Terrains of imagination in contemporary Finnish literature: harassing habitats in Maarit Verronen's fiction/ Sarianna Kankkunen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kankkunen, Sarianna, author.

Series:

Studia Fennica Litteraria, vol. 15.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Verronen, Maarit--Criticism and interpretation.

Verronen, Maarit.

Finnish literature--20th century--History and criticism.

Finnish literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Helsinki : Finnish Literature Society, 2024.

Summary:

This study examines experienced space in Maarit Verronen’s works of prose fiction. The study aligns itself with the contemporary approach often referred to as spatial literary studies, a movement connected to the spatial turn within the humanities. Theoretically, the study draws on multiple fields of spatial studies, from semiotics of space to critical theory and poststructuralism. By providing a categorization on different approaches within spatial literary studies, the study promotes literary studies that utilize spatial theory and explores how spatial concepts can be effectively used as tools for close reading. Since the study aims to provide a longitudinal section of Verronen’s oeuvre, the selected material spans the author’s early works, from the 1990s to the late 2000s. The corpus involves six novels and two short stories. The analysis begins with the fantastic realms of Verronen’s early career, proceeds to consider wilderness and wild spaces, turns to visions of dystopic futures, and concludes in the narratives of homecoming and homesteading. The study shows that Verronen’s fantasy draws its allegorical potential from the juxtaposition of spatialized binary semantic oppositions. By analyzing Verronen’s dystopian novels, the study unravels the spatial nature of the genre and the critical potential it encompasses. Verronen’s narratives on wilderness are approached through the notion of spatial practices and in the context of alienation and post pastoralism. Finally, the analysis on the literary homes and the acts of homesteading in Verronen’s novels foregrounds the open, connected, and inclusive nature of the contemporary notion of home and new forms of attachment to place, both of which are under an active debate in spatial literary studies.By bringing together spatial literary studies and Verronen’s works, this research adds to the study of Finnish literature and contemporary literature’s emphasis on space, spatiality, and environmental issues. Moreover, the study contributes to the knowledge on the genres of fantasy and dystopia, as well as to the study of classic literary tropes and their contemporary manifestations. As the study contextualizes Verronen’s works within Nordic and European literatures, it draws attention to the thematic and stylistic connections that link her writing to broader literary trends and traditions.

Contents:

Introduction Between Realism and Postmodernism North and South Nordic and European Literatures Fantasy Dystopia and Other Points of Contact A Question of Literary Space The Corpus and an Overview of the Study Space and Literature Framework Spatial Turn and Spatial Literary Studies Spatial Literary Studies Ecocriticism and the Concept of Wilderness Key Concepts Space and Place Spatial Imagination Boundary Mapping Crossing the Boundary in Pimeästä maasta Out of the Dark Lands Defining the Boundary Spatializing Oppositions Crossing the Boundary Space and Plot Space as Idée Fixe in Luolavuodet The Cave Years Revisioning the Cave Trope Towards Spatial Agency Wild Spaces Wilderness Journeying into the Wilderness in Mökki autiolla rannalla Cottage on a Desolate Shore The Eccentric as the Ex-Centric Practicing Wilderness in Unohtaja The Forgetter Dystopian Spaces Dystopia Experiencing Dystopian Spaces in Karsintavaihe The Elimination Phase The City and the Home Reorganizing Space The Innovation City Reinvented Space From the Caravan Park to the Automatic Courtyard Navigating Dystopian Spaces in Kirkkaan selkeää Bright and Clear Disconnected Movement and Perspective Agoraphobia Motifs of Enclosure Homecomings and Homesteadings Home Homecoming Nostos Homesteading Living Space and the Troubles of Homecoming in Pieni elintila The Tiny Living Space Dislocations and the Nostos Tradition Living Space Anti-Expansionism and the Biological Imagination Saari kaupungissa Island in the City Back to Place Spatializations of Self-Sufficiency and Interdependence Three Insular Episodes Conclusion Harassing Habitats References Appendix List of Works Author Abstract Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages) and index.

ISBN:

9789518589276