HISTORY, THE HISTORICAL NOVEL AND NATION.

THE FIRST
FINNISH HISTORICAL NOVELS AS NATIONAL NARRATIVE*

MARI HATAVARA

Department of Literature and the Arts, University of Tampere,

Sumelius 1404, Tampere FIN-33014, Finland

Abstract

An active construction of the national identity in Finland started in the 1840s. A primary
activity was the creation of the national narrative in fictional works. The novels now
published were – unlike the dominant epical genre – able to present the national feeling
in a modern nationalistic way. Especially the historical novel was the first nationally
coloured literary genre in many European countries. It is focal for the forming of a
group identity to describe a common prehistory that legitimates the present. The first
historical novels in Finland saw daylight in the works of Zacharias Topelius and Fredrika
Runeberg. My research looks at the ways their novels present and construct the national
historical narrative. Both authors feature a similar idea of the Finnish nation and its
birth, but they handle it differently. Topelius writes more about the political history of dis-
tinguished men while Runeberg looks at history from a viewpoint that is nearer the
everyday life and the common people.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Introduction
The modern national state is not an original social entity; national unity
is rather, at least partly, produced from above. Nations are born as nar-
rative constructions in which the national unity is created by emphasizing
the identity of a people and, on the other hand, by distinguishing from
others.1 It has been said that the idea of the nation as a construction
created in narrative is especially well applicable to Finland.2 After Finland
moved from Swedish rule to be an autonomous part of Russia in 1809,
the issue of a national identity soon became topical. It was essential to
detach from the former mother country and to outline the contents of
being Finnish. The Finnish national movement featured an upper-class
background; nationalism started to spread from official and university
circles.3
It should be noted that the Finnish national movement did not aspire
to create an independent state but to legitimate Finland’s status as part
of Russia. According to the Russian ideology that was quickly adopted
in Finland, Finland was to develop a national identity of its own while
remaining absolutely loyal to Russia. In a politically restricted situa-
tion, an effort was made to suppress the social aspects of the national
movement; thus culture – literature as its essential part – gained an excep-

Neophilologus 86: 1–15, 2002.

 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
2 Mari Hatavara

tionally high value. The Finnish national ideology was promoted by a

small group within the educated class, with a view to educating the people
into a nation conscious of itself.4
In Miroslav Hroch’s classification of the early stages of nationalistic
movements, the first stage is cultural. The second stage already features
some forerunners of a national ideology.5 In the Finland of the 1840s,
one such example was Johan Vilhelm Snellman, especially with his
Fennomanic publication Saima. The public discussion on nationalism
generally became lively. Since the 1840s, the educated classes in Finland
started to actively construct a Finnish national identity. A focal form
of this construction was writing and a public presentation of the writings.
A great national narrative was drafted, to set each individual and national
group in their places as parts of a unified nation.6 When creating a
group identity, a common history is crucial. In the words of Susan C.
Brantly, “[g]roups tend to constitute themselves by agreeing upon a
common narrative, either mythical or historical, which describes how the
group came into being.”7
A mythical interpretation of the origin of the Finnish nation was pre-
sented in the middle of the 19th century by Elias Lönnrot’s Kalevala
which was considered as the history of the Finnish nation. Besides folk-
loristic poetry, the Finnish nation was also interpreted by literary poetry,
especially the publications by Johan Ludvig Runeberg. Runeberg who
is called the Finnish national poet, had a strong influence in the creation
of a national feeling in Finland, both through his poems and his epics.
The especially emphatic role of the epic in the construction of the Finnish
national culture and identity has been observed. It should, however, be
pointed out that the epics constructed the Finnish nation and its unity
in a romantic spirit. They did not refer to a modern national state. 8
By the middle of the 19th century, modernisation was in process in
Finland. Modern journalism and publicity emerged in the 1840’s, in the
framework of which topical issues were discussed. The Finnish litera-
ture, particularly the novel, had a consequential national role in the
discussion.9 In Finland, the first historical novel was Hertiginnan af
Finland, “Duchess of Finland”, by Zacharias Topelius, published in 1850.
His Fältskärns berättelser, The Surgeon’s Stories10 was published in 1853
through 1867. Besides his literary work which also included plays,
fairytales, and poems, Topelius worked as journalist and had an impor-
tant influence on the public opinion in his time. He started to reflect
on national issues at an early age, and gave, for example in 1843, a
discourse Äger finska folket en historie? “Does the Finnish nation have
a history?”.
In addition to Topelius, another initiator of the genre of historical novel
in Finland was Fredrika Runeberg. She published her first historical novel
Fru Catharina Boije och hennes döttrar, “Mrs. Catharina Boije and
History, the Historical Novel and Nation 3

Her Daughters” in 1858, and the second one, Sigrid Liljeholm, in 1862.
Runeberg also followed the contemporary discussion and practically
carried the main responsibility of the newspaper Helsingfors Morgonblad
during 1833 to 1837 while her husband Johan Ludvig Runeberg was
editor-in-chief. As a woman, however, she was not entitled to such public
presentations and influence as Topelius was.
Hardly any other historical novels were published in Finland at the
time of those discussed nor for three decades after them. The novel genre
at large did not reach the top of the genre hierarchy until the 1880s.
This study looks at these first historical novels in relation to the waking
up of the national feeling in Finland. It is my intention to find out how
they understood and performed their role as public expressions at a
time when the construction of the national identity in Finland was crucial.

