Academic literature on the topic 'The Kalevala'

Forming an identity or a national identity is a long process every country in the world has gone through. The purpose of this research paper is to investigate how the Finnish identity has been portrayed in media between the years 1836-1893. The aim is to uncover how the Finnish epic, the Kalevala has influenced the creation of a Finnish national identity, which will be done through discourse analysis of five newspaper articles published over a timespan of about 60 years. The results showed that there were some changes over time in how the Finnish are portrayed in relation to the Kalevala. However, this difference was not applicable to all the studied categories. In conclusion, identity is something individual and through the individuality a common identity could be formed in Finland in the 1800s.

This thesis pursues to explain how Kalevala influenced J. R. R. Tolkien’s legendarium by comparing various characters and places from both mythologies. My hypothesis is that Tolkien was inspired by the Finnish mythology and there is a connection. The main question of this thesis is how Kalevala influenced Tolkien’s early legendarium and secondary question is what parts of his legendarium, like the characters of Túrin Turambar and Tom Bombadil can be traced back to Kalevala. Tolkien was a researcher of Nordic mythology and his first, but unfinished, fictional novella was an attempt to reform Kullervo poems from Kalevala into a prose narrative. Method of research used in this thesis is literature review.

The Kalevala, first published in 1835 by Elias Lönnrot, is the Finnish national epic and was fundamental in formalizing the Finnish language. It is a collection of stories Lönnrot collected over many years, pieced together to create a coherent epic. The stories in the Kalevala stem from an oral tradition, in which singing and music was integral. The stories in the epic contain many different characters, with Väinämöinen and his quest in to find a wife at the forefront. Other major characters discussed include Kullervo, Lemminkäinen, and Luonnotar. Extensive research exists about the history of the Kalevala itself, as well as its impact on music in Finland in the areas of pop music, symphonic music, choral music, and opera. However, little scholarship exists, regarding how the texts from the Kalevala have been incorporated into 19th and 20th century art song. The lack of research about the Kalevala in art song is due partly to the fact that no catalogue of related songs exists. Also, works based on the Kalevala are hard to obtain, as many are only available in manuscript form, or are found only in the Finnish National Archives. This essay aims to bridge the research gap on art song inspired by the Kalevala, while evaluating the works available in the context of their incorporation of the folk singing tradition that would have been used in the early performance of these Kalevala texts. Songs analyzed include works by Gabriel Linsén, Emil Kauppi, Jean Sibelius, Otto Kotilainen, and Erkki Melartin.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-03-29T14:05:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 carolinaalvesmagaldi.pdf: 1753577 bytes, checksum: 5f732ca8289cff5bd4c7e70b9d263030 (MD5)<br>Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-04-24T02:47:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 carolinaalvesmagaldi.pdf: 1753577 bytes, checksum: 5f732ca8289cff5bd4c7e70b9d263030 (MD5)<br>Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-24T02:47:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 carolinaalvesmagaldi.pdf: 1753577 bytes, checksum: 5f732ca8289cff5bd4c7e70b9d263030 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-22<br>CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior<br>A Kalevala finlandesa e o Popol Vuh guatemalteco têm inúmeras e surpreendentes similaridades, bem como uma quantia equiparável de diferenças marcantes. Algumas questões, entretanto, ressaem sobre as outras: suas origens orais, transpostas para o universo escrito em momentos de crise; suas numerosas retraduções e os extensos prefácios, posfácios e introduções escritos por teóricos-tradutores especialistas nas obras, contendo informações sobre o texto-fonte e seu contexto, a respeito do processo de tradução, além de dados sobre os povos e territórios nos quais as narrativas se originaram. Tais paratextos se constituem como ―zonas de transação‖ (GENETTE, 2009), nos quais as negociações de sentido entre tradutores anteriores, versões atuais, editoras e universidades se tornam visíveis em meio ao fazer tradutório, movimentando as obras em seus polissistemas literários e culturais. O ingresso brasileiro neste processo é recente, com a tradução de Sérgio Medeiros para o Popol Vuh (Iluminuras, 2007) e de José Bizerril e Álvaro Faleiros para a Kalevala (Ateliê Editorial, 2009). Nessas edições brasileiras, os temas mais recorrentes nas versões internacionais também se fazem presentes, com destaque para a história e a tradução, saberes esses voltados ao passado, os quais contribuem sobremaneira para a construção do imaginário espacial. Detalhamos, portanto, as obras e seus paratextos para que possamos nos dedicar ao estudo da história e da tradução a partir dos eixos temporal e espacial, optando, sempre que possível, por contemplar teóricos que discorressem sobre ambos os saberes, em especial Walter Benjamin, Paul Ricoeur e Itamar Even-Zohar. Concluímos que a literatura e tradução são polissistemas, ou seja, conjuntos relacionais e hierárquicos em eterna construção de conexões, desenvolvidas e renovadas ao longo do tempo. Os paratextos, tão ―híbridos‖ quanto os textos que vêm a apresentar, são parte integrante das grandes negociações interculturais, políticas e literárias operadas pela tradução. Por esse motivo propomos a noção de prisma, de forma a oferecer uma possibilidade de interpretação que demonstrasse os discursos que atravessam a Kalevala e o Popol Vuh, e de que forma as obras se configuram tanto como bens simbólicos quanto como produtoras de sentido.<br>The Finnish Kalevala and the Guatemalan Popol Vuh have countless and surprising similarities, as well as a somewhat equal amount of remarkable differences. Some matters, however, must be highlighted: their oral origins, transfigured into a written world in moments of crisis; their numerous retranslations and the extensive prefaces, postfaces and introductions written by theorist-translators specialized on the books, containing information about the source-text and its context, the process of translation, besides data regarding the peoples and territories where the narratives originated. Such paratexts constitute ―zones of transaction‖ (GENETTE, 2009), in which negotiations of meaning between past translators, present versions, publishing houses and universities become visible amid the translating activity, moving the works in their literary and cultural polysystems. The Brazilian point on entry in this process is recent, with the translation of the Popol Vuh by Sérgio Medeiros (Iluminuras, 2007) e of the Kalevala by José Bizerril and Álvaro Faleiros (Ateliê Editorial, 2009). In these Brazilian editions, the most recurrent themes in the international versions are also made present, i.e., history and translation, both forms of knowledge facing the past, which contribute greatly to the construction of a concept of space. We detailed, therefore, the works and their paratexts so that we could, then, dedicate ourselves to the study of history and translation on the axes of time and space, choosing, whenever possible, to contemplate authors who discussed both fields, especially Walter Benjamin, Paul Ricoeur and Itamar Even-Zohar. We concluded that literature and translation are polysystems, that is, relational and hierarchical gatherings eternally building connections, developed and renewed as time passes. The paratexts, as hybrid as the texts they aim to present, are part of the great intercultural, political and literary negotiations operated by translation, which is the reason why we proposed the notion of the prism, so as to offer a possibility of interpretation that demonstrated the discourses run through the Kalevala and the Popol Vuh, and in which manner the works are configured both and symbolic goods and as producers of meaning.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela is often discussed as the national painter of Finland, as one who helped define Finnishness when Finland was still a colonized area of Russia. However, his trip to Africa from 1909-1911 shows where Gallen-Kallela acts as a pictorial colonizer himself, not only sympathizing with the Africans but representing them through a European cosmopolitan lens, as purer and closer to nature, but still inferior. The assumptions inherent in his representations of Africa reveal that Gallen-Kallela is not only a colonized subject but a colonizer of his own country.

