Paper short abstract:

Documenting folklore is a multilayered, ideological process in which some part of the tradition and gender voices are silenced. This paper deals with the production of knowledge in oral-written cultures by investigating the female genre of lyric poetry in the making of national heritage.

Paper long abstract:

Writing down oral tradition, and thus producing the written sources, poses one of the main epistemological questions in folkloristics and related disciplines. What was included in the transcribed texts and publications, and more precisely, what was ignored and hidden in documentation? The selection process in 19th century Finland was for example related to genre. The focus of the paper is in the textualization of the hidden genre of lyric poetry in the making of national heritage.

The paper deals with the theme by investigating the Kanteletar, an anthology of oral lyric poetry by Elias Lönnrot. Representing the most important publication of folk lyric poetry of nineteenth century Finland, the Kanteletar (publ. 1840, 1841) has however remained in shadow in the national heritage as well as in folklore studies being pejoratively acknowledged as "a little sister to the Kalevala".

Lyric songs of the Kanteletar have been admirably regarded as beautiful, vulnerable, and sorrowful pieces of the oral lyric poetry. Nevertheless, representation of national heritage and tradition was eventually occupied by masculine and male related folklore, and the Kalevala, and ignored such themes as emotions and private sphere. Thus, my question is to what extent, by shading the Kanteletar, vernacular voices of oral lyric poetry were muted. How the production and perception of knowledge of Finnish-Karelian folklore would have taken different emphasis if lyric poetry was acknowledged as part of the representation of Finnishness?