“Crime in the eyes of God and people”: Out-of-wedlock childhood in 19th-century autobiographical texts

Authors

• Anna Kuismin Helsingin yliopisto

Abstract

The article examines how Finnish-speaking male folk writers wrote about their adulterine background. It is based on an analysis of writings from eight men who were born between 1798 and 1878. Some of the texts were published during their time while others remained unpublished. The texts represent different literary genres ranging from folk poems to pleadings and autobiographical novels. The article opens by pondering the contribution of autobiographical material in relation to studies based on church registers and sources of law.