Heli Rantala
PhD, Docent
hemara@utu.fi Arcanuminkuja 1 Turku |
history; cultural history; nineteenth-century studies; Romantic era; history of concepts; intellectual history; press history; text reuse; travel writing; diaries; literary history; academic communities and university history; mobility studies (mobility of people and ideas)
I work as a researcher in the Department of Cultural History specializing in nineteenth-century cultural and intellectual history, press history and the history of learned communities. I have published also on the history of travel writing and on book history, among other topics.
I conducted my MA and PhD studies at the University of Turku, where I studied History, Philosophy and some Political Science as well. I gained my doctoral degree in 2013 in Cultural History at the University of Turku. In my doctoral dissertation, I studied the conceptual dimension of the Finnish nineteenth-century cultural discourse by investigating the entangled meanings of culture, Bildung and civilisation in the writings of Johan Vilhelm Snellman (1806–1881), a Swedish-speaking philosopher, journalist and academic.
During my academic career, I have had an opportunity to work in the field of doctoral training as a co-ordinator of several doctoral programmes. In addition to my academic work, I am active in some scholarly societies. I am especially interested in the fields of science communication, non-fiction writing and the dialogue between arts and sciences.
Currently (2024-) I'm occupied with my own project that explores the history of Finnish academic communities from the perspective of failures, death and oblivion. In 2020-2024 I have been leading the project Mobility of Words and Places of Knowledge: Learned Communities in Early Nineteenth-Century Finland (Kone Foundation).
I have had an opportunity to work in several research projects led by Professor Hannu Salmi, first in Travelling Notions of Culture: Itineraries of Bildung and Civilisation in Early Nineteenth-Century Europe and later in Computational History and the Transformation of Public Discourse in Finland, 1640–1910, and in Viral Culture in Early Nineteenth-Century Europe. In these projects, I have studied the spatial dimension of civilisation (for example in Nordic travelogues), text re-use in Finnish newspapers and the viral nature of revolution in early nineteenth-century Europe.
During 2020-2023, I have been active in the research project Information Flows across the Baltic Sea: Swedish-language press as a cultural mediator, 1771-1918 led by Prof. Salmi. In 2023-2024 I have also worked in the research project Fauna et Flora Fennica led by Otto Latva.
I have worked as a teacher and a supervisor in the interdisciplinary study programme Baltic Sea Region Studies (UTU) for several years. In this programme, I have taught courses on the themes of identity, nationalism, transnationalism and cultural transfer. I have also been involved in various teaching activities at my home department including a MA level seminar in cultural history.
- Kirjakauppias Friedrich Anton Meyer 250 vuotta (2021) Tunturi Janne, Rantala Heli
(E1 Popularised article) - Muutama sana Turun romantikosta (2021) Turun romantikko. Esseitä Hannu Salmelle Saarelainen Juhana, Rantala Heli, Paju Petri, Oiva Mila
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Något om böcker. Kirjojen ja kauppiaiden jäljillä 1800-luvun alun Turussa (2021) Turun romantikko. Esseitä Hannu Salmelle Rantala Heli
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Presshistoria, flerspråkighet och Nordens italienska (2021)
- Åbo underrättelser
(E1 Popularised article) - Resandets teknologier och känslor. Finländska resenär i det tidiga 1800-talets Europa (2021)
- Historiska Och Litteraturhistoriska Studier
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Text reuse in the Swedish-language press, 1645–1918: Database (2021) Vesanto Aleksi, Paju Petri, Rantala Heli, Edoff Erik, Lundell Patrik, Marjanen Jani, Salmi Hannu
(I2 ICT program or software application ) - Turun romantikko. Esseitä Hannu Salmelle. (2021) Saarelainen Juhana, Rantala Heli, Paju Petri, Oiva Mila
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - Embryonic modernity: infectious dynamics in early nineteenth-century Finnish culture (2020)
- International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Kirja-arvio: Jussi Välimaa: Opinteillä oppineita. Suomalainen korkeakoulutus keskiajalta 2000-luvulle. 2018. ISBN
978-952-5934-96-0. (2020)- Mirator
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Pikisaaresta Pariisiin. Suomalaismatkaajien kokemuksia 1800-luvun Euroopassa (2020) Rantala Heli
(C1 Refereed scientific book) - The reuse of texts in Finnish newspapers and journals, 1771–1920: A digital humanities perspective (2020)
- Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Tila ja ruumiillisuus 1800-luvun alun nuorten miesten päiväkirjoissa (2020) Päiväkirjojen jäljillä - Historiantutkimus ja omasta elämästä kirjoittaminen Rantala Heli
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Digitaalinen historiantutkimus. Ennen ja nyt -lehden erikoisnumero 2/2019 (2019) Paju Petri, Rantala Heli, Salmi Hannu
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - Eurooppalaisia aatteita 1800-luvun alun Turun akatemiassa (2019) Eurooppa, Suomi, Kalevala. Mikä mahdollisti Kalevalan? Heli Rantala
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Global ‘revolution’ in the early nineteenth-century Finnish press (2019)
- History of European Ideas
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Henric Snellman: Korrt. Utdrag af Meiners Psychologie (Åbo 1800) (2019) Rantala Heli, Tunturi Janne
(D5 Text book, professional manual or guide or dictionary ) - Sata vuotta Keskiajan syksyä (2019)
- Historiallinen Aikakauskirja
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Tekstien pitkä elämä: Ajassa liikkuvat tekstit suomalaisessa sanomalehdistössä 1771-1920 (2019)
- Ennen ja Nyt : Historian Tietosanomat
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Tekstien uudelleenkäyttö suomalaisessa sanoma- ja aikakauslehdistössä 1771–1920. Digitaalisten ihmistieteiden näkökulma (2019)
- Historiallinen Aikakauskirja
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - The Long-Term Reuse of Text in the Finnish Press, 1771–1920 (2019)
- CEUR Workshop Proceedings
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication )