Folklore 347, Littrans 347, Readings: http://tadubois.com
Medieval 444, Scand 444 This course looks at the song traditions that became the basis of Autumn 2010 the Finnish national epic Kalevala, Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:30-3:45 a work that helped establish Sterling 1313 Final Exam: Fri. Dec. 17, 2:45 pm Finland in the eyes of the world as a unique culture, a nation. We will survey the artistic and cultural Prof. Thomas A. DuBois products that followed the epic ([email protected]) from its first publication in 1835 (http://tadubois.com) through the establishment of Finnish independence in 1917 and down to the present day.
Course Texts
1. Readings from Leea Virtanen and Thomas DuBois Finnish Folklore. Available as pdfs.
2. Saga of the Völsungs. Trans. Jesse Byock. Obtain a copy through purchase or borrowing.
3. Esaias Tegnér. Frithiof’s Saga. Trans. Ida Mauch. Available in copy form.
4. Elias Lönnrot. Kalevala: An Epic Poem after Oral Tradition. Trans. Keith Bosley. Obtain a copy through purchase or borrowing.
5. Additional readings and film showings as listed in syllabus, made available to students in advance of discussion.
Mini-Epic. Choose at least five of the Finnish-American songs provided in the class to create your own mini-epic about the Finnish –American experience. If you prefer, you can choose a different set of five thematically-related songs from some other context and create an epic out of these. Present the original texts, your reworked epic, and an essay. In the essay, explain what you sought to achieve in your texts, the difficulties you encountered in amalgamating the songs, and the relationship of your work to the narrative details or underlying themes of the songs themselves. Approximate length: 20 pages total. To be turned in to email address: [email protected] on or before Dec. 20.
Course Requirements
1. Midterm exams: October 14 20 November 18 20
2. Non-cumulative final exam, December 14 or December 17 20
3. Singable translations of two Finnish-American songs 20
4. Epic project, due Dec. 20 20
Course Schedule
Week 1 (September 2) Course Introduction.
Week 2 (Sept. 7, 9) Song Types/History of Collection/Finland’s “Old” vs. “Young” folksong The Sampo song (Read: Virtanen/DuBois 38-51; 131-139)
Week 3 (Sept. 14, 16) NO CLASS Sept. 16! Healing (Read: Virtanen/DuBois 89-98, 179-186)
Week 4 (Sept. 21, 23) Weddings and Lyric Songs (Read: Virtanen/DuBois 143-155, 165-175) Saga of the Völsungs day 1.
Week 5 (Sept. 28, 30) Saga of the Völsungs day 2. Frithiof’s Saga
Week 6 (Oct. 5, 7) Kalevala day 1. Väinämöinen Kalevala day 2. Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen
Week 7 (Oct. 12, 14) Kalevala day 3. Kullervo EXAM 1. Oct. 14!
Week 8 (Oct. 19, 21) NO CLASS Oct. 21! Kalevala day 4. Female characters: Louhi, Aino, Maiden, Marjatta
Week 9 (Oct. 26, 28) Karelianism: Inha, Gallén-Kallela, Sibelius Emblematic Singers: Larin Paraske, Kreeta Haapasalo
Week 10 (Nov. 2, 4) Kalevala and the schools; Soviet film Kalevala and Finnish art music: Guest lecture, Mimmi Fulmer
Week 11 (Nov. 9,11) Kalevala in wartime Finnish Identity in the New World: Guest lecture, Hilary Virtanen
Week 12 (Nov. 16, 18) Kalevala, national dress, and Kalevala-koru EXAM 2. Nov. 18!
Week 13 (Nov.23) Paavo Haavikko’s Kalevala revisions: Kullervo
THANKSGIVING BREAK!
NOTE EXTRA EVENING CLASSES: MON. TUES. NOV. 29 AND 30 TO WATCH HAAVIKKO’S AGE OF IRON!
Week 14 (No, 30, Dec. 2) Haavikko’s Age of Iron
Week 15 (Dec. 7, 9) [Divisional Committee Thursday] Kalevala in Värttinä and Heavy Metal J. Karjalainen and Finnish America. Guest lecture: Jim Leary
Week 16. Dec. 14: OPTIONAL DAY FOR EXAM 3