Lotte Tarkka

Lotte Tarkka is a Professor of Folklore Studies at the University of Helsinki (2009–) and Docent of Folklore Studies (2007–). Her research focuses on Kalevala-meter poetry, vernacular imagination, intertextuality, and the cultural history of Karelian oral traditions. She leads the Master’s Programme in Cultural Heritage and chairs the Docent Committee at the Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki.

• Doctor of Philosophy (2005), University of Helsinki
• Licentiate of Philosophy (1994), University of Helsinki
• Candidate of Philosophy (1989), University of Helsinki

Key research interests include:

• Oral poetics and performance theory
• Mythology as cultural knowledge
• Genre systems in pre-modern Northeast Europe
• Historiography of folklore studies
• Cultural heritage and nationalism

Her scholarly work spans projects like The Muted Muses of Oral Culture (2019–2023) and Oral Poetry, Mythic Knowledge, and Vernacular Imagination (2012–2016). Awards include the Kalevala Award (2007) and membership in the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (2012). Supervised 15 PhD theses and co-edited journals like Studia Fennica.