December 6th is Finland’s Day of Independence, marking the date that the country declared its independence from the Russian Empire in 1917, after the Bolshevik Revolution. Join us in recognizing 106 years of Finnish independence by checking out some articles from the Journal of Finnish Studies! Below you’ll find a reading list of four related articles, plus we’re highlighting a special article that is freely available online until January 31.
Free to Access until January 31, 2025:
“The Emergence of a Nationalistic Vernacular: The Ideal Peasant Man and the Roma People as His Antagonists” by Eija Stark
This article discusses ethnic folklore as mirroring the ideals of peasant culture in Finland until the first half of the twentieth century. Using folk narratives about the Finnish Roma and proverbs as told by Finnish rural peasants, Stark investigate how such elements of everyday communication laid bare notions of social hierarchies. The aim here is to understand the role of narrative culture in creating and maintaining institutionalized social differences.
Finnish Independence Day Reading List:
“Informing as National Indifference? The Case of Finnish Citizens’ Collaboration with the Russian Authorities, 1899–1917” by Sami Suodenjoki
Between 1899 and 1917, hundreds of Finnish citizens approached the Russian authorities to report about the anti-government activity of their fellow citizens. Finnish nationalists eagerly labeled informers as Russian-minded traitors, but how did the informers themselves relate to the nation and the empire? This article (published in Volume 25, Issue 2) tackles this question by analyzing the communication of these citizens.
“Konrad Zilliacus and Revolutionary Russia” by Ira Jänis-Isokangas
The Russian revolutionary movement was not well known in the Grand Duchy of Finland. Connections between Finnish Constitutionalists and Russian revolutionaries started only in the first years of the 20th century, but these connections would become an integral part of the road to Finnish independence. In Volume 25, Issue 2, this article investigates Swedish-speaking author and activist Konrad Zilliacus’s relation with the Russian revolutionaries.
“A Twin Grip on ‘The National Disease’: Finnish Anti-Tuberculosis Associations and Their Contribution to Nation-Formation (1907–17)” by Heini Hakosalo
Tuberculosis was a major killer in early twentieth-century Finland and led to the first national public health campaign. The first stage of this campaign was led by two non-governmental anti-tuberculosis associations, both founded in 1907. This article from Volume 21, Issue 1-2 of the Journal charts the founding and the early activities of these associations and argues that they made a significant contribution to nation-formation.
“‘Lest They Go Hungry’: Negotiations on Money and Survival” by Tiina Seppä
In this article from Volume 21, Issue 1-2, Seppä sheds light on the nation-building project in Finland before its independence. In the center of this study are the individuals who at the most part created the material of the national culture and literature: folklore collectors and early Finnish writers.
Find Out More:
The Journal of Finnish Studies, founded in 1997, is an international, scholarly, interdisciplinary journal that brings research about Finnish topics to an English-language audience. The Journal aims to foster a deeper understanding of the rich cultural, historical, social and political heritage of the lands and people that make up the Republic of Finland today, along with Finland’s global impact and relations with other parts of the world, including the wider Nordic region and North America. Readers and authors of the Journal are members of diverse fields such as history, anthropology, folklore, literature, linguistics, political science, sociology, business, and more. Each article brings its own discipline-specific methodologies and theories and is refereed by scholars who are specialists in that discipline, thereby enriching the journal’s coverage.
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