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Johannes Linnankoski (1869-1913) - pseudonym for Johannes Vihtori Peltonen |
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Finnish novelist, playwright, and journalist, one of the most prominent figures in the language campaign of the mid-1905, during which some 100 000 people changed their surname into Finnish. Johannes Linnankoski's internationally best-known work is Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta (1905, The Song of the Blood-Red Flower). It has been adapted into screen several times. Linnankoski's central themes, love for freedom and love for countryside, honest work, manly responsibility, and high ethical principles were also prominent in his non-fiction, written as popular education for farmers. "He drew closer to her side, and tried to fasten the red flowers at her breast. But as he bent down, his hair touched hers. He felt it first as a soft, secret caress, hardly daring to believe it, then it was like a burning current through his body, that stayed tingling like fire in his veins. His breath seemed to choke him, his heart felt as if it would burst. Passionately he threw his arms about her and held her close." (from The Song of the Blood-Red Flower) Johannes Linnankoski was born Johannes Vihtori Peltonen in Askola, the youngest child of Juho Henrikinpoika Peltonen and Maria Juhontytär Peltonen. His father was a tenant farmer, who drank much of the family's income. Maria was religious and practical housewife, she was very close to the young Johannes. The Bible was important for both of the parents, and later Linnankoski used its motifs in several works. At school he was a good student, Hishis first writings appeared in the newpaper Suometar. He also wrote poems, and composed two unpublished novels under the influence of Aleksis Kivi, Juhani Aho, and Pietari Päivärinta. In his youth Linnankoski worked on a building site and as a log floater. Like the older writer Minna Canth, he studied in Jyväskylä at the Teacher's College. After conflicts with teachers – drinking was one of the problems – Linnankoski left the college in 1889 and found employment as a journalist for Keski-Suomi for some months. Upon falling in love with the wife of his friend, he wrote the unfinished short story 'Kosto'. Later he returned to some of its themes in the novel Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta. In 1891, he moved to Porvoo, where he worked for the publishing house Werner Söderström. After two year's military service, he was appointed chief editor of the newly founded newspaper Uusimaa in Porvoo, Runeberg's hometown. In his articles he defended the rights of tenant farmers, which was angrily noted by the owners of large farms and estates, who "owned" tenants. In 1899, Linnankoski suddenly resingned from his post. He married in the same year Ester Josefina Drugg; they had four children. Dugg was a Swedish language teacher, and an active defender of women's rights. Linnankoski moved with her to Karinais, where he devoted himself entirely to writing. During these years he made living by
translation, in which he was helped by his wife. He translated into Finnish
from a great variety of fields, sexual education, folk education,
agriculture, war history, botany, preservation of game etc. He also
published such booklets as Asutus- ja rakennusjärjestelmä maaseudulla (1900), dealing with the policy of settlement in the countryside, and Puhetaito
(1901), about rhetoric. From Karinais the Linnankoskis moved to
Alapitkä in the Northern Savo, where he hoped to find complete peace
for his literary work. Linnankoski took very seriously his humanistic
self-education – he had a list of four-hundred
literary masterpieces of world literature, which he read in Finnish and in Swedish and
German translations. Unto Kupiainen has said, that in the Finnish literature history, there
has been only two completely humourless writers, Pietari Päivärinta and
Johannes Linnankoski. Ikuinen taistelu
(1903, Eternal struggle), Linnankoski's first major play, was about the
search for the unknown. It came out under the pseudonym Johannes
Linnankoski – the
author took the name from small rapids in his home region. This solemn
drama, influenced, among others, by Milton and Byron, was based on Cain
and Abel story. Linnnankoski had read Byron's Cain
(1821) in German, translated by Adolf Seubert, but whereas Byron's
protagonist is a philosopher and wanderer, Linnankoski portrays his
Kain as a man of practice. The play gained a huge success and received the Finnish Literature Associaton Award. As a drama it was too large for small theaters and the public was not interested. Ikuinen taistelu was performed in full-length first time in Tampere in 1909 and then in Helsinki. Linnankoski's romantic pseudonym stirred much curiosity, and helped to created extra interest around the author. The Linnankoskis moved in 1903 to Koski in the Western Finland.
After years of unsettled life, they found a permanent home in Askola. As a novelist Linnankoski made his debut in 1905 with Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta (The Song of the Blood-Red Flower),
a lyrical Don Juan adaptation on the amorous adventures of a
lumberjack, Olavi, who finally must take responsibility of his life.
Along with a group of loggers he goes down the river from girl to girl,
until he returns to start a family with Kyllikki. Thanks to its
operetta-like plot, colorful style, and its carefree hero – the
achetype of the later lumberjack heroes of Finnish films – the novel
was an internatioal bestseller in its time and has been translated into
19 languages, Czech,
Slovak, and Latvian included. In France it appeared as Chant de la fleur rouge in 1934. Because the book contained a
couple of stories published before under the name Vihtori Peltonen, Linnankoski's
pseudonym was eventually revealed to the wider public. A record that most likely won't be broken for a long
time, if
ever, is that Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta has been filmed five times. The first
adaptations were made in Sweden (Mauritz Stiller, 1919 and Per-Axel
Brenner, 1934); Gustav Molander's version, shot in color, premiered in
1956. Commissioned by Swedish Biograph, Armas Järnefelt, the brother of Arvid Järnefelt
and Jean Sibelius's brother-in-law, composed the music for
Stiller's film. At that time Järnefelt was the chief conductor at the
Royal Swedish Opera. It took about three months to complete the work.