This thesis investigates the representation of social reality that can be reflected by folk belief and the supernatural within mythic worlds created in epic poetry. Although the society, itself, can be regarded as the creator of its own myth, it may still be subjected to the impact of the synthesized mythic world, and this study seeks to address the roles of the society in the shaping of such mythic worlds. The research is inspired by an innovative approach, using James Macpherson’s Ossian (1760-63) and Elias Lönnrot’s Kalevala (1835-49) as epic models that benefit from mythical traditions. Through the examination and the comparison of these two epic collections, both of which seem to have a close association with social reformation and restructuring, the study explores the universality of human nature. It also reveals the extent mythic worlds may exhibit the ‘realities’ of their source-societies and how mythical tradition may become a reflection of a society’s transforming past modes of thinking. Moreover, the study devotes special attention to the influence of mythic heritage on national awakening and the construction of national identities. The research treats Macpherson as the re-inventor of Gaelic oral tradition with his Ossian, where he portrays a Romanticized image of a gallant past according to the norms of the eighteenth century. Therefore, the mythic world of the epic can be seen as a combination of an ancient heroic past and the aesthetic refinement of a polished age. In this framework, as the product of a society going through a transition period from traditional to modern, Ossian seems to reflect the society’s changing world-view, both celebrating, and mourning for a culture on the verge of extinction. Focusing on the Kalevala, the study analyzes its portrayal of Finnish folk belief. The Kalevala, like Ossian, is an attempt to recover ancient tradition, which seems to revolve around supernatural and divine elements, with hopes to establish a common social reality. It is an expression of Finnish language, belief and culture, whose production was prompted by the looming Finnish nationalism. Therefore, the evolving mode of thought represented in the mythic world of Kalevalaic poems, is expected and favoured by the society, enabling the epic to encourage a social reformation.

