Family History and Everyday Life: Some Aspects of the Finnish Research Tradition
Keywords:
family, history, household, hierarchies, conflicts, controlAbstract
In this article I look at how Finnish historians have dealt with the everyday life of families in the past. in this context I understand 'everyday life' simply as being normal daily behaviour and experiences. Daily occupations are part of this. Also, it is characterised by the desire for freedom and choice, as they make everyday life active and dynamic. ln the field of history the study of everyday life has been understood as a part of the branch of history of so called ordinary people. At the same time the growing popularity of the history of everyday life or ordinary people reflects change in the focus of research. lt has shifted from descriptions of development to more intensive interpretation of thinking, motives and beliefs. (Davis 1996, 10-11.)
