Research Output per year
Personal profile
Description of research and teaching
Elise Nykänen is an expert in the study of literature and emotions and cognitive and affective narratology. Her research interests include literary modernisms, fictional mind presentation and fictional dialogue. Her monograph Mysterious Minds: The Making of Private and Collective Consciousness in Marja-Liisa Vartio’s novels (based on her dissertation) was published in 2017. Nykänen has also published several articles on her research topics in Finnish and international volumes, journals, and conference proceedings and co-edited the volume Dialogi kaunokirjallisuudessa (Dialogue in Fiction, 2013). Her current post-doctoral project examines existential feelings and moods in character narration and consciousness presentation in Finnish modernist prose fiction.
Nykänen has worked as a Visiting Post-Doctoral Scholar both at the History of Emotions Research Center at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin (2018) and at the Project Narrative Institute at the Ohio State University (2015‒2016) in Columbus. During her PhD studies, she also visited the International Graduate Center for the Study of Culture (GCSC) at Justus Liebig University in Giessen (2013).
Nykänen’s teaching has centered on such topics as Finnish post-war modernism, narrative rhetoric, fictional mind presentation and fictional dialogue. She has also taught basic courses on literary and textual analysis.
Fields of Science
- 6122 Literature studies
International and National Collaboration
Publications and projects within past five years.
Publications 2008 2018
Mysterious Minds: The Making of Private and Collective Consciousness in Marja-Liisa Vartio's Novels
Nykänen, E., 2017, Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. 332 p. (Studia Fennica Litteraria; no. 10)Research output: Book/Report › Book › Scientific › peer-review
Breaking the Ice, Freezing the Laughter: Authorial Empathy, Reader Response, and the Kafkaesque Poetics of Guilt and Shame
Nykänen, E. K., 2017, Writing Emotions: Theoretical Concepts and Selected Case Studies in Literature. Jandl, I., Knaller, S., Schönfellner, S. & Tockner, G. (eds.). Bielefeld: Transcript verlag, p. 295-310 16 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Scientific
Tajunnankuvauksen todenkaltaisuudesta: Näkökulma suomalaiseen sotienjälkeiseen proosaan
Nykänen, E., 2018, In : Joutsen : kotimaisen kirjallisuudentutkimuksen vuosikirja. p. 73-86 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
”Hänen vierellään on valmiina pimeyden päivä”: Eksistentiaalisten tunteiden kertominen Kerttu-Kaarina Suosalmen novellissa ”Synti”
Nykänen, E., 2018, In : Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen Aikakauslehti Avain. 1/2018, p. 66-79 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Lentävää koiraa kesyttämässä: lukumalleja Pentti Holapan "Boman"-novellin retorisen vuorovaikutuksen tulkintaan
Nykänen, E., 2018, Kirjoitettu vuorovaikutus. Rahtu, T., S. S. & M. T. V. (eds.). Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, p. 116-142 27 p. (Tietolipas ; no. 260).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review
Projects 2011 2019
LILI: The Literary in Life: Exploring the Boundaries between Literature and the Everyday
Hatavara, M., Keskinen, M., Rossi, R., Hollsten, A. & Nykänen, E.
01/09/2015 → 31/08/2019
Project: Research project
Literature and emotions: creating emotion effects and affecting readers
Rossi, R., Nykänen, E. & Hollsten, A.
01/01/2015 → 31/12/2018
Project: Research project
Activities 2007 2019
Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin
Elise Nykänen (Visiting researcher)Activity: Visiting an external institution types › Academic visit to other institution
Cognitive Futures in the Arts and Humanities 2018
Elise Nykänen (Speaker: Chair)Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Public Talks
From Paralyzing Anxiety to Productive Mourning?
Elise Nykänen (Speaker)Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
Narrative2017
Elise Nykänen (Speaker)Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
Fafnir: Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research (Journal)
Elise Nykänen (Reviewer)Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Peer review of manuscripts