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Articles containing the keyword 'symbolism'

Category : Article

article id 5337, category Article
Pekka Hako. (1987). Musiikki, metsä ja ihminen. Silva Fennica vol. 21 no. 4 article id 5337. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a15494
English title: Music, forest and man.
Original keywords: kulttuuri; metsä; identiteetti; musiikki
English keywords: Finnish identity; symbolism; forest music
Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

In Finnish music national forests and international urban culture meet in an original way. Around the last turn of century, composers believe they had discovered their spiritual roots in nature and especially in the forests. The universal musical language of Jean Sibelius, for example, is based on a deep Finnish identity, the atmosphere of Kalevala. Sibelius’ Tapiola is, thus, among our century’s most powerful musical interpretations of feelings about nature. Nature inspired music is, generally, associated with such positive qualities as beauty, peace, softness, light and joy. A great deal of forest music is based on literature, where natural images have almost always had a positive interpretation.
The paper is based on a lecture given in the seminar ‘The forest as a Finnish cultural entity’, held in Helsinki in 1986. The PDF includes a summary in English.

  • Hako, E-mail: ph@mm.unknown (email)
article id 5332, category Article
Aarne Reunala. (1987). Metsä arkkityyppinä. Silva Fennica vol. 21 no. 4 article id 5332. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a15489
English title: Forest as an archetype.
Original keywords: metsätalous; metsä; kansanperinne; aineettomat arvot; symboliikka
English keywords: forestry; forest; folklore; archetypes; folk tradition; symbolism; intangible values
Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

According to universal primitive beliefs, there was a huge pole or tree in the centre of the universe to support the sky. These beliefs gave rise to innumerable customs where both trees and wood have been used to promote health and good luck. Even today, many such customs exist: the Christmas tree, maypole, Midsummer birches, birch whisks in the Finnish sauna, ritual tree plantings etc. In addition to the tree, also the forest as both a protecting and a frightening maternal symbol can be considered as an archetype. Intensive forestry diminishes the archetypal contents of forests, which may be one reason behind critical attitudes towards modern forestry.

The paper is based on a lecture given in the seminar ‘The forest as a Finnish cultural entity’, held in Helsinki in 1986. The PDF includes a summary in English.

  • Reunala, E-mail: ar@mm.unknown (email)

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