Narrative After Postmodernism takes a critical and practical look at the cultural theories of what comes after postmodernism or the postmodern. Alongside contemporary literary authors, the anthology studies diverse contemporary textual phenomena from TV shows to online fan theories and survivalist blogs. The essays compiled in this anthology tentatively apply the theories of the post-postmodern to contemporary texts to see how they might open up for analysis within their new theoretical frameworks or challenge them.The introduction, co-written by all the authors of this volume, introduces the most influential theories of post-postmodernism and contextualizes them within broader intellectual trends of the early 21st Century. The three essays comprising the first part of the volume discuss some of the theories of the postmodern in relation to contemporary works that seem to challenge them. Yet they also strive to clarify and sharpen some of the ideas proposed in the theories of the post-postmodern.The second part of the volume aims to show that it is not only the contemporary texts that move beyond the postmodern – the ways of reading literature and interpreting artworks in different media are also changing. The essays in the second part of the volume inquire about the effects of the contemporary literary culture on the methods of interpretation and ways of reading.
The present volume is a multidisciplinary collection of research articles exploring language use, language contact and multilingualism in the history of Turku, the first town in Finland, founded around the turn of the fourteenth century. Consisting of an introduction by the editors and nine case studies in the fields of linguistics, history, archeology, and literary and cultural studies, the volume participates in a wider discussion on multilingual communities while offering a closer look into linguistic encounters in Turku and its immediate vicinity. The volume covers the period from the Middle Ages (c. 1100–1500) to the latter half of the twentieth century. The case studies illustrate the wide array of languages, linguistic varieties and registers that the inhabitants and travellers used in their daily lives, the specific contexts in which certain languages were used, and the effects of these linguistic encounters at personal, social or institutional levels.
This volume looks at the Finnish-German military alliance (1941–1944) as a translation zone – a multilingual network of military, administrative and civilian encounters that was held together by linguistically versed soldiers and civilians acting as interpreters and translators. It focuses on interpreters and liaison officers of the Finnish Liaison Staff in Rovaniemi, who were assigned to the staffs of the German army units with the task of maintaining communication between the two armies and assisting German troops in their daily matters. Furthermore, attention is paid to Finnish civilians, especially women whose language skills made them candidates for a range of mediation tasks in the German units. The reconstruction of military interpreters' and liaison officers' tasks and mediation agency between the two military cultures is based on their war-time weekly reports, whereas the civilian interpreters' experiences are drawn from a variety of autobiographical accounts, including interviews.
Alex Matson (1888–1972) is an important Finnish literary critic and essayist, whose literary reviews and collections of essays have made a vital contribution to the development of Finland's postwar literary generation. Born in Finland as the son of a sailor, Matson moved as a young child with his family to Hull in England, where he went to school. In the 1910s, he moved back to Finland, where he at first established himself as painter associated with the expressionist November Group, an important Finnish artistic movement at the time. In the interbellum, he moved from fine arts to literature. In the 1920s and 1930s, he published several novels, but more important was his work as transmitter of international literary ideas to Finland. Together with his first wife, Kersti Bergroth, he edited the literary journal Sininen kirja (""The Blue Book""; 1927–1930), which was inspired by the writings of John Middleton Murry and Katherine Mansfield. Sininen kirja is the most international literary journal in Finnish history to date and introduced Finland to the most significant modernist writers of the first half of the 20th century (Gottfried Benn, Jean Cocteau, Alfred Döblin, T. S. Eliot, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Paul Valéry, Virginia Woolf). During the Second World War, Matson worked for the State Communications Agency, which was responsible for disseminating relevant information about Finland to other nations and for informing Finns of relevant developments abroad. It was also tasked with studying the prevailing mood among the population in Finland. In Matson's unpublished wartime diaries, one can see the first symptoms of a shift in Finnish culture away from Germany and towards Anglo-Saxon culture. From the 1940s onwards, Matson recommended new English and American novels as a part of his work as reader for Finnish publishing houses, and he also translated works by Joyce, Hemingway and Steinbeck. With the help of a network of international literary critics, Matson became acquainted with New Criticism, which he introduced to Finland before it became established among academic researchers. He was often critical of academic literary studies, but his seminal essay works Romaanitaide (""On the Prose Novel""; 1947), John Steinbeck (1948), Kaksi mestaria (""Two Masters"", on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky; 1950) as well as his impressive conversational skills were instrumental in introducing knowledge about the principles of the prose novel to several authors (including Väinö Linna, Lauri Viita, and Hannu Salama), and contributed to their views of literature. Matson emphasized the importance of reading and understanding high-quality literature for the wellbeing of society.