Theoretical background
The rise of the novel into a dominant role in the 19th century is asso-
ciated with its applicability in the nationalistic thinking of the era.11 It
was the historical novel that in many European countries became the first
nationally coloured form of literature. The historical novel can be con-
sidered superior to the epic as an awakener of the national feeling. To
legitimate prevailing or desired circumstances, a coherent structure of
narrative is necessary, to display the present as an integral part of the
continuing historical process. Mihail Bahtin, who has analysed the dif-
ferences between the epic and the novel, considers time, the different
relations to time, as the crucial difference. The historical novel creates
a contact with the present by displaying the time of the story as histor-
ical or part of the process that goes on till the present. The point of
departure is the present, which gives a viewpoint to the historically
described past and provides a basis for valuations. The epic, on the
other hand, considers time as a closed, absolute past without contact with
the present. The epic, therefore, is not concerned with history but with
tradition.12
The novel corresponds to the modern concept of history which
explains phenomena by their origin and development. This concept of
history as an indispensable prehistory of the present developed around
the late 18th and early 19th centuries.13 Modern history assembles the
past events into a story by valuating them from the perspective of later
events. Modern history also organises events from the perspective of a
certain social centre, often a state or a sovereign. 14 The historical novel
evolved together with the contemporary historiography, and its problems
were to a high extent similar to those of the “historicism” of the time. 15
Historiography organised events through the evolutionary history of the
state, while the novel organised events through an individual’s biography.
The modern novel is characterised by individualism, manifested by the
4 Mari Hatavara

individual principal character, the personal narrator and the novel as its
author’s individual model of reality.16
According to Avrom Fleishman, the historical novel originates from
two sources: from the literary tradition that contained both realistic and
romantic features and from the development of historiography. A fic-
tional re-creation of the past world necessitated not only historiographical
attitude and an orientation to reality, but also romantic fantasy and
exotic.17 Literary aesthetic in the middle of the 19th century was a com-
bination of various ingredients. Ever since the 1830s there was a
European trend toward realism, accompanied by both idealistic and
romantic views. The compromise was an idealistic-realistic form of
aesthetics which turned against the trends of re-producing reality and
of fantastic art not grounded in reality.18
Pertti Karkama sees the idealistic realism in Finland as a combina-
tion of the factual contemporary problems and the idealistic visions of
future, the life of the common folk and a patriotic pathos. The great
national narrative was written by the educated classes, while its theme
was supposed to be the life and historical importance of the common
folk. The educated classes were as ignorant of the common folk’s life
as the common people were of being part in a national narrative. The
educated authors were, therefore, free to apply their visions in their
narratives, which often became exceedingly idealistic.19
By the middle of the 19th century, historiography in Finland was not
yet an institutional discipline, and history could be written in a fictional
form. According to Karkama, the integrity and competence of the nar-
rative surpassed the historical truth.20 On the other hand, scientific
excursions, footnotes etc. were frequently used to create authority in
the 19th century historical novel. The genre of historical novel obviously
suited the creation of the great narrative of the nation especially well.
As the science of history was rudimentary and undifferentiated, the his-
torical novel could gain the same truth value in its readers’ minds as
historical research today. In additon to that the literary presentations
lent themselves to the creation of affecting and inspiring narratives
more readily than historiography could.
The novel Fältskärns berättelser especially is regarded as the begin-
ning of the Finnish national historiography. Another example of Topelius’
contribution to the construction of the Finnish identity was his reader
Boken om vårt land, “A Book about Our Country”. The so-called
Topelian national idea remained dominant in Finland for a long time. The
tradition of the historical novel as created by Topelius continued in
Finland until World War II. Unlike Topelius, Runeberg’s works were
never included in the canon of Finnish national literature. The Finnish
historical novel was born in the works of these two authors of differing
backgrounds, and was given a different form by each of them. I begin
History, the Historical Novel and Nation 5

the exposition of Topelius’ and Runeberg’s works by looking at how

the historical material functions as a structural component in the works.
I then proceed to look at how the national material is evident in the
novels, and conclude with a view to how the novels describe the national
history. My methods are text analysis and narration analysis.

