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Helvi Hämäläinen (1907 - 1998) - wrote also as Annikki Heinä |
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Finnish writer who continued her literary career from the 1930s up to the 1990s. After a long silence as a writer, Helvi Hämäläinen entered into the publicity in 1988, when she was awarded the Finlandia Prize for Literature for her collection of poems Sukupolveni unta (Dreams of my generation). The tribute created interest in Hämäläinen's earlier work as well. Emme ole unohtaneet teitä tuntemattomat sotilaamme. Helvi Hämäläinen was born in Hamina, the daughter of Aaro
Hämäläinen, a tanner, and Iida Maria (Mikkelson) Hämäläinen. The family
moved in 1918 to Helsinki. Hämäläinen's father died of a heart attack
in 1920, leaving his family in poverty. Hämäläinen has said that
nobody missed him when he was away – "Mitä se sellainen rakkaus on. . . . Miksi en itkenyt häntä enkä kaivannut häntä, kun hän oli poissa..." (from Ketunkivellä: Helvi Hämäläisen elämä 1907-1985, by Ritva Haavikko & Helvi Hämäläinen, 1993) She studied at Helsingin Uusi Yhteiskoulu, where she edited the school magazine Sarastus. Hämäläinen ended her studies on the seventh class in 1929 and devoted herself to literary pursuits. While still at school, during the winter and spring of 1927-28, Hämäläinen wrote the short novel Kaunis sielu.
It was not published until 2001. The fragmentary story consists of the
interior monologue of a young woman
who has shot her married lover. She tells the readers that in the
following trial she was considered insane and released. She walks
around the city, her mind filled with aesthetic imaginings,
hallucinations, and fantasies. After some months she dies of
tuberculosis. The model of the narrative situation was most likely
shaped by Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground. Hämäläinen sent the novel to different publishers, but it was repeatedly turned down, and eventually the manuscript was forgotten in her archives.
She thought the work was too daring, but not because of her
experimental portrayal of a mad, murderous woman. " . . . and that was
namely because its topic was such an odd one as lesbianism. You
understand, of course, that at this time such a topic was not
published." (Fictions of Madness: Shattering Minds and Worlds in Modernist Finnish Literature by Anna Ovaska, 2020, p. 48) In the mid-1920s Hämäläinen joined the literary association Nuoren Voiman Liitto,
and met such writers as Elina Vaara, Lauri Viljanen, Arvi Kivimaa. Mika Waltari
read her poems, encouraged her to continue, and published her verses in the anthology Nuoret runoilijat 1934,
which he edited.
Hämäläinen's first book, Hyväntekijä
(1930, The benefactor), was published by WSOY. Its cover, designed by
the sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen, featured a cubist drawing of a sitting
man, a variation for his idea for the statue of Aleksis Kivi. (Kirjan kasvot by Ville Hänninen, 2017, pp. 55-56) The book nothing to do with the monument. Hyväntekijä
received mixed reviews. It was followed by the novels Lumous (1934, Enchantment) and Katuojan vettä (1935,
Gutter water), the latter reflected her working class background. Motherhood and the cyclic, regenerative nature of life was a central theme in Hämäläinen's early fiction, including Tyhjä syli (1937, The empty lap), in which a childless, married woman wants to have a baby, even if it means having an extra-marital relationship. Some of Hämäläinen's critics referred to D.H. Lawrence's sexual mysticism. In 1931 Hämäläinen married Niilo Haapman, a
bohemian; the marriage ended officially in 1936. Actually the marriage
lasted only a few weeks. Hämäläinen gave him money to return to his
home in Porvoo and she was left alone with her child. Niilo Haapman was
killed in 1941 during the Continuation War by a snipers bullet.
Hämäläinen's sister foud her a small apartment, where she lived three
years with her mother and son. Katuojan vettä depicted the
house and its poor people during the Depression. Although Hämäläinen
tried to find work and write as much as she could, her major source of
income was poor relief. She was ashamed of her shabby clothing. Without attracting much popular applause, Hämäläinen continued to publish prose works and poems.
