An Early Conceptual History of the Finnish Word ”sivistys”

Authors

• Heikki Kokko Tampereen yliopisto

Abstract

Finnish concept “sivistys” is similar in many ways to German word “Bildung” and Swedish “bildning”. Its main meaning refers to personal self-formation, but it can also be understood in a wider sense like culture and civilization. “Sivistys” was developed in the era of 1820–1850 at the same time when the Finnish literary language was normalized by the Swedish-speaking educated people. This article focuses on the formation of the “sivistys” concept in that era. The purpose is to bring attention to the circumstances and individuals, who influenced the formation of the concept. Research material is collected from published sources like newspapers and literature which are analyzed by the methods of conceptual history. This article argues that the “sivistys”- concept was developed in a multilingual and multicultural space. It enclosed in itself both individual and collective meanings. Despite the similarities to the “Bildung” and “bildning”, “sivistys” got its own peculiar character because of its development in the Finnish historical context in the industrial age. Because of that “sivistys” has become, like many other European culture concepts a word, which is difficult to translate into any other language.