The historical component

The first novel by Topelius, Hertiginnan af Finland, is a rather unde-
veloped representative of its genre. Its subtitle says it is “romantiserad
berättelse, jemte en historisk skildring af Finska kriget åren 1741–1743”
or “a romanticised story, and a historical description of Finnish warfare
in 1741 to 1743”. In this novel the division of historical novel as on
the one hand referring to real past events as a description of them and
on the other hand referring to and being a fictional story is made unusu-
ally distinct. The love story in the novel is somewhat detached from
the historical events and contests for a dominating status with the descrip-
tion of political history and an ethnographic tendency to portray in
detail the ways of living and thinking. The author also speculates certain
issues and the general nature of history sometimes quite extensively.
The second historical novel by Topelius, Fältskärns berättelser,
displays the same division into a fictive story, historical narrative and
ethnographic detail. Their alternation is shown at the text level by the
narrator’s notes to the effect that the narrative now gives way to descrip-
tions of history and vice versa. The narrator also sometimes lists historical
facts, including long numeral series, or indulges in lengthy essays on
for instance the human nature or the course of history.
The novel Fältskärns berättelser is said to have a mainly fictitious
plot set in a historical background.21 I consider this novel by Topelius
as a combination of at least two different narratives. There is the his-
torical development described in the contemporary tradition of the
historiography. In the manner of modern historicism, Topelius outlines
this history into a narrative, the state as its centre and the sovereign as
its hero. The plot is composed of war events, political intrigues and events
in the lives of the sovereigns, weighed in relation to the development
of Finland and Sweden. The other story in the novel comprises the events
and mutual relationships of two families, one noble, the other peasant-
bourgeois. This story provides the historical-philosophical level typical
of the historical novel; the classes, nobility and peasantry, form the
Hegelian thesis and antithesis, resulting in a synthesis through an inter-
class marriage. The various obstacles in the ways of the lovers form
the plot of this story.
I am by no means suggesting that Topelius’ text points to multiple
directions in the way ambiguity is understood in “modern art”, combined
with 20th century aesthetics and signifying in its most general form a
6 Mari Hatavara

multiplicity in styles, a disintegration of the coherent form and gaps in

its literary structure.22 Roland Barthes, for instance, distinguishes between
“classic” and “modern” text on the basis that while everything in
a “classic” text refers to a specific meaning and nothing evades it,
the “modern” text leaves the meaning open. A classic text cannot be
multifaceted except through an ambivalence in its connotations. 23
The gaps and the incoherent form in Topelius’ texts refer rather to
a form preceding Barthes’ “classic” text. What Barthes designates as
“classic” is a text I refer to as the modern novel, in which a novel as a
model of its author’s individual world is evident in personal narrative.
In Topelius’ novels, the elements point to multiple directions because
they refer to multiple stories. These stories, however, are intrinsically
coherent, and the narrative does not leave their meanings open. The
author simply moves between a description of the events in political
history and the affairs of his fictitious characters in this framework.
In the middle of the 19th century, the genre of novel was still evolving,
and authors were learning to compose “classic” texts. The contempo-
rary novel aesthetics demanded an overall view, orientation of all the
elements towards the end settlement, which was supposed to reconcile
reality with the ideal.24 Contemporary critique, e.g. the critic in Swedish
newspaper Aftonbladet (4.12.1858), mentioned the lack of a decent focal
point and artistic overall treatment in Fältskärns berättelser. Topelius
was considered too devoted to describing historical detail and over-
whelmed by the wealth of historical material. His idea of focusing the
developments on the king’s ring was criticised because the ring lacked
significance.
Newer research has also speculated on the significance of the king’s
ring. It does, to some extent, direct the evolution of the story by being
transferred from one character to another. One could say it symbolises
Providence or Coincidence, but structurally it can be regarded as an effort
to combine two irreconcilable elements in the book: the historical polit-
ical narrative and the fictitious love story. Contacts between the narratives
are also created through encounters between the fictitious and authentic
characters. The fictitious characters in the novel belong to the king’s
intimate circle, participate in Diet sessions or become objects of the king’s
illegitimate love. These are characteristics of the traditional Scottian novel
genre. Its principal character is a common person who has connections
with consequential people and events of the era.25
Fredrika Runeberg’s historical novels are more consistent in struc-
ture than those of Topelius. Especially Fru Catharina Boije och hennes
döttrar can be considered a classic novel in accordance with Barthes’
definition: all its elements refer to a specific meaning. The novel is a
solid, even dramatic whole. Its tendency to realism is evident e.g. in
the instantaneity of narration and the wealth of conversation.
History, the Historical Novel and Nation 7

The solidity of narration in Sigrid Liljeholm occasionally disappears

as the story follows the activities of several characters. This is obvi-
ously due to a wish to discuss women’s position in society through
various feminine destinies. The independent decision of the principal
character Sigrid to abandon her suitor and find a place and meaning in
life becomes paramount. The other feminine figures form a background
for this decision; the novel presents both happy and unhappy marriages,
but it is generally the husband’s nature that determines whether or not
a marriage can be happy. This perhaps downgrades the radicalness of
Sigrid’s decision. Since her suitor Enevald Fincke has proven a weak
character, it is wiser for a woman not to submit herself to such a man.
The two novels by Fredrika Runeberg can be regarded as essays on
what opportunity a woman has to a good life in various relationships.
Her use of the historical material can be interpreted as a curtain to
disguise and soften the treatment of radical issues by reflecting them
to a distant past. Both her novels also describe restless times of war.
The historical timing opened a wider scope for the feminine charac-
ters, as their courageous and independent actions could be justified by
the unusual circumstances. It is emphasised in the novels that during a
raging war, women should be as courageous as men.
Fredrika Runeberg’s novels combine the historical material with the
fictitious story more seamlessly than those by Topelius. The historical
characters are also part of the story. Though historically founded, they
are a fictionalised part of the fictive world.26 Topelius tends rather to
adjust his story to his construe of the historical events and factual char-
acters. He also furthers both the historical and the fictive stories as
such even where they have no point of contact. The historical events
and characters are presented with an intrinsic value, while Runeberg
always sees history as part of the ficitious world and her historical char-
acters are there only to yield their share in the story.

