ISBN:
9789522227430
,
9789522225672
,
9789522225481
Language:
English
Pages:
1 Online-Ressource (1 electronic resource (244 p.))
Keywords:
Man-made objects depicted in art (cityscapes, machines, etc)
;
Literature: history & criticism
;
Literary studies: from c 1900 -
;
Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers
Abstract:
"Helsinki in Early Twentieth-Century Literature analyses experiences of theFinnish capital in prose fiction published in Finnish in the period 1890?1940. It examines the relationships that are formed between Helsinki andfictional characters, focusing, especially, on the way in which urban publicspace is experienced. Particular attention is given to the description ofmovement through urban space. The primary material consists of a selection of more than sixty novels, collections of short stories and individualshort stories. This study draws on two sets of theoretical frameworks: onthe one hand, the expanding field of literary studies of the city, and on theother hand, concepts provided by humanistic and critical geography, as wellas by urban studies.This study is the first monograph to examine Helsinki in literature writtenin Finnish. It shows that rich descriptions of urban life have formed anintegral part of Finnish literature from the late nineteenth century onward.Around the turn of the twentieth century, literary Helsinki was approachedfrom a variety of generic and thematic perspectives which were in closedialogue with international contemporary traditions and age-old imagesof the city, and defined by events typical of Helsinki?s own history. Helsinkiliterature of the 1920s and 1930s further developed the defining traits thattook form around the turn of the century, adding a number of new thematicand stylistic nuances. The city experience was increasingly aestheticized and internalized. As the centre of the city became less prominent in literature, the margins of the city and specific socially defined neighbourhoods gained in importance.Many of the central characteristics of how Helsinki is experienced in theliterature published during this period remain part of the ongoing discourseon literary Helsinki: Helsinki as a city of leisure and light, inviting dreamywanderings; the experience of a city divided along the fault lines of gender,class and language; the city as a disorientating and paralyzing cesspit of vice; the city as an imago mundi, symbolic of the body politic; the city of everyday and often very mundane experiences, and the city that invites a profound sense of attachment ? an environment onto which characters project their innermost sentiments
Note:
English
URL:
OAPEN Library: download the publication
URL:
OAPEN Library: description of the publication
Permalink
