At the end of my studies, I discussed the required reading for the final examination of my master’s degree with Professor Erik Allardt. When he listed some books on the sociology of literature, he put a mark next to Mimesis by Erich Auerbach and said “read this and write a concise summary of it in the exam so also I can find out what’s in it.”

And that is what happened. Mimesis goes from strict stylistic analysis to evaluating the social scope of literature. As the source of Western literature it sees Homer and the Bible, wherein Hellenism represents aristocracy and Judaism represents democratic traditions.

Auerbach’s book came to my aid when Archbishop Martti Simojoki launched his attack against the novel Juhannustanssit, by Hannu Salama. In my defence of the book, I used the cultural-historical ideas of Mimesis, as it expertly demonstrates the significance of Christianity in the birth of literary realism. The example set by the New Testament allowed realism to deal seriously with the lower classes, and the wretched and wicked.

Archbishop Simojoki thought that literature should not include anything that might offend “a significant portion of the population,” i.e. those building their lives in the name of Jesus. When he disapproved of a vulgar outburst by a drunken bricklayer finding its way into a novel, in my eyes he was acting contrary to the Christian tradition as illustrated by Auerbach. The Archbishop never countered my claim.

Soon after there were no attempts to curb freedom of speech. When the conflicts subsided, literature lost its place as an engine of social change. Literary values assumed greater importance to literary critics. I do not think that the responsibility of a literary critic is to advise authors but to create awareness of new authors and books. While working for Helsingin Sanomat, I had the privilege to shine the spotlight on such authors as Anna-Leena Härkönen, Olli Jalonen, Matti Pulkkinen and Kjell Westö.