Under the Savo Sky - A Philosophical Time-Travel Mosaic

Matti Itkonen
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Matti Itkonen: University of Jyväskylä, Finland

European Journal of Language and Literature Studies Articles, 2024, vol. 10

Abstract: Using his words, the essayist endeavours to build a mosaic-like Kuopio. To do so, he also needs the help of photographs. A time-trip will reveal the multifaceted nature of Kuopio, constructed from small pieces. The Savo sky is like a large existential mirror, reflecting past, present and future time. The vaulted mirror of life above the landscape reveals the everyday moments of various generations. Interspersed among the flickering images are glimpses of the joys and sorrows of individuals and of the whole nation. Individual and community are presented both alongside and nested inside each other. The market place, as a time-square, acts as the space where events unfold. It resembles an existential theatre where various sequences of events take place. An essayistic or philosophical time-travel mosaic means a flâneur’s wanderings through the existential stream of Kuopio city life. As an anonymous observer, the traveller notices many kinds of things. From these he formulates a coherent and confidently worded overall picture. In this way, an intellectual-artistic self-portrait of Kuopio takes shape. The role of the essayist is demanding: he must be able to act as a contemporary observer, critic and artist. He can therefore also be seen as an omniscient narrator – simultaneously both as a reader and a writer. The essayist thus lives and tells an existential story – a story of the forms of ’kuopioness’ across time. It is a story worth each and everyone of us listening to.

Keywords: time-travel mosaic; time-square; travel literature; verbal and pictorial gaze; essayistic tradition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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