Abstract
Like other European countries, contemporary Finland has witnessed an explosion of healing modalities designatable as “New Age” (though not without profound controversy, [1]). This paper focuses on Finnish courses in lament (wept song, tuneful weeping with words) that combine healing conceived along psychotherapeutic lines and lessons from the lament tradition of rural Karelia, a region some Finns regard as their cultural heartland. A primary goal of the paper is to explicate a concept of “authenticity” emerging in lament courses, in which disclosing the depths of one’s feelings is supported not only by invoking “psy-“ discourses of self-help, but also by construing the genuine emotional self-disclosure that characterizes neolamentation as a sacred activity and a vital contribution to the welfare of the Finnish people.
Highlights
Like other European countries, contemporary Finland has witnessed an explosion of healing modalities designatable as ―New Age‖
Revivalist lament courses that started in the late 1990s, and courses taught by ÄI-Lamenters, represent the third life of Karelian lament
The trope of interiority plays a major role in ÄI-Lament courses
Summary
Finland‘s earliest exposure to Christianity—roughly a thousand years ago—was to its Eastern. These emerged only with New Age per se, later in the century These French, British, and American histories can be seen as predecessors of postmodernity, with its unabashed hybrids of the modern and the traditional, and as foreshadowings of those contemporary ideas of ―personal growth‖ therapy and personal spirituality seen in lament and other healing courses in Finland. Despite its historic roots, the massive subjectivization of Western culture—including mass/popular culture, cut off to a large extent from organized religion—only occurred in the twentieth century, as Taylor, Heelas, Lindholm, and others have noted It is only with this twentieth-century popularization of new forms of spirituality that religion and its connections with nation-states (see the state religions of Europe, some of which are rapidly losing members) is increasingly being displaced:. Apart from headers, I have used bold or bold-italic throughout the article to indicate terms that are central to the discourse of Finnish neolamenters and other healers
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
