The Bearers of FireFuturist (?) Ethos of Modernity in Finland in

the 1920s

NeMLA 2010 Convention, Montreal, Canada; April 8-11, 2010Marja Härmänmaa, University of Helsinki

The concept of modern and modernity The relationship between arts and national

identity The importance of the country’s history and

geographical position to the arts

This presentation is about…

PART ONE

Finland

- Approximately 3,3 million inhabitants in the 1920s- Independent in 1917

Practically unknown For instance, very few mentions in literary

history In 1929: an essay of Olavi Paavolainen:

”The Frightened Muses” About modern phenomena of arts and

culture One chapter dedicated to Futurism The most important overview of Italian

Futurism in Finland

Italian Futurism in Finland

Olavi Paavolainen (1903-1964)

-Writer and essayist-The Finnish ”prophet of modernism”-A leading figure of The Bearers of Fire

A phenomenon of the modern world Marinetti had invented ”modernolatry” in

order to rescue Italy from the pressure of the past

Activism: ”serate futuriste” Political activity, affiliation to fascism The concept of movement in painting Literature: use of mathematical signs and

the renovation of syntax Synthetic theatre

Futurism according to Paavolainen

No important artistic achievements Crucial as an ideology

◦ Expression of the new rhythm of life◦ Aesthetic appreciation of technology and

machines Futurist iconoclasm and disdain of tradition

characteristic of all modern arts The importance of publicity for arts

The achievements of Futurism according to Paavolainen

F.T. Marinetti Umberto Boccioni Gino Severini Giacomo Balla Carlo Carrà Luigi Russolo Luciano Folgore Enrico Prampolini Maria Ricotti (theatre) Ivo Pannaggi Franco Casavola Francesco Balilla Pratella

Italian Futurists mentioned by Paavolainen

In 1861: Poem ”Locomotiv driver” of J.J. Wecksell ◦ the first railway was built

In 1902-1935: writings of the architect Sigurd Frosterus ◦ about battleships, trains, airplanes…

1920s: The Bearers of Fire According to Olavi Paavolainen, he started

”machinolatry” in Finland

”Machinolatry” in Finland

In the so-called working class literature Social problems caused by the modernity Industrial workers’ condition Problems related to urbanisation

The ”other” machine

Modernist literary movement In 1924 a collection of young poets’ poems 1928-1930 the homonymous magazine In 1930s developed into expressionism

Tulenkantajat (The Bearers of Fire)

Mika Waltari (1908-1979)

Katri Vala (1901-1944)

Aaro Hellaakoski (1893-1952)

Self-portrait, 1923

The Bearers of Fire

A statue in Heinola of Anja Juurikkala (b. 1923), 1987

The magazine (1928-1930)

No written programme Renewal of the arts and literature with the new,

European currents ◦ SOME poets adapted the free verse in poetry (Vala)◦ SOME used visual poetry (Hellaakoski)

Arts in direct contact with the modern world◦ Representation of the modern world◦ But also of the countryside and nature

The creation of a new, modern Finnish identity Against the dominant culture

◦ Roots of the Finnish identity in nature and the countryside (realism)

◦ Cult of Kalevala

The ”programme” of the Bearers of Fire

Väinö Kunnas (1896-1929)

”City” (1926)

Vala was considered the most important modernist poet of her generation

Collection of free verse poems No traces of modernity Exoticism

◦ ”Taj Mahal”, ”Tahitian Serenade” Inner feelings

◦ ”Praying”, ”Nostalgia”, ”Heart” Nature

◦ “The Last Evening of April”, “The Flowering Land”, “The First Snow”

Modern in form; motifs from decadentism / expressionism

Case study 1: A Distant Garden by Katri Vala (1924)

”A Finnish version of futurist machinolatry” (H.K.Riikonen)

About a train trip in the countryside during the spring

Traditional verses Three strophes Motifs:

◦ Spring ◦ Flowers◦ Blossoming trees

Case study 2: ”A Train Trip in Spring” of Hellaakoski (1928)

New urban environment The birth of a new, modern man

◦ And subsequent crisis of identity Machine as a natural part of modern life

◦ airplanes, cars, trains No social critic of industrialization

Modernity and the Bearers of Fire

Against communism ◦ although some of them were leftists

Against fascism ◦ in the 1920s Italian Futurism was identified with

fascism The extreme political ISMS were old-

fashioned The only modern ISM: PAN-EUROPEANISM

The Bearers of Fire and politics

PART TWO

The Soviet Union (1922-1991)

Created in 1912 Communist revolution in 1917 (Cubo-) Futurism practically dominated the

artistic life during the first years after the revolution

Subsequently replaced by social realism

Futurism in the USSR

Fascism in Italy Bolshevism

in the USSR

Why there was no futurism in Finland?

From the beginning of the 19th century Finland was part of Russia

From the mid -19th century onward artists and intellectuals were invited to ”invent” the Finnish national identity, based especially on Kalevala (Finnish mythology)

Independence from Russia in 1917 Civil war between the Reds and the Whites in 1918,

leading to the victory of the Whites◦ Approximately 37,000 casualties

In 1920s any kind of cultural exchange with the USSR was impossible

A (very) brief history of Finland

First decade of independence Contribution of the arts to building Finnish

identity Neo-classicism in architecture and in

sculpture Realism in literature -> discovering the

”roots of Finnishness”

Finnish culture in the 1920s

Attention to modern phenomena: ◦ technology, urbanization

No political extremism (<- civil war) Rejection of national identity based on

ethnographic traditions (Kalevala) ”Open the windows to Europe!” (The

Bearers of Fire) To be international instead of being national

Being ”modern” in intewar Finland

PART THREE

Estonia

- Independent from 1991- Ca 1,3 million inhabitants in 2010

Artistic and cultural movement born in Estonia in early 1990s

Target: search for Finno-Ugric identity Ideology based on Finno-Ugric and Uralic myths Opposed to Western rationality, neo-

colonialism, imperialism, and Christian religion Avant-garde experiments + tradition Use of tradition to construct an alternative

identity of the future

Futurism, now: Ethnofuturism

Finno-Ugric peoples

Juri Dõrin (1967-)

Juri Dõrin (1967-)

Aleksander Ivanov (1964-2001)

”The Rape of Europe”

Aleksander Ivanov (1964-2001)

”The Tree of Life”

Peeter Sepp (?)

Peeter Sepp

Peeter Sepp’s exhibition in Estonia

An Estonian Ethnofuturist living in Canada

Thank you!

◦ I wish to thank professor H.K.Riikonen for the valuable help he gave me for this presentation