Carl Axel Gottlund, his written language, and the Runola
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11210%2F25%3A10506043" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11210/25:10506043 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
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DOI - Digital Object Identifier
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Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Carl Axel Gottlund, his written language, and the Runola
Original language description
The chapter examines the development of written Finnish from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century, focusing on Carl Axel Gottlund's contributions and his epic Runola. It begins by outlining the typical path of European vernaculars toward standardization, noting Finland's late emergence of indigenous literary works. Early Finnish texts, largely lost, survived only in later folklore records, while genuine written Finnish began with the Reformation and Mikael Agricola's translations. The article traces how Agricola's southwestern dialect formed the basis of later standards, even as eighteenth-century writers experimented with native varieties. During the early nineteenth century debate over a single Finnish standard, Gottlund argued for dialectal freedom rather than uniformity. He also proposed a national epic drawn from folk poetry, anticipating Lönnrot's Kalevala. After Lönnrot's success, Gottlund composed Runola (1840), an oneiric journey through a poetic realm that blends Finnish folklore with Nordic, classicist and Christian allegory (Dante). Written in the Savo dialect and uncensored folk verses, Runola was criticized for its obscenity, dialectal inconsistency, and thematic incoherence, and it failed to supplant Lönnrot's inclusive model. The chapter concludes that Gottlund's work highlights tensions between linguistic unity and dialectal diversity in nation-building.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
C - Chapter in a specialist book
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
60205 - Literary theory
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/EH22_008%2F0004595" target="_blank" >EH22_008/0004595: Beyond Security: Role of Conflict in Resilience-Building</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Book/collection name
THE FORMATION OF LITERARY STANDARDS IN THE LANGUAGES OF THE AMBER ROAD REGION
ISBN
978-615-5589-47-8
Number of pages of the result
8
Pages from-to
45-52
Number of pages of the book
338
Publisher name
Collegium Fenno-Ugricum, University of Tokaj
Place of publication
Badacsony, Sárospatak
UT code for WoS chapter
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