The critics of false culture: On the Finnish reception of the Enlightenment
Rantala, Heli (2011)
Rantala, Heli
The Donner Institute, Åbo Akademi
2011
Kuvaus
Heli Rantala, University of Turku
Heli Rantala (MA) works at the Department of Cultural History at the University of Turku as a coordinator and researcher. Her research interests include nineteenth century conceptions of culture in Finnish discourse. She is finishing her doctoral thesis on Johan Wilhelm Snellman’s historical thinking. She has published several articles on her research topic.
Heli Rantala (MA) works at the Department of Cultural History at the University of Turku as a coordinator and researcher. Her research interests include nineteenth century conceptions of culture in Finnish discourse. She is finishing her doctoral thesis on Johan Wilhelm Snellman’s historical thinking. She has published several articles on her research topic.
Tiivistelmä
Heli Rantala’s contribution discusses the heritage of the Enlightenment from the perspective of Finnish nineteenth century cultural discourse. She argues that the Finnish reception of the Enlightenment had a negative tone. This critical attitude was expressed amongst Finnish intellectuals throughout the nineteenth century. The main target of the critique was the French style Enlightenment and the French way of life in general, which was understood to be civilised but lacking in the idea of real culture. Rantala also states that J. V. Snellman opposed this dominant interpretation by highlighting the importance of the Enlightenment era and by cherishing the basic values of its ideas.