JOURNAL OF INNISH TUDIES F S International Influences in Finnish Working-Class Literature and Its Research Guest Editors Kirsti Salmi-Niklander and Kati Launis Theme Issue of the Journal of Finnish Studies Volume 18 Number 2 July 2015 ISSN 1206-6516 ISBN 978-1-937875-95-4 JOURNAL OF FINNISH STUDIES EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICE Journal of Finnish Studies, Department of English, 1901 University Avenue, Evans 458 (P.O. Box 2146), Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341-2146, USA Tel. 1.936.294.1420; Fax 1.936.294.1408 SUBSCRIPTIONS, ADVERTISING, AND INQUIRIES Contact Business Office (see above & below). EDITORIAL STAFF Helena Halmari, Editor-in-Chief, Sam Houston State University; [email protected] Hanna Snellman, Co-Editor, University of Helsinki; [email protected] Scott Kaukonen, Assoc. Editor, Sam Houston State University; [email protected] Hilary Joy Virtanen, Asst. 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TABLE OF CONTENTS Helena Halmari: Editorial 1 Kirsti Salmi-Niklander and Kati Launis: New Research Trends in Finnish Working-Class Literature: Introduction 3 Kati Launis: The Making of the Finnish Working Class in Early Twentieth-Century Working-Class Literature 14 Mikko Pollari: The Literally International Adventures of Vihtori Kosonen 35 Elsi Hyttinen: Women in Early Capitalism and Other Irrelevant Issues: Elvira Willman’s Struggle for Working-Class Authorship 56 Kirsti Salmi-Niklander: “Nor Happiness, nor Majesty, nor Fame”: Proletarian Decadence and International Influence in Early Twentieth-Century Finnish Working-Class Literature 75 Hanne Koivisto: Devotedly International—But Always Wrong: Left-Wing Intellectuals and Their Orientation toward International Progressive Culture and Literature in the 1930s and 1940s 99 Veli-Matti Pynttäri: Recognizing Your Class: Toivo Pekkanen, Raoul Palmgren, and Literature for the Working Class 125 Jaana Torninoja-Latola: “I Have Had a Feeling That Authors Take Their Responsibility Too Lightly”: Elvi Sinervo as a Working-Class Author 144 Milla Peltonen: Reshaping Finnish Working-Class Prose: Hannu Salama’s Siinä näkijä missä tekijä as a Postrealistic Novel 166 Jussi Ojajärvi: The Dirty Class: The Re-Intensified Antagonism of Capital and Labor, and the Politics of Arto Salminen 181 Book Reviews Ameel, Lieven. 2014. Helsinki in Early Twentieth-Century Literature: Urban Experiences in Finnish Prose Fiction 1890–1940. Reviewed by Johanna Pentikäinen. 210 Clements, Jonathan. 2012. Mannerheim: President, Soldier, Spy. Reviewed by Ed Dutton. 212 Kuismin, Anna, and M. J. Driscoll, editors. 2013. White Field, Black Seeds: Nordic Literacy Practices in the Long Nineteenth Century. Reviewed by Diane Dowdey. 215 Contributors 219 EDITORIAL The Journal of Finnish Studies is proud to bring to readers our newest theme issue, International Influences in Finnish Working-Class Literature and Its Research. This collec- tion of ten essays, edited by Kirsti Salmi-Niklander and Kati Launis, is ground- breaking. It tackles topics that have not been well covered in past research. Those of our subscribers who do not read Finnish—yet who are interested in Finland’s litera- ture—can read here about a number of leftist authors and their lives. You will learn about Vihtori Kosonen’s adventures during the turmoils of the Russian Revolution, Kasperi Tanttu’s violent death in the aftermath of Finland’s Civil War, left-wing intellectuals’ maneuvering during the politically volatile 1930s and 1940s, Elvira Willman’s execution in the Soviet Union, and the poet Elvi Sinervo’s imprisonment during the Second World War. The collection presents quotations from these au- thors, thus allowing us to hear their voices and see, perhaps only for a moment, the world from their point of view. These working-class authors had an enormous impact on Finland’s cultural life, controversial as this impact may sometimes have been. Collectively, and even as individuals, they had amazingly broad international contacts and connections— for authors who lived in a country at the geographic periphery of the world. Their travels ranged from Moscow to Paris, from Soviet Russia to the United States. They brought world-renowned authors from other countries to Finland—and they wrote. Yet, not only did they create, in Finnish, literature that was heavily influ- enced by proletarian writings elsewhere in the world, they were also instrumental in making world literature accessible to more Finnish readers by translating, edit- ing, publishing, and reviewing. They introduced many Finnish readers to Tolstoy and Gorky, Byron and Shelley, Steinbeck and London. And they also introduced Engels, Kautsky, and Sartre. A long period of time is covered by this volume, starting from the early twen- tieth century. Through the Second World War and through Toivo Pekkanen, we are brought to the present day, to meet Hannu Salama and Arto Salminen. We read of eccentric characters and decadent men, but we also read of women—Hilja 1 Journal of Finnish Studies Pärssinen, Elvira Willman, Elvi Sinervo, Kaisu-Mirjami Rydberg—and their strug- gles with problems of class and gender. We read of the clubs and societies that nur- tured these authors’ creativity, and we learn about the literary journals they edited. Many contributors to this collection discuss the problem of defining work- ing-class authorship: who, in the history of Finland’s proletarian writing, is enti- tled to be defined as a working-class author—and why? The influence of Raoul Palmgren, as a critic and as a writer, becomes evident throughout the volume. Can Elvira Willman be called a proletarian author, despite the fact that she was born into a bourgeois home? Is Toivo Pekkanen not a working-class writer because he does not write explicitly about class struggle? —And then, disturbingly, I realize that of all the colorful and talented authors discussed in this issue, I am most familiar with Toivo Pekkanen. He is the one I remember best from my school-time readings. Were the others not mentioned, or does my memory fail? It is time we learn of them all, learn more about them, are introduced to more of their writings, and hear their life stories. I want to thank the editors for putting together this important resource. It is my wish that this issue will be read not only by individuals interested in Finland’s working-class literature but that it will also be used as a text in comparative literature programs in universities and in depart- ments of Scandinavian studies around the world. In Finland, it will certainly have a growing readership as, adhering to the traditions outlined in this collection, Finland continues to reach out to the world and to retain, within its boundaries, a large non-native population, who need English as the medium to learn about Finland’s past. Finlandia Foundation National has provided the Journal of Finnish Studies with significant financial support for publishing this issue. Their grant helped us to pay for its printing, and, more importantly, helped us in bringing research from and about Finland to an English-speaking audience. Thank you, Finlandia Foundation National. Helena Halmari 2 NEW RESEARCH TRENDS IN FINNISH WORKING-CLASS LITERATURE: INTRODUCTION Kirsti Salmi-Niklander, University of Helsinki Kati Launis, University of Turku1 During the last decade, Finnish working-class literature has become both a top- ic of lively interdisciplinary discussion and the subject of an increasing number of published studies. This issue addresses that multidisciplinary theme and presents the results of the newly revived interest by reviewing works that span a hundred years, from Elvira Willman’s play Lyyli (1903)