About the Project
The Finnish writer Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) published his great novel Seitsemän veljestä in 1870, and died soon after, long before he was able to see it recognized as the best novel ever written in Finnish. The novel has also been translated fifty times, into thirty-two different languages—and I am interested in comparing how it has been translated, as part of my research into the extent to which the novel has become part of “world literature” (and what world literature is, and on what basis it can be recognized, and so on).
I have translated the novel myself into English—Finnish is my best foreign language—and can read a handful of the other translations, but none with the kind of sensitivity to nuance and cultural background and literary history and so on that I’m hoping to find in you. I’m looking, therefore, to crowd-source those assessments—with your help.
If you’re interested in helping out, please click on a passage and then on the language(s) you feel competent to read. Call up the one or more translations of that passage into your language(s), and answer the questions online! You may also want to read what others have written about each, and possibly even agree or disagree with them.
Thanks for your time!
Douglas Robinson (view profile)
Copyright Information
The original work of Aleksis Kivi is in the public domain. Translators and/or publishers retain the copyright of their corresponding versions. Prof. Douglas Robinson and the Hong Kong Baptist University give no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for the purpose of the information provided.
The use of "the Aleksis Kivi Brothers Seven Translation Assessment Project" website and its contents must comply with Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International 
of Creative Commons license.
Contact us
For enquiries or recommendations, you are most welcome to contact Digital and Multimedia Services Section, Hong Kong Baptist University Library
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