ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Kukku Melkas explores the multi-voiced novel Wenla Männistö (2014) by Finnish author Riina Katajavuori. The novel is based on a Finnish literary classic, Aleksis Kivi’s Seitsemän veljestä (1870; Seven Brothers), which is regarded as the first novel in the Finnish language. Like its predecessor, the modernized version of the classic relies in its language use on vernacular; folksy; and, in many ways, “improper” language. In contrast to Kivi’s novel, Wenla Männistö presents women as the main protagonists, granting them space to be taken seriously and for their voices to be heard. In her analysis, Melkas shows how Wenla Männistö attributes a positive value to the language of the young, suburban, characters. The novel underlines the ways in which language moves and changes in different social and cultural contexts and how language and manners of speaking, power and gender are intertwined in an urban environment.
