The non-literary Latin letters. A study of their syntax and pragmatics

This dissertation studies the language of Latin letters that were written in Egypt and Vindolanda (in northern Britain) during the period 1st century BC 3rd century AD on papyri, ostraca, and wooden tablets. The majority of the texts is, in one way or another, connected with the Roman army. The focus of the study is on syntax and pragmatics. Besides traditional philological methods, modern syntactic theory is used as well, especially in the pragmatic analysis. The study begins with a critical survey of certain concepts that are current in the research on the Latin language, most importantly the concept of vulgar Latin , which, it is argued, seems to be used as an abstract noun for variation and change in Latin . Further, it is necessary to treat even the non-literary material primarily as written texts and not as straightforward reflections of spoken language. An examination of letter phraseology shows that there is considerable variation between the two major geographical areas of provenance. Latin letter writing in Egypt was influenced by Greek. The study highlights the importance of seeing the letters as a text type, with recurring phraseological elements appearing in the body text as well. It is argued that recognising these elements is essential for the correct analysis of the syntax. Three areas of syntax are discussed in detail: sentence connection (mainly parataxis), syntactically incoherent structures and word order (the order of the object and the verb). For certain types of sentence connection we may plausibly posit an origin in spoken Latin, but for many other linguistic phenomena attested in this material the issue of spoken Latin is anything but simple. Concerning the study of historical syntax, the letters offer information about the changing status of the accusative case. Incoherent structures may reflect contaminations in spoken language but usually the reason for them is the inability of the writer to put his thoughts into writing, especially when there is something more complicated to be expressed. Many incoherent expressions reflect the need to start the predication with a thematic constituent. Latin word order is seen as resulting from an interaction of syntactic and pragmatic factors. The preference for an order where the topic is placed sentence-initially can be seen in word order more generally as well. Furthermore, there appears a difference between Egypt and Vindolanda. The letters from Vindolanda show the order O(bject) V(erb) clearly more often than the letters from Egypt. Interestingly, this difference correlates with another, namely the use of the anaphoric pronoun is. This is an interesting observation in view of the fact that both of these are traditional Latin features, as opposed to those that foreshadow the Romance development (VO order and use of the anaphoric ille). However, it is difficult to say whether this is an indication of social or regional variation.

Èto i to v povesti Staruha Daniila Harmsa

This dissertation focuses on the short story Starukha (The Old Woman), one of the last works of the Russian writer Daniil Kharms (1905-1942). The story, written in 1939, is analysed using the Kharmsian concepts èto and to (this and that) as a heuristic interpretative model. The first chapter gives a detailed analysis of this model, as well as a survey of the critical work done to date on Kharms and Starukha. In the second chapter the model is applied to study the different states of consciousness of the male protagonist. This is significant, because he is the "I" of the work, from whose point of view everything is being told. The third chapter takes a closer look at the reality of the world that exists independently of the consciousness of the protagonist. Physical objects can be said to bear - besides their everyday meaning - a hidden symbolic meaning. Similarly, the characters can be considered as representatives of everyday reality and otherworldliness. The fourth chapter deals with the narrative devices of Starukha. The problematics of the relation between fact and fiction plays an essential role in the story. Kharms's use of Ich-Erzählung and different tenses, which contributes to achieving a complicated elaboration of this kind of problematics, is examined in detail. The fifth chapter provides an intertextual reading of Starukha, based on its allusions to the Bible and the Christian tradition. As a result, the whole story can be seen as a kind of meditation on the Passion of Christ. The final chapter examines how the important Kharmsian concepts of the grotesque and the absurd manifest themselves in Starukha. The old woman represents in a grotesque way two opposite systems: the religious and the totalitarian. The absurdity of Starukha can be claimed to be illusory. Therefore, it is better to speak about paradoxicality. Starukha itself is a kind of paradox, in the sense that it tries to say something of the ultimate truth of reality, which inevitably remains ineffable.

Andegraund : Istorija i mify leningradskoj neoficial'noj literatury

The history of the Leningrad underground is one of the key themes of late socialism. Samizdat, "black humour", religious syncretism, dissidence, apolitical bohemianism, the pathos of freedom of individuality and the mechanics of literature are closely interlinked with the cultural mythology of this passed epoch. Describing conceptions that, when taken together, form the contemporary understanding of unofficial culture, the author creates a historical portrait of this environment. Amongst the central figures here, there are well-known writers (Bitov, Brodsky, Dovlatov, Khvostenko, Krivulin) and literary activists who still await recognition. The analysis of works, many of which were only distributed in typewritten publications in the 1960s-1980s, gives a preliminary definition of the key factors that united the authors of the unofficial community. The book begins with a critique of the identification of the Soviet underground with political dissidence or with a society living in autonomous independence with regard to the state. Describing the historical development of the various names for this environment (the underground, samizdat, unofficial culture, podpolie and others), the author follows the genesis of the community from its appearance, in the years of "the Thaw", through to perestroika, when it dissolved. Taking the history of the publication of Bitov's "The Pushkin House" as an example, the concept of the unofficial is interpreted as a risky interaction with the authorities. Unofficial culture is then viewed as a late Soviet reflection of the Western underground in the 1950s-1960s. Unlike the radical-utopian-anarchistic source, it proclaimed a liberalist and democratic ideology in the context of the destruction of the socialist utopia. The historical portrait of the community is built up from the perceptions of its members regarding literature practice and rhetorical approaches, with the aid of which these perceptions are expressed. Taking typewritten publications as source material, four main representations are given: privacy, deviancy, criticism and irrationality. An understanding of literature as a private affair, neo-avant-garde deviancy in social and literary behaviour and the pathos of the critical relationship with officialdom and irrational message of literary work, comprise the basis for the worldview of unofficial authors, as well as the poetic system, genre preferences and dictums. An analysis of irrationality, based on the texts of Khvostenko and Bogdanov, leads to a review of the cultural mythologies that were crucial to the unofficial conception of the absurd. Absurd is an homonym. It contains ideas that are important for the worldview of unofficial authors and the poetics of their works. The irrationality of the Soviet order is reflected in the documentary nature of the satirical prose of Dovlatov. The existential absurd of Camus is perceived here as the pointlessness of social realities and the ontological alienation of man, while existentialist practices for consciousness in the "atmosphere of absurd" remain bracketed off. The third homonym of absurd - the conception of reality as an illusion - is a clear demonstration of religious syncretism, where neo-Christian ideas are interweaved with a modernized version of Hinduism, as taken from Rolland s books on Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. The unofficial community was influenced by the ideology of westernization. Even "the East" arrived here via French retellings and accounts. As a whole, unofficial Leningrad culture can be understood as a neo-modernist phenomenon which, unlike the western neo-modernism of the 1940s and 1950s, arose in the years of the Thaw and ended its existence in the mid-1980s.

Recipient v russkom razgovore : o raspredelenii funkcij mezhdu otvetami da, nu i tak

The study investigates actions by recipients in spontaneous Russian conversations by focusing on DA, NU and TAK, when they are used as responses to the main speaker's larger on-going turn. The database for the study consists of some 7 hours of spontaneous conversations. The participants of the conversations come from different parts of Russia. The use of DA, NU and TAK was analyzed by applying the method of ethnomethodological conversation analysis from the point of view of the type of the context, the sequential placement of the response and its manner of production. The particles were analyzed both in contexts in which they responded to an informing and in affective contexts. The particles NU and TAK were used by the speakers almost exclusively in informing contexts, whereas DA was the central response type in affective contexts. DA was also the most common response to information with affective implications. The information, to which the particle NU provided as response, was often unspesific and projected a spesification or explanation by its speaker as the next action. DA and TAK, by contrast, treated the information as one that could be followed and was sufficient in its local context. As a response to parenthetical information NU responded to information that was only loosely connected with the mainline of talk. The particle DA, by contrast, was used as a response to such parenthetical information, which was more crucial for the larger on-going activity. Only NU was used as a response that invited the main speaker to continue a turn that she or he had offered as possibly complete. NU was also used by the recipient after her or his own contribution as a continuer. In affective contexts, DA expressed, depending on its more spesific context, not only agreement but also other functions, such as giving up arguing or prior knowledge on the topic being discussed. In addition DA responses were used to display empathy and identification with the state of affairs expressed by the co-participant. NU, by contrast, was seldom used as a response to a turn that expressed affect. When it was used in affective contexts, it displayed agreement with the co-participant or just registered an assessment by her or him.

