cect spatiality, memory and visualisation of
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CECT Spatiality, memory and visualisation of Culture/nature relationships: theoretical aspects. 21-24 October 2009. ENVIRONMENTAL NARRATIVES AS INDICATORS OF A CULTURAL RELATIONSHIP TO NATURE. Dr Kirsi Laurén Folklore studies University of Joensuu Finland. Research interests: - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
CECTSpatiality, memory and visualisation of Culture/nature relationships: theoretical aspects. 21-24 October 2009.
ENVIRONMENTAL NARRATIVES AS INDICATORS OF A CULTURALRELATIONSHIP TO NATURE
Dr Kirsi LaurénFolklore studiesUniversity of JoensuuFinland
Research interests:
• Human/cultural relationship to nature (especially to forests and peatlands)→ cultural meanings
• Experiences
• Narratives
• Written, unpublished texts
Finland is the most forested country in Europe. 86 % of the land area is covered by forests (including peatlands).
Finland has more mires and peatlands regarding its land area than any country in the world; one third of its total land area is covered with them.
In Finnish: suo; in Estonian: soo
WRITING COMPETITIONS
Peatland story [Suotarina]
Organised by the Finnish Peatland Society (FPS) and The Union for Rural Education and Culture, 1998
I found myself from the woods [Löysin itseni metsästä]
Organised by the Metsäkustannus Oy, 2004
Aim of the writing competitions
To get• new stories of peatlands and forests• information about experiencing these
nature areas • literary good stories
→ anthology of the literary best stories:
Suon syvä syli (1999) Sydänpuuta (2004)
Requests:
Peatland story:
• What is your peatland experience like?
• The story could be an experience of your own or a heard story
I found myself from the forest:
• Write your personal experiences of forests
• What kinds of experiences you have e.g. about the forestry in your own forest?
The results of the writing competitions
Almost 1000 texts (1-10 pages / each)
Writers:
• women and men of varying ages
• two-thirds of the writers were women, others were men
• represent various social backgrounds
• were from all over the country
Typical for the narration:
- forest and peatland life stories
- narrative structure
→ the distinction between past and present, usually between childhood and adulthood.
Advantages of writing competition materials:
- diverse and qualitatively rich research material
- a large amount of texts (→ quantitative validity)
- writers are free to tell what they want → the influence of the researcher is low
Difficulties:
- heterogeneous texts
- writing styles: literary, personal, heard stories, ethnographical, poetic, fictional…
Thank you for Your
attention!