Kertoja

Kertoja is a Finnish noun meaning narrator or storyteller. In literary and narrative studies, kertoja refers to the narrative voice that presents the story to the reader or audience. The kertoja can be an actual character within the story (a character narrator) or a voice outside the diegetic world (an external or observer narrator). The choice of kertoja and the manner of telling shape how events are perceived, interpreted, and valued.

Types of kertoja are often described by point of view and level of knowledge. A first-person kertoja (minä-kertoja) tells from the speaker’s own perspective using first-person pronouns, often closely aligning the reader with the narrator’s sensibilities and limitations. A third-person kertoja (hän-kertoja) uses third-person reference and can be either omniscient, knowing all thoughts and feelings of all characters, or limited, following one or a few characters. An omniscient kertoja provides broad scope and interpretive authority, while a limited kertoja constrains information to specific characters or events. An unreliable or false kertoja intentionally distorts information, affecting interpretation and trust.

Kerronta, the act of narration, includes strategies such as direct speech, free indirect discourse, and narrative distance—the perceived closeness or remoteness between the reader and the narrator. In film and other media, the term kertoja may also apply to a voice-over narrator guiding the audience.

Etymology: kertoja derives from kertoa, “to tell.” The concept is central to narratology in Finnish-language literary studies and helps explain how narrative perspective shapes meaning.