Ivanov-mistik : Okkul'tnye motivy v poèzii i proze Vjačeslava Ivanova (1907-1919)

The subject of this work is the mysticism of Russian poet, critic and philosopher Vjacheslav Ivanov (1866-1949). The approach adopted involves the textual and discourse analysis and findings of the history of ideas. The subject has been considered important because of Ivanov's visions of his dead wife, writer Lydia Zinovieva-Annibal, which were combined with audible messages ("automatic writings"). Several automatic writings and descriptions of the visions from Ivanov's archive collections in St.Petersburg and Moscow are presented in this work. Right after the beginning of his hallucinations in the autumn of 1907, Ivanov was totally captivated by the theosophical ideas of Anna Mintslova, the background figure for this work. Anna Mintslova, a disciple of Rudolf Steiner's Esoteric School, offered Ivanov the theosophical concept of initiation to interpret paranormal phenomena in his intimate life. The work is divided into three main chapters, an introduction and aconclusion. The first chapter is called The Mystical Person: Anthropology of Ivanov and describes the role of the inner "Higher Self" in Ivanov's views on the nature of human consciousness. The political implications of the concepts, "mystical anarchism" and "sobornost" (religious unity) are also examined. The acquaintance and contacts with Anna Mintslova during 1906-1907 gave a framework to Ivanov's search for an organic society and personal religious experience. The second part, Mystics of Initiation and Visionary Aesthetics describes the influence of the initiation concept on Ivanov's aesthetic views (mainly "realistic symbolism"). On the other hand, some connections between the imagery of his visions and symbols in his verses of that period are established. Since Mintslova represented the ideas of Rudolf Steiner in Russia, several symbols shared by Steiner and Ivanov ("rose", "rose and cross") have been another subject of investigation. The preference for strict verse form in the lyrics of Ivanov's visionary period is interpreted as an attempt to place his own poetic creation within two traditions, a mystical and literary one. The third part of this work, Mystics of Hope and Terror, examines Ivanov's conception of Russia in connection with Mintslova's ideas of occult danger from the East. Ivanov's view of the "Russian idea" and his nationalistic idea during World War I are considered as a representation of the fear of the danger. Ivanov's interpretation of the October revolution is influenced by the theosophical concept of the "keeper of the threshold" which occurs in the context of the discourse of occult danger.

Analiz obraza ženščiny na osnove jazykovogo materiala ”Krest’janka” 1985, 1995 i 2005 gg.

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tutkia Venäjällä ilmestyvän ”Krest’janka”-lehden välittämää naiskuvaa. Tutkimukseen on valittu lehden vuosikerrat 1985, 1995 ja 2005, koska suuret muutokset Venäjällä ajoittuvat tälle aikavälille. Haluamme selvittää, miten naiskuva on muuttunut tänä aikana ja miten se välittyy lehden sivuilta. Tutkimukseemme olemme käyttäneet A.V. Kirilinan työssään käyttämiä metodeja. Keräsimme lehdistä kaikki verbilausekkeet, joiden subjektina on naista tarkoittava sana ja jaoimme ne luokkiin merkityksen mukaan. Jaottelun jälkeen analysoimme kerättyä aineistoa ja pyrimme löytämään kullekin vuosikerralle tyypillisiä verbilausekkeita. Tämän lisäksi keräsimme lehdistä kaikki naista kuvaavat adjektiivit ja vertailimme niiden käyttöä eri vuosina. Tulosten perusteella voidaan sanoa, että vuoden 1985 lehdissä vaikuttaa vielä voimakkaasti sosialismin ihanteet. Nainen kuvataan työnsä kautta aktiivisena ja tavoitteensa ylittävänä kansalaisena. Yksityiselämään ei juuri kiinnitetä huomiota. Vuoden 1995 ja 2005 lehtien naiset ovat keskenään hyvinkin samanlaisia. Naisen elämästä puhutaan nyt jo laajemmin. Työn lisäksi yksityiselämä ja tunteet ovat keskeisiä aiheita. Kun 1985 lehdissä ei puhuttu naisesta negatiiviseen sävyyn, niin 1995 ja 2005 vuosien lehdissä naista kuvataan myös negatiivisessa valossa. Myös yhteiskunnan epäkohtiin kiinnitetään huomiota naisen näkökulmasta.

