Tuulikki Kurki

University of Eastern Finland, Finnish Language and Cultural Research, Faculty Member

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Dr Tuulikki Kurki works as a Professor in Cultural Studies in the Department of Finnish Language Cultural Research in the University of Eastern Finland. Kurki's recent research interests have been focusing on borders from cultural point of view, border and mobility related traumas and literature at the Finnish Russian borderlands.

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Papers by Tuulikki Kurki

Borders and Borderlands. Interview with Associate Professor Stephen Wolfe

Folklore, Dec 1, 2012

Together, they coordinate the Border Poetics research group at the University of Tromsø. Stephen ... more Together, they coordinate the Border Poetics research group at the University of Tromsø. Stephen Wolfe is currently studying TransAtlantic writing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His focus is on the border crossings and literary negotiations between writers, genres and the contemporary politics of the period. Professor Wolfe was an invited keynote speaker in the seminar Theories on Borders in 2011. The seminar was organized by the research project Writing Cultures and Traditions at Borders, and held at the University of Eastern Finland (Mekrijärvi Research Station). After the seminar, we took the opportunity to interview him for the theme issue Borders and Life-Stories. The interview was conducted in writing. INTERVIEW You have had several research projects that study borders and borderlands. Could you briefly describe them?

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Raportti: Humanistista ympäristön tarkastelua

Elore, Dec 1, 2008

Suomen Kansantietouden Tutkijain Seuran kevätkoulu on vakiintumassa folkloristiikan ja lähitietee... more Suomen Kansantietouden Tutkijain Seuran kevätkoulu on vakiintumassa folkloristiikan ja lähitieteenalojen tutkijoiden jokavuotiseksi yhteistapaamiseksi, jossa kokoonnutaan kuuntelemaan ja keskustelemaan tällä hetkellä puhuttelevista tutkimusaiheista. Tänä vuonna kevätkoulun aiheena oli ympäristö erityisesti humanistisen tieteentradition ja kulttuurintutkimukseen näkökulmista. Aihepiirin laajuus ja monipuolisuus heijastuivat esitelmistä, joissa ympäristö kiinnittyi niin tieteenkeskusteluihin, metsiin, politiikkaan, mytologiaan, muisteluun kuin uskonnollisuuteenkin.

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Non-Russian Language Space and Border in Russian Karelian Literature. - Writing at Borders Edited by Tuulikki Kurki, Saija Kaskinen, Kirsi Laurén & Mari Ristolainen. Culture Unbound 6/2014.

This article examines Finnish language literature in Russian Karelia on the Russian-Finnish natio... more This article examines Finnish language literature in Russian Karelia on the Russian-Finnish national borderland from the 1940s until the 1970s. It focuses on the concepts of the non-Russian language space and border that are constructed and studied in the context of three novels: Iira (1947), Tiny White Bird (1961), and We Karelians (1971). The article claims that the non-Russian language space and the national border started to be understood differently from the official degrees dictated by Moscow, as found in literature already from the late 1950s and early 1960s. From the 1950s onwards, the historical, linguistic, and cultural roots across the national border and the Finnish population were allowed to be recognized in literature. Furthermore, this article claims that in the 1970s, literature was able to represent such regional history, and also the closeness and permeability of the national border that influenced the lives of the Soviet Karelian non-Russian speaking population and their identity formation. This led to different ideas of the national border, in which the border and its functions and meanings became gradually more multi-voiced, ambivalent and controversial, in comparison to the conceptualization of the border as presenting a strict, impermeable boundary.

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Borders from the Cultural Point of View: An Introduction to Writing at Borders. - Writing at Borders Edited by Tuulikki Kurki, Saija Kaskinen, Kirsi Laurén & Mari Ristolainen. Culture Unbound 6/2014.

This introductory article to the special issue Writing at Borders suggests that cultural studies ... more This introductory article to the special issue Writing at Borders suggests that cultural studies and the humanist point of view have significant explanatory potential concerning various borders and border crossings in multidisciplinary border studies. Cultural and human understandings of borders and border crossings grow from the research of ethnographic particularities on one hand, and of universal and culturally expressed human experiences of borders and border crossings (however culturally expressed) on the other. In this article, this explanatory potential is made visible by examining the history of cultural anthropology, where borders and border crossings have been recognized in research since the late 19 th century. The aim of this concise introductory article is to outline through selected examples how territorial, social, and cultural borders and border crossings have been acknowledged and understood conceptually in the history of Anglo-American and European anthropology. The selected examples illustrate the gradual evolution of the conceptualization of the border from a territorially placed boundary and filter, to a semantically constructed, ritualized and performed symbolic border, and finally to a discursive (textual) construction.

