A1 Journal article (refereed)
"Sanakirjat pitkin pöytää" : kuvallisuuden suhde avantgardeen Pentti Saarikosken 1960-luvun poliittisessa lyriikassa (2012)
The Relation of the Figurativeness to the Avant-Gardism in Pentti Saarikoski’s Political Lyrics of the 1960’s


Ylitalo, R. (2012). "Sanakirjat pitkin pöytää" : kuvallisuuden suhde avantgardeen Pentti Saarikosken 1960-luvun poliittisessa lyriikassa. Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakauslehti Avain, 9(3), 49-62. https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74879


JYU authors or editors


Publication details

All authors or editors: Ylitalo, Riikka

Journal or series: Kirjallisuudentutkimuksen aikakauslehti Avain

ISSN: 1795-3790

eISSN: 2242-3796

Publication year: 2012

Volume: 9

Issue number: 3

Pages range: 49-62

Publisher: Kirjallisuudentutkijain Seura

Place of Publication: Helsinki

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: Finnish

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30665/av.74879

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/80366


Abstract

In Saarikoski’s political poems, there are two things combined: figurativeness which is the traditional medium of poetry, and political radicalism. This combination is part of Saarikoski’s “political poetics”. Not much academic research has been carried out about Saarikoski’s lyrics, but it’s been studied earlier by for example Janna Kantola and H. K. Riikonen. In Saarikoski’s political-regarded works of the 1960’s, the most avant-garde-influenced are Mitä tapahtuu todella? (“What really happens?”) (1962) and Ääneen (“Aloud”) (1966). According to my interpretation, Mitä tapahtuu todella? is mostly influenced by artistic avant-gardism: collage and montage are used, among other things. In Ääneen, the speaker of the poem is continually saying that he’s a communist, and implores his audience to choose this ideology too. The traditional figurativeness containing “birds”, “flowers” and “trees”, is used. This concerns also Mitä tapahtuu todella?. There is both indirect imagery and concrete images in poems.

Peter Bürger has stated that the avant-gardists wanted to re-establish art back to every-day life (Lebenspraxis). In Saarikoski’s lyrics, this can be seen for example in how daily things such as a photo in a newspaper or having dictionaries lie about the table are described. Figurativeness, being one medium of poetry, plays an important role in this kind of description.


Keywords: lyric poetry; political character; poetics; avant-garde; literary research

Free keywords: Pentti Saarikoski


Contributing organizations


Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2012

JUFO rating: 2


Last updated on 2023-10-05 at 09:00