This literary studies project focuses on contemporary Finnish dystopian fiction and dystopian tendencies in contemporary Finnish culture as portrayed in literature. From a comparative point of view, dystopian fiction is a transcultural undertaking, as writers from many cultures, language areas and historical periods have participated in forging its forms and thematic variations. Finnish dystopian fiction is a rather recent literary phenomenon, as it has become a strong literary trend only since the 1990s. However, it shows considerable awareness of the international traditions, domesticating many of its subgenres and variations into Finnish literature. At the same time, it is creating traditions of its own. The current project uses comparison and a multi methodological frame.
Background
In recent years, Finnish literature has imagined various kinds of dystopian places and conditions, meaning that simple definitions have proven to be inadequate. Therefore, by dystopian fiction, we refer to the numerous traditions that portray undesirable societal, ecological, and climactic conditions and processes. These traditions include classical dystopias, apocalyptic fiction and post-apocalyptic fiction, to mention certain prominent subgenres. In addition, other terms, such as climate fiction, catastrophe fiction, ecological dystopia, feminist dystopia, dystopian satire and dystopian fairy tale can be used to refer to the works under study.
Finnish dystopian fiction discusses issues such as climate change, drought, deluge, the extinction of species, famine, totalitarianism, wars, eugenics, and sexual oppression by imagining futures where these phenomena play a crucial role.
The project is funded by the Finnish foundation Koneen Säätiö (Kone Foundation) and will run from 2015 to 2019. The project will co-arrange several conferences and publish journal articles, special issues and monographs on the topic.
Funding source
Kone Foundation
Contact persons
Saija Isomaa
Professor
saija.isomaa [at] tuni.fi
+350 40 190 1564