Vesa Sisättö talks about the history of science fiction in Finland. The very first Finnish science fiction short story was published in 1803. During the 19th century writers of science fiction expressed their opinions about modernization, the future, the status of the Finnish language and women’s emancipation.
When Finland became independent in 1917, science fiction was the first genre where unhinged nationalism could bloom. And that was… not a good thing. This talk will wrap up with the war years and the special ”korsuscifi”, war-time science fiction which commented on the hard times and sometimes expressed the hope of peace.