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From Soviet Locality to Multivoiced Borderland: Literature and Identity in the Finnish-Russian National Borderlands. - Region 1/2013.

One Life and Two Perspectives Separated by the Border. The case of Taisto Huuskonen. - Borders and Life-Stories. Edited by Tuulikki Kurki & Kirsi Laurén. Folklore 52/2012.

This article discusses Finnish writer Taisto Huuskonen who defected to the Soviet Union in 1949. ... more This article discusses Finnish writer Taisto Huuskonen who defected to the Soviet Union in 1949. It examines his biographical and testimonial novel, The Child of Finland (Laps' Suomen), which describes Huuskonen's defection and life in the Soviet Union. The focus of the article is to show how Huuskonen constructs 'I', 'we', and 'other' in the novel and how these constructions often produce a complex dilemma of positionality. In the novel, various topographical, symbolical and metaphorical borders are central, and they affect the way that Huuskonen defines his position and agency in relation to 'I', 'we', and 'other'. The article argues that the significance of Huuskonen's novel is that it represents the lives and destinies of thousands of Finns. At the same time the novel serves as a medium by which to process the painful experiences he recounts and the miracle of survival. At the time of its publishing in 1979, the novel The Child of Finland was interpreted in the context of the Cold War. Although Huuskonen's purpose was to write a survival story, his story was extensively seen to pronounce the juxtaposition between East and West, which gave it the appearance of a scandal novel vilifying the Soviet Union.

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Preface: Writing at Borders by Tuulikki Kurki, Saija Kaskinen, Kirsi Laurén and Mari Ristolainen

by saija kaskinen, Tuulikki Kurki, Kirsi Laurén, and Mari Ristolainen

Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, 2014

This special issue is produced within an Academy of Finland funded research project Writing Cultu... more This special issue is produced within an Academy of Finland funded research project Writing Cultures and Traditions at Borders (2010-2014) that has examined writing practices, texts, and amateur and professional writers in the Finland-Russia and Estonia-Russia borderlands. The aim has been to give voice to those people whose perceptions of the borders and borderlands have often been neglected within institutionalised and dominant scholarly and artistic discourses. The research project has focused on the late 20 th and early 21 st century, and examines writing practices on the borderlands in their societal and historical contexts. Furthermore, the research has recognized the national borderlands as areas home to unique forms of writing cultures.

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Borders and Borderlands. Interview with Associate Professor Stephen Wolfe

by Kirsi Laurén and Tuulikki Kurki

Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 2012

Arengud Piiriparimuse ja Piirirahva Suunas. Folkloristika interdistsiplinaarse piiri-uurimise väljal.

Mäetagused, 2016

Teesid: Artiklis käsitletakse folkloristikat interdistsiplinaarse piiri-uurimise kontekstis. Teha... more Teesid: Artiklis käsitletakse folkloristikat interdistsiplinaarse piiri-uurimise kontekstis. Tehakse kontseptuaalne eksperiment ja küsitakse, kuidas määratleda folkloristika keskseid termineid rahvas, traditsioon ja identiteet siis, kui neid kasutada kõrvuti piiri-uurimise põhimõistetega piir ja piiriala. Artiklis kasutataksegi piiri ja piiriala folkloristika mõistetena, traditsiooni, rahvast ja identiteeti aga analüüsi-ja refleksiivse uurimise vahendina. Käsitlus lähtub väitest, et nn rahvusliku korrastatuse kontekstis (Foucault) näib, nagu ei kuuluks piirialade mitmekesised kultuurivormid ja identiteedid rahvusliku kultuuri ja identiteedi hulka (kuna neid nähakse võõrvormidena) või neid ei tunnistatagi uurimisobjektina. Interdistsiplinaarses piiri-uurimises aga nähakse piirialade segunenud ja pidevalt muutuvaid kultuurivorme, identiteete ja traditsioone spetsiifilise piiripärimuse ja -rahva identiteedi vormina, mida tuleks samuti käsitleda kui folkloristika uurimisobjekte. Piiriala kultuuri-ja identiteedivormi tunnustamine uurimisobjektina pakub võimaluse uuendada folkloristika mõisteid ja meetodeid nii, et need rakenduvad kindla koha ja maa-alaga seostamatute piiriüleste ning postnatsionaalsete mõistete ja meetoditena. Artikli allikmaterjaliks on folkloristikat ja piiri-uurimist esindav teaduskirjandus.

