75369 - Cultural Representation of Women and Gender in Finno-Ugric Contexts

Learning outcomes

The student reaches the basic skills concerning pre-modern and ancient phases of at least three Finno-Ugric languages about their written, literary and non literary, tradition. Particular attention will be focused on traditions previous to and not expressed by written culture, on the heritage of customs and popular beliefs, on myths and fairy tales handed down orally (with reference to gender-bounded cultural contexts)

Course contents

FINNISH LITERATURE 2 (2nd cycle)

We will examine the most salient periods of Finnish literature. Starting from the consideration that nature plays a pivotal role in the life of the Finns, widely reflected in literature, the course aims to address the theme of nature and, in particular, of the relationship between human beings and nature, in Finnish literature both oral and written, making references also to the field of arts (above all paintings and music). Reference will be made to the concepts of nature and totemism in the Finno-Ugric tradition. In the first part of the course we will reflect on the chosen theme through the analysis of passages of Finnish folk poetry and of some Viena Karelian fairy tales, with specific (though not exclusive) reference to the repertoire of the narrator Jussi Huovinen (1924-2017). Then, we will examine the theme in some novels, written by different eminent representatives of modern and contemporary Finnish literature. At the same time, the texts analyzed will allow us to reflect on the theme of otherness, from various points of view.

Literary texts written in the original language will be analysed.

 

FINNISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE (2nd cycle)

We will examine the most salient periods of Finnish literature. Starting from the consideration that nature plays a pivotal role in the life of the Finns, widely reflected in literature, the course aims to address the theme of nature and, in particular, of the relationship between human beings and nature, in Finnish literature both oral and written, making references also to the field of arts (above all paintings and music). Reference will be made to the concepts of nature and totemism in the Finno-Ugric tradition. In the first part of the course we will reflect on the chosen theme through the analysis of passages of Finnish folk poetry and of some Viena Karelian fairy tales. Then, we will examine the theme in some novels, written by different eminent representatives of modern and contemporary Finnish literature. At the same time, the texts analyzed will allow us to reflect on the theme of otherness, from various points of view.

 

CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN AND GENDER IN FINNO-UGRIC CONTEXTS

We will study the Ugrians, the Baltic-Finns and the Volga Finns, in the context of Finno-Ugric cultures. We we will underline those aspects which mainly characterize their cultures.

We will clarify the peculiarities of the world vision of the ancient Ugrians, Baltic-Finns, Finns and Volga Finns, as reflected in their written and oral literature.

We will study the theme of nature, and in particular of the relationship between human beings and nature, in the context of Finnish literature (both oral and written), in a feminine and comparative perspective.

 

Readings/Bibliography

FINNISH LITERATURE 2 (2nd cycle)

Texts: 

Lönnrot Elias, Kalevala: Il grande poema epico finlandese, transl. by Marcello Ganassini, Roma, Edizioni Mediterranee, 2010.

Nieminen Markku - Goldstone Edwina, Vienan satuja, Helsinki, Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura (SKS), 2004. (2 fairy tales indicated during the course)

Moisseinen Hanneriina - Nieminen Markku, Sen synty ja muita Vienan hävyttömiä ja hulvattomia starinoita, Helsinki, Arktinen Banaani, 2005. (Only the tale Sen synty, p. 117)

Kallas Aino, La sposa del lupo, transl. by Paola Faggioli, Milano, Sperling & Kupfer, 1934.

Kallas Aino, La vendetta del fiume sacro, which can be found in: Kallas Aino, Il pastore di Reigi, transl. by Paola Faggioli, Milano, Bompiani, 1941, pp. 159-232.

Paasilinna Arto, Il mugnaio urlante, transl. by Ernesto Boella, Milano, Iperborea, 2007.

Liksom Rosa, Scompartimento n. 6, transl. by Delfina Sessa, Milano, Iperborea, 2014.

Hotakainen Kari, La legge di natura, transl. by Nicola Rainò, Milano, Iperborea, 2015.

Texts of reference for the contextualisation:

Laitinen Kai, Suomen kirjallisuuden historia, Helsinki, Otava, 1981.

Loikala Paula, Finlandia. Storia, lingua, cultura, Roma, Aracne, 2013.

Rojola Lea (ed.), Suomen kirjallisuushistoria. Järkiuskosta vaistojen kapinaan, Helsinki, SKS, 1999, vol. 2. (Optional)

Lassila Pertti (ed.), Suomen kirjallisuushistoria. Rintamakirjeistä tietoverkkoihin, Helsinki, SKS, 1999, vol. 3. (Optional)

 

The reading of the following essays/articles will be required:

Ferrari Giorgia, "Il cane bianco e l'anatra nera", in Carla Corradi Musi - Giorgia Ferrari - Sanna Maria Martin, Sciamanesimo e Settentrione, Roma, Aracne, 2014, pp. 101-153.

