Abstract

This chapter focuses on transmedial portrayals of Northern Finland and Lapland in the period following the Depression of the 1990s, comparing it with earlier post-war nostalgic and naturalist narratives. Images of the North have featured heavily in Finnish cinema, literature, and music. The North has remained as the “last frontier,” and a resurgence of Northern themes has been visible.

This article explores provincial portrayals by authors born in the North, portraying the North on its own terms, underlining a sense of provincial exceptionalism. The examples include Jari Tervo’s novels, the lyrics and poetry of rock artist A. W. Yrjänä, and Miia Tervo’s romantic comedy Aurora. Their themes are familiar from earlier narratives; rough life, eccentric characters, social marginalization, and perceived other-worldliness of Northern nature. This perceived exceptionalism of the North has been upheld in a popularized, transmedial process from the 1990s to this day, contributing to a vivid provincial identity.