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Mobility Reports: Artistic Representations of Mobility Experiences by Saija Kaskinen and Tuulikki Kurki.

Engagining the New Mobilities Paradigm in the Context of Finland. Edited by Driss Habti and Tuulikki Kurki. Journal of Finnish Studies, Vol 22, No. 1-2, 2019

Minority Literature in the Russian Borderlands: Finnish language literature in Russian Karelia

Ways of being in the world, edited by Johanna Laakso, p. 139-167., 2020

Border Crossing Trauma Seen Through Hyper-Naturalist Prose and Surreal Forms of Narration

Mobile Culture Studies, the Journal, 2018

Neuvostohistorian ja paikallisuuden tulkinnat Neuvosto-Karjalan proosassa

Materialized Narratives of border: articulating the unspeakable through everyday objects

A Researh Agenda for Border Studies, edited by James W. Scott, 2020

Charlotte Hagström & Lena Marander-Eklund (red.) 2005: Frågelistan som källa och metod

Elore, 2007

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Mikrotason näkökulmia Karjalan asuttamiseen

Karjala-tutkijat liikkeellä Joensuussa : Liikkeellä : SKS:n juhlaseminaari 12.-14.1.2006, Joensuu

Refleksiivistä oppihistorian tarkastelua Tartossa : Reflecting on Knowledge Production : The Development of Folkloristics and Ethnology, 17.-19.5.2007 Tartto

Kansankirjoittajat osana kirjallistumisen prosesseja

Kansanomaisuus, kirjallisuus ja merkityskytkennät Neuvosto-Karjalassa

My article is a study of Finnish literary activities in Soviet Karelia. I analyze what kinds of m... more My article is a study of Finnish literary activities in Soviet Karelia. I analyze what kinds of meanings were ascribed to the descriptions of localities, folk poetry and oral tradition in the literary discussions in Soviet Karelia from the late 1950s to the 1970s. I also examine the descriptions and interpretations of folk and local traditions that were politically or ideologically authorized and those that were suppressed. Theoretically, this article is connected to the discussion of power relations that exist in writing about people, tradition, and localities. The research material includes prose published in Finnish, the Communist Party’s literary programs, literary reviews and theoretical articles published in literary journals. It also includes materials from the National Archive of the Republic of Karelia. The literary descriptions of folklore and locality appear as areas of competing articulations of meaning. In the literary discussions they were connected to the writers’ own era, the changing present and the ideologically relevant Soviet history. They were also representations of Karelia’s past, its heritage, and local history, all of which were regarded as “inappropriate” interpretations of locality.

Borders and Borderlands. Interview with Associate Professor Stephen Wolfe

Folklore, Dec 1, 2012

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Raportti: Humanistista ympäristön tarkastelua

Elore, Dec 1, 2008

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Non-Russian Language Space and Border in Russian Karelian Literature. - Writing at Borders Edited by Tuulikki Kurki, Saija Kaskinen, Kirsi Laurén & Mari Ristolainen. Culture Unbound 6/2014.

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From Soviet Locality to Multivoiced Borderland: Literature and Identity in the Finnish-Russian National Borderlands. - Region 1/2013.

One Life and Two Perspectives Separated by the Border. The case of Taisto Huuskonen. - Borders and Life-Stories. Edited by Tuulikki Kurki & Kirsi Laurén. Folklore 52/2012.

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Preface: Writing at Borders by Tuulikki Kurki, Saija Kaskinen, Kirsi Laurén and Mari Ristolainen

by saija kaskinen, Tuulikki Kurki, Kirsi Laurén, and Mari Ristolainen

Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, 2014

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Borders and Borderlands. Interview with Associate Professor Stephen Wolfe

by Kirsi Laurén and Tuulikki Kurki

Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 2012

Arengud Piiriparimuse ja Piirirahva Suunas. Folkloristika interdistsiplinaarse piiri-uurimise väljal.

Mäetagused, 2016

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Mobility Reports: Artistic Representations of Mobility Experiences by Saija Kaskinen and Tuulikki Kurki.