Ferrari Giorgia, "Le fiabe indecenti e divertenti di Viena. Eros ed educazione. Tre esempi", in Zsuzsanna Rozsnyói (ed.), Il dio Eros e l’uomo. Voci di cantori e narratori del mondo ugrofinnico, Roma, Aracne, 2016, pp. 75-103.

Melkas Kukku, "From Apocalypse to the New Paradise. Early Ecological Thinking and Aino Kallas' Work in the 1920s", in Leena Kurvet-Käosaar - Lea Rojola (ed.), Aino Kallas. Negotiations with Modernity, Helsinki, Finnish Literature Society, 2011, pp. 54-65.

 

The reading of two of the following texts will be required:

Corradi Musi Carla, Sciamanesimo e flora sacra, Roma, Carucci, 1988.

Corradi Musi Carla (ed.), Lo sciamano e il suo ‘doppio’, Bologna, Carattere, 2002.

Corradi Musi Carla (ed.), Simboli e miti della tradizione sciamanica, Bologna, Carattere, 2007.

Corradi Musi Carla, Sciamanesimo in Eurasia. Dal mito alla tradizione, Roma, Aracne, 2008.

Corradi Musi Carla (ed.), Sul cammino delle metamorfosi tra gli Urali e il Mediterraneo. Dal mito alle trasformazioni sociali, Bologna, Edizioni CINE//SINE, 2013.

Corradi Musi Carla - Ferrari Giorgia - Martin Sanna Maria, Sciamanesimo e Settentrione, Roma, Aracne, 2014.

Ferrari Giorgia - Martin Sanna Maria (ed.), Sciamani, letterati e artisti. Dalla Lapponia al cuore dell'Europa, Roma, Aracne, 2016.

Rozsnyόi Zsuzsanna (ed.), Il dio Eros e l’uomo. Voci di cantori e narratori del mondo ugrofinnico, Roma, Aracne, 2016.

 

Further bibliographical help will be supplied during the lessons.

Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher to define the exam bibliography.

 

FINNISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE (2nd cycle)

Texts:

Lönnrot Elias, Kalevala: Il grande poema epico finlandese, transl. by Marcello Ganassini, Roma, Edizioni Mediterranee, 2010.

Kallas Aino, La sposa del lupo, transl. by Paola Faggioli, Milano, Sperling & Kupfer, 1934 OR Kallas Aino, La vendetta del fiume sacro, which can be found in: Kallas Aino, Il pastore di Reigi, transl. by Paola Faggioli, Milano, Bompiani, 1941, pp. 159-232.

Paasilinna Arto, Il mugnaio urlante, transl. by Ernesto Boella, Milano, Iperborea, 2007.

Liksom Rosa, Scompartimento n. 6, transl. by Delfina Sessa, Milano, Iperborea, 2014.

Hotakainen Kari, La legge di natura, transl. by Nicola Rainò, Milano, Iperborea, 2015.

Texts of reference for the contextualisation:

Loikala Paula, Finlandia. Storia, lingua, cultura, Roma, Aracne, 2013.

Schoolfield George C. (ed.), A History of Finland's Literature, Lincoln & London, University of Nebraska Press, 1998.

 

The reading of the following essays/articles will be required:

Ferrari Giorgia, "Il cane bianco e l'anatra nera", in Carla Corradi Musi - Giorgia Ferrari - Sanna Maria Martin, Sciamanesimo e Settentrione, Roma, Aracne, 2014, pp. 101-153. (Containing the text of a Karelian fairy tale, translated into Italian, which we will examine during the course.)

Ferrari Giorgia, "Le fiabe indecenti e divertenti di Viena. Eros ed educazione. Tre esempi", in Zsuzsanna Rozsnyói (ed.), Il dio Eros e l’uomo. Voci di cantori e narratori del mondo ugrofinnico, Roma, Aracne, 2016, pp. 75-103. (Containing the text of a Karelian tale, translated into Italian, which we will examine during the course.)

Melkas Kukku, "From Apocalypse to the New Paradise. Early Ecological Thinking and Aino Kallas' Work in the 1920s", in Leena Kurvet-Käosaar - Lea Rojola (ed.), Aino Kallas. Negotiations with Modernity, Helsinki, Finnish Literature Society, 2011, pp. 54-65.

