'The common people', Writing, and the Process of Literary Attainment in the 19th Century Finland

A multidisciplinary project on the life and texts of lower-class people in 19th-century Finland.

The multidisciplinary project studied grassroots literacy from the perspective of texts written by self-taught people in the 19th-century Finland. Dr. Jyrki Hakapää (Finnish and Nordic History) and Dr. Kati Mikkola (Comparative Religion), and Lic. in Pol. Sc. Kaisa Kauranen (Social History) received funding in the project. Doc. Kirsti Salmi-Niklander (Folklore Studies), Doc. Taru Nordlund (Finnish Language) and Doc. Anna Kuismin (Finnish and Comparative Literature) took actively part as mentors of the project. The project published both scientific articles and texts for larger audience as well as arranged lectures series. In many cases, these were
the first efforts to reveal the research theme and the results to scientific community, students and larger audience. The project also participated in organizing two international workshops, with Prof. Wim Wandenbussche (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Prof. Martyn Lyons (The University of New South Wales) as Plenary Speakers.