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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Moroccan social and political life in Finnish literature |
Author: | Melasuo, Tuomo |
Year: | 1992 |
Periodical: | Hemispheres: Studies on Cultures and Societies |
Issue: | 9 |
Pages: | 23-30 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Finland Morocco |
Subject: | images |
Abstract: | At the end of the 19th century and during the first decades of the 20th, Scandinavian interest in the Arab and Muslim world grew. The present author looks at the image of Morocco, its history, culture, and political and social life under European colonialism, created by Finnish painters, writers and scholars. The picture of Morocco which emerges from Finnish literature, amongst others the writings of K.S. Laurila and Aino Kallas, is by no means clear. It depends on the time period the writers represent and the social category from which they come and for whom they write, and ultimately says more about Finland than Morocco. Morocco has been more important for Finnish science. Modern Finnish sociology was born in Morocco through the fieldwork conducted there by Edvard Westermarck in the 1890s through to the 1930s. Current academic interests have followed in Westermarck's footsteps, although after Maghrebian independence, the exchange of influences has become much more reciprocal. On the whole, artistic activities and scientific research have obviously contributed to the processes by which Finnish society creates its image of the Maghreb and of Morocco and have modified many stereotypes produced by other sectors of Nordic societies, such as tourism and immigration. Bibliogr., note, ref. |