The article deals with the peculiarities of the modern Finnish detective novels compared to Scandinavian noir. Among the distinctive features of Scandinavian detective novels one can name psychologicalism, the special role of the Nordic landscape, the aestheticisation of violence, mystical atmosphere and the image of the protagonist, who is usually a non-ideal policeman. On the material of 10 novels by Finnish authors (Leena Lehtolainen and Elina Backman) and 9 novels by Swedish authors (Lisa Marklund and Camilla Läckberg) a comparative analysis is carried out in order to identify the characteristic features of the Finnish detective novel. L. Lehtolainen is one of the writers who pioneered the modern Finnish detective novels, with her first novel written in 1993. Her works have been translated into 29 languages. E. Backman started writing in 2020, her novels have been translated into 15 languages and translation rights have been sold to 17 countries. Their works convey the problems and values of Finnish society not only to Finnish but also to foreign readers. L. Marklund and C. Läckberg published their debut novels at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, and their works are also popular in different countries and well known in Finland. The analysis revealed common characteristics of Swedish and Finnish detective novels, e. g. a combination of analytical and action-packed plot, reference to typical problems of the welfare state. The peculiarities of Finnish detective novels include the significant role of teams in professional environment, which demonstrates the level of trust in the police in society; the absence of problematisation of gender roles in society, which proves the possibility of real equality of women; the description of nature not as a background landscape, which illustrates the special attitude of Finns to nature; the desire of writers to acquaint the reader with the Finnish way of life
Lyrical prose has become widespread in the literature of Finland, as in the literatures of other Northern European countries. However, the genre definition of short lyrical prose remains one of the problematic issues of literary criticism. Researchers have already identified works belonging to lyrical prose in the works of Zacharias Topelius (Jr.). The article examines prose works by Finnish writers in Finnish and Swedish. Lyrical prose was characteristic of the works of both realists and modernists and postmodernists. Already at the turn of the 19 th and 20 th centuries, experimental works appeared in the form of aphorisms, instructions, and miniatures. The article focuses on short lyrical prose. Its features in Finnish literature are examined using the example of works of Johannes Linnankoski “Small Catechism”, Juhani Aho “Shavings”, Väinö Kirstinä “House in the Country”, Risto Ahti “What is Happening”, Juha Seppälä “Super Market”. Elmer Diktonius in his work Onnela talks about the fate of his native country. The method of this narration varies, but the common problem is the genre definition: a story, a short story, a novella, a poem in prose. Despite the common features: brevity, plot limitation to one line of narration, the question of genre affiliation of Finnish lyrical prose remains debatable