Slovo lider i ego upotreblenie v sovremennoj rossijskoj presse

Venäjän kieleen on kautta historian lainautunut sanoja muista kielistä. Historian tapahtumat ovat vaikuttaneet siihen, mistä kielistä sanoja on lainautunut eri aikakausina. Viime vuosikymmeninä venäjän kieleen on tulvinut lainasanoja englannin kielestä yhteiskunnan eri alueille. Tiiviit poliittiset, taloudelliset ja kulttuurisuhteet maiden ja kansojen välillä ovat ulkoisia, ei-kielellisiä syitä sanojen lainaamiseen. Kielen osa-alueista sanasto on kaikista avoimin ulkoisille vaikutteille ja samalla se on alue, johon heijastuvat yhteiskunnassa tapahtuvat muutokset. Lainasanojen ilmaantumiselle kieleen on myös sisäisiä, kielellisiä syitä. Lainasanojen ilmaantumisessa kirjallisessa muodossa venäjän kieleen voidaan erottaa kolme tapaa: transplantaatio eli sitaattilaina, translitteraatio sekä käytännöllinen transkriptio, jossa jokainen vieraskielinen foneemi pyritään esittämään vastaavalla venäjän foneemilla, jolloin vieraskielisen sanan ääntämys säilyy mahdollisimman alkuperäisenä. Lider-sana on esimerkki käytännöllisestä transkriptiosta, jossa venäläinen kirjoitusasu vastaa englannin kielen ääntämystä. Tutkimuksen kohteena on englanninkielinen lainasana lider, joka on ilmaantunut venäjän kieleen jo 1800-luvun puolivälissä. Sana on johdettu verbistä lead, merkityksessä ’johtaa, olla johdossa’, ja siinä on muodostunut substantiivi leader, ’johtaja’. Tutkimusaineistoa varten on poimittu 100 poliittiseen kielenkäyttöön liittyvää lider-sanaa sähköisessä tietokannassa Integrumissa olevassa Izvestija-lehdestä kahtena eri ajanjaksona, vuoden 1994 alusta alkaen sekä vuoden 2004 alusta alkaen. Tutkimuksessa keskityttiin lider-sanan käyttöön poliittisessa kielenkäytössä, mutta tutkimusaineiston keräysvaiheessa kirjattiin ylös myös muilla aihealueilla esiintyneet lider-sanat niidenkin käytön tarkastelua varten. Tutkimusta varten tarkasteltiin, millaisia määrityksiä lider-sanalle löytyy erilaisista nykykielen sanakirjoista eri vuosikymmeniltä. Vanhin mukana oleva sanakirja on venäläis-suomalainen sanakirja vuodelta 1912, jossa lider-sana määritellään yhdellä sanalla, ’puolueenjohtaja’. Aineisto jaettiin myös kolmeen ryhmään maantieteellisen sijainnin mukaan: Venäjä, entiset neuvostotasavallat ja ulkomaat. Tällä haluttiin selvittää, käytetäänkö lider-sanaa enemmän ulkomaisten vai venäläisten tapahtumin yhteydessä. Tutkimuksessa ilmeni, että suurin osa lider-sanoista liittyi Venäjän tapahtumiin molempina tarkasteluajanjaksoina – v. 1994 osuus oli 54 % ja v. 2004 50 %. Tähän tulokseen vaikuttavat varmaankin v. 1993 joulukuussa pidetyt ensimmäiset parlamenttivaalit sekä vuoden 2003 joulukuussa pidetyt duuman vaalit. Tutkimuksessa lider-sana jaettiin seitsemään eri kategoriaan käyttöyhteytensä mukaan ja saatujen tulosten perusteella suuri9n osa sanoista kuului kategoriaan ”puolueen johtaja”, v. 1994 osuus oli 47 % ja v. 2004 oli 40 %. Lider-sanan käyttö on levinnyt myös monelle muulle alueelle: urheilu, liike-elämä, kulttuuri, taide, tiede ja tekniikka. Venäjän kieleen ilmaantuu koko ajan vieraskielisiä sanoja, mutta kaikki niistä eivät sopeudu eivätkä juurru kieleen. Lainasanan on täytettävä tiettyjä edellytyksiä, jotta sitä voitaisiin pitää kieleen sopeutuneena: mukautumien kielen foneettiseen järjestelmään, sopeutuminen kielen graafiseen järjestelmään, sopeutuminen kieliopilliseen ympäristöön, semanttinen vakiintuminen sekä vakiintuminen vähintään kahdelle temaattiselle alueelle. Lainasanan juurtumisesta ja sopeutumisesta ovat todisteena myös siitä johdetut sanat. Lider-sana täyttää kaikki em. ehdot, joten sitä voidaan pitää venäjän kieleen sopeutuneena ja juurtuneena.

