taitekerroimet

Taitekerroimet is a Finnish term used in literary criticism and folklore studies to describe a category of artistic devices that intertwine storytelling with linguistic play. The term is not consistently standardized in Finnish reference works, and its exact scope varies among scholars.

Etymology and scope: The word combines taide ('art') with a element related to telling, and the plural suffix -imet. Because usage is not uniform, taitekerroimet is sometimes treated as a loose label for works that foreground language and narration as artistic material rather than as a single, fixed doctrine.

Definitions and extent: Taitekerroimet covers practices such as metafiction, polyphonic narration, and various forms of wordplay—including puns, anagrams, or embedded linguistic puzzles—that disrupt or transform conventional storytelling. It is often applied to experimental or avant-garde works where the act of telling and the texture of language are central concerns.

Techniques and characteristics: Common features include self-reflexive narration, shifting or multiple narrators, interruptions of linear chronology, and explicit attention to language as craft. The aim is typically to heighten reader awareness of form, generate ambiguity or humor, or critique social and literary conventions.

Context and significance: The term appears most often in discussions of late 20th-century and contemporary Finnish literature and performance art. It serves as a descriptive label for a family of devices rather than a unified movement, reflecting interest in how language shapes meaning within art.

See also: Retorikka, metafiktiio, narratologia, wordplay, polyphony.