Moomins Take the Floor. Finnish Trolls in Contemporary Mass Social (Media) Events

Abstract

Tove Jansson (1914–2001) was an outstandingly talented Finnish-Swedish artist, recognized worldwide mostly as the creator of the Moomins. Although the last of the nine-volume series (1945–1970) about the internationally popular Finnish trolls, Moominvalley in November, was published over fifty years ago, the Moomins’ and Jansson’s popularity is still rising, which testifies to the universality and timelessness of the books as well as the thoughtful marketing strategies of Moomin Characters Ltd, the company responsible for copyright supervision. In this article I discuss the Moomin characters’ representation in three events set in contemporary (2017–2021), extratextual societal contexts, both strategically planned and co-organized by Moomin Characters Ltd and spontaneously organized by ordinary people. The motifs and figures from Moominvalley which have been applied in (1) the Invisible Child campaign, (2) the #OURSEA campaign, and/ (3) the women’s strike protests in Poland are exemplified and juxtaposed with their literary images in the nine Moomin books by Jansson. My conclusion is that the references are based on a selective reading and focus on beneficial—in specific contexts—facets. On the one hand, it proves the Moomin books’ versatility and topicality, while on the other, it is not inclusive and disregards the holistic message of the saga, which is an evolving continuum. Furthermore, this way of reading reinforces a single address of the unequivocally double-addressed series.