Modern runosinging in Karelia and Finland

The article examines the current state of the runosinging tradition in Karelia and Finland. The objectives of the study include examining issues of performers’ motivation, strategies for selecting and memorizing material, the nature of the repertoire, the features and difficulties of the modern performance, the involvement of the state in performance practices, and the connections between the old and the new traditions of runosinging. Based on the material of semi-structured interviews in 2024 with eight performers of epic runes, and taking into account personal observations and the results of the author’s expedition trips to different districts of the Republic of Karelia in 2007–2023, the totality of storytelling practices of 21st century runosingers was studied. Today, Karelian epic runes do not exist among the people, but they continue to live in the stage format. There is a tradition of transferring performing arts skills from the older to the younger (from mother to child), from a teacher/master to a student. The epic repertoire of the performers goes back, in addition to the «Kalevala», also to the texts of scholarly collections, archival on their basis. There is a significant difference in the development of modern runosinging in Karelia and Finland in favor of the latter. It was not possible to identify any special role of the state in the development of modern runosinging.