Abstract

In this article I will present how the Finnish famine in the 1860s was incorporated into the national narratives from 1868 to the 1920s, and how its public deliberation contributed to the nation-building project and, in particular, how it symbolized a peculiarly masculine form of national identity. The variety of sources includes textbooks, historiography, famine literature, and newspapers, all of which represented, re-interpreted, and re-narrated a more-or-less publically accepted narrative of the famine. Interestingly, these narratives stand out in international comparison, where an increasing awareness of the “feminization of famine,” pioneered by Margaret Kelleher, has gained ground. Finland, in contrast, presents a different set of gendered tropes, a much more masculine and militaristic way of narrating the famine in public discourse, despite the fact that during the famine there had been no politically organized violence or rebellious movements.

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