The nineteenth century has been called an age of monuments. In some places even one piece made a difference. This book is a study of the intellectual background and physical making of Finland's first public sculpture, the statue of Professor Henrik Gabriel Porthan by Carl Eneas Sjöstrand. The idealised but sombre Porthan was born under the influence of German neoclassicism. Development on the project was slow but sure. The Swedish artist had to be supported over three years while he was putting together his first monumental piece in Munich and Rome, after which came another three years wait before the cast arrived to Finland. The bronze sculpture, commissioned by the Finnish Literary Society and raised by public subscriptions from people of all classes, was unveiled in the city of Turku in September 1864. Finns took some pride in the fact that, unlike other nations that had raised monuments to kings and generals, here the first place was given to a scholar. In this study Sjöstrand's pioneering bronze is placed in a wider context and compared with works by his precursors and contemporaries in the international sculptor colony of Rome.
In recent decades, the focus of Folklore Studies has shifted from analysing the products of oral traditions as texts to examining the ways in which people use and produce these items, and the areas of study have broadened to include vernacular cultures and genres in diverse verbal and material forms. As evident from the introduction and twelve chapters of this collection, these interests are today shared by several disciplines that cooperate in the area of cultural studies. This book provides insights into current questions about the "nature" of words: it discusses both the inherent essence of vernacular expression and how that essence is tied to various genre-ecological, performative, and material environments. The chapters include studies on the poetics, form, function, performance, and composition of traditional and new vernacular forms, including explorations of hybridity, materiality, and change, as well as critical examinations of archival practices and publication processes.
Tutkimuksen tehtävänä oli selvittää, voivatko valtionhallinnon alueille tuomat uudet instituutiot tukea omaehtoista alueellista kehittämistä ja, jos voivat, niin miten. Instituutioilla tutkimuksessa tarkoitettiin alueellista kehittämistoimintaa ohjaavia, tietoisesti luotuja sääntöjä ja menettelyjä tai käytännön toiminnan myötä kehittyneitä toimintamalleja. Omaehtoisella kehittämisellä taas tarkoitetaan sellaista alueellista kehittämistä, joka lähtee liikkeelle tietyllä alueella asuvista ihmisistä ja siellä toimivista organisaatioista sekä perustuu ennen kaikkea alueen omiin tarpeisiin ja voimavaroihin. Esimerkkeinä valtionhallinnon luomista uusista alueellisen kehittämisen instituutioista oli toimintaryhmätyö Suomesta sekä alueellinen kehittämissuunnittelu ja aluemanagement Saksan Baijerista. Toimintaryhmätyö on paikallisten kehittäjäryhmien ja näiden yhteistyökumppaneiden tekemää alueellista kehittämistyötä. Baijerin aluemanagement tarkoittaa puolestaan erilaisten toimijoiden yhteistyöhön perustuvan alueellisen kehittämisprosessin johtamista. Tutkimuksessa analysoitiin kahden suomalaisen ja kahden baijerilaisen esimerkkialueen kehittämisprosesseja noin neljän vuoden ajanjaksolla. Tärkeimmät metodit tutkimusaineiston keruussa olivat osallistuva havainnointi ja kehittämisprosessien toimijoille tehdyt puolistrukturoidut haastattelut. Tutkimus osoitti, että valtionhallinto voi uusien instituutioiden avulla tukea omaehtoista alueellista kehittämistä. Uusiin instituutioihin tulee tällöin sisältyä osallistavia suunnittelumetodeja ja hanketoiminnan koulutusta, malleja, kannustimia ja ongelmanratkaisuvälineitä paikallisille kumppanuuksille, joustavia rahoitusvälineitä, tukijaviranomaisten kumppanuutta sekä tukea verkostoitumiselle. Uusilla instituutioilla on kuitenkin myös piirteitä, jotka haittaavat omaehtosta kehittämistä. Tällaisia ovat normatiivinen säätely, tiettyjen toimijoiden aseman korostuminen, asiantuntijavetoinen tai liian kiireinen suunnittelu sekä kiinnittyminen sektorihallintoon. Uusien instituutioiden mahdollisuudet vakiintua alueille riippuvat puolestaan siitä, miten ne tehdään tunnetuksi, olemassa olevista instituutioista, uudelta instituutiolta odotettujen julkisten hyötyjen ja paikallisten intressien yhteensopivuudesta sekä toiminnan laajenemisesta ja kehittymisestä alueella. Tutkimusasetelma on ajankohtainen eurooppalaisessa alueellisessa kehittämisessä ja maaseutupolitiikassa, joissa uusia instituutioita parhaillaan luodaan ja kokeillaan. Aiempiin tutkimuksiin verrattuna tutkimus tuo uutta erityisesti analysoimalla rinnakkain kahden, lähtökohdiltaan suuresti toisistaan poikkeavan maan hyvin erilaisia instituutioita. Tutkimuksen tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää alueellisen kehittämispolitiikan suunnista ja toimenpiteistä päätettäessä. Tuloksia voivat hyödyntää myös erilaiset paikalliset yhteisöt tai kunnat halutessaan viedä eteenpäin omaehtoista kehittämistä alueellaan. Aiheellisia jatkotutkimuksen kohteita ovat uusien instituutioiden sekä omaehtoista kehittämistä tukevat että haittaavat elmentit. ; New Institutions Supporting Endogenous Development The recent changes in regional development in Europe were the starting point of the study. The European Union and the national governments of many European countries have reacted to new challenges of regional development by creating and launching special institutions to support endogenous regional and local