Minna Maijala started out as a student of Theoretical Philosophy, and her interest in philosophical views on the human condition, particularly passions, was sparked already in her first year during Vesa Oittinen’s lectures on rationalism. After beginning her subsidiary subject studies in Finnish Literature, Maijala encountered the same themes of suffering and the uncontrollability of human passions in the works of Minna Canth. This previously unexplored topic proved so intriguing that she ended up writing her doctoral dissertation on it.

I had the opportunity to teach immediately after I was accepted as a postgraduate student at the university, and teaching was an important part of my life for nearly the entire time I was working on my dissertation. I taught both history of literature and an introductory course on theory and also gave individual study guidance to students as an assistant. Although teaching may have slowed down my work on the actual doctoral dissertation, which took seven years, teaching has presented many challenges and developed me in a way that I feel is crucial.

The works of the author Minna Canth attracted plenty of attention when they were first published. Even her first play Murtovarkaus ('The Burglary', 1882) won an award at the Finnish Literature Society's play contest, and she was quickly elevated to the status of the most important playwright in the emerging field of Finnish theatre, right up there with Aleksis Kivi. She was known as a reader and author who kept up with what was going on in the world, and in her articles did not hold back when it came to voicing her opinion, not only on literary matters, but also on various other subjects.