnrot merely "collected" pre-existing poetry. It is now widely accepted that the Kalevala represents an amalgam of loosely connected source materials, freely altered by Lönnrot to present the appearance of a unified whole.
The firstnovel published in Finnish wasSeven Brothers (1870) byAleksis Kivi (1834–1872), still generally considered to be one of the greatest of all works of Finnish literature. As in Europe and the United States, the popularity of the novel in Finland is connected to industrialisation, as are many of the first Finnish novels that deal with the life of the modern middle-class or the clash of the traditional peasants with developments such as the railway. Specifically, the theme ofSeven Brothers concerns uneducated residents of the countryside and the struggle to survive under the new authority of the developing urban civilisation - a common theme in Finnish novels.[5][6]
Among Finland's prominent female writers in the nineteenth century wasMinna Canth (1844–1897), best known for her playsTyömiehen vaimo [fi] (The Worker's Wife) andAnna Liisa.[7]
At the end of the Grand Duchy of Finland, literature consisted largely of romance and drama, such as novelThe Song of the Blood-Red Flower (1905) byJohannes Linnankoski (1869–1913), but then Finland gained its independence in 1917 and soon after acivil war broke out. As with other civil wars it was to be depicted many times in literature, as inMeek Heritage [fi] (1919) byFrans Eemil Sillanpää (1888–1964). Sillanpää was a strong leader of literature in the 1930s in Finland and was the first FinnishNobel Prize winner.[8] The theme was taken up byVäinö Linna (1920–1992), already phenomenally successful because of his novelThe Unknown Soldier (1954).[9] In this and other cases the very strangeness of the Finnish environment and mentality have been major obstacles to international renown.
Other works known worldwide includeMichael the Finn andThe Sultan's Renegade (known in the US asThe Adventurer andThe Wanderer respectively) byMika Waltari (1908–1979).The Egyptian (Sinuhe egyptiläinen, 1945), partially an allegory of the Second World War but located in ancient Egypt, is his best known work. Despite containing nearly 800 pages, no other book has sold so fast in Finland and the shorter English version was atop many best-seller lists in the US.[10] One possible reason for their international success is their focus on post-war disillusionment, a feeling shared by many at the time.
Beginning withPaavo Haavikko andEeva-Liisa Manner,Finnish poetry in the 1950s adapted the tone and level of the British and American –T. S. Eliot andEzra Pound were major influences and widely translated. Traditionally German and especially French literature have been very well known and sometimes emulated in Finland. Paradoxically the great Russian tradition might have been less known, possibly because of a political aversion.
The most famous poet wasEino Leino – who in addition to his own writing was also a proficient translator of, among others,Dante.[11]Otto Manninen was a master of meters and translated both theIliad andOdyssey byHomer. After the warsPentti Saarikoski might initially have been a counterpart of the beat generation, but being well educated, he translated Homer,James Joyce and many important English and American writers.[12]
Timo K. Mukka (1944–1973) was the wild son of Finnish literature. During a period of less than a decade in the 1960s, Mukka sprang virtually from nowhere to produce nine novels written in a lyrical prose style. His two greatest masterpieces are the novelThe Song of the Children of Sibir and the novellaThe Dove and the Poppy – after which he ceased writing until his early death.
After a successful year as the Guest of Honor at theFrankfurt Book Fair in 2014, Finland was able to rebrand itself – internationally, too – as a literary country. "Obscurity became Finland's calling card", writesKalle Oskari Mattila inThe Paris Review, noting that, "Finland had largely fallen off the trend of Nordic noir and crime writing, but that exclusion provided a new kind of branding opportunity: ambitious literary fiction".[13]
By 2018, Finnish literary exports had more than tripled in size. Anglo American markets have surpassed Germany as the leading source of export revenue.[13]
Prominent writers of this century includeSofi Oksanen,Pajtim Statovci,Laura Lindstedt andMikko Rimminen, noted for his irreverent portrayals of life in Helsinki and winner of the 2011Finlandia Prize. Finnish writing has also become internationally noted for its fantasy and science fiction, having gained momentum in the late twentieth century, partly through a thrivingfandom scene. Leading exponents includeLeena Krohn (Finlandia Prize 1992) andJohanna Sinisalo (Finlandia Prize 2000).
A strong Swedish-language literature emerged in Finland only in the nineteenth century.[2] Before this,Jacob Frese (1690–1729) was a noted Swedish-language poet who was born in Finland and fled to Stockholm after the Russian occupation of his hometownVyborg (Viipuri in Finnish).[14] Known for his baroque poetry often containing religious themes,[14] he considered himself a refugee from Finland[15] and emphasized his Vyborg and Finnish roots in different ways.[14] His poem "Echo å Sweriges Allmänne Frögde-Qwäden" (1715), part of which is dedicated to his hometown, has been called "the first work in which a Finn expressed his patriotism and love for his native country" since the Greek poemMagnus Principatus Finlandia by Johan Lillienstedt.[15] Another well-known Finnish poet who wrote in Swedish while the country was still part of Sweden wasFrans Michael Franzén (1772–1847). He was considered an innovator in his youth, when adherence to classical French conventions was still very strong. He moved to Sweden in 1811, two years after the Russian annexation of Finland.[16]
Even after the establishment of Finnish as the primary language of administration and education, Swedish remained important in Finland.
Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804–1877) was the most famous Swedish-speaking writer of the nineteenth century. The opening poemOur Land (fromThe Tales of Ensign Stål) was dedicated as the national anthem as early as seventy years before Finnish independence. During the early 20th century, the Swedish-language modernism emerged in Finland as one of the most acclaimed literal movements in the history of the country. The best-known representative of the movement wasEdith Södergran.
The most famous Swedish-language works from Finland are probably theMoomin books by writerTove Jansson. They are also known incomic strip orcartoon forms. Jansson was, however, only one of several Swedish-language writers for children whose work can be understood as part of a wave of innovative 1960s–1970s Nordic-language children's writing; another leading Finnish exponent wasIrmelin Sandman Lilius.
Other prominent twentieth-century Swedish-language writers of Finland areHenrik Tikkanen andKjell Westö, both noted for their often (semi)-autobiographical realist novels. The rise of Finnish-language fantasy and science fiction has been paralleled in Swedish, for example in the work ofJohanna Holmström.
