Perspectives on the Kalevala
In our 2023 series of short videos (1 min each) we asked six people what the Kalevala means to them.
- Folklorist’s Kalevala – Niina Hämäläinen
- Activist’s Kalevala – Raine Rysä
- Linguist’s Kalevala – Tuomo Kondie
- Literary Scholar’s Kalevala – Olli Löytty
- Singer’s Kalevala – Maari Kallberg
- Theatre Director’s Kalevala – Juha Hurme
For the folklorist Niina Hämäläinen the Kalevala is an extremely interesting and complex research subject.
The Karelian activist Raine Rysä sees the Kalevala as an instrument of oppression.
For the sociolinguist Tuomo Kondie the Kalevala is a political work that opens windows to the relationship between language and society.
The researcher of literature Olli Löytty finds visually memetisized poetry in the Kalevala of today.
The professional folkmusician Maari Kallberg has sung her way into the Kalevala as a work of art.
For the theatre director Juha Hurme the Kalevala is a bottomless well of ideas to work with.