Pirjo Kukkonen

Pirjo Liisa Helinä Kukkonen
Born September 5, 1949 Oulunsalo

Master of Arts (Scandinavian philology) 1974, Licentiate 1983 (Scandinavian languages), PhD 1989, University of Helsinki
Examination for authorised translators (Finnish-Swedish) 1976
Subject teacher training 1974–75, University of Helsinki
Docent in Scandinavian languages 2005–, University of Oulu

Professor of Swedish translation studies 2011–, University of Helsinki
Acting professor of Swedish translation studies 2009–11, university lecturer in Swedish (translation studies) 2004–09, University of Helsinki
Head of the Department of Translation Studies 2000–03, acting professor of Swedish translation and interpretation studies 2000–2004, University of Helsinki
Scholarship researcher 1994–96
Lecturer in Swedish translation and interpretation studies 1991–2004, Acting assistant professor 1991–94, Kouvola Institute for Translator Training/ Department of Translation Studies, University of Helsinki
Research and teaching assistant, Scandinavian languages 1983–88 and 1988–91, University of Helsinki
Part-time teacher of Scandinavian languages, acting lecturer, acting research assistant, acting assistant professor 1975–83, 1990, University of Helsinki

Member of the Scientific Board of the International Semiotics Institute 2014–
Member of the Editorial Board and Scientific Board 2013–, Punctum. International Journal of Semiotics
Principal Investigator (PI) of Swedish translation studies 2011–, University of Helsinki
Researcher and steering-group member 2013–16, TraST Research Community, University of Helsinki
Researcher 2012–, Semiotics and Cultural Heritages: Semiotics, Translation and Cultural Heritages
Executive member of IASS/AIS The International Association for Semiotic Studies – Association Internationale de Sémiotique 2009–
Director (with Ritva Hartama-Heinonen) of the 11th International Symposium on Semiotics and Translation SemTra2015 in Kaunas, Lithuania,

Board member 1999–2012, Nordic Association for Semiotic Studies
Board member, lecturer, researcher 2003–12, Finnish Network University of Semiotics
Board member 2002–13, ISI, International Institute for Semiotic and Structural Studies

Project leader, researcher 2001–04, Kouvola Research Group
Researcher 1999–2002, Popular Imagination (Nordic Network of Folklore, Åbo Akademi University)
Researcher, 1999–2000, Understanding, Misunderstanding, and Self-understanding (ESR project)
Vice president of the Semiotic Society of Finland, 1997–
Expert advisor on Swedish at various ministries 1993–96, HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management Ltd 1993–96 and Office of the President of the Republic of Finland 1994–99

Publications, research projects and other academic activity

Research themes
Language, literature and translation studies, social and cultural semiotics

Awards and special achievements
ICoN Lifetime Achievement Award 2015
Tiedeyhteisön kultainen ansiomerkki (Finnish academic medal) 2014
Festschrift in Honour of Professor Kukkonen’s 60th Birthday
‘Oscar’ of Semiotics 2006
Honorary member of the Semiotic Society of Finland 2006
University of Helsinki Superior of the Year 2001

Photo: Ari Aalto
Written by Pirjo Kukkonen (Tomas Sjöblom, ed.)
Translated by Matthew Billington

The joy of discovery and the humanities as a way of life

In his collection of short stories Filologens dröm. Berättelser om upptäckarglädje (2008), ‘The Philologist’s Dream. Stories about the joy of discovery’), professor and writer Björn Larsson writes both about researchers’ dreams of producing a world-changing, revolutionary invention and also about their humanity or lack thereof, their dreams, hopes, disappointments and successes. I recommend this collection of short stories, particularly the stories “Filologens dröm,” (‘The philologist’s dream’), ”Lingvistens sista föreläsning” (‘The last lecture held by the linguist’) and “Kosmologen som fick annat att tänka på.” (‘The cosmologist who got something else to think about’). In the same way that the dream of the researchers in the stories is the clear heights of science, like the starry sky above us, my dream is also to produce a ‘world-changing, revolutionary invention,’ but it is also the following:

that university studies be based both on academic freedom and responsibility and global ethics, i.e., both on the education of the heart and mind: “knowledge and skills become a force for education and culture only when a person’s broadmindedness, objectivity and sense of justice, which result from the demands of truth, are cultivated throughout the entire breadth of his thought and action,” so Georg Henrik von Wright wrote in his book Humanismen som livshållning 1978 (What Is Humanism? and Other Essays)
that the university in doing this could educate broad-minded ‘renaissance individuals’ who in the name of academic freedom would learn to cross boundaries and embrace interdisciplinary, holistic thinking
that my own field, translation in our national languages of Finnish and Swedish, and more generally, language education, be based on solid general knowledge and study in the humanities tradition of studia humanitatis: studies in language, literature, culture, history, rhetoric, morals and philosophy are essential for our ability to understand texts in their various contexts.
that I could create the interdisciplinary, virtual semiotics forum Humanists without Borders, which would have as its aim the promotion of humanism as the form of life principle through one’s words and deeds. This would be a meeting place for different academic fields, with language at its core. For me, semiotics is a multidisciplinary theory and practice based on meaning and communication. “Semiotics studies all forms of communication. By analysing cross-cultural misunderstandings it promotes the self-understanding of mankind.” President Martti Ahtisaari, the Patron of the 9th World Congress of the International Association for Semiotic Studies arranged in Helsinki in 2007 stated in his motto. Ahtisaari received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008, and he stated in his Nobel lecture that all conflicts can be settled: “Peace is a question of will.”

Participants at a symposium organised by Humanists without Borders, 2012

By Written by Pirjo Kukkonen (Tomas Sjöblom ed.), translated by Matthew Billington

Pirjo Kukkonen

Pirjo Liisa Helinä Kukkonen
Born September 5, 1949 Oulunsalo

Publications, research projects and other academic activity

Research themes
Language, literature and translation studies, social and cultural semiotics

Photo: Ari Aalto
Written by Pirjo Kukkonen (Tomas Sjöblom, ed.)
Translated by Matthew Billington