Kukku Melkas, PhD, researcher
Current research: Maids in Finnish Literature – a Sign of Crisis and Negotiations of a New Social Order
The figure of the servant or the maid has a long and abundant tradition in Finnish literature. In the beginning of the 20th century, it became an important symbol for different discussions concerning class, gender and new morals in both literature and in the Finnish political field. Despite its centrality, the figure and its history remain out of the scope of interest in literary studies. In my study I examine how the figure is represented in the work of selected Finnish authors from 1901 to 1941 and how the figure is connected to the changes in social order at that particular time.
My main focus is on literature and its negotiations with the social and political developments in Finland in the beginning of the 20th century until the end of the1930s. Through different contextualisations I bring up further questions on how and why in different decades the maid’s character has been an interest for several authors, in what kind of cultural conversations these "servant novels" participated and what purposes the maid’s character served for authors from different class strata and backgrounds. My research will benefit both national and international theoretical discussions on gender, class and ethnicities and bring new information to the field of gender and class history and feminist nationalism theories.
My material consists of fiction as well as a selection of cultural magazines such as Valvoja (1901-1922, later Valvoja-Aika -1940), Naisten Ääni (Womens’ Voice), Palvelijatarlehti (1905-1906) and its continuation Työläisnainen (Working Woman, 1906-1917 and 1919 – 1923), Toveritar (1922-1943) Finsk Tidskrift (1901- ) and Koti ja yhteiskunta (Home and society). The literary reviews in these magazines were integral to the discussions of literature as connected to topical issues in the Finnish cultural and political scene. My primary material focuses on those novels and short stories in Finnish literature that use and abuse the maid’s character in their narration in a particular way. The particularity either refers to the maid as a protagonist of the novel or to the maid’s character as a catalyst of the novel.
My project Maids in Finnish Literature is closely linked to on ongoing research project called "Imagined people – Finnish Self-Image in Turmoil" (2006-2008), financed by the Kone Foundation (http://kuviteltukansa.utu.fi)
Recent publications
A struggle for Knowledge: The Historical Novel and the Problems of the Production of Knowledge. Gender and Genre in Aino Kallas’ Eros the Slayer -trilogy. Women’s Voices: Feminist Criticism in Finland. Studia Fennica: Litteraria 2. Päivi Lappalainen and Lea Rojola (eds.) Helsinki, SKS. 2007.
In Service for the Other. The Servants between the Bourgeois Family and the Working Class. Crossings of Borders. Expeditions on the Other Side of the Other. (Rajanylityksiä. Tutkimusreittejä toiseuden tuolle puolen.) Olli Löytty (ed.) Helsinki, Gaudeamus. 2005.
Contact Information
PhD, Research Fellow (Academy of Finland)
Kukku Melkas
School of Art, Literature and Music
20014 University of Turku
Finland
e-mail kukmel(at)utu.fi
tel + 358 2 3336553