Sisu
Sisu is a Finnish term translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. It has been described as being integral to understanding Finnish culture. The literal meaning is equivalent in English to "having guts", and the word derives from sisus, which means something inner or interior. However sisu is defined by a long-term element in it; it is not momentary courage, but the ability to sustain an action against the odds. Deciding on a course of action and the sticking to that decision against repeated failures is sisu. The noun sisu is related to the adjective sisukas, one having the quality of sisu.
Examples of sisu
A riding student falling off a horse, not crying and keeping on getting back on the horse if she falls again is showing sisu. Learning to ride is not heroic, but showing the determination against failures is sisu. Also not asking for too much help, not making a big fuss but being stoic about the whole thing and sticking to a decision made earlier are defining the sisu.
The classic Greek character Sisyphus who keeps rolling the boulder uphill can be seen showing sisu, or being a tormented soul, depending if one considers there being a possibility of him managing to finish his task one day. Nevertheless, it was decided he should not be named Sisuphus.
Several Finnish athletes have shown their sisu, like Lasse Virén who in the München Olympics fell in the 10 000 m running event, but got up and won the event, breaking the world record. Athletes also show their sisu in practicing, keeping on repeating a hockey puck hitting exercise or running in waist-deep snow as well as in their will of carrying on fighting, even when the odds are against them. Knowing that you have lost, expecting a miracle, and still keeping on fighting is sisu.
Cultural significance
Sisu has been called by The New York Times as "the word that explains Finland", and the Finn's "favorite word" - "the most wonderful of all their words."[1] During the famous Winter War of 1939-1940, the Finnish perseverance in the face of the invasion by the Soviet Union popularized this word in English for a generation.[2][3] In what might have been the first use of sisu in the English language, on January 8, 1940, Time Magazine reported:
The Finns have something they call sisu. It is a compound of bravado and bravery, of ferocity and tenacity, of the ability to keep fighting after most people would have quit, and to fight with the will to win. The Finns translate sisu as "the Finnish spirit," but it is a much more gutful word than that. Last week the Finns gave the world a good example of sisu by carrying the war into Russian territory on one front while on another they withstood merciless attacks by a reinforced Russian Army. In the wilderness that forms most of the Russo-Finnish frontier between Lake Laatokka and the Arctic Ocean, the Finns definitely gained the upper hand.
— Time Magazine, January 8, 1940[2]
Singled out for kudos for this attribute was "Finland's wiry old peasant President, Kyosti Kallio — 73 years old and full of sisu (courage) — last week thought up a new scheme to get supplies for his country."[3] It was also used to describe the Finnish stubbornness in sticking to its loose alliance from 1940 to 1943 with The Third Reich:
Finnish sisu — meaning a peculiarly Finnish brand of doggedness, capable of facing down death itself — was at work against the Allies. ... The Finns are not happy. But sisu enables them to say: "We have nothing worse than death to fear."
— Time Magazine, May 10, 1943.[4]
During the 1952 Summer Olympics, sisu was further described in the context of the continuing Cold War looming over the Finnish capital city of Helsinki:
HELSINKI, host to the Olympic Games, a city of 400,000, was abustle. ... The Finns are not stupidly hiding their eyes from their future, but they are determined not to fall into another fight with a powerful and predatory next-door neighbor 66 times their size (in area, Finland is the sixth largest country in Europe; in population it is the third smallest). Under popular, 81-year-old President Juho Kusti Paasikivi and able, unpopular Agrarian Premier Urho Kekkonen, the Finns have learned to walk the nerve-racking path of independence like tight-rope walkers.
— Time Magazine, July 21, 1952[5]
Well into the 1960s, "sisu" was used to describe the Finnish resistance to the invasion of 20 to 30 years prior and its continuing discontents.[6] In 1960, a notable reviewer of Mortlake wrote:
"HAVE you heard of Finnish sisu?" asks a character in "Mortlake" -- and it turns out that sisu is a sort of stamina or staying-power which the Finns have had to develop as a result of living next door to the Russians.
Mikko Salo also displayed the trait while on his way to winning the 2009 CrossFit Games.
Other uses
Due to its cultural significance, Sisu is a common element of brand names in Finland. For example, there are Sisu brand cars (and Sisu armored vehicles), icebreaker MS Sisu, a brand of strong-tasting pastilles manufactured by Leaf, and a Finnish nationalist organisation Suomen Sisu.
Mount Sisu is the name of a mountain first ascended by mountain climbers Veikka Gustafsson and Patrick Degerman in the Antarctic.
