Uudenaikaiset

Uudenaikaiset, meaning the moderns in Finnish, is a historiographical label used to describe a loose network of writers, poets, painters and thinkers at the turn of the 20th century who embraced modernist sensibilities. The term is not the name of a formal movement, but a convention used by critics to group several overlapping currents that challenged late Romantic-nationalist aesthetics and sought new ways to depict modern life, urban experience, and social change.

Geographical and temporal scope: In Finland, the label is typically applied to literary and artistic activity from the 1890s into the 1910s, a period of rapid modernization under Russian rule and culminating in independence in 1917. Participants ranged from Symbolist-tinged writers to early modernists and naturalists, united more by attitude than by a unified program.

Artistic aims and methods: The Uudenaikaiset pursued experimentation with form, style, and subject matter. They explored psychological depth, everyday urban subjects, and cosmopolitan influences, often adopting critical or ironic tones toward tradition and national mythmaking.

Legacy: The label helps scholars understand Finland's cultural modernization and the emergence of contemporary Finnish literature and visual arts. It remains a historiographic shorthand rather than a self-designated group.

See also Finnish modernism and Finnish literature.