![]() ![]() Choose another writer in this calendar: by name: by birthday from the calendar. TimeSearch |
|
Eila Pennanen (1916 - 1994) |
Prolific translator and one of the most significant female novelists in Finland after World War II. During her long career (her first book appeared in 1942 and the last in 1992), Eila Pennanen dealt with religious movements, historical incidents, the female soul, and the rise of the Finnish working and middle class. Especially in her later novels, Pennanen paid attention to marginalized people, dominated by stronger persons. Her major prose work in the 1970s was the Tampere trilogy, Himmun rakkaudet (1971), Koreuden tähden (1972), and Ruusuköynnös (1973). It partly drew on her own family history. Thank you for these illusions, Eila Pennanen was born in Tampere, the youngest daughter of the factory director Hugo Pennanen, an agnostic, and Hilma (Enegren) Pennanen, who was fiercely religious. In her youth she read widely from detective novels to Shakespeare and Ibsen, and became enthusiastic about philosophy, Nietzsche, Brandes, Freud – but Marx was out of the question. Pennanen's cousin was the future writer Jarno Pennanen, who later in his diary recalled playing children's games with her; she was five and Jarno was fifteen. Her elder brother Leo became a clergyman; his book on graphology, Käsiala kertoo (1944), has been reprinted several times. At the age of sixteen, Pennanen had a female crush on a girl called Lappe. With Jarno, who wanted to seduce her, she discussed her homoerotic attachment. (Oidipus oli mies: psykohistoriallinen elämäkerta Eila Pennasesta vuoteen 1952 saakka by Saara Kesävuori, Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto, 2003, pp. 211-214, 294-296) After graduating from a secondary school in 1936, Pennanen entered the University of Helsinki, receiving her M.A. in 1940. To support herself, Pennanen worked as a private tutor. In 1947 she completed her examination in librarianship. In 1940 Pennanen joined the Lotta Svärd organization. During the Winter War (1939) and the Continuation War (1941-44), Pennanen was for a short time in labor service in Leppävirta and in the northern Karelia. From 1943 to 1948 she worked as an archivist at the publishing company WSOY, her own publisher, and then at an advertising agency (1949-1951). At the University of Helsinki she taught from 1967 to 1978. Between 1952 and 1957 Pennanen was the subeditor of the
literature magazine Parnasso, a mouthpiece of modernism, which
had been established in 1951. Pennanen avoided taking clear a side in
the cultural debates, but when she participated under the
pseudonym Mrs. Writer (Rouva Kirjailija) in the discussion book Toiset pidot tornissa
(1954) she critized elitism, self-satisfaction of educated
middle-class people, and the loss of individualism. "Ei ole enää
muodissa olla yksilö. Se on lapsellista tai – mikä vielä pahempaa –
naisellista." (Toiset pidot tornissa, edited by Eino S. Repo, Jyväskylä: Gummerus, 1954, p. 236)
Pennanen was the only woman in the discussion panel. (The members of
the group included Kauko Kare, Matti Kuusi, Yrjö Kivimies, Tuomas
Anhava, among others.) Pennanen wrote her first book, Ennen sotaa oli nuoruus (1942), rapidly after returning from Karelia. Partly the book drew on her experiences at the university. The central characters are three young women, Tuula, Hilkka, and Kirsti, who take sides in the ideological conflict between the conservative right wing AKS (Academic Carelia Society) and the ASS (the Academic Socialist Society) of left-wing students. Pennanen said once, that she identified herself Kirsti and Hilkka, not with Tuula, who just wants to have fun. The title of the book, 'Berofe the war there was youth,' summarized the experience of her generation. "Uskonto, seksuaalisuus, taide ovat kaikki ihmisen yksilöllisiä ilmaisuprosesseja. Uskonnonvapaus, seksualiteetin vapaus ja taiteen vapaus ovat individualistisia oikeuksia, ja näitten oikeuksien puute synnytti sellaisen kirjailijan, joka minä olin vuonna 1942." (Eila Pennanen in Miten kirjani ovat syntyneet. 