In 2004, Jorma Ollila, CEO of Nokia, described his company's "guts" by using the word "sisu":
In times like these, the executives who run Nokia talk up a uniquely Finnish quality called sisu. "The translation would be 'guts,' " says Jorma Ollila, CEO of Nokia, the world's most prolific cell phone maker, in an interview at company headquarters here. (Photograph Caption: Jorma Ollila says Nokia is determined to 'overcome all obstacles.') "But it's also endurance. There is a long-term element to it. You overcome all obstacles. You need quite a lot of sisu to survive in this climate." The climate he's referring to is the bleak and bitter Nordic winters, but he might as well be talking about the competitive, erratic wireless-phone market and Nokia's travails. This sisu trait — anathema to Wall Street's short-term outlook — says a lot about Nokia's response to its recent turmoil.
— Kevin Maney, USA TODAY (italics in original)[8]
Anthropological significance
To anthropologists[citation needed], it is an appropriate invention for a cold northern land, dotted by thousands of lakes, and long under threat of being overwhelmed, militarily, linguistically and otherwise, by more powerful neighbours. Similar concepts exist among other cold-weather peoples, such as the Inuit and Chukchi.[citation needed]
Use in the Upper Peninsula
The term is commonly used in everyday speech to describe stoic toughness. It is widely understood in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is home to a large concentration of Americans of Finnish descent. For instance: "Even after cutting his hand open and getting 12 stitches, he didn't shed a tear. Wow! He's got sisu!" This has extended to include a popular bumper sticker saying simply "Sisu". By analogy, the term has picked up new meanings. Depending on context, "sisu" can refer to spunk, attitude, self-confidence, and so on. However, sisu is not bravery, nor strength. It is distinguished from courage, especially when talking about the military. Sisu is an ability to finish a task successfully, as defined by Roman Schatz in his book From Finland with Love (2005), and decisiveness. Usually sisu means the will and decisiveness to surmount challenges against impossible odds, or to succeed when given the Chinaman's chance.
It is, like sauna, one of the few Finnish words to be commonly used in American English.
In popular culture
In Robert A. Heinlein's "juvenile" novel, Citizen of the Galaxy, the protagonist was adopted by the captain of an interstellar trading ship which was named, "Sisu". This reflected Heinlein's admiration of the Finnish stand against the Soviets, Heinlein himself being ardently anti-communist. The interstellar trading "family" of which this ship was but a part, is described as being fiercely proud and independent, preferring battle and death to being taken prisoner by raiding pirates.
In the British TV programme Top Gear, Mika Häkkinen explains Sisu to James May as a driving trait particular to the Finnish people.
The main character in one of the editions of the Nokia Game was called Sisu.
See also
External links
- Washington Post: "The Finnish Line", about Finnish fortitude and resilience
- UP SISU: "The Finns of Northern Michigan", about Finnish culture in Northern Michigan
References
- ^ Hudson Strode, "SISU: A WORD THAT EXPLAINS FINLAND", The New York Times January 14, 1940, Sunday Section: The New York Times Magazine, Page SM4, abstract found at New York Times website. Accessed June 24, 2009.
- ^ a b "NORTHERN THEATRE: Sisu," Time (magazine), Monday, January 8, 1940, found at Time Magazine archives. Accessed June 24, 2009.
- ^ a b "NORTHERN THEATRE: Again, Sisu," Time (magazine), Monday, January 29, 1940, found at Time Magazine archives. Accessed June 24, 2009.
- ^ "Nothing Worse to Fear," Time (magazine), Monday, May 10, 1943, found at Time Magazine archives. Accessed June 24, 2009.
- ^ "Sisu", Monday, July 21, 1952 Time (magazine), found at Time Magazine archives. Accessed June 24, 2009.
- ^ Horace Sutton, "review: Winter in Finland: Sauna, Sisu, Theater," Chicago Tribune, February 4, 1968, found at Chicago Tribune archives. Accessed June 24, 2009.
- ^ Nigel Dennis, "Review: How to Develop 'Sisu' on an Enemy Border; MORTLAKE. By Griffin Taylor. 378 pp. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.", July 31, 1960, Sunday Section: The New York Times Book Review, Page BR22, 493 words. Found at Select New York Times archives. Accessed June 24, 2009.
- ^ Kevin Maney, "CEO Ollila says Nokia's 'sisu' will see it past tough times," USA TODAY.com, Posted 7/20/2004 10:06 PM, Updated 7/21/2004 3:55 AM, found at USA TODAY.com website. Accessed June 24, 2009.