444 Book Reviews

Gelehrte Kontakte zwischen Finnland und GGttingen zur Zeit der Aufkllrung, ed. Esko Hakli (Gottingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1988) 172 pp., 32 DM, 165 FIM, paper.

This book concerns the contact of Finnish scholars, especially of the University of Turku (Academia Aboensis), with the new, modern university Georgia Augusta in Giittingen in the 18th century. An exposition of Finnish books was arranged in Gottingen and Hannover in 1988 in honour of the five-hundreth anniversary of the first printed Finnish book (Missale Aboense printed by Bartholomaeus Ghotan in Ltibeck). The Niedersachsische Staats- und Universitats-bibliothek (Gottingen) had worked together with the Library of the University of Helsinki in arranging the exposition, which consisted of books belonging to the Finno-Ugrian collection of the Gottingen library. The very fine illustrated book is both an accurate catalogue and a collection of learned articles written by the head librarian of Helsinki university, Esko Hakli, Prof. Edgar Hosch (Munich), Prof. Erich Kunze (Gottingen, formerly Helsinki) and Prof. Sulo Heininen (Helsinki). The writers deal with Finnish-German relations (Hosch), old Finnish literature and its relation to German culture (Hakli), Finnish scholars and Finnish books in Gottingen (Heininen) and the contacts of Georgia Augusta with Finnish scholars (Kunze). The contents of the book are not coherent because the writers several times describe the same persons and mention the same publications, but the articles are extremely interesting and give a new idea of the relations of the Finnish university with Germany and other countries during the age of enlightenment.

Prof. Hijsch gives a matter of fact description of the background of Finnish-German relations. The image of the Finnish peasants, however, is misleading. He considers them only taxpayers and soldiers and speaks about their poverty, ‘foeda paupertas Fennorum’, with the words ofTacitus (!) concerning Lapps. In fact Finnish peasants were free farmers. When he deals with the position of the south-eastern part of Finland which was ceded to Russia in 1721, he emphasises that the new Baltic German influence was important even

fbr peasants, but he forgets to mention that the free farmers lost their lands and rights to persons who received them as ‘donations’.

The article by Prof. Hakli on Finnish books is illustrated with beautiful pictures of the title pages and copper engravings of books written in Latin, Finnish or Swedish from 16th to 18th century. In the whole book there are 114 pictures from the publications and collections of libraries (Gottingen, Helsinki, Stockholm, Uppsala) and museums.

The authors of the book have used sources which often are neglected, namely the 18th century book catalogues (for instance Christoph Wilhelm Liideke’s Allgemeines schwedisches Gelehrsamkeits-archiv 1781-96), and the catalogue of the books purchased for the library or received as gifts. Kunze has precisely studied the activities of the famous scientist and poet Albrecht von Haller and his journal Gtittingische Gelehrte Anzeigen and also the linguist and librarian Christian Gottlob Heyne’s interest in books and dissertations published in Turku.

Finland was a part of Sweden, and in the 18th century educated people spoke Swedish, but the Finnish scholars usually had a knowledge of Finnish. At the university they used Latin, and they could speak German and sometimes also French. Because the learned books were published in Latin, they were understood all over the world of learning. Many German professors could read Swedish, and so books written in Swedish also had readers in Germany. The catalogues announced books published in Turku and the journals gave reviews of Finnish publications. Some books were even translated into German. Albrecht von Hailer was interested in the dissertations and scientific books written in Turku and in his journal he made them known to the world of learning. The dissertations usually presented the ideas of professors, and the respondents only defended them. At that time the university library of Giittingen received the foundation of its Finnish and Finno- Ugrian book stocks.

Book Reviews 445

In the 18th century several prominent scholars studied and lectured in Turku, especially in science. Per Kalm is most often considered to have been a Swede, but in fact he came from Finland and was a professor in Turku. He was famous because of his travels and studies in America. Heyne in GGttingen encouraged new linguistic studies, and he was interested in the Finnish language as well as other Finno-Ugrian languages. The origins of these languages had been unknown, but in the 17th and 18th centuries they began to be considered as forming a large linguistic group. The ‘father of Finnish history’ Henrik Gabriel Porthan paid a visit to Giittingen, and for a long time after his return home he corresponded with his colleagues in Giittingen. He knew the historian August Ludwig SchlGzer, who stayed for a long time in Northern Europe and wrote about the history of Sweden, Finland and Russia.

The professors of Turku purchased a great number of books from abroad and they were able to maintain links with foreign scholars, especially with Germans, because the German merchants, architects and artisans had had through the Hanseatic League agreat influence upon the countries on the shore of the Baltic Sea. The Lutheran Reformation had created a close contact between the Finnish clergy and Wittenberg. Through Latin, scholars had connections with their learned colleagues even in faraway countries. Discoveries, innovations and ideas spread easily from one university or society of sciences to other institutions. The most famous scholars w&e not the only influential innovators, numerous modest doctors and other scholars were able to make their contribution to research.

On the basis of the studies presented in this book the writers seem to claim that some Germans began to regard Finland as a land different from Sweden. It is interesting to realise that-in the eyes of the Germans, Finland was not separate from Sweden only because of its geography and unique language, but even as a scholarly unit.

Vantaa, Finland Aira Kemiltiinen

Le Postmoderne expliquk aux enfants. Correspondance 1982-85, Jean-Francois Lyotard (Paris: Editions GalilCe, Coll. D&bats, 1988), 162 pp., 78 FF, paper.

A collection of ten letters, all but four of which have appeared previously in periodicals, and all of which have some bearing on the theme of postmodernism. The most directly pertinent letter is the first; it appeared in English (admirably translated by R&gis Durand) in the appendix to Lyotard’s The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Theory and History of Literature, Vol. 10 (Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1984). The

entire collection has been translated into German, as Postmoderne fib Kinder. Since Lyotard’s prose intermingles philosophical, political and aesthetic considerations in a complex web that defies generalisation, I will summarise the most substantive letters.

The first letter proposes to answer the question, What is Postmodernism? It rejects Habermas’s view of postmodernism as a conservative reaction to modernism, and sees in it something like the very essence of modernism: a reaction to what went before, but not so much a turning away from as a radicalisation of its antecedent. Lyotard goes on to offer a more subtle analysis of postmodernism in terms ofaesthetics, and what also turns out to be an asceticism. The avant-guard postmodern artist revels in revealing the inadequacy of