The Finnish nation

Topelius’ novels created their own image of the origin of the Finnish
nation. They search for the Finnish roots in the 17th century battlefield
heroism, where the Finnish saga of the novels starts as bravery in battle,
loyalty to the king and persistence in suffering. The inter-class syn-
thesis at the end of the novel series combined the Finnish nation, unified
it in writing. This was in harmony with the Fennoman idea of the
central role of peasantry in the birth of a nation, and it consolidated
the upper classes in the one and unified nation. This train of thought
also suits the modern theory of nationalism. Besides securing loyalty
to the state, nationalism unified the modern society in other ways. The
traditional social ties having been removed, it provided a common
language and culture and an integration that crossed the class boundaries.
8 Mari Hatavara

It can be argued that nationalism aimed at creating an inter-class

community.27
The same integration of the classes is seen in Fredrika Runeberg’s
novels. In Fru Catharina Boije och hennes döttrar, one of the noble
daughters finds happiness in her marriage with a common man. The other
daughter dies in despair being forced into an “appropriate” but dis-
agreeable marriage. In Sigrid Liljeholm, an inter-class community is
created when Sigrid’s noble family develops an entire settlers’ village
around it. The gentry and the common people form an idyllic vision of
a community which takes care of all its members.
Although Fredrika Runeberg’s novels concentrate on female destinies,
they also contain strongly national, even nationalistic features.28 They
describe a similar idea of the Finnish nation as Topelius’ novels that
was later very prevalent in Finnish literature. It defines the Finns as
slow but resolute, stubborn but patient, simple but profound, and espe-
cially loyal to authority. The emphasis of loyalty to lawful authority,
be it Swedish or Russian, was of course an assurance addressed to the
Russian Czar.
In Runeberg’s novels, the Finnish ideal follows Fennomanic thinking,
identifying with peasantry and Finnish language, and separating itself
from the Swedish and the associated gentry. A slight change can be
discerned from one novel to the other. In Sigrid Liljeholm, the portrait
of the gentry is more favourable, and the gentry take a more sympa-
thetic view to commoners. The description here is near to what Topelius
tells about the reconciliation of the classes. We should, however, note
that the agreeable gentry in Sigrid Liljeholm are the Finnish gentry, while
the Swedish gentry are still presented as quite oblivious to the fate of
Finland.
Runeberg’s novels combine a fictitious love story and its feministic
theme with the creation of the Finnish nation; these factors are composed
of shared elements. This becomes obvious in the masculine characters,
especially in the suitors of the women. Negatively presented men who
are ill-disposed and oblivious to women, also represent wrong political
views. This shows how all the elements indeed refer to one meaning
and form an unbroken whole.

National history
Topelius was also an academic teacher of history; his wish and tendency
to write the Finnish history were apparent. For him it meant political
history, a history of great men and great deeds. We do know that Fredrika
Runeberg, too, was interested in writing history, although somewhat
differently. She wished to write women’s history to reveal how law and
custom subdued women everywhere. She writes about this idea in her
memoirs Min pennas saga, “The Saga of my Pen”, finished in 1869.
History, the Historical Novel and Nation 9

Although she never wrote this history, Runeberg’s historical novels can
be considered an effort in this direction.
At the time of writing these novels, woman’s role and marriage were
widely discussed in literature. Fredrika Runeberg’s theme should not,
therefore, be connected solely with the fact that she was woman and
author. Feminine liberty and limitations also emerge in Topelius’ novels.
While Runeberg typically describes strong elderly women and sensible
young women who search the direction of their lives, it is more typical
of Topelius to describe strong elderly women but also exceptional indi-
viduals: young, unrestrained and boarder-crossing female characters.
Especially his novel Hertiginnan af Finland could even be considered an
apology of cohabitation. Women seldom wrote about such extreme female
individuals as Topelius did. Another comparison is that novels written
by men often featured women who were in a position to dismiss marriage
and create a satisfactory career; whereas novels written by women very
seldom did this.29
Maybe women themselves were better aware of their limitations than
men. Sigrid Liljeholm is, in fact, an exception in feminine literature,
the main character turning down marriage and creating her own mean-
ingful life. The feminine liberty is not complete in Sigrid Liljeholm either,
since the wife is always described as subject to her husband, and a woman
who has declined marriage cannot go on living as before. The commu-
nity does not accept one who has broken the rules, and Sigrid has to
give up her noble life style and retreat into the forest, far from the
civilised world.
Both authors present their idea of the birth of the Finnish nation, a
pivotal factor in the creation of group identity. Although the image of
what it means to be Finnish is greatly identical in the novels of these
two authors, their productions are distinctly different. In her novels,
Fredrika Runeberg questioned the domination of the male, political world
and gave significance to the private world of women. This tendency is
expressed in one of Runeberg’s few history-philosophical author’s com-
mentaries which could be translated into English as follows: “The battles
of the great, the mighty, how do they touch the destiny of a lowly country
girl? Let her sit at her spinning wheel, let her tend to her kitchen, her
flowers, her apparel and see that her home is free of dust; let her leave
it to the men who have might and power to concern themselves with
the great turns of life! And yet it is her spinning wheel that is broken,
her flower bed that is trampled, her pretty dress that is destroyed or
stained and her home that is deserted by the same storms that shake
thrones and destroy countries.”30
The quotation clearly expresses the partly bitter status of the woman
in a men’s world primarily as an object, not as an independent agent.
Household work tied her to uninterrupted care and work at home; the
10 Mari Hatavara

