Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Arts
Finland has a flourishing cultural scene and puts a high priority on the arts,
especially music, in its education system. Writers and artists looking to the
Finnish wilderness for their inspiration evoked a pride in Finland that became
an important part of the movement that eventually led to Finnish independen-
ce in 1917.
Literature
Finland had a rich oral tradition of folklore, but written Finnish was created by the Reform-
ation figure Mikael Agricola (1510-57), who wrote the first alphabet. Although written Fin-
nish was emerging in schools, the earliest fiction was written in Swedish.
All that changed in the early 19th century with the penning of the
Kalevala
and the be-
ginning of a nationalistic renaissance. Poet JL Runeberg wrote
Tales of the Ensign Stål,
capturing Finland at war with Russia, while Aleksis Kivi wrote
Seven Brothers,
the nation's
first novel, about brothers escaping conventional life in the forest, allegorising the birth of
Finnish national consciousness.
This theme continued in the 1970s with
The Year of the Hare,
looking at a journalist's es-
cape into the wilds by the prolific, popular and bizarre Arto Paasilinna. Other 20th-century
novelists include Mika Waltari who gained international fame with
The Egyptian,
and FE
Sillanpää who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1939. The national bestseller dur-
ing the postwar period was
The Unknown Soldier
by Väinö Linna. The seemingly endless
series of autobiographical novels by Kalle Päätalo and the witty short stories by Veikko
Huovinen are also very popular. Finland's most internationally famous author is Tove Jans-
son, whose books about the fantastic Moomin family have long captured the imagination.
Notable living writers (apart from Paasilinna) include the versatile Leena Krohn and Mikko
Rimminen, who has attracted attention for both novels and poetry.