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Maria Jotuni (1880 - 1943) - originally Maria Haggrén, Maria
Haggren-Jotuni |
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Novelist, playwright, one of the classic feminist authors in Finland. Maria Jotuni was influenced by postnaturalism and impressionism, which is expressed in her choice of form: short stories, fragments of prose, impressions and dialog. She often shows the society from a woman's point of view, as in her major novel, Huojuva talo (1963, The swaying house). Jotuni depicted the battle of the sexes in cultured urban circles and in poor villages in the countryside. Rejecting the sentimental ideal of true love, Jotuni portrayed marriage as a financial deal between two people, in which the woman is bought. "Rakkaus, rakkaus ihmiseen ja kaikkeen olevaiseen, sen ehkä harhauttava voima väkevöitti hänen sielunsa pidättyväksi. Mitä käytäntöä se oli tätä maailmaa varten? Sillä tehtiin myönnytyksiä, kunniaa ilmiöille, sillä kiellettiin oma kipu, ruumiin oikeudet tuntea, ja palkaksi saatiin parhaimmillaan hengen tasapaino, kieltäytyvä liikkumattomuus, kuulaus, joka heijasti, mutta ei enää säteillyt. Mitä teki sillä tässä hänen elämässään, jossa vain toimeentulosta oli tapeltava." (from Huojuva talo) Maria Jotuni (pseudonym of Maria Gustava Tarkiainen) was in Kuopio, the daughter of Petter Johannes Haggrén, the son of a tinsmith, and the former Greta Lovisa Miettinen, whose father was a farmer. Petter Johannes helped his father in his business, but was not very ambitious – he was a passionate reader, disappointed in life, and greedy for liquor. Jotuni wrote her early stories at the age of 12-13. At school she was one of the editors of the magazine Wesa. After graduating from Kuopion Tyttökoulu (the Girl's School of Kuopio), Jotuni moved to Helsinki. She studied history and literature at the University of Helsinki, contributed to the student magazine, and published short stories in the newspaper Päivälehti. When not studying or writing, she went to see theatre plays on a regular basis. To earn extra income, she worked as a substitute teacher. Upon the publication of V.A. Koskenniemi's first collection of poems, Runoja (1906), Jotuni reviewed the work in the magazine Valvoja and corresponded with him for some time. While at the university, Jotuni met her future husband, Viljo Tarkiainen (1879-1951), who lectured there and later was appointed Professor of Literature. They married in 1911 and had two children. Due to his influence in literary circles and his support to his wife, Tarkiainen occasionally faced accusations of partiality. A certain kind of rivalry between Tarkiainen and Koskenniemi led to mutual distrust and hostility which was well-know and lasted for decades. It also affected Jotuni's relationship with the writer Maila Talvio, a friend of Koskenniemi. Jotuni's first collection of short stories, Suhteita (1905, Relations), did not attract much attention, but Eino Leino considered it mature work for a debutant writer. It was followed by the collection Rakkautta (1907), characterized according to Eino Leino "tasteless cynicism", and the collective novel Arkielämää (1909, Everyday life). The central character, "Reverend" Nyman listens people's confessions, their secret sorrows and pleasures, within a period of a day and night in a rural village. The play was later translated into Swedish, Estonian, and German. In Finland women became in 1906 the first in Europe to gain the right to vote, but the political victory was not fulfilled in the institution of marriage, which Jotuni saw as contract in which women are chattels to be traded. Behind the facade of respectability lay the hidden world of selfishness, disillusionment, unhappiness, and hypocrisy: "Don't you pity these people? Don't you think that each one of them has his little sorrows, that life isn't anything like what it seems?" (from Rakkautta) Although Jotuni did not dwell on erotic scenes, and her attitude towars sex was positive, she touched the subjects of illicit love, adultery, incest, and sexual aberrations. With Rakkautta Jotuni made her breakthrough as a writer. It was translated into Swedish by Bertel Gripenberg and Jotuni sent a copy to the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun, who thanked her in a letter and praised the beauty of Finnish women. Jotuni published an essay on Hamsun in the magazine Valvoja. In 1908 Georg Brandes expressed his interest in the young lady, who had written about love. The title story appeared in French in the magazine Lettres scandinaves. Jotuni was also invited to visit the home of Professor J.J. Mikkola and Maila Talvio, who hosted a literary salon frequented by L. Onerva, Ilmari Calamnius (Ilmari Kianto), Larin-Kyösti, Kasimir Leino, and many Russian writers. Jotunis's short stories were often based on dialogue, in which she confronted two different world views. Her best-known characters include Hilda Husso, the mother of an illegitimate child, who appeared in Suhteita, and Matami Röhelin, a grotesque nursemaid from Rakkautta. The masterful use of dialogue led her soon to drama. Vanha koti (1910, Old home) was first performed in Kotka, then in Helsinki at the National Theatre, and in Estonia in 1911. It was followed by Kun on tunteet (1913, The feelings one has), Martinin rikos (1914), and Miehen kylkiluu (1914, Man's