‘Transformations of Decadence in Contemporary Finnish Metal Music’
🇩🇪 & 🇫🇮
JGU [Johannes Gutenberg-Universität-Mainz] and Helsinki University [Helsingin Yliopisto]
DECADOCS is a pioneering research and training programme enabled by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Networks (MSCA-DN) aimed at reinterpreting the concept of decadence. Traditionally associated with decline, decadence will be explored through new perspectives, focusing on sustainability, transnationalism, and sensoriality. The programme offers tailored intersectoral training in collaboration with museums, archives, galleries, and other partners, reinforcing its scientific and social impact.
The doctoral project “Transformations of Decadence in contemporary Finnish metal music” contributes to DECADOCS through a case study of a Finnish metal band Moonsorrow. In the light of a selection of Moonsorrow music, the project will develop new tools and perspectives to understand the legacy and appeal of decadence in contemporary culture. The research includes a poetic analysis of a selection of Moonsorrow’s lyrics, defining their affiliation both to Finnish mythology and tropes of decadence, combined with an empirical study of music perception. The results will be compiled into a doctoral thesis.
The successful candidate will be offered a fully funded four-year contract to obtain a joint doctoral degree at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, and the University of Helsinki, Finland, under the supervision of Prof. Riikka Rossi and Prof. Birger Petersen. The doctoral researcher will be expected to move to Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz for the first 24 months of the project, and then complete the project at the University of Helsinki, Finland during the last 24 months of the project.
The four-year doctoral project includes two four-month secondments. The first is at the Max-Planck-Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Germany where the candidate will conduct empirical and applied research in music perception. The second is at the Finnish Literature Society, where the PhD candidate will join the research department, a vibrant interdisciplinary community in humanities. During both secondments, the candidate is expected to engage in cultural management, e.g. tasks in organizing public events and assisting with research projects.
The doctoral candidate will work at the Department of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies, which is the largest unit of its kind in the world. It develops theoretically and methodologically cutting-edge research in several disciplines and in many theoretical orientations, including cognitive linguistics and poetics, interaction studies and Indigenous studies. Literary scholars at the department work with a variety of thriving directions in literary studies, e.g. literature and emotions, ecocriticism, genetic criticism, and empirical and computational literary studies.
Supervisors
Riikka Rossi, Helsinki University
Birger Petersen , JGU
DECADOCS 