man was free of ties and cares and could wander wider spaces according
to his impulses and qualities. But Fredrika Runeberg’s novels also empha-
sise the importance of women’s work associating with European feminine
literature – especially novels – which since the 18th century opposed
the traditional ways of expression and thought. The novel was the first
literary genre that women can be said to have dominated. One reason
is that the novel could take sides in literary and political issues on an
individual basis. The bourgeois novel brought a new perspective in
literature: it focused on the human being as an individual character. In
a bourgeois society, the women were limited to their private circle with
no opportunity of participation in public life. In their role as the guardians
of home and morality, the women speculated on ethical issues and the
essence of the human being.31
Along with the process of modernisation, there was a general increase
in literature by female authors, and women’s experience entered the
public discussion, questioning its essence.32 Fredrika Runeberg’s novels,
too, can be regarded as such questioning expressions. The historical
novels by Topelius belong to the cultural main stream, although they
represent a new literary genre. As a cultural personality, an author and
a journalist, Topelius enjoyed a steady and esteemed status. As a man,
he was entitled to political participation and literary activity, contrary
to Runeberg who was continually compelled to question her role as
author.
Fredrika Runeberg’s historical novels are more modern in their form
than those of Zacharias Topelius. Topelius’ novels show a more distinct
influence by Walter Scott in the group-affiliation and stereotypic nature
of the characters. The faith in Providence in Topelius’ novels is not
entirely compatible with the modern novel; its focus are individuals
who work up their lives with their own solutions, like those in Fredrika
Runeberg’s novels. Topelius’ Hegelian concept of history does include
a modern idea of progress, but it does not see the individual as the
sovereign of his or her own will and emotions.
Contrary to Topelius, Fredrika Runeberg’s novels include no added
commentaries or multiple narrator systems over and above the frame
story. They are technically more realistic and include a lot of lively
dialogue and instantaneous progress of the story. The narrative in
Topelius’ novels is more explicit and tends to keep a reflective distance
to the events. He even resorts to footnotes to give an impression of his-
torical integrity and creditability. Another way of creating an illusion
of historical integrity can be the division into historical and fictitious that
was referred to above. The narrator informs the reader about the shift
from fiction to history. This gives an impression of the existence of the
history described, outside the story, in the objective reality.
Topelius seems generally interested in describing various types of
History, the Historical Novel and Nation 11

national characters and classes and hence the great trends in history,
whereas Runeberg’s works focus on private life, with a historical back-
ground. Topelius wrote national history illustrated with a fictitious plot,
revealing the determined course of history. When the era described moves
closer to the time of writing, the fictitious substance gains dominance,
since it becomes more difficult to draw any great historical lines.
Runeberg for her part follows the tradition of the modern or sentimental
novel, focusing on individual biographies and on motivating these from
the point of view of personal emotions and characteristics of the people
involved.
The dominant element in Topelius’ novels is the omniscient narrator
who has full access to the innermost of his characters and to historical
facts. The narrator does not even try to identify with the story or its
characters. This creates a certain distance, resembling that of epical
narration, underlined by a concept of history as a transcendentally guided
process. Fredrika Runeberg’s narrator seldom becomes evident in her
text. Runeberg’s novels depend more on the reader being able to identify
with the characters, and a direct approach. No view or tendency is pre-
sented directly to the reader; the narration relies rather on the reader’s
empathy towards the characters than on its own authority.33 Topelius
presents the history of the dominating classes with the emphatic authority
of the dominating classes, while Runeberg gives a voice to the women
who were made marginal.

Concluding remarks
Both Topelius and Runeberg discuss national history and national themes
in their historical novels. Each author paints a similar picture of being
Finnish, characterized by persistence and loyalty. The national identity
is historically created by assigning the Finnish people a peculiar char-
acter, past and relations to other nations. The essential contents of being
Finnish are presented unchanged, thus creating a stable identification
model for the nation.
In his novels, Topelius creates the Finnish nation a history that goes
back to the 17th century, and presents its fulfilment in the social liber-
ation of the peasant in class integration. An image of a uniform Finnish
nation is thus created. Runeberg for her part creates national unifor-
mity rather through distinguishing from others, especially from the
Swedish. Topelius represents the educated classes of his time by painting
an ideal picture of the nation, whereas Runeberg questions the great
national narrative by letting her individuals, educated and peasant alike,
also utter views which can be contrary to national goals. Topelius sup-
presses the disagreements with a uniform, dominant narration, while
Runeberg’s works allow contradictions to surface, and admit national het-
erogeneousness.
12 Mari Hatavara

In Runeberg’s works, the national idea is a theme that gains a

significant role in the rhetoric, along with and connected to the essen-
tial feminist issue. Runeberg does not construct a uniform national history,
but uses history rather as a background for the events. In Topelius’s
works, the national integration process guided by Providence receives
an essential role. It produces a dominant line of narrative, accompa-
nied by the general political history. Detached from the fictive story,
history lends trustworthiness to Topelius’s vision of the birth and evo-
lutionary history of the nation. The contemporary national ideology finds
legitimacy as an inevitable product of the historical process.

