Queer research from University of Helsinki

Pride week is here once again - check out the Library's reading tips on queer history!

To celebrate Pride week, the Library presents queer research from University of Helsinki, and also other publications by University of Helsinki researchers. Here you can find books, doctoral theses and articles. You can find more research on queer history from Friends of Queer History association (website only in Finnish). 

2021 marks 50 years since the decriminalization of homosexual acts, 40 years since homosexuality was removed from the mental health classification and 30 years since the founding of the Helsinki Pride community. The multiple anniversary year will also be celebrated with the already traditional Pride event at the University.

Academic Rainbow in the Year of Celebration 2021 online event will be held on Thursday, July 1 at 1-3 pm. The event is organized by the University's Equality and Diversity Committee and the University Library. You can find more information on the university website. 

Queer research and literature 

Lehtonen, Jukka (2015). Muistot ja ajallisuus – Setan nuorten toiminta muutoksessa 
The study examines the activity of Seta's youth section and its development over the last 30 years.

Mustola, Kati & Pakkanen, Johanna (toim.) (2007). Sateenkaari-Suomi : seksuaali- ja sukupuolivähemmistöjen historiaa 
A comprehensive work about the history of gender and sexual minorities in Finland from the 1600's. The book considers LGBT+ themes both from a social and cultural-historical standpoint. 

Mustola, Kati & Rydström, Jens (toim.) (2007). Criminally queer : homosexuality and criminal law in Scandinavia 1842-1999
An overview of the history of criminal law and homosexuality in Scandinavia 1842-1999, a period during which same-sex love was outlawed. The book considers these laws in relation to the development of the welfare state in Nordic countries. 

Sorainen, Antu (2005). Rikollisia sattumalta? : naisten keskinäistä haureutta koskevat oikeudenkäynnit 1950-luvun Itä-Suomessa
This dissertation focuses on the genealogy of women's same-sex fornication in Finnish criminal law from 1889/1894 to 1971. 

Stang, Alexandra. 2015. Possibilities, silences : the publishing and reception of queer topics in Finland during the interwar years (and beyond)  
This doctoral thesis analyses literary works about non-heterosexual female characters in Finnish literature from the beginning of the 20th century to the 1950s. 

Taavetti, Riikka (2018). Queer Politics of Memory : Undisciplined Sexualities as Glimpses and Fragments in Finnish and Estonian Pasts.
This doctoral thesis considers the construction of queer and undisciplined sexualities in Finnish and Estonian personal and cultural memories from the 1990s to the present. 

Taavetti, Riikka (2018) Queer-historian avoimet menneisyydet. Teoksessa Elina Hakoniemi & Ilkka Kärrylä & Kristiina Silvan & Riikka Taavetti (toim.) Menneet tulevaisuudet 
The article examines the relationship of queer theory to time in general and to historical research in particular.