The Finnish landscape and its meanings

Abstract

The landscape has played – and continues to play – an important role in the process of constructing a national identity in Finland. In this process, certain areas and views, whether real or imaginary, are designated as vital symbols of the national culture. The landscape is not merely an image, a map or a view
of the existing motherland, however. It is also a part of the nation’s history, which is marked in the landscape in the form of significant buildings and monuments to historical events, so that the past may be seen as forming an unbroken continuum with the present. Work is constantly going on to maintain and renew the national traditions of landscape description. This means that whatever its age and nostalgic associations, the landscape is an integral part of our present-day lives. The images, maps, and discourses associated with the landscape may have altered in the course of time, and even the physical areas or views may have been replaced with new ones, but the ideal of a Finnish landscape has persisted. The signs and significations attached to it thus remain a powerful part of our national culture.