Utelämning i AV-översättning : En studie av textning i tre olika genrer

Tutkielman tavoitteena on kvalitatiivisen ja kvantitatiivisen analyysin avulla selvittää, millaisia poisjättöjä erityyppiset ohjelmat sisältävät. Tutkimusmateriaalina on lastenohjelma (Sune och hans värld), dokumentti (Yrke: kung) ja keskusteluohjelma (Bettina S) sekä niiden suomenkieliset tekstitykset. Jokaisesta ohjelmasta on analysoitu 15 minuuttia. Poisjättöjen luokittelussa pohjana on Koljosen (1995, 1997 ja 1998) luokittelu, joka koostuu kolmesta pääluokasta ja useasta alaluokasta. Kolme pääluokkaa ovat fakultatiiviset lauseenjäsenet (fakultativa satsdelar), puhekieliset piirteet (talspråkliga drag) ja informatiiviset osaset (informativa fragment). Hypoteeseja tutkielmassa on kaksi: suurin osa poisjätöistä on puhekielisyyksiä, mikä johtuu median vaihtumisesta puhutusta kirjoitettuun, ja informaatiota ei häviä, vaikka paljon on jätettävä pois aika- ja tilarajoitusten takia. Teoriaosassa käsitellään katsojan (tekstityksen vastaanottajan) tärkeää asemaa, poisjättöjen syitä ja poisjättöjä Koljosen luokittelun mukaisesti. Lisäksi teoriaosassa esitellään materiaalina olevat ohjelmatyypit, eli lastenohjelma, dokumentti ja puheohjelma. Analyysiosasta käy ilmi, että ohjelmat sisältävät melko erilaisia poisjättöjä. Tämä johtuu siitä, että lastenohjelmassa dialogi perustuu käsikirjoitukseen, kun taas dokumentissa ja keskusteluohjelmassa puhe on vapaata. Dokumentti on tyypillinen esimerkki monologista, eikä sisällä dialogille tyypillisiä piirteitä, kuten dialogipartikkeleita tai tervehdyksiä. Analyysistä käy myös ilmi, että valinnaisia lauseenjäseniä on jätetty eniten pois. Tämä johtuu ainoastaan siitä, että poisjätettyjen konjunktioiden määrä on suuri. Koljonen ei ole luokitellut konjunktioita tutkimuksissaan. Konjunktiot voitaisiin laskea myös diskurssipartikkeleihin (puhekielisiin piirteisiin), koska niillä on selvästi puhetta ohjaileva funktio, jolloin ensimmäinen hypoteeseista osoittautuisi todeksi. Puhekielisten piirteiden määrä vaihtelee ohjelmatyypistä riippuen. Dokumentti sisältää paljon toistoa, joka voidaan jättää pois. Keskusteluohjelmassa on puolestaan paljon poisjätettyjä dialogipartikkeleita, jotka toimivat vastauksena kysymykseen tai lyhyinä kommentteina. Lastenohjelmassa poisjättöjen jakauma on tasaisin: mikään ryhmä ei prosentuaalisesti erotu joukosta. Poisjätettyjen informaatiota sisältävien osasten määrä ei myöskään ole merkittävä. Analyysin perusteella voidaankin sanoa, että kummatkin hypoteesit osoittautuivat todeksi.

