Areas of expertise
Research field: folklore studies
- Kalevala-metric poetry and runosong in contemporary contexts
- concepts of intangible cultural heritage and folk tradition
- intangible cultural heritage and folk music
- landscape and visual discourses of cultural heritage
- medievalism, new spirituality
I hold a Title of Docent in Folklore Studies at the University of Helsinki. My research focuses on the contemporary uses and ideological meanings of Kalevala-metric poetry and runo songs as well as the broader cultural and intellectual context related to the uses of the Kalevala.
I have studied Finnish contemporary folk music, perceptions of “Kalevalaicity” in Finnish heritage processes, and the intersections of medievalism, neo-spiritualism and “Kalevalaicity”. Furthermore, I have examined the concept of intangible cultural heritage and the processes related to the UNESCO Convention in Finland. I am particularly intrigued by a range of social phenomena that examine the role of “ancient-ness” (muinaisuus) and mythical history in the present. In addition to my academic career, I also hold a master’s degree in music from the Folk Music Department at the Sibelius Academy. This has provided me with an opportunity to extensively engage with the world of runo songs through artistic creation.
I have been the recipient of the Kalevala Society’s Young Researcher Award (2019), the Finnish Ethnomusicological Society’s Best Article Award (2021) and the writing competition prize of the Porthan Society (2024, together with Liisa Kunnas). I am currently engaged in two distinct research roles. The first is as a researcher in the Kone Foundation-funded project, “Materiality, Oral Poetry, Mythical Knowledge, and the Lived Environment” (Director: Docent Frog, University of Helsinki). The second is as a part-time lecturer in folk music at the University of the Arts, where I teach research skills in both the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Furthermore, I serve as a research fellow at the Research Department of the SKS.
Selected publications:
Mäkelä, H. H. (Accepted/In press). The Alluring Past: Progressive Heritagisations of Traditional Sexual Poetry in the Field of Contemporary Folk Music in Finland. Ethnologia Europaea.
Mäkelä, H. H., Leiwo, L., Linkola, H., & Rinne, J. (2024). The Spiritual Forest: An Ethnographic Exploration of Finnish Forest Yoga and the Forest Landscape. Landscape Research, 49(2), 163–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2023.2268550
Mäkelä, H. H. (2023). Metsäjooga, metsään liittyvä uushenkisyys ja kalevalaisen muinaisuuden muistaminen. In K. Koski, & T. Hovi (Eds.), Kansanperinne 2.0: Sukelluksia 2000-luvun vernakulaariin kulttuuriin (pp. 134–169). (Tietolipas; No. 279). Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. https://doi.org/10.21435/tl.279
Mäkelä, H. H. (2022). Visualizing Heritage, Ethnicity and Gender: Bodily Representations of Finnishness in the Photographs of the National Inventory of Living Heritage. In J. Hoegaerts, T. Liimatainen, L. Hekanaho, & E. Peterson (Eds.), Finnishness, Whiteness and Coloniality (pp. 41–71). Helsinki University Press. https://doi.org/10.33134/HUP-17-3
Mäkelä, H. H., & Tarkka, L. (2022). Sopimatonta: Seksuaalisuuteen liittyvien kalevalamittaisten runojen perinnöllistäminen Suomessa 1818–1997. Elore, 29(2), 34–58. https://doi.org/10.30666/elore.121473
Mäkelä, H. H. (2021). The Desired Darkness of the Ancient: Kalevalaicity, Medievalism, and Cultural Memory in the Books Niemi and Viiden meren kansa. Mirator, 21(1), 24–49. https://journal.fi/mirator/article/view/102835/66697
Haapoja-Mäkelä, H. (2020a). Silencing the Other’s Voice? On Cultural appropriation and the Alleged Finnishness of Kalevalaic Runo Singing. Ethnologia Fennica, 47(1), 6–32. https://doi.org/10.23991/ef.v47i1.84255
Haapoja-Mäkelä, H. (2020b). Elävät perintömme: Kansallinen me aineettoman kulttuuriperinnön luetteloinnissa. In O. Järvinen (Ed.), Suomen Museo – Finskt Museum 2020 (pp. 49–66). (Suomen museo). Suomen muinaismuistoyhdistys. https://journal.fi/suomenmuseo/article/view/109155/64070
