Ville Vuolanto

Käsitteellisen runoteoksen lähtökohtana on Pentti Saarikosken vuonna 1968 ilmestynyt kokoelma En soisi sen päättyvän.

In Late Antiquity the emergence of Christian asceticism challenged the traditional Greco-Roman views and practices of family life. The resulting discussions on the right way to live a good Christian life provide us with a variety of information on both ideological statements and living experiences of late Roman childhood. This is the first book to scrutinise the interplay between family, children and asceticism in the rise of Christianity. Drawing on texts of Christian authors of the late fourth and early fifth centuries the volume approaches the study of family dynamics and childhood from both ideological and social historical perspectives. It examines the place of children in the family in Christian ideology and explores how families in the late Roman world adapted these ideals in practice. Offering fresh viewpoints to current scholarship Ville Vuolanto demonstrates that there were many continuities in Roman ways of thinking about children and, despite the rise of Christianity, the old traditions remained deeply embedded in the culture. Moreover, the discussions about family and children are shown to have been intimately linked to worries about the continuity of family lineage and of the self, and to the changing understanding of what constituted a meaningful life.

In Late Antiquity the emergence of Christian asceticism challenged the traditional Greco-Roman views and practices of family life. The resulting discussions on the right way to live a good Christian life provide us with a variety of information on both ideological statements and living experiences of late Roman childhood. This is the first book to scrutinise the interplay between family, children and asceticism in the rise of Christianity. Drawing on texts of Christian authors of the late fourth and early fifth centuries the volume approaches the study of family dynamics and childhood from both ideological and social historical perspectives. It examines the place of children in the family in Christian ideology and explores how families in the late Roman world adapted these ideals in practice. Offering fresh viewpoints to current scholarship Ville Vuolanto demonstrates that there were many continuities in Roman ways of thinking about children and, despite the rise of Christianity, the old traditions remained deeply embedded in the culture. Moreover, the discussions about family and children are shown to have been intimately linked to worries about the continuity of family lineage and of the self, and to the changing understanding of what constituted a meaningful life.

Teos lähestyy lasten kokemuksia antiikissa ja keskiajalla tarinoiden ja konkreettisten esimerkkien kautta. Mistä arki koostui, miten tytöt ja pojat käyttivät aikansa, ja millaisia iloja ja suruja elämään kuului? Usein ajatellaan, että lasten elämä antiikissa ja keskiajalla oli kurjaa ja heitä kohdeltiin julmasti. Vastakohdaksi esitetään valoisa ja sivistynyt nykyaika, joka korostaa lapsen oikeuksia. Lapsuus ja arki antiikissa ja keskiajalla osoittaa tuon käsityksen yksipuolisuuden. Lasten elämää luonnehti suhde vanhempiin ja muihin perheenjäseniin, leikki ja oppiminen niin koulussa kuin jokapäiväisissäkin askareissa - kuten nykyäänkin. Toisaalta lasten tekemä työ ja uskonto arjen rytmittäjänä tekevät vanhan maailman lapsuudesta meille vieraan. Teos tuo esille lasten omia näkökulmia ja kokemuksia sekä vertailee elämää Rooman valtakunnassa ja sydänkeskiajalla. Elämänmakuisten esimerkkiensä ansiosta kirja on kiinnostavaa luettavaa. Se on ensimmäinen laaja suomeksi tehty tutkimus aiheesta, ja sen näkökulmat ovat kansainvälisestikin uraa uurtavia.