Tag: cultural history
Heartstone
2 December 2010 | Reviews
Ulla-Lena Lundberg
‘Knowledge enhances feeling’ is a motto that runs through the whole of Ulla-Lena Lundberg’s oeuvre – both her novels and her travel-writing, covering Åland, Siberia and Africa.
In her trilogy of maritime novels (Leo, Stora världen [‘The wide world’], Allt man kan önska sig [‘All you could wish for’], 1989–1995) she used the form of a family chronicle to depict the development of sea-faring on Åland over the course of a century or so. She gathered her material with historical and anthropological methodology and love of detail. The result was entirely a work of quality fiction, from the consciously old-fashioned rural realism of the first volume to the contradictory postmodern multiplicity of voices in the last – all of it in harmony with the times being depicted.
When Lundberg (born 1947) takes us underground or up onto cliff-faces in her new documentary book, Jägarens leende. Resor i hällkonstens rymd (‘Smile of the hunter. Travels in the space of rock art’), in order to consider cave- and rock-paintings in various parts of the world, she also reveals a little of the background to this attitude towards life that takes such delight in acquiring knowledge – an attitude that is familiar from many of the protagonists of her novels. More…
Petri Keto-Tokoi & Timo Kuuluvainen: Suomalainen aarniometsä [The Finnish virgin forest]
12 November 2010 | Mini reviews, Reviews
Suomalainen aarniometsä
[The Finnish virgin forest]
Helsinki: Maahenki, 2010. 302 p., ill.
ISBN 978-952-5870-06-0
€ 48, hardback
This book explains the cultural significance of forests – particularly virgin forests – to Finns. That term is used to refer to old-growth forests in their natural state, characterised by trees of different ages, an abundance of decaying tree remains, and continuous incremental changes. Nowadays around four per cent of Finnish forests are in a natural or near-natural state, and light is being shed on their ecosystems and the history of the slowly vanishing virgin forests. They are associated with deep-seated values and a multiplicity of roles throughout history. To many artists forests have been a significant elemental force, worthy even of worship; peasants and the timber industry have exploited the virgin forests. The authors also consider whether answers to key environmental issues will be found in old-growth forests: safeguarding natural diversity and slowing climate change. In addition to illustrative material from the authors, the book contains photographs by award-winning photographers Ritva Kovalainen and Sanni Seppo.
In the beginning was… DNA?
8 October 2010 | Reviews
Adam and Eve, or the elephants: Osmo Rauhala’s sketch of The Fall of Man. As the bull eats the apple, evil rises from the ground in the form of a plant with eyes: a ‘misbreed’, a cross of two species alien to each other
Kuutti Lavonen – Osmo Rauhala – Pirjo Silveri
Tyrvään Pyhän Olavin kirkko – sata ja yksi kuvaa /
St Olaf’s Church in Tyrvää – One Hundred and One Paintings
Toim. / Edited by Pirjo Silveri
Translations: Silja Kudel, Jüri Kokkonen
Helsinki: Kirjapaja, 2010. 143 p., ill.
ISBN 978-952-247-103-1
€44.30, hardback
The old shingle roof of the early 16th-century stone church of St Olaf in Tyrvää, in the province of Pirkanmaa, southern Finland, was repaired by village volunteers in 1997. Three weeks after they completed their work, a drunken arsonist set the church on fire. More…
Irma-Riitta Järvinen: Kalevala Guide
10 September 2010 | Mini reviews, Reviews
Kalevala Guide
Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2010. 127 p., ill.
ISBN 978-952-222-193-3
€ 24.90, paperback
This book is a brief but comprehensive English-language guide to the Finnish national epic, which was based on the archaic oral, sung folk poetry of Karelia, but collected and personally compiled by the scholar and writer Elias Lönnrot (1802–1884). The epic (first edition 1839, complemented in 1849) is set in a mythic past; technically speaking, the metre is an unrhymed, non-strophic trochaic tetrametre, characterised by alliteration. Contents, characters, places and themes are explained in the Guide, which also explores myths of origin and the significance of the epic. On his eleven trips to Archangel and North Karelia, Lönnrot met some 70 singers. The Kalevala, now translated, at least in part, into more than 60 languages, has inspired artists the world over (J.R.R. Tolkien was a fan, while Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Hiawatha imitates the metre and style of the Kalevala). The composer Jean Sibelius and the artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela are perhaps the best known Finnish Kalevala artists. And the inspiration continues: for instance, rock musicians and visual artists make use of Kalevala themes, stories and characters in their work. The book includes a list of relevant websites and a select bibliography.
Konstnärsbröderna von Wrights dagböcker 1–7 [The diaries of the von Wright brothers, Vols. 1–7]
1 April 2010 | Mini reviews, Reviews
Konstnärsbröderna von Wrights dagböcker 1–7
[The diaries of the von Wright brothers, Vols. 1–7]
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1824–1834. 407 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-026-5
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1835–1840. 470 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-040-0
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1841–1849. 431 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-047-8
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1850–1862. 496 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-060-5
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1863–1868. 493 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-085-0
€ 46 each, hardback
Wilhelm & Ferdinand von Wright: Dagböcker [Diaries] 615 p., ill. ISBN 978-951-583-137-8.
€ 46, hardback
Index: 398 p., ill. ISBN 978-951-583-138-5. € 20, hardback
Helsinki: Svenska Litteratursällskapet i Finland, 1996–2010
Toimittaneet [Ed. by]: Anto Leikola, Juhani Lokki, Torsten Stjernberg, Johan Ulfvens
The three von Wright brothers, who came from a family with nine children in rural north Savo (in eastern Finland), shared a talent for meticulous observation combined with masterful technique and a romantic style. Each of these artists, who were active during the Biedermeier era, was a trailblazer in his own field: Magnus (1805–1868) as a proponent of Finnish national art, Wilhelm (1810–1887) as a wildlife illustrator, and Ferdinand (1822–1906) as a painter of landscapes and birds. Their contribution to Nordic ornithology is considerable. The index volume to the von Wright brothers’ diaries (which were written in Swedish) includes lists of their artworks and details of works held by collections abroad. This series is of significant cultural importance, and it is remarkable for its scientific accuracy. Five volumes consist of Magnus von Wright’s diary entries, which he wrote daily from 1820 up until his death. The sixth volume contains diary entries by the two younger brothers, which provide insights into the everyday life and society of that era, as well as the artists’ working practices and their relationship with nature.
Suomalaiset pappilat [Finnish parsonages]
20 November 2009 | Mini reviews, Reviews
Marja-Terttu Knapas & Markku Heikkilä & Timo Qvist
Suomalaiset pappilat. Kulttuuri-, talous- rakennushistoriaa
[Finnish parsonages. A cultural, economic and architectural history]
Picture research: Sirkku Dölle
Helsinki: the Finnish Literature Society, 2009. 231 p., ill.
ISBN 978-952-222-096-7
€48, hardback
From the Enlightenment period in the 18th century up until the 20th century, Lutheran parsonages played a significant role in Finland as centres of worldly life and propagators of culture and civilisation. Influential figures in many walks of life spent their childhoods in parsonages, and the parsonages themselves served as influences on the built environment of their surroundings. They began to be taken out of active use at an accelerating rate over the course of the 20th century. This book sets out to portray parsonages with interesting personal and social history and architecture. It also creates a narrative of the milieu and family networks of clergymen and their families – an institution that gradually began to break down in Finland after the Second World War. The portrayal of life in the parsonages is closely linked to the broader themes of agriculture, gardening and food. Illustrations from the collections of Finland’s National Board of Antiquities are supplemented by photographs from other museums as well as individuals.