development. Both Finland and the German state of Bavaria have responded in this way. An example in Finland is the activity of the local action groups consistent with the model of the EU LEADER programme, which has been extended through the national rural development programme for local endogenous development (POMO programme). In Bavaria, the Ministry of State Development and Environmental Affairs has created and launched institutions of regional development planning and regional management. The objective of the study was to determine whether these new institutions launched from outside are able to support endogenous development processes in the regions, and if they are, how do they do it. Answers were sought by analysing how the various elements of the new institutions influence the process of endogenous development in its different stages. Also, the influence of the launching practice was analysed. Four qualitative case studies were carried out: two in Finland and two in Bavaria. In Finland the case studies were carried out in two regions where the POMO programme was being implemented. In Bavaria two relatively rural regions were chosen where a sub-regional plan was made and was being implemented through regional management. The conditions for establishment of the new institutions in the regions are discussed in the study. The theoretical framework of the study is built around the terms regional development, endogenous development and institutions. Institutions are here understood as formal and informal systems of rules that guide the assignment of meanings and so the action. The institutions of regional development supply the framework for the regional and local development. The conclusion that can be drawn from the recent discussion of regional development thinking and practices in Europe is that new models of thinking and acting supporting endogenous development have emerged. Such models include strategic thinking and programming, networking and partnership, and communicative planning. These models have been incorporated in the new institutions of regional development created and launched by central authorities. Finland and Bavaria have different institutional backgrounds for the new institutions and these backgrounds have influenced the aims and forms of the new institutions. The institution of the activity of the local action group in Finland supports endogenous development on the basis of local partnerships. The institutions of regional development planning and regional management in Bavaria are intended to support endogenous development based above all on a partnership of municipalities. The influence of the new institutions on regional development processes depends on the characteristics of the elements of the new institution, how the institution was launched and on pre-existing institutions in the region. The rational incentives offered by the new institutions, together with the values and the beliefs taken for granted of the pre-existing institutions, are playing a central role. There are also other factors peculiar to the region and the actors that influence the development process. The main question of the study - whether the new institutions can support endogenous development processes - can be answered in the affirmative. The supporting characteristics of the new institutions are participatory planning methods and training for project management, models, incentives and ways of problem solving for local partnerships, flexible funding instruments, partnership with supporting authorities and support to networking. However, the new institutions also have characteristics unfavourable to endogenous development. These include normative rules, emphasis on the position of certain actors, expert planning or too hasty planning and attachment to sectorial government structures. The possibilities of the new institutions to root themselves in the region depend on the mode of launching, on the pre-existing institutions, on the compatibility of expected public benefits with the interests of local actors and on the expansion of the activity and development of the practices in the region.
Finnish psychiatric practice has been heavily based on institutionalization, and mental hospitals have played important cultural and historical roles in Finland. Our multidisciplinary research focuses on the bodily, spatial, affective, and multisensory aspects of the memories of patients, relatives, staff, and their children. The memories were collected and archived in the Finnish Literature Society in 2014–2015. These 92 written pieces cover the period from the 1930s to the 2010s. They reflect significant changes in Finnish psychiatry and provide crucial insights into the various meanings of mental hospitals in people's lives, and the social and cultural forces that shape attitudes to and ideas about mental health problems, psychiatric care, and service users today. Drawing on our backgrounds in history, artistic research, and visual, cultural and literary studies, we provide new ways of reading and interpreting the memories and experiences in psychiatry. The study discusses memory, mental hospitals as lived spaces, the history of Finnish psychiatry and the relation between the memories of the different groups of writers. The chapters approach memories from the perspectives of affects and atmospheres, violence and abuse, everyday life at the hospital in the 1930s, feelings of fear and safety in the memories of the children of the staff, and the historically and culturally contingent tensions between hospitals and homes.
