Kirjoitettu nuoruus: Aikalaistulkintoja 1900-luvun alkupuolen nuoruudesta

The anthology focuses on young people’s writing and texts written for or about young people in early 20th-century Finland. During this period, reading and writing became an important part of young people’s lives also in working class and agrarian families. Besides everyday life, human relations, love and life values, The Civil War 1918 and the Second World War were reflected both in young people’s own writings, in youth literature and in press debates.
Kirsti Salmi-Niklander, Saara Tuomaala and Marko Tikka analyse hand-written newspapers, which were a strong tradition in schools, families and popular organizations. Marianne Junila focuses on school essays written by young girls at a secondary school in Tampere in the fall of 1918, in which they depict the experiences during the Civil War.
Hellevi Hakala and Tuomas Tepora explore the ideological meanings of youth literature, which started to be established in Finland during the 1920s and the 1930s. Ilona Kemppainen analyses the press debate on young people’s role in the forthcoming war at the beginning of the Continuation War in the fall of 1941.
Young people’s literary worlds were created in different discussions and tensions, and in literary and social institutions. Young people participated in these processes as active actors, readers and writers. Their literary expression were influenced by the adults’ values and ideological challenges.