Love and Politics: A Comedy in One Act

Turunen, Armas E., 1886-1909Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.0

Word count: 25K words
Chapters: 3

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.Rakkautta ja politiikkaa: Huvinäytelmä 1:ssä näytöksessä by Armas E. TurunenAuthor: Turunen, Armas E., 1886-1909,Language: Finnish, Class: PH: Language and Literatures: Finno-Ugrian and Basque languages and literatures, Release Date: Sep 17, 2016

Editor's review

This is a one-act comedy in Finnish by Armas E. Turunen (1886–1909), who died in his early twenties and left few works; the play therefore has value as a sample of early Finnish bourgeois comedy. The title literally involves love and politics, and judging by the genre it should be a one-act play driven by light dialogue and misunderstandings, short in length with a concentrated cast—suitable for observing how Finnish drama of the time expressed social issues and national awakening in popular form. The main barrier to reading is language: the original is in Finnish and carries the dramatic style of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. For readers studying Finnish literature or drama in minor Nordic languages, it can serve as material for close reading of a short text; for ordinary Chinese readers, a translation or introduction is needed for full understanding. It is advisable to first understand the structural features of the one-act play, then focus on the social satire and gender roles in the dialogue.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers learning Finnish or studying Finnish literature
Those interested in drama in minor Nordic languages and in the one-act form
Teachers and students who need a short dramatic text for classroom analysis

Not a good fit for

Chinese readers unfamiliar with Finnish and without a translation to assist them
Drama lovers expecting long plots or complex character arcs
Readers with no interest in late nineteenth-century European popular comedy

Reading tips

First check whether a Chinese or English translation exists, then decide whether to read the original closely or read in parallel.
While reading, note how the one-act play establishes and resolves conflict within a short time.
Read alongside background on late nineteenth-century Finnish society and pay attention to the satirical targets of the love and politics themes.
Read the dialogue aloud to appreciate the comic rhythm and the characters' tones.

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.

FAQ

Can I read this play without knowing Finnish?

Yes, but with the help of a translation or a bilingual edition. The original is in Finnish and the style belongs to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century dramatic language, making direct reading difficult. If you only want to follow the plot, look for a translation first; if you are studying the language, read closely against the original.

What are the main points of interest in this play?

As a one-act comedy, its interest lies in how it creates humor through dialogue and misunderstanding within a short space, and how love and politics are handled in popular form. It also offers a sample for observing early Finnish bourgeois drama and the social mood during the national awakening.

What other works by the author can I consult?

The available information only shows that Turunen was born in 1886 and died in 1909; what works survive requires checking Finnish literary bibliographies or biographical sources. This entry cannot provide more information on his works, so a library catalog is the best place to start.

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

Turunen, Armas E., 1886-1909 Author · 1886–1909

Armas E. Turunen (1886–1909) was a Finnish playwright who died young and left only a small body of work; three of his plays are held in this collection. His representative works include the two-act play Hakalan rahat, the three-act play Patruunan palveluksessa, and the one-act comedy Rakkautta ja politiikkaa. Judging from their titles and genres, his writing was concentrated in drama, ranging from serious plays to humorous comedies and mostly running from one to three acts, suited to small and medium-sized stages. Written in Finnish, the works deal with money, employment relationships, and the entanglement of love and politics, showing an interest in everyday social life and human affairs. Because public information is limited, details of his life, education, and literary career cannot be established, and this introduction can only sketch him on the basis of the works themselves.