Liikettä tahdissa

Nykyrunon vaikuttava rytmitoiminta

• Siru Kainulainen Turun yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74898

Abstract

Moving in Rhythm. Affective Functions of Rhythm in Contemporary Finnish Poetry

This article focuses on the ways in which rhythm indicates movement and action in poetry. On the one hand, rhythm is understood as a feature of the text that is open to analysis. But simultaneously to this, rhythm can also be conceived as a device affecting the readers. Accordingly, rhythm is both a material characteristic of the text and a feature with a physical dimension influencing the reader. In contemporary Finnish poetry rhythms have an influential role, which is expressed through considerable stylistic variation. This article investigates the above mentioned stylistic scale with emphasis on Saila Susiluoto’s exotic-like rhythms, Vilja-Tuulia Huotarinen’s mating calls and the flowing and elliptical phrases of Harry Salmenniemi. The work of these poets highlights the varied functions of affective rhythms in contemporary Finnish poetry. The operative and affective aspects of rhythm have traditionally been deemed challenging object for study. Despite this, focusing on these features denoting open-ended difficulty provides opportunities for conceiving rhythm as the materially and physically functioning dimensions of the poems. As Rita Felski has observed, these dimensions further enable the formation of analytical understanding of the role of rhythm in the various interactive actions between the poem and its reader. Focusing on the rhythms of the poems also enables the analysis and interpretation of this transaction through the concept of ‘the transmission of affects’ outlined by Teresa Brennan. The present article endeavors to open discussion on rhythm as a component that provides new conceptualizing angles on the activity of reading.