rib), which stirred doubts and suspicions in advance on account of its morality. However, this erotic carrousel about two woman who want to marry the same man, became highly popular. In 1918 Jotuni attacked on wartime speculations and corruption in her satire Kultainen vasikka (The golden calf). Ritva Arvelo's film version of the play from 1961 received State film award, but failed commercially. HERMAN: Katarina has speculated. Tohvelisankarin rouva (1924, The wife of the henpecked man), a comedy of love, power, and greed, provoked a parliamentary debate about the funding for the National Theatre. When WSOY returned the manuscript, it was published by Otava. At its premiere, a portion of the audience left the theatre. As a result of the controversy, Tarkiainen was dismissed from the board of the National Theatre, although he was not present when the play was accepted in the repertoire. The award-winning tragedy Klaus, Louhikon herra was based on a folk ballad, "Elinan surma". It premiered at the National theatre in October 1942. The performace, in the middle of the the Continuation War between Finland and the Soviet Union, was interrupted by air-raids. A number of the actors served at the front. As a playwright Jotuni was influenced by Minna Canth, Henrik Ibsen and Anton Chekhov. She also wrote aphorisms, children's stories, and little pieces for newspapers. Her first collection of aphorisms, Avonainen lipas, came out in 1929, and the last, Jäähyväiset in 1949. Jotuni examined many subjects: society, art, human relations and different personality types. Especially she was interested in natural sciences, but underlining that instinctive needs must be recognized – she dreamed of a better man without implication to the Nietzschean concept of the Übermensch. However, it is likely that Jotuni became familiar with Nietzsche's thought before Also Sprach Zarathustra appeared in Finnish in 1907. In the liberal newspaper Helsingin Sanomat Jotuni wrote ironically what horrors new technology, in this case the automobile, brings with it. The text was published in 1912 under the male pseudonym 'Nix': "Thick clouds of smoke rise from the street and flutter against our windows. There looms the outside world, which we do not see. We hear only the awful blare of the cars, which obliterates the voices and laughter of the carefree folk. We wait until night-time to rest our nerves. No, the hooting and clattering of cars, laughter and hooting. The homeliness of home has disappeared." (translated by Hildi Hawkins, from Helsinki: a literary companion, 2000, ) Jotuni's massive, posthumously published novel Huojuva talo depicts a destructive marriage – perhaps in this case a miniature model of the contemporary totalitarian ideologies. The tyrannical husband Eero Markku, a cultivated person outside his house, tortures psychologically and even physically at home her submissive wife Lea. The book was finished in the 1930s, but the manuscript remained unpublished for decades. Huojuva talo contained elements from Jotuni's own marriage, and feelings of alienation from her husband, who originally encouraged her to continue with the work. Tarkiainen himself had once hit his wife so hard that her left eardrum was broken. Jotuni participated with the manuscript in an international writing contest, arranged by A.M. Heath. When Auni Nuolivaara's (already forgotten) Paimen, piika ja emäntä won in Finland, Jotuni drew her work back. Jolán Földes's The Street of the Fishing Cat received the first prize in the All-Nation's Competition. Jotuni never published new novels. Nearly similar unlucky contest history was with Helvi Hämäläinen's Säädyllinen murhenäytelmä although it came out later in censored edition. Huojuva talo was adapted in 1995 for an acclaimed five-part television drama directed by Eija-Elina Bergholm. After the Civil War (1917-18), Jotuni occasionally felt irritated, perhaps due to hormonal disturbances. In the 1920s she started to have heart symptoms, which troubled her for the rest of her life. The family moved in 1921 to Cygnaeus street. It became the Tarkiainens permanent address in Helsinki. Jotuni began to collect antiquities for her home, especially she was interested in "Le style Louis XIV." The comedy Miehen kylkiluu was filmed in 1937, but the screenplay, written by Ilmari Unho and the director Orvo Saarikivi, did not have the sharpness and humor of the original work. In 1938 Jotuni received the Aleksis Kivi Award, for the disappointemd of Koskenniemi, who thought he would be awarded. Her play, Amerikan morsian (The bride from America), finished after the award, was not performed until 1966. Jotuni died on September 30, 1943, in Helsinki. For further reading: Maria Jotunin näytelmät by Irmeli Niemi (1964); A History of Finnish Literature by Jaakko Ahokas (1973); Orfeus nukkuu by Annamari Sarajas (1980); Huojuva talo: romaanista teatteriesitykseksi ed. by Maaria Koskiluoma, Pekka Kyrö (1986); Viljo Tarkiainen by Kari Tarkiainen (1987); Rikkautta jos rakkauttakin : Maria Jotunin naiskuva by Liisa Hakola (1993); Portraits of Courage, ed. by S.E. Wilmer (1997); A History of Finland's Literature, ed. by George C. Schoolfield (1998); Suomen kirjallisuushistoria 2, ed. by Lea Rojola (1999); Arki ja tunteet: Maria Jotunin elämä ja kirjailijantyö by Irmeli Niemi (2001) Selected works:
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