Engagining the New Mobilities Paradigm in the Context of Finland. Edited by Driss Habti and Tuulikki Kurki. Journal of Finnish Studies, Vol 22, No. 1-2, 2019

Minority Literature in the Russian Borderlands: Finnish language literature in Russian Karelia

Ways of being in the world, edited by Johanna Laakso, p. 139-167., 2020

Border Crossing Trauma Seen Through Hyper-Naturalist Prose and Surreal Forms of Narration

Mobile Culture Studies, the Journal, 2018

Neuvostohistorian ja paikallisuuden tulkinnat Neuvosto-Karjalan proosassa

Materialized Narratives of border: articulating the unspeakable through everyday objects

A Researh Agenda for Border Studies, edited by James W. Scott, 2020

Charlotte Hagström & Lena Marander-Eklund (red.) 2005: Frågelistan som källa och metod

Elore, 2007

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Mikrotason näkökulmia Karjalan asuttamiseen

Karjala-tutkijat liikkeellä Joensuussa : Liikkeellä : SKS:n juhlaseminaari 12.-14.1.2006, Joensuu

Refleksiivistä oppihistorian tarkastelua Tartossa : Reflecting on Knowledge Production : The Development of Folkloristics and Ethnology, 17.-19.5.2007 Tartto

Kansankirjoittajat osana kirjallistumisen prosesseja

Kansanomaisuus, kirjallisuus ja merkityskytkennät Neuvosto-Karjalassa

Kohti rajalorea ja rajojen kansaa. Folkloristiikka monitieteisen rajatutkimuksen kentällä.

Julkaistu vironkielisenä Mäetagused. Pärimuslik ajalugu., 2016

The paper is published in Estonian in peer-reviewed journal: Arengud piiripärimuse ja piirirahva ... more

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Poster Border Crossers' Trauma

Research poster

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General editor for Journal of Finnish Studies 22(1&2)

by Helena Halmari, Driss Habti, Tuulikki Kurki, Pilvi Hämeenaho, Olga Hannonen, Jaana Palander, and Eija Stark

Engaging the New Mobilities Paradigm in the Context of Finland, guest-edited by Driss Habti and Tuulikki Kurki, 2019

This special issue of the Journal of Finnish Studies, Engaging the New Mobilities Paradigm in the... more This special issue of the Journal of Finnish Studies, Engaging the New Mobilities Paradigm in the Context of Finland, brings to the readers twelve fresh examples of research about migration and mobility in Finland. The volume is divided into four sections: Social and Cultural Experiences and Meanings of Mobility (Part I); Everyday Life and Lived Places (Part II); Politizing Mobility and Mobilizing Policies (in Times of Crisis) (Part III); and Cross-Border and Transnational Mobility (Part IV). The articles introduce the reader to current topics about voluntary mobility and, in this case, Russians in Finland: Russians as second-home owners, Russian doctors in Finland, Russians as media users, and Russian media’s portrayal of Finland. We learn about art and mobility, mobility and belonging, and international mobility in an older population. We hear about the car culture as an inevitability in remote areas of Finland. Finland’s national interests and its security policy in the face of new mobilities are discussed in depth. Antti Paasi’s afterword brings the various themes together and places them in the context of the new mobilities paradigm.

Rajan kirjailijat: Venäjän Karjalan suomenkieliset kirjailijat tilan ja identiteetin kirjoittajina [Border Writers: Finnish speaking writers of space and identity in Russian Karelia]. SKS: Helsinki. 2018.

The book studies the Finnish language literature in Russian Karelia from the late 1940s until the... more The book studies the Finnish language literature in Russian Karelia from the late 1940s until the 2010s. In the 1920s, the Finnish language literature started as an ethnonational literature. It developed within the Moscow governed Soviet literature institution and was influenced by national border and by its peripheral location at Russian Karelian borderlands.

The study focuses on the non-Russian space and identities constructed in literature in Russian Karelia. Drawing on literary works from Antti Timonen, Nikolai Jaakkola, Taisto Huuskonen, and Arvi Perttu as well as utilizing pertinent literature reviews, archive materials, and interviews, this book seeks to address the following themes: how the non-Russian space and identities, constructed in literature, either supported or resisted, or even reinvented the superimposed non-Russian spaces and identities in mainstream ideology. The other theme addresses the ways in which the borders and border crossings changed the construction of non-Russian space and identities at the borderlands.

The results show that the vicinity of the national border on the one hand and border crossings on the other have expanded the ideas of the non-Russian space and identities in literature from the 1960s onwards. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Finnish language literature in Russian Karelia is best understood in the global context of minority literatures in borderlands. The Finnish language literature in Russian Karelia has developed from a peripheral, totalitarian Soviet literature to full-blown border writing. Its history and development can add to the understanding of culture and identity processes in other national and cultural borderlands.

This scholarly publication is suitable for educational purposes and for all who are interested in non-Russian literature in Russian Karelia.

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