Kenelle maa kuuluu?

Kansakuva Arvid Järnefeltin pamfletissa Maa kuuluu kaikille!

• Olli Löytty Turun yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74701

Abstract

To whom the land belongs? The concept of people in Arvid Järnefelt’s pamphlet Maa kuuluu kaikille!

In his pamphlet Maa kuuluu kaikille! [The land belongs to everybody], published in 1907, the Finnish author Arvid Järnefelt stresses the ‘human rights’ of workers to utilize land. Published after a crofters’ strike and the large-scale eviction followed by it, the book took part in the debate on the societal power relations. Following the teachings of Leo Tolstoy, Järnefelt believed in the equality for all, regardless of wealth, education or class. In this article, Järnefelt’s pamphlet is analyzed as a variation of the early 20th century discussion on nation and people in Finland. The significance of the concept of ‘people’ was not fixed but under ongoing construction.

The article shows the ambivalent position of Järnefelt as the spokesman of the people. Järnefelt’s pamphlet is directed to the intelligentsia living in cities rather than the workers of the countryside. Järnefelt himself was a certain kind of hybrid, a member of the upper class ‘mimicking’ the workers. The power relations that Järnefelt sketches in his book resemble the hierarchy of centre and periphery as theorized in postcolonial criticism. When compared to previous discourses, the ideal yeoman that Järnefelt portrays in his pamphlet represents quite clearly a new kind of subject, who will refuse to work if his demands for justice are not dealt with. Although Järnefelt had an outsider’s view to the harsh reality of the farm workers, but his Tolstoyan message was definitely empowering.