Haavikko, One and twenty

In contrast to classical epics, Haavikko's One and Twenty (Kaksikymmentä ja yksi) does not present us with a ready-made, stable worldview. In a modern epic there is no place for a stable hero. The world is in constant transition. Latching on to a given explanation, say, myth or history, is virtually impossible. Empirically myths can be true, but from another perspective they can be seen as misleading, while history may be nothing but a fiction created against a set of questionable intentions. In Haavikko's epic poem one can clearly discern the hallmarks of uncontrollable whims and chance: individual desires and needs, beliefs and changes, boundaries, conflicts, and an endless shifting of different contexts. Translated by Anselm Hollo