Kansallista itsetutkistelua: Suomalaisia kulttuuri-ääriviivoja

Volter KilpiProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.7
Word count
302K words
Chapters
31

Tags

English Originals Culture Humanistic CareSocial CritiqueAcademic StudyIntellectual CommentarySelf-ReflectionTraditional AestheticsCultural ChangeSocial ObservationCross-Cultural View

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Kansallista itsetutkistelua: Suomalaisia kulttuuri-ääriviivoja by Volter KilpiAuthor: Kilpi, Volter, 1874-1939,Language: Finnish, Class: DK: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Russia, Former Soviet Republics, Poland, Release Date: Mar 23, 2005

Editor's review

This is a collection of cultural essays in Finnish by the Finnish writer Volter Kilpi, a product of the early twentieth-century current of Finnish national self-examination. Starting from cultural contours, national character, and spiritual traditions, the author attempts to sketch an overall spiritual map of Finnish culture. Its value lies not in providing systematic historical sources but in preserving a culturally self-reflective perspective imbued with the temper of its time: the language is concise and the thought is rigorous, and the author's concern for the fate of his country's culture is visible between the lines. For readers studying Finnish literature, nationalist currents, or Nordic cultural history, it is a primary source that can serve as corroborating evidence. Because the original is in Finnish and the style is argumentative, general Chinese readers are better served by treating it as a reference text for understanding the discourse of Finnish culture than as an introductory work. It is best read after acquiring some background in Finnish history, or in conjunction with historical accounts of the period around Finnish independence.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. First read up on Finnish history from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, then approach the text.
  2. Read alongside other literary works from the Finnish national awakening to grasp the period context.
  3. Excerpt the author's core judgments about cultural traits chapter by chapter to build your own list of concepts.
  4. If reading the Finnish original, note the conventions of early written Finnish and slow down to digest each section.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31

FAQ

Is this book written in Finnish, and can Chinese readers read it? The original is in Finnish and is part of Project Gutenberg; the available information shows no Chinese translation. Chinese readers without Finnish can treat it as a bibliographic lead for research and use dictionaries or related scholarship for support; it is not suitable as introductory reading.
What exactly does “cultural contours” in the title mean? According to the source, the author sketches the overall shape and spiritual features of Finnish culture in essay form; this is a culturally self-reflective discussion rather than a systematic cultural history. The specific contents of the chapters must be based on the original text, and one should not infer beyond it.
Is this book suitable for learning about Finnish history? It is not a history book but a cultural commentary bearing the marks of its time, reflecting the concerns of Finnish intellectuals of the period. To understand the course of Finnish history, choose a general history instead; this book can serve as a supplementary perspective.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Volter Kilpi Author · Finnish · 1874–1939

Volter Kilpi (1874–1939) was a Finnish writer born in Kustavi who worked for many years in libraries. His writing is known for its deep exploration of his characters' inner lives. His major novel, Alastalon salissa (In the Alastalo Parlor, 1933), expands a six-hour meeting into hundreds of pages, using interior monologue and meticulous description to trace the flow of his characters' thoughts; it is regarded as a classic of Finnish-language literature. He also wrote Parsifal and Antinous: the former draws on the legend of the Grail knight, while the latter turns to an ancient subject, showing his abiding interest in myth, faith, and self-examination. He further published essay-like writings on the contours of Finnish culture and on questions of human life. Five of his works are held in this collection; because public information is limited, biographical details are omitted here, and the focus rests on the subjects and style of these works.