Sentimentalistisia juonteita pohjoismaisessa realismissa

• Saija Isomaa Helsingin yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74764

Abstract

Sentimental traits in Nordic Realism

This article surveys sentimental traits in Finnish 19th century realism, a topic that has been overlooked in earlier research. The aim of the article is to show that in determining the background and characteristics of Finnish realism, French sentimentalism and its impact on later literature cannot be overlooked, and that there is need for further research into the topic. To substantiate this claim, the article focuses on Juhani Aho’s novel Papin rouva (1893) which has been seen as ’the Finnish Madame Bovary’. By contrast, this article analyses Papin rouva as a sentimental novel that concentrates on depicting the sufferings of the unhappily married protagonist Elli and the conflict that occurs between Elli’s individual free¬dom and her conjugal duty. In contrast to Gustave Flaubert’s adulterous Emma in his Madame Bovary (1857), Elli can be seen as a sentimentalist woman who wants to act virtuously. Further, the article draws attention to the sentimental features in Henrik Ibsen’s Et Dukkehjem (1879), an undisputed inspiration of Aho’s Papin rouva, and raises the question of whether Nordic realism was influenced by sentimentalism on a larger scale. The articlesuggests that the compassion for lower classes and women’s suffering in realist novels could be seen in sentimentalist light.