The motif of the lost homeland in the lyrics by K. A. Tavaststjerna
Matashina Irina S.,
PhD student, Literary Section, Institute of Language, Literature and History, Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences (Petrozavodsk, Russia), irinadesh@mail.ru
Introduction. The object of the article is the work of the Finnish writer K. A. Tavaststjerna as a spokesperson of the Swedish part of the country’s population. The subject is his poetry, which depicts the transition from a romantic literary tradition to a realistic one, which was further developped in the author’s novels. The aim of the study is to trace the change in the language balance in Finland and analyze how the transformation of Swedish into a language of the national minority left an imprint on the creativity of the Finnish Swedes and determined the appearance of the motive of the lost homeland.
Materials and Methods. The material of the study was the poems by K. A. Tavaststjerna from different years. The use of comparative-typological, problem-thematic methods made it possible to delineate a range of lyrical works which contain the motif of a lost homeland, to compare them with the literary tradition of Finland in the middle and the end of the XIX century, and by using a historical-chronological method to accent the connection between the author’s life and his attempt to express the voice of the entire generation of Finnish Swedes.
Results and Discussion. K. A. Tavaststjerna creativity is an example of a transition from a romantic literary school in the literature of Finland to a realistic one. In the writer’s lyrics there are no motives that could be typical for the works by J. L. Runeberg and his followers., Adding some autobiographical attributes to his poems, K. A. Tavaststjerna examines the status of Finnish Swedes and conveys a sense of loss of their homeland. The reason for the outpointing of this topic was the shift in the language balance in the country in favor of the Finnish language and, accordingly, less frequent use of Swedish.
Conclusion. Lyrics by K. A. Tavaststjerna, as well as his novels, laid the foundation for the further development of Swedish literature in Finland, the formation of literature, which describes the modern social structure and current events. It distinguished the author from both Romantic predecessors and representatives of neo-Romanticism.
Key words: K. A. Tavaststjerna; Swedish literature of Finland; XIX century; lyrics; romanticism; realism.
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