The ten articles in this edited volume examine the city of Varkaus as a small city struggling with structural change using historical documents as well as survey and interview data. The city of Varkaus, which has a long industrial history, has lost a large part of its industrial jobs in the first decades of this millennium and its population has fallen sharply in recent years. However, a survey of the adult population shows that the inhabitants of Varkaus are typically satisfied with their work, with their social relationships and their lives in general. Varkaus is seen as a safe and good living environment. A central element of well-being is couple relationship, as well as other social relationships. The lack of well-being often stems from unemployment, low income and feelings of not belonging to the place of residence. Young adults value their place of residence as well as their family relationships, but there are tensions in their life regarding work and income. The tranquility and proximity to nature of Varkaus are appreciated, but there are also many who long for more urban heartbeat in their hometown. - Tässä kymmenestä artikkelista koostuvassa kokoomateoksessa tarkastellaan Varkautta rakennemuutoksen kanssa kamppailevana pienenä kaupunkina historiallisia dokumentteja sekä vuosina 2016–2017 kerättyjä kysely- ja haastatteluaineistoa hyödyntäen. Pitkän teollisuushistorian omaava Varkauden kaupunki on tämän vuosituhannen ensimmäisinä vuosikymmeninä menettänyt suuren osan teollisista työpaikoistaan ja sen väestö on supistunut voimakkaasti. Kuitenkin koko aikuisväestöä edustava kysely kertoo, että varkautelaiset ovat tyypillisesti tyytyväisiä työhönsä, sosiaalisiin suhteisiinsa ja elämäänsä muutenkin. Varkaus nähdään turvallisena ja hyvän elämän puitteet tarjoavana asuinpaikkana. Hyvinvoinnin tärkeitä osatekijöitä ovat parisuhde ja muut sosiaaliset suhteet. Hyvinvoinnin puutteet liittyvät työttömyyteen, pienituloisuuteen sekä ulkopuolisuuden tunteisiin suhteessa asuinpaikkaan. Nuoret aikuiset arvostavat omaa asuinpaikkakuntaansa sekä perhe- ja sukulaisuussuhteitaan, mutta arkielämään liittyy jännitteitä työn ja toimeentulon osalta. Varkauden rauhallisuutta ja luonnonläheisyyttä arvostetaan, mutta monet toivoivat siltä myös enemmän kaupunkimaista sykettä.
Siirtymiä ja ajan merkkejä koulutuksessa: Opetussuunnitelmatutkimuksen näkökulmia -teos jatkaa opetussuunnitelmakeskustelua, joka käynnistyi vuonna 2017 julkaistussa ensimmäisessä suomenkielisessä opetussuunnitelmatutkimusta käsittelevässä teoksessa. Teoksen johdantoartikkelin jälkeiset 14 vertaisarvioitua artikkelia jakaantuvat neljään teemakokonaisuuteen, joiden merkittävin yhteinen nimittäjä on huoli saksalais-pohjoiseurooppalaisen Bildung/Didaktiikka -opetussuunnitelmatradition ajautumisesta entistä ahtaammalle oppimisteorioiden jäsentämän, taitoihin ja kompetensseihin rajoittuvan, näennäisesti epäpoliittisen angloamerikkalaisen curriculum-opetussuunnitelmatradition ja sen poliittisen aisaparin, uusliberalismin, puristuksessa. Ensimmäisessä teemassa "Tieto ja sivistys antiikista globaaliin" käsitellään sivistystä ja tietoa suomalaisessa opetussuunnitelmakeskustelussa. Teemassa jäljitetään niitä antiikkiin palautuvia, edelleen ajankohtaisia, historiallisia merkityskerroksia, joita sivistyksen käsitteeseen sisältyy. Lisäksi teemassa avataan spenceriläistä kasvatusajattelua ja sen vaikutusta suomalaiseen opetussuunnitelma-ajatteluun. Ajankohtaista opetussuunnitelmien tarkastelua edustaa pohdinta ekososiaaliseen sivistykseen ja oikeudenmukaisuuteen kasvattamisesta. Teeman päättää kriittinen länsimaisen, valkoista elitismiä ja rodullis-etnistä ylemmyyttä henkivän, sivistyskäsityksen tarkastelu. Toisessa teemassa "Opetussuunnitelmapolitiikan historiallisia ja ajankohtaisia painotuksia" tarkastellaan varhaiskasvatuksen rakenteiden muutosta tehden samalla näkyväksi niitä oletuksia, joita liitämme kasvatukseen ja sen tehtävään yhteiskunnassa. Niin ikään suomalaisen perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelmaprosessit, erityisesti vuoden 2014 opetussuunnitelman perusteiden uudistamisen prosessi sekä paikallistason opetussuunnitelmatyö, ovat käsiteltäviä sisältöjä teoksen toisessa teemassa. Teeman lopussa kyseenalaistetaan historiaan peilaten arkiymmärryksemme siitä, että opetusta on aina suunniteltava tavoitteet edellä. Kolmannessa teemassa "Tiedonaloja ajassa" pohditaan tiedonalalähtöisyyteen perustuvan oppiainejakoisen kokonaisopetuksen yleissivistäviä vaikutuksia, samoin taidekasvatuksen suhdetta kulttuuriin, mediaan ja