Reflection of Finnish National Identity in the Works of J. L. Runeberg

As an independent concept, national identity represents a set of sociocultural symbolic meanings related to a particular nation. The relevance of the study is determined by the historical significance of the period of formation of the Finnish national identity, which largely influenced the formation of the Finnish nation and led to the emergence of the state of Finland. The need to study the Finnish national identity is conditioned by the high degree of significance of this phenomenon for the entire Finnish people. The national question has an important place in the development and functioning of the state. During the so-called period of “national awakening” of the Finnish people (1810–1840s), the main attention was paid to the search and formation of national identity as the basis for the emergence of a self-aware nation. The article has analyzed the reflection of the Finnish national identity in the works of art of the outstanding poet of Finland, one of the key figures of the Fennomaniac movement – J. L. Runeberg. The work of this poet is a vivid example of attentive and careful attitude to the peculiarities of national character and psychology in order to spread and consolidate them in the mass consciousness of Finns. At the same time, the poet, through his work, contributed to the formation of the Finnish national identity and the creation of cultural archetypes on which it will be based later. As a result of the research, it was revealed exactly how certain aspects of Finnish national identity were reflected in the works of J. L. Runeberg; the peculiarities of the national character of the heroes of the writer's works, which later became cultural archetypes for Finland, were analyzed; the degree of importance of the poet's cultural activity in the overall process of forming the identity of the Finnish people was determined; the specifics of Finnish national literature in the first half of the XIX century were revealed.