Virtual versus classroom language teaching : A comparative study of the learning outcomes and student responses between two English reading comprehension groups

A 26-hour English reading comprehension course was taught to two groups of second year Finnish Pharmacy students: a virtual group (33 students) and a teacher-taught group (25 students). The aims of the teaching experiment were to find out: 1.What has to be taken into account when teaching English reading comprehension to students of pharmacy via the Internet and using TopClass? 2. How will the learning outcomes of the virtual group and the control group differ? 3. How will the students and the Department of Pharmacy respond to the different and new method, i.e. the virtual teaching method? 4. Will it be possible to test English reading comprehension learning material using the groupware tool TopClass? The virtual exercises were written within the Internet authoring environment, TopClass. The virtual group was given the reading material and grammar booklet on paper, but they did the reading comprehension tasks (written by the teacher), autonomously via the Internet. The control group was taught by the same teacher in 12 2-hour sessions, while the virtual group could work independently within the given six weeks. Both groups studied the same material: ten pharmaceutical articles with reading comprehension tasks as well as grammar and vocabulary exercises. Both groups took the same final test. Students in both groups were asked to evaluate the course using a 1 to 5 rating scale and they were also asked to assess their respective courses verbally. A detailed analysis of the different aspects of the student evaluation is given. Conclusions: 1.The virtual students learned pharmaceutical English relatively well but not significantly better than the classroom students 2. The overall student satisfaction in the virtual pharmacy English reading comprehension group was found to be higher than that in the teacher-taught control group. 3. Virtual learning is easier for linguistically more able students; less able students need more time with the teacher. 4. The sample in this study is rather small, but it is a pioneering study. 5. The Department of Pharmacy in the University of Helsinki wishes to incorporate virtual English reading comprehension teaching in its curriculum. 6. The sophisticated and versatile TopClass system is relatively easy for a traditional teacher and quite easy for the students to learn. It can be used e.g. for automatic checking of routine answers and document transfer, which both lighten the workloads of both parties. It is especially convenient for teaching reading comprehension. Key words: English reading comprehension, teacher-taught class, virtual class, attitudes of students, learning outcomes

Rossijskaja Karelija i karely v imperskoi politike Rossii, 1905-1917

Russian Karelians were one of the small peasant nations of the Russian Empire that began to identify themselves as nations during the late imperial period. At that historical moment Russian Karelia fell between an economically undeveloped empire and the rapidly modernizing borderland of Finland. The economic and cultural lure of Finland drew Karelians into the Finnish camp. This attraction was seen as a challenge to Russia and influenced the straggle between Russia and Finland for the Karelians. This struggle was waged from 1905 to 1917. This work is focused on the beginning stage of the struggle, its various phases, and their results. The confrontation extended into different dimensions (economic, political, ideological, church and cultural politics) and occurred on two levels: central and regional. Countermeasures against local nationalisms developed much earlier both in Russia and in other empires for use were also used in the Russian Karelian case. Economic policies were deployed to try to make relations with Russia more alluring for Karelians and to improve their economic condition. However, these efforts produced only minimal results due to the economic weakness of the empire and a lack of finances. Fear of the economic integration of the Karelians and Finns, which would have stimulated the economy of the Karelia, also hindered these attempts. The further development of the Orthodox Church, the schools and the zemstvos in Karelia yielded fewer results than expected due to the economic underdevelopment of the region and the avoidance of the Finnish language. Policizing measures were the most successfull, as all activities in Russian Karelia by the Finns were entirely halted in practice. However, the aspiration of Russian Karelians to integrate their home districts with Finland remained a latent force that just waited for an opportunity to push to the surface again. Such a chance materialized with the Russian revolution. The Karelian question was also a part of Russian domestic political confrontation. At the and of the 1800s, the Russian nationalist right had grown strong and increasingly gained the favor of the autocracy. The right political forces exploited the Karelian question in its anti-Finnish ideology and in its general resistance to the national emancipation of the minority peoples of Russia. A separate ideology was developed, focusing on the closeness of Karelians to the "great Russian people." Simultaneously, this concept found a place in the ultramonarchist myth of the particularly close connection between the people and tsar that was prominent in the era of Nicholas II. This myth assigned the Karelians a place amongst the "simple people" faithful to the tsar.