Järnefelt knew the precise timings of the scenes to be scored, but when
film was shown with a live orchestra, the music did not fit the scenes,
which had been reedited. Järnefelt was forced to make modifications to
the original score, which was rediscovered in the 1980s. The composer
himself conducted the orchestra at the premiere at the Röda Kvarn
theatre in Stockholm. Teuvo Tulio's film version from 1938 was scripted by the writer Yrjö Kivimies, who left much
of the
author's dialogue intact. The cinematographer Fred Runeberg borrowed
from Russian and European avatgarde. Tulio was the master of Finnish
melodrama, and his film has been considered more erotic than Mikko
Niskanen's 1971 remake of Linnankoski's logger story. This adaptation, set in the 1930s, was written by Panu Rajala. In the late 1905, during a large wave of strikes and and political
crisis, Linnankoski tried to mediate between different parties with
such writings as Kuinka Suomea rakennetaan (1905), and Kirot (1907),
a minor allegorical play about the struggle against Russification in
Finland. For a short time he considered himself "almost Socialist," but
in 1907 he predicted that "there will be time we have to fight for
individualism against Socialism." With the help of a grant from WSOY,
Linnankoski traveled in 1908 widely in Europe. Continuing his self
education, he
visited sights which he had only seen in books and pictures. Deeply
impressed by the Milan Cathedral, he played with the idea fiction with
a similar grand design. The plays Simson ja Delila (1911, Samson and Delilah) and Jeftan tytär (1911, Jephta's daughter), based on biblical themes, never drew large audiences – Jephta's Daughter was short and suitable only as a part of larger program. Linnankoski's career as a
full-time writer spanned ten years. His last work was Sirpaleita
(1913), a collection of short stories. Johannes Linnakoski died at the
age of 44 in
Helsinki, on August 10, 1913. It is said that his last words were, "Life does not end
here, it goes on forever." Linnankoski had suffered from ill health for
years; anemia made him tired and he did not have enough strenght to
start his novel, entitled Kolme Yrjöä, a story about three
brothers; the protagonist would echo the struggles
and aspirations of the writer himself. "Ei kylmiä neron näytteitä, vaan lämmintä elämää: raivota poeettisesti, haaveilla meloodisesti, kylpeä päivänpaisteessa, kuulla ruohon kasvavan, ymmärtää lintujen kieltä jne." (from Linnankoski's notebook 'Vähä katkismus') Among Linnankoski's later major works is the novella Taistelu Heikkilän talosta (1907, The struggle for Heikkilä's farm), in which the wife of a drunkard beats her husband with a leather strap. Pakolaiset (The refugees) told about a family tragedy Linnankoski had witnessed in the Northern Savo. The novel was written in a relatively short period of time in the autumn of 1908. The central character is an old peasant, Juha Uutela, who marries a woman much younger than himself, only to find out that she is pregnant for another man. After a suicide attempt Uutela accepts his moral responsibility and acknowledges the child. The title of the novel do not refer to political refugees, but the ways the characters avoid the truth in order to escape guilt and shame. Much irreplaceable cultural
history was destroyed forever when the only copy of Tulio's film adaptation of Taistelu Heikkilän talosta
(1936) – along with films by many
other directors – was lost in the fire of Adams Filmi offices in 1959. Nowadays the short story
'Hilja, maitotyttö' (1920) is remembered for its screen adaptation from
1953, starring the voluptuous young Anneli Sauli; she was discovered by
the producer and director Toivo Särkkä, who clearly understood that her
naked scenes, which had little to do with the original story, would
create a sensation. For further reading: 'Muuan Johannes Linnankosken nuoruudenruno' by Ester Linnankoski, in Kuinka meistä tuli kirjailijoita (1916); Johannes Linnankoski by Werner Söderhjelm (1918); Johannes Linnankosken 'Ikuinen taistelu' by Aarne Anttila (1922); Vihtori Peltonen - Johannes Linnankoski I-II by Aarne Anttila (1921-1927); 'Johannes Linnankoski,' in Aleksis Kivestä Martti Merenmaahan: suomalaisten kirjailijain elämäkertoja (1954); Tutkimus Johannes Linnankosken 'Pakolaisten' tyylistä by Leevi Valkama (1957); 'Johannes Linnankoski' by Kerttu Saarenheimo, in Valitut teokset by Johannes Linnankosk (1973); A History of Finnish Literature by Jaakko Ahokas (1973); Elämän tulipunakukka by Leevi Mäittälä (1979); 'Johannes Linnankoski' by Panu Rajala, in Johanns Linnankoski, Kodin suuret klassikot (1987);'The Rise of Finnish-Language Literature 1860-1916' by Kai Laitinen, in A History of Finland's Literature, edited by George C. Schoolfield (1998); Haltiakuusen alla: suomalaisia kirjailijakoteja by Anne Helttunen, Annamari Saure (2012); 'Johannes Linnankoski: Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta (1905)' & 'Teuvo Tulio: Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta (1938),' in 50 suomalaista kirjaa ja elokuvaa by Juri Nummelin (2017); Puolesta ja vastaan: esseitä kirjoista ja aatteista, edited by Katriina Kajannes and Matti Kuhna (2020) - Note: Linnankoski Award, founded in 1942. Linnankoski's statue, by the sculptor Kalervo Kallio, is situated in Porvoo Selected works:
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