Sofi Oksanen

Sofi Oksanen (2008)

Sofi Oksanen (born January 7, 1977 in Jyväskylä , Finland ) is a Finnish- Estonian writer and dramaturge . So far, Oksanen has written four novels and one play. Her third novel, Purgatory , won several literary prizes.

Life

Sofi Oksanen at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2012

Sofi Oksanen was born in Jyväskylä in central Finland and grew up there. Her father is a Finnish electrician, her mother an Estonian graduate engineer. Oksanen studied literature at the universities of Jyväskylä and Helsinki and later dramaturgy at the theater school. Oksanen learned the Estonian language from her mother, but writes in Finnish. However, she also reads literature in Estonian. Oksanen actively participates in public discourse in Finland and comments on current topics in her columns and in various talk shows. She is a feminist .

Career

The debut novel Stalinin lehmät (literally: Stalin's cows, in Finnish 2003) is about Estonia in Soviet times, immigrants and eating disorders . He describes the life of Estonians in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s, when the so-called Finlandization colored official politics. At that time the Estonians in Finland were often insulted as " Russians " and Estonian women were denigrated as " prostitutes ". It is a Finnish-Estonian educational novel that questions the reality of Nordic equality . Oksanen's debut novel was nominated as a candidate for the Runeberg Prize and for the Debut Novel Prize of the national daily Helsingin Sanomat .

In her second novel, Baby Jane (in Finnish 2005), Sofi Oksanen deals with panic attacks and how they affect other people, as well as violence in relationships with women. Unlike the other two novels, Baby Jane is set in Finland (in Helsinki in the 1990s).

With her first play, Purgatory (original title: Puhdistus ), Oksanen made her breakthrough on a national level in 2007, and with her novel of the same name a year later also internationally (see also review below). The novel has so far been translated into 38 languages and has received numerous, some important prizes; his success has an effect on the piece that premiered in several countries in 2011/12. The German-language premiere took place on October 15, 2011 at the Osnabrück Theater. Thematically, Oksanen ties in with her first novel, Stalinin Lehmät , and returns to neighboring Estonia. By playing the story, which lasted a few days, in 1992 (shortly after Estonia regained independence), it moves closer to the present, but on the other hand goes back even further into the history of this country. The encounter between the two protagonists is charged with such poles of tension: old versus young, Estonian versus Russian, old-established versus intruder. But with the exception of the first antithesis, none remains; What we have in common becomes more important than what separates us, and yet neither in the drama nor in the novel leads to an end that can be described as a “happy ending”.

publisher

Sofi Oksanen's works were published by WSOY until 2010. In June 2010, however, WSOY announced in a press release that it would end its collaboration with Sofi Oksanen with immediate effect. The move was justified with the public criticism that Oksanen expressed at her publisher. Most of all, she complained about what she thought was the inadequate marketing policy of WSOY. Her fourth novel When the Pigeons Disappeared was originally published as Kun Kyyhkyset Katosivat by the publisher Like.

style

Oksanen says that she likes to write "autofiction", i. that is, it combines autobiographical stories and real events with inventions. Other Finnish counter-writers like Finlandia Prize-winning Pirkko Saisio and Anja Snellman also write auto-fiction. Oksanen is a diverse and reflective writer who is not afraid to write on difficult and unfamiliar topics. She also finds hooks for her work in her own life without reservation. The presentation of the backgrounds for the choice of your topics on Youtube is also interesting (see link below).

criticism

On the novel Purgatory :

You don't have to be an expert in Estonia or Finland to be able to make a profit reading this novel. But those who like the literature of Northern Europe will like the book all the more .
The language lets us participate in their thoughts in minute detail and in the process builds up a tremendous tension that carries us away to the end: A great historical novel that tells the fate of women without clichés.

Other activities

Sofi Oksanen has also written columns for the Finnish magazine Sihteeri & Assistentti and for the Finnish newspapers Sunnuntaisuomalainen, Metro and Aamulehti . The columns cover multinational identity , censorship on the Internet, human rights and freedom of speech , among other things . Other topics at Oksanen are the lack of history and the dual identity in the lives of Estonian women.

In 2009, together with the Estonian journalist and film director Imbi Paju , Sofi Oksanen published the Finnish-language collection of articles Kaiken takana oli pelko (literally: behind it all was fear), which describes Estonian history during the Soviet occupation. In the introduction to the book, Oksanen justified the publication by stating that the communist social system is one of the most devastating in world history, but, in contrast to National Socialism, it has not been discussed often.

Works

prose

Koirapuisto , Roman, Like, 2019
The matter with Norma , Roman, German by Stefan Moster, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2017, ISBN 978-3-462-04963-3
When the pigeons disappeared , Roman, German by Angela Plöger, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-462-04661-8
Stalin's cows , novel, German by Angela Plöger, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-462-04374-7 .
Purgatory , Roman, German by Angela Plöger, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-462-04234-4 .
Baby Jane , novel, WSOY 2005

Play

Purgatory , 2007

Movie

Purgatory , directed by Antti Jokinen , 2012

Prices

The following national and international literature prizes were awarded to Oksanen for Purgatory :

Finlandia Prize , 2008
Runeberg Prize , 2009
Nordic Council Literature Prize , 2010
Prix Femina Étranger , 2010
Prix du Roman fnac, 2010

So far, Purgatory is the only work that has been awarded both the Finlandia and Runeberg awards in Finland. Oksanen is also the youngest author to win either of these two awards. After all, she is also the first foreign writer to be awarded the Prix du Roman fnac .

In 2013 she received the Nordic Prize from the Swedish Academy .