Kalevala Ecology: Bioregional Aesthetics and Sámi Environmental Autonomy
Abstract An ecocritical reevaluation of the Kalevala and its contexts reveals the merging of nationalist discourses with a broader Finno-Ugric environmental aesthetic tradition in the period leading up to Finnish independence. Although the Kalevala and the nationalism it inspired led to oppression o...
| Published in: | Journal of Finnish Studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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University of Illinois Press
2018
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.5406/28315081.21.1.2.03 https://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/uip/jfs/article-pdf/21/1-2/46/1623693/46lehtonen.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract An ecocritical reevaluation of the Kalevala and its contexts reveals the merging of nationalist discourses with a broader Finno-Ugric environmental aesthetic tradition in the period leading up to Finnish independence. Although the Kalevala and the nationalism it inspired led to oppression of the Sámi minority in northern Finland, analyzing the Kalevala as a “bioregional” epic in light of the environmental aesthetics of the Sámi joik tradition can potentially heal divisions created by Finnish nationalism. |
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