Dr Pasi Klemettinen

Special areas:

• popular belief in the devil, sorcery and witchcraft
• the Finnish bear and snake tradition
• folk beliefs and belief legends

Pasi Klemettinen’s responsibilities include planning and coordinating digitalisation at the Finnish Literature Society (texts and images) and the maintenance and development of the management system for digital material.

Klemettinen’s current area of research is the mythical adder in the Kalevala-metric runes and incantations of Northern and Border Karelia. As research material, he is using the digital corpus of the Old Poems of the Finnish People produced by the Finnish Literature Society.

Klemettinen’s academic background is in folklore studies (University of Joensuu). The title of his doctoral thesis is Rioting Devils. Devils and Sorcery in the Folk Beliefs of the Karelian Istmus and Ladoga Karelia (1997). He has subsequently written not only about the devil tradition but also about the Finnish bear tradition and poltergeist films. Besides these, he has participated in multimedia projects relating to traditional food in north Karelia and the cultural history of the bear.

Key publications:

• Mellastavat pirut. Tutkimus kansanomaisista paholais- ja noituuskäsityksistä Karjalan kannaksen ja Laatokan Karjalan tarinaperinteessä. Helsinki: SKS 1997.
• "Many Faces of Evil." – Myth and Mentality. Studies in Folklore and Popular Though. Studia Fennica, Folkloristica 8. Helsinki: SKS 2002.
• "Poltergeists. Supernatural tradition and horror movies." – Popular Imagination: Essays on Fantasy and Cultural Practice. Turku: NNF Publications 12, 2002.
• "Kurkistuksia karhun kulttuurihistoriaan." – Eläin ihmisen sielun maisemassa. Helsinki: SKS 2002.
• Multimediahankkeet: 1) "Uamusesta Iltaseen." Pohjoiskarjalainen ruokaperinne. Joensuu: Kulttuuri- ja matkailukeskus Carelicum 1998. (rooli: projektin vetäjä), 2) "Metsänkuninkaan jäljillä." Joensuu: Kulttuuri- ja matkailukeskus Carelicum 1999. (rooli: projektin vetäjä ja käsikirjoitus), 3) "Karhu – kulttuurihistoriallinen kuvaus karhusta." CD-ROM. Leader-project (EU) 1999. (rooli: projektin vetäjä ja käsikirjoitus)