 

The reading of two of the following texts will be required:

Corradi Musi Carla, Sciamanesimo e flora sacra, Roma, Carucci, 1988.

Corradi Musi Carla (ed.), Lo sciamano e il suo ‘doppio’, Bologna, Carattere, 2002.

Corradi Musi Carla (ed.), Simboli e miti della tradizione sciamanica, Bologna, Carattere, 2007.

Corradi Musi Carla, Sciamanesimo in Eurasia. Dal mito alla tradizione, Roma, Aracne, 2008.

Corradi Musi Carla (ed.), Sul cammino delle metamorfosi tra gli Urali e il Mediterraneo. Dal mito alle trasformazioni sociali, Bologna, Edizioni CINE//SINE, 2013.

Corradi Musi Carla - Ferrari Giorgia - Martin Sanna Maria, Sciamanesimo e Settentrione, Roma, Aracne, 2014.

Ferrari Giorgia - Martin Sanna Maria (ed.), Sciamani, letterati e artisti. Dalla Lapponia al cuore dell'Europa, Roma, Aracne, 2016.

Rozsnyόi Zsuzsanna (ed.), Il dio Eros e l’uomo. Voci di cantori e narratori del mondo ugrofinnico, Roma, Aracne, 2016.

 

Further bibliographical help will be supplied during the lessons.

Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher to define the exam bibliography.

 

CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN AND GENDER IN FINNO-UGRIC CONTEXTS

Corradi Musi Carla, I Finni del Volga, Parma, Studium Parmense, 1981.

Corradi Musi Carla, I Finno-Permiani, Parma, Studium Parmense, 1982.

Corradi Musi Carla, I Baltofinni del Sud-Est, Parma, Palatina, 1990. 

Kallas Aino, La sposa del lupo, transl. by Paola Faggioli, Milano, Sperling & Kupfer, 1934.

Liksom Rosa, Scompartimento n. 6, transl. by Delfina Sessa, Milano, Iperborea, 2014.

 

The reading of the following essays/articles will be required:

Franchi Cinzia, "Scrivere al femminile nell’Ungheria di fin de siècle", in Roberto Ruspanti (a cura di), Storia, letteratura, cultura dei popoli del Regno d’Ungheria all’epoca della Monarchia austro-ungarica (1867-1918), 2013, pp. 199-210.

Martin Sanna Maria, "L'eros e il femminile nella poesia popolare finlandese", in Zsuzsanna Rozsnyói (a cura di), Il dio Eros e l’uomo. Voci di cantori e narratori del mondo ugrofinnico, Roma, Aracne, 2016, pp. 47-73.

 

The reading of two of the following texts will be required:

Corradi Musi Carla (ed.), Lo sciamano e il suo ‘doppio’, Bologna, Carattere, 2002.

Corradi Musi Carla (ed.), Simboli e miti della tradizione sciamanica, Bologna, Carattere, 2007.

Corradi Musi Carla, Sciamanesimo in Eurasia. Dal mito alla tradizione, Roma, Aracne, 2008.

Corradi Musi Carla (ed.), Sul cammino delle metamorfosi tra gli Urali e il Mediterraneo. Dal mito alle trasformazioni sociali, Bologna, Edizioni CINE//SINE, 2013.

Corradi Musi Carla - Ferrari Giorgia - Martin Sanna Maria, Sciamanesimo e Settentrione, Roma, Aracne, 2014.

Ferrari Giorgia - Martin Sanna Maria (ed.), Sciamani, letterati e artisti. Dalla Lapponia al cuore dell'Europa, Roma, Aracne, 2016.

Kurvet-Käosaar Leena - Rojola Lea (ed.), Aino Kallas. Negotiations with Modernity, Helsinki, Finnish Literature Society, 2011.

Rozsnyόi Zsuzsanna (ed.), Il dio Eros e l’uomo. Voci di cantori e narratori del mondo ugrofinnico, Roma, Aracne, 2016.

 

The reading of one of the following works will be required:

Lönnrot Elias, Kanteletar: raccolta di liriche popolari finniche, transl. by Renzo Porceddu, Turku, I. e B. Casagrande, 1992.

Lönnrot Elias, Kalevala: Il grande poema epico finlandese, transl. by Marcello Ganassini, Roma, Edizioni Mediterranee, 2010.

Loikala Paula (ed.), Finlandia raccontata dalle donne: antologia dei canti popolari, Bologna, CLUEB, 1994.

Kallas Aino, La vendetta del fiume sacro, which can be found in: Kallas Aino, Il pastore di Reigi, transl. by Paola Faggioli, Milano, Bompiani, 1941, pp. 159-232.

 

Further bibliographical help will be supplied during the lessons.