Translated from Finnish by Oili Räsänen

Research supported by the Alfred Kordelin Fund

Notes

* Based on “History, the Historical Novel and Nation” in the seminar Literatur
und nationale Identität, University of Stockholm, Baltic Studies, Stockholm-Runö, Sweden
5.–8.10.2000.
1. See Hobsbawm, Eric. Nations and Nationalism Since 1780: Programme, Myth,
Reality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995; Anderson, Benedict. Imagined
Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London, New York:
Verso, 1991; Bhabha, Homi K. “DissemiNation: Time, Narrative, and the Margins of
the Modern Nation,” Nation and Narration. Ed. Homi K. Bhabha. London and New
York: Routledge, 1990, pp. 291–322.
2. Molarius, Päivi. “Fennomaanisen merkitysjärjestelmän muotoutuminen 1800-luvun
Suomessa,” Kaksi tietä nykyisyyteen. Tutkimuksia kirjallisuuden, kansallisuuden ja kansal-
listen liikkeiden suhteista Suomessa ja Virossa. Eds. Tero Koistinen et al. Helsinki: SKS,
1999, pp. 67–83.
3. See Hroch, Miroslav. Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985, pp. 62–75.
4. See Karkama, Pertti. “The Individual and National Identity in J.V. Snellman’s
Young Hegelian Theory,” The Writing of National History and Shaping of Identity.
Approaches to the writing of national history in the North-East Baltic region nineteenth
and twentieth centuries. Ed. Michael Branch. Helsinki: SKS, 1997, pp. 141–152; Alapuro,
Risto. State and Revolution in Finland. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988;
Molarius 1999; Liikanen, Ilkka. Fennomania ja kansa. Joukkojärjestäytymisen läpimurto
ja Suomalaisen puolueen synty. Historiallisia Tutkimuksia 191. Helsinki: SHS, 1995.
5. Hroch 1985, pp. 22–24.
6. Karkama, Pertti. “1840-luku suomalaisen nykykulttuurin kohtuna.” Kaksi tietä
nykyisyyteen. Tutkimuksia kirjallisuuden, kansallisuuden ja kansallisten liikkeiden suhteista
Suomessa ja Virossa. Eds. Tero Koistinen et al. Helsinki: SKS, 1999, pp. 84–105, see
pp. 90–91.
7. Brantly, Susan C. “History as Resistance. The Swedish Historical Novel and
Regional Identity. Sara Lindman versus Per Anders Fogelström,” in András Masát and
Péter Mádl. Eds. Literature as Resistance and Counter-Culture. Papers of the 19th Study
Conference of the Unternational Association for Scandinavian Studies. Budapest:
Hungarian Association for Scandinavian Studies, 1993, pp. 457–461, quotation p. 457.
8. Ihonen, Markku. “Romaani julkisuutena. Suomalaisen kirjallisen julkisuuden synty
ja keskustelu romaanista.” Tiedotustutkimus 3 (1999): 92–107, see pp. 92–94.
History, the Historical Novel and Nation 13

