30994 - Finnish Literature 1

Academic Year 2018/2019

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course unit, the student will be familiar with Finnish literature in its historical development from its origins to the Nineteenth century, the main literary movements and authors.

Course contents

Finnish literature in its historical development from its origins to the Nineteenth century. The main literary movements and authors. Reading and analysis of selected texts in Finnish language.

1st year students: from the beginnings to the XIX century, in particular, the oral poetry, The Kalevala, Kanteletar and The Ancient Poems of the Finnish People.

2nd year students: from the XIX century to the contemporary literature. Finnish literature in Swedish. The main authors of Romanticism, Realism and Symbolism: Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Aleksis Kivi, Minna Canth, Juhani Aho and Eino Leino.

3rd year students: XX century literature.


Readings/Bibliography

Lecture notes and other teaching materials will be available via a username and password at AMS Campus - AlmaDL - University of Bologna.

Laitinen, Kai, La letteratura finlandese, Helsinki, Otava, 1995.

Schoolfield, George C., A History of Finnish literature, 1998.

Klinge, Matti, 1994, Breve storia della Finlandia. Helsinki, Otava.

 

Finnish literature 1

Schoolfield, George C., A History of Finnish literature, 1998, pp. 3-33.

Lönnrot, Elias, Kalevala, il grande poema epico finlandese. Roma, Edizioni Mediterranee, 2010.

Lönnrot, Elias, Kanteletar : raccolta di liriche popolari finniche; traduzione dal finnico di Renzo Porceddu, Turku, I. e B. Casagrande, 1992.

Martin, Sanna, I racconti letterari dell’etnografo Samuli Paulaharju. In: Sciamani, letterati e artisti. Dalla Lapponia al cuore dell’Europa. A cura di Giorgia Ferrari e Sanna Martin. Aracne editrice, 2016. pp. 45-114.

Ferrari, Giorgia, Margarita Kolobova. Kalevala a mosaico. In: Sciamani, letterati e artisti. Dalla Lapponia al cuore dell’Europa. A cura di Giorgia Ferrari e Sanna Martin. Aracne editrice, 2016. pp. 115-162.

Il dio eros e l’uomo. Voci di cantori e narratori del mondo ugrofinnico. A cura di Zsuzsanna Rozsnyòi. Aracne editrice, 2016.

Short readings in Finnish and in Italian translation will be available in AMS Campus teaching materials.

 

Finnish literature 2

Schoolfield, George C., A History of Finnish literature, 1998, pp. 34-147, 275-353, 453-490, 729-752.

Leino, Eino, Canti di Pentecoste, Milano-Udine, Mimesis, 2013, a cura di Marcello Ganassini.

Ahola, Joonas, 2015, Kalevalaic Heroic Epic and the Vikign Age in Finland. In: Fibula, Fabula, Fact. The Viking Age in Finland, a cura di Ahola, Forg e Tolley. Helsinki, SKS, pp. 361-386.

Intorduzione ai Canti Epici di Johan Ludvig Runeberg di Camilla Storskog. In: Runeberg, Johan Ludvig, 2006, Canti Epici. Milano, Edizioni Ariele. Pp. ix-xxx.

Agricola, Mikael, 2014, Gli Dèi di Finlandia e di Carelia. Viterbo, Vocifuoriscena.

Mandatory reading:

Kivi, Aleksis, I sette fratelli, Torino, UTET, 1946.

And, one book to choose between:

Aho, Juhani: Juha
Aho, Juhani: Panu
Kallas, Aino: La sposa del lupo

Short readings in Finnish and in Italian translation will be available in AMS Campus teaching materials.

 

Finnish literature 3

Schoolfield, George C., A History of Finnish literature, 1998, pp. 148-274.

Martin, Sanna Maria, 2017, “Cose bizzarre, memorie e altro. Incrociarsi di vita e di testi nella scrittura di Mia Kankimäki”. In: In-certi confini. Percorsi nelle letterature europee contemporanee. A cura di Marika Piva e Marco Prandoni. Bologna, I libri di Emil, pp. 75-85.

Loikala, Paula, Il Nord come destino. Liriche finlandesi moderne al femminile, Bologna, Clueb, 1996.

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

Sessa, Delfina, Esperienze di traduzione della prosa finlandese in italiano. In: Loikala, Paula (a cura di), Lingua, cultura e letteratura finlandese in Italia, Bologna, Gedit, 2005, pp. 59-70.

Two books to choose between:

Liksom, R.: Scompartimento n. 6. Iperborea, 2014.

Paasilinna, A.: L'anno della lepre. Iperborea,1994.

Hotakainen, K.: Via della trincea. Iperborea, 2010

Waltari, M.: Sinuhe l’Egiziano. BUR. (Diverse edizioni)

Oksanen, S.: La purga. Guanda, 2010.

Lindstedt, L.: Oneiron. Elliot, 2016.

Short readings in Finnish and in Italian translation will be available in AMS Campus teaching materials.

Students who have difficulty in attending the classes are requested to contact the teacher during the office hours or by e-mail sannamaria.martin@unibo.it.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons by the teacher and readings. Films related to literary works or historical periods treated. Readings in Finnish and, when available, in Italian translation.

Assessment methods

The test will be structured on the basis of the topics covered in the lectures and texts mentioned in the bibliography. It consists of an oral test aimed at assessing the descriptive knowledge of the individual topics covered during the course and the ability to contextualize cultural and literary phenomena. It will also assess the ability of critical synthesis of bibliography and expressive properties in terms of accuracy and appropriateness of language.

A wide and thorough knowledge of the historical, cultural and literary period, capabilities of synthesis and mastery of expression will be evaluated as excellent (28-30), while a more mechanical and/or mnemonic capacity of synthesis, non-articulated analysis skills and correct but not always appropriate language use will be evaluated as positive but not with a high grade (23-27). A superficial knowledge and understanding of the material, a scarce analytical and expressive ability that is not always appropriate will be rewarded with a pass mark or just above a pass mark (18-22). Gaps in knowledge, failure in analysis and non-appropriate language will be negatively evaluated.

Teaching tools

Audiovisual support and online materials will be used and available in AMS Campus.

Office hours

See the website of Sanna Maria Martin