Emotional Transpositions: Interpreting Oral Lyric Poetry
Emotional Transpositions: Interpreting Oral Lyric Poetry

Summary/Abstract: In this article I will discuss perceptions of oral lyric poetry as representations of ideals of emotion. I use the Kanteletar, the most important lyric anthology of nineteenth-century Finland, as an example, asking how oral lyric poetry and its emotions have been represented in written form. In translating oral texts into another, written language, we face a double tension, a fidelity both to oral sources and to the readership for the written transcription. Thus, my interest focuses not only on translation and transference, but also on the interpretative process. The analysis concentrates on one love song from the Kanteletar, in terms of its folk lyric background, and the interpretations made of the song. The song describes emotions, such as love and longing, which are considered to be typical of Romanticism, but are not regarded as very usual among rural people. However, the song has been considered as one of the most beautiful folk songs of love. I will elucidate Lönnrot’s editorial technique and demonstrate the multifaceted process involved in the creation and interpretation of the song.

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