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Eero Tarasti

Eero Aarne Pekka Tarasti
Born September 27, 1948, Helsinki.

Master of Arts, 1973, Licentiate of Philosophy, 1976, and Doctor of Philosophy (Musicology), University of Helsinki

Professor of Musicology, 1984–2016, University of Helsinki
Professor of Musicology, 1983–84, University of Jyväskylä
Professor of Arts Education, 1979–83, University of Jyväskylä

Vice-president, 1994–2004, President, 2004–2014 and Honorary President, 2014-, IASS/AIS:n (International Association for Semiotic Studies)
Founder and President, ISI at Imatra (International Institute for Semiotic Studies), 1988–2013
Chairperson, Finnish Semiotic Society, 1979-
Founder and Editor-in-chief, Synteesi arts research periodical, 1982-

Publications, research projects and other academic activity

Awards and special achievements
J.V. Snellman Prize, University of Helsinki, 1997
Honorary Doctorates in four universities abroad (Bloomington, Indiana; Tallinn, Estonia; Sofia, Hungary and Aix-Marseille, France)
Honorary member, Victoria College, University of Toronto

Written by Eero Tarasti and Riitta-Ilona Hurmerinta (ed.)
Translated by John Calton

My novels

Like so many semioticians, I too have been fascinated by literature. I have written novels. My first was the 1995 novel Professori Amfortasin salaisuus (’The secret of Professor Amfortas’, translated into French in 2000 and Estonian in 1996), which, on account of the title, was mistakenly thought to be a detective novel.

My second novel was twenty years in the making. It was published in 2014 both in French (translated by Mikko Kuusimäki as Retour à la Villa Nevski, Paris: Editions Impliquées) and in Italian (translated by Vesa Matteo Piludu as L’eredità di Villa Nevski, Lanciano: Casa Editrice Rocco Carabba). Originally my novel was to be called L’Europe/Peut-être, but unfortunately my Parisian publisher would not accept it.

Eero Tarasti signing his book.​
Eero Tarasti signing his book.​

 

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