Non-attending students are asked to contact the teacher to define the exam bibliography.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons by the teacher and lessons in seminar form.

Assessment methods

FINNISH LITERATURE 2 (LM)

Assessment of knowledge of the analysed themes of written and oral Finnish literature consists of an oral examination, which may be preceded, depending on the student's request, by written reports. After an initial series of lectures, with regular frequency (approx. six times), the student can choose to write a report (of approx. 8 pages), accompanied by bibliographical notes, on a theme of the course, agreed in advance with the professor. The report, written in accordance with the criteria of correct expression, after being corrected by the professor, is presented and discussed by the student during the class, led by the professor. (We will consider the possibility to collect the different reports written by the students in a sort of "dossier" of the course [editing exercises].) The assessment is based on an oral examination in order to assess the critical knowledge of the topics and texts under examination taken together, the knowledge of the bibliographic material, the capacity for analysis and synthesis and the modalities of expression of the student. An excellent mark will be given to the student who shows a full knowledge, a deep critical reworking of the topics, an adequate capacity for analysis and synthesis and a high level of mastery of expression. A discrete mark will be given to the student who shows general mnemonic knowledge of the discipline, sufficiently developed synthetic and analytical skills expressed with a correct but not entirely appropriate language; some learning gaps, non-appropriate language and minimal knowledge of the examination material will lead to a sufficient mark. Serious learning gaps, non-appropriate language and insufficient knowledge of the topics considered in the course will be negatively evaluated.

 

FINNISH LITERATURE AND CULTURE (LM)

Assessment of knowledge of the analysed themes of Finnish literature and culture consists of an oral examination, which may be preceded, depending on the student's request, by written reports. After an initial series of lectures, with regular frequency (approx. six times), the student can choose to write a report (of approx. 6 pages), accompanied by bibliographical notes, on a theme of the course, agreed in advance with the professor. The report, written in accordance with the criteria of correct expression, after being corrected by the professor, is presented and discussed by the student during the class, led by the professor. (We will consider the possibility to collect the different reports written by the students in a sort of "dossier" of the course [editing exercises].) The assessment is based on an oral examination in order to assess the critical knowledge of the topics and texts under examination taken together, the knowledge of the bibliographic material, the capacity for analysis and synthesis and the modalities of expression of the student. An excellent mark will be given to the student who shows a full knowledge, a deep critical reworking of the topics, an adequate capacity for analysis and synthesis and a high level of mastery of expression. A discrete mark will be given to the student who shows general mnemonic knowledge of the discipline, sufficiently developed synthetic and analytical skills expressed with a correct but not entirely appropriate language; some learning gaps, non-appropriate language and minimal knowledge of the examination material will lead to a sufficient mark. Serious learning gaps, non-appropriate language and insufficient knowledge of the topics considered in the course will be negatively evaluated.

 

CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS OF WOMEN AND GENDER IN FINNO-UGRIC CONTEXTS

The assessment of the acquired knowledge about the Finno-Ugric cultures, with particular reference to the Finnish literature both oral and written, in a comparative perspective, consists of an oral interview, which may be preceded, depending on the student's request, by written reports with critical analysis. After an initial series of frontal lessons, with regular frequency (approx. six times), the student can choose to produce a written report of approx. 6 pages, accompanied by bibliographical notes, about a theme of the course, agreed with the professor. The report, which must meet the criteria of correctness of expression and adequate reworking of the student, after being corrected by the professor, is presented and discussed on the part of the student during the class, led by the professor. (We will consider the possibility to collect the different reports written by the students in a sort of "dossier" of the course [editing exercises].) The assessment is based on the interview, which is designed to test the skills of analysis and synthesis of acquired knowledge, overall personal reworking and adequate exposition. The student's ability to learn from the sources and from bibliographic material crucial information for understanding the specificity of the Finno-Ugric cultures both in a diachronic and in a synchronic perspective and in a comparative point of view will be assessed in particular. An excellent mark will be given to the student who shows a broad knowledge of the discipline, a deep critical reworking of the topics, a high level of mastery of expression and the use of appropriate specific language. A discrete mark will be given to the student who shows general mnemonic knowledge of the discipline and sufficiently developed synthetic and analytical skills expressed with a correct but not entirely appropriate language; some learning gaps, non-appropriate language, minimal knowledge of the examination material will lead to a sufficient mark. Serious gaps in knowledge, non-appropriate language and uncertainty in using bibliographic material offered during the course will lead to a negative assessment.

Teaching tools

Online materials and audiovisual support will be used.

Office hours

See the website of Giorgia Ferrari