Tematiikkaa ajan tarpeisiin

Kirjallisuuskeskustelu loi 1980-luvun pahan tematiikan reaktioksi arvomurrokseen

• Ville Sassi Itä-Suomen yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74860

Abstract

Thematics for the demands of time. The literary discussion created the thematics of evil in the 1980s as a reaction to the change of values

The article discusses evil in the 1980s Finnish novel. It has been argued that in new novels appearing in the 1980s a new kind of evil and valuelessness became apparent. Ethical themes are, nevertheless, always present in art and it is argued that the evil in the novels of the 1980s was not in fact exceptional. An attempt is made to elucidate why evil became the common identification for a whole decade of the Finnish novel in 1980s Finnish literary criticism by investigating the literary discussion and the workings of the literary system. Literature is regarded as an institutional phenomenon: it consists not only of texts but also of particular tasks and practices through which individual literary works become related to a larger historical discourse, such as that centred on values.

In sum, the article endeavours to demonstrate that the thematics of evil in that period has in fact been an extra-literary phenomenon. The thematization of evil was motivated by the historical-societal conditions of the time. Under such conditions, it made sense to regard the new decade as a break with tradition, since globalization was becoming increasingly significant. It changed the experience on the society and improved the plurality of values. In the Finnish literary system this created a demand for the perceived autonomy and expertise of literary critics to be enhanced. One reaction to these demands was to maintain the discussion on the thematic if evil which renovated the function of literature. As time passed, the identification of evil as an appropriate label for the literary decade was taken for granted in Finnish literary studies because it corresponded with the interests of research and with the understanding of literature prevalent at that time.