The Construction of Self in Finnish First-Person Supernatural Encounter Narratives
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THE CONSTRUCTION OF SELF IN FINNISH FIRST-PERSON SUPERNATURAL ENCOUNTER NARRATIVES Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kirsi Marjo Hannele Haenninen Graduate Program in Comparative Studies The Ohio State University 2009 Dissertation Committee: Dorothy Noyes, Adviser Ray Cashman Sarah Iles Johnston Laura Stark Copyright by Kirsi Marjo Hannele Haenninen 2009 ABSTRACT My dissertation examines the narrative construction of self in Finnish first-person supernatural encounter narratives. Modernity promotes the idea of a subject who is capable of self-regulation, self-surveillance, and self-control. Having supernatural experiences shows a lack of these capabilities. Nevertheless, we hear personal experience stories about people encountering beings such as angels, extraterrestrials, guardian spirits and ghosts. My work uses this contradiction as a starting point and asks how narrators attempt to organize their baffling experiences through narrative for themselves and others, how narrators attempt to normalize the supernatural, and how narrators recognize and combat the stigmas related to the supernatural? My work follows the narrative turn in social sciences and humanities, and applies the social constructionist approach to narrative and self. This research is interdisciplinary by its nature and draws its theoretical sources from folklore studies, cultural studies, narrative studies and social psychology. Applying the method of theme writing, I placed an inquiry in Finnish newspapers in late 2003 and early 2004 and got around 470 responses. I apply descriptive statistics to show the common traits of the research material, and I do a detailed narrative analysis on a subset of nine narratives. This study shows that the selection of narrative means that the narrators employ when talking about supernatural experiences is wide. They use comparisons, direct and ii embedded evaluations, overlays and detailed orientations; they call to witness, address the reader, use internal dialects to balance between the traditions of belief and disbelief; and their narrative voices fluctuate between close and distant. The narrators construct rational, yet emotional, and social, yet independent selves. They present themselves as valuing knowledge, yet understanding its limits. They show they are able to differentiate between the ordinary realm and the supernatural realm. They describe their social attachments and dependencies, but they also defend their unique experiences even if the experiences set them apart from others. Even though the supernatural is stigmatized, it is valuable when it makes the experiencer feel special, chosen, or gifted. Narrators’ attempts to normalize the supernatural are twofold. First, narrators negotiate and/or deny the stigmas related to the supernatural, and second, they express emotions. Narrators know that supernatural experiences may be explained as hallucinations, illusions or dreams resulting from intoxication, or mental disorders. They either deny these issues or explain that they do not account for the supernatural event. Second, the narrators offer an entry to their inner realm through emotion discourse. They describe a wide range of emotions, from fear to peace and joy. In brief, narrators tell us they are normal human beings with human reactions and feelings. iii Dedicated to my family iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A doctoral dissertation cannot be completed without the input, support, and assistance of many individuals and institutions. I feel privileged to have worked with wonderful group of scholars through the completion of this project. I wish to thank my advisers Annikki Kaivola-Bregenhøj and Pertti Anttonen, who guided and supported me when I began my Ph.D studies at the University of Turku. I also wish to thank Pasi Enges, Anne Heimo, and Taina Ukkonen and all the other Turku folklorists and like-minded fellows, who have supported me through these years. I have continued to enjoy a nourishing academic atmosphere here at the Ohio State University. I wish to thank my dissertation committee for their support, advices and patience. Dorry Noyes, Laura Stark, Sarah Iles Johnston and Ray Cashman – thank you! I also wish to thank my candidacy exam members Hugh Urban and Amy Shuman, and my friends and colleagues at the OSU who have supported and encouraged me. I wish to thank the following organizations and institutions for financial support that made my work at the OSU possible: ASLA-Fulbright, Oskar Öflund’s Foundation, The University of Turku, Finlandia Foundation, Turku Finnish University Society, Women's Science Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, and Ella and Georg Ehrnrooth Foundation. v VITA December 2002……………………………….M.A. in Folkloristics, The University of Turku September 2005………………………………ASLA-Fulbright Graduate Grant Autumn 2006-Spring 2009…………………..Graduate Administrative Associate, Center for Folklore Studies, Department of English, The Ohio State University 2006-2008……………………………………Finnish Cultural Foundation Grant Summer 2008………………………………...Intern, The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress Autumn 2009………………………………..Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of Greek and Latin, The Ohio State University Publications Article.“Perspectives on the narrative construction of emotions”. Elore 1 / 2007, Suomen Kansantietouden Tutkijain Seura. Article. ”Ufokontaktin rakentaminen ja tulkinta kokemuskertomuksissa”. Sananjalka 2005, Turku: Suomen kielen seura. Article. ”Ufokontaktit ja niistä kertominen” Elore 2 / 2003, Suomen Kansantietouden Tutkijain Seura. vi Report: “Turun yliopiston folkloristiikan oppiaineista vuosina 1993 – 2003 valmistuneiden työhönsijoittuminen.” Elore 1/2006, Suomen Kansantietouden Tutkijain Seura. Report: “Kuulumisia Atlantin toiselta puolelta”. Elore 1/2006, Suomen Kansantietouden Tutkijain Seura. Fields of Study Major Field: Comparative Studies Minor Field: Graduate Interdisciplinary Specialization in Folklore Studies vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………..viii List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... .x List of Figures ................................................................................................................... xii Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Finnish Folklore Scholarship and Study of the Supernatural .......................... 24 Chapter 2: Quantitative Description of the Supernatural Encounter Narratives ............... 45 Chapter 3: Question of Genre ........................................................................................... 80 Chapter 4: Narrative Analysis of the Supernatural Encounter Narratives ........................ 89 Chapter 5: Recognizing and Combating Stigmatization ................................................. 160 Chapter 6: Emotions in the Narrative Construction of Self ........................................... 183 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...…195 Bibliography………………………………………………………………….………...199 viii Appendix A: List of Inquiry Sources…………………………………………………..208 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Age Groups ......................................................................................................... 46 Table 2. Age groups and Gender ...................................................................................... 47 Table 3. Education Level and Age Group ........................................................................ 50 Table 4. Education Level and Age Group ........................................................................ 53 Table 5. Religiosity and the Supernatural Being Encountered ......................................... 55 Table 6. Supernatural Beings in Primary Stories .............................................................. 58 Table 7.Supernatural Beings in Secondary stories ........................................................... 59 Table 8. Supernatural Beings in Tertiary Stories .............................................................. 60 Table 9. Gender of the Supernatural Being/-s in the Primary Stories .............................. 62 Table 10. Sense ................................................................................................................. 65 Table 11. State of Consciousness...................................................................................... 65 Table 12. Age When Experiencing the Supernatural ........................................................ 67 Table 13. Meaning of the Experience ............................................................................... 69 Table 14. Narrative Genre ................................................................................................ 71 Table 15. Narrative Genre and