Viliina Silvonen

I am a folklorist specialising in the Karelian lament tradition. My research is situated at the intersection of folklore studies and ethnomusicology, covering topics ranging from the emotions and affectivity of historical lament performances on archival audio recordings to a variety of contemporary adaptations of laments within Finland. Additionally, I incorporate insights from critical heritage studies, with particular interest in postcolonial discourse and minority perspectives related to Karelian culture in Finland.

I am a grant-based postdoctoral researcher at the Karelian Institute of the University of Eastern Finland, where I work remotely. I am also a Research Fellow at the Finnish Literature Society’s Research Department, and my office is located there in Helsinki.

Currently, I am researching contemporary applications of the lament tradition from the perspectives of religion and spirituality (Feb 2026–Mar 2027; Alfred Kordelin Foundation). I am also involved in the project “Controversial Folklore: Involving Communities in Future Archival Research” (2026–2029; Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts; Kone Foundation, PI: Outi Valo).

I defended my dissertation in the field of Folklore Studies at the University of Helsinki in January 2022. In my dissertation, I analysed the emotions, affect, and poetics of Olonets Karelian laments using archival recordings. This study combines perspectives from folkloristic and linguistic anthropological performance and practice theories as well as interdisciplinary emotion and affect theories. Methodologically, the research is based on analyses of text, music, and sound/voice, as well as multisensory observation.

In the ”Kyynekanavat – Laments in Contemporary Finland” project (2021–2025, Kone Foundation, University of Eastern Finland, PI: Elina Hytönen-Ng), I collaborated with folk musician and lamenter Emmi Kuittinen. We studied lamenting as a performing art and contemporary folk music, exploring different ways to integrate scholarly and artistic perspectives; among other things, we published an audio article. In that project and in the project ”Karelian Perspective on Folk Music in Finland” (2023–2025, Finnish Cultural Foundation, University of Eastern Finland, PI: Pekka Suutari), I have also analysed the diverse interpretations and contradictions within the lamenting scene in present-day Finland.

I am a member of the editorial board for the Elore Journal, and I have founded a popular science blog Päivystävä folkloristi (‘a folklorist on-call’) with my colleagues in 2018.