1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910524860303321

Autore

Wilson William A (William Albert), <1933-2016.>

Titolo

Folklore and Nationalism in Modern Finland / William A. Wilson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Indiana University Press, 1976

Bloomington : , : Indiana University Press, , 1976

©1976

ISBN

0-253-05071-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (1 online resource xii, 272 pages) : : illustrations

Soggetti

Nationalism

Folklore - Study and teaching

Folklore and nationalism

Folklore and nationalism - Finland

Nationalism - Finland

Folklore - Study and teaching - Finland

Electronic books.

Finland

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Sommario/riassunto

Probably in no other country has the marriage of folklore studies and nationalism produced such dramatic results as in Finland. The turning point in the struggle for independence was the intensifying nationalistic sentiment produced by the publication, in 1835, of Elias Lonnrot's Kalevala, an epic based on folk poetry. In the following decades a small band of Finnish scholar-patriots dug into Finnish folklore to forge a literary language, create a national culture, and reconstruct the prehistoric period of the nation's past independence. Folklore and Nationalism in Modern Finland traces the crucial impact of folklore studies on three periods in Finnish history: the era of Swedish and Russian rule; the tense decades between the winning of Finnish independence and the end of World War II; and the postwar period. By studying the increasingly propagandistic application of folklore by both



the political right and left and by showing how respected folklore scholars allowed themselves to be swayed by political issues, Wilson raises important questions about the proper use of folklore—and indeed of all the humanities.