1, Kirjailijoiden studia generalia 1968, edited by Ritva Rainio, Porvoo: WSOY, 1969) With this work Pennanen began her career as a writer which spanned fifty years. Her early works, Kaadetut pihlajat (1944), a return to childhood, Proomu lähtee yöllä (1945), and Pilvet vyöryvät (1947), a marriage novel, showed influenced by the Finnish literature of the thirties, but her style reflected the changes in contemporary life. The protagonist of Pilvet vyöryvät is Onni Oinaala, who has got syphilis during the war, and has contracted his wife Anni too. Onni's mistress commits suicide after having an abortion. Following a period of heavy drinking, Onni shoots himelf. The novel was dismissed by the influential critic and poet V. A. Koskenniemi as superfluous. Pennanen's short story collections, Tornitalo (1952), Pasianssi (1957), and Pientä rakkautta (1969) examined the relationship between individual and the society. In the 1950s Pennanen published historical novels. She recalled that the 1950s was a time still shadowed by WWII – there was something dark in the atmosphere. ('Millaisena muistan 1950-luvun' by Eila Pennanen, in Avoin ja suljettu: kirjoituksia 1950-luvusta suomalaisessa kulttuurissa, edited by Anna Makkonen, Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, 1992, pp. 203-209) With with the support of a stipend, she travelled in 1951 in France, Italy, and England, collecting material for these works. Pyhä Birgitta (1954) depicted the medieval Swedish mystic Saint Birgitta, a widow and mother of eight children, who tries to persuade the pope to return to Rome from Avignon. Largely based on dialogue, it broke with the tradition of Finnish historical novels which generally center around events and individual experiences. Valon lapset (1958) focused on the birth of Quaker movement in the 17th-century England. Pennanen followed with critical attitude the social changes and currents through the experience of her insecure and confused characters. Mutta (1963), a feminist novel about a middle-aged cleaning woman, received good reviews. Pennanen counted it among her best works. Mongolit (1966), sometimes characterized as a "debate book," took its subject from the bewilderment of the 1960s generation facing changes in their lives. The main character, Headmaster Eino Peura, concludes that the Finns hate themselves. The satirical Naisen kunnia (1975) was set in the narrow literary circles, and the double novel Kapakoitten maa (1977) and Lapsuuden lupaus (1979) portrayed the decline of a business family and its alcoholozed younger members. The theme of alcoholism was also central in her radio play Äiti ja poika (1979, Mother and Son). The Tampere trilogy (Himmu's loves, For the sake of finery; Garland of roses) from the 1970s is Pennanen's magnum opus. It portrayed lower middle-class life from the late 19th-century to the to stormy social changes of the General Strike of 1905 and to parliamentary reform. The story, set in the rapidly developing city of Tampere, included among its characters actual historical figures and well as a number of the author's relatives. Her historical family saga continued in Santalahden aika (1986), and Kulmatalon perhe (1988), bringing the events on the early independende years. A multifaceted and productive writer, Eila Pennanen published also essays, plays, and radio dramas. Her interests in literature ranged from Finnish classics and such Finnish authors of popular fiction as Mauri Sariola to English-language writers, such as E. M. Forster, Virginia Woolf, and William Golding, whom he greatly admired. Pennanen's first radio plays were Kauan sitten (1956), based on a novel, and Kylmät kasvot (1960), which she regarded as a failure. In the 1970s her radio dramas were directed by Marja Rankkala, beginning from Kultaiset leijonankäpälät (1971); the cast included Marita Nordberg, Seela Sella and Rauno Ketonen. Pennanen once said that she is not an "audio personality" and writing for the ear was not natural for her. However, she received the Radio Play Award of the Blind for Kultaiset leijonankäpälät and the Nordic Prize for Radio Drama for Mies ja hänen kolme vaimoaan (1978). Between
