CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE IMAGE OF FINLAND
IN KJELL WESTÖ’S NOVEL “MIRAGE 38” Cover Image

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ИЗОБРАЖЕНИЯ ХЕЛЬСИНКИ В РОМАНЕ ЧЕЛЯ ВЕСТЁ «МИРАЖ 38»
CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE IMAGE OF FINLAND IN KJELL WESTÖ’S NOVEL “MIRAGE 38”

Author(s): Irina Sergeevna Matashina
Subject(s): Philology
Published by: Петрозаводский государственный университет
Keywords: Swedish literature of Finland; XXth century; Finland; novels; Kjell Westö

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the article is to reveal characteristic features of the image of Finland on the material of the Kjell Westö’s novel “Mirage38”, which was not previously studied by Russian literature scholars. The writer is especially interested in the turning pointssignificant for the whole Finland. The historical realities in the novel “Mirage 38” are combined with the description of the atmosphereof the prewar period. It was established that Westö’s image of Finland is based on the contraposition of the “our” and “others”, actualizedat several narrative levels. They are represented by the ideological differences, embodied in the polyphony of the voices of activeparticipants, and by the description of the language barrier between the Swedish and Finnish population of the country. The languagebarrier is expressed in the use of foreign words, which divides the main characters and creates some distance between them and thereaders. The writer also draws a parallel between the events of the 1938th and the time of the civil war, when the Finnish society wasdivided into two groups. The image of the protagonist turns into a connecting link between alienated citizens of the same country.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 4 (173)
  • Page Range: 32-35
  • Page Count: 4
  • Language: Russian