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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
rejected the romantic concept of true love as false and presented the
society as it really is from a woman's point of view. Jotuni's major
novel was Huojuva talo (1963, The Quaking House), about a marriage that turns into a hell under the regime of a tyrannical husband. "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: romaani by Maria Jotuni, Helsingissä: Otava, 1963, p. 560) 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 is her early teens 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. At the beginning of the century, she
finnicized her surname from the Swedish Haggrén to Jotuni. 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, she met her future husband, Viljo Tarkiainen
(1879-1951), who
lectured there and later was appointed Professor of Literature.
Tarkiainen became her suitor in 1903, when they edited together with
Edvard
Richter a critical catalogue of amateur plays. They
married in 1911 and had two children, Jukka and Tuttu. In the aftermath of the
new surname law of 1921, Jotuni suggested that their childred would
adopt her surname instead of Tarkiainen – she considered
it ugly. 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 was contemporary with such other noted feminist writers as Aino Kallas, L. Onerva, and Edith Södegran. Her first collection of short stories, Suhteita (1905, Relationships), did not attract much attention. Rakkautta (1907, Love), another collection, was a look at the many sides of love, in which, behind the facade of respectability, lay the hidden world of selfishness, disillusionment, unhappiness, and hypocrisy: "Etkö luule, että jokaisella näillä on pienet ikävyytensä — ettei elämä ole läheskään sitä, miltä se näyttää." (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 'Eriika,' in Rakkautta by Maria Haggrén-Jotuni, Helsinki: Yrjö Weilin, 1907, p. 126) Werner Söderhjelm said in his review that those characters in
the book, who didn't love, were in general more interesting than those
who did. "Suurella kylmyydellä, erinomaisella varmuudella ja — ainakin
osittain — hämmästyttävällä asiantuntemuksella esitetään tässä
novellipätkäkokoelmassa rakkauden eri puolia. . . . Minun täytyy
myöntää, että ne hänen henkilöistään, jotka eivät rakasta, ylipäänsä
ovat paljon mieltäkiinnittävämmät kuin ne, jotka rakastavat." (Valvoja, Loka-marraskuu, 10-11 vihko, 1907, p. 658) Although Jotuni'
attitude towars sex was positive, she managed to touch the subjects of illicit
love, adultery, incest, and sexual aberrations. 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. 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. Returning the compliment, Jotuni published an essay on
Hamsun in the magazine Valvoja. Also 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. By nature, Jotuni was a private person. She traveled in 1909 in Germany and Switzerland, visiting a lot of museums. As a new literary voice, Jotuni was invited to the home of Professor J. J. Mikkola and Maila Talvio, who hosted a cultural salon frequented by L. Onerva, Ilmari Calamnius (Ilmari Kianto), Larin-Kyösti, Kasimir Leino, and many Russian writers. The collective novel Arkielämää (1909, Ordinary Life) was well received. Its central character is "Reverend" Nyman (pappi Nymanni), a drunkard wanderer, who listens to people's confessions, their secret sorrows and pleasures, within a period of a day and night in a rural village. The work was translated into Swedish, German, and Estonian. Many of Jotuni's short stories have an ironic mode. They were
often based on dialogue, in which
she confronted two different world views. Jotuni depicted the battle of
the sexes both in cultured urban circles and in poor villages in the
countryside. Among her best-known characters is Matami Röhelin, a grotesque nursemaid,
who asks for a higher fee: "Sillä jos lapsi kuolee — niitä ei tiedä
pieninä, niin on kirstuvaatteet laitettavat ja kellot ja papit
kustannettavat — niin, näkeekö frööken, nihinkin menee pitkälle
kolmattakymmentä. Se on aina minulta mennyt." (from 'Matami Röhelin,' in Rakkautta, p. 77) Hilda Husso, the mother of an illegitimate child, was featured
in Suhteita.
She makes a blackmail call to Mr. Aksel Lundqvist, apparently the
father of the child. The story is based on her replies: "Maksakaa
hyvällä lapsesta ja silloin se on
minun puoleltani sovittu. Minä olen antanut sen ulos eräälle muijalle
ja olen itse täällä maatsalongissa sisäkkönä. Jos Lundqvist maksaa
lapsen edestä, niin minä painan koko asian, eihän se riidalla parane." (from 'Hilda Husso,' in Suhteita: harjoitelmia by Maria Haggrén, Helsingissä: Otava, 1905, p. 48) Jotuni's masterful use of dialogue led her soon to drama. Vanha koti (1910, The 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, When You Have Feelings) and Martinin rikos (1914, Martin's Crime). Miehen kylkiluu (1914, The Man's Rib) created doubts and suspicions in advance on account of its morality. However, this erotic carrousel about two woman who want to marry the same man, a kind of Don Juan, became highly popular. At the end one of the characters, Amalia, turns the title upside down: man is made from a wife's rib. "Vaan minä sanon: Ei ole ollut näkijää, paremmin tuo vaimon kylkiluusta lienee koko mies tehty." (Miehen kylkiluu: Kolminäytöksinen huvinäytelmä, in Näytelmät by Maria Jotuni, edited by Irmeli Niemi, Helsingissä: Otava, 1981, p. 133) Miehen kylkiluu was filmed in 1937, but the screenplay, made by Ilmari Unho and the director Orvo Saarikivi, did not have the sharpness and humor of the original work. The Civil War prompted Jotuni to write Kultainen vasikka (1918, Eng. tr. The Golden Calf), a satire on financial speculations and corruption of values. Ritva Arvelo's screen version of the play from 1961 received State film award, but failed commercially. HERMAN Katariina has speculated. Tohvelisankarin rouva (1924, The Wife of the Henpecked Husband), 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. Today, the play is regarded as Jotuni's best comedy. ". . . I laugh. Isn't life funny if it's taken seiously." (Tohvelisankarin rouva: Kolminäytöksinen huvinäytelmä, in Näytelmät, p. 394) The award-winning tragedy Klaus, Louhikon herra was based on a folk ballad, "Elinan surma" (The Murder of Elina). 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. Avonainen lipas, her first collection of aphorisms, came out in 1929, and the last, Jäähyväiset, in 1949. The books covered a variety of topics, all the big questions, but especially Jotuni was interested in human behaviour, how people think and act, and her own psyche. "Minä opin ihmistä tuntemaan paljon enemmän niistä, jotka minulle pahaa tekevät, kuin niistä, jotka minulle hyvää tekevät." (Avonainen lipas by Maria Jotuni, Helsingissä: Otava, 1929, p. 69) In the liberal newspaper Helsingin Sanomat Jotuni wrote ironically what horrors new technology, in this case the automobile, brings with it. Her column was published in 1913 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." (from 'Automobiili' by Maria Jotuni, translated by Hildi Hawkins, in Helsinki: A Literary Companion, edited by Hildi Hawkins and Soila Lehtonen, Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2000, p. 106) 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.
