Three tasks
Introduction
The Kalevala Institute was established in 1998 as a tool in the field of “comparative research on epics"?. The field may sound narrow but in daily work it will expand to cover international publication activities in folkloristics and neighbouring disciplines, the planning of scholarly training courses, the creation and maintenance of various scholarly networks, the organising of conferences and the initiation of international and domestic research cooperation.
Three tasks of the Kalevala Institute
The Kalevala Institute has three main tasks: to 1) promote, 2) inform and 3) mediate in its field. Promotion is defined in detail as “the promotion of comparative research focussing on the Kalevala and other traditional epics in an internationally visible way"?. This involves the initiation and support of research projects, participation in publication and information activities, the creation and maintenance of various scholarly networks, the organisation of international conferences, the invitation of foreign experts to Finland and participation in the training of scholars together with domestic and foreign institutions and researchers. The most relevant field of research promoted by the Kalevala Institute are oral and traditional epics, their materials, textualisation, reception and impact, taking into consideration related genres, often important from the point of view of the performance context of epics and to be found in ritual poetry, mythology, folk beliefs and customs".
The second task, information, involves a broader focus and a broader field. The distribution of information about foreign and domestic research on the Kalevala and other epics will be expanded to folkloristic research in general in the international perspective serving both scholars and wider audiences. The work will include participation in the marketing of relevant publications produced by the parties of joint activities, the offering of information services for actual folkloristic projects, the initiation and support of various presentations of research on the Kalevala and traditional epics (books, films, sound recordings, CD-ROMs, workshops and seminars) and the promotion of the utilisation of epic materials in teaching and information.
The third task is defined as the “mediation of expertise in questions concerning the folkloristic, literary, artistic and culture-historical research on the Kalevala and its background, and on traditional epics in general, in collaboration with domestic and foreign institutions, scientific societies and researchers"?.