the years 1952 and 1980 Pennanen published five
expertly written collections of short stories. In the role of a
translator she was omnivorous – moving easily from Agatha Christie's
mystery novels to modern African literature. Her source language was
mostly English. When the acclaimed poet and
translator Pentti Saarikoski tried to
participate in her seminar on
translating, she said: "This is not for a genius like you, Pentti." (Pentti Saarikoski:
vuodet 1964-1983 by Pekka Tarkka, Helsingissä: Otava, 2004, p. 312)
As a part of the study program of translation, Pennanen's first course
at the University of Helsinki translated into Finnish Joan Fleming's Young man, I think you're dying
published by WSOY as Nuori mies,
kuolema kolkuttaa (1972). J. R. R. Tolkien's Taru sormusten
herrasta (Lord
of the Rings) Pennanen translated together with her very talented
student Kersti Juva. At that time Pennanen was writing the Tampere
trilogy and wanted to focus on it. But long before, Pennanen had fallen
under the spell of Tolkien's fantasy epic and written on it for Helsingin Sanomat. In her article,
entitled 'Satu maailman ahdistuksesta' (HS, 4.11.1961), Pennanen
translated the Hobbits as "hoobit" but Gollum was still Gollum. Juva
has recalled that it was Pennanen who invented the character's Finnish
name, "Klonkku". Pennanen supervised Juva's work, and reviewed her
final draft sentence by sentence. Her criticism
was gentle: "In here, your genius has been burning in low flame." The
third volume, Taru Sormusten
herrasta 3: Kuninkaan paluu,
was translated solely by Juva. Poems were translated by Panu Pekkanen. Pennanen was a member of the National Council for Literature (1966-1970, 1974-76). She received several literary awards, among them Aleksis Kivi Award in 1965. Pennanen died on January 23, 1994. She was married twice, first to the actor Alpo Vammelvuo, who was seven years her junior. They had two sons. After divorce in 1953 she married in 1961 Juhani Jaskari; they divorced in 1973. Vammelvuo was bisexual, he killed himself in 1963, at the age of 40. With her second husband, Pennanen translated into Finnish several works by Vladimir Nabokov. For further reading: 'Ekon från medeltiden. Om språkväxling i Eila Pennanens historiska roman Pyhä Birgitta och dess svenska översättning Birgitta sierskan' by Harry Lönnroth, in Språkmöten i skönlitteratur: perspektiv på litterär flerspråkighet, edited by Siv Björklund och Harry Lönnroth (2016); Naisen yksilöityminen suomalaisessa kirjallisuudessa 1950-luvulla by Iiris Kuusinen (2008); Hitaasti kudotut nopeat hetket: kirjoittamisen assosiaatiosta 1900-luvun suomalaisessa proosassa by Olli Jalonen (2006); Oidipus oli mies: psykohistoriallinen elämäkerta Eila Pennasesta vuoteen 1952 saakka by Saara Kesävuori (2003); 'Pennanen' by Markku Envall, in A History of Finland's Literature, edited by George C. Schoolfield (1998); 'Millaisena muistan 1950-luvun' by Eila Pennanen, in Avoin ja suljettu: kirjoituksia 1950-luvusta suomalaisessa kulttuurissa, edited by Anna Makkonen (1992); 'Eila Pennanen,' in Miten kuunnelmani ovat syntyneet, edited by Matti Savolainen (1983); 'Eila Pennanen - Reality versus Morality' by Pekka Tarkka, in Books from Finland, Issue (1982); 'Eila Pennanen,' in A History of Finnish Literature by Jaakko Ahokas (1973); Tervetultua tervemenoa: Jarnon saaga 1-2 by Jarno Pennanen (1970); 'Eila Pennanen,' in Miten kirjani ovat syntyneet. 1, Kirjailijoiden studia generalia, edited by Ritva Rainio (1969) Selected works:
|