Lõpuni elamatu elu - Aino Kallase biograafia
An unfinished life - The biography of Aino Kallas

Summary/Abstract: In the 21st century, Aino Kallas has become one of the most famous female authors in Finnish literary studies. A traditional biography of Kallas had not, however, been published until now. An artist biography is nowadays a popular nonfiction genre. In recent years, various kinds of biographical questions and aspects have also become more popular in humanities research. In the new biography (called Aino Kallas. Maailman sydämessä, 2017), Aino Kallas is described as a Finnish-Estonian author, whose authorial figure is very different in Finland and in Estonia. Completely different literary works and themes of Kallas have been highlighted in Finnish and in Estonian research. Aino Kallas called Estonia „a country of my fate”. Her relationship towards Estonia was, however, ambivalent. In her literary career, Kallas did not want only to describe Estonian milieus and people. She constantly and consciously chose to write about other themes, too. Aino Kallas was sensitive to the social inequality of her own time and she devoted a lot of discussion to relevant themes and issues. An earlier impression about her as a self-conscious, even selfish artist is, thus, one-sided. Both in her journals and in her essays, Kallas writes about various social questions of her own time and interprets them in fresh ways.

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