This study examines mimetic strategies in L. Onerva's (Hilja Onerva Lehtinen, 1882-1972) novel Mirdja (1908) within the process of the creation of female subjectivity in the aesthetic and historical context of the early twentieth century. Though I focus primarily on the novel Mirdja, I also refer to L. Onerva's early texts written between 1900 and 1915, both published and unpublished. During this period, L. Onerva's writing enaged in dialogue with a number of aesthetic and philosophical trends typical of the European fin de siècle, including decadence, symbolism and Nietzscheanism. I approach mimesis broadly, since this enables me to explore fin de siècle concerns including the merging of life and art, the aestheticization of life and the creation of the self through art. I work with the theories of mimesis that emphsize the implied political dimension and social character of the concept.

My inquiry is written from the perspective of gender, and I employ Luce Irigaray's theory of 'productive' and 'non-productive' mimesis. irigaray's ideas invoke Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalytic theories of mimesis. Freud's theories play also an important role in contextualizing the literary text I discuss. The intertextual approach I have adopted is helpful in v various ways: because of the intertextual character of L. Onerva's writing, because of the programmatic intertextuality of decadent literature and because intertextuality is a form of mimesis. Considering the factors of influence and confluence, I look at L. Onerva's work in relation to the texts of the (predominantly) male authors she read and translated, as erll as within the context and tradition of women's writing.

In my analysis, I emphasize mimesis as imitation - mirroring, copying and repetion, as education, infection, fusion, merging and assimilation, as well as 'sympathetic magic'. My analyses of theatrical and social mimesis highlight the way life and art, politics and aesthetics are intertwined, which is apparent from the various roles the protagonist Mirdja tests out and appropriates. Through these roles, I address the key themes of the novel - artistry, love, desire and the maternal, set against the historical background of early twentieth century Finland. The interart moment comes to theforefront of my analysis when I explore the importance of music and 'musical mimesis'. The facets of mimesis that I address closely, in addition to the intertextual dimension, include irony, parody and paradox, typical of decadent writing and Nietzschean strategies. I argue that irony and parody are among the feminist strategies that enabled L. Onerva to engage with various literary genres and sub-genres, such as the decadent novel, the novel of development, artist's novel, dilettante novel, New Woman novel, as well as the picaresque or picara novel.