"Ja häntä ärsytti se, että Lea hallitsi häntä ja nytkin oli jotenkin
voitonpuolella. Mutta tahtomattaan hän ihaili Leaa. Oikeastaan Lea oli
hänelle sopiva. Eikä hän ollut tällä kertaa aikonut nostaa tappelua. Se
tuli itsestään. Nuo lyönnit eivät olleet mitään, sen näytti Lea
tajuavan." (Ibid., p. 439) The book was finished in the 1930s, but the manuscript remained
unpublished for decades. Huojuva talo obviously contained elements
from Jotuni's own marriage, feelings of alienation from her
husband, who originally encouraged her to continue with the work. Tarkiainen was infamous for his short temper. His students
said that he used to bang the lecturer's desk with his fist in rage. He
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. Maaria Koskiluoma's adaption of Jotuni's
novel was first staged at the Lappeenranta City Theater in 1983 and
then performed at the Oslo Theater Festival. A five-part TV drama directed by Eija-Elina
Bergholm was broadcast in 1995. After
the Civil War (1917-18), Jotuni occasionally felt
irritated, perhaps because of atmosphere of home and society. She also
had hormonal imbalances and began to have heart symptoms, which
troubled her for the rest of her
life. The family moved in 1921 to Cygnaeus Street. It remained the
Tarkiainens permanent address in Helsinki. Jotuni collected
antiquities, especially she was interested in "Le style
Louis XIV." With her husband, Jotuni bought in 1919 a small house on the
shore of Lake Tuusula. It was meant to be the summer home for the whole family, but she did
not like being close to nature. Moreover, the light summer nights got
on her nerves, and she rather stayed in the city in the summertime,
writing alone in their apartment on the Cygnaeus Street. The reclusive
periods in empty rooms, filled with furniture covered with sheets, were
not good for her. Jotuni developed fears and anxieties, but maintained
a cheerful tone in letters to her family. Little is known of Jotuni's private life as she refused most
interviews.
From the 1920s, she suffered from jealousy and was constantly
asking where her husband had been, what he had been doing etc. There is no evidence of him being unfaithful. Although
the couple
was never able to overcome their differences, they keep up the facade
of a happy marriage. In 1938,
Jotuni received the Aleksis Kivi Award, for the disappointmed of
Koskenniemi, who thought he would be given the honour.
Her play, Amerikan morsian (The bride from America), finished
after the award, was not performed until 1966. Maria Jotuni died on September
30, 1943, in Helsinki. Norsunluinen laulu (1947), a collection of short stories and fragments, came out posthumously. For further reading: Maria Jotuni: Maria Jotunin koottujen teosten ilmestymisen johdosta by Viljo Tarkiainen (1930); Huumorin sukupolvi 1900-luvun suomalaisessa kirjallisuudessa: Suurlakon ja ensimmäisen maailmansodan välisenä aikana humoristisen tuotantonsa aloittaneet kertoma- ja näytelmäkirjailijat by Unto Kupiainen (1954); 'Maria Jotuni,' in Aleksis Kivestä Martti Merenmaahan; suomalaisten kirjailijain elämäkertoja (1954); Maria Jotunin näytelmät: tutkimus niiden aiheista, rakenteesta ja tyylistä by Irmeli Niemi (1964); A History of Finnish Literature by Jaakko Ahokas (1973); Orfeus nukkuu: tutkielmie kirjallisuudesta 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); 'Descriptions of the People: Jotuni and Lassila' by Kai Laitinen, in A History of Finland's Literature, ed. by George C. Schoolfield (1998); Arki ja tunteet: Maria Jotunin elämä ja kirjailijantyö by Irmeli Niemi (2001); Maria Jotuni: vain ymmärrys ja hymy by Kari Tarkiainen (2013); Suomalaisia naiskirjailijoita: Minna Canth, Maria Jotuni ja Aino Kallas by Silja Vuorikuru (2019); Alkukantaisuus ja tunteet: primitivismi 1900-luvun alun suomalaisessa kirjallisuudessa by Riikka Rossi (2020); Omat huoneet: missä naiset kirjoittivat vuosisata sitten by Suvi Ratinen (2021); Tutkijan testamentti: kolmen kovan naisen matkassa: Minna Canth, Maria Jotuni, Hella Wuolijoki by Jukka Ammondt (2023); 'Maria Jotunin novellien edustuksellisuuden poetiikka' by Anna Kuutsa, in Kirjailijapoetiikat: poetiikan näkökulmia kirjailijoiden tuotantoon, edited by Saija Isomaa, Samuli Björninen, Mari Hatavara and Nanny Jolma (2024) Selected works:
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