Finnland und finnische Literatur in Polen

Abstract

The article describes the presence of Finland in the consciousness of Poles (since 14th-16th century) as well as the presence of the Finnish literature on the Polish publishing market since 1860s until today. Finnish literature became broadly known in Europe only in 1835, when the first edition of the national epic Kalevala appeared and directed European intelligentsia’s attention to Finnish nation and its struggle for their own national identity. Selection of Finnish literary works (including those written in Swedish) which were translated in that times into Polish proves that the Polish publishers and translators were consciously looking for similarities between the situation of Poland and Finland which both were under the reign of tsarist Russia. The rich Finnish literature of the next decades fully shows the difficult process of becoming a Finn and finding one’s own identity under new political and social conditions.