subjektiin. Lisäksi havainto siitä, miten sekularistisissa kansalaisuustarkasteluissa kansalaisuuden katsomukselliseen perustaan liittyvät kysymykset pyritään sivuuttamaan tai sijoittamaan rajatusti yksilön privaatin elämän alueelle, herättää pohdintaa. Neljännessä teemassa "Korkeakoulupolitiikka muutoksessa" fokus on korkeakoulutusta ja erityisesti yliopistoja koskevassa uusliberalistisessa hallinnassa – siinä, miten kyseinen hallinta puhuttelee yliopistojen tutkija-opettajia tai miten osaamisperustaiset ja työelämäkompetensseja tuottavat opetussuunnitelmat ovat muuttaneet perustavanlaatuisesti käsitystä tiedon olemuksesta populistiseen ja epä-älylliseen suuntaan. Lisäksi neljännessä teemassa esitellään meta-analyysi korkeakoulujen opetussuunnitelmaa koskevien tutkimustekstien taustalla vaikuttavasta opetussuunnitelma-ajattelusta ja -käsityksistä. Teeman lopussa palataan yhden esimerkin välityksellä ammattikorkeakoulun osaamisperustaisen opetussuunnitelman kehittämisen prosessiin. ; This edited book continues the discussion on curriculum, which began in 2017 in the first book on Curriculum Studies in Finnish. The 14 peer-reviewed articles following the introductory article are divided into four thematic sets, the common denominator of which is the concern about the drifting of the comprehensive democratic German and Nordic Bildung / Didactic curriculum tradition into the narrower, competence and skills driven Anglo-American education and curriculum, shaped by the paradoxical alliance of assumedly apolitical instrumental learning theories and neoliberal policy measures. The first theme, "Knowledge and Education from Antiquity to Global", deals with the topics of civilization, education and knowledge in the Finnish curriculum debate. The first article traces back to the antique with the intertwinement of current and historical layers of meanings that are implicated in the modern concepts of civilization and education. In addition, the first theme will open up Spencer's educational thinking and its impact on Finnish curriculum thinking. The space is also given to currently emerging concerns of eco-social education and reactivated issues by global interconnectedness of social and economic justice as educational goals. The theme ends with a critical examination of the Western concept of civilization and modernity related to issues of white supremacy with affiliations of cultural and racial-ethnic superiority. The second theme looks at "The historical and current emphases of Finnish curriculum policy". The first article examines how the theme is reflected in the changing structures of early childhood education. This focus on early education will arguably make more explicit and visible the assumptions we attach to education and its role and goals in globalized society in general. The curriculum processes in Finnish basic education, especially the process of reforming the curriculum in 2014 and the local curriculum work, will also be addressed in the second theme of the book. The last article questions the assumption, often shared by mainstream academic and common sense alike, that curriculum design and teaching planning should always start with objectives. The third theme is "The current issue of disciplinarity in curriculum and teaching". In the first article attention is paid to horizontal integration of school subjects, and to general educational implications predicated on subject-based curriculum and teaching, more generally. The next article deals with conceptual interrelatedness between art education and culture, media, and subjectivity. In the third article, the secularist views on citizenship is scrutinized of the neglect of significant citizenship aspects related to broader worldviews by illusorily positioning them in the sphere of private life out of reach of public interest and debate. The fourth theme, "Higher Education Policy in Change", focuses on neoliberal governance in higher education and universities, first addressing the new ambivalent identities of academic teachers, and how competence, skills and workplace-based curricula have fundamentally altered the concept of knowledge toward an instance of populist de-intellectualization of higher education and neoliberal vocational school. In addition, the fourth theme presents a meta-analysis of the underlying curriculum thinking and conceptions behind research texts on university curricula. Exemplarily, the last article critically unpack the process of developing a skills and competence-based curriculum at the University of Applied Sciences.
