The Traditional Way of Thinking of Small Farmer Housewives in Finland

Abstract

The aim of this article is to throw light on the historical experiences and their memo­ries of a housewife from a small farm in Upper Savo ( Yläsavo ) in Finland. Its moti­vation emanates from the fact that neither local, commissioned histories nor ethno­graphical studies have touched the orbit of their lives and their traditional, three-dimensional way of thought. The theoretical vantage-point applied here was put for­ward by Paul Ricoeur and further developed by Frank Ankersmit: memories of wit­nesses of historical experiences can tell more intimate and accurate narratives than documentary histories. As evidence, culled from interviews and diverse biographical and autobiographical material, they can complement the work of ethnographers who operate on the same field by recording past as lived life.