Culture Stage: Author Pertti Sulasalmi

Author Pertti Sulasalmi presents his work "A Stranger Everywhere", published just over a year ago. In his lecture, Sulasalmi explores phenomena related to Finnish emigration in the 1970s and 1980s in a broader context than presented in the book.

In the early 1970s, 100,000 Finns moved to Sweden - the average age of emigrants was 23 years. Sulasalmi was one of them: he left Jyväskylä at age 19 to work at LM-Ericsson's telephone factory. A significant portion of the emigrants later returned, and by the 1980s there were 200,000 returnees in total. Today, approximately 730,000 people of Finnish descent live in Sweden.

The experiences of Finns in Sweden have often been described through derogatory terms like "finnjävel" or "slussenin sissit". Sulasalmi also wants to highlight the positive aspects of emigration - for many, migration created a strong foundation for life.

The Culture Stage is held on the first floor of Jyväskylä City Library every Monday at 6 p.m. Admission is free. More information: https://www.jyvaskyla.fi/kulttuuri/kulttuurilava