On Tuesday the 19th March we celebrate Minna Canths' Day in Finland, and that is why I chose this remarkable woman as the topic in our conversation groups this week. I collected some information on Minna Canth, both as a person and also as a writer and cultural figure. Then I took two sets of copies of the text, and erased paragraphs one, three, five and seven from one, and paragraphs two, four, six and eight from the other copy. Then I took more copies of the 'dissected' versions and gave them to people in class. The idea was that people, in pairs, had different kinds of handouts, and it was their job to share the information they had with their partner. In other words, half of the people translated text from paragraphs one, three, five and seven from Finish into English, and the other half did the same with paragraphs two, four, six and eight. This turned out to be grat fun, although people said that translating relatively difficult text right off the bat was challenging.
Naturally, we also discussed Minna Canth and her significance. We all agreed that in her own time she had very modern and shocking ideas concerning for instance women, their abilities and their position in society. She was convinced that women could do more than just stay at home and take care of children and do household chores, and she didn't see marriage as the ultimate goal all women should reach for.
Next week we'll talk about different Easter traditions, since we'll celebrate Easter over the following weekend! My favourite Easter delicacy is Pasch; I could eat huge amounts of it... :)
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