9. Ihonen 1999, pp. 97, 99.

10. The Surgeon’s Stories. Chicago: A.C. McClurg, 1876–1901.
11. Layoun, Mary. Travels of a Genre. The Modern Novel and Ideology. Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1990, pp. 3–4.
12. Bahtin, Mihail. The Dialogic Imagination. Four Essays by M. M. Bakhtin. Ed.
Michael Holquist. Transl. by Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin: University
of Texas slavic series, no. 1, 1981, pp. 30, 14–16.
13. Koselleck, Reinhart. Futures Past. On the Semantics of Historical Time. Transl.
by Keith Tribe. Baskerville: MIT Press, 1985, pp. 37–38.
14. Danto, Arthur C. Narration and Knowledge. Including the Integral Text of
Analytical Philosophy of History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985, p. 158,
White, Hayden. The Content of the Form. Narrative Discourse and Historical
Representation. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1987, p. 11.
15. Aspelin, Kurt. Poesi och verklighet II. 1830-talets liberala litteraturkritik och den
borgerliga realismens problem. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söners Förlag, 1977,
p. 212.
16. Lukács, Georg. Die Theorie des Romans. Ein geschichtsphilosophischer Versuch
über die Formen der großen Epik. Neuwied: Luchterhand, 1962, pp. 76–77; Saariluoma,
Liisa. Muuttuva romaani. Johdatus individualistisen lajin historiaan. Hämeenlinna: Karisto
Oy, 1989, p. 28.
17. Fleishman, Avrom. The English Historical Novel. Walter Scott to Virginia Woolf.
Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1971, pp. 16–17.
18. See Aspelin 1977, p. 198; Westling, Christer. Idealismens estetik. Nordisk lit-
teraturkritik vid 1800-talets mitt mot bakgrund av den tyska filosofin från Kant till
Hegel. Dissertation. [Uppsala: University of Uppsala.], 1985, p. 23.
19. Karkama 1999, pp. 89–94.
20. Karkama 1999, p. 93.
21. Lipponen, Marja-Liisa. Historiallisen romaanin tekniikka. Zachris Topelius,
Fälskärns Berättelser; Santeri Ivalo, Juho Vesainen; Maila Talvio, Itämeren tytär. Pro
gradu. [Yleisen kirjallisuustieteen ja estetiikan laudaturtyö. University of Helsinki], 1972,
p. 98.
22. See Niemi, Juhani. Modernia muotoa etsimässä. Suomalaisen proosan moder-
nismin juurilla. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Suomen kirjallisuus. Julkaisuja 34, 1994,
pp. 19–31.
23. Barthes, Roland. S/Z. Transl. by Richard Miller. New York: Hill and Wang, 1974,
pp. 28–30, 173–174, 216–217.
24. Westling 1985, p. 23.
25. Huhtala, Liisi. “Historiallinen romaani,” Historiallinen aikakauskirja 4 (1984):
296–301, p. 298.
26. See Haapala, Arto. Fiktio ja todellisuus. Kirjallisen fiktion semanttisia ja onto-
logisia kysymyksiä. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Yleisen kirjallisuustieteen, teatteritieteen
ja estetiikan laitoksen monistesarja No. 12, 1984, p. 123.
27. Sevänen, Erkki. Vapauden rajat. Kirjallisuuden tuotannon ja välityksen yhteiskun-
nallinen sääntely Suomessa vuosina 1918–1939. SKST 612. Helsinki: SKS, 1994, p. 21.
28. See also Hatavara, Mari. “Fredrika Runeberg’s Historical Novels and Early Finnish
Nationalism”. Literatur und nationale Identität – zur Literatur und Geschichte des 19.
Jahrhunderts im Ostseeraum: Finnland, Estland, Lettland, Litauen und Polen. Eds. Yrjö
Varpio and Maria Zadencka. Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis, Studia Baltica
Stockholmiensia 22. Stockholm: University of Stockholm. Baltic studies, 2000, pp.
186–206.
29. See Grönstrand, Heidi “Kauhua ja kapinaa Fredrika Runebergin romaanissa Fru
Catharina Boije och hennes döttrar,” Sanelma. Ed. Aalto, Minna. Turku: Turun yliopiston
kotimaisen kirjallisuuden vuosikirja 1996, pp. 11–25, p. 15.
14 Mari Hatavara

30. “De storas, de mäktigas strider, hvad röra de väl en ringa landtflickas öde? Må
hon sitta vid sin spinnrock, må hon sköta sitt kök, sina blommor, sin grannlåt och se till
blott att hemmet är dammfritt, och lemna åt mannen, de som makt och kraft hafva, att
deltaga i lifvets stora skiften! Och dock sönderslås hennes spinnrock, härjas hennes
blomsterland, förstöres eller fläckas hennes sirliga drägt och förödes hennes hem af
dessa samma stormar, som skaka throner och förstöra länder.” Sigrid Liljeholm, p. 68.
31. See Spender, Dale. Mothers of the Novel. 100 good woman writers before Jane
Austen. London: Pandora Press, 1986, p. 2.
32. Karkama, Pertti. Kirjallisuus ja nykyaika. Suomalaisen sanataiteen teemoja ja ten-
denssejä. Suomi no. 173. Helsinki: SKS, 1994, pp. 11–12.
33. Cf. Brantly 1993, p. 460.

Literature

Objects of study

Fredrika Runeberg. Fru Catharina Boije och hennes döttrar. En berättelse från stora
ofredens tid. Helsingfors: Finska Litteratur-sällskapet, 1858.
Fredrika Runeberg. Sigrid Liljeholm. Roman. Helsingfors: Theodor Sederholms förlag,
1862.
Zacharias Topelius. Hertiginnan af Finland. Samlade skrifter af Zacharias Topelius. Sjunde
delen. Stockholm: Albert Bonniers förlag, 1899 [1850].
Zacharias Topelius. Fältskärns berättelser. Samlade skrifter af Zacharia Topelius. Åttonde-
trettonde delen. Stockholm: Albert Bonniers förlag, 1899–1901 [1853–1867].

Research literature
Alapuro, Risto. State and Revolution in Finland. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1988.
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of
Nationalism. London, New York: Verso, 1991.
Aspelin, Kurt. Poesi och verklighet II. 1830-talets liberala litteraturkritik och den bor-
gerliga realismens problem. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söners Förlag, 1977.
Bahtin, Mihail. The Dialogic Imagination. Four Essays by M. M. Bakhtin. Ed. Michael
Holquist. Transl. Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist. Austin: University of Texas
Press slavic series, no. 1, 1981.
Barthes, Roland. S/Z. Transl. Richard Miller. New York: Hill and Wang, 1974.
Bhabha, Homi K. “DissemiNation: Time, Narrative, and the Margins of the Modern
Nation,” in Homi K. Bhabha, Ed., Nation and Narration. London and New York:
Routledge, 1990, pp. 291–322.
Brantly, Susan C. “History as Resistance. The Swedish Historical Novel and Regional
Identity. Sara Lindman versus Per Anders Fogelström,” in András Masát and Péter
Mádl, Eds., Literature as Resistance and Counter-Culture. Papers of the 19th Study
Conference of the Unternational Association for Scandinavian Studies. Budapest:
Hungarian Association for Scandinavian Studies, 1993, pp. 457–461.
Danto, Arthur C. Narration and Knowledge. Including the Integral Text of Analytical
Philosophy of History. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.
Fleishman, Avrom. The English Historical Novel. Walter Scott to Virginia Woolf.
Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1971.
Grönstrand, Heidi “Kauhua ja kapinaa Fredrika Runebergin romaanissa Fru Catharina
Boije och hennes döttrar,” in Aalto, Minna, Ed., Sanelma. Turku: Turun yliopiston
kotimaisen kirjallisuuden vuosikirja, 1996, pp. 11–25.
History, the Historical Novel and Nation 15

