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

Translation of cultures and worlds

During my student days in the 1970s, I met many charismatic professors, teachers and writers at our department Nordica. Thanks to them I developed a simultaneous interest in etymology, historical linguistics, Swedish and Finland Swedish, and Scandinavian literature.

I graduated quickly, as early as 1974, and I qualified as a subject teacher one year later, and suddenly I had decided to write my licentiate thesis on the notion of science (1983). As a philologist and linguist, I accustomed myself with new interdisciplinary fields, such as science studies; i.e., how the history of science and learning has been studied in different academic fields. Translation and translation studies have been part of my academic life since the 1970s, first in my studies, later in my teaching at the University of Helsinki – for almost half a century!

My largest research project was my doctoral dissertation, Från konst till vetenskap. Begreppet vetenskap och dess språkliga uttryck i svenskan under 400 år (1989), ( ‘From Art to Science. The concept of vetenskap and its linguistic expressions in Swedish during 400 years’), which I worked on from 1983–89. It was a large historical and cultural-historical project where, with the help of lexicography, etymology, philology and concept analysis, the phenomenon of science and the development of scientific language was traced from 1400 to 1900. At the end of the 1970s, the project took me to Lund University, Sweden, and the editorial offices of the Swedish dictionary

Svenska Akademiens ordbok, which were at that time located on the top floor of the Lund University Library.

I can still remember how the smell of words struck me as I stepped into the editorial office. There were metres of shelves filled with examples of words. I spent the summer months there writing up, by hand, examples of old words connected to knowledge and science, from the 1400s onwards.

When this large project was complete, it was time to study something completely different. Now the focus of my research was, on one hand, silence as a linguistically and culturally specific phenomenon, and, on the other, love, nostalgia and melancholy in literature. This research appeared as articles and also, among others, as the monograph Kielen silkki. Hiljaisuus ja rakkaus kielen ja kirjallisuuden kuvastimessa (1993), (‘The Silk of Language. Silence and love in the mirror of language and literature’), which included descriptions of the works of Henry and Oscar Parland, Tove Jansson, Märta Tikkamen, Marianne Alopaeus, Gösta Ågren and Tito Colliander.

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