Kaunokirjallisuus kansallisuuspolitiikan palveluksessa: Etnisyyden representaatiot J.A. Friisin tuotannossa
Literature in the Service of a Nation’s Policies. Representations of Ethnicity in the Works of J. A. Friis The novel Fra Finmarken. Skildringer by Jens Andreas Friis (1821–1896), published in Norwegian in 1881 and generally known by the name Lajla, is a hugely popular description of the Sámi. As man...
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fttsvojs:oai:journal.fi:article/74993 2023-05-15T17:43:38+02:00 Kaunokirjallisuus kansallisuuspolitiikan palveluksessa: Etnisyyden representaatiot J.A. Friisin tuotannossa Viinikka-Kallinen, Anitta 2015-09-01 application/pdf https://journal.fi/avain/article/view/74993 https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74993 fin fin Kirjallisuudentutkijain Seura https://journal.fi/avain/article/view/74993/36552 https://journal.fi/avain/article/view/74993 doi:10.30665/av.74993 Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakauslehti Avain; No 3 (2015); 34-50 AVAIN - Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakauslehti; Nro 3 (2015); 34-50 2242-3796 1795-3790 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Vertaisarvioitu artikkeli 2015 fttsvojs https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74993 2020-05-29T22:15:37Z Literature in the Service of a Nation’s Policies. Representations of Ethnicity in the Works of J. A. Friis The novel Fra Finmarken. Skildringer by Jens Andreas Friis (1821–1896), published in Norwegian in 1881 and generally known by the name Lajla, is a hugely popular description of the Sámi. As many as 15 editions of the book have been published in Norway, and there are three movies and even an opera based on it. Lajla has been translated into Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, German, English, Russian and French, to name a few. The book was included in Norwegian schools’ reading materials until the 1980s. J. A. Friis was a professor of Sámi and Kven languages who actively engaged in societal activities, focusing on the ethnic issues in Northern Norway. He made public many problems of the Sámi people and stood against the drastic, assimilating language policy. However, Friis’s actions and writings reflect the idea, typical to that time and based on the concept of cultural hegemony and racial hierarchy, that in terms of race and culture, the Sámi people are at a lower level than Norwegians. The Sámi -representations in his literary works are idealising and romanticising but also discriminatory and belittling. He refers to the Kven people as the agents of almost metaphysical evil. We are used to thinking of Lajla as a positive representation of the Sámi. In my article, I study the representations of racial hierarchy in Lajla as well as the discrepancy between the ethnicising descriptions and the reputation of the work. The reputation of the book as a positive representation can be explained through three points: first, Friis’s public activities to defend the Sámi; second, the fact that Lajla’s presentation of the Sámi matched the expectations of the audience; and third, that the book is a romantic, exciting and naïve adventure story and has as such been excluded from the canon of national literature. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northern Norway Sámi Sámi Federation of Finnish Learned Societies: Scientific Journals Online Andreas ENVELOPE(-60.729,-60.729,-64.008,-64.008) Norway AVAIN - Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakauslehti 3 34 50 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Federation of Finnish Learned Societies: Scientific Journals Online |
op_collection_id |
fttsvojs |
language |
Finnish |
description |
Literature in the Service of a Nation’s Policies. Representations of Ethnicity in the Works of J. A. Friis The novel Fra Finmarken. Skildringer by Jens Andreas Friis (1821–1896), published in Norwegian in 1881 and generally known by the name Lajla, is a hugely popular description of the Sámi. As many as 15 editions of the book have been published in Norway, and there are three movies and even an opera based on it. Lajla has been translated into Finnish, Swedish, Dutch, German, English, Russian and French, to name a few. The book was included in Norwegian schools’ reading materials until the 1980s. J. A. Friis was a professor of Sámi and Kven languages who actively engaged in societal activities, focusing on the ethnic issues in Northern Norway. He made public many problems of the Sámi people and stood against the drastic, assimilating language policy. However, Friis’s actions and writings reflect the idea, typical to that time and based on the concept of cultural hegemony and racial hierarchy, that in terms of race and culture, the Sámi people are at a lower level than Norwegians. The Sámi -representations in his literary works are idealising and romanticising but also discriminatory and belittling. He refers to the Kven people as the agents of almost metaphysical evil. We are used to thinking of Lajla as a positive representation of the Sámi. In my article, I study the representations of racial hierarchy in Lajla as well as the discrepancy between the ethnicising descriptions and the reputation of the work. The reputation of the book as a positive representation can be explained through three points: first, Friis’s public activities to defend the Sámi; second, the fact that Lajla’s presentation of the Sámi matched the expectations of the audience; and third, that the book is a romantic, exciting and naïve adventure story and has as such been excluded from the canon of national literature. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Viinikka-Kallinen, Anitta |
spellingShingle |
Viinikka-Kallinen, Anitta Kaunokirjallisuus kansallisuuspolitiikan palveluksessa: Etnisyyden representaatiot J.A. Friisin tuotannossa |
author_facet |
Viinikka-Kallinen, Anitta |
author_sort |
Viinikka-Kallinen, Anitta |
title |
Kaunokirjallisuus kansallisuuspolitiikan palveluksessa: Etnisyyden representaatiot J.A. Friisin tuotannossa |
title_short |
Kaunokirjallisuus kansallisuuspolitiikan palveluksessa: Etnisyyden representaatiot J.A. Friisin tuotannossa |
title_full |
Kaunokirjallisuus kansallisuuspolitiikan palveluksessa: Etnisyyden representaatiot J.A. Friisin tuotannossa |
title_fullStr |
Kaunokirjallisuus kansallisuuspolitiikan palveluksessa: Etnisyyden representaatiot J.A. Friisin tuotannossa |
title_full_unstemmed |
Kaunokirjallisuus kansallisuuspolitiikan palveluksessa: Etnisyyden representaatiot J.A. Friisin tuotannossa |
title_sort |
kaunokirjallisuus kansallisuuspolitiikan palveluksessa: etnisyyden representaatiot j.a. friisin tuotannossa |
publisher |
Kirjallisuudentutkijain Seura |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://journal.fi/avain/article/view/74993 https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74993 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-60.729,-60.729,-64.008,-64.008) |
geographic |
Andreas Norway |
geographic_facet |
Andreas Norway |
genre |
Northern Norway Sámi Sámi |
genre_facet |
Northern Norway Sámi Sámi |
op_source |
Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakauslehti Avain; No 3 (2015); 34-50 AVAIN - Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakauslehti; Nro 3 (2015); 34-50 2242-3796 1795-3790 |
op_relation |
https://journal.fi/avain/article/view/74993/36552 https://journal.fi/avain/article/view/74993 doi:10.30665/av.74993 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74993 |
container_title |
AVAIN - Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakauslehti |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
34 |
op_container_end_page |
50 |
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1766145754672398336 |