To earn extra income she translated one of Netta Muskett's romantic
novels into Finnish. Before Lumous was published by Gummerus in
1934, the manuscript was turned down by Otava and WSOY. Hämäläinen was
helped by the writer Olavi Paavolainen, one of the most influential
literary opinion leaders between the World Wars in Finland. Lumous, about a woman who leaves her husband and children to live with her true love, gained a critical and commercial success, and Hämäläinen could move to a bigger apartment. The Communist writer and journalist Jarno Pennanen (1906-1969) visited her home on Suvantotie 17 several times and gave her the Communist Manifest. Other writer friends were Oiva Paloheimo (1910-1973) and Saima Harmaja (1915-1937). A withdrawn person, she did not join the social struggle of the leftist Kiila poets. In 1938 Hämäläinen traveled to Paris. On her journey she spent a
night in Berlin, where felt that the atmosphere of might was perhaps
similar to that which prevailed in the ancient Rome. From Berlin she
bought a set of underwear. The Winter War (1939-40) gave birth to the
poem 'Talvisota' ("We have the right to celebrate our honour"): "Meillä on oikeus juhlia kunniaamme, / surumme
kunniaa, / meillä on oikeus nostaa lippu tappiomme muistoksi, / meillä
on oikeus muistojemme tuskaan." A
number of Hämäläinen's poems and prose works were written in the village
of Häränoja, Somerniemi, where she bought a three-room house in 1941. She moved there for economic reasons – it was cheaper to live in the country.In
the summertime, Hämäläinen's small figure became a familiar sight on
the carriage roads and paths. She walked a lot – Hämäläinen never
learned to ride
a bicycle. At its best, the place seemed to her as a
haven of everlasting peace, but at its worst, the surroundings folded around her like a "poisoned cape." ('Poisoned cape,' in Nights of killing, 1957) Generally,
the tone of Hämäläinen's poems is defiant
and unyielding, or self-accusative when she acknowledges her
difficulties in creating contacts with the locals: " . . . my mouth was
full of poison / my wild bony mouth." ('Snake,' in Nights of killing, 1957) Basically
she accepted her outsiderness as an artist responsible only to her art:
"God loves my poems / because he loves birds, / because he loves
the cloud, the moon, and the rose / and the hawk and freedom." ('My ink bottle,' in The red mourning dress, 1958) During the Continuation War (1941-44),
in the autumn of 1941, the paths of Hämäläinen of Paavolainen separated
– she did not meet him again. Hoping that he would visit her in
Häränoja, she promised to warm up the sauna and make him a comfortable
bed. Paavolainen died in 1964, and after
hearing the news Hämäläinen wrote the poem 'Kuolinpäivä' (Death day),
which was published in the collection Poltetut enkelit (1965,
Burned angels). "Kuollut, kuollut, sinun hautasi on minussa, / minun
kieleni alla, minun ohimossani, / minun hiuksissani elä, elät." After
WW II Hämäläinen focused mostly on verse. Central images are
the moon, bones, stones, the ice, wounds, the horse, and the angel. In the 1950s Hämäläinen's closest female friend was Elina Vaara, a poet who had been married to the artist Einari Vehmas. Another important acquaintance was the leftist writer Elvi Sinervo (1912-1986). Before the publication of Voikukkapyhimykset (1947, Dandelion saints), a collection of poems, sections of it were discussed in Sweden, where her novels had been published by Norstedt & Söners Förlag. She wrote with an impulsive style, which in the 1950s did not fit in the modernistic mainstream – vivid, visually colorful expression also characterized her novels and short stories. Raakileet, a tale of youthful excess, was rejected by the publisher. From the 1950s she recorded her personal thoughts in her diaries,
over 160 thick notebooks. A selection was published in 1994. After the
death of President Kennedy in 1963 she said in a poem: "He had only
three stages of life: / childhood, youth, manhood". When her poem
'Syksy' (Autumn) was read on a radio program, one of her friends called asking
"are you seriously ill when they read you on radio?" In the 1961 she
joined the Orthodox Church. Her mother, who had died in 1951, was often in her thoughts. In 1976, on Paavolainen's death day on August 19, Hämäläinen mentions in her diary that she brought again flowers to his grave. In the 1980s desperation and sadness dominated her diary entries. Hämäläinen tried to read The New Testament, but felt that she is far from God – "I can't even pray." (January 27, 1985). In Sukupolveni unta, a collection of poems, Hämäläinen defended the
honor of the Winter War generation, speaking frankly and with
directness that was felt authentic and genuine. The work returned to the
apocalyptic themes of Sokeat lähteet (1967, Blind
springs), after which she had stopped publishing new collections of
poetry for two decades. Hämäläinen proclamation against war and
destruction of the environment reminded the readers of the experience of her
generation; it was something that should not be forgotten. Helvi Hämäläinen died
on January 17, 1998, at the age of 90, in Espoo. Her grave is in the
Helsinki Orthodox Cemetery. Hämäläinen's diaries were opened for
research in 2023. Hämäläinen's best-known work is the revealing marriage novel Säädyllinen murhenäytelmä (A genteel tragedy). This roman à clef was partly censored in 1939 for political reasons. Much of the work was written in Häränoja. Säädyllinen murhenäytelmä focused on forbidden passions behind the facade of middle-class respectability. The highly influential critic V. A. Koskenniemi, who read the manuscript and perhaps wanted to protect some of his friends, preferred it not to be published. Especially Koskenniemi criticized its sexual scenes. WSOY accepted the manuscript, but the first printing was destroyed and the book was given to Yrjö Kivimies for editing. Hints to homosexualism, criticism of National socialism and Hitler were censored, two chapters were removed, and nearly all topical issues were taken away. When the book finally appeared in 1941, it caused storm. The central
characters were easily recognized as Tyyni and Oiva Tuulio, A-M
Tallgren, and Olavi Paavolainen, members of the cultural elite. "I fell
in love with Olavi in the spring of 1938," she wrote in her memoir in
1993, but the portrait of Paavolainen was less than flattering in her novel.
