Being reborn into the new family: Bibliotherapeutic values in contemporary Finnish autobiographical writing. "Kuka sinut omistaa" by Riitta Jalonen and "Adoptoitu" by Anu Mylläri

Abstract

Every child brought up outside the biological family suffered a loss, some of them were lucky to be “born again" for another family who accepted them with love. The experiences of children in this situation often remain secretive and emotions suppressed. In this case, literature can become a way of therapy, both for the author and the reader who perceive through the novel their emotions that were not previously named. After many years, two Finnish writers Anu Mylläri and Riitta Jalonen decided to reveal their stories. Anu Mylläri, born in Bangladesh, was adopted by a family of Finnish farmers, while Riitta Jalonen included in her novel autobiographical plots related to the admission of a new child to her family. I will present the image of the “second birth” and the associated emotions from the perspective of the child on the basis of the autobiography of Anu Mylläri Adoptoitu (Adopted, 2006) and the autobiographical novel Kuka sinut omistaa (Who Owns You, 2013) by Riitta Jalonen. The aim of the article is thus to present these perspectives with relation to the bibliotherapeutic values of the mentioned literary works.