Joel Lehtonen

Joel Lehtonen

Joel Lehtonen (born November 27, 1881 in Sääminki , † November 20, 1934 in Huopalahti ) was a Finnish writer and translator. Coming from poor and cramped conditions, he rose to be a globetrotter and one of the most renowned Finnish authors of the early 20th century. He mainly wrote short stories. After neo-romantic and naturalistic beginnings, his work took on embittered and melancholy features in the wake of the Finnish civil war (1918). In addition, stricken with illnesses, Lehtonen committed suicide at the age of 53.

life and work

Joel Lehtonen was the son of an unknown father and a mentally ill peasant girl. Through his foster mother Augusta Wallenius, widow of a clergyman, he enjoyed an education so that the "higher" society was open to him. His inclination, however, was the opposite; he made himself familiar with Kropotkin's anarchist ideas while still a student in a secret society . One of Lehtonen's close friends was Rudolf Holsti , who, in contrast to him, had a political and diplomatic career. Lehtonen studied literature for a few semesters at Helsinki University, but was expelled in 1902 after participating in anti-militarist demonstrations.

Even during his studies, Lehtonen had come across articles in some newspapers. In 1904 and 1905 he also published a volume of poetry and three novels. Although they were still in the neo-romantic tradition, these publications earned him the reputation of a great talent. While he lamented the inability of the peasantry to stand up to their hard fate , Lehtonen bought himself a small farmhouse with some land not far from his birthplace, which he called Putkinotko - as later his most famous book with his royalties . He only lived there seasonally. From 1906 he worked in Lahti for the newspaper Lahden Lehti , edited by his old friend Holsti , and met his "great love" Sylvia Avellan. Since she belonged to higher circles and was also married, it remained an unfulfilled love. The two, however, had a lively exchange of letters and gifts for 13 years. Avellan died in 1920, probably by suicide, which took Lehtonen seriously. It later appeared in two of his novels.

Rheumatism and schnapps distiller stories

Lehtonen had his "longest" job in 1912/1913 as editor of the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper . Otherwise he traveled a lot in Europe (Switzerland, Italy, France) and North Africa in the years around 1910. Sometimes he was looking for a cure for his rheumatism , sometimes he became familiar with the local culture and especially literature. His travel stories Myrittia Alppiruusu (1911) and the prose poems Punainen Milly (1913) influenced by Charles Baudelaire were a fruit . The latter, “depressed” book, shows Lehtonen's disappointment in Paris . He also tackled a translation of Boccaccio's Decameron , which remained a fragment. However, he translated numerous other authors, such as August Strindberg , Henrik Ibsen , Edvard Westermarck , Knut Hamsun , Stendhal , Alexandre Dumas , Jules Verne , Anatole France , Romain Rolland .

Lehtonen's most fertile period began in 1917 with the novel Kerran Kesällä , in which a composer from overseas returns home. This was followed by the “masterful” short stories Kuolleet Omenapuut (1918) and the extensive, “classic” novel Putkinotko (1919/1920), in the center of which stands the sedate small farmer Judas Käkriäinen, who tried his hand at distilling schnapps in the pre-revolutionary times. The event, located in the Saimaa lake area not far from the city of Savonlinna, takes place in just one day, which is quite long in the Finnish summer. In the course of this, typical people from different social classes are presented in a wide variety of situations “using spirited, humorous-satirical dialogues and socially critical considerations”. The author's sympathy goes to the simple minds. The reading is captivating from the start because Lehtonen knows how to avoid "the often almost provocative lengthiness of numerous Finnish novels", according to Kindler's New Literary Lexicon . In the unvarnished portrayal of Finnish everyday life and the satirical features, the work sometimes reminds one of Rabelais ; In any case, Lehtonen's work was primarily influenced by Romansh (and not Scandinavian) literature, which he dealt with thoroughly. Putkinotko has so far suggested a dramatization ( Urpo Lauri 1953) and two Finnish film adaptations: 1954 (directed by Roland af Hällström ) and 1998 ( Reima Kekäläinen ).

Disaffection

The civil war already mentioned caused Lehtonen a greater disappointment than the city of Paris. He condemned both sides - this country with its "white and red monsters" was disgusting, he assured his friend Avellan in a letter. His last books were correspondingly gloomy. In the 1922 novel Rakastunut Rampa he even seemed to anticipate his own end: Sakris Kukkelman, a crippled Nietzsche admirer, hangs himself after two prostitutes have taken him out. In Henkien Taistelu from 1933 a devil leads the hero through the lowlands of contemporary Finnish corruption so that that god can prove that he is capable of robbing the most pious man of the faith.

In 1920 Lehtonen married the masseuse Lydia Thomasson, who had been his secretary for some time. It also went into several of his books, such as Lyygia in Putkinotko . In the same year he met the young radical painters Tyko Sallinen and Jalmari Ruokokoski from the November group , whose condemnation of the "establishment" he shared. In the 1930s, various illnesses prevented him from traveling and writing. Together with his depressed mood and his loneliness, they led to the triumph of death in 1934 , the title of a book of poems by Lehtonen: he hanged himself. His constitution is also evident in Lehtonen's last letters to Otto Manninen , Rafael Koskimies , Anna-Maria Tallgren and Kaapo Wirtanen , which can be found in a posthumously published collection.

Works in German

• Withered apple trees. Stories in poetic prose , Grevenbroich: Labonde, 2010

A list of the Finnish editions is given by Petri Liukkonen.

literature

• Eino Palola: Joel Lehtonen. 1927.
• Antero Nurminen: Joel Lehtonen kirjallinen tuotanto. Helsinki 1953.
• Magnus Björkenheim: Joel Lehtonen "Putkinotko". Helsinki 1955.
• Unto Kupiainen: Joel Lehtonen runoilijana. 1956.
• Annamari Sarajas: Joel Lehtonen. In: Suomen Kirjallisuus. Volume 5, Helsinki 1965, pp. 42-66.
• K. Saarenheimo, A. Muttinen: Joel Lehtonen "alter ego". Yhteiskunnallisia Näkökohtia , in: Sananjalka 5, 1963, pp. 167-183
• Friedrich Ege: Joel Lehtonen's novel "Putkinotko". A literary source on the causes of the Finnish civil war in 1918. In: Ders .: Children of the Finnish Oedemark: two essays in the sociology of literature. (also via Aleksis Kivi ). Karlsruhe 1972, pp. 51-122.
• Pekka Tarkka: Putkinotkon tausta. Joel Lehtonen henkilöt 1901–1923. Helsinki 1977.
• Kai Laitinen: Suomen kirjallisuuden historia , Helsinki 1981, pp. 336–342.
• JA Ahokas: “Putkinotko” - in search of lost time. In: Yearbook for Finnish-German Literature Relations, 15/16, 1982, pp. 23–34.
• Eila Pennanen: Kirjailijatar yes hänen miehensa. 1982.
• Manfred Peter Hein : Joel Lehtonen. In: Trajeht. 3, 1983, pp. 85-91.
• Auli Viikari: Ääneen kirjoitett. 1987.
• Aarne Kinnunen: Joel Lehtonen Putkinotko. 2005.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Petri Liukkonen 2008 , accessed January 12, 2012
2. ^ Edition Munich 1988
3. ↑ According to the publisher's information ( Joel Lehtonen: Withered apple trees (under News), Heiner Labonde Verlag ( Memento from December 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive )) an excerpt from Putkinotko from 1918

Web links

Commons : Joel Lehtonen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Joel Lehtonen in the archive of the German National Library