Women’s Place in Finnish Proverbs from Childhood
Women’s Place in Finnish Proverbs from Childhood

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this article is to introduce some features of the relationship between proverbs and gender in Finnish folklore tradition. I focus on pedagogical speech using proverbs in the life-stories from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The main interest is on bringing up children concentrating on the written memories and the everyday life of ordinary people. This deals with the private level of education in childhood memories. Kodin ilmapiiri oli lämmin ja tunsimme koko perhe olevamme yhä. Tuimme aina lasten kesken toinen toisiamme ja pienempää piti aina ohjata ja auttaa ja puolustaa. Äitini aina sanoikin että heikompaa on aina autettava ja että köyhän ainoa pääoma on rehellisyys, rehtiys ja oikeamielisyys, ja kun kasvatte suuriksi niin pitäkää itsenne miehinä, joihin voi luottaa. Eikä minunkaan ole sitten koskaan tarvinnut noista periaatteista luopua. ‘The atmosphere at home was gentle and all the family felt to be one and same. We children gave our support to each other and we were supposed to guide and help and defend the smaller ones. My mother always said that you have to always help those who are weak and the only capital a poor person has is sincerity, honesty, and uprightness. When you’ll be grown-ups, see that you still are those ones to whom others can trust. I have never given up those principles.’

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