The Renewing Power of Water in Johanna Sinisalo’s Novel, Sankarit A víz tisztító és újító ereje Johanna Sinisalo Sankarit című regényében

Abstract

In her second novel entitled Sankarit (Heroes) (2003), the contemporary Finnish writer, Johanna Sinisalo rewrites Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, relocating the myths and mythological characters from Kalevala into contemporary Finnish society and addressing contemporary issues. Among other issues, the novel contributes to the discussion of the new roles of women and men, and the new ways to be feminine and masculine. This paper focuses on the relationship between the three central characters in the novel: Oona, Rex and Auroora. Oona and Rex are a couple, the mythological counterparts of Aino and Väinämöinen, represent the embodiment of an intensive urban lifestyle, and Auroora is their daughter. Both Oona and Rex make decisions similar to their counterparts in Kalevala. However, Sinisalo combines the mythical element, the renewing power of water, with the grand dogma of Christianity, the “Second Coming.” This intersection allows Sinisalo to offer the reader a feminist reading of the novel, epitomized by the modification of Kalevala in that while at the end of the epic, the virgin Marjatta gives birth to a boy, who becomes the king instead of Väinämöinen, in the novel Oona gives birth to a daughter, Auroora, who becomes a queen of music and the symbol of the beginning of a new age.