Opera di recente pubblicazione, "The Story of Kullervo" è il racconto che più di tutti mostra l'esistenza di un profondo legame tra J. R. R. Tolkien e la lingua e cultura finlandese. Scopo di questo elaborato è quello di analizzare soprattutto il rapporto tra l'autore e il poema epico finlandese, il Kalevala, proponendo la traduzione della storia. L'elaborato è strutturato nel seguente modo: nel primo paragrafo viene trattato il Kalevala come opera letteraria e come fonte di ispirazione per Tolkien. Nel secondo paragrafo viene analizzato il testo del racconto in quanto testo letterario e nel terzo vengono commentate le scelte traduttive effettuate.

The “Kalevala” is one of the most beautiful and archaic epos in world literature. It is composed from ancient Finnish poems by Elias Lönnrot, son of a poor village tailor, who started his career as a medical doctor, but who became a Professor of the Finnish language. The “Kalevala” is supposed to be a central source of identity for a nation that has been awaking to a consciousness of itself and also Finland’s most important contribution to world literature. Archaeological and linguistic data point out that in the prehistory period the Finno-Ugric tribes had near relations with the Balts. Their contacts, even coexistence, continued for a long time. In the process of cultural assimilation the more advanced culture of the Balts dominated, and the evidence of this can be seen in the Balt loanwords for social, administrative and agricultural innovations. A lot of names of incipient village, agrarian life in Finish appear to derive from ancient Balt loan. From the Balts the Finns borrowed even the most important terms of relationship, such like family, sister, daughter, cousin, daughter-in-law. That is why in the folklore of the Balts and the Finns we can find some parallels and affinities. In comparison Finnish national epos with Lithuanian folk songs there is seen that obvious affinities have the rune of the great oak, the rune of Aina, the episode about the birth of beer. Some parallels with Lithuanian folk songs and ballads also can be seen in the rune of Kulervo. Genetic... [to full text]

Tässä tutkimuksessa tutkin vuoden 2015 pakolaiskriisin näkyvyyttä ja vaikutuksia Oulussa ja sen lähialueilla. Turvapaikanhakijoiden määrä EU:n alueella oli kasvanut nopeasti vuoden aikana ja Suomessa kasvaneet hakijamäärät korostuivat erityisesti alkusyksystä 2015. Oulu osui suosituimman tuloreitin varrelle ja se joutui siten selviytymään ja kantamaan vastuuta useasta tuhannesta turvapaikanhakijasta. Tutkimus on laadullinen tutkimus ja se koostuu sanomalehti Kalevan aihetta käsittelevästä lehtiuutisoinnista aikavälillä 1.8.2015–31.12.2015. Aineistoon kuuluvat Oulua, sen lähialueita ja niihin vaikuttavia asioita käsittelevät uutiset, kuten Tornion järjestelykeskus ja Ruotsin rajapolitiikasta uutisointi. Aineistosta jäivät pois yksittäiset, muita Suomen kuntia ja EU:n maita käsittelevät uutiset, joiden tapahtumilla ei ollut vaikutusta Oulun tapahtumiin. Aineisto on käsitelty teoriaohjaavalla sisällönanalyysilla ja luokiteltu kolmeen luokkaan. ”Avulias Oulu” -luokka sisältää turvapaikanhakijoiden hyväksi tehdyt toimet ja keräykset, sekä Oululaisten saaman infon ja auttamishalun. ”Uhkakuvien Suomi” -luokka kokoaa yhteen uutisoinnit, joissa turvapaikanhakijat koetaan uhkana. Tätä uhkaa torjuttiin tiukentuvalla rajavalvonnalla, mielenilmauksin ja suomalaisuutta korostamalla. Kolmas luokka on ”Turvapaikanhakijan näkökulma”, jossa turvapaikanhakijat pääsevät ääneen lehtihaastattelujen kautta. Haastatteluissa korostui halu asua ja integroitua suomalaiseen yhteiskuntaan, mutta myös pelko tulevaisuudesta. Kalevan uutisointi pitäytyi neutraalina, mutta sen läpi kuulsi silti myönteisyys turvapaikanhakijoita kohtaan. Oulusta rakentui kuva avuntahtoisena ja toiminnallisena keskuksena, joka otti hoitaakseen Pohjois-Pohjanmaan alueen turvapaikanhakijat liki yksin. Tämän mahdollisti kaupungin, avustusjärjestöjen ja vapaaehtoisten toimiva yhteistyö. Tutkimus tarjoaa tästä narratiivisen kuvan, joka luo kokoavaa pohjaa muulle tutkimukselle.