Haapala, Arto. Fiktio ja todellisuus. Kirjallisen fiktion semanttisia ja ontologisia

kysymyksiä. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto. Yleisen kirjallisuustieteen, teatteritieteen
ja estetiikan laitoksen monistesarja No. 12, 1984.
Hatavara, Mari. “Fredrika Runeberg’s Historical Novels and Early Finnish Nationalism,”
in Yrjö Varpio and Maria Zadencka, Eds., Literatur und nationale Identität III – zur
Literatur und Geschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts im Ostseeraum: Finnland, Estland,
Lettland, Litauen und Polen. Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis, Studia Baltica
Stockholmiensia 22. Stockholm: University of Stockholm. Baltic studies, 2000,
pp. 186–206.
Hobsbawm, Eric. Nations and Nationalism Since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Hroch, Miroslav. Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Huhtala, Liisi. “Historiallinen romaani,” Historiallinen aikakauskirja 4 (1984): 296–301.
Ihonen, Markku. “Romaani julkisuutena. Suomalaisen kirjallisen julkisuuden synty ja
keskustelu romaanista.” Tiedotustutkimus 3 (1999): 92–107.
Karkama, Pertti. Kirjallisuus ja nykyaika. Suomalaisen sanataiteen teemoja ja tendenssejä.
Suomi no. 173. Helsinki: SKS, 1994.
Karkama, Pertti. “The Individual and National Identity in J. V. Snellman’s Young Hegelian
Theory,” in Michael Branch, Ed., The Writing of National History and Shaping of
Identity. Approaches to the Writing of National History in the North-East Baltic Region
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Helsinki: SKS, 1997, pp. 141–152.
Karkama, Pertti. “1840-luku suomalaisen nykykulttuurin kohtuna,” in Tero Koistinen et
al., Eds., Kaksi tietä nykyisyyteen. Tutkimuksia kirjallisuuden, kansallisuuden ja kansal-
listen liikkeiden suhteista Suomessa ja Virossa. Helsinki: SKS, 1999, pp. 84–105.
Koselleck, Reinhart. Futures Past. On the Semantics of Historical Time. Transl. Keith
Tribe. Baskerville: MIT Press, 1985.
Layoun, Mary. Travels of a Genre. The Modern Novel and Ideology. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1990.
Liikanen, Ilkka. Fennomania ja kansa. Joukkojärjestäytymisen läpimurto ja Suomalaisen
puolueen synty. Historiallisia Tutkimuksia 191. Helsinki: SHS, 1995.
Lipponen, Marja-Liisa. Historiallisen romaanin tekniikka. Zachris Topelius, Fälskärns
Berättelser; Santeri Ivalo, Juho Vesainen; Maila Talvio, Itämeren tytär. Pro gradu.
[Yleisen kirjallisuustieteen ja estetiikan laudaturtyö. University of Helsinki.], 1972.
Lukács, Georg. Die Theorie des Romans. Ein geschichtsphilosophischer Versuch über
die Formen der großen Epik. Neuwied: Luchterhand, 1962.
Molarius, Päivi. “Fennomaanisen merkitysjärjestelmän muotoutuminen 1800-luvun
Suomessa,” in Tero Koistinen et al., Eds., Kaksi tietä nykyisyyteen. Tutkimuksia kir-
jallisuuden, kansallisuuden ja kansallisten liikkeiden suhteista Suomessa ja Virossa.
Helsinki: SKS, 1999, pp. 67–83.
Niemi, Juhani. Modernia muotoa etsimässä. Suomalaisen proosan modernismin juurilla.
Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Suomen kirjallisuus. Julkaisuja 34, 1994.
Saariluoma, Liisa. Muuttuva romaani. Johdatus individualistisen lajin historiaan.
Hämeenlinna: Karisto Oy, 1989.
Sevänen, Erkki. Vapauden rajat. Kirjallisuuden tuotannon ja välityksen yhteiskunnallinen
sääntely Suomessa vuosina 1918–1939. SKST 612. Helsinki: SKS, 1994.
Spender, Dale. Mothers of the Novel. 100 Good Woman Writers Before Jane Austen.
London: Pandora Press, 1986.
Westling, Christer. Idealismens estetik. Nordisk litteraturkritik vid 1800-talets mitt mot
bakgrund av den tyska filosofin från Kant till Hegel. Dissertation. Uppsala: University
of Uppsala, 1985.
White, Hayden. The Content of the Form. Narrative Discourse and Historical
Representation. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1987.