Specific artistic and stylistic features of the Finnish-language lyrical songs in Karelia (a case study of a song of the Titanic)

The issues of foreign-language folklore borrowing and adaptation have long been of interest for Russian researchers of traditional culture. The study object for this paper is Finnish-language lyrical songs circulating in Northern Karelia. The focus in the study is on the poetics of the works in this genre, with a song of the Titanic as an example. The aim is to trace how the Finnish lyrical song was being assimilated in Karelia in general, and to consider the mutual influence of the two song traditions: Finnish and Karelian. The conclusions drawn from this study can be used when preparing a course on the musical folklore of the Karelians. The materials for the study were the published and archival sources of Finnish lyrical songs that have circulated in Northern Karelian. Application of the comparative historical method has enabled an insight into the sources and evolution of the Finnish-language song tradition in Karelia. Textual analysis was employed to study the set of the variants of the song of the Titanic; key motifs and images, artistic representation means of the language of the text were identified and considered. Northern Karelia has had a long-standing and extensive tradition of epic songs, telling about the creation of the world and primal things, about the heroic deeds of mythical heroes, etc. The lyrical tradition has, however, developed at a slower pace, and was often borrowed from the neighboring Finnish population. In the process of assimilation of the foreign-language song tradition, the text would go through some adaptations. Here, one speaks more of artistic and stylistic rather than linguistic “adjustment”.