Suur-Soome varjus. Hinnangutest Ilmari Mannineni teadustööle

The objective of this article is to examine Ilmari Manninen’s position within Finnish ethnology on the basis of archival sources. The material consists mainly of Manninen’s correspondence, and the methodological approach is a close re-reading of his scholarly work. Manninen spent six years in Estonia, where he adapted well to the university and museum life in Tartu. The opening of the Estonian National Museum was a milestone and a testament to the success of the working team. Manninen’s return to Finnish ethnology was not self-evident. Although he maintained contact with Finland through A. M. Tallgren and Kaarle Krohn, he was regarded as an outsider by the Finnish National Museum and the University of Helsinki. By applying the historical research concept of the community of experience, this article situates Manninen within the field of Finnish ethnography. Manninen’s life’s work was evaluated in the context of his application for a professorship. His work in Estonia and his contribution as Head of the Ethnographic Department at the National Museum of Finland seem to have been acknowledged. However, his scholarly research on Estonian folk culture does not appear to have received the same level of recognition. Manninen’s research focused on Estonia and Karelia. Albert Hämäläinen’s research, on the other hand, concentrated on Western and Central Finland. This raises the question of whether it may have been a matter of a confrontation between East and West.