Abstract
<jats:p>This anthology, comprised of an introduction and seven chapters, gives letters a central place in the historical study of academic disciplines while also considering how intellectuals – both men and women – engaged with their interlocutors and wider cultural and political discourses. The contributors focus mainly on the epistolary writings of 20th-century academic and cultural figures from the Baltic region, with a particular emphasis on Finland. At the time of writing the letters, many of their authors, while striving to pursue creative and intellectual vocations in folklore, linguistics, ethnography and the literary arts, also endured various degrees of hardship and mental anguish, something to which the letters attest. The extensive citations of the letters – in their original languages and translation – offer readers the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the content, style and register of their authors’ epistolary prose. As well as imparting youthful enthusiasm and passion, the extracts from the letters also reveal the darker areas of their authors’ inner lives. However private or personal, these communications reflect the zeitgeist of their era. In addition to practicing close reading, the contributors draw from concepts and theories from the study of correspondences, auto/biography, emotional communities, positioning and scholarly personae; the contributors also note the ways in which social class and gender can influence acceptance and participation among the cultural elites.</jats:p>