At that time Paavolainen had an affair with the Estonian actress Liina
Reiman. In the story Dr. Tauno Saarinen (Oiva Tuulio) falls in love with a 17-year-old servant girl, who becomes pregnant. Naimi Saarinen, his sister (the writer herself), is encouraged by her brother's erotic awakening and returns to her former husband. The need to love and to be loved break the life of two families and reveal the emptiness of the protagonists, who are used to control their emotions by the intellect. Säädyllinen murhenäytelmä has been compared to such depictions of ritualized bourgeois life style as Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks and John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga. It also had a sequel, Kadotettu puutarha, which was finished in 1951, but published forty years later. It looked at the war era and patriotism among the educated classes, and brought the story into the years of post-war resignation. "But she had never stopped feeling and remembering that their family circle, so full of love and quiet unity, had never fully recovered from the war. It had been shattered, shattered for ever. It was a vanished ideal, she felt, a treasure destroyed, and one could only resign oneself, submissevily and quietly, to its loss." (translated by Herbert Lomas, in Helsinki: A Literary Companion, edited by Hildi Hawkins, Soila Lehtonen, 2000) The short novel Pouta (1946) received a positive review from Koskenniemi. Decades later Hämäläinen edited a selection of Koskenniemi's poems, Jääkukkia
(1995, Ice flowers). Although some
of her fiction contain historical subject mater (ancient Rome and
Palestine), for the most part her works depict village society and its
reaction to various social and psychological changes. From the beginning of her career, Hämäläinen's poetry remained relatively independent of the literary trends of her time – in the 1920s she wrote in Kalevala-meter, when the influential literary group Tulenkantajat (The Flame Bearers) advocated liberal and avant-garde trends. Typical for her poems is the use of fantasy and fairy tale. There is also traces of shamanism and folk tradition, which resonated naturally with her literary voice. For further reading: A History of Finnish Literature by Jaakko Ahokas (1973); Tie härjänojaan: muistiinpanoja kirjailija Helvi Hämäläisen suvun taipaleelta by Esko Rahikainen (1987); Löytöretki lapsuuteen, edited by Heli Karjalainen (1988); Suomalainen jumala, edited by Margit Laitinen, et al. (1988); Kuinka suuri onkaan vapaus by Tuovi Monola (1989); Ketunkivellä. Helvi Hämäläisen elämä 1907-1954 by Ritva Haavikko and Helvi Hämäläinen (1993); Päiväkirjat 1955-1988 by Helvi Hämäläinen (1994); Armon tyhjiössä: kristillinen eksistentialismi eräissä Mika Waltarin, Helvi Hämäläisen ja Paavo Rintalan 1950-luvun romaaneissa by Eija Komu (1985); 'The Period of Independence I, 1917-1960' by Markku Envall, in A History of Finland's Literature, edited by George C. Schoolfield (1998); Kylä, kirjailija ja talonemäntä by Esko Rahikainen (2003); Ei kenenkään veli by Marjut Kähkönen (2004); Ei kenenkään veli: naiskirjailijuuden metaforat Helvi Hämäläisen lyriikassa by Marjut Kähkönen (2004); Fictions of Madness: Shattering Minds and Worlds in Modernist Finnish Literature by Anna Ovaska (2020); Mitä Helvi Hämäläinen todella sanoi? by Suvi Ahola (2023) - See also: Maria Jotuni, whose tragic description of a marriage, Huojuva talo (The swaying house), written in the 1930s, was likewise not published until 30 years after it was written. Selected work:
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