Filosofins renässans eller modern mystik : Bergsondebatten i Finland

The study examines the debate in Finland at the beginning of the 20th century surrounding the philosophy of Henri Bergson. Both within as well as outside of academic philosophy Bergsonism was adapted to the philosophical and cultural landscape in Finland by a process of selective appropriation. The ambiguous relationship between the sender and the receiver is accentuated in reference to philosophical celebrities such as Bergson, whose reputations spread more quickly than the content of their philosophy and whose names are drawn into the political and social discourse. As a philosophical movement the aim of Bergsonism was to create a scientific philosophy of life as an alternative to both idealism and modern empirical and antimetaphysical currents, during a period when European philosophy was searching for new guidelines after the collapse of the idealistic system philosophies of the 19th century. This reorientation is examined from a Finnish viewpoint and in the light of the process of intellectual importation. The study examines how elements from an international discourse were appropriated within the philosophical field in Finland against a background of changes in the role of the university and the educated elites as well as the position of philosophy within the disciplinary hierarchy. Philosophical reception was guided by expectations that had arisen in a national context, for example when Bergsonism in Finland was adjusted to a moral and educational ideal of self-cultivation, and often served as a means for philosophers to internationalize their own views in order to strengthen their position on the national stage. The study begins with some introductory remarks on the international circulation of ideas from the point of view of the periphery. The second section presents an overview of the shaping of the philosophical field at the turn of the 20th century, the naturalism and positivism of the late 19th century that were the objects of Bergson s critique, and an introduction to the attempts of a philosophy of life to make its way between idealism and naturalism. The third and main section of the study begins with a brief presentation of the main features of the philosophy of Bergson, followed by a closer examination of the different comments and analyses that it gave rise to in Finland. The final section addresses the ideological implications of Bergsonism within the framework of a political annexation of the philosophy of life at the beginning of the 20th century.

Den framställande gesten : Om konstverkets presentation i den moderna konstutställningen

The Gesture of Exposure On the presentation of the work of art in the modern art exhibition The topic of this dissertation is the presentation of art works in the modern art exhibition as being the established and conventionalized form of art encounter. It investigates the possibility of a theorization of the art exhibition as a separate object for research, and attempts to examine the relationship between the art work and its presentation in a modern art exhibition. The study takes its point of departure in the area vaguely defined as exhibition studies, and in the lack of a general problematization of the analytical tools used for closer examination of the modern art exhibition. Another lacking aspect is a closer consideration of what happens to the work of art when it is exposed in an art exhibition. The aim of the dissertation is to find a set of concepts that can be used for further theorization The art exhibition is here treated, on the one hand, as an act of exposure, as a showing gesture. On the other hand, the art exhibition is seen as a spatiality, as a space that is produced in the act of showing. Both aspects are seen to be intimately involved in knowledge production. The dissertation is divided into four parts, in which different aspects of the art exhibition are analyzed using different theoretical approaches. The first part uses the archaeological model of Michel Foucault, and discusses the exhibition as a discursive formation based on communicative activity. The second part analyses the derived concepts of gesture and space. This leads to the proposition of three metaphorical spatialities the frame, the agora and the threshold which are seen as providing a possibility for a further extension of the theory of exhibitions. The third part extends the problematization of the relationship between the individual work of art and its exposure through the ideas of Walter Benjamin and Maurice Blanchot. The fourth part carries out a close reading of three presentations from the modern era in order to further examine the relationship between the work of art and its presentation, using the tools that have been developed during the study. In the concluding section, it is possible to see clearer borderlines and conditions for the development of an exhibition theory. The concepts that have been analysed and developed into tools are shown to be useful, and the examples take the discussion into a consideration of the altered premises for the encounter with the postmodern work of art.